PLAY ONLINE AGAIN OR NOT

jonnyv · #1 06-29-2005, 07:28 PM

I quit playing online a few months ago because I went through a huge downswing and played higher limits to try to make up my loss. I have done this several times before and have always ended the same way. Dispite all of this, I am up 3000 for the year but know I have a problem and should not play anymore online.

My wife just lost her job and I really don't want to worry about the money. She is getting unenployment and we will do fine for awhile. I know that I can make some money playing online if I stick to some simple rules. I can make an extra 300-600 a month if I stick to low limits and don't move up to higher limits(bankroll management).

Things have been great since I have quit and I only play live. It is worth the risk for me to try it again or has my past proven that I will always end up the same way? I was smart enough to quit while I was ahead last time. Do I have a real problem or am I just too competitive and this is something I can learn to control. I have never lost money I could not afford to lose and have went months following rules I have set for myself. It is when I have a four day losing streak were I seem to start going out of control. So here it is, am I just folling myself into believing this time will be different or can I set limits and follow them!!!

bambi · #2 06-29-2005, 08:48 PM

In my opinion if you have to ask this forum i would say NO. you probably shouldnt play online again.

However if you decide to play again, i would probably do the following-

Open a Neteller acount in your wifes name, make sure she doesnt give you the password, keep your BR entirely in Neteller, and get her to deposit the money you need at the start of each session. NEVER change this. Get her to monitor your account.

Also make sure you are not betting with money you cant afford to lose, if you can afford to lose $100, start you BR at that, then make sure you play within the limits of your BR

And lastley if you do happen to find a way around this and break the rules, just one QUIT FOR GOOD AND NEVER GO BACK.

TStoneMBD · #3 06-29-2005, 09:10 PM

it seems ridiculous to me that a person cant control himself from jumping into higher limits or going on tilt. it is a decision you make and if you dont have the selfcontrol to adhere to that decision then not only should you not be playing poker, but you should probably seek help. from my perspective, lack of self control is derived from a lack of caring about the situation enough to fall into temptation. if you dont care about your financial situation enough to avoid temptation then you probably have some issues to work out. everyone has limits as to when they fall into temptation, but if your limits are this low than that is a problem imho.

BigBaitsim (milo) · #4 06-29-2005, 09:28 PM

The major difference between a poker player and a pathological gambler is discipline. Lack of discipline is the kiss of death for a gambler.

jonnyv · #5 06-29-2005, 10:56 PM

Thankyou for your responces! I think at this point I am going to leave it up to my wife to decide whether to play again or not. She would have to monitor me closely and this is something we would have to do together. I have taken the last two months to study my game and have won a nice tourny for 1800 and have won five of six sessions in my weely nl game. I would buy pt and get gt+ as this would make my decisions easier. I would play within my br and she would control the password so I couldn't play without her present. I have always been called Phil Helmuth Jr. because I would go off after a bad beat. I have controlled myself for two months and have not gone on tilt even after my losing night in the home game. I have a family to worry about and I have learned my lession. I will only deposit 200 on a site offering the best bonus and bonus whore to build the roll. I will only play up to 2-4 and nothing higher. Limit is my better game right now and nl can only be played at its lowest buyin. I have put countless hours in reading 20+ books and know I can beat the low limits. I must now find out once and for all whether I have the disipline to stay the course.

You guys have been great and really got me through my low times. I am going to post how things are going for me and I am hoping for your support.

I am really hoping Al will chime in and give his advice. I will not do it if Al says no!!!

Blackdirt12 · #6 06-29-2005, 11:27 PM

If you need your wife to govern your play you should just quit. You're a grown ass man for christ's sake. You need to make your own decisions.

LoosenUp · #7 06-29-2005, 11:57 PM

[ QUOTE ]
If you need your wife to govern your play you should just quit. You're a grown ass man for christ's sake. You need to make your own decisions.

[/ QUOTE ]

blackdirt how do you suppose this is helpfull in the slightest.

Johnny, gd luck in what ever you decide. Write "discipline" down and hang it from your monitor.

Grisgra · #8 06-30-2005, 05:28 PM

Only you can know for sure whether you can change. It's certainly possible, though. When I started playing I did okay for a couple of months, hit a big upswing, then crashed and cashed out only 60BB ahead (after being over 300BB up at one point).

Quit for two or three months, came back promising myself I'd be more disciplined. Good month . . . good month . . . good month . . . then a horrible month that had two 250BB downswings in it. Tilty play, huge mood swings, the whole going-up-in-limits-to-win-money-back crap. Ended the month even, at least, but I was a psychological wreck. Withdrew all my $$ and deleted the software. Avoided poker on TV, packed up all my books. Said that was that.

Went back 9 months later. That was last September. Promised myself that I would keep careful track of my results, that I wouldn't get lazy about posting hands and thinking about my play, that I'd quit when I was playing badly, I'd not move up in limits to win back my losses, and so on and so forth.

I've had my share of psychological stresses, but nothing that can even come close to that of before. It's 10 months later, and I'm doing great [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img].

So yes, you *can* get over these shortcomings. But you must absolutely know what went wrong last time, and absolutely have a specific plan in place for how to make sure it does not happen again.

jba · #9 06-30-2005, 05:53 PM

[ QUOTE ]
The major difference between a poker player and a pathological gambler is discipline. Lack of discipline is the kiss of death for a gambler.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think this is absolutely untrue. In fact, I'm pretty sure you don't know what pathological means. (i'm being serious here -- not trying to be glib)

This is like saying the difference between an alcoholic and a social drinker is discipline. It is not.

edit to say to the OP: if you are having problems gambling, you should not gamble. If you think it can be controlled, pick a time when money is not nearly as important as it is to you right now, and try it again then. Never, ever, ever gamble with money that you cannot afford to lose.

happy life != money

Jeffage · #10 06-30-2005, 06:34 PM

Don't play online with money you can't afford to lose (and it sounds like you're in a situation where an experiment gone wrong could be real bad). A lot of people (myself included) have control issues online at times. It can be controlled, but the time to experiment is when you can afford to lose the money.

Jeff