Taking break after big win normal?

LukeSilver · Aug 11, 2010

So as some of the people here may know I had a big win of near $5000 recently
more specifically 3rd of 3583 players good for $4818.98. I had said earlier in these forums that I needed to make $5000 in the summer to pay tuition fees otherwise was doomed. everyone said $5000 in 3 months was very hard and been only $300 something up after 1 and a half months due to strings of bad luck got very frustrating.

I had said i didn't care if I ran dry most of summer then had the big win at the end. Dunno which i would have preferred the big win all in one go or the trinkles in over the time for same amount big win probably feels better but all the stress and frustration along the way. plus I had to get a job half way through as was losing hope.

so now I pulled it off I decided to take the a break for a few weeks the job means i now have a about $2000 over what i needed for tuition and i left $1000 in my account on top of this.

so you would think i would be diving in wanting to gamble more after the rush i do intend to but i just think the stress and the rush along the way took a bit of wind out of me and i need time off for few weeks.

is this normal do many players take breaks after big wins?

kmixer · Aug 11, 2010

No reason to take a break unless you are just bored from. You had a goal in mind and you reached that goal. Now take that 1K and use proper BRM to grow it again. You don't have the pressure that you had before so you can be really tight about it this time.

Good Luck at the tables.

Sammyv1 · Aug 11, 2010

I think its normal to take a break, but your not just taking the break only because of the win. Your doing it to relax from the stress you were under and catch your wind. If you would won this 5 g's right at the beginning of the summer you might not of taken a break, ie. less stress. I think its a great idea to relax for a week or so.

Oh, and by the way, Congrats on your win!! Nice Work!!!!

nightmoves44 · Aug 11, 2010

w2g

Congratulations on your very nice win!!!,I think you did the right thing,taking a break and thinking things thru.You could lose 5K just as fast as you won it,if you dont have discipline.
I think you did the right thing under your circumstances.You can bank it,use it for what you need,and start over from scratch.You can do it.

Leatherass · Aug 11, 2010

It is "normal" however, to make it as a poker pro this mentality needs to be fixed if I'm being perfectly honest. Really the only way to look at it is that you are going to have your ups and your downs, but in the long run you will be able to look at the number of hours you have played vs the amount of money you have made and determine an hourly rate. So if you play poker for 1,000 hours for the year and you make $32,000, your hourly is $32.00 an hour. Whether you won $5k in a day or not is irrelevant. You have to tell yourself you only won $32 x the number of hours you played that day. Whether you won or lost $5k that day, that is what you need to tell yourself.

If this advice is not followed, what will most likely happen is you will find yourself winning big some days, taking a bunch of time off because you are fat and happy, and then playing when your bankroll gets lower. Then if you happen to run bad after that, you may go broke or end up playing 12 hours a day for weeks on end trying to not go broke. It can be a vicious cycle.

All you can do is ignore wins or losses, play your best each day, work hard, and at the end of the year yous should be in great shape.

EDIT

Please keep in mind that this advice is geared towards people trying to "make it" in poker. If that is not your goal, then feel free to basically do anything you would like after a $5k score

LukeSilver · Aug 11, 2010

Leatherass said:
It is "normal" however, to make it as a poker pro this mentality needs to be fixed if I'm being perfectly honest. Really the only way to look at it is that you are going to have your ups and your downs, but in the long run you will be able to look at the number of hours you have played vs the amount of money you have made and determine an hourly rate. So if you play poker for 1,000 hours for the year and you make $32,000, your hourly is $32.00 an hour. Whether you won $5k in a day or not is irrelevant. You have to tell yourself you only won $32 x the number of hours you played that day. Whether you won or lost $5k that day, that is what you need to tell yourself.

If this advice is not followed, what will most likely happen is you will find yourself winning big some days, taking a bunch of time off because you are fat and happy, and then playing when your bankroll gets lower. Then if you happen to run bad after that, you may go broke or end up playing 12 hours a day for weeks on end trying to not go broke. It can be a vicious cycle.

All you can do is ignore wins or losses, play your best each day, work hard, and at the end of the year yous should be in great shape.

EDIT

Please keep in mind that this advice is geared towards people trying to "make it" in poker. If that is not your goal, then feel free to basically do anything you would like after a $5k score

well to be fair I probably should have mentioned I am at university and have an exam in two weeks I usually quit all poker a week before exams but just combine all factors and thought two week break.

I do intend to make it in poker and make a living, but am a full time student and need to focus on studies to. I also have worked in the summer which affects things.

i plan to get back into it straight after exam. I can't do full 40 hour poker weeks though on top of university.

buckster436 · Aug 11, 2010

actually No, if your on a Rush (good playing & lucks with you,) you should keep playing, you`ll know when the Rush is over,,,nice win BTW,,buck

Mortis · Aug 11, 2010

LukeSilver said:
well to be fair I probably should have mentioned I am at university and have an exam in two weeks I usually quit all poker a week before exams but just combine all factors and thought two week break.

