I always play terrible at the start of online sessions and I don't know how to prevent it :|.

It's a question of nerves. Once they have settled I can play for hours and hours and not make any significant mistakes, but until that point I have to negotiate a minefield of uncertainty.

I have tried the obvious things, like dropping down stakes, playing fewer tables, and analysing past sessions before I play. It helps a little but not as much as I'd hoped.

I'm currently playing relatively low stakes - 100nl when I have played as high as 1knl in the past. I would still be playing that high today but these moments before I can get settled are too big a leak!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

"I always play terrible..." except when you don't.

This is simply a belief. If you'd like some help with that I'd be happy to talk.

Saying you "always play terrible" is such a limiting belief. Ever heard of a self fulfilling prophecy? Do you think anyone successful would say "I'm always a failure."

It sounds like you don't have a warmup. If you do, perhaps it's not very good. You have to try to figure out what is causing you to feel anxious before you play. If you expect to play terrible at the start of your session, that alone could be a trigger.

Winnercircle is spot on here. For the same reason why athletes stretch their legs before the game starts, we need to do the same thing to mentally prepare for our session. Whether it is a good meal, exercise, music or reading, you need to figure out what makes you comfortable because the moment the self doubt comes into focus, that is a hard battle to overcome.

I am the same way live...I 75% of the time spew off my first buy in and then I usually recoup my money plus some but its like I have too feel the pain of losing before I start taking it serious enough to beat the game..

Acesflow11,
Is there another way that you could experience the pain of losing that might be more useful to you?

Jon

You don't work out without getting warm up beforehand- muscles and nervous system needs some warming up and stimulus to get your mind and body ready to lift weights.
I think the same goes for the poker- you have to condition your brain before you actually start playing for money. It's like watching a funny movie and going to the tables right after that- your mind is kind of too loose and relaxed and you might not be in the right mental state to take poker seriously at this point because all the laughter and fun you just had.
Sometimes i'm too tired but i'm not aware of this fact and still play- that means mistakes. One way to make sure you are not tired is to try to remember something, doing something that requires attention and focus- if you fail somehow, do too many mistakes or can't focus enough and your mind steers away from the task then you know that there's no point in playing poker at this point but do something else, sleep, meditate, whatever and try later again.
So to sum it up: at the start of the session it's possible that your brain is not in the right state, your mind is not tuned in.

Sometimes I have the same problem. All kind of online brain/memory/concentration games(google it) help to reduce it. Of course you shouldn't overdo it, brains get tired too.

I'm a live player, it normally takes about 1/2 hr for my game to settle in so what I try to do is slow my mind down and focus on the game flow and play a bit more conservatively. My pre session routine actually gets me to jazzed up and I need a bit of time to settle in, nit up for a lap or two and go from there.

Stretching before lifting weights is proven to lower the amount you can lift, while the research on stretching before working out to prevent injury is neither strong or conclusive.

OP - you could try either playing really tight at the beginning of sessions, or try playing at stakes below your usual level as a warming up process. I personally don't like to either start or end a session by taking on too many marginal situations, so i just tighten up. This has the added effect of keeping your opponents' reads fuzzy.

It's all about mindset. You have to believe you'll win. If you go into a session with any amount of uncertainty your play will reflect your current mindset and you will lose. Work on your mental game.

Fold until you have settled in.

Sounds crazy at first but a good friend suggested this to me and it has helped me personally. I play live so maybe a little different but I will sometimes fold all hands until I am at least physically comfortable and settled in.

I end up having to do this after taking a few days off as well.