Some people play on the level of their incompetence.

Consequently, they climbed up the limits until they reached a level on which they changed from a winning player to a losing player. The only correct step now would be to return to the limit which theywere able to beat. But going backwards is something everybody is reluctant to do. For some, it even represents a major psychological problem. It seems that they'd rather lose money than to acknowledge their “failure”.

Rubbish! First of all, it's not really a failure when you climb up the steps rapidly and eventually meet some resistance. One cannot expect to take the elite by storm. The development of poker skills takes a lot of time. Viewed from another point, even real failure isn't disgraceful. The weighing of failure correlates with the “culture of failure”. In Germany, it is often happens (IMHO) that people pour scorn on the “loser”, or that he has to endure know-it-all remarks (“I told you so!") In the USA on the other hand, the courage of having risked something is approved (“I respect you for your courage. Next time it'll work for sure!”).

To sum up: Failure is not a disgrace! Go back a step and calmly prepare for the next attempt!