500th post: Mental Game/Poker Mindset Manifesto (way, way, way tl;dr) - Page 3 - Small Stakes Pot Limit Omaha

x-post from bbv

Introduction/Background

“Now the only thing a gambler needs, is a suitcase and trunk, and the only time he’s satisfied, is when he’s on a drunk” –The House of the Rising Sun

“Poker is fun for everyone” –Prahlad Friedman

I’ve been playing poker for 6 years, 3 of them professionally. I started out playing NL hold em in $10 and $20 buy-in dorm room games, then discovered online poker a half a year later. I started playing Pot-Limit Omaha a few years ago, and now that’s pretty much all I play.

When I first started, I was about as bad of a player as possible (I had never watched poker on TV or anything and literally thought low-medium suited connectors like 4-5 suited were better hands than AA or AKo, would never fold a flush of any rank on a four flush board, and would slowplay and trap every time I had a huge hand) and was a big loser against bad players. A few months into my poker career, I read Phil Hellmuth’s Play Poker Like the Pros (lol) and The Tao of Poker by Larry Phillips, and that gave me enough of a foundation that I was able to start beating my dorm game and win when I started playing online in the super soft party games.

I did alright in the next couple of years, definitely up money overall, but I busted my roll a few times. Then I discovered training sites and was able to significantly improve my game, to the point where I was consistently crushing micro and low stakes except for the times I was tilting. When I graduated from college with an accounting degree in December 2007, I had a 25k bankroll and decided to give playing pro a shot before I took some more classes and prepared to take the CPA exam. I won 50k in the first 3 months of the year (most of it at head-up 1-2nl) and decided I never wanted to go to school again or work a 9-5. I ended up winning over 100k that year at the poker tables including rakeback (though I lost 5 figures at blackjack and sportsbetting so my gambling income for the year was closer to 80k) Since then, I’ve been moderately successful, and have been able to support myself and live comfortably with my net-worth never dipping below 20k, but it’s been a struggle at times, has taken a real toll emotionally, and I’ve had many periods where I’ve played like absolute garbage and went on huge downswings.

Throughout my poker career, I’ve had severe tilt/gambling addiction problems, as well as some issues with alcohol/substance abuse. Because I’ve struggled so much with the mental parts of poker, I’ve consulted tons of material on the subject and have also done coaching sessions with Jared Tendler. I recommend everyone watch Tommy Angelo’s Eightfold Path series on Deuces Cracked, read his book The Elements of Poker, and read The Poker Mindset by Matthew Hilger as those are what I’ve found most helpful.

If you can afford it, I would also highly recommend you try out a session with Jared Tendler, he is a trained psychologist whose initial specialty was sports that got turned onto poker mindset coaching by working with Leatherass. He has numerous positive references, and from my experience he is great for talking through your mindset shortcomings with and then identifying the underlying issues causing them. You can then develop strategies together to fix them and play your best more frequently. Judging from all the brilliant material he has made available on the subject, I imagine going through Tommy Angelo’s seminar would be very beneficial as well, though I haven’t gone through it myself.

Since I feel I know a lot about what constitutes a good poker mindset and strategies to use to play better more often, I decided to use my 500th post to give back to 2p2 and write about what I believe are the most important things I've learned about the intangibles of poker. I intended it be a relatively short post touching on a few of the most important factors, but I found I couldn’t stop writing, and it’s turned into a way tl;dr 9,800 word manifesto.

If you take the time to wade through it though, I think you’ll discover some jewels. Hopefully I’ll be able to help a few people out with this work, but if not I think just the act of articulating my thoughts on these subjects will help out my mindset and poker game in general. I'm more than willing to field some questions if you're curious about anything.

Awareness

"The most fundamental aggression to ourselves, the most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and the respect to look at ourselves honestly." –Pema Chodron

Awareness is absolutely critical in poker and life, in particular self awareness. You should pay attention to how the other players at the table are playing, taking note of their tendencies and looking at relevant stats, stack sizes, and players left to act before making plays. You should think of all the hands your opponent can have, which ones he is most likely to have, and the best way to play against each of them.

