Going on tilt, coming off, and how to avoid it.

[ricdaman]

I know there are a ton of posts on this, but I am more interested in hearing about improving your game in the sense of overcoming tilt over time.

When I first started playing poker, 1 bad beat would put me on tilt. Now, it takes multiple bad beats, or hours without winning, then one bad beat for me to go on tilt.

Example:

I went on tilt tonight after going 2 hours, 40 minutes without a win (over 150 hands), being down 30 big bets, and getting the following hand:

Dealt: JQs

Flop 89T, rainbow.

I did not slowplay it one bit. I came right out betting.

Turn J
River Q

I lose to KJ, and lose another 5 big bets in the process.

Now I'm on tilt.

This is my next step I'm trying to get over. Not going on tilt after multiple bad beats, and hours of not winning.

Has anybody else had this problem (who overcame it)? If so, how?

Again, I understand there has been a lot of discussion about tilt. I'm interested in people's progress and what helped them to overcome the whole tilt problem (from those whom successfully have).

[TwoShedsJackson]

What do you do when you go on tilt? As long as you realise you're tilting and stop playing, that's the best course of action to take at that time.

The situation you describe can be intensely annoying, if the above happens to me I replay the hand in Pokertracker and check that I played it properly and my opponent simply sucked out.

If I confirm that I played the hand well and my opponent simply got lucky whilst making unprofitable calls, that'll usually be enough to untilt me.

[Pepsquad]

I've developed a little trick that helps me personally. The next time you play, pull up an odds calculator and keep it handy. When you suffer a bad beat (or what you perceive to be a bad beat) run the hand through the calculator. When I do this and find that, say I was a 4:1 favorite, I'll consciously tell myself "It was just a loan. The next 4 times is where I collect my interest." It really helps me put beats in perspective. You need to remember, bad beats are actually VALUABLE to you. If you didn't give LAG's the "loan" then there would be no "interest" to be collected long-term. Hope this helps.

[timmer]

the best thing going is to:
<ul type="square">[*] get up.[*]go outside[*] take some deep breaths to clear your mind.[*] go on a 20 minute walk lingering only of the sights sounds smells and feelings that meet your senses.[/list]
after a while you will feel centered and at peace once again.

then go play you best.

some top level financial risk takers some with portfolios in the high 8 numbers follow this practice. you should too.

timmer

[crabbypatty]

[ QUOTE ]
the best thing going is to:
<ul type="square">[*] get up.[*]go outside[*] take some deep breaths to clear your mind.[*] go on a 20 minute walk lingering only of the sights sounds smells and feelings that meet your senses.[/list]
after a while you will feel centered and at peace once again.

then go play you best.

some top level financial risk takers some with portfolios in the high 8 numbers follow this practice. you should too.

timmer

[/ QUOTE ]
this is very good advice. just remember that if you can recognize that you are tilting then you can fix it. get up, leave the game, even if you can beat it. just because you CAN beat this game does not mean that you WILL beat it. sometimes it doesn't matter what you do, you are going to lose. so why not go do something else, instead of losing more of your bankroll that you are going to have to win back next time you play. (we all know what it is like to have to win back what just took you a week to win in the first place and now have lost in 2 hours.)

just as a side note. if you are ever playing against someone and you have put a couple of beats on them, and they don't have anything to say, don't become visibly annoyed and the quality of hands and the way they are playing them doesn't go down. it might be a good time to write in your notes. "good player, doesn't tilt easily, be cautious." this kind of player has the mental game down and knows that you have gotten lucky and will more than likely keep showing down the best hands over time.

[timmer]

Right on crabby.

there are some good ways to keep from going on tilt.

but they are beyond the scope of this thread.

Search the psychology forum for ACTION - username timmer- 1 year. for a breif glimps.

timmer

[Zoltri]

[ QUOTE ]
get up.
go outside
take some deep breaths to clear your mind.
go on a 20 minute walk lingering only of the sights sounds smells and feelings that meet your senses.

[/ QUOTE ]

I personally dont think 20 minutes is enough. I tend to think the negative thoughts may still linger and the player may start to chase in order to recover the money lost from his previous session. As my mentor used to say:

"The game will still be here tomorrow"

[QuickLearner]

I compare poker to golf in this way: the better you get the more frustrated you get. Of course, in golf you're normally frustrated in yourself and in poker you're frustrated in bad beats. But the tilt is still there. I wish you could leave the golf course for a while when somebody drops a 30-footer to take the hole. Instead you say, "nice putt" and pick up your two-footer.

I think that tilt prevention and recovery are skills that I'll have to keep working on forever because I can never be good enough at them. I don't think you'll find many posters who can say that they've conquered it completely and forever. For what its worth I just tighten up for one orbit. I mean REALLY tight. During that time I relax because I won't be in a hand without a monster and reason it out much like some of the previous posters have advised.

If I take another bad beat with my monster I'm done for the day. Period. I'm running for the Paxil and the black russians, and digging something out of the old movie collection. Kidding about the Paxil.

One thread a little while ago was started by someone who has adopted a strategy of playing with a much larger bankroll than the 300-BB rule (even though I don't think money was an issue) and he's found that helpful. If someone is playing at or above their means that could help.

Lee Trevino was once interviewed during a big tournament and asked whether he was affected by the intense pressure of leading going into the final day. He said, "Pressure? This isn't pressure. Pressure is playing a $5 Nassau when you only have $5 in your pocket."

I love that guy.