Does anyone have any tips on how to accomplish this? I'd say I can handle just about any types of losses for maybe 7 or 8 straight during a bad cooler. However, today I lost 13 straight and I became pretty enraged. So much so that I actually had to stop playing because I was too angry to continue playing for the day. A few were flips, but I got it in good most hands. Twice I got AA in pre and lost to Ace rag hitting a straight, a handful of overpairs lost to 2pair, you know the drill.

This made me realize that I currently only have so much bs I can take in one day. I found it especially tilting that 2 fishy wannabe regs were sitting multiple tables against me. One guy I was about 10 buyins up on, has fluked his way back and is now a few up against me. My ego is really latching onto the fact that these guys play horrible and are getting "rewarded" for their ineptness at the moment. Jamming T9 for 15bb, Q3 jamming over a minraise 12bb deep, 3bet jamming k8o 15bb deep. I can tolerate losing to an extent, but I actually felt sad after realizing how many hundreds of dollars slipped through my hands to these idiots.

Anyone got any tricks for increasing their tolerance to the amount of bad luck they can take? I know I'll probably be fine tomorrow, but I am not satisfied with quitting an entire night from tilt anymore.

Think about all the good things you got in life compared to the millions of people suffering and dying each day.

You talking about HU or multi handed OP? Just curious.

How do you think about that stuff in the heat of losing? I barely think about that stuff away from the table.

Today it continues too. 90 minutes into a session and I have to quit because I'm so choked. 3 70% flips lose to a guy trying to opensit and avoid me. After the 3rd he suddenly accepts a rematch probably because he now thinks he's good for having k2 hit vs TT, A3 hitting vs QQ and A5 hitting vs JJ.

Looks like I gotta pull out the MGOP or else this is going to just escalate.

**UPDATE**


So I went to Starbucks for a couple hours, 0 tilt. It was a great reminder that getting angry is a choice. Session was about breakeven, but the 1-7 start didn't upset me one bit.

Sounds like a good place to start. Ego is antithetical to most good poker thinking.* Do some deep introspection about why you feel poker ought to justly reward you in the very short term and about how you can break that connection between poker and desert (deserving) in your emotions.

If the same guy were walking along the street in front of you and found a $50 bill, would it bother you? What makes us think that very short term poker outcomes are "rewards" for good behaviors but finding money in the street is just dumb luck?

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*The exception is an important one: If ego drives you to learn more about the game, rather than to feel you have to demonstrate knowledge about the game, then it's having a good effect.

Meditation is the best way to get to the root of the frustration. If you dont know why you are getting angry then you will never be able to fix it. I learned mostly from "adyashanti" on youtube, a well known spiritual teacher from Cali who teaches how to be detached from whatever comes your way (zen). It saved my life because I used to tilt so hard I couldnt even breathe right and 9 years later I'm still a poker pro

welcome to poker

if you don't like "flips" stop playing short stack poker

It seems like OP is well aware that this is part of poker and is trying to learn to build up a tolerance for this natural part of poker. It also sounds like he's aware that quitting is an option, but would prefer not to quit, even for a session. How else would you interpret this?:

As for stack size, it sounds like OP is discussing the opponents' short-stack shoves, not discussing his own stack size.

If OP actually is playing a short stack, playing deeper will increase statistical variance. It might be easy to lose sight of that because it will increase his advantage if he's a skilled player. But despite the ability to make more plays and win without showdowns, unless your opponents are ridiculously weak-tight there will still be plenty of lost suckouts, lost coinflips, and coolers. Those will obviously cost more deep stacked.

Eastern Philosophy

Winner, I've participated in a lot of threads with you in the past half a year or so and know you're a pretty smart guy. You're probably somewhat aware of the struggles I've been through recently that I've mentioned in this sub forum over the past few months. I've definitely been where you're at before, and sometimes still have days like that. I think I may be able to help with how to deal with these feelings in the heat of the moment. I certainly won't claim to be a zen buddhist myself, but it's enough that my play rarely deteriorates, I can deal with adversity, and finally I know when it's time to just say enough is enough, walk away, and enjoy the rest of my day.

Feel free to PM me if you'd like me to do a sweat session with you as more or less of a psych coach. I think you play higher limits than me from the sound of it, so dealing with these things in the heat of the moment is that much more important.

Here's a simple one for you winner... stop overcommitting yourself.

If you lost a game of chess or checkers against someone, would it frustrate you as much as poker does? Why not? What's the difference? People stress to "take a business like approach" and this normally results in most people overcommitting themselves and getting too worked up or upset.

POKER IS JUST A GAME PLAYED FOR MONEY...NOT A BUSINESS!

Treat the GAME seriously but keep it in prospective: it is just a game!
As for frustration tolerance, let's have a look at a generalised root cause for frustration:

Frustration=> Anger=> Fear=> Uncertainty=>Lack of Self-Belief + Confidence

Frustration is a form of Anger; Anger is a form of Fear; Fear is a form of Uncertainty; Uncertainty is a form of Lack of Self-Belief and Confidence

So in a nutshell, you have lost your self-belief and self-confidence during this period.

Can you imagine if you shoved AA all-in 50 times in a row and lost all 50 to 82o? How would you feel about the best hand in poker now? Would your previous memories of the situation (designed to keep you out of trouble--supposedly) affect your decision making and possible change your confidence with the situation? More than likely yes.

The solution is to also remind yourself of situations which have paid off following the actions you have taken. Also, try to remember all the times you have won and remind yourself frequently that you have won and can win at poker using your strategy. If you are not a winning player and you are reading this, remind yourself that you can expect to lose money playing but you are still learning the game and the money lost is an investment into future wins!

Aim to resolve uncertainty, correct expectations and boost confidence.... this will increase self-belief!

[QUOTE=winnercircle;42577841]How do you think about that stuff in the heat of losing? I barely think about that stuff away from the table.

QUOTE]

There is your problem...you barely think of it. Part of preperation is preparing yourself mentally and physically. You are gonna have these stretches, and you need to mentally prepare yourself for them. Find some motivation to listen to...make it some type of daily habit.