Hi guys,

The biggest of all my leaks is getting up when I am down. I can't tell you how many times I have gotten myself in a huge jam basically playing my whole stack away because if I left for example I would be down 10 dollars. What do you guys do in regards to a losing strategy without losing it all and starting over. I am playing 50 and 100 NL should I set a buy in limit for myself or a time limit

I have no problem getting up when I am ahead it is just when I am down any amount large or small it gets to me. I have been lucky so lately as this hasn't happen just getting ready for it.

Thanks

Kman

one thing i've started doing is "fining" myself if i engage in my biggest leak (playing while drinking).

my wife gets $100 on top of what i normally give her out of my poker money if i drink and play more than .01/.02 and $1 MTTs. $100 is my sweet spot, and it will go up as my BR increases. anyway, this has a way of focusing my mind, and i haven't violated my rule yet.

i am also contemplating a stakes penalty if i make a donk move. for example, if i donk off $200 with a stupid play at the $200 tables (like i did the other day), then i can't play the 200s for a week (or whatever). this is still in the works, but it's one idea. it forces you to play your A-game, or you know that you will be cut off from your source of income.

I guess it depends on the reaons for your bad play. If its just the fact that you're down that makes you do stuff like making aggressive moves to get even, a stop loss would work. But if there are other factors, it may not be as useful. Someone made an interesting post a few days ago where they said a fixed stop loss isn't always effective even though it limits the damage. Say you tilt when you get outplayed/outdrawn (like me). A $200 win can turn into a $200 loss without the stop loss kicking in. I'm thinking about moving to a downswing limit instead of a fixed '-$X' limit for a session.

Sidenote: One of the books I read recently (I think it was by Vorhaus) recommended keeping an 'emotion log' during a session to track times when you play non-optimal poker. Basically you just keep track of your emotions - confident, bored, frustrated, pissed off - and what you think caused them, so you can zero in on situations that are dangerous in the future and play more cautiously at those times. The idea, I guess, is that once you bring your subconscious mistakes into conscious examination, you'll be more likely to recongnize them the next time they're about to occur.