I have been playing for about a year and a half now. For the first year I never ever tilted. It seemed to me to be silly. You are gambling. If you put your money in as a 70% favorite you are SUPPOSED to lose 30% of the time. And although it is random, in the short term trends and patterns will be apparent if dubious.

I still believe this. I know it. But I have noticed that a few times now when I would run especially bad and suffer many beats, I am feeling very emotional. It's weird.

I am just coming to grips with the fact that I am starting to tilt. I guess it IS normal. LOL.

I am still a bit tilted this morning from last nights (especially bad) session.

I really want to nip this in the bud. Is there a good thread, some good books (hopefully light on the theoretical psyco-babble and heavy on the practical advice) something.

Suggestions?

I keep wanting to tell everyone how sick it was that the fish called 2 psb and went runner runner for two pair etc. The chick at subway did not seem interested.

So now what?



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Well, first off, I wouldn't be telling her bad beat stories. Women want a confident man who can take the lead and show them a good time. They also don't want a guy who just runs off at the mouth the first time he sees them.

Start slow. Make a casual comment about something silly in the environment. Connect it to a story, preferably a story that shows a *good* quality about you (if only your ability to appreciate the good things in life). Don't go for her number right away, suckers do that. But don't wait until the train stops, either, because then she has to go and she doesn't have time to be writing it down.

I'm pretty sure that if you successfully pick up and take home a good woman, things will start to look up for you.

1st of all lol @ the chick at subway did not seem interested

2nd you should be happy that people are making bad plays against you and when they get lucky just say nice hand and keep playing, you cant look at it in a results oriented way, the fact that they are donking you means that your playing good and getting in ahead

The single best action to get out of a slump is to take a break. I play 20-25 hours weekly so a break for me is a single week. If you play more/less adjust your break accordingly.

Other tricks:

Shorter sessions

Shorter stop losses (I normally bring 3 buy ins, on a big downswing I only bring 1-2)

Better diet. Eating right / being physically active is very important for a solid mind

Read "The Mental Game of Poker" AND actually apply it's advice / track tilt levels

PMing you a book recommendation btw

Edit: never mind, Ava just posted said book.

This is a tough one because bringing that few buy-ins is leaving a lot of money on the table when you are in a good game and not tilting but just happen to lose 3 buyins.

Assuming you have access to more money though, I like the idea of, though rarely execute, bringing only 3 in cash. Because it forces you to take a little time out of the game and (to the extent its possible) determine whether you are in a good state to continue playing.

At the end of the day, its about knowing yourself. If you are prone to tilting, it might be a good idea to have a hard stop-loss like that. For me, I like to use a soft stop-loss. After a certain number of buy-ins I'll reevaluate and decide whether to keep playing or take a break. Losing 3 buyins happens often enough due to poor luck that ALWAYS leaving when it happens to you sacrifices a fair bit of value. Especially to those of us that only play weekends, etc.

That's not to say its never a good idea. But its an imperfect solution. Your other solutions, as strategies to stop getting to a place where you are tilting, are much better long-term solutions if we want to "maximize" our winrate.

Find a gambling buddy. Have them notice when you're on tilt and they'll make you stop. You do the same for them.

So touching her vag was too fast?

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Everyone takes a downswing, you just have to have the composure and hopefully the bankroll to sustain it.

One thing I have learned is to never play with an itch to win and become emotional. What I mean is, if you start getting bent out of shape from losing flips so much that you can't play in a logical manner you must remove yourself from the table and go cool off for a bit.

Thanks,

Thing is, I DO say the right things in my head and even out loud. Last night, I shoved 2X the pot with an overpair of QQ and knew villian would call with TP because when HE does that it is a flush draw. He called and rivered trips. I said " nice hand man" I told myself that I played well. But by the end of the night I felt very angry. Not at anything or anyone, just overall. I was laughing about it chatting it up. By all outward apperances I seemed to take it in stride, I'm sure. But I still FELT angry.

Blah, blah.....I just don't want to let it build up and get to me man.

Thanks for your help.

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So alpha. Nice fedora btw!

Seriously though, read the book Ava recommended. I'm reading it now-- it's solid.

I play zoom, where the up and downs seem to be more severe over the short term relative to regular 6max cash for example. i approach tilt or any downswing the same as poker in general; by trying my best to limit my losses and maximize my profits. so if i get whacked for a few bi's i close out all tables, think if i should have played said hands differently (kkvaa happens, stacking off with kk on a 8 10 j vs a nit may be preventable) . After that ill reload and try and reset best as possible. rinse and repeat. its up to you to know how much is too much etc and shouldn't take long to figure out exact $$ amounts.

Also "your worst poker enemy" is real good.

I also suggest taking breaks. Both from sessions and for whole days. I'm taking one tonight. Could be playing. Should be playing but I played so poorly last night that I know I need to relax tonight.

All good advice here ... I have the book on the way, both I & II ... hope they are as good as advertised.

Limited buy-ins is nice ... I tend to play tighter as I go deeper into my buy-ins ..

Another method is to 'put' your money in your car/atm so you have to walk away and think about what just happened before you get anothe hand.

If you are getting your opponents to put their money in bad then keep it up ... it will turn!! GL

are you condoning picking up Subway chicks? Bad Advice!

You're on the right track.

Tell me more about the emotions you mentioned? Can you match some words to them? The words don't have to be precise.

Does customer service mean nothing anymore? Sounds like it's time to switch over to Quiznos.

There's plenty of good advice in this thread. Only thing I'd add is make peace with this before you sit down. Strive to play your best of course, but recognize, and I mean REALLY acknowledge, that it's possible things'll go badly and you'll leave down a few buy-ins. It's natural to be overly optimistic at the start of a session, and I've found that getting away from that mindset really helps me keep the right attitude when variance is punching me in the kidneys.

Why you play poker is important. It sounds like the thrill of the game/the satisfaction of improvement is wearing off a little. That is natural.

This happens to me. When it does I take a break. When I am tempted to play I sit down and study for 3 hours instead.

Today I had the good fortune to play with the 7 worst players I have played with for years, a dream table of donks with deep pockets.

I walked away 3 buy-ins down.

Smoke trees, have a beer.
Save the poker talk and bang the subway girl instead.
On occasion, put the end of your clip on one bet of baccarat preferably at a table full of asians sweating a dragon, and anti sweat them, peel and smash your cards on the table and watch them curse gweilo.

Idk, all of the above generally work for me. After a while you just care less. Running bad is the worst while shot taking/ moving up tho.

This guy knows what's up

Your tilting because the money affects you, fix that.

This. Try nail the girl at subway too that'll help. But srs read that book I used to be a tilt monkey and I don't even sweat compared to what I used to. It's a psychological bible.

It's like playing 'Ultimate Texas Hold'em' at casino .. you cant get the Dealer to fold!!

Had newest player in our room call down 75% PSB on Flop, Turn and River ... board was Q2273 ... he showed Q3 to my AQ. Statement .. "There arent that many Q in deck, I put you on AK/TT/JJ"

Next statement ... "I dont know this poker, but I know I will pay to learn"

Priceless and yet walks away +3 buy-ins since everyone is targeting him and he will never fold to a bluff bet. GL

Which one is better, 1 or 2?

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