You should always be thinking of how your range and your opponent’s range interacts with the board texture as the hand unfolds. You should be cognizant of all the history and dynamics that are in place and of how other players at the table view you. Every play you make should be thought through fully and made with a specific purpose.

You should be able to honestly assess your ability and be able to evaluate if you have an edge in the games you are sitting in, and whether you would have a bigger edge and expected hourly earn in a different game available to you. If you are roughly as good as the average player you play against, you will be a big loser due to the rake, especially at smaller stakes, and if you are playing someone who you think you might be slightly better than heads-up, you’re probably better off finding a better game unless you are challenging yourself to improve your game or have a lot of trouble getting action. Also know that someone that you are slightly better than under normal circumstances probably has a huge edge on you when they are playing their A-game and you are tilting.

You should be able to gauge how your game tends to be affected when you are winning , stuck, tired, hungry, hung-over, upset about something in real life, watching something on tv or talking on messenger during your session, or after you’ve had a few drinks, smoked some pot, or taken any other drug. And if you do play significantly worse in any of the preceding states, you need to either not sit down to play, or if you choose to play, proceed with extra caution and mindfulness.

You should be able to identify your triggers for tilting. Some common ones: losing big, thinking you’re playing badly, thinking you’re being outplayed or run over, a long run where you don’t make many hands and/or not getting action on them when you do, taking a string of bad beats or coolers in rapid succession, being down more than certain amount, or being up big and losing a large chunk back.

You should be able to recognize your tilt warning signs. Some common outward ones are slouching in your chair, sighing, rolling your eyes, shaking your head, muttering or yelling profanities, or slamming your keyboard/mouse/desk or throwing things. You might also feel foggy mentally or get a headache.

Some common warning signs in your play is if you are making brazen plays you wouldn’t normally make or always taking the aggressive or non-folding option in marginal spots because you either want to build big pots that you have a chance to win even if you might be getting the worst of it, or because “I can’t win back money on this hand if I fold.” For instance you might 3bet or 4bet a hand you wouldn’t normally or call in a spot where you’re not getting the proper odds. Another one is acting very quickly when it’s your turn to act, just making standard plays, and giving very little thought to decisions. After you’ve realized your triggers and warning signs, you can take preventative measures, which I will get into in the next section.

Preventing and Managing Tilt

"The number one rule of tilt is, if you're on tilt, stop playing" -Poker Mindset

"The best way to lop off C-game is to trim the end of bad sessions" -Tommy Angelo

One of the best suggestions I can give is, if you spot a lot of your tilt triggers or feel yourself playing poorly, stop playing. You don't have to stop playing for long, it could be as short as a two or three minute break if you are in good games and don't want to lose your seat. Just the act of removing yourself from the game, if only briefly, can work to rejuvenate you and get you refocused and back to playing well. While a short break is better than nothing, I recommend you take at least a half an hour break if things are going badly at the tables, and if you've been spewing hardcore and are in a bad mind state, you should probably quit for the day, maybe going so far as to get a 12 hour self-exclusion on the sites you play at to ensure you don't go back on and tilt off more.

Good things to do on breaks are to go outside and get some fresh air for at least a minute or two. You might want to take a walk while listening to your iPod, ideally focusing on your breathing while you do so. You could also do pushups, sit-ups, or any other act of physical exertion. Mindful breathing or meditation is fantastic if you can get yourself to do it. Drinking some water and eating some healthy snacks like fruits and vegetables is a good idea too. Watching a favorite TV show (preferably a comedy) or playing the PS3 or Xbox can be a good thing too. One thing I would not recommend doing during breaks is going on 2p2 or talking on instant messenger bemoaning your bad luck to your poker friends and showing them hands where you took awful beats as it's just going to make you keep thinking about poker and dwell on how much you've lost.

