An epiphony of mine regarding tilt...

[JrJordan]

The varinace bug has hit me pretty hard this month, and along with that has come a few emotional outbursts that certainly show I'm not playing optimal poker at that point. I recognize tilt, I stop playing... I've learned that much. The bigger problem I've had through these recent downswings is figuring out what triggers it in the first place? At first I thought it must just be the bad beat and some stupid comments the moron makes after the hand, but after more thought I realize that doesn't really bother me. I was unsure for quite awhile, until it hit me last night...

Poker Tracker is putting me on tilt!

Sounding sketchy? Lemme explain a bit more. After a horrendous 2-3 outer takes me out 10BB... I always, ALWAYS look at my general stats screen to see how much I've won/lost for the day. Until now I never thought that it could amount to anything. Last night though, after taking a beat and feeling okay about it, I decided to look up my results for the day while playing and my jaw dropped when I was down $300 after 35 hands. Needless to say it hit me pretty hard, and induced the tilt I was trying to avoid.

So, where to go from here? I, along with anyone who wants to join me... will do all in my power to not look at my daily results while I'm playing. If I ever feel like I'm in the hole so much that I must look at those results, then my session is over...period! It makes common sense in retrospect. It doesn't matter what my results are if I'm making the right plays.

Anyone else care to join in my new found enlightenment?

[witeknite]

Word.

WiteKnite

[MAxx]

if not looking at pt during a session does the trick, do-it.

or alternatively why not just come to an understanding that you are going to have bad sessions, bad beats, bad results over 35 hand stretches. it happens, it will continue to happen. brush it off and keep playing well.

[rory]

Buy in for 50 bets, use Gametime+ and cover up your money with your own stats. Minimiize pokertracker and play. Now you can just focus on how you are playing, not how you are running.

[TStoneMBD]

i believe it. i used to keep an accurate total of how much my live bankroll was in my head at all times, and after a days session i would add or subtract to that roll. i find it much easier to not be concerned with losing when i am sure how large my bankroll is down to the even hundred. as long as im certain that my bankroll maintains enough size to continue playing the limit i am in, i feel like i play better.

[TStoneMBD]

also, this seems like it should be in the psychology forum and not SH.

[B00T]

I'll go with you. I played with you briefly over the last week or two, and find myself in the same boat as you. I remember your posts from SS and now your climb to here.

You are a lot like me it seems in thinking as well (which might not be a good thing /images/graemlins/cool.gif)

Congrats for admitting tilt. It feels like its an AA meeting where the biggest problem a lot of posters face is being able to accept they go on tilt.

I have read thousands of posts: here, SS forum, the zoo, and "This is my life posts" about going pro where everybody makes it a point to mention "Oh and I dont go on tilt".

Everyone does it, but its a matter of controlling it. Thumbs up for sucking it up to admit it.

[BottlesOf]

epiphany

[Joe826]

i thought this was a thread about guitars /images/graemlins/mad.gif.

seriously though, i use to check how much i was up or down several times a session. it's really bad. i very rarely check except at the end of a session now.

[Rubeskies]

[ QUOTE ]
i thought this was a thread about guitars /images/graemlins/mad.gif.


[/ QUOTE ]

I think that's Epiphone

[Joe826]

i know /images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[spydog]

It's quite ironic that you posted this. I came to the same conclusion today before I read your post. I have a tendency to check my daily totals 4-5 per hour. That can't be helping my game. My goal over the next few days is to play without the ring stats screen open. At the end of the day, I will open it and review hands.

[Danenania]

I had this epiphany back when I played 3/6 and it has been very helpful for staying off tilt. Nowadays I sometimes won't even remember to look at my results after a session is over.

Also make sure you have a more than adequate bankroll.

[Jeff W]

[ QUOTE ]
Poker Tracker is putting me on tilt!

[/ QUOTE ]

Great point. I noticed this a few days ago, but the general info tab is more addictive than heroin.

[Mr. Graff]

I do that a lot too but I view it as a healthy way to keep boredom away.

[Altaslim]

[ QUOTE ]
Buy in for 50 bets, use Gametime+ and cover up your money with your own stats. Minimiize pokertracker and play. Now you can just focus on how you are playing, not how you are running.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is exactly what I started to do with the release of GT+ 1.4 and I've noticed a huge difference in what I'm feeling/thinking during my sessions.

[cab4656]

I had the same experience a while ago. I constantly checked my account balance. It was driving me crazy. Now I have trained myself not to see my balance ever. If I have to open the Party cashier window to check my bonus account, I have trained my eyes not to look at the balance. When I rebuy on a table, I just click "OK" - I don't check the balance. The only way I go on tilt now is if I hit a major bad run over a very short period of time. Like -75 BB in 300 hands. I've done that twice in my 11,000 hand stint at 5/10 6max. If that happens, I usually check the balance to see just how bad the damages are and then quit.

[stripsqueez]

i had this epiphany when i backled horses for a living and realised i didnt need to watch the race

unfortunately i still cant stop looking to see how my mucked cards performed

stripsqueez - chickenhawk

[arkady]

Oh yes, I discovered this quite some time ago. I have all but stopped looking at the cashier and have stopped trying to tabulate how much I am down or up. Money, the loss of which, is the #1 contributor to emotional instability. Because we play online, we are aware of our situation almost instantly and it is harmful. When you are sitting in a room, with a stack of chips, its not so obvious. Not to mention the speed at which we can lose it here.

[Ponks]

I only check how much I've made after the session and sometimes even then I don't check right away. If I've got somewhere to go or something to do and PT is still loading I'll just check it out later.

Ponks

[Nate tha' Great]

I guess I'm the opposite. There are a few times recently where I've felt myself on the verge of tiltyness, and have thought "I could care less about the money, but what is this going to do to my BB/100!".

[ALL1N]

[ QUOTE ]
I guess I'm the opposite. There are a few times recently where I've felt myself on the verge of tiltyness, and have thought "I could care less about the money, but what is this going to do to my BB/100!".

[/ QUOTE ]

Hah! Same, same.

[juggernaut]

Here's another suggestion to help avoid tracking a session as it's being played: instead of buying in for 50 BBs at each table, buy in for random amounts at each table (i.e. 43 BBs, 87 BBs, 68 BBs) so that you don't constantly have a starting point in your head that can be used to judge a session.

[spydog]

[ QUOTE ]
Here's another suggestion to help avoid tracking a session as it's being played: instead of buying in for 50 BBs at each table, buy in for random amounts at each table (i.e. 43 BBs, 87 BBs, 68 BBs) so that you don't constantly have a starting point in your head that can be used to judge a session.

[/ QUOTE ]

Very nice suggestion.

[kiddo]

Good I will try this, and yes, I agree with Nate. I just lost $4000 and its ok if I didnt know what it did to my long run winrate.

[naphand]

[ QUOTE ]
the general info tab is more addictive than heroin.

[/ QUOTE ]

We have a lot of PT junkies on this forum.

[Scotch78]

About six months ago I also vowed not to check my wins/losses until the end of a session. Three times in the next week I had horrible sessions that just ripped my guts out, then upon finishing up and checking PT, two had been winning sessions and the third was a small loser. Go figure. I like to know how many hands I've played at any given point though, so I use the auto-import window to cover up the taboo part of my database /images/graemlins/wink.gif.

Scott