Wanting to play when I'm running bad

[raptor517]

tough to do many tilty things in sngs if you play them correctly. play those. or, get blazed and watch half baked. holla

[shermn27]

So I denied myself going to the poker rooms last night. It was tough, but I thought of it as "an act in discipline." Took a long nap and that seemd to clear my head.

I have never played online poker before, but I decided I would limit myself to $25 and the lowest limit table I could find where I could use my skill to get the greatest advantage possible. This happened to be Party's .50-1.00 6 Max (I always thought I was better shorthanded player anyway). In any case, I played for about an hour and was up $50 when I decided to go to bed.

Just wanted to say thank you for your advice. Especially asking myself how I am going to play. Thanks.

[jonnyv]

sounds like you have a problem. Check out GA's website and see if you fit into any of the catagory's.

[Al Schoonmaker]

I am MUCH more positive about your actions than you are.

1. You recognized that you were on tilt. LOTS of people don't.

2. You quit. LOTS of people don't.

3. You moved down in limits. LOTS of people move UP because they think, "I've got to get even."

4. You have been honest about your feelings. LOTS of people deny them.

5. You recognize that your feelings are -EV, but your behavior has not been that destructive.

6. You are extremely self-critical: "I just sound like I'm justifying my degenerate ways." Not at all. You sound like you're trying to understand your feelings and actions. One of the greatest weaknesses of MANY poker players is that they refuse to look honestly or critically at themselves. You're trying, and making some progress.

I wish some of my friends and clients would act as intelligently.

There is one silly statement: "Perhaps it's because my worldview is that I am a winning player and being on tilt shouldn't affect that."

You KNOW that's nonsense. So why say it?

When someone is on tilt, he is probably going to lose, even if he is against much weaker players.

Stick with the objective, self-critical approach of the rest of your post.

Regards,

Al

[poker-penguin]

Thanks Doctor Al. It's good to have someone, especially an NPPA (Noted Poker Psychology Authority) find positives.

I said:
[ QUOTE ]
Perhaps it's because my worldview is that I am a winning player and being on tilt shouldn't affect that.

[/ QUOTE ]
Which is, yeah, it's the kind of nonsense that I come up with when I'm on tilt. Obviously I know on some level that tilt dramatically reduces my expectation or I'd probably still be spewing chips (assuming I hadn't passed out or burned through my bankroll).

I played briefly last night and was doing things fairly well for a while and fairly quickly finished the session when my play slipped (the problem with trying to see things in BBs is that it makes stepping down less effective at making losses seem smaller).

I know I'm on a bit of a hair trigger at the moment (it's not just because of, or in, poker - as an example, I was very close to walking out on footy training last night when the coach started yelling at me). Being on a hair trigger annoys me, I'm usually pretty laid back, but at least I'm aware of it, and compensating.

Bleh. At least I might finally get some fiction writing done, now that I have no reason to play poker (since I'm not playing goot).