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Old 10-01-2005, 10:04 AM
flub flub is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 7
Default Re: Long, Painful, and Seemingly Endless

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1. Take some time off or if you want to play
2. lower your play limit
3. set up a losing limit for a session
4. Accumulate little victories to re-build your confidence (e.g., in 15/30 level, your session goal can be set as a $200 winning or even less, you can achieve it at very beginning of the session, and then you quit from the session right away).

Confidence is very very important to poker, if you lose it, you must to find it back. Good luck.

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1 and 2 are excellent.

3 is fine as long as your lower limit isn't obscenely low. (50 BB seems to be a pretty standard losing limit for live play. It may also be the right number for an online player who is trying to rediscover his game.)

4 is absolutely terrible. This is textbook, "Very Silly Topic of Money Management." Don't do it. Never set an upper limit. Ever. But if -- in one session -- you win, win, win, win, and then lose it all and another 50 BB, stop playing for that session.

Even in the rebuilding phase, I do not believe there is significant value in leaving a winner just for the sake of leaving as a winner. The psychological benefit gained here will not be offset by the psychological pain of the inevitable downswings.

Just my two cents.

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I disagree. If you were building a robot to play poker then setting an upper limit would be silly. But we are not robots and quitting a winner 3 times in a row can be invaluable mentally to someone on a downswing. Depending on the person it may be a good idea.

My own advice would be to be super duper selective in game and seat selection. Don't sit at a table unless there are at least 2 big fish and 2 little fish. And don't take a seat until one opens that has position on both the big fish and 1 of the little fish, and there is no one dangerous behind you.

Mostly I would suggest quitting poker though. Don't forget the opportunity cost of your lost time playing a break-even game.

-f
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