We often regret having prolonged the game (to the private glee, we feel, of a few players who led us on). It would have been better, we always realize too late, to have left too early. If we had left earlier, we would have then been tormented by the question of whether we should have stayed, but having lost too much right now is definitely worse, with the last hour having been a grueling experience. What’s worse, we can’t really say why we have stayed too long and so we are likely to repeat the same mistake when next time we inevitably show up at the table.

One absolutely must use their powers of reasoning to logically analyze the situation to determine if they should hold or fold. You know when to go to the airport so you won’t miss the plane for that important business meeting. If you are hanging on in desperation waiting for that winning hand and miss your chance to get to the airport on time, you are going to get totally stressed. You won’t play well, you missed the plane and that important meeting. You are also harming yourself and your career.

If poker is supposed to be entertainment but you are not enjoying it - this is a good reason to leave early, before the game becomes a tangle nightmare of bad moves and worse moods. You often see player who take up poker as recreation, but when a game gets too much for them, they cannot leave, and yet they cannot play. They stay out of some sort of perverse compulsion to prolong their torment, not willing to walk out losers. They stay and become greater losers with every losing new hand, instead of accepting good-naturedly accepting the situation - which is merely pastime anyway - and leaving the table, remaining in a good mood, and perhaps trying another game later at another table.

To locate the source of the problem, it is crucial to realize that the problem does not really have anything to do with the game itself. If in spite of yourself you persist in a pointless and counterproductive activity you do not enjoy, it must be because you are avoiding something. If poker is not the reason you stay at the table time and time again, yet you don’t know why you are staying, it must be that you are avoiding something unconnected with the game.

This behavior is undoubtedly manifesting itself in other aspects of your life as well. You must refocus to help you uncover the source of your problem. Don’t waste any more time wondering dumbly why you have once again overstayed your playing time by that murderous extra hour and try to concentrate on envisioning yourself in your other day-to-day activities. This may allow you the insight to discover incidences totally unrelated to your poker game where your behavior is the same.

Keep an open mind when doing this mental exercise, it may be anything from job dissatisfaction to suppressed anger or grief. Once you have come to a conclusion, deal with it, and you will more easily be able to cut your losses by leaving the table.

Tags: Gambling

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