is it possible to be a good poker player and have depression

[sryImPro]

Dear lowlimitfish, first of all, welcome to the Cardschat! I read your article very carefully and i have a couple of advices for you. I have a friend who was fighting with depression while he was playing online poker and i'm going to tell you right away that its not going to work for you and to help your well beign. Conditions were we generally play poker are pretty much antisocial and confronting to what you should do for example. As you already mentioned above, you should go walking and pick up some sunlights instead of sitting in front of computer and leting poker affects your life...Depression and gambling don't get along so i would strongly recommend to put poker a side for some time, until you get better and than you can reconsider your life as a poker player...It's summer so give your best to use it in right way!

 

[Cooking]

My advice for you is try to treat your depression first then trying to be a poker pro. Be a poker pro may seems a way to cure your depression, but it's very difficult to achieve that, so, you need to have another option in your life. Find something else you like and go out to do that. In the rest of your time, play poker. If you are on tilt or bored with poker, you will have something else to distract you.

 

[Refinado Tom]

I can give some advice on this. I hope the translate help me and I can express myself properly.
Personally, almost two years ago that I'm depressed. Now I feel much better and I have expectations both in poker and in life. But a year ago I was back really bad poker and helped me overcome the time and it's a good way to entertain the mind without going outside. When one is depressed does not want to see anyone or go out and poker is a good excuse for being locked up for hours doing something. Obviously, the success did not arrive until you feel better.

Here my advice: take advantage of your situation to gain experience online, read books, articles, watch videos, share opinions on forums how are you doing here, etc.. Will serve you later ...
And very important! beam breaks in the greatest possible exercise, walk around your house, sit-ups, push-ups, etc..

Then when you are good and want to come back to face all this life experience you there will be served and you'll be able to certainly be a winning player!

Force!

 

[Chemist]

...It's summer so give your best to use it in right way!

North Hemispherians always making assumptions. :smokin:

 

[punctual]

I want to be a good player maybe a pro someday but my depression and anxietys hold be back somewhat, cause when i tilt i tilt hard. I have low confidence and a concentration spam of about 5 seconds so i miss alot of tells.

Also i have really bad memory and for poker you need this so you can put people on a range to figure out if a flop helped someone.

I have a bad habit too think everyone is pulling a fast one and trying to bluff me out most pots, please can someone tell me how i eliminate this from my game im calling people down with TPTK alot and im losing money and chips in mtts because of it.

Good players are good players because they have been in a certain situation a thousand times before and they know how to react, i have my self but my minds a blank in these situation i don't remember being in the situations so in theory whenever i play im always behind even if i'm ahead because my opponent will have the beating of me if that makes sense.

Also i don't leave the house much i would describe myself as quite the little hermet, so when im on tilt or on a bad run so instead of the walk and head clearing im stuck in the house staring at my computer and convincing myself i will do just fine and try and play through the tilt.... Bad idea and 1.7k loss shows

I think poker being a game of risk will make your highs higher and your lows lower.

So when you are doing well you will tend to become manic and when you are doing poorly you will tend to become depressed if you are an emotionally unstable person by default.

I wouldnt' recommend this game to someone with depression because bad beats will only push you further into depression (and bad beats are probably the only thing you are guaranteed in poker).

You need to get to a point where nothing bothers you; after all, the best poker players in the world will tell you they don't care about what happens in a particular tournament as much as they care about the results of many tournaments over the long run.

If you are already in a bad mood, a bad beat will make your mood even worse. I'd say come back and play poker when you have found your center!

 

[TeUnit]

think you can be a good poker player if depressed think "mike the mouth" was a good example of this

 

[PapaC]

Today has been a good example of playing while depressed. My grandson spent the night and when he does, he sleeps with granny,so that puts papa on the couch lol. Anyway, I woke up hurting from my arthritis so bad that it sent me into a bad depression and I tried playing some but I was playing a game of "I Really Dont Care" mood. It just don't work. I lose everytime. And I would quit and come back to it in an hour and lose a little more. Well if you all are like me, losing also depresses me too. To say the least this has not been a good day for poker

 

[Poker Orifice]

take it from someone who knows what they are talking about

why? Do you know somebody who's successful at poker? :icon_joke

 

[bullishwwd]

why? Do you know somebody who's successful at poker? :icon_joke

G1 mate Ya'll make a great couple.

