C\'mon....does anyone seriously not TILT?
 

Like many of you, I chant 'long-term' like a mantra. Zen Buddhism colors some of my personal philosophy. I've read Zen and the Art of Poker, the oft-quoted poker detachment text.

I started 3/6 6 max this month and have been just breakeven over 4000 hands. This feels like running bad to me, and I started questioning myself, compounding my poor play, and becoming an kind of assholish outside of poker. Over the last 1000 hands however, I've finally swung up to 1.5BB/hour and I'm elated. I have energy and enhanced clarity of mind. I realize I'm tilting in a positive manner...and I like it.

Honestly, has anyone totally abolished tilt from their consciousness?

Re: C\'mon....does anyone seriously not TILT?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Honestly, has anyone totally abolished tilt from their consciousness?

[/ QUOTE ]

My goal is actually the opposite of this.

I want to know the very instant that tilt has crept in.

Once upon a time, I thought I was better than everyone else and could beat the tilt monster into submission forever.

I no longer believe that this is a useful approach and simply consider each hand on its own. My first decision in every hand is no longer preflop, it is predeal.

My first look is at myself in the game. Am I still playing my best? Yes? OK, I'll look at my cards now.

No? I don't even look at them anymore. I just get up and take a break.

If I can't recover in a reasonable amount of time, then it's time to call it a day.

I've never lost a bankroll since implementing this strategy.

BTW, if I realize that I haven't checked my own status in 15 minutes, then it's quitting time too.

These days, for me, it's play for keeps or don't play at all.

I can't think of any other way to get to the HL games.

Re: C\'mon....does anyone seriously not TILT?
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Honestly, has anyone totally abolished tilt from their consciousness?

[/ QUOTE ]

My goal is actually the opposite of this.

I want to know the very instant that tilt has crept in.

Once upon a time, I thought I was better than everyone else and could beat the tilt monster into submission forever.

I no longer believe that this is a useful approach and simply consider each hand on its own. My first decision in every hand is no longer preflop, it is predeal.

[/ QUOTE ]


I like it. Instead of denying or attempting to quell tilt, you've developed a routine to manage it. I'm going to give this a shot during my next few sessions.

To all you other players, is there anyone who honestly believes they have transcended tilt? Is this possible?

Re: C\'mon....does anyone seriously not TILT?
 

get rakeback

this makes running even alot nicer

i dont tilt because im massively overrolled for my game

when i take shots higher i can freak out at bad beats

Re: C\'mon....does anyone seriously not TILT?
 

[ QUOTE ]
get rakeback

this makes running even alot nicer

i dont tilt because im massively overrolled for my game


[/ QUOTE ]
/\ same

also, once you've been beaten by that 2 outer 1000 times, its hard to get mad at the 1001th time.

unless you're in a tourney or something, but i dont play those often.

Re: C\'mon....does anyone seriously not TILT?
 

Tilt is generally not regarded as a form of consciousness or thought. It is PLAYING badly because of emotions.

Some people rarely play badly for more than a few minutes because of emotions. I don't. If I see that I'm playing badly because of emotions, I go home.

Some people don't even have to go home because they don't let emotions negatively affect their play.

Regards,

Al

Re: C\'mon....does anyone seriously not TILT?
 

When I'm running bad I try to think about my next rakeback payment coming in. Other times I quit. Sometimes I keep playing and give myself a checkup every 20 minutes or so. I say "If you play stupid during this period, you stop."

Its self discipline. I yell at myself. I say "My the next ten hands, I will play as best as I possibly can. No excuses" I then pay extreme attention to the next few hands, and so on.

But to be honest, every so often I tilt bad. I don't do it for too long, and I don't just into stakes higher than I can afford.

So, yeah. I have not transcended tilt. I've just found a way to limit its affects on my bankroll.

Re: C\'mon....does anyone seriously not TILT?
 

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i dont tilt because im massively overrolled for my game

[/ QUOTE ]

Yessir. This sure helps, but I found myself in Tilt Heaven in a little 8-16 game not long ago and it surprised the crap out of me. I think I made the worst play in a decade and it was as if another person were inside me, moving my chips around. I was only sitting there wasting time while I waited for another table to get going. It took me 20 minutes to walk it off. Embarassing? Hell ya.

This has been discussed to death but I think Tilt, or more precisely controlling Tilt, is one of the game's attractions for me.

Re: C\'mon....does anyone seriously not TILT?
 

I am pretty sure I dont tilt. Just to be sure I stop playing when I lost a lot but I dont really feel bad about it. Better safe than sorry [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
I always was a calm person and I have a progamer background so I know how to handle pressure and stuff. I love making money through poker but I dont really need it, I guess that helps too.
I remember one time where I got angry while playing, but my experience was very limited up to then.
Now I am pretty sure that I am a winning player and even more sure that I will make a lot of money playing poker in the future. I know which kind of downswings I have to expect in 6-max so why bother if it will all come back to you [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

I was surprised that so many players have problems with tilt, considering that the massive swings in 6-max probably are VERY good for me [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: C\'mon....does anyone seriously not TILT?
 

1. Zen and the Art of Poker is a great book. This was my first step taking charge of my emotions in a poker game.

2. I think Dov's advice is fantastic. I implement a routine similar to this in my games and it really helps. The hardest part about this is recognizing when you're starting to tilt (and I define tilt several different ways: impatience, tiredness, bad beats, so on).