I highly recommend a daily stop loss as well, which I would either set as the lower of “How much can I lose today and not feel too terrible about?” and “How much can I lose today without there being a very high probability of performing well below my best?” A stop loss is no good if you don’t stick to it, so as soon as you hit it, exit all tables and stop, and again I advise taking a 12 hour exclusion if you have any doubts about your abilities to stay off the poker sites for the rest of the day.

If you can't or don't want to quit or take a break sometime when you find yourself tilting or on the verge of tilting, there are some things you can do without removing yourself from the game to keep from tilting or get yourself back to playing well. For one, you can sit up straight in your chair with good posture and focus on your breathing. I'll get into this more later, but mindful breathing is something that Jared Tendler and Tommy Angelo are both strong, strong advocates of, and seeing as how they are the two most respected mindset coaches, I think that says a lot about its effectiveness. I was skeptical of this at first too, and in fact I ignored this advice for the most part for 2+ years, but trust me, if you are able to consistently focus on breathing mindfully, your tilt control, poker results, and ability to handle stress in life will improve dramatically.

Another thing you can do when you find yourself either on tilt or on the verge of tilt is tighten your game way up, and tend to take the conservative option whenever you have a marginal situation, particularly out of position early in the hand. Note that this doesn’t mean you should pass up on spots that are high variance but clearly +EV, and it doesn’t mean that you should autopilot and lose focus and give up on all the smaller pots and just always make the standard play, just that when you are in a situation where you believe the difference between raising, calling, or folding is close, you call instead of raising or fold instead of calling. This is especially true if you are prone to meltdown or demolition tilt where once you get way down you start essentially giving money away, as you want to avoid crossing your threshold of pain lest you start spewing all over the table.

You can also try observing your thoughts and emotions and using self-talk. For instance, when you're upset about losing a big pot, say to yourself "I recognize that I am frustrated/angry right now because I just lost a big hand." The simple act of doing this should defuse the emotion at least somewhat. You could also do what Jared Tendler calls "injecting logic" when you find yourself getting upset at the poker table. So for instance when a bad player sucks out on you in a huge pot on a 4 outer, you can say to yourself "I recognize that I'm upset that I just took a horrible beat and lost a bunch of money, but poker is a game governed in large part by random chance, and getting my money in good in situations like that is how I make my money. If the bad players didn't suck out sometimes they would stop playing the game, so it is silly for me to be angry about this, and even sillier for me to start playing worse because of it."

You can also try using self-talk to recite mantras to yourself over and over. A good one is No Matter What as in “No matter what, I’m going to give it my best at all times,” or “No matter what, I’m going to [insert whatever thing you want to make sure you do].” Your mind can latch on to the no matter what because its phrasing doesn’t leave the option of disobedience. Other mantras I’ve found useful are “I’m never going to make things worse” and “I’m going to break the pattern of chasing losses” (or break the pattern of whatever other destructive behavior you want to quash).

If you find yourself taking hands too far when you’re stuck because you want to win pots at all costs, you could say to yourself: “While I can’t win any money on this hand if I fold, I also can’t lose any more if I do.” If you find yourself loosening up your starting hand requirements, you could use the old Tommy Angelo standby: “It’s never that wrong not to play”

Playing Your Best/Avoiding Results Orientedness

“There’s no excuse for not playing your best. If you’re not playing your best then something is seriously wrong” –The Ashman

“I like to think of every decision point in every hand as the chance to make the perfect play” -Phil Galfond

“You should eliminate hoping from your game. You shouldn’t hope your opponent doesn’t bet, doesn’t raise, etc. Whatever happens, it’s just another chance to make a correct decision.” -Phil Galfond

“Doing your best is all you can do. If you’ve done your best, there’s nothing to get upset about or regret, no matter the outcome” -Tommy Angelo

“One thing I like to ask myself is, if my life depended on winning money on poker, what decision would I make here?” -Tommy Angelo

“Poker is a bit like a beautiful woman who will only come home with you once you show you are truly indifferent to her” -Larry Phillips

The goal of poker is to make a series of correct decisions, not to win money. So, in an ideal world, whether you are winning or losing should be irrelevant, and all that matters is that you are making the best decisions you can. In practice, this is very difficult as we are governed by our emotions, and the loss of something we value causes our minds to stir up.

