depends
A lot depends on what you mean by losing. A player that cashes decent but doesn't win may take it pretty well and take it considerably less well if he loses money on the trip. I used to compete as a pro in another sport two or three nights a week for a cash purse. It was a lot like when I was commercial fishing, I never knew what I was making today but there was always tomorrow. I was chasing first every night but so were a bunch of other competitors. Common sense tells you that you can't win them all.
Looking at purses, I consider what an event is worth to win and what it is worth to finish where I can reasonably expect to place if I don't do anything stupid. Maybe I have a shot at first but so do four other guys so I should have a top five finish and may win everything. Where is the break even point for playing in the event? If I have to come in first or second to break even on the dollars I probably should be staying home.
Regardless of whether he is cool or blows his stack immediately after a loss, a competitor has to understand the long view. Knowing yourself and your competition keeps you on a more even emotional keel. Kinda like Paul Newman in The Color of Money, if not this event then the next one or the one after will be mine. That I think is the professional competitor's viewpoint.
Hu
