Activities with a high degree of complexity require introspection to raise them to a level where they can be considered "art." This principle certainly applies to playing poker and even not playing poker. To play or not to play poker requires an intimate knowledge of oneself, more so than most people are willing to learn. Self-evaluation is the basis of introspection and this is very difficult to take on. We struggle against inward knowledge and find it much easier to obtain knowledge of events and circumstance outside ourselves. Accurate self-criticism of our characters is anathema. In poker, lacking introspection can make you play way more and way longer than you intend, but you don't know how or when to stop.

Activities with a high degree of complexity require introspection to raise them to a level where they can be considered "art." This principle certainly applies to playing poker and even not playing poker. To play or not to play poker requires an intimate knowledge of oneself, more so than most people are willing to learn. Self-evaluation is the basis of introspection and this is very difficult to take on. We struggle against inward knowledge and find it much easier to obtain knowledge of events and circumstance outside ourselves. Accurate self-criticism of our characters is anathema. In poker, lacking introspection can make you play way more and way longer than you intend, but you don't know how or when to stop.

You may have come to poker because you had no idea what to do with yourself in the first place. Persons without purpose regularly engage in pointless activity. If you just won't take any introspection, but still want to deal with the problem, a possible way is to deliberately focus on the idea that poker is about winning and that nobody, including yourself, despite what may have been happening for the past year since you had taken up this accursed game, nobody likes to lose.

You should concentrate on the fact that you must decide whether to keep playing the game or leave. The decision will have an immediate impact on your profits from the game and you know you cannot afford to lose. Now it has become apparent to you that the only reason to remain in the game is the odds are with you to win. Think about your ultimate goal, not whether you are winning or losing at any given time. You may be on a hot streak or in a cold spell, but what is important is the overall net gain. If you reason it out and see that however great the game is going now, that at the end you will suffer a net loss, get out now.

If you wish to play safe and adopt a hit-and-run strategy, go ahead. If your goal is to win, though, you must play with clarity of mind, and know when to hold and when to fold.

You must also realize that all hands in poker are dealt by pure mathematical chance, not an evil entity which haunts you. Therefore it does not make sense to feel especially anxious when the game isn't going particularly well or be rash when you think that "luck is on your side now." On the other hand, self-fulfilling prophesies are a real enough psychological phenomenon: after a good game and some luck, you success creates the impression of a good player; you play better, with greater confidence and aggression; while your opponents instinctively feel weaker and thus assume weaker roles, playing worse, feeling unlucky.

Do not let this feeling happen to you. Practice your powers of introspection and you may find that you are not comfortable taking risks, are afraid to do so, and even think it may be wrong to take chances. Do not fret. This is only one of your idiosyncrasies that you have discovered as being natural to you. You must not let this control your life or your game.