Does anyone else suffer from this type of tilt, if thats what it even is.??
assuming that our definition of tilt is sub-A game performance, then it qualifies, but is by no means standard 'hard tilt', or even the lack of confidence that comes with running bad, which is also tilt.

What i'm talking about, I never see other players go through. Of course I'm playing in extremely weak games with mostly gambler types, 2/5 NL.

Has anyone ever gone on tilt without having really even getting involved in a hand? this happens to me, and it's entirely irrational; as well as being my biggest leak.

I would appreciate any input, or ideas about how i can improve in this area, how i can deal with this problem.

last night was a perfect example; A table full of recreational players going totally crazy, making heaps of huge mistakes right and left against each other. I should be drooling like a kid in a candy store, but because I can't pick up a hand, because I'm not winning right NOW, it tilts me. I feel like everyone at the table is giving money away, literally giving it away, and for some reason I can't win one chip from these fools, and you can just forget about ever winning a pot without showing them a hand, which of course is just a perfect situation to be in.
I know i'm expecting too much from the game, or not really accepting the game the way it is, it's just a fact that on average you'll have 2 positive EV hands/situations per hour if you're playing 'correctly', so beacuse of variance, you need to expect that you'll have stretches of many hours where you never pick up one. you can't control that, but still, it irratates me to no end. i know i'm getting the money in the long run but it does'nt seem to help at the time; I feel like i should be holding over them right NOW because they suck so unbelievably bad. this doesn't happen to me in games with poor, but competent opponents, where, sure, you'll see some mistakes, but thats not like people calling off 50 BBs preflop with 96 suited, or Q9 off, and these kind of antics are going on virtually every hand. I raise with AQ after not playing a hand in 2 hours; flop comes 783r, and theres 2 all-ins in front of me, and K9 wins a huge pot unimproved vs. 9T (donk shoves with 3 cards to a straight! and wins!)

It doesn't tilt me in that I start playing loose and reckless, if anything my agitation makes me play even more lock down, and I focus harder on making the right adjustments. it becomes a point of pride; I just hate the idea of losing to these clueless gamblers who i'm 100% percent certain never spend a moment away from the table thinking about the game or trying to improve at all. It tilts me in that my table image gets hurt, i'm grumpy, and complain. If i could just keep my mouth shut, i know i'd do much better. they still pay you off, because they don't fold, but it's still got to be neg. EV to openly display disappointment and frustration to your opponents, even if they barely qualify as such.

Also, i'm real good about quitting the game once my mood starts going off the rails, because i know that the frustration of seeing $ rain from the sky and not be able to get it, is going to make me do something stupid like try to bluff these donks and rep a hand, which is the same as lighting $ on fire.
This causes another leak, which is not logging enough hours. I've averaged @ 20 hours a week over the last 14 months. To be quitting not good, but great games beacuse of this weakness is costing me big time. when i push myself to play more hours, I end up playing poorly, and this kind of ersatz tilt i'm starting to realize is a bigger leak than i think.

has anyone else dealt with this form of tilt, and how do you think I can lessen it? It's funny, because I know the logical reasons why I should'nt feel this way, in fact, should feel the opposite. If your sitting at the table and are being shown equity that you know you will eventually gather, in the form of horrendous play on the part of your opponents, then i should be overjoyed that i'm in such a good game, regardless of the results of one session, or even one week, or one month,as long as I know I'm making good decisions. but it still burns me up to see them all run so good against each other, while i'm feeling entitled to thier $, and not even running bad myself, but just being an empty chair. i mean, i'll consider a small win in a game like this as a huge loss, and be pissed. i know this is crazy, but are there any ideas what i can do to fix this leak?

I think I just went on tilt after trying to read your essay, I mean post.

Just Kidding....

In all seriousness, this happens to me sometimes when I'm card dead...I've found the best cure is to go find my friends in the room or go grab some food or something, just get away from the table when you start feeling this way.

needs cliffs... tl;dr

long story short though... yes, I tilt.

who doesn't tilt anyway??
i was on tilt today just coz i keep getting 3bet immediately after i sat down
aggression brings tilt out of me

Tilt comes in a ton of forms. Winners tilt being the one very few people speak of and yet most people lose money to it without realizing it.

Your tilt is simply a natural feeling. You know what it is, you know its of no value to allow it into yourself, so work on eradicating those thoughts.

I know what you are talking about. I dont tilt like you I just get frustarted no end when I am patiently waiting to get a hand to value bet but it could be hours and even session before that happens. The other players even comment on how tight I am playing but when I raise they cant call me quick enough and I am always find myself in 4-5 multiwaypots and I dont hit a thing not even a back door draw.

I dont mind - I like folding to these monkeys because its the correct play almost always and I know when I do get a hand they pay me off, time and time again.

Some nights when I get sick of looking at J2 suited I just leave the table after 4 hours of playing (or not playing in my case) most nights I just breakeven. I dont know what to do on those nights when I dont pick up a good hand for hours and then when I do the flop just gets ugly and there is 4 other players who love to calll anything to showdown.

