Select Page
Poker Forum
Over 1,291,000 Posts!
Poker ForumBeginners Circle

dealing with tilt, some quick thoughts

Results 1 to 28 of 28
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Posts
    8,697
    Location
    soaking up ethanol, moving on up

    Default dealing with tilt, some quick thoughts

    Dealing with tilt (ja, ja - i'm a hypocritical tilt-monkey, but I'm down with some of the theory. Practice what I preach, I don't. etc. )

    First some definitions
    tilt = any deviation from your a-game
    tilt = exhibiting or experiencing an emotional/physical state that will have a negative effect on your poker decision making ability

    Obviously we don't always play our a-game, and obviously we are somtimes in a state that has a negative effect on the quality of our decisions (e.g. beer-goggles). We just have to deal with it.

    1 = recognise tilt
    * ask yourself 'am i in a-game shape?' before every session
    * ask yourself 'am i playing well?' every twenty minutes
    * ask yourself 'am i exhibiting tilt-symptoms?' regularly during a session

    2 = avoid tilt before you start a session

    * identify then practice pre-game rituals that work for you, routines can be great for all sorts of things.
    * maintain a clear separation between life and poker
    * don't play when you recognise tilt before the session, or if you decide to play then minimise the impact of tilt (see below)

    3 = prevent the onset of tilt while you are playing
    * play adequately bankrolled for the games you are playing
    * make sure you innately understand and believe in the longterm
    * turn off phone/other distractions while playing
    * don't review badbeat hands while playing except for note-taking purposes
    * smile whenever you win or lose a hand >25bb. Laugh out loud whenever villains showdown something stupid - win or lose
    * don't look at cashier, HEM, etc while playing
    * smile when you lose a hand (it helps)
    * learn to calm yourself. Breathing exercises, mantra, all that hippie shit that works.

    4 = minimise the impact of tilt
    * drop in stakes if you feel there may be some obstacle to playing your a-game but you decide to play anyway
    * identify what happens to your game when you are tilting, focus on these decision spots when you are playing on tilt (e.g. when i'm on tilt I'm likely to play more tables, table-hop more often, call more loosely pre-flop, raise/3b more liberally without thinking it through, make decisions too hastily. Each of these is bad, the cumulative impact of all of them is far greater than the sum of the parts)
    * learn to finish sessions when tilting
    * Breathe, smile, take a break, do some exercise.
  2. #2
    Shotglass's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Posts
    1,755
    Location
    feelin' allright
    great post, daven.

    one thing I do is after the final bet is made is that I try to switch to a different table (if one doesn't popup first). That keeps me from seeing the results and getting like "WTF?!?!? you called with 74o?" cause I'm a huge tiltmonkey if I see stupid shit like that.

    Quote Originally Posted by givememyleg View Post
    i'll never understand how anyone can go through life being sober.
  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Posts
    8,697
    Location
    soaking up ethanol, moving on up
    the last three days have been great for training to deal with tilt. Pretty standard stuff

    Last edited by daven; 09-08-2011 at 12:29 AM.
  4. #4
    excellent post man
  5. #5
    Moradis's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Posts
    71
    Location
    Bangkok (the seedy part)
    This is fantastic. I know if I could overcome some mental challenges I would increase my win rate for my stakes - guaranteed.

    Can you please comment on these a bit further on these points:

    Quote Originally Posted by daven View Post

    1 = recognise tilt
    * ask yourself 'am i playing well?' every twenty minutes
    Its a good question but how do we effectively answer this given money as a measure is irrelevant? Do you mean something like, "should I have played this differently", or "is there a more optimum play that I could have made on the last 3 or 4 hands"?

    Quote Originally Posted by daven View Post
    2 = avoid tilt before you start a session
    * identify then practice pre-game rituals that work for you, routines can be great for all sorts of things.
    I'm used to this with golf and it REALLY WORKS.
    My question is what sort of routine? Meditate for 5 minutes, play a game of chess, what do you do? It's not like I can make 3 practice swings, visualise my target, step into the ball & let loose like golf... how do you apply it in poker?
    Drugs are for people who can't handle reality
    Reality is for people who can't handle drugs
  6. #6
    great post!