3. Bankroll is so important. I'm sure this is self-explanitory. You can't win money if you're defending your last $10.

Lastly, you mention a upswing tilt. This is great, but sounds dangerous to me. Once you've caught a few bad beats you'll define yourself as on bad tilt when it may not be so.

Re: C\'mon....does anyone seriously not TILT?
 

[ QUOTE ]
Lastly, you mention a upswing tilt. This is great, but sounds dangerous to me. Once you've caught a few bad beats you'll define yourself as on bad tilt when it may not be so.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, what I mean is, the positive emotions I am feeling now during my latest upswing has assisted my play. I am making the right play more often.

Now will this change once I start taking some bad beats? Probably not...I am properly bankrolled, I have rakeback, and I recognize they're just minor flucuations.

But as soon as I start contemplating angrily calling down the 80/8 donk w/ A high on a paired, straight flush board, something needs to happen.

I believe that, as mere humans, we can't get away from tilt; we can merely manage it. As you all pointed out, you can manage tilt by:

1) avoiding it, i.e. leaving.
2) implementing a self-management routine, a la Dov or Snowball.
3) lessening its impact - overbankrolling, rakeback, etc.

Re: C\'mon....does anyone seriously not TILT?
 

Yep. The best thing that book (Zen..) put into black and white was to not put money on crappy cards when your nuts might be right around the corner. That echoes around in my head everytime I play poker. Its hard to rationally accept that when on tilt but it's possible.

Re: C\'mon....does anyone seriously not TILT?
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Honestly, has anyone totally abolished tilt from their consciousness?

[/ QUOTE ]

My goal is actually the opposite of this.

I want to know the very instant that tilt has crept in.

Once upon a time, I thought I was better than everyone else and could beat the tilt monster into submission forever.

I no longer believe that this is a useful approach and simply consider each hand on its own. My first decision in every hand is no longer preflop, it is predeal.

My first look is at myself in the game. Am I still playing my best? Yes? OK, I'll look at my cards now.

No? I don't even look at them anymore. I just get up and take a break.

If I can't recover in a reasonable amount of time, then it's time to call it a day.

I've never lost a bankroll since implementing this strategy.

BTW, if I realize that I haven't checked my own status in 15 minutes, then it's quitting time too.

These days, for me, it's play for keeps or don't play at all.

I can't think of any other way to get to the HL games.

[/ QUOTE ]

What about in a tourney?

Re: C\'mon....does anyone seriously not TILT?
 

[ QUOTE ]
What about in a tourney?

[/ QUOTE ]

What about it?

Keep your eye on the goal.

If you screw up, you lose. If you don't screw up, you still often lose.

Maybe I missed your point.

Re: C\'mon....does anyone seriously not TILT?
 

Here's one thing that helped me limit my tilt. I stopped feeling sorry for myself. Its really unhealthy to act as though the money you have in play is just supposed to grow. Having money in play means that you are comfortable with losing it, and other players have the absolute right to take your money. If they outplay you, or just get lucky, they are entitled to the pot. When I get angry about losing, some of it comes from feeling like other people don't have the right to take my money.
Another thing that helped me to limit the effects of tilt on my bankroll is something one of the posters here said. He said (paraphrasing) "Its just ridiculous that some people go broke because of steaming. Its a choice and completely a matter of self-discipline, and there's no excuse for this kind of personal weakness"

Re: C\'mon....does anyone seriously not TILT?
 

Not going on tilt is a constant battle with me.

I am a very emotional person by nature, which tends to make the fact I play poker an awkward proposition. Generally speaking, I play a very solid game around 95% of the time, but the other 5%, I seem to make very donkish moves and go a bit off the deep end(i.e. bad bluffs, chasing foolishly without proper pot odds, calling down when I know that I'm beat).
This issue has been ruinous to my bankroll many times, especially in the last six months when I have tried to make the jump to no limit. Part of my most recent upswing is my realization that a)right now, my emotions will flare on me occasionally, and b)I can limit their effects better in a limit game. I know it seems like I'm a losing player(and right now, I am a lifetime loser, though only by about a grand or so), but I think that until I learn to control myself a bit better, my game has to be, in part, about damage control.

I am sure that there will be much flames on me about this, saying I should quit, look at the long-term, don't sweat the short-run variance, etc. I mentally know all of these things, but it is harder to internalize them. I am not claiming that this is an ideal way to be. I'm just being honest in responding to the OP.

Re: C\'mon....does anyone seriously not TILT?
 

I have really improved this aspect of my game, but once in a while that tiltmonster will still get ahold of me. Most of the time now I can just shake off a bad beat, but say its a huge pot, and an improbable draw comes in to beat me, and I'm already down for the session before that hand, well then I may start steaming. When it happens I have learned to get up and walk around, or just go home. Once you become even a pretty good player, I think controlling tilt is the most important factor in keeping that winrate up. Last year I was about a 1/2 bet an hour winner, and I'm pretty sure going on tilt and playing like a jackass at times is what kept me from winning much more. I haven't learned to control tilt from reading or being a smart guy, I have learned from multiple 16-hour marathon donkey sessions, where I lost over $1000. Pure operant conditioning.