[Closed] Tiltaholics Anonymous

Causes of Tilt:

My classic causes of tilt are the usual things – losing, bad beats and playing badly. There are loads more which are not directly related to the game - a stressful day in the office, computer problems, a hangover, tiredness etc, etc. They tend to compound as well – a stressful day in the office followed by getting sucked out on by a fish is a sure-fire tilt inducer or having the same guy three bet me for the fourth time in the first three orbits after my team just lost its football match. Guaranteed tilt.

I’m also an obsessive HEM checker (does anyone else do this?) win or lose a big pot and I check my session stats and graph. Whilst I don’t think this is a problem in itself it does means that I’m focusing more on results than I should and it exaggerates a bad beat and constantly reminds me that I’m stuck. This makes me angry/frustrated/depressed and I start playing badly.

Recognising Tilt:

Ok, so the purpose of listing some causes of tilt is to try to recognise when I’m tilting or, better yet, recognise when I’m about to tilt and stop it before it happens.

Lose a couple of buy-ins or starting to play after a long stressful day in the office I know I’m in the danger zone and I should be careful. Catch myself opening A3s UTG and I know I’m playing emotionally and not logically. Punch the table and throw the mouse across the room… you get the picture.

So, hopefully I can get better at identifying when I’m on tilt or vulnerable to tilt. I plan to check my thought process and make sure it’s logical whenever I get sucked out on, lose a big pot or find myself getting angry.

Which leads on to…

Solutions

1. Playing Lower

When I think I’m at risk of tilt I’m going to move down in limits. If I’m playing great I can move back up. I may give up some EV at times but I think overall this will be a plus EV move. One big losing session can affect confidence for a long time so booking a smaller winning session should be good for my mindset generally.

2. Quitting

The only solution to Grade 5 Mega Tilt. The most extreme solution but also the most effective. It can be tough to discipline yourself to stop playing and to help me do so I’m going to impose an objective 3 buy-in stop loss rule.

3. Taking a Break

A grade down from quitting but still a powerful solution. Stepping away from the table and tidying the flat or doing some press-ups before playing again. For me physical activity is better than watching TV or surfing the web.

4. Smiling

Next time you feel angry and frustrated try smiling. It’s weirdly impossible to stay frustrated and angry when you make yourself smile. I can’t feel happiness and anger at the same time. I’m going to try to do this whenever the red mist starts to descend.

5. Breathing

This one is a classic but it works for me. A few deep breaths letting the tension slip away with each exhalation clears the mind. When you stressed you tend to take faster shallower breaths (the adrenaline causing a flight or fight response) – deep breaths help to remind you that everything is fine.

6. Mindset

Tilt is all in my head. I know that for sure. If I don’t let myself get angry and frustrated I won’t be on tilt at all. If I can shrug after getting sucked out on for the third time in 5 minutes, smile and carry on playing logically then I’ll have conquered tilt.

I think the key to this is acceptance. There is tonnes of variance in poker. I will win and lose – it’s part of the game. I’ll lose 300 big blind pots when I get it all in pre-flop with AA. It’s going
to happen - guaranteed. I think recognising and accepting this is a huge step forward. I’m also going to try to stop focussing on the session results (so no checking HEM during my sessions).

I ordered The Poker Mindset this morning – I’ll perhaps update this post when I’ve read it.

7. Taking Responsibility

I’m responsible for my tilt not the fish that just called down all three streets with bottom pair to my brilliant 3-barrel bluff. I need to take responsibility and realise I can choose not to tilt by not letting things get to me.

8. Stopping playing RUSH.

For some reason I seem to tilt more playing Rush poker so until I get that sorted I’m going to take a break from it.

Lol i missread and thought it was Titaholics Anonymous and was expecting hot girl's pics ;(

On topic yeah u should try to work on ur psychological game as strong as or even maybe more that on your technical game

me too

Me too!

I clicked also to see what tits had to do with self study.

Originally posted by hackbinder
Me too!

I clicked also to see what tits had to do with self study.

Well seems quite obvious. When ever you feel bad and start tilting you look at some nice tities and feel the power again and stack the fish

Poker is a game about decisions, not money. In every hand you need to try and make the best decision that you can. If you continue to be results oriented you will never get better. STOP looking at your graph mid session for god's sake, if that's not distracting then I don't know what is.

If you are thinking about how much you have won/lost while playing then you are distracted. Distraction in poker=lose.

Hey.
I am a very emotionnal person as well. Maybe try reading the Poker mindset book, that's what I will do.

GL bro

Originally posted by MatejM47

Originally posted by hackbinder
Me too!

I clicked also to see what tits had to do with self study.

Well seems quite obvious. When ever you feel bad and start tilting you look at some nice tities and feel the power again and stack the fish

Seriously, it think this could work.:f_cool: Anyone tried it?

The way I tilt is in little bits that add up to huge chunks... If I lose half my stack to something unlucky I immediately steam to get it back. If I had a full buy in, there is no way I would do this because I'd lose too much money. The thing is, when you lose a chunk of your stack, in your mind you were prepared to lose that buy in anyway, so gambling is okay. Again, this is the mind of a tilter (ME!). Actually, it isn't the mind, it is the emotions taking over the mind. You feel like you lost the buy in anyway. In reality, you didn't, you only lost half. Over time, this leads to losing many buy ins. But if you are able to get away while you still have even a quarter of a stack, you SAVE many buy ins. That bad beat end up costing your entire stack because even though you lost a half stack, in your mind you lost it all, so you DO end up losing it all a few minutes later. I am sometimes able to push away with some of my stack left. I feel so good when I am able to do it but I have to admit it isn't as often as I'd like.

