What is your worst kind of tilt?

[davehwm]

If I'm tilting hard after a downswing, I'll sometimes catch myself settling for what I know is a coinflip in the early levels of a SNG or just making a dumb move in general. The kind of move you'd say "oh, that guy's tilting or he's a total donk". I usually have no problem stopping for the night after I do something stupid like this.

But, my worst kind of tilt is when I'm not on a terrible streak (6-8 OOTM for example) but still feeling a little down about my game, and catch myself not being able to pull the trigger on the bubble. This is the kind of tilt that I really hate. I feel like if I just can slide into the money I'll feel better about my B.R. It's not even like I need my B.R. for anything outside of poker, or that my life depends on it in anyway, I just get really protective of it and I know it hurts me in the long run.

I'm really working on stopping this after I catch myself doing it, but sometimes I'll keep playing which I know is hurting my ROI (amongst other things).

Feel free to make suggestions (even if I've heard them a million times before), or just share what your worst type of tilt is.

After I read this maybe best if we not partners becase you sound like bad player and I think perhaps I will do better on my own sorry if this sounds bad.

[davehwm]

[ QUOTE ]
After I read this maybe best if we not partners becase you sound like bad player and I think perhaps I will do better on my own sorry if this sounds bad.

[/ QUOTE ]

Your decision, man. Let me know if you ever need a backer for the $215s!!

G00t just stop. I'm not sure what kind of demon hell spawn sent you to this forum, but your one line comments are killing me. Seriously. The worst kind of tilt for me is when I win big, and don't want to lose it. I assume I suffer from some kind of reverse tilt. I feel like I'm not as aggressive on the bubble because I don't want to finish fourth because I want to continue to feel like I'm winning. It sucks because this sort of thought leads to a lot of third place finishes. This would be a good post in the psychology forum as well.

[bones]

[ QUOTE ]
But, my worst kind of tilt is when I'm not on a terrible streak (6-8 OOTM for example) but still feeling a little down about my game, and catch myself not being able to pull the trigger on the bubble

[/ QUOTE ]


This exact type of tilt used to be my biggest problem. It definitely took more than 6-8 OOTM to get there, but I'd get very down on myself, lose confidence, and become passive. I'm probably less aggressive than most winning players to begin with, so it was a serious problem.

The only thing I can suggest is getting to know yourself and the nature of poker better. There's no Aleo's guide for that, nor should there be. It's probably the greatest hurdle (dealing with losing) for any winning player and the one that probably breaks the most people. Learn to recognize the signs of when you're feeling like this and stop playing. Talk yourself through the problem. Really try to understand why you're feeling the way you are. Then tell yourself what you know about the vicissitudes of poker. Make this a process that you repeat everytime these feelings of tilt arrive, until you can do this subconsciously.

If you get many other replies to this thread, I'm sure people will suggest taking a break, going out to dinner, playing stud, whatever else. Which is great for the moment, and if it helps you get off tilt, I'm all for it. But to be a long-term winner, eventually you'll need to figure out how to stop the problem before it starts.

[runner4life7]

i actually liked this one

[Seadood228]

My worst kind of tilt generally leads me to not play for a few days..

[microbet]

Not because of tilting, but sometimes I just drift away from being aggressive enough in the endgame. It is definitely helpful to review a game every once in a while and look for missed opportunities.

I should follow this advice more myself.

[davehwm]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
But, my worst kind of tilt is when I'm not on a terrible streak (6-8 OOTM for example) but still feeling a little down about my game, and catch myself not being able to pull the trigger on the bubble

[/ QUOTE ]


This exact type of tilt used to be my biggest problem. It definitely took more than 6-8 OOTM to get there, but I'd get very down on myself, lose confidence, and become passive. I'm probably less aggressive than most winning players to begin with, so it was a serious problem.