And, you are both poker mentors

 

[dj11]

"Everything" that you mentioned that you suffer from IS NOT GOOD FOR PLAYING POKER, period.

So, you will need to work on (get help with) overcoming these issues or you will never be successful at poker and likely not many other things in life.

A big plus is that you apparently recognize and acknowledge this fact ... don't be depressed because this is a really good thing.

Good luck, Wally

+1,+1....

Memory issues mostly, but that short attention span is a big issue also.

So you need some poker exercises; do these using play money. You are sort of training your mind to do things a certain way.

1,,,get in a play money game and FOLD EVERY HAND! Every single hand, doesn't matter what you cards are, FOLD EVERY SINGLE HAND. While you are cursing the poker gods, watch what every other player at the table is doing. Take notes if you think you might ever see these folks again. ...DO THIS 20 TIMES IN A ROW!

2...Get in another play money game, and RAISE EVERY SINGLE HAND. Again, it doesn't matter what your cards are, you could cover your hands with a 3x5 card or something. do this maybe 10 games in a row.

3...Normal game...memory exercises...uses the 'Last Hand' function a lot. Start remembering what hand you just folded. Check it in the next hand with the Last Hand Function. Just get in the habit of doing this regularly,

4 ...Pick a range of opportunities. Opportunities in poker are more than just what cards you are dealt. Make sure you consider position, and stack sizes. Over the course of 20 games, play those ranges faithfully, no variations on the plan whatsoever!

The thing about the 20 games in a row is that there are studies showing the way to change habits is do do something 20 times IN A ROW in a way that does not follow the habit you want to change.

Do this all with play money.....For your own good, you need to work on the short comings you described, and at this point there is no reason to pay for those lessons. Set yourself a goal of building to 1 million play chips. There is almost no (valid) reason in the whole wide world that achieving that goal will not be beneficial to your long term poker health. Once you figure out how to get out of the lowest level play money games, and get into higher buy-in play money games, you can actually consider that a step forward. Once you get to the highest buy-in games, you will be playing approximately the same as $5-$20 MTTs. I could actually say that $20 buy-ins might actually be easier than the highest buy-in play money tourneys, and mean it, but then some snob would get in the discussion about not wasting you time with play money anything.

You have already wasted your time, and money, trying to overcome some self described short comings. At least stop wasting the money till you understand things better.

Play money poker is best for developing a respect for the game, and changing your greed (natural for poker players) to an ability to enjoy the game, regardless of the outcome. If you are not enjoying the experience, trust me, you are wasting your time trying to go pro.

 

[babydrago9]

I was always 100% the same, but that was because I has really bad BRM. I used to play with like half, a third or even my entire bankroll in a game, so when I lost my bankroll took significant effect and I got completely tilted. Therefore I just changed my strategy so I never use more than 10% of my bankroll in a game, this probably isn't optimal but its a percentage which I can afford to lose because my bankroll isn't too big anyways.
If you get tilted because you lose in a deep run of a tourney for example, getting tilted is what happens by everyone!

 

[PlayedYou73]

Since most types of depression are linked to a chemical inbalance in your brain, I can't see how any type of untreated depression can possibly "not" affect your poker play in a negative way.

 

[Poker Orifice]

G1 mate Ya'll make a great couple.

ha ha ha Nice!

 

[kurz]

Since most types of depression are linked to a chemical inbalance in your brain, I can't see how any type of untreated depression can possibly "not" affect your poker play in a negative way.

I don´t think any depression is easy to explain just to say it is a chemical inbalance in your brain. But you are right if you have a depression it will affect your poker play because it is an emotional game.

I think it is not advisable to play poker with a depression.