In addition there is a human tendency to try to avoid losses at all costs, which leads to the phenomenon of chasing losses--either moving up stakes or playing recklessly in the hopes of getting back to even. Caring about short term results too much can also lead to what Tommy Angelo calls “Eat Like a Bird, **** Like an Elephant” syndrome, where a player will usually book a win after getting up a modest amount, but will play long sessions and play poorly when stuck and often end up dropping huge amounts of money.

As every mindset book emphasizes, you need to play for the long term, so the results of any hand, session, or week should not affect you. All that matters is you play as well as you can and that you have a big enough edge over your average opponent to beat the rake. The more indifference you can muster over the loss of a big hand, or a big losing session, or a string of losing sessions, the better off you will be.

If you are playing poker professionally, your sole aim when you are playing should be to try to make the decisions that will give you the best chance of making the most money in the long run. If you are playing foremost for either fun, for the excitement and thrill of the action, to win money in the short run, to achieve the thrill of victory that you might get off owning someone with a hero call or huge ballsy bluff, and/or for the challenge then you are doing it wrong and could be in for a world of hurt. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t enjoy these parts of poker, but rather they should be positive side effects of playing to make the most +EV decisions you can, and not motives in your decision making.

Another trap of results-oriented thinking is that it can lead to overconfidence and crises of confidence. If you put too much stock in short term results, you will tend to get overconfident after a good session. Then, if things don’t go your way during your next session, the loss will contradict the image you have built up of yourself and the positive expectations you had going into the session, and you might get very upset and try to force things. This is why big losses often follow a big win. Similarly, you might begin to doubt your ability after a big loss or a string of losses, and doubts like this when you’re playing can lead to flighty, impulsive decision making or an inability to pull the trigger.

Results-orientedness can cause you to mistakenly think –EV decisions are +EV or +EV decisions are –EV. You need to make sure you are judging the value of its play on its merits, and not on how it turned out in one or two hands. For instance, you could easily run into the top of someone’s weak range or the bottom of someone’s strong range when you’re bluffing.
One thing I would advise to eliminate results-orientedness is to NEVER check your cashier balance while in the middle of the session. As someone who used to compulsively check his cashier every couple of minutes I know it will be very difficult at first, but I don’t think there’s any good that can come from checking your cashier while playing. If you are down, you’re likely to dwell on how much you are down and might try desperately to get back from even. If you are up, and then start losing, then you more likely to experience a negative emotion that will cloud your judgment over how much you have slipped from your peak.

Ideally, you could go a week or longer without checking your account balance, but that’s rather unrealistic, so I think a good target is to just try to never do it while you are playing, which will be difficult enough (but if you are able to do it, I would almost guarantee you will play better). The only exception to not checking the cashier is if you have a stop loss or are planning on moving down limits if your balance dips below a certain account and you think you are near that threshold.

You should also try to refrain from experiencing excessive emotions while you play as much as possible, since if you are experiencing a strong emotion, it shuts down the logical portion of your brain to an extent, and it will cloud your judgment. This means you shouldn’t take things personally at the tables, and certainly shouldn’t form any vendettas or have any players that you are “out to get” or take particular pleasure in busting. A good way to look at it is that other players at the table are not your enemies, but rather as Tommy Angelo likes to say, “They are just obstacles, like the trees on a golf course.”

Distractions while playing

Building on playing your best, if you are distracted by anything while you’re playing, you probably will not be giving it your best since your focus will not be fully on the tables you are playing. The human brain has a lot of difficulty performing two or more activities simultaneously.

