Quote:
Originally Posted by TrueHeart
""feeling" like you're fine, when you truly aren't" is a lack of objective view on the matter
and
"wake up the next day down 20 buyins wondering how the heck it all went wrong and how long before you're going to get it back." is a lack of understanding variance.
When u take a deep look at these two sentences u wrote, i personally see that an imaginary player with this mindset is truly weak-minded. For a player with this mental leaks , stop-loss is the best.
If a player went beyond and understood himself and he can truly notice whether he is fine or not and does understand variance alot better, i can never see why he would choose stop-loss over stop-tilt since stop-loss doesnt mean anything objective to him so the concept becomes very useless for him. My opinion.
Let me start by saying I am not arguing with you. Your points are valid, I simply am choosing to provide a deeper insight into the matter.
Most people on here understand the concept of variance, it is unavoidable. You can't outrun it, you can't outplay it, there will simply be a time, when if you keep doing things correctly, the long run will be realized and you will start to see positive results.
The problem, is that the long run can't be predicted. One players long run could take 100 times longer to realize than another. Utilizing a stop loss creates gaps in a players session, thereby allowing them to mentally regroup and avoid blowing their entire bankroll in a single session. You might play your best poker and still lose every single pot. If you want to do that in a single session, go ahead. Most players want to play poker and if you string out that long run, somehow losing 20 buyins over 2 weeks doesn't feel as bad as 20 buyins in one day.
You are absolutely right that not being able to play your best poker when you are down 20 buyins is absolute mental leak. The problem, is that most players have this leak. Recognizing a weakness and doing something to combat it is a strength. If you realize that losing puts you at a disadvantage, then a stop loss is a remedy.
Few people will ever get to the stage where wins and losses don't affect them. I know in my own personal development, I spent a lot of time reading poker books and working on my mental game. I was prone to anger and tilt and Omaha is a killer when it comes to the mental side. Even after all my hard work, I'm still not able to just shrug off losses when they start to pile up, nor am I able to pass off a win as something that should have happened. Both affect my emotional state, because I am human. I don't want to lose the ability to have something affect me, because it is the highs and lows of the game that make me truly enjoy it. There is so much to feel when a hand hits or misses, a stack doubles, or one evaporates, that I don't want to just move on to the next.
I don't often play with hard stop losses anymore, but in the back of my mind, I always have levels of losses and even wins, where I re-evaluate am I playing good poker? If the answer comes back no, I leave. If I soldier on and a couple more buyins escape, I decide to leave. I am confident that the next day will bring a fresh start. Perhaps not in the variance aspect of poker, but in a new day, a new session, a new attitude and a new potential for victory. The realization that every session allows for new beginnings, is what keeps me sharp. The decision to use stop losses to create those new beginnings is not a weakness, its a strength.