I can't stand the bad runs

[steamboatin]

We are lucky to have DR Al.

[smoore]

d00d... B1GF1SHY!

You're so tilted right now you can't see straight, let alone play well. You've been playing for 8mos but you think you can't tilt? Get real man.

Don't think I'm a dick but that's how it is. Take a break and decide if you want to continue to play. Downswings happen, money is not won in a linear fashion.

[Al Schoonmaker]

I'm too inept with computers to give a link, but you can get them at cardplayer.com. Click magazine, writers, and my name. All the articles have "Tilt" in the title, and you might also look at the recent series on "Anger Management."

Regards,

Al

[nurp]

I just got off a 3-4 week losing streak. Was getting beat with pocket pairs against horrible hands, higher straights, better flushes...It never went my way but I learned that keeping your compusure and sticking to your strategy works over the long run. Poker is ups and downs, the minute you accept that, the better off you are.

[B1GF1SHY]

d00d!

I never said that I don't tilt, I said that I rarely tilt and it's true. I can see perfectly straight and I continue to play well. I know downswings happen, I've obviously had them before and while it gets incredibly frustrating I'm sure it will pass. I'm just trying to find out if people go through the same emotional state as I do where they end up hitting things, and even start taking it out on others around them that have nothing to do with poker.

In response to Al's post, I don't believe I'm anywhere near Doyle, but at the same time, I am not playing in the same game as he does with other pro's. I can easily see having a losing year if everyday you battle Negreanu, Ivey, Reese, and the rest of the high-stakes gang. While I do get incredibly frustrated and full of anger, I'm sure it happens to others too. I punch the wall, or smash my fist against things, I get annoyed with friends and family, and give them attitude. Others do that too though, are they messing up their life too?

[steamboatin]

Dude can you spell DENIAL? D-E-N-I-A-L

Normal well adjusted individuals that are not on tilt, do not hit the wall or break things when they lose a hand of poker.

If you do, you are either playing at stakes way above your means so that the money is overly important or you are borderline Mental.

Either way it is time to Look Up and Listen. You are on the edge of a serious screw up.

[coffeecrazy1]

And, furthermore, why are you getting defensive about 2+2'ers saying that you tilt? Tilting is not a shameful thing; it's a common problem that every poker player experiences in one form or another. I agree with steam...you are in denial about what is happening to you.

We are trying to help you and your game, not make you feel bad for tilting, and what you are describing is a tilt problem. So, climb down off that high horse, admit you have a problem, and let the healing begin.

I thought that was what this board was for in the first place.

[bigmac366]

repeat after me: poker is a game. there is nothing more important in life than a loving family, closely followed by close friends. driving away the people that love you because you cant handle the emotion swings of a game would be a tragedy. brett favre is considering retirement for his family, not because he cant play any more. just some food for thought.

[steamboatin]

Tilt is any time, repeat, any time you let emotion affect your play. Getting scared and cashing out of a good table is tilt just as much as playing like a maniac. It isn't always manic chip spewing. It can be not raising when you should. Could be not making a value bet on the river. Any time emotions change your play it is tilt.

I tilt all the time, I don't hit walls and hurt myself but I get weak tight sometimes when I know better and that is tilt.

Anybody that doesn't tilt, isn't human, we all tilt period end of story. Lots of degrees of tilt, but we all do it.

[Grisgra]

Ah, just another bad beat post. Given the subject title, I figured your concern was more biological in nature . . . was going to suggest avoiding 3-day-old chinese food, not to mention any and all Taco Bells.