Really need help with this

And in a nutshell, that's why I don't play NL. I can't handle the swings. Losing 4-5 BB in a hand hurts. Losing 20BB makes me die a little inside.

[CallYNotRaise06]

see its not the downswings that make me upset. i understand that in poker, it will happen, theres no avoiding it. i mean just an hour ago i lost a tourney heads up KJ vs JT. that doesnt bother me, i made the best play i could, and thats all i can do. what makes me upset is when i make the mistake. i mean maby im to hard on myself because i think i have alot of potential, and i always keep pushing myself to get better and it just makes me mad when im makeing totally retarded plays that i know are wrong. like in that same tourney, i had top pair and the 3rd flush card came on the river. but i sitll called off half my stack to see his hand. its like maby i cant trust myself enough to make that laydown beause he MITE be bluffing.

heres my thinking on that hand: "o he mite be bluffing i should call" instead of" would this player bluff me in this situation? what does my top pair beat that he would bet with? will this call make me $ in the long run?"

either im just not thinking and acting to fast, or i just cant trust my judgement.

I know the problem because I do it too. I think, for me at least, there is an element of closure that I need to avoid.

The logic, if you can call it that, goes something like this. If I call then either he doesn't have it (very small chance) and I win or he does have it (very high chance) and I loose, I'm an idiot BUT I know for sure he had it. If I fold I never know, I can't congratualte myself on folding because I'm not certain he had it.

That thinking is all wrong, I know that, but some times I don't give myself that extra few seconds I need to remind myself of it at the table.

A similar problem is the pre-flop raise in NLHE games. I have say JJ and raise 4-6xBB. Villain instantly goes over the top all-in. This is a fold, more often than not my JJ is beat but if I act on instinct rather than thinking I call it. If I'm going to play JJ for my whole stack then put on some pressure and go all-in myself first if not then for pity sake get out when it looks like you are beat!!!

I have no real answer other than to take a few more seconds. For me it's acting on instinct rather than logic that's the problem.