Know When to Stop Playing that Losing Game of Poker
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We often regret having prolonged the game (to the private glee, we feel, of a few players who led us on). It would have been better, we always realize too late, to have left too early. If we had left earlier, we would have then been tormented by the question of whether we should have stayed, but having lost too much right now is definitely worse, with the last hour having been a grueling experience. What’s worse, we can’t really say why we have stayed too long and so we are likely to repeat the same mistake when next time we inevitably show up at the table.
One absolutely must use their powers of reasoning to logically analyze the situation to determine if they should hold or fold. You know when to go to the airport so you won’t miss the plane for that important business meeting. If you are hanging on in desperation waiting for that winning hand and miss your chance to get to the airport on time, you are going to get totally stressed. You won’t play well, you missed the plane and that important meeting. You are also harming yourself and your career.
Poker should be undertaken for amusement, not self-flagellation. If you are not having fun, leave the game, before your play and your psyche both suffer. Some players begin by taking up poker for R & R, only to find themselves overwhelmed by the game, yet are glued to their chair for some unknown reason. They are overcome by some obsession to stay the course, unwilling to leave as a loser, but continue to lose and suffer. The well-balanced player will chalk the loss up to experience, maintain their good humor and leave the game, knowing that it isn’t always like this.
To overcome such pitfalls, the source of the problem must be discovered, and that can be done by the realization that the problem has nothing to do with the game intrinsically. If you insist on performing a pointless activity of self-torture that you cannot possibly enjoy but neither can you get up and walk away from, you have a problem. If you are not staying at the table for the poker, then you are deluding yourself and avoiding what is really troubling you.
If this is you, I’m sure you will find that this psychology affects other parts of your life and activities as well. Try training your concentration on other aspects of your life when you find yourself pondering the stupidity of remaining in a losing situation at poker hand after hand. Envision yourself in other functions instead of half-assed playing in a doomed game. You may be able to identify the source of your idiotic obstinance and change your game and your life for the better.
It may be anything really, from dissatisfaction with your work or career to a general inability to deal with loss. Once you discover the connection, it will be easier to decide how to stop playing poker.
The author is a successful limit cash game player. He plays poker online and receives Carbon Poker Rakeback as well as Rakeback at Poker Kings.
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