HOW TO ENJOY LOOSING?
I don't understand how people can enjoy losing.
A slot player, just like a losing poker player, flushes money down the toilet and comes back for more.
If they truly hated losing, they would stop, or figure out how to win.
I HATE losing, even as a winning player, and I think this is actually a problem.
There has to be a way to embrace it, even if it's not enjoyable.
I have only rarely been at a table so fun, that I didn't mind being stuck.
AND I realize by now, losing and vairance is part of the game, but it's hard to prepare for that, because you want to go in with positive vibes.
Often, I can predict which way my session will go within the first few hours. It's just one of those things.
No one walks into the poker room EXPECTING to lose. OR expecting to waste hours folding and bleeding to death.
I'm actually quite envious of all these losing players. They are used to losing. They expect it. They are always thinking the worst case scenario. They hate AA or JJ and they "ALWAYS with with 52." And they seem to have fun, which I just can't understand.
They are so naive, its to their benefit. By NOT understanding the game, and thinking its all luck, they are more prepared to lose.
What are some tips or techniques to get into the mindset to prepare for anything?
I know it sounds cliche - to focus on the processs, but no one wants to drive an hour to the casino, wait another hour for a table sometimes, and then proceed to bleeed for hours.
9 Replies
You should learn to accept losing. That does not mean you have to like it.
If you are winning player, losing a hand/session/bubble means you are that much closer to your next winning session.
find a process you love, you'll win more often and it won't matter so much when you loose.
I don't understand how people can enjoy losing.
A slot player, just like a losing poker player, flushes money down the toilet and comes back for more.
If they truly hated losing, they would stop, or figure out how to win.
I HATE losing, even as a winning player, and I think this is actually a proble
I think there are a lot of motivations for playing poker other than just winning. Poker is by its very nature a social game. When I play live, especially, I see a lot of older players. They are not that good at poker by and large, but when you talk to them, you find out that maybe their spouse died and their kids moved out of town. Maybe they don’t have a lot of friends still around. A lot of them play just to get some social contact with others. They regard whatever they lose as a price they are willing to pay to get that contact. Others play mainly because there are promos like bad beat jackpots worth some actual big, life-changing money. I’m not saying this is a smart thing to do, but they think they have a chance to win enough to pay off the car and mortgage, so losing a few hundred bucks is worth it. Slot players also have a similar mentality. It isn’t so much that they enjoy losing; it’s that they think they will get lucky, or at least engage in wishful thinking to that effect, and when they do, that will make up for all the losses.
ItÂ’s the question that needs to be addressed.
Most people naturally like winning, and naturally dislike losing more than winning.
You can find studies on that if you look around, if you make a social study tricky enough, youÂ’ll find that most humans will be willing to do -EV trades in exchange of less losses up to a certain threshold that is far beyond equilibrium.
They will also face more emotional pain at a loss than relative pleasure to an equal win.
PeopleÂ… do. Not. Like. Losing.
The similar reversed is also true, thatÂ’s one of the reason lottery tickets are popular. Human compute : I have a guaranteed loss of 50 cents, and an unlikely win of 8 million dollars. Deal.
Back to your question now thatÂ’s established that feeling bad at a loss is natural and isnÂ’t necessarily something that needs to be fixed.
A better question is : What is my overarching value? Win or lose, why am I here? What am I getting out of this?
LetÂ’s say John plays poker for fun, losing isnÂ’t that bad he had fun. John plays poker for connection, oh well I made a friend, losing my stack wasnÂ’t that bad. John plays poker for excellence, oh well I played as good as I could, losing isnÂ’t that bad. And a 2+2 special, John is playing poker as relief to cope with life pain and distress and emotional wounds
I don't think it can be done.
Cristiano Ronaldo has won everything and has hundreds of millions of dollars, but you can see the pain in his face today, when he loses a match.
The human animal is competitive and always wants more, which is it's tragedy, but which also pushes it and the human race on to better things.
Haven't read any replies but I've played for a long time. And my mental game is very good. I don't enjoy losing. But I adopt a stoic mindset. I don't let losing affect my play. Read the mental game of poker book . It should help.
Obviously, stop betting no limit games.
Most no-limit players are suckers being exploited by the very small % of players who have a temperament that aligns with the rules of no-limit.
Then there is this whole ecosystem of bullshit to convince you to play no-limit. "What are you too stupid to not win at no-limit?" lol.
"There's a sucker born every minute"
--P. T. Barnum at least a 100 years ago
Oh no! You are going to learn "GTO" and do the exploiting!! lol
Most that post here are ****ing suckers. If you can take a step back, there can't be anything more obvious.
Losing is always going to be painful. The best you can achieve is not let it affect your game while you are playing. But there is no away around feeling sadness and pain after a losing session, especially a big loss.
Good bankroll, deep awareness of own emotional state and being kind to myself are the only things that have helped me after a big loss. It's still hard. The other thing is how you handle the loss is part of your edge. It absolutely is. So there is some more motivation to get good at handling losses.