The only thing I can suggest is getting to know yourself and the nature of poker better. There's no Aleo's guide for that, nor should there be. It's probably the greatest hurdle (dealing with losing) for any winning player and the one that probably breaks the most people. Learn to recognize the signs of when you're feeling like this and stop playing. Talk yourself through the problem. Really try to understand why you're feeling the way you are. Then tell yourself what you know about the vicissitudes of poker. Make this a process that you repeat everytime these feelings of tilt arrive, until you can do this subconsciously.

If you get many other replies to this thread, I'm sure people will suggest taking a break, going out to dinner, playing stud, whatever else. Which is great for the moment, and if it helps you get off tilt, I'm all for it. But to be a long-term winner, eventually you'll need to figure out how to stop the problem before it starts.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm a psychology major, you'd think I'd be able to handle this kind of process. /images/graemlins/smirk.gif

When I say 6-8 straight OOTM, I was just referring to a bad night I was having at the $33s, which I just started. I'm playing with a 30 buy-in bankroll (thanks to getting myself a girlfriend 13 hours away that requires more expensive plane tickets than I expected), so I was just a little protective/down about my bankroll after taking a bunch of bad beats and feeling like I couldn't get a card to fall my way.

I think I remember having this adjustment problem when I moved from the $11s to the $22s as well. Kind of a bit of a shock to see your bankroll drop that much after only a few games. I'm certainly not making excuses, just trying to see why I'm being so sensitive about what should be a very normal and short bad run of cards.

I'm thinking about making a word document or something that I have in my poker folder on my hard drive reminding me of these types of things. Just kind of a step by step process to un-tilt (or try to, at least).

Thanks for the words of encouragement.

[zambonidrivr]

just move up to the $50's. People give money away there. ootm streaks like this are impossble there

[pooh74]

[ QUOTE ]
If I'm tilting hard after a downswing, I'll sometimes catch myself settling for what I know is a coinflip in the early levels of a SNG or just making a dumb move in general. The kind of move you'd say "oh, that guy's tilting or he's a total donk". I usually have no problem stopping for the night after I do something stupid like this.

But, my worst kind of tilt is when I'm not on a terrible streak (6-8 OOTM for example) but still feeling a little down about my game, and catch myself not being able to pull the trigger on the bubble. This is the kind of tilt that I really hate. I feel like if I just can slide into the money I'll feel better about my B.R. It's not even like I need my B.R. for anything outside of poker, or that my life depends on it in anyway, I just get really protective of it and I know it hurts me in the long run.

I'm really working on stopping this after I catch myself doing it, but sometimes I'll keep playing which I know is hurting my ROI (amongst other things).

Feel free to make suggestions (even if I've heard them a million times before), or just share what your worst type of tilt is.

[/ QUOTE ]

Let me know what you find out bc FWIW, I am the same way. My BR, this arbitrary number that I really have no "need" for (dont support myself off poker) really affects me. It dictates how I am going to feel the next day. If it goes up, its as though I place "stop loss" orders on it and will not play optimally for fear of dipping below some random baseline.

I guess I have no suggestions and just thought that maybe it helps to hear that others think similarly. One thing I can say though is this, the longer I play and more experience I get, the more all of these little idiosyncrasies start to go away. Its only maybe 4 months ago I really started to get a hold of not playing when I am tilting. I also have started to get better at noticing when I start playing too loose early on...these things need constant reenforcement and they eventually take hold. Just by acknowledging what you preceive as a problem with your metagame, you have already taken a huge step torwards conquering the issue.

My only other advice is something my doctor told me when I told him my elbow hurts when I swing my arm downward...he said "stop doing that then"...Or, I could just offer some advice I think gOOt would appreciate..."only play the gOOt cards and you go to 215s"

be goot

p

[kevstreet]

[ QUOTE ]
... my doctor told me when I told him my elbow hurts when I swing my arm downward...he said "stop doing that then"

[/ QUOTE ]

That must be the first lesson learned in med school:

Me: "It hurts when I do this..."
Doc: "Don't do this"