I plan to play for long sessions but it just never happens because I am so card dead I get bored quickly sure I try to put players on ranges and to assess their game but with so many players in the pot I doubt anyone is thinking at a deep level other than their hand.

Like you I feel like I am an empty seat just posting blinds and occasionally saying the word fold loud enough to make sure everyone knows I am still here. It just amazes me how quick they call after saying "this is the first hand he has played in hours" when I raise the pot to $16+ or whatever.

Its got the point where I had to make threads about my crazy-friends hands on 2+2 since I wasnt getting involved in anything. I know what to do on JT8 boards with AK with facing multiway and thats too

check

and

fold

I know what to do when I have KK and the flop is Ace high and I am faced with a bet and call before me and 1 player to act behind me and thats

check

and

fold.

Cliff Notes:

OP's basic issue is that he's in games with terrible players, where he should theoretically be dominating because of the loose/terrible nature in which people are playing huge pots. However, he's card dead. And he's annoyed about being card dead when he'd prefer to be flopping huge hands and burying people instead. And he wants to know if this happens to other people.

Going out on a limb here, but, yes, OP, other people have felt this way before.

Probably could have saved us a few paragraphs.

Theres nothing I can do about it either and I find comfort in that fact.

Winners tilt is one kind of tilt I've improved on a lot.
I used to really go off after a good run, and try to run everyone over, feeling totally invincible. You're right this is maybe the most incidious kind of tilt, because you can still be winning, and think you are playing great .
Some of the best advice I ever got was to take a day or two off after a super-session where you win over 3-4 buyins. It's really hard to stick to your game plan after a great run. Kind of the opposite of Barry Gs "keep the pressure on your opponents when you are running good. At this level, no one is paying attention anyways

cliffs of cliffs:

OP wants to win NAOOWWWW, Isn't happening. OP gets mad, rants about how villains play BADDDD.... or do they?

isn't winners tilt more like "playing your rush". you end up calling more than you should, playing too many hands. In other words, bleeding away more than you would if you were stuck/even...

seen people do that a ton. i'm probably guilty of it myself.

it includes a plethora of stuff that we wouldnt do under normal circumstances.

So true. Under normal circumstances I don't rub my titties with fiddy dolla bills. When I am winning, its sometimes hard not to.

Yes, I have exactly the same issue. Sadly, I don't have any advice to give you. I seem to end up value-towning myself because they over-value any pair so much, but when I'm betting they always seem to have flopped some ridic 2-pair.

Frankly, I quite a super juicy home game, because it just made me sooo mad that I didn't leave with all of these idiots cash every night. I do better in a lower variance game where the idiocy doesn't steam me so much.

If anyone has good (actual psychological, not theory of poker) advice for OP, I could use it too.

You're right, the player on my direct right last night who limped every single hand, then called every single raise, and the one time he raised preflop he has AA; and wins and loses back 1000$ in an hour is actually an expert player, and has me outclassed? I just can't understand his sophisticated strategy, so I underestimate his game.

Let me know if you have anything to actually contribute to the discussion

You just have to understand that the game doesn't owe you sh*t. As Tommy Angelo said if you have time and money all you are entitled to in this game is a chair at the table. That's it. You're going on tilt because instead of focusing on the other players you're feeling resentment towards the fact that you're not getting what you deserve (or should deserve). Focus and wait or go rub one out in the bathroom.

Villain has you right where he wants you. You think you are infinitely better than him, while he knows that he can keep taking your money all night.expert is right.


On a serious note, what above poster said is right. No matter who you are or how much you know poker DOESN'T OWE YOU ANYTHING other than a spot at the table. Also, I find it hard to believe how you can get bored/tilted playing LIVE and being card dead for hours. JEEZ, its live, crazy crap is always going on. If you're really bored, get an iphone & lurk 2p2 while you're folding!

this is good
a friend pointed out to me that you don't need to be spending needless energy observing thier play, so just tune it out when you're not in the hand; I'm always trying to pay attention to every little detail, and it's a waste of time. No fancy plays, no situations with anything resembling leveling, so why bother. Maybe I would do better if I didn't try so hard.
I have an iPhone, but tend to use it earlier in the session, I'll bust it out more, and not worry about what plays are being made, I know it's a good game, that's all I need to know, I know how donks play already.
TA's thing about recipocality really got me focused on this topic, but I shoudnt take it out of context, it's about evaluating the game. Plyr X made this mistake, and if I was in his spot, I wouldn't have made it, so I know it's a profitable situation. If I know I'm a favorite in the game, then I don't need to obsess about it, it's really just like white noise after a while

LOL . . But in all seriousness OP it is really weird because I know exactly you what you are talking about. No joke I use to suffer from this same type of thing. Finally I realized i would lose money early in my sessions because I would think about this instead of thinking about my hands. I was eventually over time able to get rid of this and stopped costing myself lots of $ from my bottom line. Unfortunately I do not really have any advice to you of how to get over this as I just finally scolded myself for doing this until I stopped.

Do what I do!

Make up a sign that reads.

I'm Entitled to win!

Works every time!