Tilt, frustration, depression, exhiliration, how do you manage it?
I wish I had that answer… I have found that over the last two sessions that Tilt is my enemy, that I tilt too easily, and that I am blind when I get my cards.
Last night I played in two distinct sessions. The first I was playing well, through 5 blind increases, had a reasonable stack in comparison, but for the first time found myself with 5 other players still in and all of our M levels dropping quickly. We were all playing well, no obvious poor players, all seemed to be making good decisions. I quickly changed that, as I went blind to the flush and lost my whole stack thinking I had the villian with my two top pairs.
The next session I played two games. The first lasted until after the break, playing well, then a player who I had seen slow play at least KK twice before in this session, but had notes on him going all in with K-3… went all in. I was paired up on the board with my A-5 suited, so I had top pair… but my brain just refused to think about kicker… I figured I had him beat… called and he has A-J which kills me.
So, being tilted, I jumped right into another tourney, stupid I know, but I laid low for a while, limping a couple of pairs hoping to set, both failed. quickly my frustration got the better of me and I am in some big pots, with mostly garbage. After three big pots I’m down to less than 500 chips and just hoping for a hand… it comes, in a group 3 hand of QJ and I decide to risk it, and of course, lost.
So I tilted pretty bad yesterday, the enemy we all face. I have got to learn to run the 19 hands… and those hands only. I need to get my game back under control, to you high rollers it isn’t much, but I’ve exhausted nearly 50% of my remaining bankroll in the last two or three days, thank god for bonuses, as that at least brought me back to $23 in the bank.
Maybe I’m not listening or learning correctly… maybe I’m suffering from SAD, or maybe I’m just donking again. Anyway, I think I may take tonight off, regroup.