Tilting while running good...

[nemaj]

I may be posting in the wrong forum, but I'm a SnG player and like the insight I get from this area, so bear with me.

Recently I cashed out my bankroll (wife complaining about me playing too much). Last week, I made a small deposit of $110 to play some SnGs. At any rate, things went well through the weekend and I ran it up to $340. by Sunday. At this point the bottom fell out and I had been getting horrid cards up until last night. Through it all, I actually managed to stay even, starting each session with between $300 and $350. I was extremely happy with my play in the face of the cards, as maintaining through bad cards is an accomplishment to me.

Last night, the streak broke and I was getting run over by the deck. My first game was a $30+$3 3 table SnG and going into the final table I had a huge chip lead and went on to win. This brought me to $566. This brings us to the reason for this post...

For the rest of the night, I continued to get good cards and run up large stacks in every game I played, only to do something completely STUPID and wind up getting knocked out before the money. Eg, down to final 7 in $30+$3 three table, I'm bb with big stack at the table of 7500 chips. Second chip position of 5900 raises min from MP and I call with As6c. With a flop of AcJc10c, I bet 1k on the flop and turn and push on the river, to be called down all the way with AK and I'm crippled and go out 3 hands later. Later, I was chip leader of a $30+$3 single table and on the bubble. I get QcJc in sb and complete, with the utg (second in chips by 400) having limped. Flop comes rainbow Q high and I bet pot. UTG pushes and I call immediately, only to see KQ and I'm crippled and go out on the bubble. Other bonehead plays cost me a few other tourneys and I managed to fall from $566 to $400 before I hung it up for the night.

Now, here's the thing. None of the plays that cost me are plays I make EVER and through my card drought, I had played excellent poker to ride out the dead cards. Then as soon as the deck comes my way, I suddenly play like the people I love to play against. So there it is...play great during the bad times and when the dealer is trying to hand me wins, I manage to screw it up. There's no doubt that I could have finished the night over $800 or better if I would have simply continued to play my game the way I know how, but instead, I finished up only $60 for the night. Use me as your punching bag. I need the insight and advice I've grown to appreciate from you guys. Thanks.

[Pitcher]

Hi Nemaj,

I love posts like this! Here is why. I believe about 90% of poker is about discipline.

This is soooo easy to do. Do not berate yourself for it, learn from it! You were running super hot and you thought you were invincible...that everything you were gonna do would pay off...so you kept pushing... gotta play that rush, the competition is on the run...etc. The problem is this only works for a few hands. Rarely does everything go your way through an entire tournament. You probably played well to get those big chip leads then got very overconfident. Your opponents adjust to this quickly after you bully them once or twice....then you run into an opponent holding a big hand (like the AK you described) that isn't gonna let it go. You start bluffing (or semi-bluffing) the unbluffable thinking "he knows I am a good player" and he has to laydown TPTK. Not gonna happen most of the time. Does all this sound real familiar. It should, cause I used to do the same thing when I was a losing or break even player. Now I don't and I am a big winner.

Here are some suggestions to avoid this.

1. Put reminders about playing consistently around your computer in easy view. Something like: Slow down....why is my opponent raising or calling? These types of reminders get you to think and not react.
2. Keep a poker diary where you keep track of playing like this. It reminds you not to do it.
3. Read Killer Poker by John Vorhaus or Inside the Poker Mind by John Feeeny. These books help with discipline issues
4. Put out posts on 2+2. By posting like this you remind yourself to not do this in the future.

Believe me, it is the difference between winning and losing.

Pitcher

[mackthefork]

I can't like this with a weak ace, anything else is better than a weak ace in my opinion. Like other guy says though you shouldn't beat your self up about it, just try to do it less and at the right times. I think we all get to a permatilt stage eventually, just as a natural progression of our play, I guess it's how we deal with it and move forward that matters most.

Regards ML

[slogger]

The most important part is that you recognize the mistakes you made. One of the most incredible things about this game is that it's sometimes possible to know with near 100 percent certainty what the correct play is and still do the opposite! /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

While we're suggesting literature, I would suggest taking a look at Zen and the Art of Poker by Larry W. Phillips. I'm not particularly into Eastern religious-type thinking and I was very skeptical about this sort of book, but it has really helped me to stabilize myself during both hot and cold streaks.

As another poster mentioned posting reminders to yourself, I have done so with quotes from this book. This is a powerful technique.

[nemaj]

Thanks for the responses guys. I've read the Sklansky books. I'll check into the psychology books as well and am definitely gonna make myself some notes to put on my monitor, just to keep me in check. It's funny. Each time I did something stupid that got me busted, I would tell myself before the next tourney started "Don't be stupid. Play your game. Calm down and do what you know how to do."

Then some hand would come up, like...(I was on the button with Ac10c and raised the pot 4xbb behind 4 limpers and all came along. Checked to me on a 3,6,7 rainbow flop and I bet pot and get check-raised.) My rationale is screaming FOLD FOLD FOLD. Then there's this little voice in the back of my head that says "he won't call all-in. Push and he'll fold." Well, the little voice wins and I push, get called by 10/10 and go out in 9th.

It's so strange sometimes how ego can take over and it's like you're on autopilot without any control over your actions. This seems to only happen to me on rushes. I don't tilt when things are tough. I take the good beats, bad beats, and bad cards in stride and just say "that's poker". I seem to beat myself when the cards are running good and when I make a good score, like the first win in my initial post. Definitely something I have to work on.