Tilt tilt and more tilt

Yeah that's what I was sayin man I don't play 6 anymore I start with 1 or 2 and sometimes 3 just as it is manageable compared to 6

I'm going to chime into this thread with a few words of sound advice on a few things I am reading here.

First, tilt is the single biggest destroyer of bankrolls, poker psyches and poker play. I'm sitting here writing this reply, glancing to the right of my monitors. I have two poker books sitting on my desk [and a bunch of poker magazines] as I type. The important book is The Poker Mindset by Taylor and Hilger*.

The Poker Mindset will fix a lot of your problems if you take it's words to heart. I'm not here to sell a book. Tilt, however, is too big a leak and sometimes people need help and resources to curtail it. It has a chapter on bankroll that incorporates the perils of tilt within it.

Second, proper bankroll management is necessary, otherwise you are just playing to play. There are many different opinions on what a proper bankroll is for each limit, no-limit, SnG and tournament buy-in and stake, but the underlying fact is that all of them are targeted to helping players understand the importance of following one. Following proper bankroll management will almost always ensure that a decent player never goes broke. Built into each are guidelines for moving up and down limits as well as tournaments and SnGs. This doesn't mean you can't take an occasional shot at a higher tournament or limit, but that you really need to know the consequences of doing so and also the ramifications of doing so on your bankroll if you happen to fail the endeavor.

If you are rolled for $2.20 tournaments, an occasional $4.40 or $5.50 [maybe once a month or every other month] is OK. Your $220 bankroll can take that occasional hit. The $4.40 buy-in represents 2% of your bankroll. What we are arguing against is taking a chance on an $11 buy-in as that is 5% of your bankroll. That's a big hit.

Being an American, I've been out of the European market for far too long to rightfully remember the perks of PokerStars or the other Euro-sites. However, since I now play on Bovada, I have the ability to convert my points there into tournament tickets. I'm rolled to play as high as $5.50 in tournaments, although I usually play NL and FL cash. I tend to stockpile $2.20 to $16.50 tickets for the inevitable round of tournaments I get the bug to play. If any of your sites allow this option then that is the ticket to you taking shots at higher tournaments. Play within your bankroll and trade in points for tournament tickets and use those to take your shots at higher buy-ins. This way you won't be affecting your bankroll and, more importantly, you should never feel the pinch of playing scared or feeling you have to make bad decisions based on the bankroll percentage you have invested.

Good luck!

*Disclaimer: I know Ian Taylor and Matthew Hilger personally. I worked for Matt for 6 years. I haven't found a better book addressing tilt and setting oneself up for the right mental attitude than this one.

Originally Posted by Piscivorous

*Disclaimer: I know Ian Taylor and Matthew Hilger personally. I worked for Matt for 6 years. I haven't found a better book addressing tilt and setting oneself up for the right mental attitude than this one.

I agree about The Poker Mindset but I have a disclaimer of my own since Tyson and I bought Matthew's ITH site.

Originally Posted by Piscivorous

I'm going to chime into this thread with a few words of sound advice on a few things I am reading here.

First, tilt is the single biggest destroyer of bankrolls, poker psyches and poker play. I'm sitting here writing this reply, glancing to the right of my monitors. I have two poker books sitting on my desk [and a bunch of poker magazines] as I type. The important book is The Poker Mindset by Taylor and Hilger*.

The Poker Mindset will fix a lot of your problems if you take it's words to heart. I'm not here to sell a book. Tilt, however, is too big a leak and sometimes people need help and resources to curtail it. It has a chapter on bankroll that incorporates the perils of tilt within it.

Second, proper bankroll management is necessary, otherwise you are just playing to play. There are many different opinions on what a proper bankroll is for each limit, no-limit, SnG and tournament buy-in and stake, but the underlying fact is that all of them are targeted to helping players understand the importance of following one. Following proper bankroll management will almost always ensure that a decent player never goes broke. Built into each are guidelines for moving up and down limits as well as tournaments and SnGs. This doesn't mean you can't take an occasional shot at a higher tournament or limit, but that you really need to know the consequences of doing so and also the ramifications of doing so on your bankroll if you happen to fail the endeavor.

If you are rolled for $2.20 tournaments, an occasional $4.40 or $5.50 [maybe once a month or every other month] is OK. Your $220 bankroll can take that occasional hit. The $4.40 buy-in represents 2% of your bankroll. What we are arguing against is taking a chance on an $11 buy-in as that is 5% of your bankroll. That's a big hit.

Being an American, I've been out of the European market for far too long to rightfully remember the perks of PokerStars or the other Euro-sites. However, since I now play on Bovada, I have the ability to convert my points there into tournament tickets. I'm rolled to play as high as $5.50 in tournaments, although I usually play NL and FL cash. I tend to stockpile $2.20 to $16.50 tickets for the inevitable round of tournaments I get the bug to play. If any of your sites allow this option then that is the ticket to you taking shots at higher tournaments. Play within your bankroll and trade in points for tournament tickets and use those to take your shots at higher buy-ins. This way you won't be affecting your bankroll and, more importantly, you should never feel the pinch of playing scared or feeling you have to make bad decisions based on the bankroll percentage you have invested.

Good luck!

*Disclaimer: I know Ian Taylor and Matthew Hilger personally. I worked for Matt for 6 years. I haven't found a better book addressing tilt and setting oneself up for the right mental attitude than this one.

Thanks for the reply dude some good info there, will have a look into the book! Working my way through SuperSystem here and takin some time off from the tables to study the game a bit more just