Mentality after running well, really well...

WSOPWinner2005 · #1 02-01-2005, 01:49 AM

When you have just came off the heater, I mean big time!! Like earning a week's worth of pay in a night the next day how do you feel? Ready to hit the tables? Waiting for the inevitable downside? Confident you are the best player in the world?

I find instead of being confident I am always waiting for the inevitable downside which does affect my play as obviously I play a more timid game. Damn my pessimistic attitude. How about everyone else?

jon_keck · #2 02-01-2005, 09:32 AM

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I find instead of being confident I am always waiting for the inevitable downside which does affect my play as obviously I play a more timid game. Damn my pessimistic attitude. How about everyone else?

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Last night I won over 50 bb's in under 30 hands, and I made myself stop shortly after that (not before the table went sour though) because I didn't want to tilt any of it away.

My first reaction is exactly the same as yours. For me it's 50% not wanting to lose what I won and 50% worrying that I'm now "due" to get bad cards. Fortunately, my second reaction is to rationalize away from that line of thinking.

A few months ago someone on another forum was serriously talking about being "due" for good luck, and another poster pointed out that the only luck you can ever expect to get is average luck. Since I figure average luck is enough for me to win at my limit, I can be optimistic about what's coming up. My play only gets bad after winning big if I get dissappointed because I have stopped winning a lot.

WSOPWinner2005 · #3 02-01-2005, 01:40 PM

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A few months ago someone on another forum was serriously talking about being "due" for good luck, and another poster pointed out that the only luck you can ever expect to get is average luck. Since I figure average luck is enough for me to win at my limit, I can be optimistic about what's coming up. My play only gets bad after winning big if I get dissappointed because I have stopped winning a lot.

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O.K. So I am NOT the only one [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] Makes me feel a little bit better !!

Bluffoon · #4 02-01-2005, 04:38 PM

I am pleased.

I often work hard and have lousy results.

It is nice to be rewarded.

Jay36489 · #5 02-03-2005, 01:52 AM

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When you have just came off the heater, I mean big time!! Like earning a week's worth of pay in a night the next day how do you feel? Ready to hit the tables? Waiting for the inevitable downside? Confident you are the best player in the world?

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I'll let you know when i have one of those days...

ismisus · #6 02-03-2005, 02:07 AM

I feel super-confident, and move up limits only to be beaten by better players

Bremen · #7 02-03-2005, 09:45 PM

Every time I walk into the casino I walk in with the attitude that I might lose it all. I find this actually keeps me pretty well grounded. I prepare myself for the inevitable losses (and major suckouts), and when I win I feel good about my play but I don't get overconfident because I know its only one session and that dosn't make a winning player.

Harv72b · #8 02-04-2005, 12:45 AM

I went on a crazy 1000 hand run last month (that's about 4 days for me) where I was absolutely cleaning up...all my high pockets were holding up, my low pockets were flopping sets, my flush draws were all coming in...in short, I was up 150 BBs in that span, right after moving up in limits no less (so the winnings seemed even bigger to me).

I knew that things were going to level off eventually, and of course they did (although I still wound up well ahead of my goal for January). But even while that was in the back of my head during the streak, I couldn't wait to get back on the tables just to see how long it would last. I was playing great poker (by my standards anyway) the whole time, taking down a lot of pots on bluffs & semibluffs that I might otherwise have been too timid to try, and correctly folding when the board & my read indicated I should, instead of calling down out of frustration.

So no, you're not the only one who thinks about it. We just react to it differently. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

anatta · #9 02-04-2005, 06:05 AM

One thing to watch out for when you are running good is when you start losing. Since you are not used to it, its hard to remember how to deal with it. My friend has this problem. He just won 48 grand in a tournie, and three days later I call him and he is tilting in the 30-60. He does this, forgets how poker is both easy money and a torture chamber.

So yeah, stay a little pessimistic. Be a confident pessimist!

flair1239 · #10 02-04-2005, 12:45 PM

I have the same problem occasionally. I will have weeks where I will go 4000-5000 hands at 5-6BB/100, and at times I am relieved when I finally have a losing session (If it is not a huge one), because it takes some of the pressure off.

Here is a link to a post I made a few months back, where someone explained to me that there does not necessarily need to be a downswing. I think it is relavant to your post:

http://archiveserver.twoplustwo.com/...mp;o=&vc=1