 

[left52side]

think you can be a good poker player if depressed think "mike the mouth" was a good example of this

Mike is A perfect example to your question.
Lots of people suffer from depression and maintain everyday life,it is just harder for us,we have to work harder to achieve our goals and what we want to do because there is this BIG DAMN rock named depression in our way .
I myself have suffered from depression since I was A child,as well as battling many other demons in my life that I have conquered over the last ten years.
Yes some days are definitely better than other,yes some days just plain suck,but I have and continue to be A winning player consistently for over five years or more.it took a long time to find me che or balance and many bad habits and mistakes to learn from them.
It has never really affected my poker game because poker has always been my happy spot ,it cheers me up to be in the action and playing and focusing takes my mind off of whatever would have been bothering me.
Now on the poker note poker has affected my depression in the past before I found my che ,being if I would have A losing session or have someone bink A two outter on me I would literally get so depressed and sometimes go home and just be so depressed over it for days.
Then one day I woke up and said man you are good , you are going to have bad beats,losing sessions,and huge variance and there is nothing you can do about it,so either I had to learn to not let it affect me or just to quit the game.
It is obvious which I chose,and since that point my mentality and outlook on the game has changed 100%.
Hope this helps you friend.

 

[bullishwwd]

+1,+1....

Memory issues mostly, but that short attention span is a big issue also.

So you need some poker exercises; do these using play money. You are sort of training your mind to do things a certain way.

1,,,get in a play money game and FOLD EVERY HAND! Every single hand, doesn't matter what you cards are, FOLD EVERY SINGLE HAND. While you are cursing the poker gods, watch what every other player at the table is doing. Take notes if you think you might ever see these folks again. ...DO THIS 20 TIMES IN A ROW!

2...Get in another play money game, and RAISE EVERY SINGLE HAND. Again, it doesn't matter what your cards are, you could cover your hands with a 3x5 card or something. do this maybe 10 games in a row.

3...Normal game...memory exercises...uses the 'Last Hand' function a lot. Start remembering what hand you just folded. Check it in the next hand with the Last Hand Function. Just get in the habit of doing this regularly,

4 ...Pick a range of opportunities. Opportunities in poker are more than just what cards you are dealt. Make sure you consider position, and stack sizes. Over the course of 20 games, play those ranges faithfully, no variations on the plan whatsoever!

The thing about the 20 games in a row is that there are studies showing the way to change habits is do do something 20 times IN A ROW in a way that does not follow the habit you want to change.

Do this all with play money.....For your own good, you need to work on the short comings you described, and at this point there is no reason to pay for those lessons. Set yourself a goal of building to 1 million play chips. There is almost no (valid) reason in the whole wide world that achieving that goal will not be beneficial to your long term poker health. Once you figure out how to get out of the lowest level play money games, and get into higher buy-in play money games, you can actually consider that a step forward. Once you get to the highest buy-in games, you will be playing approximately the same as $5-$20 MTTs. I could actually say that $20 buy-ins might actually be easier than the highest buy-in play money tourneys, and mean it, but then some snob would get in the discussion about not wasting you time with play money anything.

You have already wasted your time, and money, trying to overcome some self described short comings. At least stop wasting the money till you understand things better.

Play money poker is best for developing a respect for the game, and changing your greed (natural for poker players) to an ability to enjoy the game, regardless of the outcome. If you are not enjoying the experience, trust me, you are wasting your time trying to go pro.

VERY WELL STATED DJ ... EXACTLY !!!

I had actually forgotten about the "play money" aspect of 'learning' poker ... I did a lot of what you stated herein (not all of it) several years ago for maybe 2 years before I ever played a 'real money' Tournament or Cash game...back when Pokerstars & Full Tilt was in their prime for USA players.

Thought I'd never reach 100,000 in play chips (took many months) and then I did ... it seemed much easier after that goal was reached ... "my perspective changed". The most I ever attained was a little more than 4.2 million in play chips (even sold a couple million in play chips at $20 (real money) per million. I'd often transfer 100,000 to other players to help get them started with a different 'perspective'. My biggest "single hand loss was 998,000" (play chips) when I had AAAA and lost to the first "straight flush" I had ever seen. LOL, a real learning experience. DJ, I actually took "notes" back then too

Play money is obviously the best place to experiment and learn (practice a new strategy too).

This is worth repeating again: "Play money poker is best for developing a respect for the game, and changing your greed (natural for poker players) to an ability to enjoy the game, regardless of the outcome. If you are not enjoying the experience, trust me, you are wasting your time trying to go pro."

My best, Wally