Flipping out
 

I get very very stressed out almost every poker session. I 8-table SNG's as my only source of income (while I make the transition to getting my teaching certification) and play in 4-hour blocks. Over the last 4 months I've broken a desk, a lounge chair, a lamp, a mouse (in the middle of a session, I was freaking out), and I've banged my hand on my new desk so often that it's bruised. What usually gets me is not a single losing session but a stretch of 3-4 sessions where I essentially break even. It doesn't help that at least once in almost every session these days PStars goes dead and the tables don't respond even though I'm connected.

Do any of you "flip out" while playing? If not, how about swearing at your opponents (which I also do on an almost daily basis)? How about crying? I've cryed in a few poker sessions too.

Re: Flipping out
 

I know you're doing this as your only source of income, but you really need to straighten yourself out. What level are you playing at? Is it the money that gets to you, or just the agony of being defeated?

EDIT: You also might try posting this in the psychology forum.

Re: Flipping out
 

It's entirely possible to make a living at poker yet not be a professional.

Re: Flipping out
 

It's probably the fear of not earning as much as I think I should be, as well as needing it to pay the bills. That's why 3-4 sessions of breaking even is more stressful than a losing session.

Playing poker is only temporary. I've been doing it for a long long time in one form or another and it's never worked out for me as a career because of the stress issues. I'm only doing this now because I've graduated college and am biding time till I go back for my certification.

Re: Flipping out
 

You might want to try a less stressful way of making a living, like working for the bomb squad.

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I tilted off $1,200 last night while drunk 8 tabling the 100 6-max game because the SNGs weren't available do to DST. I vowed poker was a waste of time and decided to quit!

Welp, the sit n gos are back and so am I!

Unbearable will to win is kind of good--all the best have it.. Bobby Fischer, etc.

What concerns me is your coupling of poker with being able to pay the bills--I think that takes the "cool customer".

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You're going to make an interesting teacher [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Re: Flipping out
 

[ QUOTE ]
It's probably the fear of not earning as much as I think I should be, as well as needing it to pay the bills. That's why 3-4 sessions of breaking even is more stressful than a losing session.

Playing poker is only temporary. I've been doing it for a long long time in one form or another and it's never worked out for me as a career because of the stress issues. I'm only doing this now because I've graduated college and am biding time till I go back for my certification.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've cried after a MTT. SNG sessions just make me bitter and depressed. I don't play poker for a living, and I know I never could based on my attitude.

Re: Flipping out
 

Now that I've played enough SNG's to know how much money I'd make on each one, wins and loses don't affect me nearly as much. I try to think of it as each time I play I make $5.50.

Of course I don't play higher limits so my swings are somewhat limited.

Re: Flipping out
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
It's probably the fear of not earning as much as I think I should be, as well as needing it to pay the bills. That's why 3-4 sessions of breaking even is more stressful than a losing session.

Playing poker is only temporary. I've been doing it for a long long time in one form or another and it's never worked out for me as a career because of the stress issues. I'm only doing this now because I've graduated college and am biding time till I go back for my certification.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've cried after a MTT. SNG sessions just make me bitter and depressed. I don't play poker for a living, and I know I never could based on my attitude.

[/ QUOTE ]haha. after busting deep in a tourney with a bonehead play and I know I could have gone deeper, i've had the hand haunt my dreams.

Re: Flipping out
 

hey OP, just learn to be mentally stronger than randomness.

Re: Flipping out
 

[ QUOTE ]
Now that I've played enough SNG's to know how much money I'd make on each one, wins and loses don't affect me nearly as much. I try to think of it as each time I play I make $5.50.

Of course I don't play higher limits so my swings are somewhat limited.

[/ QUOTE ]

Why do people on this forum love to say things like this? This is wrong. You do not make $5.50 a tourney. That may be what your average over many tournaments, but you are not a robot and play every tourney the exact same way. Hopefully you are getting better and sometimes you may not be playing as well.

Re: Flipping out
 

lol rofl lol hahaha

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This is what I was thinking [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

To the OP--- Seriously dude, you need to control yourself-- or avoid situations where you can't control yourself... I learned not to break things in anger when I was 5 after breaking my favorite toy because my parents punished me.

Re: Flipping out
 

Man, I feel like I'm reading a post I might make.

I have an old printer in my living room, with the arm of my desk chair laying next to it...and when I take a shitty beat, I just go smash the hell out of that printer. I really need to throw it away. It is in so many small pieces now.

Anyway, yeah, I totally get stressed too. I have flirted with the idea of trying to play poker to make a living, at least for a little while, and right now I don't know if I have the mental toughness.

