Trying to make it fun again

For a long time I have been playing 2 or 3 tournys a day and no telling how many hours at Full Flush. But the fun has gone out of it for me. When I lose money I carry the thoughts of what was my mistake around all day. Like yesterday I had several bad beats in my tournys and some of it happened like we are talking about being able to fold a big pair. And I carried those mistakes to bed with me. Anybody else ever do that? I only have a few $ left on Full Flush and I'm done playing anything except for pennies because I want it to be fun again without the stress. But of course I'm going to play freerolls with the player of the forums I'm a member of.

A tournament player must accept that he loses 95 % of the time and the (hopefully) big ROI comes from 1 or 2 big results. Hope it comes soon for you!

I'd recommend playing tourneys with smaller fields, like 200 or less people. You'll get more final tables and decent cashes. The huge field tourneys with 1000s of people are extremely high variance, and you end up making decisions for amounts greater than your entire bankroll when you go deep in them.

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Originally Posted by PapaC

Like yesterday I had several bad beats in my tournys and some of it happened like we are talking about being able to fold a big pair. And I carried those mistakes to bed with me. Anybody else ever do that?

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I make a big distinction between beats and mistakes. I try to forget about beats right away - you can't take math personally.

As for mistakes, I try to reflect and make adjustments so I don't repeat them. Yes, I've had nightmares about mistakes in poker - that's just part of the game I guess.

Thanks you all for the replies. And Eric that makes me see things a little differently. Sometimes I think I'm the only one these things happens to. And in a way I hate telling people about things like that, but I have told a lot of stuff on my forums and players understand players. Renton I do play the small field tournys. Most of them are 100 plus or minus a few. Just nothing I do is right so I'm just staying away from my money site awhile except I may play their freerolls. And Daniel72 I did not know that % Maybe I'm being a little hard on myself. But still I just need to take a break.

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Originally Posted by PapaC

Thanks you all for the replies. And Eric that makes me see things a little differently. Sometimes I think I'm the only one these things happens to. And in a way I hate telling people about things like that, but I have told a lot of stuff on my forums and players understand players.

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Yeah, just remember that as you play a lot of hands then crazy things can and will happen. A player with just a 1% chance against you will beat you from time to time. It is best to just accept it and move on.

Thanks again Eric. Yesterday I only played some freerolls and I just sit back not worried it I won or lost, but still playing like I always do, tight. Also I'm getting into some other things online that is going to take up some of my time.

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Originally Posted by Renton

I'd recommend playing tourneys with smaller fields, like 200 or less people. You'll get more final tables and decent cashes. The huge field tourneys with 1000s of people are extremely high variance, and you end up making decisions for amounts greater than your entire bankroll when you go deep in them.

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That last point is a quirk of poker that I like! My biggest cash to date is around $4k, which was a chop 3-handed in a regional final game. While waiting for admin, the hand we play out, I get the 2nd nuts and villain has the nuts in a 4-to-flush board. He's making bets, of course, but he's not getting greedy. The chips now have direct money value, because this will probably be the last hand. I figured his river bet was worth more than my bankroll at that moment. I reckon that hand cost me $300 or so, although I must say I really didn't care.

Take a short break and maybe re-evaluate, don't let those bad beats follow you to outside of your poker play :)

abuse substances obv

Yea, I do not take it too seriously when there are 3000 max entrants and 100 players get paid in the fullflush freerolls.

Try smaller field and different format. I mostly plays knockout tournaments and DON sitngo but whenever I lose 2 3 games in a row, I switch to other games or format.

When it goes bad and you bust out...get up, take a walk, smoke a cigarette...whatever you do. Visualize your mistakes, go back over what happened, and then take a ride or watch some TV and clear your mind. When you start to feel a little bit better and feel like playing poker again, go sit back down and play another game. That's really all you can do. Some will tell you to take a few days off or go do something else but the reality is the quicker you can get over things and get onto the next game, the quicker you can get back to feeling good and profiting. We have to learn to get over losses quickly and move on.

I like to take occasionally break from grinding and 1- or 2-table some quite jokey tournaments with buy-in so small that it doesn't matter to me. Like to take 1€ and 4€ jackpot tournaments and grind them for a while or take some freerolls and push all-in with every hand or every top25% hand and see how far it goes.

Best to try some new things once a while. And sometimes keep poker softwares closed for few days and take some time with other things you like.

dont play rebuys when feeling like u do,itll numb your mind. i had $150 @ party, played a $5 rebuy and soon found myself down $25, stay with the freezeouts and no more than 2 tables. put yourself in premium hand play for the 1st 2 hours then getting deep lifts your spirits. we all go throught badbeats its part off the game but 1 cash can be money for the rest off the months play

Play a few freerolls to increase your skills or take a short break from poker for a few days. At least if you play freerolls you have nothing to lose and if you play well it will increase your confidence. If you're playing in a field of 500 players in a freeroll lets say, try and aim for a top 50 finish in each one. Even if you don't cash, at least you will build confidence and skill.

What does beating a bunch of losers in a freeroll have to do with confidence? That is like saying picking up fat chicks at a bar would give you confidence to pick up real women

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Originally Posted by PapaC

For a long time I have been playing 2 or 3 tournys a day and no telling how many hours at Full Flush. But the fun has gone out of it for me. When I lose money I carry the thoughts of what was my mistake around all day. Like yesterday I had several bad beats in my tournys and some of it happened like we are talking about being able to fold a big pair. And I carried those mistakes to bed with me. Anybody else ever do that? I only have a few $ left on Full Flush and I'm done playing anything except for pennies because I want it to be fun again without the stress. But of course I'm going to play freerolls with the player of the forums I'm a member of.

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If you know you made a mistake, that's a good thing! Knowing is half the battle. The key is to take all that information and learn from it to improve your game; if you're unsure about a certain situation make a note of it for further analysis later on after the tournament is over.

Because luck is a part of the game, the best you can do is make the best decision possible for every situation. If you play and lose knowing you made the correct play, then it should bother you less and less because you know it's the right long term play.