As I'm typing, I'm seeing a solution. Set auto top up for whtever BI you play at. If you lose a chunk of your stack to a bad beat you will keep from pissing the rest away because you will automatically see a full stack in front of you. And it is much more difficult to piss away a full stack than a half stack. I admit I never did this because I was afraid I'd tilt out stacks and stacks but I see that I wouldn't for the aforementioned reason. Also, playing with a shorter stack is higher variance. In many cases you will commit yourself before you really want to. This plus tilt = loss of money.

Regarding Rush - Rush is a breeding ground for tilt. Assuming you are making good decisions most of the time, when you make, say 25 or more % of your stack, quit and buy in again, that way, if you lose your stack you have lost approx 75%, not the full thing net.

EX... 2/5 Rush buy in for $4, your BR is $100, you make it to $5, cut out and buy in again for $4, BR is $101. You then lose $4 but your BR is $97. If you hadn't pocketed that dollar it would be $96.

I think I will try the top up. I will not try to Rush cut out just yet because having more chips at the table = more flexability.

A good advice on learning material to understand tilt and try to stop tilting is the the eightfold path to poker enlightenment

Originally posted by hackbinder
The way I tilt is in little bits that add up to huge chunks... If I lose half my stack to something unlucky I immediately steam to get it back. If I had a full buy in, there is no way I would do this because I'd lose too much money..................................................................................

Read about this much then was going to suggest topping up.... tho i see you have made that decision yourself....

Try sitting out of the game for 2-5 mins after you get bad beat... the smallest of breaks at times can make all the difference...

When i take a bad beat i quite literally just laugh out loud... quoting "standard" to my invisible audience...

you just need a "shit happens" and "life's not fair" attitude...

Always remember... you were a monster favorite to win the hand and you can't do much better than that...

WP / UNLUCKY / STANDARD / WHATEVER / THANKS FOR TRYING OPP

If you really feel on super tilt but got the poker bug, read articles and watch videos here... post on forums etc...

I find that learning the game can be almost as fun as playing...

:club:BEST OF LUCK TO YOU IN THE FUTURE SIR

This is a very important subject for me as well and I really cant possibly imagine to not tilt when u get 3 suckouts in a row against some fish and loose about 3BI...

Its so difficult to keep ur cool after this and play at ur best... and what if u take a small break and after u come back u get another suckout?
Can u still be able to play at ur best?

If u find a way how, pls let me know...

btw are they any vids about tilt? I d like to hear some more experienced pple talkin bout this subject...

Originally posted by realh
This is a very important subject for me as well and I really cant possibly imagine to not tilt when u get 3 suckouts in a row against some fish and loose about 3BI...

Its so difficult to keep ur cool after this and play at ur best... and what if u take a small break and after u come back u get another suckout?
Can u still be able to play at ur best?

If u find a way how, pls let me know...

btw are they any vids about tilt? I d like to hear some more experienced pple talkin bout this subject...

Hi dude...

If you are a bit of a tilter and get sucked out on 3BI then i would DEFINATELY say this is time to call it quits for that session...

I might even go as far as saying leave after 2BI... or if you feel like a mecha tilter 1.5BI...

You need to pay attention to your game and make sure it is your A game... be extremely critical of every pot you play. Even the smallest ones.

If you believe it has affected your game then just quit...

Try not to think about the money you have lost and sleep it off...

Returning to the tables the following day you should feel refreshed and ready to play your A game again...

I'll also go on to say... (repeating myself but i believe this so important for beginners)... Not got your A game?... come here.. learn... read... post... watch vids... or just say hi...

Just pls don't whine about your bad luck (not that i am implying you have ever done that.)

BEST OF LUCK AT THE TABLES

Edit: Nearly all of my posts are written after i get bad beat... I'm a minor tilter, but posting here is usually enough to sort that right out.

My last epic feat of tilt was about 3 weeks ago... I wrote a small post about it then consumed a large amount of JACK... Then all was happy days...

Since that day i have improved my mindset massively... almost certainly thanks to this excellent site, and more importantly its community!

Thanks for your responses guys.

Random follow-up question - I've started trying to focus on EV rather than cash when evaluating sessions.

Even though EV is far from the whole story, this seems like a better focus than cash outcome. Problem is that now when I'm +cash but -EV I'm not that pleased with the session. And even when -EV but +cash I can't help but be a bit annoyed!

Anyone else experienced this? Doesn't seem great from a mindset perspective!

On the plus side I'm tilting less at the moment.

I know your tilt..you are angry even if u got lucky and had a bad move, or if u had a good move but got unlucky...even if you didnt get the maximum value possible out of a hand, u get angry....u lose aa vs a shit u get mad...i know the feeling exactly...what works for me...swear out loud...no shit...as loud as u can..then i go smoke a cigarette, put some cold water on my face, and either sit back, or watch something really stupid, like an episode of family guy...it will take ur mind off poker, and in 25mins ur ready to play again...ofc sometimes 25min is not enough..like when i get flop str8 + royal draw vs 2pair and he hits on river it makes me sad..but after one year, i think i can handle it, its just one loud swearing, one cigarette and im done..but this was one year of poker, 1 out of 10 days i still tilt and loose like 1-2buyin that day.. (not being able to fold OP usually at tilt) but its getting rarer god bless..

btw u should try to get some small object that u can just throw to the wall as hard u can..something that is light and doesnt brake..its good for starters ♦
my favourite is still my monitor (fucking old sun microsystem 24 inch monitor) or my keyboard ♦ they both felt the badbeats ♦

You mentioned smiling, another one is this:

Sit in a comfortable position, relax all your muscles completely, breathe deeply and make sure EVERY muscle is relaxed. Now try think angry or frustrated thoughts.. impossible! ♦

I've never tried this for tilt but since you were on the subject I think I'll have to next time I notice myself tilting.