Beware of Elation!

This is a topic I had wanted to write about for some time now, but it wasn't until recently that I found the RIGHT WORD to describe the subject of this post.


ELATION.


The word finally hit me as I was replying to a post on the PilipinasPoker forums.


"...With a 1k buy-in, I was 6k up (total including the buy-in) in just a span of 4 hours....So there I was at my table comfortably winning until I got hit.  (insert bad beat story here).

"I wasn't able to shift gears as soon as possible and from there made plays that even my 12 year-old niece won't do... I really tilted big time and the point break was when I raised my JJ and a new player shoved.  I had no good read on him because he just sat down, but I was putting him on either KK or QQ... and still called.  He showed his AA and it held unimproved.

Then another guy sat down.  First hand he shoved with a 500 peso-worth of buy-in.  I instantly called with my AQ suited and his QQ hit a set on the flop....From there I kept re-buying, lost my table image and lost my stack that I used to bully people around

Calling on Coach Red.  Need advice.   :crying: :crying: :crying:"


The Original poster then goes onto post his "Lessons:" - and my comments are in yellow italicized boldface.

(1)  I underestimated the players; more like you overestimated yourself, all poker players are guilty of this.

(2)  I became too proud and my small success got into my head; see below

(3)  I became too greedy and I did not stick with the "incremental winnings" policy that I set for myself; i don't like having a stop-win rule, but as this is your personal rule - you made it up, so at least decide to follow it or scrap it eh?

(4)  I failed to shift gears; you actually shifted: all those races you entered after the AA debacle was you shifting to 7th gear

(5)  I forgot that knowing when to quit is the sign of a true grinder.  you might help yourself here by drafting your set of "when to quit rules" and running it by some people you trust.  this can't just be some abstract feeling in your head.

When you ran your money up to 6k, how much of it was from showdowns of hands that got paid off by second best hands?  There must have been a triple up in there somewhere.

The reason i ask is because you have to constantly be aware of when you got lucky, so you don't walk around thinking you own the table just because you hit quads and got paid by a full house.

If you can manage your ego, you can maintain a neither happy nor sad demeanor, and you can just focus on playing poker.  If you are feeling elated at the table because "you own these guys" then you need to think about taking a walk or buying people drinks until your joy has subsided to a normal level.

I'm not saying don't enjoy when you win, just beware of ...well, the word that keeps coming to mind is "elation" - coz when that elation pops (via a bad beat, most often) you might fight to get it back like the talented hooker who blew you like there was no tomorrow but had to go home to her pimp-boyfriend.

Okay i've said too much again.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Beware of ELATION.

It used to be referred to - for lack of a better word or set of words, obviously - as "winner's tilt" and "overconfidence"... No, now I have a word for it, and it is a specific feeling that you can spot.

I have to differentiate this feeling from "being in the zone" - when I am "in the zone" I usually have no emotions.  ZERO.  Whether it's basketball, poker, World of Warcraft, or onstage performing, "The Zone" is a place where everything is automatic and I am pretty much delivering while unconscious.  I am doing what I am supposed to be doing because my body remembers everything that has to be done.  All my moves take care of themselves because they just naturally happen.  I feel like a third party watching myself play, and as much as I am pleased with what is happening, I have neither control nor emotion.  When I try to take control when I am in the Zone, I snap out of it.  When I try to assess or analyze why I am such a superstar, I snap out of it.


The moment I feel happy - or, as the word of the day goes, ELATED - I snap out of the present and start celebrating my (immediate) past success(es).

If you are overly pleased with yourself, you are NOT in the Zone.  If you have a fuzzy feeling in your head - almost as if you are floating, you are elated.  If you can't stop smiling, you are elated.  If you can't stop replaying the cut-scenes in your head where you totally pwned somebody with your Ace-High call of a River shove to beat his busted draw - and if you replay those cut-scenes from seven different camera angles - YOU ARE ELATED.

Nothing wrong with being happy, but don't go back to the game just yet.  Finish celebrating.  You cannot be in two places at once - not even if you are a 24-tabler.  When you are revelling in past moments, you are not in the present tense.  Finish celebrating, then go back to the present tense and play the Game.

Or decide to stop playing for the night, and spend the rest of the beautiful evening celebrating and telling everyone willing to share in your elation why you are so goddamned blessed.