techniques for letting out frustration

[JackedUp]

I've had a string of bad beats lately and it's getting to the point where I'm ready to toss my computer out the window. I recently had my aces cracked by a 56 suited who called my 10BB raise out of position. That's just the beginning of the bad beat stories. Over the past couple days, I've had half a dozen hands where I was at least a 4-1 favorite to win preflop and have lost every single time. Kings getting beat by jacks, AT beat by A7. Getting sucked out on a gut shot draw, etc.

I know my play is correct. I keep getting my chips in with the best of it and yesterday I coached a friend to his first sit and go tournament win. My play is sound and I'm not looking for advice on how to play KK vs. JJ.

What I am looking for is some advice on what people do to let out their aggrevation and frustrations. I know I'm not the first person to run into this, but it is the first time I've hit a string of luck this bad and I'm not used to dealing with it. So please let me know whatever you guys do to let it all out before my tilt factor reaches 100. The more creative the better. I could use a good laugh or two right about now.

[JoshuaD]

Club a baby seal? [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[JackedUp]

Are baby seals better than cats? I thought of getting a cat for the sole purpose of kicking it every time my kings get beat by a JT off suit.

[Frank Zappy]

Glib Answer #1: Read Marcus Aurelius. 2:1 “Being each day by telling yourself: Today I shall be meeting with interference, ingratitude, insolence, disloyalty, ill will, and selfishness (and bad beats at poker) – all of them due to the offenders ignorance of what is good or evil…”

The problem is that you’re thinking like an accountant; that things should always add up and better hands should stand up more often than not, when in reality there’s no such thing as a bad beat.

I view the cards I’m dealt as my life; you’ve heard the phrase "play the hand you're dealt" before, right? The Community Cards are the World, or if you’re expansive, the Universe. Sometimes, they coincide perfectly, most times they simply don’t.

A friend of mine once told me, “On paper my life is perfect, until I walk out my front door.”

The key is don’t take “Bad Beats” so personally; luck is perfectly impersonal.

Never forget: Life deals us all the ultimate "Bad Beat" at the end of it all, so compared to that losing a few poker chips is laughable.

[lil_o]

few ideas and/or methods tried by myself:

1) punch a wall hard, when your knuckles swells up and hurts for a week you realize how dumb it is to get crazy

2) goto the gym and run or lift weights; use all negative energy to have a kick-a$$ workout

3) stop playing poker for a long time and treat yourself to a beer; remember you aren't playing poker to go insane you are playing it for love of the game. if you can't have fun or control yourself when playing then poker isn't for you.

[TStoneMBD]

meditate. you wont build up frustration, and therefore wont need to let it out through violence.

[JackedUp]

I've got scars from going a few rounds toe to toe with my wall. Lately I've tried keeping a pillow next to my seat and I just beat that down. It seems to have a lot more forgiveness than the wall but there's really not a lot of satisfaction in it. I'm still leaning towards getting the baby seal.

All kidding aside, I tried moving down to the microlimits and will played there for about 30 minutes just playing wacky hands very loose aggressively. Nothing like all in for 96 cents with 36 off suit to a board of JKA for a whopping 34 cent pot. Of course I got called, but it was worth a good laugh on the chat.

[JihadOnTheRiver]

Declare, and fight, a Jihad.

-Durka

[htc1278]

Clubbing baby seals=+EV. Hurting cats=-EV (the cats will get you back when your back is turned)...

[willie]

i play sitting in bed, so i hit the back of my head against my wall

the wall has some definite cracking and divits goin on... oh f'n well