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AlamedaMike
2K Club
Joined: 29 Jun 2005
Posts: 2042
Location: Alameda, CA
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 Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 10:03 am Post subject: Blew my bankroll |
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Not my dollar bankroll, but my emotional bankroll (EBR) which is just as bad if not worse - I have a good day job and can earn more money, not that I need to. Through poor bankroll management I have depleted my EBR. As stated in TPM you are risking your entire poker career if you cheat on your bankroll and end up losing it.
Well, word to the wise that read this forum. Be careful with your EBR as well. I got pounded in the last three sessions and suddenly I lost all interest in putting one more $1 toward poker.
I had told my wife if I was ever convinced that I could not win at this game I would quit. Well, I am now convinced that I can not and it is a waste of money for me to continue. I guess that is when you know your EBR is zero.
I have to wait and see if my EBR ever gets refunded. Right now it is looking to be not likely.
This is a strange sensation that I have not encounter before in the many years that I played poker - I probably played 3,600 hours of hold'em live and 100,000 online hands in the last 4 years. It is not a desire to quit and an urge to call 1-800-gambler but a desire not to play. |
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Piemaster
Author of THE POKER MINDSET
Joined: 15 Jan 2004
Posts: 6918
Location: London
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| Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:12 am Post subject: |
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I guess that's the trouble with live poker, you can have losing streaks that go on seemingly forever. Am I right in saying that you were a winner online? If so you are almost certainly a winner live too and are just having a 3000 hand downswing (3000 hands is nothing really).
However, if you feel like your EB is drained then the best thing to do is just take a break. You'll probably get the bug again soon, when you have managed to put your losses in perspective. There is certainly no point in playing when you don't feel like it. |
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AlamedaMike
2K Club
Joined: 29 Jun 2005
Posts: 2042
Location: Alameda, CA
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| Posted: Wed Jul 04, 2007 10:43 am Post subject: |
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| Piemaster wrote: | I guess that's the trouble with live poker, you can have losing streaks that go on seemingly forever. Am I right in saying that you were a winner online? If so you are almost certainly a winner live too and are just having a 3000 hand downswing (3000 hands is nothing really).
However, if you feel like your EB is drained then the best thing to do is just take a break. You'll probably get the bug again soon, when you have managed to put your losses in perspective. There is certainly no point in playing when you don't feel like it. |
Thanks Ian.
I was winning online as you suspected. I have since quit online cash play until the legal issues get resolved and it is easy to deposit money again, if ever.
Part of the problem, I suspect was the move to 20/40 in January - I was not ready to give it enough time (remember $ bankroll is not an issue). I won nicely in the first 5 sessions and then they figured me out (or natural variance of the game). I played 13 sessions/60 hours in just over a month. I was even after 12 of them and then I ended up losing $1700 in my last session. Then I decided to move back down where the games were easier and less expensive.
Live I was a little over break even for a long while so I could swing each way easily ($5 drop at 3/6 is a lot to overcome) - I am going to just take a break from live poker - when I get the bug again and I most likely will, I will be more cautious.
I played some sng's online for points and won a $11 buyin to a Sunday MTT. I have no problem getting knocked out of these.  Heck, I won $0.20 in an MTT and turned that into $1.34 at 0.2/0.4 micro so I am rolling in dough.
As you so aptly put it - a 3,000 hand downswing it not a big deal. A few month's break won't hurt at all. It will give me time to read all the new books that are coming out, settle my mind and see how it goes. I am sure that most poker players have had similar issues - except the very talented ones.
I will still be lurking around the forum. |
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AlamedaMike
2K Club
Joined: 29 Jun 2005
Posts: 2042
Location: Alameda, CA
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| Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 1:25 pm Post subject: |
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| Piemaster wrote: | I guess that's the trouble with live poker, you can have losing streaks that go on seemingly forever. Am I right in saying that you were a winner online? If so you are almost certainly a winner live too and are just having a 3000 hand downswing (3000 hands is nothing really).
However, if you feel like your EB is drained then the best thing to do is just take a break. You'll probably get the bug again soon, when you have managed to put your losses in perspective. There is certainly no point in playing when you don't feel like it. |
I have gone back to playing but I am playing better and much more cautious if that is possible. I quit the game before I get emotionally upset with how things are going.
I hit and ran 2 sessions ago since I have not been winning lately. I won $200 at 6/12 in 2 hours and just packed it in for the night.
Last night I was a the same spot after 2 hours. I had won $200 again. This time I though I would continue to play and see how the session went. The game was fine and I was not yet tired or bored. Well, I ended up leaving 2 hours later with $120.
I immediately lost back some of my chips then got it back to $200 ahead then ran into two bad hands and quit.
I quit this time not just because of the beats but because I was not making good decisions after 4 hours of play. I flopped a set of 8's and lost more than I think that I should. A sign that I was starting to drift off my A game. I was starting to get tired, it was 9 PM and I needed to work the next day.
Take my 10BB/3.5 hr and consider myself lucky.
We know that hit and run is not the correct strategy long term but for short term to rebuild your confidence and get your game back on track it might be excused.
Optimal play is the best long term strategy for winning players. Game conditions and emotional conditions need to be considered as well but we know that just the amount of money won or lost should not be a major factor.
Lately I have my (mental game) monitor running all the time. After a point in the game I will plug into it and start to run it real time.  If I think something has happened that might indicate that I should quit I will run the diagnosis and make a decision (can't help it I am a computer geek).
Am I tried and losing concentration?
has the lineup changed for the worse?
has the money left the table?
do I need to be somewhere else?
am I card dead and getting bored and in danger of going on tilt?
have I had several big loses that might affect my decision making?
do I have the feeling that I need to protect my winnings?
and the list goes on from here...
Lastly, am I ahead enough now where I feel that the session was a good one ~~~ $20/hr. If I leave will I be satisfied with the outcome of the session?
Notice being stuck is not on the list (if I am stuck I try to find out why- was I playing bad or just bad luck - playing bad is a reason to quit).
Enough yeses and I take a break and come back after I have rested e.g. next day or later the same day. Sometimes I am ahead and sometimes I am not.
When I lose interest in playing I quit.
Just when I got back to $200 ahead the second time, now almost 2 hours later, I mumbled to myself that should have left at 7PM. A player setting close to me said - "We would all leave if we knew that was the maximum chips we were going to win for the day." |
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