My poker problem is fear!!!

Hi all.

I`ve been going down bad at moment as I have said, getting cash in good and losing to 2 outers, raising the agressive BB when I`m on the button with KK for him to turn Ax and catching - the normal stuff and I`m sure we have all been there.

I`ve put a lot of posts up relating to this - all out of frustration I think.

After a lot of soul searching I`m sure I have found out my problem.

I am now in fear of losing a hand

I am trying to be too tight. Today I hit a FH on the turn - it was the second nut hand available. The only hand that could have beaten me would have been pocket QQ, but not very likely as the pot had been limped into.

However, I was facing a raise so all I did was call. Sure enough the guy had what I thought top pair, the board pair and an ace

To make things 10 times worse, I`m noteven playing with scared money!!!

Bizzare.

if you multitable, try stacking instead of tiling. That way you don't see the results of hands and only concentrate on taking good decisions.

I sure do relate to your fear factor. The bullies out there smell the fear and pounce on it. It is not the scared money but fear of the worst hand beating me and making me tilt. Man that happens a bunch.
No reason these guys should be in the hand and the worst offender of the raise... Well while I try not to tilt it seems as if I just have to take a break and accept the fact it IS going to happen.
Good luck, Bearcat

Bearcat said:

I sure do relate to your fear factor. The bullies out there smell the fear and pounce on it. It is not the scared money but fear of the worst hand beating me and making me tilt. Man that happens a bunch.
No reason these guys should be in the hand and the worst offender of the raise... Well while I try not to tilt it seems as if I just have to take a break and accept the fact it IS going to happen.
Good luck, Bearcat

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The thing is, they can smell as much fearas they want, but when they are geting teir chips in way behind it is not skill, smelling fear - it is just pure luck.

Are you playing cash or tournaments? single or multiple tables?

The results of individual hands should be irrelevant if you have the proper mindset for poker. But that's a lot easier to acquire this mindset when you multitable ring games than if you single table tournaments.

The results of individual hands should be irrelevant if you have the proper mindset for poker. But that's a lot easier to acquire this mindset when you multitable ring games than if you single table tournaments.

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Agreed, when I 12 table FR I am cool as a cucumber, but if I start playin 1 HU table or even 4 6max tables I tend to go a little bonkers thinking about results.

BelgoSuisse said:

Are you playing cash or tournaments? single or multiple tables?

The results of individual hands should be irrelevant if you have the proper mindset for poker. But that's a lot easier to acquire this mindset when you multitable ring games than if you single table tournaments.

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Ahhhhhhhhh...

I play a MAX of 2 table MTT`s. I find if I multi table I pay 2 loose.

I know it is just a phase I`m going through, but I think I have identified the issue.

Also, what is happening is that if I do push and take a hit, my tourny is amost over as I then play like an idiot

The thing is, now that I have identified the situation I am handling things better now.

Ronaldadio said:

I play a MAX of 2 table MTT`s. I find if I multi table I pay 2 loose.

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What? multitabling is supposed to make you play tighter, not looser...

Anyway, MTT is the hardest form of poker when it comes to keeping the right mindset as the long term is a lot longer for MTTs then for SNGs or especially cash. Which is why I don't really play them anymore.

I am in the same boat paddling with toothpicks
I make calls with stronger hand only to be beaten down by the river
Only if it was 4 card holdem

My 3 EEK! reply!

I too am currently in a downswung. Seems like forever since I place good.
All those suckouts others attribute to my image, well, they're coming back on me now!

Add in the doomswitch I threw on myself when I withdrew monies, and this is not a pleasant period. I shall persevere though. Being in the clutches of the Variance Monster is more uncomfortable than I thought it would be!

FWIW, my uncanny ability to find the hidden AA in villains hands (probably at a world record pace to boot!) are all well thought out moves gone bad.

dj11 said:

My 3 EEK! reply!

I too am currently in a downswung. Seems like forever since I place good.
All those suckouts others attribute to my image, well, they're coming back on me now!

Add in the doomswitch I threw on myself when I withdrew monies, and this is not a pleasant period. I shall persevere though. Being in the clutches of the Variance Monster is more uncomfortable than I thought it would be!

FWIW, my uncanny ability to find the hidden AA in villains hands (probably at a world record pace to boot!) are all well thought out moves gone bad.

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I know the feeling...

I've turned up pocket K's against pocket A's twice already today! This royally sucks!

i went through a bit of this last spring, got AK hole cards AAK flop allin called by QQ turn Q river Q. had 56 spades and 789 came off spades allin bet called guy has QK spades guess turn and river 10J of spades for higher straight flush. 4 of a kind 7's beat buy nothing J2 hand J on flop, J on turn, J on river. varience sucks. i literally cringed just to have to call, not even raise but call any hands.
luckily i work for a landscaping company so i was busy all summer, time off really helped me, i don't cringe anymore, actually taken down 3 tournies in the last month, smaller ones but it's a start. if you aren't hopelessly addicted to it, get away from it awhile.

I think.......

We've all bee through patches like this. I Remember when i first started out, if i didnt have the nuts i was folding. And then i had a bad patch online and again the same thing happened. But confidence comes back. Im playing my best ever poker at the moment right now and im making alot of 3rd nuts calls to big raises. Maybe it will only last so long but luck is luck

[x] another bad beat post from ronaldadio .

aliengenius said:

[x] another bad beat post from ronaldadio .

