Crushing the table leads to playing scared?

[Marlow]

I have had many psycological barriers to success at the poker table over the years. I finally confronted the biggest one on this very board last year, and the results have been drastic (and quite positive).

Last night I had a great session. I was way up on both of my tables, and I had my opponents pegged. I was clearly in a position to win a lot more money. But then I started playing a little scared. I didn't want to lose my winnings. I was afraid of making mistakes or commiting chips. Thankfully, I was able to control my fear and just end the session (this is new for me - I used to try and play through it, which never ever worked). When I was starting out playing poker a few years ago, I felt this way every time I won big. I feel it less and less now, but it still is a nagging problem for me.

Does anyone else experience this?

Oh, and one side effect is that it makes me nervous to play in my next session. Usually I need to play on a single table and play very conservatively untill I get my sea legs back.

Thanks for all your help. This board is fantastic...

Marlow

[jkkkk]

I assume your table selection isn't awful, so a larger stack increases your EV if anything, I personally love having a deep stack at a table.

Why do you think you start playing scared?

Just because you've won during the session doesn't mean you should feel you have something to protect.

[Marlow]

Of course. So do I. And I only play NL, so I clearly see the benefit of being the big stack.

Specifically, I'm worried about losing my profits. Sometimes, I get nervous when I'm up big in a session. Sometimes I don't get nervous and I just adjust to my play to having the biggest stack. It's pretty random - I never know when I'm going to get nervous.

Ack.

[jkkkk]

Hmm well maybe your not disassociating yourself from the session enough, I know that in the long run having a deepstack will increase my winrate, I don't individualise any session by thinking

'wow i've been winning so far, maybe I should stop or buy back in with 100BB just to make sure I make a profit today.'

However for some people who leave with an overwhelming feeling of emptiness after a bad session I guess it would probably be more healthy to assure themselves a profit. That or if someone is unsure how to handle a deep stack. Being a 2+2'er though you should try to maximise EV wherever you can, you know this.

[Mr. Curious]

[ QUOTE ]
Specifically, I'm worried about losing my profits.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is a result of "short term money" and "results orientated" thiking. You are not thinking about the long term and instead are too focused on the money and your results and are playing scared because of your fear of losing them. You did a good thing by getting up because your fear would make you play less optimally.

Perhaps it would help you to drop down in levels for a while and think of your stack as a just a stack of chips. NOT money. That way when you build a big stack, you won't think about how much you are up or down. Once you can handle this at the low levels, then you can take another stab at the next level and handle it better.

Sometimes you need to take a step back to be able to change yourself so that you can take two steps forward.

btw - Try to remember that if you are in a good game, the only reason you should leave is if you feel that you for some reason are not playing better than the other people at the table. Maybe this will help you keep focus.

Good luck!

[321Mike]

I've been addressing this concern myself in another thread. You should check out Dr. Schoonmaker's article "When should you quit" on Cardplayer.com. I'm also told John Feeney's book, Inside the Poker Mind, has some good advice on the subject.

The gist of it is that we should always be looking to exploit +EV situations. Whether to stop or keep going should be decided by your prospects on the next hand and beyond rather than the results of the previous hands. When you are up (especially when crushing a table) you are likely to be in a good situation. Not always, but certainly more often than if you were down or break-even. For that reason, you should work to overcome this emotion so you can maximize your winnings when things are going well and minimize your losses when things are not going well.

[donkeyradish]

I feel this way too after recovering back up to even from a downturn. I know its illogical

I think we need to stop asking ourselves, "did I win" and start asking "did I play my best" instead.

Not for every day, not for every session ..... just for every single hand.

[Marlow]

This is all very helpful. I certainly understand the ramifications of this particular leak for me. Leaving a game when I have a massive edge is insane - except if I become uncomfortable. When this happened last night, it killed me to leave, but I knew I was putting my whole stacks at risk by playing out of my comfort zone.

One person mentioned that this is an issue related to shart-term thinking. I hadn't considered this, but I think it's right. This insight will help be reframe it for myself; hopefully I'll be able to see what's on the table as just a part of my bankroll, as opposed to winnings that I have from this one session.

I will certainly read the Doc S. article, also.

Marlow

[peritonlogon]

In SS2 Caro says that "you're always even."