How do you guys handle the swings emotionally?

angst · #1 08-20-2005, 08:45 PM

I 4-table $3/$6 6-max for 2.5BB/100 with a 500BB bankroll, but the swings are just killing me. When I'm on as little as a 50BB downswing (if you can even call it that), my stomach knots and I get physically nauseaus and just generally out of it mentally, all depressed and worked up.

I have been playing poker since march. Before that I hardly knew what it was and couldn't tell the difference between a straight and a flush. I'm studying the game intensely, reading and rereading HPFAP and other great books. My game has a lot of flaws of course (I often feel like I'm the worst player on earth), but one of the biggest is how I handle the natural swings--that is, how I don't handle them.

So I guess what this rant boils down to is this: I am not whining or looking for sympathy of any kind, I'm just looking for more experienced players' advice on this issue. How do you handle the swings? Will I ever get used to them? And so on. I wish I was a machine sometimes.

I can hardly wait for my first 300BB swing. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Fabian · #2 08-20-2005, 08:47 PM

It is extremely difficult. Everybody has struggled with this. Everybody. I don't know what to advice to offer other than it gets better with experience.

Nigel · #3 08-20-2005, 08:47 PM

Booze.

sublime · #4 08-20-2005, 08:48 PM

I 4-table $3/$6 6-max for 2.5BB/100 with a 500BB bankroll, but the swings are just killing me.

if that win rate is over any decent amount of hands, and you have these issues, I suggest you dont move up any time soon.

gildwulf · #5 08-20-2005, 08:48 PM

I think it just takes time. When you stop considering money as money and instead consider each $6 dollar increment as just a betting unit, you'll probably stop caring. Also, you might want to consider playing on a larger bankroll if a couple hundred dollars really affect you that much.

I like to think of online poker as a video game where the money is points...that helps me from tilting.

bobbyi · #6 08-20-2005, 08:50 PM

You are fairly new to poker. At first, losing a bunch of money is upsetting to everybody. I don't think almost anybody is inured to it after a couple months. After you have played for a few years, it is likely that swings won't bother you except maybe if you are playing in very big games. Then again, they may. It depends on whether you are the kind of person who is bothered by these sorts of things and how confident you are that you are really beating the game.

cdxx · #7 08-20-2005, 09:03 PM

i am handling the swings just fine, but i fear i may soon need to find a new cat. he is taking it pretty hard.

goofball · #8 08-20-2005, 09:08 PM

Hours. Gotta log hours, that's the only way to get used to the swings. I'm used to the swings of 15/30 (and by extension 5/10 short) because I've logged around 80k hands there this year

RunDownHouse · #9 08-20-2005, 09:08 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Booze.

[/ QUOTE ]
I used to just do booze, but its no longer enough. So I bought a dog, and now I get boozed up, then kick the dog.

Seriously, the biggest thing holding me back from 5/10 is that I don't think I'd deal well with the difference in terms of money.

angst · #10 08-20-2005, 09:24 PM

[ QUOTE ]
i am handling the swings just fine, but i fear i may soon need to find a new cat. he is taking it pretty hard.

[/ QUOTE ]

I usually take it out on my stress balls (I know some of you will remove stress and quote this). Yes, I have several and they were purchased after I started playing poker.