The fear of losing in poker

Fear is an emotion and it is included in our system naturally. Depending on how you approach it can produce both good and bad results.

In poker the fear of losing can put you on alert (if you think “not to lose”). Due to this alertness you proceed with the game slowly and cautiously. You pay more attention to the play. Your over all performance improves.

On the other hand, fear of losing can also paralyze your mind and your actions (if you think “of loses and consequences but not about how to avoid loses”). You make silly mistakes and create environment for losses.

Now, if there is no fear of losing, as we see in freerolls, what would happen then? Would you find enough participation in the game? How you will describe some player’s unorthodox way of playing?

I think the trick is to have no fear of losing but play with some aspect of the fear of losing. In other words use it in your arsenal of different play

Winston Churchill was quoted as saying "Success is going from one failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm". "Scared money is dead money" is a quote that guided my early bankroll management with a lot of effectiveness.

sibird said:

Fear is an emotion and it is included in our system naturally. Depending on how you approach it can produce both good and bad results.

In poker the fear of losing can put you on alert (if you think “not to lose”). Due to this alertness you proceed with the game slowly and cautiously. You pay more attention to the play. Your over all performance improves.

On the other hand, fear of losing can also paralyze your mind and your actions (if you think “of loses and consequences but not about how to avoid loses”). You make silly mistakes and create environment for losses.

Now, if there is no fear of losing, as we see in freerolls, what would happen then? Would you find enough participation in the game? How you will describe some player’s unorthodox way of playing?

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Sounds like the ones playing with "fear of losing" are not properly rolled for the stakes they are playing. Bankroll Management is important. Variance is real people.

MemphisGrind said:

Sounds like the ones playing with "fear of losing" are not properly rolled for the stakes they are playing. Bankroll Management is important. Variance is real people.

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I don't think that's always accurate. You can be properly rolled and just be running so bad that poker becomes terrifying. Once you get into that fearful state, it's hard to get out without developing some sort of prompt system to get out of that hole. Sometimes there is no getting out. Most poker players are losing players, after all. It's not a game where everybody wins and makes a profit. It's not just the "fish" bankrolling everyone else's profit. Sometimes even the supposed sharks get eaten - they are fish too, after all.

sibird said:

Fear is an emotion and it is included in our system naturally. Depending on how you approach it can produce both good and bad results.

In poker the fear of losing can put you on alert (if you think “not to lose”). Due to this alertness you proceed with the game slowly and cautiously. You pay more attention to the play. Your over all performance improves.

On the other hand, fear of losing can also paralyze your mind and your actions (if you think “of loses and consequences but not about how to avoid loses”). You make silly mistakes and create environment for losses.

Now, if there is no fear of losing, as we see in freerolls, what would happen then? Would you find enough participation in the game? How you will describe some player’s unorthodox way of playing?

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I think there is some fear of losing even in freerolls. As for unorthodox play, I would suggest collusion is partially to blame there at least in online play. Be careful especially in the later stages of tournaments. For example, the player shoving in early position may be setting other players up against another colluding player in late position or may just be chip dumping to that player. This is just one of the many possibilities in which unorthodox play is really just baiting other players into getting felted.

puzzlefish said:

I don't think that's always accurate. You can be properly rolled and just be running so bad that poker becomes terrifying. Once you get into that fearful state, it's hard to get out without developing some sort of prompt system to get out of that hole. Sometimes there is no getting out. Most poker players are losing players, after all. It's not a game where everybody wins and makes a profit. It's not just the "fish" bankrolling everyone else's profit. Sometimes even the supposed sharks get eaten - they are fish too, after all.

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I hear ya. but I have never been in a position where poker was "terrifying" I have had downswings, but that's part of the game, I know that the downswing will not last. It always goes in the right direction. If others are entering a "fearful" state, I would suggest looking at problems within their game both physical and mental. It usually comes down to the same main reasons.

1. They need to study more (take the game more serious)
2. They need a larger bankroll or to drop down in stakes (Bankroll management)
3. Emotions are getting the better of them. (Mental game)
4. They are choosing games they can't beat (Game selection)

Basically if you have enough money that normal downswings that happen to EVERYONE in poker won't affect you in the long run, and you are choosing games you can beat, and you are putting in the time to properly study, and have rested and are taking appropriate measures to be mentally strong, there is nothing to fear.

How does one know that they are in a game that they can't beat (point 4)?