I do intend to make it in poker and make a living, but am a full time student and need to focus on studies to. I also have worked in the summer which affects things.

i plan to get back into it straight after exam. I can't do full 40 hour poker weeks though on top of university.

Sounds like you know your plans then and how to go with it. Since you're in school, it's probably a good idea to postpone your "poker career" or take a break until school is done with, or until the school breaks come up (Winter, Spring, Summer breaks, etc.).

Besides, it's always a good idea to have a back up plan, just in case a poker career doesn't work out.

jolubman · Aug 11, 2010

When you're hot and the cards are going your way, go for it, continue playing.

KingCurtis · Aug 11, 2010

no reason to stop imo. Although be wary of winners tilt, aka going on tilt due to thinking you will win everything after a big win.

mig2169 · Aug 11, 2010

don't listen to these people, if ur having doubts after u bigwin, and don't know what to do????????????The best thing is to take a break andfigure out what kind of player you want tobe. Just don't stray from ur normal routine of playing poker, dont do things that ur not use to doing, biger limits and soforth. Life is good, walletis good, pokerwill be even better to you.

LarkMarlow · Aug 11, 2010

LukeSilver said:
well to be fair I probably should have mentioned I am at university and have an exam in two weeks I usually quit all poker a week before exams but just combine all factors and thought two week break.

I do intend to make it in poker and make a living, but am a full time student and need to focus on studies to. I also have worked in the summer which affects things.

i plan to get back into it straight after exam. I can't do full 40 hour poker weeks though on top of university.

Sounds to me like you have your head on straight and your priorities in order at this stage in your life, Luke. Also sounds like you have really fine Life Management Skills which are just as important as BRM is in poker.

The opportunity to attend university full time usually comes along only once in a lifetime--poker is forever! Keep doing what you've been doing is my humble advice.

Congrats on your win...as well as using the money as you intended.

mosseyAJ · Aug 12, 2010

When I win a large amount of money, i will let you know what I do. I wouldn't count on it soon with the way I have played recently.

bhood1776 · Aug 12, 2010

I remember when you were on here at the beginning of summer saying you needed the 5k for tuition. So now that you have won the exact amount you needed, I don't know how there is even a question of what you should do.

Your goal has been accomplished and you should take the winnings for school and come back to poker later.

The extra money from your job should not be considered part of your bankroll as you will almost certainly need it for something during your school year. You don't want to live off of ramen noodles and spaghetti do you?

greenokom · Aug 12, 2010

It is very important to take time off after a big win because after a big win you feel euphoria that you are able to recover this victory but what happens is the opposite - you lose and you start to lose self-control and then you in tilt.

claudel · Aug 12, 2010

Is good to take a brake, but not a long one, because at that time the luck is yours and you should use it. Like greenokom said, after a big win, you will be so happy that you are not able to see that your bankroll is going down

so take care

Pokertron3000 · Aug 12, 2010

Play untill your ready to do the major study for you exam, carry on playing and learning deceide what games your playing within a good bankroll plan and play. Unless you are going to not play well and become undiciplined with the money (which can happen after a nice win).

Nice score btw.

Oskool · Aug 12, 2010

It sounds to me like you need a little break. If your head isn't into it, it's not going to do you any good to continue playing. IMO, Take a couple weeks off and get your mind refreshed.

AUPhoenix · Aug 12, 2010

First, congrats on your big win. I am glad to hear you made what you needed for school. There is no substitute for a good educaiton. You ever notice when commentators are talking about most real pros what the education level of these pros is. Most are super educated people. Now if the "wind is out of your sails" I would suggest a little break until you get that "eye of the tiger" back.

nc_royals · Aug 12, 2010

i know the right thing to do is to keep playing... But I do the same as you after a big win (although they dont come that often). It's like for the next few days Im just not motivated to jump right back into a long session of poker. I know this is a flaw but probably normal especially for those of us who just consider this part time.

But great cash

Spookey · Aug 13, 2010

If i win a tourney i keep playing 2 more tourneys like that .. if i end up loosing boath i call i quits.
If i lose over 5% or my BR at cash table .. i also call it quits !

And also .. if i get bored ^_^ i call it quits

It all depends on the mood you are in

For example .. if you win a big tourney that lasted more then 6 hours .. it indicated that you take a brake if not you might go on TILT and you woldant even know it ^_^ <.< happened to me when i was a begginer >.> now i got almost 8 years experience xD

Poker Orifice · Aug 17, 2010

LukeSilver said:
So as some of the people here may know I had a big win of near $5000 recently
more specifically 3rd of 3583 players good for $4818.98. I had said earlier in these forums that I needed to make $5000 in the summer to pay tuition fees otherwise was doomed. everyone said $5000 in 3 months was very hard and been only $300 something up after 1 and a half months due to strings of bad luck got very frustrating.