It sounds like we're similar in that respect. I think the more you play, the more you realize that bad beats are going to happen. I FORCE myself to say "I got my money in as a favorite there and played as well as I could" after a tough beat and it helps. Seriously.

Just keep getting your money in there as a big favorite and it will all work out. In the interim, realize that this game has some nasty swings and we just have to ride it out.

Re: Flipping out
 

I find 8 tabling I hardly notice the bad beats.

Re: Flipping out
 

[ QUOTE ]
I find 8 tabling I hardly notice the bad beats.

[/ QUOTE ]

I find the same 4-6 tabling. You guys need to get "centered" or something. Or just take up chess. I just can't wrap my head around people that take beats this bad. You play thousands and thousands hands. Some of them are not going to break your way. That is pretty much the nature of a game of chance. Not to be rude, but, you know, get over it =/.

Re: Flipping out
 

WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Re: Flipping out
 

If that's what I average then that's what I make. I don't see how you can say I don't make it.

Re: Flipping out
 

The psychology forum is a good place. Really, I checked it out once and was surprised at the good advice posted there.

Poker is tough, that is why we love/hate it. Although it is just a game it is also real money and real money equals freedom, fun, new stuff, paid bills , less stress etc.

I do not stress out or break things but I find that losing a big MTT particularly the live MTT is rather heartbreaking. When I drive home after a loss I find that I was so attached to winning that I am totally depressed, then I assess my play and I "GET OVER IT"

So yeah, freak out if you must but hurting your hand is stupid, break something that does not matter. Your hand is important.

You have to want to win bad enough that it feels bad to lose but not so much that the stress makes you play bad or that the anger makes you break stuff.

--
tjh

Re: Flipping out
 

[ QUOTE ]
If that's what I average then that's what I make. I don't see how you can say I don't make it.

[/ QUOTE ]

That would only be true if you played at "average" level all the time. Wouldn't you agree that you get better the more you play?

Re: Flipping out
 

There's a utility in knowing how much you make, on average, per SNG.

Saying "I make $5.50/SNG" is no different than saying that you have a 10% ROI at the $55s... I'm not sure why you would single out $/SNG to criticize and not ROI.

Re: Flipping out
 

If SNGs are your only source of income, I think it's mandatory to have 6 months of expenses saved up (outside of your bankroll). This shouldn't just be enough to pay for rent, heat and bread and water for the month - it should include what you need each month to live comfortably and do what you enjoy doing. The downswings are bad enough - worrying about paying this month's bills just make you and your game even worse.

If having poker as your only source of income causes you this much stress, or forces you to live like a hermit until the next upswing comes, then you'll probably get more enjoyment overall by playing as a hobby. You can always get a part time job to pay the bills until you get certified.

Re: Flipping out
 

My point wasn't that somehow I now know my true ROI. I use the $ per tourney to help me handle swings. Yes it's a mind trick but it works for me.

Re: Flipping out
 

[ QUOTE ]
There's a utility in knowing how much you make, on average, per SNG.

Saying "I make $5.50/SNG" is no different than saying that you have a 10% ROI at the $55s... I'm not sure why you would single out $/SNG to criticize and not ROI.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not criticizing anything. I'm just saying that your ROI doesn't mean anything if you are not playing at that level. You should play your best every sit n go you play, and not donk it up for a hand, bust, and then say well I just made $5.50.

Re: Flipping out
 

[ QUOTE ]
My point wasn't that somehow I now know my true ROI. I use the $ per tourney to help me handle swings. Yes it's a mind trick but it works for me.

[/ QUOTE ]

If it helps you handle swings, good. I just know for me it allows me to rely on a crutch and not be responsible for my play.

Re: Flipping out
 

Thanks for the replies. Just to make things clear, I don't need the money to pay the bills...immediately. I'm not living month to month off of poker income and I probably have about 4 months of living expenses in my bank account. However, I know from experience that if you don't make the money or even worse, don't play enough, that pool of money makes an innevitable decline.

Maybe I just don't get out enough and my life is kind of pathetic so part of the frustration derives from failures other than merely the last hand/tourney.

I also tend not to get mad because of bad beats. Those happen. I get angrier because I made a marginal play or I made a mistake or even if I'm not really sure what the right move was and end up losing. If I get all the money in with my AA vs. some guy's 33 and he wins I can usually deal with that. But if I've waited and waited and waited for a decent hand and finally I'm down to 5x BB with 5 players left and I raise all-in with Q5s on the button only to have the BB find AA...that frustrates me because I question my own ability in addition to losing the hand.

Re: Flipping out
 

I'm not suggesting anything about you here, and I don't expect you to respond..this is just meant as a comment that you may or may not apply to yourself.

Getting laid is very very +lifeEV

Re: Flipping out
 

my life

You are not alone.