Beginner - Self Destructing

[MisterNatural]

Tilt goes both ways. When running well, it's easy to get overconfident. Before you know it, you're getting involved with sub par hands in sub par situations because you're riding the high of a rush. You might want to try some meditation. It will help you become more mindful and help you maintain that equilibrium that atheletes refer to as being in the zone. You used the term "self destruction". Read some Alan N. Schoonmaker, Ph.D. He's a psychologist and a 2+2 writer who gets into those psychological drives that all of us gamblers should be aware of. He has articles in the online magazine here and at cardplayer.com. Hope this helps.

[lotus776]

DONKS get too wound up in trying to steal when teir stack is already sufficient. I realized myself doing this a couple of months ago and immediately plugged the leak. If you are the big stack and the blinds aren't approaching then just chill...wait for some good cards and other than that watch the drama around the table

[AKQJ10]

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DONKS get too wound up in trying to steal when teir stack is already sufficient.

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That seems a bit of an overgeneralization. You should steal any time it's +EV (in payoff, not in chips). If you're well-stacked, each additional chip is worth less, but more than zero. Therefore if the blinds defend much too little, you should still steal against them. You just wouldn't steal as much as if you were short stacked.

The only truly "sufficient" stack is the one containing all the chips. The tournament director doesn't come out with five players left and say, "You have a third of the chips, Seat 4, so you've clinched first place." Extra chips are always worth something as long as the tournament is active; whether their value is enough for to make a steal +EV is the question. I grant that steals are less often worth it for the big stack, but less often != never.