Learn to play through emotion or learn to walk away?

[jmgurgeh]

Two possible thought processes on a situation I was in a month ago at the Wynn. I had lost my $100 buy-in at the IP's $2-$4 game earlier in the day due to some nasty beats and second-best hands, and was plainly unhappy about it. Hit the hot tub upstairs, went to dinner with the guys, and then we went to the Wynn where most of us played $4-$8.

I was initially winning, but had my approximately 10BB profit whittled down to just about break-even. Then started tilting, and in a hand that I should have continued I ended up folding because I was playing scared. I take a walk and talk to some of my friends at $15-$30, one of whom mentions that part of playing good poker is being able to play through emotion.

So what do people think: I'm on tilt, I know I'm on tilt, and I can either stand up and watch my high-stakes buddies, or I can work through the difficulty and try to play good poker. What do you do, and why?