{"id":2534449,"date":"2024-08-22T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-22T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/?p=2534449"},"modified":"2025-12-08T09:24:04","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T09:24:04","slug":"the-fear-of-zero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pokercoaching.com\/blog\/the-fear-of-zero\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fear of Zero"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

To play your best poker all the time, you must feel financially secure all the time. That\u2019s just how poker works<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Never underestimate the steady strain that an inadequate bankroll puts on your poker system. An underfunded poker player is like a hobbled athlete. There\u2019s no way you can play your best poker.<\/p>\n\n\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTable Of Contents\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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  1. Be not afraid<\/a>
  2. Naming and Knowing<\/a>
  3. The Fear of Zero<\/a>
  4. Fear of Stack Death<\/a>
  5. Fear of Pocket Death<\/a>
  6. Fear of Bankroll Death<\/a>
  7. And in the end\u2026<\/a><\/ol>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\n\n

    Be not afraid<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

    What if you were never afraid of being check-raised? Can you even imagine how awesome that would be? What if you had no fear of being felted, or looking stupid, or playing too long?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When we\u2019re afraid, it\u2019s always something specific we\u2019re afraid of. By naming and knowing our knots of fear, we can untie them. The idea is that by devoting mindshare to picturing and pondering our fearful situations, we develop wisdom and understanding that makes us less afraid. Over time, fears melt away, as does our fear of those fears. And if you take the fear out of poker, all that\u2019s left is good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Naming and Knowing<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

    Here\u2019s one: the fear of failed bluffs<\/a>. Think of how much sharper your routine bluffs are when you\u2019re brave. How about the fear of looking like a payoff chump? That one makes me fold when I should call. Or the fear of getting coolered. That one makes me miss value bets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Our list of specialty fears and their associated costs is, dare I say, frightful. And we have no choice but to contort our game to navigate our undulating fear-scape. There\u2019s fear of good players, and fear of bad players, fear of ridicule, fear of confusion, fear of bad coffee, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Here\u2019s a biggie: fear of failure. Who would we be without our foundational fear of losing? Losing hurts. We fear what hurts. We can lose at any moment. So we\u2019re always afraid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    And then there\u2019s the granddaddy of them all \u2013 the king of fears \u2013 the fear from which all fears flow\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Fear of Zero<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

    Death by poker means going to zero. There\u2019s three ways to do that: when your stack goes to zero, when your on-hand bankroll goes to zero, and when your total bankroll goes to zero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    One handy feature of stacks and bankrolls is that they can be resurrected. No matter how you die, you can come back to life. But that doesn\u2019t keep the fear of dying from messing with your head and your bankroll.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Next, we\u2019ll look at stack death, pocket death, and bankroll death. Each has its own customs and rituals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Fear of Stack Death<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
    \"knots<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    The two leading causes of stack death are bad luck and bad play. I\u2019m not sure which I\u2019m more afraid of: the gods, or myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Why are we afraid of getting felted? Are we afraid of losing money? Are we afraid of blaming ourselves? Is it shame that we\u2019re scared of? Or maybe we just can\u2019t bear another gut-punch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The answer is yes. It\u2019s all of the above and more. So many knots of fear, tied tight by repetition. It\u2019s a big job, just to loosen them a little. Then a little more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Fear of Pocket Death<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

