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Hi Guys,

I am writing this topic because I am very concerned about my poker game and even maybe about myself.
I started playing online poker about 20 month ago, and I usually start very neaty a new experience: got a lot of ebooks, forums and so on. I learned about bankroll management, progressive play, TAG ...
I usually deposit ~50$ / month and so far I tried a lot of poker variants: NL, FL, SNG, MTT. I failed in all of them. Why?

I start with 50$, or 100$, and 2 or 3 days I play cool , in bankroll, cash or sng or mtt. I am winning. After a few days, I Kaboom and go with all the bankroll at a higher stake, or I buy in a MTT with the whole bankroll. I do it, I lose it, and say next time I will not do this again. Next time cames, same s***, different day :-).

Recently I watched Pokersense series, and learned about neuroticism. I reviewed my poker play and even my life from this perspective, and I am quite sure that my personality has a high neuroticism. Several tests confirms this.
Some examples:

- I started guitar many years ago hoping to be a rockstar. I reached a semi-pro level, I never touched the guitar again
- I started piano 2 years ago. Exceeded the teacher expectations (learned very good Fur Elise in 3 month), never touched the piano again
- I started aqauarium hobby, was like crazy for 1 year, then suddenly quit. Still have the aqaurium, but only feed the fish
- Yesterday I lost my 100$ bankroll playint an 11+R MTT after some cracked AAs on 2NL (before that I was running very good). So I am a tilting donk.

Is there a cure for this? If it is not, I fear that I will ever be a winning player. In real life I can cope, I am quite a funny and social guy, but when coming to goals, dreams ... they go down the drain after a while.

Cheers.

If you are having fun and you are only dropping 50-100 a month (and that 50-100 a month isn't significant money to you) I'd say keep playing until you get bored. If you are worried about your mental game you can make efforts to study that which may help you in other areas of life, but it doesn't sound like you have a real problem here.

Definitely buy and read this and you will get rid of your problem or at least find a way to work on it.
http://www.amazon.com/Mastery-Keys-Success-Long-Term-Fulfillment/dp/0452267560

Well :-), actually I am not having fun at all. My goal is to win a lot from poker. This stays active in my mind only for a few days (3 is maximum so far, lol).
And when I do lose my whole bankroll at a time, I actually am not enjoying at all. I broke 2 mouses and 1 monitor and 1 door so far :-). The next day I am blue. Then I recover, deposit again, and do the same thing again. Seriously. And I am writing it, I know it's wrong. But I still cannot control when tilting.

Is it really normal? A lot of you guys do this? :-))

Hey doc.lemon, very very interesting book. I searched for this kind of book but failed. Excelent. Do you know more of this kind?

Thanks!

Well :-), actually I am not having fun at all. My goal is to win a lot from poker. This stays active in my mind only for a few days (3 is maximum so far, lol).
And when I do lose my whole bankroll at a time, I actually am not enjoying at all. I broke 2 mouses and 1 monitor and 1 door so far :-). The next day I am blue. Then I recover, deposit again, and do the same thing again. Seriously. And I am writing it, I know it's wrong. But I still cannot control when tilting.

Is it really normal? A lot of you guys do this? :-))

Poker will never make you happy this way. Change your mentality or quit. Guys that quit or who burnout and whine on the forums do this. You are The Dabbler (read the book, seriously), so it will be hard for you but I recommend you shift your focus from winnings to the process of playing and learning. I made a personalized version of a great article you might find useful

http://www.liquidpoker.net/blog/viewblog.php?id=933717

Hey doc.lemon, very very interesting book. I searched for this kind of book but failed. Excelent. Do you know more of this kind?

Thanks!

It's very slim, and you can actually read it online here
http://www.yudu.com/item/details/53403/Mastery---The-Keys-To-Success-And-Long-Term-Fulfillment---George-Leonard.pdf
But I prefer paperbacks (too many distractions online ). It should change your way you view learning not only in poker but in life in general. I don't think you will need to read any more, and you can just google concepts from it like the unconscious competence and take it from there.

In "Mastery" (great book) they discuss learning types. It sounds to me you are a dabbler and a bit obsessive. You start with things, and once you hit a plateau (plateau can also be a good level) you quit. Because its no longer the excitement of "starting something new".

The only advise I can give you, is, that if you want to stop being a dabbler (somebody that switches from new things into other new things), is to keep at it. Keep playing, and try to become a master in it.

Also, you should probably learn a bit more about bankroll management if you keep using your whole roll for tournaments and shit

I just dug up a quote from Ali Somnius from Neuropsychology of Poker, I find it very useful :

changing the focus
To recap, extrinsic motivation is not as strong as intrinsic. When your behaviour seems controlled by external forces, in this case money, you will be less intrinsically motivated. You can remain motivated by the money but it will not be as strong a motivation, especially if you begin to accumulate more money than you need.
As a digression, one way your brain tries to overcome this last point is by having you spend the money so that you are motivated to make more. When the money becomes the prime motivator, there can be an influence even more negative than lowered intrinsic motivation, i.e. that money can become the tool which completely influences your behaviour. Anyway, one way to mitigate the discrepancy between the insufficient justification effect and wanting to maximize profits, is to internalize the motivation by altering your focus.
Studies have shown that when subjects are motivated by rewards praising progress instead of output, the motivation increases. Put specifically: intrinsic motivation grows. Subjects who were given rewards for their output as indications of their progress, such as learning that they are getting better and more skilled at the activity, were more motivated to continue. This is yet another reason why learning and improving is more important than the line in your results graph. Progress as an end in its own right should be your main focus. If you do this, not only will the money follow, but your motivation will remain and your output will be more consistent.

EndNote
You play poker to make money, this is a comprehensible reality. You also play for the challenge, for the mental exercise, and the competition. The more you study and the more you work on your game, the greater the chances of improving in all of these areas. If you focus on the money alone, good things can happen. However, you might just have an easier and more successful time if you remove money as the primary objective. The Japanese have an important word called ‘kaizen’, meaning continuous improvement. When was the last time you thought about improving simply for the sake of it?

Stunned. About 10 posts and no one has mentioned Tommy Angelo's Eightfold Path to Poker Enlightenment? Edit: video series on this site.

If it doesn't improve your poker game, it will at least make you want to take up the piano again.

I'd try to focus on one game, prob 6max cash.

Well, I can't believe I get to do this but:

EPTPE

Stunned. About 10 posts and no one has mentioned Tommy Angelo's Eightfold Path to Poker Enlightenment? Edit: video series on this site.

If it doesn't improve your poker game, it will at least make you want to take up the piano again.

I'd try to focus on one game, prob 6max cash.

I know me and Snappie find Mastery a tad more useful, and I saw/listened to EPTE 4-5 times and read Elements twice

Well, I can't believe I get to do this but:

EPTPE

too slow mofo although you did provide the link.

I know me and Snappie find Mastery a tad more useful, and I saw/listened to EPTE 4-5 times and read Elements twice

I've followed the online link and will read, cheers.

Guys ... you are AWSOME, GREAT! If I would have discussed yesterday with you, I would have still had my 100$ bankroll :-)). Now I have to wait another month, LOL!

Thank you very much! I will read these books and come back to you with a mental result.