Tilt from Hell

If this is the wrong forum, forgive me, this just seems to make the most sense. Also, sorry if this has been posted before, I've tried to search but I think we all know how good the search function is.

I'm a very competative guy. I can not stand losing at anything, whether it be video games, friendly sports, and especially poker. If I go on a downswing like today, I can't deal with it.
Today I ran into some bad luck (flopped flush gets runner runnered full house, straight vs rivered flush, set over set, all that good stuff) and once I was down around 15 BB I simply cannot live with that. I get extremely frustrated and cannot leave the table without trying to make it back. For the most part I'm fairly successful at recouping my loses. Somedays, however, I fail miserably and end up down a lot more. What do you guys suggest? I know that its just tilt, but because of my extremely competative nature its like the tilt from hell. Any recommended reads? Thanks.

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If this is the wrong forum, forgive me, this just seems to make the most sense. Also, sorry if this has been posted before, I've tried to search but I think we all know how good the search function is.

I'm a very competative guy. I can not stand losing at anything, whether it be video games, friendly sports, and especially poker. If I go on a downswing like today, I can't deal with it.
Today I ran into some bad luck (flopped flush gets runner runnered full house, straight vs rivered flush, set over set, all that good stuff) and once I was down around 15 BB I simply cannot live with that. I get extremely frustrated and cannot leave the table without trying to make it back. For the most part I'm fairly successful at recouping my loses. Somedays, however, I fail miserably and end up down a lot more. What do you guys suggest? I know that its just tilt, but because of my extremely competative nature its like the tilt from hell. Any recommended reads? Thanks.

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If you tilt after a 15BB downswing, it might be time to consider another hobby.

[Escape]

Stop playing poker, honnestly. You are in for a long ride if you can't handle 15bb slides. It happens all the time. You could try to relativate Oke I lost 20$, but won 40$ yesterday so I'm still 20$ ahead.

Its not the 15 BB that bother me at all. If I feel like I've played decent and I just haven't hit my draws or connected with any flops, thats one thing. But its the set over set, suck outs, etc. which I can't deal with. I understand that that is a big part of becoming a successful poker player. Its the one aspect I really feel I haven't gotten a handle on yet. I study the game constantly, review my hands, and put in a lot of effort. I've actually considered quitting after a few swings, but in the long run I've been very successful and poker is something that I enjoy tremendously.

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Its not the 15 BB that bother me at all. If I feel like I've played decent and I just haven't hit my draws or connected with any flops, thats one thing. But its the set over set, suck outs, etc. which I can't deal with. I understand that that is a big part of becoming a successful poker player. Its the one aspect I really feel I haven't gotten a handle on yet. I study the game constantly, review my hands, and put in a lot of effort. I've actually considered quitting after a few swings, but in the long run I've been very successful and poker is something that I enjoy tremendously.

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Then enjoy it, continue your study and try to continue to play optimally. Suckouts, bad beats, and other such things happen even to the best of us. Those that can deal with it become successful, those who cannot become fish that piss away hundreds of bets.

[SNOWBALL138]

Its a really bad sign that 15bb bothers you a lot. 15bb isn't a significant loss. How long have you been playing? If you've been playing for a while and you still can't deal with a measly 15bb loss, then you might want to just quit, because you might never adjust. If you're a good player, you might win maybe 2/3rd of the time you play. Who wants to be depressed 1/3 of the time they play poker? My frequency of getting bummed out by results is below the 10 percent range, which is manageable.
I recommend increasing your risk tolerance or playing less.

play NL instead of limit, make those suckers pay to hit them draws

This thread is fake. Who reads books, studies hands, and goes on tilt down 15BB? Here's what I think, dude just blew 150BB on a major tilt and don't want to admit it. Know what else, these bookworms always make the best fish when they go on tilt too, cause they play the book and not the table.

You want some real advice, why not stop being a fake. Who would even take the time to write here if down 15BB? Not a real poker player, cuz 15BB is just a lucky hand and an opponent's misread that will come sooner or later.

[SheridanCat]

You state that your problem isn't the money loss - it's small after all - but the fact that you will often be run down by players whom you are beating badly early on. So, increasing risk tolerance, and other suggestions already made aren't really going to help you. Neither will playing NL because you'll still experience the frustrations of being run down when way ahead.

What you need to do, in my opinion, is explore what is driving this competitive need you have. Often a competitive drive is rooted in a fear of looking like a fool. Perhaps that's the situation in your case, or perhaps it's something else, such as trying to please an overbearing parent or sibling. Once you figure out what it is, you can address it.

One is rarely competitive for no other reason. Once you understand where it comes from, perhaps you can start to address that and hopefully let the losses roll off easier.

Regards,

T

[SNOWBALL138]

Recommending a tilter to play no limit is like recommending a a featherweight to get into the ring with Mike Tyson.