    I know firsthand if I practiced "* turn off phone/other distractions while playing" properly, i would probably be about a hundred bucks richer.

    could you please elaborate a little on "* learn to calm yourself. Breathing exercises, mantra, all that hippie shit that works." though? or at least point me to a/some link/(s) you have found helpful ?
    http://zorkion.blogspot.com/
    Letting the Cards Fall - Tracking my progress in the pursuit of profitability.
  7. #7
    rpm's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Posts
    3,084
    Location
    maaaaaaaaaaate
    nice post. i think it was tommy angelo that pointed out that the irony of all of this is that when you are tilted is the time that you are least able to perform anything close to an objective analysis of your mental state. this is why learning to quit is the nuts, you don't have to be 100% raging and ready to smash your mouse to bits - if you are even slightly tired, bored, frustrated, agitated etc etc then end the session. the tables will always be there. don't keep on grinding and let it swell up to the point where you are completely drooling and too emotional/stubborn to quit the session.

    i'm speaking for/to myself here.
  8. #8
    rpm's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Posts
    3,084
    Location
    maaaaaaaaaaate
    Quote Originally Posted by Zorkion View Post
    great post!

    I know firsthand if I practiced "* turn off phone/other distractions while playing" properly, i would probably be about a hundred bucks richer.

    could you please elaborate a little on "* learn to calm yourself. Breathing exercises, mantra, all that hippie shit that works." though? or at least point me to a/some link/(s) you have found helpful ?
    get a 1-week trial subscription to deuces cracked and download "the eightfold path to poker enlightenment" by tommy angelo. this series goes in depth into how meditation/breathing techniques etc can improve poker play.
  9. #9
    just take a deep breath and start over man. poker is poker dont let it get to you were you start throwing money on the table left and right
  10. #10
    Tommy Angelo's 8 fold path is required listening for anyone who want's to get better at poker.
  11. #11
    Great post dude, I bought Elements of Poker recently and the stuff to do with tilt is priceless.
  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by daven View Post
    * drop in stakes if you feel there may be some obstacle to playing your a-game but you decide to play anyway
    ^ this I agree with 100%. I play the $0.02 990 seater sng on stars when I'm tilting bad, it allows me to play like a moron and not give a shit.

    I smoke outside, so if I'm pissed off with poker I just sit out and go for a smoke, by the time I return I'm usually calm again.

    Also, I play chess often before I start a session, I find it helps a lot to get myself into game mode, and it helps with essential poker skills such as mathematics and patience.

    Nice post daven.
    Quote Originally Posted by wufwugy View Post
    ongies gonna ong
  13. #13
    After yesterday I'm now going to read and re-read this post before every session!

    First time I've ever gone on really bad tilt after some monster suck outs. Really disappointed in myself as I've never let myself go on bad tilt before. Obviously sometimes past hands or history will effect my play but I've always been good at getting up and walking away for a few mins when I notice that happening. Have never sat there and started doing stupid things because "it's my turn to suck out!" lol Thought that was one thing I had a good grasp on but you live and learn and are often humbled in the process!
  14. #14
    Beating my chest and shouting helps me cool down the tilt, heh. Also the smiling and laughing at stupid stuff is golden.

    Sometimes I also imagine a poker pro is watching me play/railing me. Its really hard to do something really stupid if you feel a good poker player is watching you.
  15. #15
    This post popped up on page one again thanks to the spammer, so I read it again.

    Something I agree with 100%... don't look at the cashier while playing. I was 20+ tabling during the milestone thing on stars, and I would have the cashier open so I could assess my progress (or rather, lack of it), especially since it was very tough to track hands in which my stack was in... so when my roll dipped like 3 buy-ins in 5 mins, suddenly I'm not concentrating on my game and instead I'm wondering what the fuck just happened. Now I'm desperately trying to look back at the hand, though of course I'm not entirely sure which table it was, and tables keep demanding my attention, and I'm going "FUCK OFF I JUST WANNA SEE WHAT HAPPENED" and perhaps even fold AJo on the CO because I don't want to play it I want to see that hand that doesn't matter any more and then I see 66 called my shove with KK and hit the fucking turn and I'm like "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING IDIOT" now I'm trying to make a note and still play 20+ tables and still find out what happened to my other 2 buy-ins lost and now I need a ciggie so I can calm the fuck down and really I should just not have looked at the cashier in the first place because before then I was in the zone.