I think listening to music is fine (I would recommend it, actually), but I would advise against watching television, going on messenger, talking on the phone, or browsing the web if you have more than a couple tables going. If you are doing these things, it’s nearly impossible to pick up the subtle intricacies of the game dynamics and the entirety of what is transpiring, and you’ll probably miss a ton of spots where you can pick up smallish pots or make unorthodox plays that could turn out to be hugely +EV. The only possible exception to this is if you absolutely can’t stand to grind or tend to tilt when you don’t have these distractions and you are proficient enough at multitasking that your play doesn’t suffer much.

Playing too many tables is another form of distraction, since if you have too much action going on at once it’s impossible to give a lot of focus to any individual table or decision. In general, I think a good rule of thumb is that you should find out how many tables you can comfortably handle (which I would say is the point where you very rarely feel overwhelmed or time out), and play 2-4 tables less than that amount.

Another possible distraction is typing in the chat box, so I would advise against doing much chatting. Strictly from a focus/potential misclick or timeout perspective, chatting has to be more –EV than not chatting. The best uses of the chat box are to exchange pleasantries with players if they say something friendly to you, say “ty” when someone says “nh,” and to chat it up with the very weak, recreational players so they will be more likely to stick around in the event they double up. A bad use of the chat box include telling someone what you had in a hand or any talk of strategy (unless maybe it is done deliberately to get someone to play a certain way against you later), lest you give something away about how you play or think about the game.

Another poor use of the chat box is bemoaning your bad luck by saying stuff like “of course” “fml” “lol mbn” when you lose a pot. Worse still is lashing out at and berating other players, as in addition to being rude, the act of typing it will tend to stir up emotions. These things could also signal to other players who otherwise might not be paying attention that you might be on tilt, and if you are tilting, then this is disastrous. (As a related side-note, typing a random string of letters like “ajhkdjhkfslj” after taking a bad beat could be a good idea if you are actually mentally unaffected by the loss, and want to do a pump fake of sorts and give a false tilting tell). “Never complain, never explain” is a good motto when it comes to talking at the tables.

Thanks for writing this up man. It's awesome. It's the exact read i need right now. On a crazy downswings, and my game has gone to ****. It kind of answers alot of my questions and i can totally relate to all your examples. Plus I am trying to be mindfulness from now on for the rest of my life. It's been like a few days now and I kind of enjoying it.

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01-31-2011 , 12:21 PM

#52

realmaniac1

old hand

Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 1,508

posting so it's marked and will read it later

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01-31-2011 , 03:19 PM

#53

warmachine

journeyman

Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 289

Crashwhips,
OP is easily in the top 10 posts I have read. Your post is extremely well written and thoughtful. And even though you cite sources and repeat material from others, it's obvious that you have internalized it in such a way that you can express the ideas with great clarity and command.

I also appreciate how personal your post is. Not only does this give your writing a kind of authenticity, it serves as an example all too many of us can relate to strongly.

Given the strength of your writing, you should consider writing a book (e-book?) if you can generate enough material. It sounds like you could fill a lot of pages with autobiography, a sort of history of a PLO grinder. Also, since there is relatively very little written on PLO, you could probably offer a lot of advice on low-stakes PLO strategy (especially since PLO100-200 has changed so much in the last year+) in addition to general advice on grinding low-stakes long-term (as in OP). Also, if you need a copy-editor, I'm your man.

Many thanks for your post.
-wm

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01-31-2011 , 04:07 PM

#54

crashwhips

self-banned

Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 3,940

Thanks for the kind words warmachine, I appreciate it, it made me feel good to read that

Will let you know if I want to turn this into something more substantial or try to get it published or anything, though I have no such plans at this time.

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02-01-2011 , 01:05 AM

#55

Aceuphisleev

grinder

Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 455

Great stuff, I like the quote about viewing opponents as obstacles on the golf course. It seems like I always pick out one guy at the table (usually the shark) and try to beat him

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02-02-2011 , 05:37 PM

#56

jonno06

adept

Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 768

Good read crashwhips, thanks. Very well written!

