Emotional competence

[freemoney]

most of the things in this thread are bad advice, no offense.

i know most will think it is, but it works for me...

and as for bad advice, i see it all over here. just depends on who it comes from. I am experiencing success and dont mind sharing how i am doing it...whether it is wrong or not, thats cool. not trying to steer anyone wrong...

[Slim Pickens]

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most of the things in this thread are bad advice, no offense.

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I agree that it is wrong to determine your quitting time by how much you are up or down. You're attaching your personal happiness to something that is essentially random: along the lines of Ralph Wiggum and the mailbox flag. Also, there's almost no way anyone could play ~6 4-table sets a day and say they usually go 15 days without a losing day, and rarely lose more than 2 days in a row. That's BS. Sorry.

rereading my response, i guess i dont understand how it can be bad advice? that being, how you combat your emotional swings. its what i do, not saying it will work for everyone, but it is what i do. This isnt poker playing advice, its just how to keep poker from affecting your mental game...

on a side note...i showed in one thread where i said something and got flamed, but then a very, very respected poster said the exact same thing and it was LAW.

Poker is such a simple game, how the hell did it get so complicated?!!

[zipppy]

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I know exactly what you are talking about. Thats why I take a slightly different approach then most on here. I play to maximize my ROI. So i want the most out of every dollar I buy in for. I would rather spend an additional 5 minutes trying to make the money, than to just push and say, either i hit it and keep playing or i miss and fire up a new one. that approach may maximize your $$/hr, but it still leaves me feeling like i could have done more.

What I have found for myself is that the stats are great barometers of your play, but the only one i truly care about is winning sessions. I let the software track my ITM%, ROI, etc, but i keep an excel spreadsheet that i track all deposits, withdrawals, and my overall +/-. so, at the end of the day, i put my final bankroll into my spreadsheet and it calculates my daily win/loss. i find my satisfaction knowing i was + for the day. it is not unusual for me to have 10-15 winning days in a row. rarely do i lose 2 and almost never 3 days in a row. My cut off for the day is when i am happy with my return. lets say i set the goal for 25 sngs for the day, but after your 5th set of 4, lets say you are up 4 buy ins...i would forego the final 5 and ensure myself a winning day. document it and crack myself a beer as a reward for another positive day.

sounds like we have similar hang ups in our thinking, and i may get flamed for being too results oriented, but you gotta do what works for you. coming from a similarly minded person, i make my cut off for the day a positive one! and, if it truly doesnt matter when you stop for the day (according to everyone on here) why not make yourself happy and cut yourself off when you are up? it doesnt matter in the long run if you play the final 5 of your goal today or tomorrow...as long as you play em.

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I think this is, in general, poor advice. Basing goals in terms of $ won on a day to day basis is just asking to go on tilt.

I like the advice of reviewing your hand histories after tough sessions; seeing spots where you made a +ev play but got sucked out, etc, can help to ease ones mind. and if you notice things you can do differently or focus on, that too is going to help your roi and help you regain confidence.

i understand that slim...i do. and i understand why you say that...i really do...BUT...

There was a thread about one of the guys here that was workign on his game...a pro i guess. but, he was telling us what his daily routine was going to be and he said that depending on how he was running, that would determine if he would play more. why is that any more wrong than what i said? just because I am more of a new player and he is well respected. I understand that because advice is like A-holes...right? but, it is the exact same thing...yes, it is results oriented thinking, BUT, if it helps keep you in the right mental state to continue playing, then it isnt bad advice or a bad habit to get into...

[zipppy]

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This isnt poker playing advice, its just how to keep poker from affecting your mental game...


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Yes, but you're in turn allowing your results to affect your mental game. IF you run good, then sure...this will help. But then again, if you're running good, then you don't really need help with confidence.

your advice is like saying, "win at poker, then you'll be confident". the OP is having problems with days/sessions that he doesn't run good....

[bigt439]

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My Friday session (my last) was break even. This, somehow, constitutes a total disaster in my mind.

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You better learn how to deal with it. Consider it practice for your 25+ buy-in downswing. Seriously.

I know you think you understand variance, and you might in theory, but if this is how you feel, you really haven't fully grasped the concept.

[Nick M]

I know exactly how you feel. One thing that i did that helped me out was this. I used to put my numbers in after every session. I kept perfect records and on any given day I knew what ROI was or ITM. But recently I have decided to not do numbers until the end of the money. I would play my game the best I know how. Review hand histories as much as i could. Then at the end of the month have Pokerstars send me a HTML excel type sheet of all my wins and losses for the month. It's really an incredible thing that have over there. All I then do is copy and paste. This helps me seperate daily wins and losses from month wins and losses.

other than that positive thinking and a sick DVD collection. I usually try and take a break and watch a movie to get my mind off a bad play, or bad runs.

guys, i already said i would get flamed, please dont fixate on the first part of my response because it was just saying that i have a different approach than most of you, and these types of responses prove it...but you are fixating on the wrong part of the post...

I am trying to say what i do to keep my mental frame of mind fresh and not let the variance defeat my positive attitude...it has nothing to do with me focusing on ROI or $$/hr...it has to do with setting and hitting small goals on a daily basis...because the marathon is long and the goal is not defined, but you need something to keep yourself motivated...thats all i should have posted...

I set small goals and shoot to attain them on a daily basis...it keeps me positive and those goals, when achieved, keep me on pace for my long term goals...thats all.