I cant stop playing after depositing money! how to control it?

Hi guys!
I need help with my problem with playing poker too much after depositing money.
Last week i depoisted 50$ on pokerstars, and I was doing pretty good($300) until i went on a downswing.
So the next day, I constantly played on pokerstars until i was able to get even.....but that didnt happen and went broke.
I wanted to know ways to restrict my playing time...so I wont go broke.

thanks

Im not real sure if u can restrict when u play. There are deposit limits u can set on yourself. I understand the feeling completly. Getup a little and play just a little higher stakes and lose. Then play the same stakes again to get what you lost back.then lose. Then you play a higher stake to make up for your 2 losses then you lose again. Never takin a break to calm down or think about your mistake for a hr or so. Next thing you know your broke again. At least thats how it used to go 4 me. But i do wish you could set a limit on when you can stop but thats how the site makes its $ i guess

When you are losing you should step DOWN in limits to maintain your bankroll, not stepping up to try and re-coop losses. I too have learned this the hard way about a year ago, but it should be one of those things that you learn from after it happens the first time. Sure it sucks losing money, but if you are a winning player, you should know that it is just variance running its course and you will be on an upswing soon enough.

Are you playing cash games and/or tournaments? If it's cash games just pre-determine the hours you wish to play, eg: 6-8PM, & try to stick to that schedule (use a timer as a reminder) until your downturn reverses, then you can increase the time limit accordingly. If it's tournaments, pre-determine which daily tournaments you prefer to play in & intermingle some freerolls with that schedule so you're able to get poker playing/practice in.

If you're on a downswing...step away from the table ...find something else to do, the poker sites will still be here.

Also search the CC threads for some tips on bankroll (BR) mgmt; additionally Chris Ferguson has a good tutorial on BR mgmt @ FT Academy. GL.

Not sure this would apply to you, but maybe limit yourself to playing SNG's and multi table touraments. I have found out that I suck at ring games. So I try limit my playing time to a set buy-in for the tourny. Just my thoughts.
Take care

Are you studying? Going over old hands? Reading poker books? Posting on and reading posts at forums? Watching poker videos?

I find that it's easy to step away from the tables, as long as I am doing what I have to do to improve my game.

And moving up in limits after a losing session is a sure recipe for disaster. When you start up your study sessions, read up on sound BRM.

Sorry to have to be the one to say it, but you lack dicipline, set an amount that you are willing to lose before you start playing and stick to it, if you are losing and you know it just STOP playing, don't throw good money away chasing lost money, it always ends bad.
Good luck in the future, I hope it all turns around for you, But remember DICIPLINE.

very easy.

1). maintain a healthy bankroll. move down in limits if you've lost enough of it.
Try to maintain 50+ buyins for SnGs, 100+ for MTTs, and 40+ buyins for cash. If you drop half of your roll move down.

2). stop playing when you don't feel like you're playing good.

What level are you playing at? If you went from $50 to $300 in a week you must have been playing at far too high a level. You need to consider bankroll management to avoid busting out like this.

I would recommend starting out at 1c/2c ring games or 1$ SNGs with that level of bankroll. Then you should set yourself a target to move up. For example, when you get to $100, move to 2c/5c.

first you should try applying some good bankroll management, like everyone else said, but if that doesn't work, there might be restrictions that you can set on your account. I know that on FTP, you can make it so that you're not allowed to play for 12 hours, one day, a week, and so on...

The good news is you know precisely what your problem is and asked for help. All of the suggestions you got in response are great and won't mean a thing unless you make a committment to follow through.

An additional technique would be to look at what you've been doing from a different point of view to discover the essence of the problem. I prefer the comedic approach because laughter helps me put things in perspective.

"Hey guys, I need help with my problem. Everytime I go to the grocery store and spend $50 bucks, when I get home I eat too much. I sit down and eat, eat, eat all the food I bought. Then I don't have any food left for the rest of the week."

All joking aside, one of the coolest things about poker is how much it can teach us about ourselves, both our strengths and our weaknesses.

Wow well you seem to have the same problem my friend had except he lost ABOUT 800 BUCKS in a span of time. Anyway yea i have to agree with some of the previous post, you must be playing very high stakes tables or tourneys and you need to go to a smaller amount. Also you need to know when to call it a day, if you keep losing just call it quits and hit the felt the next day.

just remember in poker you'll always have swings and at some times you'll be loosing consistantly. So just take your time with your hands and dont try to rush things I know something I use to do is when i loose a big pot or a lot of money I'll raise my stakes to make back the money I lost but it backfires and I loose even more money just take a break that day and try again the next day.

I looked on Pokerstars and if you click the help/responsible gaming(web) links, they have self-exclusion "cooling off" periods. They will go for 12 hrs/24 hrs as well as weekly and monthly. If you are really playing too much and can't limit yourself, you might try this for say 12 hours? after you hit that bankroll high point? You just make the e-mail and send it off.

Hope this helps. Good Luck!

When you get on a losing streak, step away from the computer. Maybe take the rest of the day off. Use your time to read some poker books, check out some posts on this site to help improve your game, look over past hands where you were beat or "sucked out" and see how you couldve played it better.

GL on the felt.

some great feedback here already
self-control takes time to learn if its not installed in yu already
my best tactic is get up and leave when i feel im not in control (cash obv.)
best of luck 4 the future

Sounds like you have got a problem and if you do not get it under control it could develop into an addiction. I would suggest that you need some professional help and not comments from guys like us on a forum. Do not leave it to late.

I do not have this problem,if I lose $10 bucks at a site,I cant turn the dang thing off fast enough!!!,I will not stay at a losing table,or site.I do take a long look at what is happening.But this is at low limit rings.I may lose $25 at the 50c dollar ring games.Never more than this,Ive learned to run,not walk when im losing....and never ever try to win back what you lose!!

I totally agree with this! You do recognize that you have a problem. That's the first step. If you cannot learn BR management very soon & cannot control your habits...please get professional help. Are you spending money that would be used otherwise for rent, food...family? If so, get help NOW! Best luck in the future...MM

Lots of good advice and a good place to get it from.

Set limits. Turn off your computer if you reach your loss limit. If you are unable to do this, then you really do need to seek professional help imo.

Read some articles on here about tilt. Many articles and great discussions with tips on how to deal with it.

lols i have the same problem too it is nuts i always play till i go broke

bet and re bet! jajaja All poker sites have an option for regular expenditure per day

i'm not sure if you can do that on pokerstars but fulltilt has limits you can set like how many times you can rebuy for a certain amount of hours or if you can stop playing at all you can actually lock yourself out for 30 days or maybe even more. check into it

*cough*

Level much?

In my oppinion, try not to think about it, that you have money at you should play, because if you think all the time that you have money, you will play, and than for sure you will win or loose