Guest Article - Taking a break from poker
Sometimes you just need a break….
For the last two months I’ve been doing a whole lot of losing and not very much winning while playing poker. It all started with a very bad run of cards that I was getting while playing online. Every bad beat imaginable. However, this post is not about bad beats. They are part of poker and we all have to deal with them. Furthermore, no run of bad cards lasts this long.
I have determined that the main reasons why I have not been making money at limit tables or even making the money in tournaments is because I am too stressed. It started with the bad beats I was getting on Ultimate Bet and Poker Stars. In the course of several days I busted on both sites, about $200. Not that big of a deal but it started the downward spiral. I realize now that after a few tournament wins I felt like I was going to win every SNG I entered. So rather than playing poker I just threw my chips around assuming I would win. And when I didn’t, I felt somehow shorted. This is not the attitude to have at the poker table. I started setting myself up to lose.
Rather then rethinking my game, I kept this attitude that I am supposed to win all poker games at the home games I was playing and on my trip to Windsor, Canada. However, once I received a bad beat my stack quickly disappeared because I went on tilt. For some time after I didn’t realize I went on tilt but I can see it now. Instead of blowing it off I started playing hands way to strong against the weaker players. I would be super aggressive with good hands (rather then trapping) from fear of getting another bad beat. I would also call down many hands I shouldn’t have just to try to give someone a bad beat back. This was a really good way to lose money.
After losing 300 dollars on poker in Windsor I still didn’t reevaluate my play. I was also starting to get tight on money. My attitude plus the money problems started to mean that poker wasn’t fun anymore. My play became horrible. I started playing loose aggressive instead of tight aggressive. I think for at least ten home games in a row I didn’t come close to the money. Since we do re-buys I usually re-bought once or twice so I was out $20-$30 each night. All that plus the money I was losing at festivals (again because of the same attitude problems) I was out about $1000.
I needed a break. After having a conversation with Joe, a good friend of mine and very good poker player, it was determined I was getting too stressed with poker because of the money I had been losing. Once it stopped being fun I couldn’t play my game anymore, and thus I kept losing. I decided to take a break from any serious poker and to just have fun with the game rather then be so concerned about the money. I’ve only been involved in two home games in the last few weeks. I lost both but I had fun with them and played better then I had been.
If you ever find yourself losing lots of money and the game just doesn’t seem fun anymore I highly suggest you take a break for a few weeks, take a long deep breath, reevaluate your game, and most importantly try to have fun.
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