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.
It is crucial to be able to stay or leave based on a logical analysis of the situation, not an emotional impulse. If logically you have matters to attend to – liking picking up your wife and kids or attending work – you must be able to leave immediately. Sometimes a desperate hope for by now certainly imminent better luck is so strong that you miss dates and business appointments. But, the longer you stay overdue, the worse you play, because you know you are supposed to be elsewhere and that possibly your are ruining your life and career.
Poker is meant to be entertaining. If you are not having fun, that’s as good as reason as any to walk away early before the game becomes a tragedy of poor play and an even poorer frame of mind. A lot of players begin the game of poker for recreational purposes. If the game becomes overwhelming and they cannot leave, but neither can they play a decent game, it ceases to be recreation. They may be staying out of a sort of guilt, doing penance by playing badly and losing. They stay on and on suffering greater losses with every new deal, instead of taking their medicine with maturity, maintaining their good nature and understanding that it is just a game after all.
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.
The author is a successful limit cash game player. He plays poker online and receives Cellsino Poker Rakeback as well as Rakeback at Fat Bet Poker.