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

[BigBiceps]

How do you deal with this?

In NL100, I had T9s in UTG+2 and minraised to 2, got reraised to 5 by the button and I am the only caller. So far, not great situation, but if I hit then it is worth it. Flop is 986, I check and he bets the pot and I call with a pair and a gut shot (9 outs against AA for example). Turn is a Q. I check again (maybe I should bet $10 to block?) but regardless, he bets pot again which is about $35 which is the rest of my stack. Now here is where I have fuzzy thinking and I call. I am not getting the odds to call unless he is bluffing (which I think is only 10% chance). I call and lose my stack. He had TT which left me even worse off than I thought (4 outs to tie, 2 outs to win).

Now here is the problem. This happened yesterday and I am extremely upset with myself for making this $35 mistake. How do I deal with this?

I don't get so upset when I lose my stack with AA v QQ all in because I was and 80/20 favorite, and that is jut a bad beat and part of the game. However, when I make a mistake like that I am furious.

Any advice?

My advice? Concentrate on improving, so you don't make any more mistakes.

Start posting your hands for advice...there are a bunch of holes just in that one hand you posted, if you posted more hands, you may see your game improve alot...

[BigBiceps]

I know the common advice on these boards is:
1) fold 9Ts in early position
2) do not minraise
3) bet when you hit the flop

etc. etc. and those all can be characterized as mistakes according to most of the posters here. I am not debating on whether or not those are mistakes or not (because I am attempting to develop my own style of poker which is not necessarily going to be according to the dogma, ie. I was minraising alot of hands early and then trapping with big hands when I got reraised or whatever) Regardless, if those are mistakes or not - they are small mistakes $5, $10 preflop and flop. I am concerned about the $35 mistake on the turn!! Which is a clear mistake and no debate. In fact I did not think clearly when I called (inside my head I was just hoping falsely that he had AK, when I knew better).

Your suggestion about improving so you don't make any mistakes is a fallacy, because I find that I make mistakes every session, yet I still am a winning player. It makes you wonder how many mistakes losing players make.

My question is not about improving my game or what other possible mistakes I made in that hand. I was already planning to quit after that hand anyway as it was time for bed, but I wish I quit 1 lap earlier, as I made another mistake bluff in that same lap.

My question is how do I go about dealing with this mistake after it happened.

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I am extremely upset with myself for making this $35 mistake. How do I deal with this?

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Do some dumbell curls.
[img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[BigBiceps]

That is actually a reasonable suggestion, I have been neglecting the gym since I started online poker.

Why not drop down and do 50 pushups after playing stupidly?

It gives you time to get off tilt, acts as punishment, and helps you prevent developing a poker player's signature pear-shaped build.

Come to think of it, I should do this myself between hands.

[SlowStroke]

First realize that you never make a mistake.

You always make the correct decision based on the information that you are aware of.

When you are fresh, calm, relaxed, focused in the present - the amount of information that you are aware of is immense and your decisions produce good results.

When you are distracted, annoyed, frustrated, impatient, bored, focused not in the present - your awareness is lessened and your decisions produce poor results.

What you call a 'mistake' is often nothing more than the realization of factors that did not occur to you when the hand was in progress. 20-20 hindsight if you will.

So, rather than dwelling on your 'mistakes' try focusing on the state of mind that produced the lack of awareness that lead to the 'mistake'. This is more productive.

Cultivating the proper state of mind where good decisions tend to arise from is the best way to minimize future oversights.

Beating yourself up in the present time for a 'mistake' made in the past is just another state of mind that leads to new 'mistakes'.

You misplay the current hand because you are so busy beating yourself up about the previous hand that you were unaware of important factors that you would have noticed if you were more present.

[ QUOTE ]
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I am extremely upset with myself for making this $35 mistake. How do I deal with this?

[/ QUOTE ]

Do some dumbell curls.
[img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

Get a boxing bag. Best... gift... ever...

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Your suggestion about improving so you don't make any mistakes is a fallacy, because I find that I make mistakes every session, yet I still am a winning player. It makes you wonder how many mistakes losing players make.


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You do realize that you're in denial, right? You badly misplayed that hand, yet you shun the advice about not playing it in the first place or any advice related to the play of that hand. Sure, we all make mistakes, some more costly than others, and it will always be -EV to play that hand the way you did. Those mistakes add up. If you're a winning player, just based soley on your description of that hand, I would assume that's due exclusively to luck and not your "own style of poker."

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My question is not about improving my game or what other possible mistakes I made in that hand. I was already planning to quit after that hand anyway as it was time for bed, but I wish I quit 1 lap earlier, as I made another mistake bluff in that same lap.

[/ QUOTE ]

The word tilt comes to mind. You should probably read "Inside the Poker Mind." I am reading it right now and there's a lot of wisdom in that book.

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My question is how do I go about dealing with this mistake after it happened.

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Listen to the advice of those who have been down the road you're currently on.

[MicroBob]

I don't get it.

Everybody makes mistakes.
I believe Barry Greenstein has said that he has made mistakes EVERY session.

It's not just 20/20 hind-sight either. His call on the turn was simplky a bad call that he KNEW was a bad idea.

his other play has been criticized too...but we're just talking about his perception here...he KNOWS he played it bad. It wasn't hind-sight. Hopefully he knows that if he somehow lucked-out against an opponent with a lower-pair (or perhaps if he caught his outs) that he STILL knows he made a bad play and got lucky.
He knows he didn't have the kind of read to justify putting his opponent on a lower-pair...but he called anyway and got lucky...even though he made a bad play.


Anyway - I suggest having an awareness that you are ALWAYS going to make mistakes and being comfortable with that.
After that then you can always think about ways that you could have played better and this hopefully leads to you being a better poker-player.
If you are comfortable with the knowledge that you will ALWAYS be making mistakes then you can be more forgiving of yourself when those mistakes take place and you can take steps to advance your game.



I also agree with the general assessment that Biceps would be wise to simply consider improving his game and not just dismissing some of the ideas and knowledge of the 2+2 NL gang (which I understand is pretty strong).
Yes, there's more than one way to play and be a winner.
But some of those guys have proven to be long-term big winners and know the math and the concepts extremely well. If enough of them tell you that it's just a bad idea to play that way then one would be wise to at least consider that one's own ideas to the contrary are very possibly incorrect.