Why do i go on TILT when I'm dominated, but not when they suck out?

[AA suited]

today i tilted bad. /images/graemlins/frown.gif

1st game, my 88 got called by 99. 2nd game, my AT got called by AJ.

3rd game i had 1/2 the chips of the table. but the results of the 1st 2 games made my LAGGY. and wound up in 4th /images/graemlins/frown.gif

4th game i came in 3rd. my kj got called by kq.

WHY THE HELL DOES THIS MAKE ME TILT?!

i mean i've lost 20 straight qq/kk/aa hands a few weeks ago, but i laughed off those suckouts.

so if suckouts of that magnatude didnt bother me, then why are these 4 dominated hands driving me up the wall? and how to handle it?

THX!

[FishBurger]

I'm the same way. I don't mind getting sucked out on, but I hate getting outplayed. If you suffer a suckout, you can console yourself with the fact that your play was correct. If you get in with a 1 in 3 chance of winning and lose then all you can say is "I suck."

[eastbay]

Dunno. Ask yourself the question: was this hand in a calling range I expected? If it was, was your play correct given your assumptions about calling ranges? If so, chill out. It all went according to plan. So what if they picked up a dominator this time. It doesn't matter. It's as immaterial as river luck.

If you mis-read a caller, now that's something you should pay attention to. Why did you misread them? What clues might have given you a better read than you had? Why did you miss them and why won't you miss them next time?

eastbay

[Insty]

I dunno, Play tighter?

I have the opposite problem. Running into bigger hands doesn't bother me, but the suckouts have been tilting me lately. I've lost count of the number of times my dominating hands have been beaten. Hitting one of the 3 outs, runner runner straights, flushes, you name it it's happend lately.
It almost invariably knocks me out or cripples me severely.

How do you handle the suckouts?

[Toro]

We're definitely opposite. I busted out of 3 straight tourneys with pairs against my opponent having the next ranked pair, 99 v TT, 88 v 99 and JJ v QQ. Every time, I felt "that sucks" but i didn't feel like tilting.

But then finally, the last one I played last night, we got it all-in before the flop and I had AA and he had QQ and he hits the Q on the flop. Monitor right out the window. Luckily we just had a foot of snow and there wasn't much damage. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

This thread would probably be better in the psychology forum so Dr. Al could explain the differences in behavior.

[nova]

It's rough when you feel that you are getting outdrawn rather than outplayed. Depending on the situation and the size of the bet your play could be SPOT ON but someone got their money in with pocket 2's before the flop and spiked the 2 on the flop.

I have a friend that flat out will not go away...by that means regardless of what you bet into him, he will call. He rarely leads at pots and has uncanny luck with what comes on the board. Against him, I try to get my money in only when I have the stone cold nuts, or otherwise play it pretty conservative.

You mentioned that your hands are getting "called". I'm assuming that you were moving in with those hands? Again, it may have been the spot on play, but someone may have already been invested in the pot, getting good odds on their money (2 to 1 or better) and a "I have a hand, why not?". If a weak / avg player looked down at 8's or better, or any big ace, you'll get called sometimes.

Gear down, and just play solid poker and you'll get it back.

[maldini]

im with you. really though, its another form of bad luck if you're talking shorthanded and especially on the bubble. theres nothing worse than pushing on the button with A9 on the bubble when its folded to you and getting called with a better hand. i mean, the odds of a better hand from a random 2 are probably worse than a bad suckout.

[SNOWBALL138]

I'm the same way. Suckouts don't bother me. Having my good hands run into great hands really bug me though.

In stud, having my boat run into another boat will make me really flip out. Or the other day, I flopped a queen high flush in a cash game, but the other guy had a king high flush. On the other hand, when my AA gets cracked by a strange hand, it bugs me less.

How to deal with it? I dunno, but let me know if you find out!

Some days I wish I had a designated supervisor to shoot me full of thorazine or something. My tilt can be ugly, though I have had a lot of tilt sobriety lately. I hope that continues. ::crosses fingers::

Next time I tilt, I'll post the way I dealt with it. Hopefully, my post will read something like "I called a friend up and we went to the movies" or "I went to sleep" or "I drank myself stupid and passed out or "I went down to the pool hall" etc.

[SNOWBALL138]

How do I deal with tilt?

I'm proud to say that after making one of the worst plays of my poker career today, I packed up my cue and headed down to the pool hall for five hours. I'm going to cool down from my bizarre tilt (?) induced bad playing and play maybe sometime tomorrow.

Basically, putting yourself in poker jail from time to time is a good idea. This may be in line with what Brunson was talking about when he said without vacations, players begin to play badly.

[poboys]

Because you are a good player, and are mad at yourself when you make 'bad' plays, and are not bothered by other people's 'bad' plays.

Easy to say, but hard to do: start to think in terms of expectation, averages, or ranges rather than the observation. If you think that pushing with KQ is a good idea, but you get called with a AK once--don't let it bother ya. Don't let one observation cloud how you play a particular situation.