Cocky/lazy poker disease - how to spot it - how to cure it. (long)

[Karak567]

I have found myself "swinging" lately - and it wasn't variance - so I thought I would type out my thoughts about all this and get some replies. Basically, this is why I think good runs can be even more devestating to a player's game than bad runs.


I think all poker players who deal with luck swings, both up and down, are subject to this "non-luck swinging." Players tend to get loose, arrogant and overly confident in their "decisions" when running well. For example, a player goes on a nice run playing some STTs - he then thinks he is God's gift to poker. In comes Fancy Play Syndrome (hereon out referred to as FPS). The player thinks they are better than everyone else, can outplay anyone and is invicible. This undoubtedly leads to poorly thought out pre-flop play, terrible post-flop play and general crap coming out of said player's mouse (or hand, as it were.)

It goes the other way too. Say a player hits a bad run, they tighten up around the bubble too much, they get overly-passive. Basically, they enter a "weak tight" frame of mind. Not good, not good at all.

However, running well can detrimentally affect one's play, arguably more than running poorly can. I noticed this recently in my own game. I ran VERY well for a while. I won a huge MTT and my bankroll shot through the roof.

I started to get lazy. While 8-tabling I felt I was above the game and just made foolish plays, thinking "well, I'm so good. I can't be wrong." Or I would not think before I acted. I would just fling chips in the middle without a second thought. And then there came in the DREADED FPS. I started making retarded post-flop plays. I thought I was God's gift to post-flop play and I could outplay anyone. However I forgot several cardinal rules.

- I am a STT player - I don't have to rely on post-flop play that often.
- You can't bluff a dumbass
- I really don't NEED that 100 chip un-raised pot. So what if he min-bet 30 chips into it and it was folded to you... LET IT GO.

How do you spot this "lazy poker disease?"

There are several "key symptoms" that I noticed in my play.

1) I wasn't losing on bad beats anymore. My hand was dominated a lot of the time I got it in.

2) I was only winning on "good beats." I was sucking out to win almost every game. Although sucking out is OK sometimes because of our "push trash sometimes" strategy - it was happening ALL the time.

3) I was dropping 50 % of my games before I even got close to the bubble and it certainly was not on bad beats. This should NOT be happening.

4) Some other hints are - 25 OOTM runs and up and greater than 30 buy-in drops at 33s and lower, I am sure 55 players and up can know when their buy-in drops are hitting unnatural levels.

Ok I spotted it - how do I fix it?

Well I started fixing it yesterday, and I did a number of things.

1) I reviewed hand histories. Saw where my mistakes were - took note of what I did wrong.

2) I SLOWED DOWN. Before I shoved my chips in I forced myself to stop and think - is this a dumb play? Slow your mind down. It's like a good pitcher in baseball. When he starts getting wild and keeps throwing all over the place - his catcher comes out, talks to him and slows him down - gets him back in his rhythm. You are your own catcher - slow yourself down!

3) Everytime I busted out, instead of just clicking out of it and opening a new tourny, I left it open for a moment and reviewed the hand history. Was it a bad beat? If not, was my push (if it is on the bubble) ok according to SGA? If it was before the bubble - was my hand strong enough to justify what I did? Was I ignoring any reads? Take note of your bust outs - are they bad beats or good pushes running into good hands - or are your hands dominated or are you pushing in the wrong spots?

There are a few other "ideas" I had for "fixing my play."

Some of them are obvious - some not as obvious.

First of all, take down your sets a bit. Instead of 8-tabling, 4-table. Instead of 4-tabling, 2-table, etc etc. Let yourself pay more attention to a few games rather than feeling "rushed."

The next point I have is an interesting thought I have. Some players would advocate moving down a buy-in level. If your bankroll is still intact, I think this is a real bad idea. Not only will you possibly see a different calibur of play (such as dropping from 55s to 33s or something like that) but the money will mean less to you. You will make more "oh well, it's only 33 dollars as compared to 55, I can see what he has" plays. That's not good. Keep yourself at the same level of play and at the same challenge. Make the money mean the same to you. If you don't care about making a dumb play because of a low buy-in, you WILL play carelessly (that is if you are anything like me).

So if you are starting to run poorly after a very good run - take note next time. Check out "whassup!?" You won't regret it! You have nothing to lose!

:-)

Thanks for reading my post. I appreciate any input.

[TStokes]

Nice post I wish you would have wrote this two days ago. I fell into your cocky syndromne a couple days ago and felt that I could do no wrong. After getting knocked off my high horse I realized how dumb I was playing. I was reraising way to much and not giving any credit to anyones raises. I think that your slow down comment was one that really helped me out. Instead of just pushing in without thinking I would go over the hand and determine what I should do.

[Myst]

Yeah, I try to do this after all tournaments, regardless of whether Im running good or bad.

Honestly evaluating your play through reviewing your hand histories is the only way to know if you are making good plays or just a major, major luckbox (or unlucky loser that makes good plays like myself).

[pergesu]

I hate the idea of dropping tables. It's a good idea to drop tables so you commit fewer mistakes, but if you're suffering from FPS as it is, you'll just get bored and do it more often. So I think cutting tables would do more harm than good, unless you're able to be very disciplined. In that case, things would be nice and ABC when you go back to your regular number of tables.

[Karak567]

Good point on the not dropping tables thing.

Thanks for the replies guys, spent some time typing this up, I hope I get more! :-P

[Maulik]

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3) Everytime I busted out, instead of just clicking out of it and opening a new tourny, I left it open for a moment and reviewed the hand history. Was it a bad beat? If not, was my push (if it is on the bubble) ok according to SGA? If it was before the bubble - was my hand strong enough to justify what I did? Was I ignoring any reads? Take note of your bust outs - are they bad beats or good pushes running into good hands - or are your hands dominated or are you pushing in the wrong spots?

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I like this a lot and plan on using this myself. a bump for a good idea, find out where you stand

[skipperbob]

Good Post...Very Helpful....Thanx

[Unoriginalname]

Nice post. I'm definitely guilty of sometimes getting in a zone where I feel like I'm god's gift to poker and I feel I can outplay anyone. That's when I start making highly unnecessarily risky plays at rather insignificant pots.

[mlagoo]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
3) Everytime I busted out, instead of just clicking out of it and opening a new tourny, I left it open for a moment and reviewed the hand history. Was it a bad beat? If not, was my push (if it is on the bubble) ok according to SGA? If it was before the bubble - was my hand strong enough to justify what I did? Was I ignoring any reads? Take note of your bust outs - are they bad beats or good pushes running into good hands - or are your hands dominated or are you pushing in the wrong spots?

[/ QUOTE ]

I like this a lot and plan on using this myself. a bump for a good idea, find out where you stand

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[Slim Pickens]

I've found that dropping to one table every once in a while is good for my game. I review the summaries of the tournaments I single-table carefully. In order to stay engaged, I actually play a higher buy-in than I normally do. Moving up to the 33's (which would be above my bankroll were I to make a habit of playing them) for a game forces me to pay attention without really putting my bankroll in jeopardy.

SlimP