So much of how well you play is determined by external conditions. The best way to protect yourself against tilt and mental game failings is to avoid putting yourself in a position where you are particularly vulnerable to these problems. The four best mental states to adopt just before logging some hands are: energised; inspired; focussed; and calm.
However, few studies have directly compared Internet poker and casino players including their likelihood of chasing losses. Internet poker has been argued to be a less risky form of gambling than online casino games as there is an element of skill involved in poker and players are less likely to dissociate, but play socially or competitive as. Fev, gambling is gambling whether its horses or poker. Gamblers biggest problem is chasing your loses, this happens with poker. — Dazza (@Dazza5173) March 10, 2011. Instead, we are referring to the person that is digging into their wallet for the fourth or fifth buy-in or are walking to the ATM to get more cash because “they’re due to hit.”. Subscription poker is a form of online poker wherein users pay a monthly fee to become eligible to play in real-money tournaments. Suck out A situation when a hand heavily favored to win loses to an inferior hand after all the cards are dealt. Disordered Internet gambling is a psychological disorder that represents an important public health issue due to the increase in highly available and conveniently accessible Internet gambling sites. Chasing losses is one of the few observable markers.
Here are some of the bad reasons for which people play sessions. They are almost always conducive to the very opposite of those four mental states. The following reasons to play poker lead to lethargic; bored; unfocussed; and emotional play.
Wanting to Unwind/Relax
When you’ve had a tough day at work or are exhausted from a social activity or sport, the last thing you should be doing is playing poker. If you are serious about the game and want to perform near to the best of your ability each time you log on to play, then it is vital to give yourself a recovery period between exertion and playing a session. Ask yourself how quickly your mind is processing things and how alert you feel before opening up the tables.
Putting in volume while stressed from work will mean that you are functioning with an already depleted tank of willpower. This leaves you more susceptible to succumbing to emotional interference if things don’t go as planned. Worse still, things are unlikely to go well when you feel worn out because you are making less optimal decisions than normal. Why enter into a poker situation where you will likely struggle to cope with adversity?
Because your Schedule Says So
Most of you reading this have probably been guilty at one point in time of setting unrealistic poker goals. Maybe you made a resolution on New Year to play X hands per month and ended up abandoning it by February. Maybe you have a bonus to clear or a loyalty level to strive for by the end of the month and put in bad quality, tired volume to reach it. Maybe reaching that target cost you more money than it made you!
Forcing volume when you don’t feel like it is another way to end up playing bored, unfocussed, and possibly emotionally volatile poker.
Implementing a pre-game warm up is one possible remedy to a lack of enthusiasm. I personally try to use training software for 10-15 minutes before playing. It warms up the mental muscles and creates a curiosity that really helps you stay focussed. In fact, having a deep curiosity about the strategy of the game has always helped to keep me concentrating.
If you’re really struggling to get into the mood to play though, it’s best to do something else for a while and try again later. Forced volume will usually be your lowest quality volume and that ruins win-rates over the long-term.
Because You’re Under the Influence of Alcohol
Getting home at 2am after a few too many whiskeys and firing up the PokerStars client is not a crime I can personally deny. You might feel like you’re playing well when your judgment is distorted but the chances are that you’re performing way below your maximum ability. While one or two drinks can help relax you and boost your confidence in a clear-headed way, playing when moderately or highly intoxicated is a recipe for disaster. It might be fun to throw some chips around after a night of drinking with friends, but it’s better to do that in a fun home game environment for lower stakes, instead of sabotaging your online poker career.
To Chase Losses
When things have been going badly, many players extend their session length or play on days when they would normally take a break from poker. The desperation that accompanies the feeling of chasing losses virtually guarantees that you will play far below your maximum ability. If we look closer though, we can see that the idea of chasing recent losses is purely an illusion.
Think about it. What is the difference between the $500 you lost yesterday and the $500 you lost two years ago? Nothing – they are both $500. Do you go around chasing that bad session you played on the 7th April 2017? Of course not.
The difference is purely emotional. The human tendency to obsess about recent losses only exists because they are still making this negative impression in your conscious mind. Your attitude towards losing is the problem – not the losing itself. The session from 2017 doesn’t bother you because you made peace with it long ago. Now you need to do the same with yesterday’s session. That money is gone now. In a sense, it was never truly yours any way as winnings are as temporary as losses in poker. The natural swings of the game have nothing to do with your long-term expectation so adopt more of an ‘easy come, easy go’ attitude to the game wherever possible. It is okay to prefer winning to losing, but it is how strongly you prefer it that determines your ability to handle downswings.
Do not play poker when the loss of a previous hour or day feels intolerable. Play poker only when you have mostly recovered from its sting.
Conclusion
You might encounter some other bad reasons for firing up the tables. All of them will create a bored; unfocussed; emotional; or lethargic experience. Another key skill is identifying when one of these mental states has come into being during a session. The best thing to do is to take a break under those circumstances.
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Making mistakes in poker is sometimes necessary in order to grow. Even the best players in the world made mistakes in the beginning but used those experiences to correct themselves and become better.
Some mistakes are actually quite common in poker, and many players make them when they start learning the game. The problem is that many players also fail to recognize that they are making a mistake, which leads to further challenges in their play. That’s why we are going to take a look at the five most common mistakes and how to avoid them. Read on!
You Can Always Fold
Once they make it to the turn or even the river, many players simply believe that they cannot fold at that point. They fear that they are going to lose a lot of money if they fold and decide to at least try to play the hand. The thing they don’t realize is that if their opponent has a stronger hand, and everything points to that, they would lose much more money.
Therefore, if you feel that the time is right to fold, do it. There’s no room for hesitating and what-ifs, as that type of insecurity usually leads to losing.
Opponents Are Sometimes Not Bluffing
Sure, there’s a lot of bluffing going on in poker. But it’s not always bluffing. However, when new poker players get attracted to the idea that their opponents bluff, they tend to rely on it in almost every hand. That’s a pretty dangerous thing to do in poker, and it’s definitely a path to losing all your chips.
Video Poker Chasing Losses
Therefore, instead of assuming that everyone’s bluffing, try to pay attention to other indicators and decide whether your assumption is true.
You Don’t Have to Be Aggressive All the Time
While aggression is overall considered a good strategy in poker, it should be used in moderation and only in specific situations. Being aggressive all the time, thinking that you have to bet every hand can be counterproductive from time to time.
Gambling Chasing Losses
Therefore, what you should do instead is objectively try to assess the situation and decide what approach is the best at the given moment.
In other words, thinking things such as “I have to bet here” can lead to huge losses.
When You Lose — You Lose
Playing poker means losing a lot. Just think of this — how many players lose in a tournament before they win one? Some never actually get to top the leaderboard.
But things get a bit more complicated with cash games where you can buy your way back in the game whenever you want. If you lost all your money and decide to invest a couple more quid in the game after that, you’re probably not going to win anything.
If you’re brought to thinking that 10 more dollars cannot do any harm, it means that you’re probably tilting already and cannot think straight when playing.
Don’t Go Chasing Losses
The concept of chasing losses is probably the worst one out there. When you think of it, if you lost a lot of money during a single session, you probably played the game for a while that day. You’re likely to be tired and out of focus, meaning your performance will definitely not be as good as at the start of the session.
Therefore, if you decide to “chase losses” at this point, you’re likely going to lose even more money. It almost never works this way, unless you’re extremely lucky. However, you want your poker to be a game of skill rather than a game of luck, cause you will not be lucky every time.