The temptations of online poker

Alright, heres the deal. I am 18 and have been playing poker for about 2 years now, and have made many deposits online. Each time I deposit, I start playing smart and end up getting a fairly decent bankroll (about 4x the deposit). After getting a fairly decent amount of money on my account, I seem to become "Decentasized" to the limit i was playing at, and I feel that I have to move up to have fun.

I always start at playing .10 cent bb ring games and then I will move up to .25, then .50, then I will move all the way up to 1.00 bb games. I then always blow all of my money with the huge blinds and end up pissed. I know the simple answer is to stick with the lower blinds, but I CAN'T HELP IT! I just get this crazy feeling that I can move up and win so much more money.

My question is..does this happen to anyone else and what do you do to cope with it? I know if I played smart I would be making a good amount of money for me, but I move up in the blinds and blow it all. Am I just too dumb and immature to handle online poker or does this happen to others? Any comments would be appreciated!

Bankrollmanagement

you are playing to have fun, this is fine, if you can afford to lose the money.

if you want to play to win money, you need to stop it. if you're not able after a while, it could be because you're still too immature.

people do it sometimes, you're not alone at all. but these people all are just going through a glorified cycle of donating their money to the higher stakes people.

http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/forum/poker-9214.htm
http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/forum/poker-4971.htm
read, read, and re read!!!

Discipline is the key to winning at poker. I can tell you that a million times but it's up to you to listen.

hey if u keep moving up and losing your money, you can always get a job at mcdonalds or whatever. Not the end of the world right?

Also, I suspect that at about the same time as you feel the need to move up, you also change how you play - more risks, more recklessness etc. You leave behind the "smart" play that got you there and you donk off your hard-earned. Fair or not?

I think the problem is that you dont see the money your playing with. Your figuring that "hey, ive tripled my investment, im really good, lets have some fun" but in real life I doubt youd be playing $1 BB since you can see your money disappearing. Think of the money in your bankroll as an offshore bank account (mines in san jose Razz

), i used to have the same problem with 10$ SNGS with a 200$ bankroll, just sit back, relax, and take it slow - youll make more money.

Poker is about displine and about the lon run.
It sounds you are playing outside your bankroll, and probably playing a bit differently

I would suggest you try some Sngs, it might fit you better

Probably too late on the wagon for Kmart to take heed, but I have been trying to move up in limits for the last 15,000 hands.

I am in a sort of Poker Purgatory, or Sisyphus' Card Room. I play steadily at my $10 NL tables, get over $500, win a couple of hands at $25 NL, then have one or two bad sessions and end up back at $450 or so and have to start all over again. I don't move up to $50 NL to try and get my money back quickly!!!

This time, I'm going to push up to over $600 before trying to move up. I'll tell you why: I don't play comfortably with $500 'roll at $25 NL. I realise it and I've paid for it -- two times.

I now have over 31,000 hands of $10 NL under my belt and I'm willing to stay until I have 40,000 if it takes that long. Bankroll Management is crucial.

However, I'm old and therefore more mature than you all! Wink

Dude you can go dow to 18 buyins without dropping down, you know! Go back down at 15 buyins, should you reach it, which you won't. And I'm not being blase here - BR management is essential because it helps a winning player deal with variance. 15 buyins should be fine as a lower limit. You're not doing yourself any favours running away from 25NL the moment it gets tough.

*Last edited by thnwkd on Wed, 05 Jul 2006, 1:19pm; edited 1 time in total*

*Last edited by thnwkd on Wed, 05 Jul 2006, 4:57pm; edited 1 time in total*

To OP... you are very young, Make sure you are not starting down a path that could ruin your life... Gambling can be an addiction and your post sounds alarming. Very Alarming.

here's a test; pick something you love and do everyday, watching TV, the internet, playing some game... etc etc and give it up for 3days minimum, perferably a week.

This is all about discipline and self control, If you can do this i think you may be ok and just need to learn proper Bankroll Management. In addition when you have that very bad downswing playing poker you can easily take a week off .

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