Hey all. For a long time I have had issues with tilt, but not in the more commonly thought of way of losing a big pot and then playing every hand terribly. Or getting bluffed by someone and trying to go after them. What happens to me is that I can play long stretches of what I consider great poker, and then just randomly play a hand absolutely terribly - unlike how I would normally play a similar hand. It has become more apparent now that I've been playing more bigger buyin tournaments. I think the pressure/stress gets to me as I get closer to the money and makes it much more likely I will have one of my "blowups". I seem to be more consistent in cash games.

I'll post a few examples of what led to me busting out of the big Monday Million tournament on Pokerstars.

Poker Stars $200+$15 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t800/t1600 Blinds + t160 - 9 players

Hero (CO): t82923 M = 21.59
BTN: t17890 M = 4.66
SB: t27515 M = 7.17
BB: t56511 M = 14.72
UTG: t72082 M = 18.77
UTG+1: t24220 M = 6.31
UTG+2: t102083 M = 26.58
MP1: t92674 M = 24.13
MP2: t15394 M = 4.01

Pre Flop: (t3840) Hero is CO with 5 Q
5 folds, Hero raises to t3400, 1 fold, SB calls t2600, 1 fold

Flop: (t9840) 7 2 A (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t5200, SB calls t5200

Turn: (t20240) 2 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks

River: (t20240) K (2 players)
SB bets t9600, Hero raises to t74163 all in, SB calls t9155 all in

Final Pot: t57750
Hero shows 5 Q (a pair of Deuces)
SB shows A K (two pair, Aces and Kings)
SB wins t57750

In this hand, at some point I decided that a good Ace would've pushed PF, so he must have a pocket pair (AND would fold). Bad logic and bad bluff. Before this hand I had playing really well. After this hand I went on to play well for a while until this hand:

Poker Stars $200+$15 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t2000/t4000 Blinds + t400 - 9 players

Hero (BTN): t116876 M = 12.17
SB: t95388 M = 9.94
BB: t278847 M = 29.05
UTG: t309554 M = 32.25
UTG+1: t124985 M = 13.02
UTG+2: t128519 M = 13.39
MP1: t53494 M = 5.57
MP2: t56014 M = 5.83
CO: t40080 M = 4.17

Pre Flop: (t9600) Hero is BTN with Q J
6 folds, Hero raises to t10000, 1 fold, BB calls t6000

Flop: (t25600) 8 6 T (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

Turn: (t25600) 3 (2 players)
BB bets t12000, Hero calls t12000

River: (t49600) 8 (2 players)
BB bets t24000, Hero folds

Final Pot: t49600
BB wins t49600

I didn't think this was terrible, but I would almost always bet this flop. For some reason my thought process was "that board is very coordinated, I'm guaranteed to get called or raised". The turn I felt should've been a fold. I was really beating myself up about this hand, and then this happened right after:

Poker Stars $200+$15 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t2000/t4000 Blinds + t400 - 9 players

Hero (CO): t94476 M = 9.84
BTN: t92988 M = 9.69
SB: t306047 M = 31.88
BB: t309154 M = 32.20
UTG: t124585 M = 12.98
UTG+1: t128119 M = 13.35
UTG+2: t53094 M = 5.53
MP1: t55614 M = 5.79
MP2: t39680 M = 4.13

Pre Flop: (t9600) Hero is CO with A 9
5 folds, Hero raises to t10000, 2 folds, BB raises to t26767, Hero raises to t94076 all in, BB calls t67309

Flop: (t193752) 4 8 2 (2 players - 1 is all in)

Turn: (t193752) K (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: (t193752) 5 (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: t193752
Hero shows A 9 (high card Ace)
BB shows T T (a pair of Tens)
BB wins t193752

My opponent had a big stack and had 3-bet me from the blinds a couple of orbits ago, but I don't think I had a reason to think he was 3-betting me that light. I think I made a huge overplay here to bust myself out.

A bit more background - despite the tilt issues I'm a pretty consistent winner. If I can stick to my A game for a whole tournament, I usually do very well. I struggle with stress/anxiety in life in general so I think that's a factor in this.

Has anyone dealt with similar issues, and if so what did you do? Are there any books on this kind of tilt that would be helpful?
Thanks all

I would suggest taking a look at the first volume of Jared Tendler's Mental Game of Poker as he does a pretty thorough job of discussing the different types of tilt and ways to combat tilt.

Ok will do, thanks!

Those arent C game type hands that happen when you are on tilt imo.

If hands like that happen regularly when your 'tilt' I'm very surprised you're a consistent winner.

There are medications that could just numb you out. Can't tilt if you don't feel emotionally invested.

If you want any chance to understand it, take the word "random" out of the title ... or at least out of your thinking about tilt causes and cures. It's about as random as the orbit of the earth. Intermittent/spontaneous/sudden does not equal random.

I take it you think these hands are much worse than normal tilt? To be honest most of the winning happens when I avoid hands like this. My A game seems solid.

I'll look into that, thanks.

I used random because it happens without any clear trigger, but perhaps your descriptions are more accurate. I have Jared Tendler's books now to learn more about this. Thanks.

The Mental Game of Poker defines tilt as Anger + Bad Play

Does Tendler call it random?

In those kinds of terms I think of it as one's frustration tolerance being exceeded. That results from the thwarting of one's wishes or desires, as in losing instead of winning, of course there are other sources of frustration too. To see tilt as being solved simply by how proficient one is at the game way undersells this key frustration factor. Improved strategic understanding does not resolve the explosiveness of frustration.