I had said i didn't care if I ran dry most of summer then had the big win at the end. Dunno which i would have preferred the big win all in one go or the trinkles in over the time for same amount big win probably feels better but all the stress and frustration along the way. plus I had to get a job half way through as was losing hope.

so now I pulled it off I decided to take the a break for a few weeks the job means i now have a about $2000 over what i needed for tuition and i left $1000 in my account on top of this.

so you would think i would be diving in wanting to gamble more after the rush i do intend to but i just think the stress and the rush along the way took a bit of wind out of me and i need time off for few weeks.

is this normal do many players take breaks after big wins?

I took a bit of a break after a decent cash before. Not sure why.

Congrats on achieving your goal.

Poker Orifice · Aug 18, 2010

It's MTTs you play right? They can drive a person insane (in case you weren't aware already, lol).
As AUPhoenix above stated -- > make school your main focus. Poke can come after (or during.. a bit.. maybe?.. idk about you but it tends to be all or nothing, lol).
Brief interview with EliElezera during PokerAfterDark, said to any up & coming poker players who are considering going pro... "Go to school first!!" (I forget the rest.. aside from him saying.. 'most don't make it').

I've got a few contacts who dove right into poker (MTT mostly) and after 4mos. or so they hit a couple decent scores in micros, then ~8mos. they hit a bigger score in low-mid buyin ($55), then another in a $20rebuy,.. then another the same month (just over $15k in profit for that month).. since then.. no big scores.. some itm fairly deep in bigger buyins, but the roll is dwindling rapidly.. less than half of what is was for this one guy.

I know of another who plays for a living, mostly MTT on Fulltilt and has a strict BRM thing he follows... he'll keep $10k online, withdrawl anything over $10k.. but when the roll drops below $3k he's down to playing a bunch of $1-$5 rebuys and some other stuff but finds he can usually pick up a bunch of cashes from the micro rebuys. He does fairly decently (~$275k profit on the one site). It sounds/seems like a grind though... it's easy for an MTT player to have a few mos. downswing or worse before a big cash.

Personally I'll probably always be a microdinkament player - recreationally. Not to say I won't play the odd live buyin for a $1-$3k but can't see myself devoting & depending solely upon poker (I don't think I could ever handle it emotionally.... I hate losing)

LukeSilver · Aug 19, 2010

Poker Orifice said:
It's MTTs you play right? They can drive a person insane (in case you weren't aware already, lol).
As AUPhoenix above stated -- > make school your main focus. Poke can come after (or during.. a bit.. maybe?.. idk about you but it tends to be all or nothing, lol).
Brief interview with EliElezera during PokerAfterDark, said to any up & coming poker players who are considering going pro... "Go to school first!!" (I forget the rest.. aside from him saying.. 'most don't make it').

I've got a few contacts who dove right into poker (MTT mostly) and after 4mos. or so they hit a couple decent scores in micros, then ~8mos. they hit a bigger score in low-mid buyin ($55), then another in a $20rebuy,.. then another the same month (just over $15k in profit for that month).. since then.. no big scores.. some itm fairly deep in bigger buyins, but the roll is dwindling rapidly.. less than half of what is was for this one guy.

I know of another who plays for a living, mostly MTT on Fulltilt and has a strict BRM thing he follows... he'll keep $10k online, withdrawl anything over $10k.. but when the roll drops below $3k he's down to playing a bunch of $1-$5 rebuys and some other stuff but finds he can usually pick up a bunch of cashes from the micro rebuys. He does fairly decently (~$275k profit on the one site). It sounds/seems like a grind though... it's easy for an MTT player to have a few mos. downswing or worse before a big cash.

Personally I'll probably always be a microdinkament player - recreationally. Not to say I won't play the odd live buyin for a $1-$3k but can't see myself devoting & depending solely upon poker (I don't think I could ever handle it emotionally.... I hate losing)

mtts and sit and goes. Good combo because like you said large cashes can take ages to achieve but with sit and goes combined you got a steady income coming in from it which gives you the roll boost to keep taking shots.

Daniel72 · Aug 19, 2010

Congratulations, very nice BIG SCORE ! Many players have something like a burn-out after a big win. The motivation is lower, thats why a break is a good idea in my opinion. Don´t make the mistake of spewing money (big cashgames, sports betting, staking etc.) after this big win. And good luck at the tables !

Taking break after big win normal?

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