I get very upset with myself when I make a bad play ...

[rid.br]

Very good thread.

I have the same problem as OP. I become really sad and frustrated if i make a big mistake. And sometimes when i'm not in the right state of mind i deny myself into thinking i MUST have the best hand, when the board has a lot of possibilities for better hands. Sometimes i just think "Oh, i'm playing heads up and i got two pair in NL. I cant fold this, even if the board is T J Q, and i have something like QT"

Slowstroke's posts were very helpfull. I think the biggest mistakes of experienced poker players comes when he is not in the right state of mind. Because experienced players know all the odds and everything. So the next step is the battle versus himself to be constantly in a good mental shape.

And i agree with MicroBob too. I think every player make mistakes. Even Phil Ivey said that every session he plays he makes at least one mistake.

I think if you wanna be a top poker player you have to have extreme control of yourself. Self control even when you are running REAL BAD is the key for winning poker.