I am a freeroll tournament player. I use to have the fear thing happening to me. I found out as a generality that I was losing a lot more than I would have won by being afraid to play because of all of the junk players. That being said, I still pay very close attention to when there is a drastic swing in a raise but, I pick and choose the times during those instances when to play and when not to play. When I am going through a downswing variance than I just grind through it until it makes some kind of an upswing. I really liked the Dan Reed quote that Memphis Grind found that talked about being great at folding hands and that is an absolute truism.

puzzlefish said:

How does one know that they are in a game that they can't beat (point 4)?

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So I keep track of all my play on Poker Bankroll tracker. It tells me if I'm beating a certain game or not. ex. I didn't move up to 1,000 NL until I was certain I was beating 300 NL. I keep track of everyone that plays in my games. I video record all my online sessions and take notes during my live sessions, and go back and see if I made mistakes or if I was out leveled. On games with the same players If over a span of 6 months I'm not beating that game I stop playing it and find an easier game.( usually home games) During that time I'll make changes to my game study my notes on the players, and come back and try to beat the game again. I don't play but maybe 4 tournaments a year. usually in between $165-$600 buy ins, ranging form $20,000 gtd to $300,000 gtd I expect to come up loser there. The hope is to have one major cash a year.

You will know if you're beating a game..

Before when I started playing poker for money, I had a lot of fear and I was afraid of losing money, but now I play freely and I have no fear in the game, if my card plays poorly and I lose, then I’m not lucky My card plays well and I win somewhere in tournaments or in a cash game, this is very good for me, but I have a little fear when I play in tournaments of 5-7-10 dollars!

Hi.
Fear is an emotion that you can use in your favor. Fear can be your powerful motivator. I usually try to play with strong cards. Due to fear, I do not play with cards in which I am not sure.
Good luck.

You're scared to lose because you can't afford/don't want to lose money or because you don't want to lose in general?

The issue is dont let the fear control your actions, with a defined strategy the occurrence is lower
I think this is a problem for who play instinctively (mainly) / Or it does not follow proper banking management

I find I play along these lines a lot more than I want

If you play correctly in the system, it does not matter that at the moment when you lose, the main thing is that you will find yourself in the black at a distance.

"The fear of losing in poker". When playing poker, there is always the risk of losing ... Never play if you are afraid ... Fear produces insecurity and clouds your brain ... Fear makes you an extremely careful player and you end up doing "slow play" in many spot ... if you play with fear you end up losing everything ...!

If I spend a lot of money in a tournament or use an expensive ticket, then of course I’ll try to play it carefully. But with caution you need not to overdo it, otherwise it will lead to a loss of the stack. Sometimes you have to force yourself to join the game. Subconsciously, you understand that risk is always present.

I agree with you. Sometimes fear prevents me from making the right decisions. I'm trying to overcome these negative emotions. I think that in the future, with the accumulation of experience, my fear will disappear.

if you start your tournaments afraid to lose, you will end up losing because you're not going to play your hand as it should, you wait for the préniums, and you will not have the courage to call a raise, believe me when I'm afraid to lose, I always end up out of the tournament early, but if you have the courage to face reminders, you win more often time

Which is why you should only play with money you can afford to lose. That way you won't fear of losing.

fear is a very corrosive phenomenon. It stops you from playing your best game and eating your stack. It alters your aggressiveness, your patience and your self-control. If you are afraid of losing, you will not win over time. You will lose little by little, as if you had no skill. You will finish your sessions a lot sooner and may be able to protect your small gains more often. But, in the long run, you will lose because you will not take advantage of all the knowledge you have accumulated, all because your fear will take over.

I thought my fear of losing had gone, maybees fear is the wrong word in my case, instead of fear, I would say playing a game that was far too big for me at the time,

@ 6 years ago I won my first poker package, it was an all expences paid trip in a 5 star hotel to Malta to play in a 1,100 euro entry game with only 367 players, this was my first big live game rubbing shoulders with some big European names, my table had some proper Skandi players on it, they were so aggro, and I was playing like someone who did not have a clue, although I had played live for many years at a much lower level, needles to say I got knocked out on the second day mainly by playing far to tight I reckon my hud would call it @ -----10/7/2---- and it did not take long before I was targeted by the skandi's, and since that day, I made sure that would never happen again, I have played in a few more big games since then, and now I really play them as though I was playing my normal game. much much happier with this kind of mindset going into the bigger games,

Hello.
In my case, fear always prevents me from making effective decisions. I often do not use good opportunities because of fear of losing. I think the best I can do to improve my game is to stop being afraid.