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[x] another comment from someone who has nothing to add to the discussion.

If you don`t like my posts, don`t read them.

I do notice that in the main my posts get a lot of response - possibly because my head is not up my own ass and that people can relate to what my posts are about?

I would be worried if my posts were built up on the back of nothing else but sarcastic comments.

Get a life.

Ronaldadio said:

[x] another comment from someone who has nothing to add to the discussion.

If you don`t like my posts, don`t read them.

I do notice that in the main my posts get a lot of response - possibly because my head is not up my own ass and that people can relate to what my posts are about?

I would be worried if my posts were built up on the back of nothing else but sarcastic comments.

Get a life.

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There really isn't anything to add to the "i takz da beatz" discussion.

aliengenius said:

There really isn't anything to add to the "i takz da beatz" discussion.

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about 5 other people who have contributed to this post think so.

You are obviously such a great player that u don`t need to have a laugh with other people about the frustration of playing poker.

I aso notice u r either

• Crap at MTT`s
• Or don`t play many.

So, I repeat, if u don`t want to contribute in a constructive way keep out of my threads please.

I have read some of your threads and they bore me. They all seem to be cut and paste articles from other sites or based on how wonderful u played a hand.

I could add "another `how great I am` post by AG" but I just don`t bother to comment cause I`m not interested.

Keep it civil guys

As for answering the OP's question. As far as playing scared, I used to find that more so for the time investment in an MTT rather than the money, and found myself folding more and more when I should be raising. Adding more tables and moving from s&g/MTT to ring a great boost for me, I still play the odd MTT but they are no longer what i would consider a big part of my game.

tenbob said:

Keep it civil guys

As for answering the OP's question. As far as playing scared, I used to find that more so for the time investment in an MTT rather than the money, and found myself folding more and more when I should be raising. Adding more tables and moving from s&g/MTT to ring a great boost for me, I still play the odd MTT but they are no longer what i would consider a big part of my game.

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Thanks for your comment TB.

I agree 100% that my own problem/ frustration, whatever you want to call it, is down to playing mainly MTT`s.

Having said that, the up side is I win money playing MTT`s.

Ronaldadio said:

I aso notice u r either

• Crap at MTT`s

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Wow, you're pretty observant for a poker player, aren't you? lol.

Ronaldadio said:

So, I repeat, if u don`t want to contribute in a constructive way keep out of my threads please.

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Please confine all your future posts to the appropriate bad beats sub-forum here. I don't frequent it, so I wont be tricked into reading your misleadingly titled posts anymore.

Ronaldadio said:

I have read some of your threads and they bore me. They all seem to be cut and paste articles from other sites or based on how wonderful u played a hand.

I could add "another `how great I am` post by AG" but I just don`t bother to comment cause I`m not interested.

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Weird, others seem to disagree with you.

buddyanton said:

hey AG,

following alot of your posts and always really impressed at your depth. do you just comment on the site or do you teach. i am a golfer and prac and fundamentals are very important in the grand scheme of things. been reading alot but after reading not always sure if it is improving my game. besides playing, where and whatwould you suggest to improve my game and is there a teaching system you can follow?

cheers

buddy

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markkaz said:

Hello,
I'm new at Cards Chat but I wanted to send you a quick note to say that I appreciate your posts!

Best wishes,
Mark

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lancej said:

Hi aliengenius,
I saw some of your posts here, and it looks like you really know your stuff, so I figured I’d introduce myself. My name is Lance Johnson, a newbie here to CardsChat.
Right now I’m looking for writers for an Online Poker membership site, and would love to work with you if you’re interested. I can pay you whatever you think is fair for your time. You would have a relatively free reign on the topics.
Right now I just need 10 articles that are 600-1000 words. If you enjoy it we can work together each month and if not there's no committment.
If you’re interested you can PM me back or send me an email at @gmail.com. If not I’m sure I’ll see you around the forum, and still hope I can learn a lot from you!
Thanks,
Lance Johnson

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AG, u obviously have some kind of problem with me.

U r now defending something u started. I did not say other people found your posts boring, I said I did.

I`m not an expert, but I guess u have issues and the only way u can get noticed is on a poker forum.

Good luck at the tables but please, if you see a thread started off by me, ignore it.

Hi aliengenius,
I saw some of your posts here, and it looks like you really know your stuff, so I figured I’d introduce myself. My name is Lance Johnson, a newbie here to CardsChat.
Right now I’m looking for writers for an Online Poker membership site, and would love to work with you if you’re interested. I can pay you whatever you think is fair for your time. You would have a relatively free reign on the topics.
Right now I just need 10 articles that are 600-1000 words. If you enjoy it we can work together each month and if not there's no committment.
If you’re interested you can PM me back or send me an email at @gmail.com. If not I’m sure I’ll see you around the forum, and still hope I can learn a lot from you!
Thanks,
Lance Johnson

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I get spamcrap like this too best to ignore it.

Irexes said:

I get spamcrap like this too best to ignore it.

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I didnt want to say this - I get them too

Whenever youve been donkey'd in the past - or get a string of bad luck you fear certain situationms - you just have to get over that - be optomistic and who knows maybe your luck will chnage