Hello all.

I am a losing poker player due to my inability to stop tilting. I am winning over small samples of 10000-30000 hands (before i start to tilt). I usually start tilting after losing around 3-5 buyins after extreme suckouts and what is even worse is that i play PLO so it happens quite often. I always try to tell myself that i wont do it again but always do it like 15-20 times now.

When i tilt i always sit down with my whole roll shortstacked at a high limit table and since i am so tilted i dont even get in the money good. Always potting almost every hand until i lose it all. Then i start a new database and make same thing after 5000-25000 hands after playing a good winning poker.

I play one of the softest sites available (Svenska Spel) so winning extremly easy but if breakeven over such a small period of 2000-3000 hands it can also cause me to tilt because for some reason i cant except it even though i know about variance and all that.

Dont i have the mentality for poker or can i change? Has anyone else changed? I dont go to casinos anymore cause i cant stay away from the black jack tables. So anyone else that had huge problems with the mentality to be a winning poker player and managed to change?

I know how absurd my tilting is but for some reason i cant stop. Doing the same thing more then 15-20 times prove this.

EDIT: Just thought of another thing. When i show my graphs to friends and other players they think they look really good. All i see is a sucky graph that should be a lot better. It is almost like i am to impatient and feel like i am winning money to slow. If play a hand terrible which can happen from time to time i feel like will never be a winning poker player even though i am up maybe 4-5 buy ins that session it can start to make me feel so bad because i played a hand terrible and it cost me a buy in.

Start setting yourself long term goals. Write it down and read your goal before every session and believe that you will achieve it. Keep it handy so when you start tilting you notice it.

Stop deleting your databases. You need to see those downswings everyday. They are a constant reminder how much tilting affects your long term goal which you read every day. You'll start to grasp how much more profitable you would be without your tilt sessions better. By deleting you just keep making the same mistake and will never grow as a player.

How do you set long term goals? It is my biggest problem by far. Like I know I want to become better and earn money, but that is basically it. Sorry for hijacking thread, but guess this can be usefull for OP as well.

Forget everything you learned, go back and start out as a rock of rocks in a game your bankroll can handle. Then learn how and when to loosen up. Don't worry about bluffing, don't worry about being bluffed.

I learned holdem from the bottom up, loose -> tight but when I slip I go back to loose. I rebooted into PLO and learned Top down, tight -> loose. Now when I slip, I go back to tight ... and this has carried over to HE now and any other poker game.

I'm a much better player for it and I think I don't tilt now, but if I do start to feel like I'm playing odd, I can say ****-it and cash out.

You'll be surprised at how many players will put you on top set and call or bet down with bottom set anyway.

I used to struggle with this same issue. I have dumped thousands of dollars at blackjack, higher stakes poker games or other -ev games after multiple or even one breakeven/losing session. Personally I have quit playing the -ev games unless I am vacationing in Vegas. Also instead of stressing over one bad session, I am trying to think of poker as one long session with breaks in between play. I am still not immune to tilt, but losing or breaking even as a result of variance does not tilt me. Recognizing I am playing poorly and making bad decisions tilts me. When I do feel tilt coming on it is in my best interest to quit playing for the time being.

Maybe consider taking a break after you lose a certain amount of buyins. You say you tilt after losing 3-5, so why not take a small break at this point, or even quit for the day (or maybe even week).

You can take a walk, hot shower, meditatate, whatever helps you calm down and reduce anxiety levels. Obviously you will get less hands in and might miss out on some +EV games, but the strategy I describe could easily be +lifeEV for you. And depending on how much you lose when you tilt, it could easily be +$EV too.

Being tired, or stressed causes people to revert to their oldest known (and therefore comforting) behaviors - which for most of us results in losing play. It isn't logical, but then we ain't Vulcan's.

So, DO NOT play tired and find your own path to relieve stress.

Hey OP, The Mental Game Of Poker by Jared Tendler was helpful to me and many others in learning how to control and combat tilt. It might help you ultimately understand WHY you tilt(there are many different reasons). If you have a kindle you can download a short sample from the amazon store

You play too high. You need to play at a limit where you feel comfortable losing 15-20 BIs, which should happen frequently in PLO. Go down in limits, build a BR, then step up to next limit w 100 BIs. Allow yourself to lose 20 BI. If you do, step down again. Rinse and repeat.

Anytime you play under stress due to losing money, not winning money or feeling economic pressure is a time when a winning player might be a losing one.