    Pocket death is like skiing down a mountain and into a tree. Pocket death is what happens to a sinking ship. Pocket death is when you must walk away from a game because you\u2019re out of money but you really, really, really want to keep playing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When you lose that last pot of the night, only then are you actually out of action, when up to that moment, there was that taunting hope for a comeback. When it\u2019s finally officially over, that\u2019s when the real pain kicks in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Such a brutal way to die. No wonder we tremble at the thought. And get this. We\u2019re not only afraid of the pain of going busted, we\u2019re also smart enough to be afraid of what the fear does to our game\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It\u2019s only 10:30pm, and somehow Larry\u2019s fourth and final buyin is already on the table. What sucks is that Larry has clearance to play all night. He\u2019s still totally jacked up on poker energy, but also terrified, because if he loses the chips in front of him, he\u2019s done.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The fear gains strength and seizes control of Larry\u2019s betting. He gets pocket jacks in the big blind and instead of 3-betting<\/a> the button\u2019s open, he just calls. Then he drifts through that hand and all that follow in a state of panic-induced timidity. No surprise, he\u2019s in the car by 11:00.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Pocket death always involves a stack death. This makes pocket death a perfect storm of fear. When the fear of zero dances in step with the fear of being forced to quit playing, you\u2019re toast. In that condition, A-game is a fantasy. But we deny or ignore that fact. I\u2019ve been there many times. Nursing my final buy-in. And I\u2019ve profited plenty from opponents trying to revive a nub before its inevitable demise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Fear<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Are you saying that the fear of death is, in itself, a cause of death?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Yes. Just by thinking about going home broke you become more likely to go home broke, because it undermines your A-game. What a nasty loop that is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I know that the solution to not having enough money is to have more money. Meanwhile, what\u2019s a degen to do?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I get it. If the choice is to play on short money or not play, then you have no choice but to play on short money. I\u2019ve been there many times too. It was a no-brainer to play if I could. But it still sucked, every time, especially compared to how it feels to be properly padded. I guess all I\u2019m saying is, never underestimate the steady strain that inadequate funding puts on your poker system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If you\u2019re a serious amateur and you know in your gut that you\u2019re better than your results, it could be that the only thing holding you back is bankroll. Reminder: To play your best all the time, you must feel financially secure all the time.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Fear of Bankroll Death<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

    Stack death and pocket death occur only during poker, whereas bankroll death brings real life into the agony. Your pain may vary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    For recreational players and serious amateurs, the most obvious and common cause of bankroll death is losing, followed by spending, which is another word for priorities. You might spend your poker money on a fancy vacation, for example, or to fix a flooded basement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    For the rec, being sidelined for a while isn\u2019t always tragic. For the ambitious amateur, bankroll<\/a> death by way of losing is brutal, but not existentially so. It\u2019s more like a serious injury. For the pro, however, no matter what stakes they play, when the reaper comes into view, the fear is toxic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    There\u2019s the practical fear of not having money to pay bills and not having a way to make a living. And then there\u2019s the fear of failure. When a pro player identifies intensely as being a pro, it doesn\u2019t much matter if they hit bottom from running bad, playing bad, or spending bad. The feeling of failure is crippling. A client told me it was like the universe gives you a golden goose, and you\u2019re set for life, and then you watch yourself slowly kill the goose. And then you have to live with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    And that\u2019s just the inner face of failure. When you add friends and family to the picture it gets even uglier. Now it\u2019s all about the tortuous humiliation the pro must endure each time somebody asks, \u201cHow\u2019s the poker going?\u201d and the fallen warrior has to say, \u201cI got a job.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Now that\u2019s something to be afraid of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    And in the end\u2026<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
    \"Fear<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Can we defy death? No. Can we defy our fear of death? Probably not. Can we reduce our fear of death? For sure! But before that can happen, we need to attempt to understand what we\u2019re dealing with, which is all I\u2019ve been doing here. And what we\u2019re dealing with appears to be a chaotic jumble of worries and aversions that never rests. Fear is adept \u2013 it can always find something to be afraid of. That\u2019s its purpose. Just ask it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Hello fear. Why are you here?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    To make up stories.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    What kind of stories? Love stories? Hero stories?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Sorry, no. All my stories are scary.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    To play your best poker all the time, you must feel financially secure all the time. That\u2019s just how poker works. Never underestimate the steady strain that an inadequate bankroll puts on your poker system. 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That\u2019s just how poker works. Never underestimate the steady strain that an inadequate bankroll puts on your poker system. 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