| That’s right. No mistakes there, It’s winning streaks I meant all along and not losing streaks. Don’t you find it funny that every poker article and strategy guide out there speaks about what to do and what not to do when you’re losing? No article is ever considering what players do when they are actually winning. Oh, I get it. There’s nothing interesting about that, huh? The guy’s a winner, he’s in the black. Let him enjoy his winnings the way he sees fit, that’s no business of ours, is it?
Apparently a more or less logical explanation as to why very few poker articles are interested in what people do when they are on a winning streak, is that there’s were little variance in winner’s attitudes towards to game, so there’s not so much to talk about. Turns out, that not the case at all. People do react differently when they’re winning and while some of them can handle the situation just fine, others find it extremely problematic and they do have their general poker approach disturbed by it. How is it possible to find winning a problem? Ever heard of the guy who won the lottery and went on to blow all his money on drugs, gambling and alcohol, effectively pushing himself to the edge of non-existence? Ever seen an alcoholic who owes his still being alive to the precarious financial situation he’s in? Success can be a driving force for some, and it can be bloody nightmare for others.
You see, there’s an interesting phenomenon at work in successful poker. Winning is nowhere near as satisfying as you think it should be. Saving money is even less so for most people. This would explain why so few choose to sign up for rakeback (even though it helps their bankrolls immensely over the short and long-run by minimizing their losses and maximizing their winnings) or become poker props. Those who win do not feel a satisfaction which is equal to the turmoil they go through when they lose the same amount of money. Few people realize it that this is the actual state of things in this matter, and because of that, they never get a chance to get things under control when they’re winning. This is only one of the reasons why winning can be disappointing for most people. Another reason is that very few poker players can actually handle winning large sums of money over a short session. I suppose we’ve all see people who won left and right for a while, appearing invulnerable. After a few such winning rounds, the fact that they were invincible indeed and possessed a god given knack for the game began to sink in with them too. They began playing with that in mind, and pretty soon they got felted, losing even the money that they had had before the winning spree started. In consequence: a winning streak is almost as likely to set an unprepared player on tilt as a losing one is.
Another reason why winning can turn sour is that players are generally not good at maximizing their gains when they’re on a winning spree, and that will strike back with a vengeance later. What can you do to improve your success handling skills? About not enjoying winning quite as much as you thought you would: there’s not a whole lot you can do about that. Just try to change your general attitude towards the game and have fun when winning.
There’s a lot you can do about not tilting though. A large part of the winning tilt is based on your hitting mathematically unlikely hands. You flop a set on three consecutive small pocket pairs that you play…Does that mean you should play the same hand from UTG every time? Definitely not. Don’t let Lady Luck entice you into making mathematically incorrect moves. If you’re playing EV-, there’s no way you’ll stay a long term winner, regardless of how lucky you get and how long your lucky streak lasts.
Don’t be shy to leave if you feel you’re no longer playing your best due to the winning streak you’re on. The game always returns to its regular olds self anyway, and playing EV+ will again become the only way to beat it.
Sign up for free perks like rakeback and prop deals. You’re going to give your EV a boost through these offers. |