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02-06-2011 , 07:59 AM

#57

LeedawG

banned

Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 284

tl;sr
TOO LONG STILL READ.

suuuper long, but suuuper good. everything makes oober good sense. Lots of common sense stuff that we as humans always forget or take for granted.

very spiritual and enlightening.

I for one used to be very heavily addicted to substances, and found this post very relating.

thanks!!

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02-12-2011 , 12:59 PM

#58

MightyNuts

journeyman

Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 391

Man that's great, big thanks for your post.
Good luck in life and poker !

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02-12-2011 , 01:31 PM

#59

sprint18

stranger

Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 12

very good post, hopefully this will help aid in curing me of my degen tendencies

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02-12-2011 , 04:23 PM

#60

Poolside

veteran

Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 3,243

great read.

thank you

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02-12-2011 , 07:05 PM

#61

Sedeete

veteran

Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 3,124

awesome read. Marked it to read later, but then got into the first few lines and couldnt stop reading.

Will obviously keep the mark tho, to come back at it another day.

And any person giving cliffs ITT should be life banned.

Thanks good sir!

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02-12-2011 , 11:59 PM

#62

Nicotine Dreams

veteran

Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 2,195

They are just obstacles, like the trees on a golf course.

I have the perfect opportunity so early next week I'm going to apply this mantra literally and try to superimpose an image of a tree on the guy I'm speaking with.

Most of us have gone through the things you have mentioned and for myself your section on Awareness really spoke to me. Sometimes it's just nice to have things laid out in front of you so you can point them out and then focus on them.

Thanks.

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02-15-2011 , 01:38 PM

#63

Burnsabre

banned

Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 1,627

Watched/somewhat internalized the 8 fold path, most of Tommy's stuff and alot of Adler's stuff... then forgot some of it/turned a bit lazy about some of it the last 2-3 months... this was exactly what I needed to remember "oh yeah, I told myself I was gonna start doing this or that.." Well written and tyvm for taking the time.

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03-29-2011 , 07:15 PM

#64

crashwhips

self-banned

Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 3,940

x-bump from bbv

One thing I recently discovered that seems really helpful was the software http://www.tiltbreaker.com. You can set stop-losses for yourself that are impossible to circumvent on the computer you put it on and could also put in table stakes, stop win, and time played limits on it. I think it's absolutely imperative for anyone who has problems with tilt to get this program.

Another thing that might stand to improve your life is to check out this blog post on gratitude by Tommy Angelo: http://www.tommyangelo.com/blog/2010...-gratefulness/ and to do a mental gratitude list every night. For instance, every night before I go to sleep, I meditate for 25-30 mins and at the end list things I'm thankful for.

So, while still with my eyes closed and focusing on my breathing, I'll think to myself: "I'm grateful I'm alive, I'm grateful I'm a male human, I'm grateful I'm in good health, I'm grateful I have clean water, food, shelter, and clothing in abundance, I'm grateful nothing that could have gone horribly wrong in my life did, I'm grateful I have people in my life I care about and enjoy spending time with, I'm grateful I play a game for a living and have been relatively financially successful from it and have a lot of freedom as a result." Then I'll think of 4 or 5 things that I really enjoyed during the day. Then I'll say to myself something to the effect of, "I'm grateful I live in a wonderful world with so much beauty, so much to experience, and so many options for entertainment, satisfaction, and fulfillment." If you're able to force yourself to do this daily, I think you'll generally find yourself in better spirits during the course of your day.

I decided I'm going to use this thread as my place to post BBV stuff and will update it periodically with anything that I think is postworthy. Below is some stuff that's been going on in my life, mainly poker related:

In the 3 months since posting this, things have gone ok, despite playing fairly badly at poker and having multiple sessions where I completely melted down and played about as awful as possible and aggressively donated at times, includuing the past few days. Taking a couple week break from the tables now to regroup. It's kind of troubling how often I did exactly the opposite of what I suggested in my post so far this year. It probably didn't help that I was drinking and smoking pot again for a period of time.