    Every time I look at this OP I find something that resonates with me. Tilt control is an essential skill in poker, and it's not something I have mastered.
    Quote Originally Posted by wufwugy View Post
    ongies gonna ong
  16. #16
    bikes's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    7,423
    Location
    house
    dealing with tilt

    step 1) play overrolled
    step 2) dont give a fuck about money

    ?wut
  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by northkids View Post
    <strong><a href="http://www.canadagoosetime.com/">canadagoose</a></strong><strong><a href="http://www.canadagoosetime.com/">canada goose</a></strong><br><strong><a href="http://www.canadagoosetime.com/">canada goose outlet</a></strong><strong><a href="http://www.canadagoosetime.com/">canada goose sale</a></strong><br><strong><a href="http://www.canadagoosetime.com/canada-goose-down-gloves-c-9.html">goose down</a></strong><strong><a href="http://www.canadagoosetime.com/canada-goose-mens-expedition-parka-c-11.html">canada goose mens</a></strong><br><strong><a href="http://www.canadagoosetime.com/canada-goose-mens-snow-mantra-parka-c-12.html">canada goose mantra </a></strong><strong><a href="http://www.canadagoosetime.com/canada-goose-down-gloves-c-9.html">canada goose sale</a></strong><strong><a href="http://www.canadagoosetime.com/canada-goose-womens-expedition-parka-c-15.html">canada goose women</a></strong><strong><a href="http://www.canadagoosetime.com/canada-goose-womens-trillium-parka-c-16.html">canada goose trillium</a></strong>
    +1
  18. #18
    God bless the spambot.
  19. #19
    rpm's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Posts
    3,084
    Location
    maaaaaaaaaaate
    still gold.
  20. #20
    MadMojoMonkey's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Posts
    10,322
    Location
    St Louis, MO
    Tilt = any emotional involvement in a prior hand
    Good emotions make me call with the excuse, "I'm free-rolling this donk."
    Bad make me call because, "It's my button, and my turn, you thief."

    I really like the part about smiling after every big pot, win or lose. I find when I'm really on top of my game, I do this anyway.
  21. #21
    I'm tilting right now, which is why I'm reading Daven's posts instead playing poker. Probably be better off at the tables.

    * smiles *

    nh, daven
  22. #22
    rpm's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Posts
    3,084
    Location
    maaaaaaaaaaate
    Quote Originally Posted by Robb View Post
    I'm tilting right now, which is why I'm reading Daven's posts instead playing poker.
    ha, me too. that's also why i was reading this thread. and why i bumped it
  23. #23
    Stacks's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    4,015
    Location
    Im opedipus bitch, the original balla.
    Holy shit. There are like 50 deleted spam posts in this thread. That tilts me!
  24. #24
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Posts
    8,697
    Location
    soaking up ethanol, moving on up
    gold from Robb
    Quote Originally Posted by Robb View Post
    not tilting is about understanding variance, the good and the bad. Stack off? No worries, just reload and play well. I'm not the biggest fish at the table, and if I keep thinking, keep solving problems, and keep folding, the wins will come. You have to let the card deadness go, the flop deadness, all of it. If you wait, the spots to barrel will start showing back up.
  25. #25
    Quote Originally Posted by Stacks View Post
    Holy shit. There are like 50 deleted spam posts in this thread. That tilts me!
    More than that, I think I have 50 deleted myself
  26. #26
    Quote Originally Posted by MadMojoMonkey View Post
    Tilt = any emotional involvement in a prior hand.
    This definition has been discussed in this article:

    http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...-a-126106.html

    While it's a good piece of writing (especially the list of emotional reactions, zomg, I think I do almost all of them), I believe this particular definition is not very accurate. Firstly, it leaves out tilts that arise from real-life issues. Secondly, it seems to me that it's possible to be emotional about previous hand without it negatively affecting your play. Like when you think happily and proudly about a very good river call you made, it can lead to tilt if you start feeling invincible and playing more recklessly. But often it just gives energy to concentrate and reminds to think of opponents' ranges.
    Last edited by Fielmann; 05-08-2012 at 06:54 AM.
  27. #27
    I really like that "pause-breath-clear" concept. I've been practicing that lately and it's doing wonders for my game.
  28. #28
    bikes's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    7,423
    Location
    house
    Tilt comes down roughly to expectations. If you can't manage your expectations then you're gonna have a bad time.

    This is the simplest and most correct definition of tilt.

    ?wut

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •