Is this enough to put you on tilt? (Long, whiny, but fun)

[kiemo]

TlR - I whine about a brutal session that we have all had. There is a real question near the end.

Ok first off just you so know I am absolutely crazy after my session tonight, becuase I completely convinced that Absolute poker hates me, my family, my pets, and probably at this very moment is plotting to burn my house to ground and find out where my grandparents are buried so they can descrate their memories.


I start off my session posting in CO. Dealt AKo. I raise on BB calls. Flop is 663. Check. I raise. BB check-raises me. I 3-bet. he caps. I fold. He shows T7o.

Allright so this guy is a donk and boy does he like to table chatter. Apparently him and another guy on the table are racing to see who can get to $150 first (1/2 table), both are sitting at about a hundred now.

Dont play a hand for 15 hands. Get dealt ATs in EP. I raise. Donk raises from MP. Again hes got the T7, but this time is suited and this time he nails a nine on the river to straighten him up to beat my Aces.

Ok no problem. fishy nails me twice, been done before.

5 hands later, after another whiffed AKo.

AA in the MP2. Folded to me. I raise. Button, CO, and Donk in SB call. Flop is 725 rainbow. Checked to me. I bet. CO folds. Button check-raises with only 4.5 BB left in his stack. Donk folds. I call and go with the check raise on the turn T (full rainbow now). River is a 6 and of course Button tables his pair of sixes.

D'oh. Oh well aces get cracked occasionally. 96% to win means you gotta lose 4% of the time, plus Absolute has a deal where you get $10 for aces cracked. Oh wait used that bonus already the other day when they were cracked by, how ironic, 66 on a runner runner straight.

2 hands later!
Hero is MP1 with KK. Yes! Didnt get mad the aces were cracked and this is my reward right? 1 caller to me. I raise. MP2 (donk2 in race to 150) 3-bets. Folded back to UTG who limp caps. Flop is Q58. Betting is capped. Turn is T. Betting is capped. River is 8. Betting is capped. Donk2 tables his Queens. UTG shows his Aces. I out the full 12 BB for that hand.

WHOAH!
SLOW DOWN!!
What just happend. I just lost Aces and Kings in a three hand span and am down 25BB and Donk1 is constantly chirping about whatever. I gotta reload! I hate reloading and think I have done it only once in 50k hands!

Tilt time?? 89o in UTG+1 - Fold. Q3o UTG - fold. 84o in BB facing a raise - Fold. Ok so I suck at tilting.

Now in the SB with Q7s. 2 callers and I will complete. BB checks the option. Flop is a nice Q7J. I bet out get two callers. Turn brings the Ace. I bet out. 1 call, 1 raise. Hmm could this guy really have the AJ? Of course he can becuase its piss on Kiemo day at Absolute.

But wait. The light is shining on me. One hand passes and I dealth QQ in CO (Even though I am tilting I fold K9o on the button). Surely I will get 1-2 callers and a nice bloated pot? Nope folded to me. I raise. Donk2 on button folds. Mr SuckoutSixes calls and Donk1 calls. Flop is T36r and I start trying to figure out what crap I am losing to on this, T6o, J9o, pocket fives. SB checks. BB bets. I raise. They both fold. I drag in the 2bb win, whooppe. Ahh but I didnt lose and I play the hand right. Well maybe, I might have been able to get a BB out of Donk1 had I called and hit him on the turn, but forget that I have got sucked out enough.

Another hand passes and I get AKs in MP2. ohh another chance to get a nice bloated pot going, but again folded to me. I raise, get a call from BB. Not suprinsgly the flop is no help to me, but BB is weak so when he checks I bluff bet. He calls, same on turn as flop and this time he folds. Another HUGE 2.5bb back to my stack and my chance for tilt is slowly ebbing away into a crap happens attitude.

Ok I won a few hands. Not much but its a start. Tilt period is over, even though it never began and 2 hands later I look down at JJ UTG.

I raise. Folded to Donk1 and he 3-bets as he mentions how he needs to catch up to Donk2 becuase he is at 120 only and Donk1 is nearing 150. Folded back to me, I cap. Just us two to the flop of T75. I raise he calls. Oh blooey. Hes got AJ. I raise the whole way and he drags the pot on the rivered Ace.



OK STOP THE F-ING TRAIN. I am down 32BB! I have never once been down 30BB. My previous worst session (coincedentally, I think not) was the just the other night at Absolute where I was down 21BB at my worst).

Now this isnt becuase I am great player or anything. Its mostly becuase I typically keep my sessions to under an hour and its hard to lose that much in an hour with tight play.

But seriously -32BB on one table is huge for me. Probably akin to a much larger number to others who play many more hands and longer sessions then me.

So all this whining boils down to this question. When you are in a rut like this on a specific table, is it time to leave even if you arent on tilt?

I was doing fine on another table and didnt think my emotions were out of control (that happend later when I pretty much got garbage for 30 hands, so I just closed the table from mid position, cashed out and uninstalled the software, screw the remaining $30 in bonus money, I will take my $13 I made over 1500 hands and go gently into the night) and the table was pretty juicy. Donk1 was 38/19 and like to bluff with weak pairs. Donk2 was 35/7 and only bet with at least a pair. SuitedSixes was 50/7. 2 other tight players and another 30%+ player made the table seem very ideal, but obviously ideal on paper dont work when you are stuck with a flat tire and no spare in Suck Out City.

(And to rub salt in the wound. Decided to let off some steam in a PS turbo NL tourney. Lost most of my stack with two pair from the blind to a runner runner 63o straight, which he didnt play from the blind)

[Student Caine]

If you are uncomfortable, leave.

If it doesn't feel right, leave.

Also, the rule of thumb that I use (and I read it in a few places) is that if you go down 30BB you leave the table. This is kind of a stop-loss to ensure that you aren't going on tilt or getting outplayed when you think everything is fine. I think this applies more to B&M games directly (when I dump 30BB I go home), but I apply it to each table online.

[MrWookie47]

If you're playing perfect poker, you should never leave.

This really belongs in the NC thread, and you've been around long enough to know this. I see you tried to ask a serious question, but this topic has been covered lots before. I'm running out of reasons not to lock this.

30BB isnt even a downswing, its a hiccup.

Sorry this doesnt really seem like a bad session at all to me. You had like less than 5 hands get cracked? You werent even ahead with the KK. Shouldnt any player go through months of this eventually? Why would this make you tilt?

Maybe I just play too much SH.

Edit: By the way, how much $$ does a player have to win before he loses the donk tag? Seems like they just outplayed you and put you on tilt.

[ QUOTE ]
TL;DR

[/ QUOTE ]
FYP. My sentiment exactly.

I did see this, though:

[ QUOTE ]
I completely convinced that Absolute poker hates me

[/ QUOTE ]
Absolute is a trick in itself to play: your typical table (at least at 1/2) is one semi-loose passive, one donkey who at any given time may three-bet with no pair no draw, and six weak-tighties.

The LP is dying 3 small bets at a time, the donk is feasting on the weak-tighties by making them fold at will, and you're trying to figure out whether to play tighter or looser, call down, reraise or fold to the donkey, and whether the loosie might be able to invite some friends.

And this (because of the caps):

[ QUOTE ]
OK STOP THE F-ING TRAIN. I am down 32BB!

[/ QUOTE ]
I don't see a lot of sympathy in your future.

[Fryguy]

eh, so you happened to have a couple of big hands lose in a row. It happens. if you feel good about playing, then play. downswings are a part of poker. and 30bb isn't that big of a down day. I had a 30bb down day a couple of days ago. no big deal.

If you want to have a downswing, have a day where you flop 17 sets and lose 16 times. yes it happened.

I feel your pain, but that is a pretty typical down day. Get used to it, or get used to multi-tabling so you can play through the downswings faster. They are a function of hands played, not time or anything. If you feel good about playing poker, just crank out the hands, it'll end eventually.

[Jefzter]

As for your question…

[ QUOTE ]

When you are in a rut like this on a specific table, is it time to leave even if you arent on tilt?


[/ QUOTE ]

The obvious answer is to leave anytime you feel uncomfortable.

But… if the table is as juicy as you say, and you feel you can still play good poker, then stay. Patience is the key. Ya it sucks watching all the fishies get smacked by the deck, especially when its at your expense, but playing a tight/aggressive style will eventually let you catch up and eventually get on the positive side. Its really just a matter of how much time you want to spend at it while your at a table offering such nice opponents.

Ya I’m a newb at playing limit and micro levels so I’m probably just stating what’s very obvious to everyone else here, but maybe that all you need to get back on track.

[Donkey Kong]

[ QUOTE ]
Flop is T36r and I start trying to figure out what crap I am losing to on this

[/ QUOTE ]
Sounds like you need a break and do something to get your mind off poker, because you're obviously in an irrational state of mind and not thinking clearly at all. You sound to me like the kind of player who doesnt tilt in the sense most people think of it, but that you rather get into "whats this retard gonna beat me with now"-mode and start making bad plays, perhaps even turning into a weak tightie like most of the players at the Absolute small stakes tables. I'm rambling here, but these experiences are very common and hard to deal with until you get completely confident about your ability as a player. I'm not nearly there myself yet, but I'm aware of the problem and struggling to cope when the bad times hit.

[Buccaneer]

Cashing out AND uninstalling the software ---- you really do want them to flip the double super secret distribute switch.

[kiemo]

[ QUOTE ]
Cashing out AND uninstalling the software ---- you really do want them to flip the double super secret distribute switch.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well I dont really like Absolute in the first place and I hadnt played there in almost a year. But decided to give them a second look becuase they offer endless bonuses. My second chance, minus the bad beats, didnt impress me any, so I was pretty much going to uninstall anyways once the bonus was cleared.

To address a couple of individual posters.

Eskimo - I made note of that in my original post. I dont play long sessions, so while -30BB maybe nothing to someone who plays 4 tables 8 hours a day, to someone who gets about 100 hands in a day, thats 2 weeks worth of wins. I understand though in the long run I will make it back, but my rambling diatribe was specifically addressing short term.

Ignignokt - wasnt expecting sympathy. Was wondering how others dealt with a extremely bad session, whether for them its losing 5 BB or 100 BB. Do people believe in bad table/player philsophy, sometimes you just cant beat a table or a player, so move on?

Fryguy - I typically 4 table, a recent monitor outage though has me down to a 17" monitor. 2 overlapping tables is no fun when you are used to 1600x1200 4 table no overlap. I know its a swing - thanks for the encouragement.

Donkey - kind of ironic you say that becuase the poker was taking my mind of the kitchen remodel I am right in the middle of. 9 hours of ripping up floors and cabinets and I figured an hour of bonus clearing would be a nice segway to bed. My mind was sure in the 'how am I going to lose now' mode, but my play didnt reflect it. At least looking over the hands I dont think it did.


Oh well, bad night, bad week, bad month. Just frustrated I guess. Hit 11k hands at 1/2 and was winning 3.3bb/100, thinking I am doing pretty well and maybe moving up to 2/4 at Stars to start clearing the $600 in bonus I got there and then I deposited into Absolute and it all went into the crapper. Now I am at 13k hands and my winrate has plummeted to 2.1bb/100 and my confidence for 2/4 is nill. Come on Party reload next week!!!