I wouldn't be in as nearly as good of shape on the year if it weren't for a heater on Victory Poker (Cake Network) where I ran up a $800 deposit into $12,700 in two weeks time. Here was the aftermath of a marathon, all-night session on there. Those are 100bb max buy-in 1-2 tables so my stacks are prit-tay damn impressive, if I do say so myself. Sick thing is that even with those stacks I was only up about 3k on the session overall because I had spewed so hardcore earlier in the night.

Here's my 2011 graph ytd:

Also, I moved into a new apartment a couple weeks ago that I furnished and am paying for entirely with poker winnings. I think it's somewhat baller, here are some pics:

Finally, some threadsavers as your reward for wading through this massive dump of a thread:

Spoiler:

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03-29-2011 , 10:10 PM

#65

glakofahn

journeyman

Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 315

I'd like to say thanks for this thread. There's some great advice in here, and you've really opened up in some of it; I really respect your honesty and willingness to face scrutiny. Thank you.

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03-29-2011 , 10:46 PM

#66

jonno06

adept

Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 768

great stuff again man. I've meditated on and off. One of these days i'll be disciplined enough to do it every day... i hope :/

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03-29-2011 , 10:49 PM

#67

ChuckBass

old hand

Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 1,908

my eyes did about 12 full circles of that last threadsaver before i could look away..

glad things are going well for you, apartment looks sick, i'm also currently trying to find a baller one where i live, i'd love something like yours.

also, nice graph, redline especially, you must play like me.

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03-30-2011 , 12:49 PM

#68

keanosdog

adept

Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 865

thanks OP.

i may be a micro donk, but that was just what i needed right now.

my biggest leak by far is not folding WHEN I KNOW i should.

i'm right about 99/100 yet this emotinal block takes over my mind that "the donk" who regularly calls 3 and 4 bets oop with k954r can't have made trips on the 442r flop and is now crushing my AAJT. of course he has, and i pay him off and turn his terrible pre flop decision into a good one.

i've bookmarked this post and plan on re reading it A LOT.

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03-30-2011 , 12:58 PM

#69

chipchip

banned

Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 2,128

I disagree with one thing tho

Quote:

"The number one rule of tilt is, if you're on tilt, stop playing" -Poker Mindset

this is the number 1 mistake, if your on tilt you have already made an error of judgement before you went on tilt. Before you go on tilt you say to yourself hmm, if i lose one more buyin i will go on tilt, so that should be the moment you quit. Because when you are on tilt , the likelyhood of you making a good quit will go down much.

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03-30-2011 , 01:06 PM

#70

keanosdog

adept

Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 865

Quote:

Originally Posted by chipchip

I disagree with one thing tho

this is the number 1 mistake, if your on tilt you have already made an error of judgement before you went on tilt. Before you go on tilt you say to yourself hmm, if i lose one more buyin i will go on tilt, so that should be the moment you quit. Because when you are on tilt , the likelyhood of you making a good quit will go down much.

how do YOU do that chip?

i don't tilt as badly as i used to (spew monkey style) but i still tilt.

i also lie to myself .below is a regular conversation i have with myself.

"am i tilting?" i ask myself.

"no" i reply.

"then why are you three betting A237SS from the SB against the tightest player on this site?"

"oh shut up you"

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03-31-2011 , 04:04 AM

#71

Jabonator

nice piano there

Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 13,281

Quote:

Originally Posted by keanosdog

I chuckled.

Quote

04-02-2011 , 06:57 PM

#72

al.

enthusiast

Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 78

The flow and honesty of this post is biblical.

I stumbled upon it during my lone visit to HSPLO this year. I want to devour your advice.

Thank-you.

May your path lead to peace.