I Don't Get It

We must not let anger become our master.

What creature, being one with nature, would attack itself?

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If you win a hand that I am playing…I hate you…and I remember and I try to get even…and then some

So you basically hate everyone? Dude, how do you live with such a burden? I think you should get a dog and learn the meaning of unconditional love!

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Or the shortened response “get a puppy”

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Please don’t get angry with me for sucking out against you. I think every tournament I have won has included at least one total fluke when I though I was toast.

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The person who won the pot and drug all the chips, played the hand perfectly. The person who lost played the hand wrong. Simple.

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Yep, very simple :rofl::rofl::rofl:

I don’t know what everyone is on about. We should all learn from suck outs how to play the hand “perfectly” lol

No but seriously, your theory would be true in a game of pure skill, but in any game where luck is involved, there no such thing and “perfectly”. Sucking out and lucking out have nothing to do with skill and how one plays the hand (definitely not perfectly) :wink:

I think you’re being facetious Maya. :wink:
I don’t think we should learn from the “suck outs” how to play the hand perfectly.
We should however, learn from the looser (ourselves) how to play the hand better.

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May I refer the honorable gentleman to my previous post where I stated:

If you could have played the hand better, it’s not a suck out, it’s your mistake. :slight_smile:

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The idea here wasn’t to discuss different ways to play your hand, the merits of specific hands, or to define basic poker terms.

I’m trying to understand why some people handle losses so poorly.

So far, the consensus seems to be that a loss is frustrating, and that people tend to lash out at the winner because they are an obvious target to vent this frustration. It doesn’t seem to matter that they had no control over the deal, or that luck bailed them out of a poor decision.

If enough people read this thread and think it over, perhaps Replay will become a nicer site for everyone.

“You must be the change you want to see in the world.” - Mahatma Gandhi

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Ok let’s get back on track then.

People handle losses poorly because they’re people.

Venting seems to be needed in such situations, but lashing out at the winner is not the best way, whether they won with skill or miraculous luck.

And Yes, hopefully after reading this thread, some of the “lashers” could change their ways and vent differently, and always remember that sometimes they could be the suck outs and wouldn’t want to be insulted for winning either.

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So now I’m wondering how much of this behavior is the result of internet anonymity.

Do you think they lash out like spoiled children in their everyday lives?

If Phil Hellmuth is an example, maybe some do. At least he knows that people laugh at him and purposely try to provoke a reaction for the entertainment value.

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People lash out at each other all the time, in person or on the internet. Phil Hellmuth is famous for it, but that doesn’t mean people who are not famous don’t do the same, in casinos, private settings, etc… I’ve seen people throw down their cards and turn the whole table out of anger. Lashing out exists everywhere.

But I do think it’s much worse over the internet. There’s definitely a huge part of online “lashers” who would never dare to say a word of what they say online, when they are sitting face to face with the winner and are around others.

People behave differently online and allow themselves to say and do worse things than they can or will in person, due to internet anonymity.

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I guess I just surround myself with a different type of person in my real life. Maybe it’s my military background, where you see how men react in the worst possible circumstances. In tough times, my friends get quiet instead of lashing out.

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.

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I’ve gotten mad playing poker, plenty of times. Not so much lately. But when I was struggling, I really did. I never lashed out at anyone in chat. So I don’t understand why people do that. The closest I came was saying something like “dang it”. I try to keep it light hearted and funny, like that time I went up against KK with KT, all-in, and when he flipped up his cards, he immediately flopped trips, and I just said “oh”.

Behind the keyboard, at various points in my journey, I may have been cursing up a storm, or pacing around to work off my angry energy.

None of it helped my play. It was an unavoidable part of my learning process. I had to go through thousands of hands to figure things out, experimenting and observing, trying to figure out how to win reliably. Losing big hands still happens, but I’ve seen it happen enough times by now that it doesn’t bother me. Maybe because I’ve seen it before. Maybe because my win rate is up enough by now that I know that I’ll continue to make chips as long as I keep playing.

What’s been great about it is that as I’ve improved at my decision making, I’ve also been able to gain control over my emotions. I strongly feel that the two go hand-in-hand. When I’m playing without a lot of emotion, I’m playing better poker, and when I’m playing better poker, my emotional keel is riding evenly. Poker is great for emotional health, self control and so many other things related to mental well-being. It’s perhaps my primary reason for playing.

I also like winning a lot. So, you know, it’s kindof a toss-up.

But I think that not everyone gets this out of poker. I get it because of my approach to the game. I don’t know how to convey to people how to have the right approach to life. It’s not really my business to tell them, anyway. But I’d like more people to come to the discovery as I have.

So to answer your question: I guess I don’t understand why people lash out, either, other than to say that they’re not as evolved in their development of their game.

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To me poker is a mind game. You need to study your opponents and try to know what their strategy is. If they are attempting the suck out, then you must decide if your hand has enough potential to continue. Often times you can get a better hand and they will loose their advantage by not betting stronger to begin with. If you feel you have little to no chance of getting the best hand then you can always fold early. Getting upset is the worst thing you can do. If you find yourself getting frustrated, quit immediately or risk making costly mistakes…

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I think that the reason most people lash out is ego

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Just poor sports and childish…

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Guilty…
Yes I have said a few thing I regret…
It fades away, no harm intended, it happens. The only physical damage that may occur to some I have heard, is the knuckles and screen. lol

It doesn’t always fade away. People have left the site over things like that, and they never come back. This hurts everyone.

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