I'm Pretty Mad At Myself

Skip Brutale · #1 01-11-2005, 03:22 AM

I just moved from 10 dollar sitngo's to 20 dollar ones and it seems now I'm playing with something that has never accompanied me before, fear. I don't get why I have it all of a sudden, I played alot of no-limit .50/1 short-handed cash games which are probably "bigger" than 20 dollar sitngo's and played some 40 dollar sitngo's on stars with no problem.

But now all of a sudden I'm just playing horrible. In all of the 20's I've played, I haven't once tried to steal with junk, I haven't once raised a small blind completion from my bb with junk. I'm folding Aces five handed. I'm not bluffing at any flops.

I'm just overcome by the negative side of what could happen. They will just call me and I'll lose chips. They'll have a better hand and I'll lose chips. This is all I'm thinking.

I don't think my fear is about the buy-in entry but about the fact that I've had enough of playing 10 dollar sitngos for a year and want to move up to 50's soon. I figure if I can't beat 50's by now I should just quit. It feels like my poker future is at stake with every sitngo and I can't dare put chips in the middle.

Meanwhile my roi at the 20's is .11. Tommarow I'm going to try to think they'll fold, or call with a worse hand, or I'll draw out on them. But I'm not sure if that's enough. Does anyone have advice on how I change my mindset around. Has anyone played through this kind of rut where your playing scared, leading to an .11 roi, which makes you even more unconfident and play even shittier?

goldseraph · #2 01-11-2005, 06:55 AM

Umm... practice maybe? Are you expecting to just move up a level and crush it the first days?

Mr_J · #3 01-11-2005, 08:14 AM

Sure he is. The levels have pretty much the same skill level- none.

SlowStroke · #4 01-11-2005, 12:27 PM

[ QUOTE ]
It feels like my poker future is at stake with every sitngo

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, I have experienced this also.

When you are playing at a level you are comfortable with, you can just play. Your mind is on the game you are in. Your mind it totally engrossed in the hand you are involved with at the moment. You are in the present.

But you are not playing like that right now. A hand has just been dealt to you, but your mind is elsewhere. You are not here. You are thinking about your ROI, The money you lost yesterday. The level you want to play at tomorrow. Fear about not being good enough. Fear of taking another bad beat.

Before every hand, close your eyes, take a deep breath. Return to the here and now. Open your eyes and see a fresh new hand. Unlimited possibilities

All you ever have to do in life is deal with the one hand you are in right now. Forget the past. Don't worry about the future. And the chips will take care of themselves.

Bluffoon · #5 01-11-2005, 12:58 PM

I used to fly with a nervous flier. I always figured the time to worry was before you get on the plane. Once you step into the plane you are in the hands of the pilot.

Trust your pilot.

ThorGoT · #6 01-11-2005, 05:32 PM

I might disagree with this. I went (tandem) skydiving once. I found that the time for fear was when you had any chance of backing out. As a passenger, you could theoretically make a huge scene and demand that the plane land -- certainly skydiving, and I suppose on a commercial aircraft (true, you'd face serious penalties, I imagine). Once you're out the door, however, I found that I was not fearful at all (after a second or so). I really think the main difference was that there was no longer any option to back out.

Skip Brutale · #7 01-11-2005, 11:51 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Umm... practice maybe? Are you expecting to just move up a level and crush it the first days?

[/ QUOTE ]

Seriously yeah, I expected to crush the 20's as easily as the 10's.

Al Schoonmaker · #8 01-12-2005, 09:32 AM

You're playing outside your "comfort zone," and you can see the negative effects.

Move down to the stakes that give you enough incentive to stay focused, but don't make you play scared.

Scared poker is bad poker.

Regards,

Al

Bluffoon · #9 01-12-2005, 10:18 AM

This is exactly my point. Once you have made the decision to sit down and play, just play.

Hopefully you are not playing with the rent money. So if you lose you just regroup and try again. Nobody ever said poker lessons were cheap.

K C · #10 01-12-2005, 01:58 PM

Depending on the site of course, there can be a difference between these 2 levels, but it's not a big one. Mostly, they get a little less foolish earler on, and are a little better on the bubble as you go up.

Spending a whole year at 10 SNG's seems kinda long though [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img] The only way this is possible is if you were overly concerned about this move for quite a long time.

Here's what you need to do. I assume you've built up some bankroll over the last year at the 10's. Take $200 and put it toward your education at the next level You cannot care about this money, and if you still do, you're not ready. If you lose it all then fine, it wasn't time yet, and you can regroup and do it again at a later date.

The other thing you need to do is take your time and pretend that you're still at the comfy $10 games, and make sure you do your best to play the same way.

KC