Who is the fastest gun in the "west"? -me

Hey Deomedes!

Excellent first blog post!

Oh, hang on, this isn't the "Your Poker Blogs" forum.
Shall I move it there?
I'm sure more besides myself will be interested in following someone who used tilt-busting software.

How does it work?
Does it just monitor your losses?
Does it have other criteria as well?
How does it stop you from playing?

Cheers,
--VS

Now that you mentioned it , it really seems like a blog post. I didn't mean to make it one. But it seems like a nice idea. You can transfer it there.

I mean, i ment to start a blog some day but i always kept postponing it. Maybe that's the day.

Anyways, to answer to your questions. I have set a limit of total $ (you can do it blinds if you like) which allows me to lose in a single session from the peak of the session.

That means that if i win 10$ (or even 0$ if that is the "peak") and from that point i lose 30$ i will be kindly noted that if i do not leave in 7min time (as i have set to) i will be removed from the tables by force even in the middle of a hand.

You can set also number of hands, hours of play, winning limit who really does that? though i have read about winning tilt not felt once.

Really can you imagine being tilted by losing big one day and the very next day because you win and want to lock a victory ?

It can also block other applications and your cashier at some sites. You can also limit yourself from moving up or opening 20 tables.

Having tilt problem is my biggest leak. So i can write few things here that helped me dealing with it by having some funny attitude like today.

Hi, Deomedes
Welcome to the blogging section!

I usually play for a set length of time, or a set number of hands, win or lose.

I think that the idea behind leaving when you are up more than a certain amount is to encourage you to "rathole" your winnings.

In other words, to take you winnings and put them aside, then start again on a new table.

Winner's tilt is a bit different though, I think.
When you have run good for a while, with good cards, and hitting flops a lot, it can become something you EXPECT to happen. If you get this expectation, then it is easy to start playing with poor cards, and there goes all that lovely cash.

Best of luck at the tables!
--VS

Thnx for defying better what winning tilt is. Hope to see you and other guys here so as to keep me posting. That was ,and is, my main concern for not blogging at all. Posting for only me to see the posts.

So if you just pass by and read something interesting just say hello to give me motivation to keep posting.

So my first ,meant to be , blog post is some quick thoughts I use and i do no neceserally advise you to use, but i do recomment trying them or giving them a thought at least.

The list is not extensive but i will add more things when i feel the need to. Most of the things on the list will be stuff that i have read and some that i figured out.

1. Breathing. Inhale deep through the nose to fill the loans and when full use your stomach to breath little more. Then exhale slowly through the mouth. Count your breaths when you exhale. When i reach 20 i get bored but i am certainly more calm.

2. Visualize yourself calm. I know many people , including me, who are really tilting more when they know that they are tilted.

Visualize yourself from above being able to hold your temper and still continue with your life, chat with friends and family, go to sleep or even continue playing, if that is what you want. You can ofcourse visualize you have nerves of steel like this pros on TV.

A good exercise is ,as warm up process, is to visualize yourself experiencing again your worst bad beat and being able to deal with it like nothing happened.

At the same extend during the session , that you do not wish to end because the games are really good , do not think about the bad beat you just received. Do not think it over and over again.

3. Keep your distance from the cashier and the damn EV line. Just check them once a week (or even more if you can) as i do especially now that i use tilt breaker for stopping me when reaching bottom.

That advise reminds me from a fitness trainer, friend of mine, who said to me. "Just do not see yourself in the mirror after every gym session. You get all dissapointed one day or faulsly happy the other. Just do it once a month feel proud for the results and then do your best for the next month."

Tactical adjustions :
So the game is really good and juicy and we ,not the red version of ourselves, hopefully decided to stay. What we do now?

4. I like to tighten up for 20 or so minutes. I mean alot. I have VPIP 22 in my 6 max cash games but when i do not feel nice about the impact of variance on my sweet bankroll i have a tilt range of 15 or so.

I use my CO range on the BTN and i open raise a lot less. I have also set a tilt iso raising range. It is tigher than the usual but hey i still want to play with the fish and regain my confidence back.

In general, i do not want to be with 9d8d raising Utg on a 5h5c9h As 2d bet flop check turn, villain ch back , ch river to receive a potsize bet. Then start polarizing villain's range between 5x , strong Ax and complete bluffs choose to call because the line is not clear (and frankly that's what we do when things do not go well) and see my opponent have QQ.

Opponent at the micros are usually unpredictable and unknown so better put myself in less difficult decisions with better hands since my answer to them is more propably going to be... call.

I do not play 3bet pots. I 3bet for value and do not bluff at all. Resteals are almost forbidden. The idea of feeling bad and playing 3bet pots oop sucks. If i find a reasteal too profitable to pass i 3bet and cbet only when i hit a good pair or more. Same thing goes with 3betbluffing IP but still it is better no to do it because the temptation to win the money in the pot is big and we end up cbetting the worst flops.

I mean if i feel bad and my brain does not fuction normally my edge from 7bb comes down to 2bb or even worst if i spew. When edge goes down variance goes up so i make decisions to limit variance too.

Let us not forget that in the micros there are winning players that are called set farmers. Yes we all hate them but still when we are handicapped, in a way, by tilt we can play like them :).

Same applies with semibluffing. If i do not have 500 hands on a guy i do not check raise FD unlees it is nut FD. I check call once to ch fold on the turn. Poor game plan? Not really people make more often the mistake of calling much ,even the obvious hit , than the mistake of folding much.

We just think how we would play and forget the population tendencies.

Ok that is for now, the post is already big. If someone spends some time to read this please say hello or something.

I will post my results next week because i do not allow myself to see the cashier right now.

3. Keep your distance from the cashier and the damn EV line. Just check them once a week (or even more if you can) as i do especially now that i use tilt breaker for stopping me when reaching bottom.

This is SO hard for me.
When playing, I just know how much I'm up or down, whether I look or not.

4. I like to tighten up for 20 or so minutes. I mean alot. I have VPIP 22 in my 6 max cash games but when i do not feel nice about the impact of variance on my sweet bankroll i have a tilt range of 15 or so.

Sometimes when I sit down, I get crap hands for an orbit or more.
When that happens, people think I'm playing super-tight, but really I just haven't got the hands.

When that happens, I start to play wider, and they fold, since they think you must have good hands.

If the opposite happens, and I get three or more playable hands very quickly, then I tighten up after that, and only play good hands, because they will 3Bet for sure on the 5th or 6th open raise.

All the best...
--VS

Thnx for reading my post.

Maybe i haven't stated it clear and will edit my first post so as to do so. I am an NL10 player. So everything i have mentioned about the predetermined tactical adjustions on my game when i do not feel comfortable is just for the stakes that no ones pays attention to what you do and if he does he just tries to respond by overadusting.

As for the regs they should play 4 tables really focused to notice the difference from their hud stas. Personally, i do not give so much credit to my opponents and i will not do that even higher. That thinking has worked well till now.

For the cashier advise i gave it is just like any other skill. You try, you succeed once or twice then you fall back into the same habits cause of some ridiculous excuse you made up. You feel better now that you check it again. After some weeks you feel your mental game needs improvement. You note the necessary actions. "This time i won't look at it no matter what". And the same again.

This will happen untill you can really experience the difference. That difference is not on your new aquired logic you have from some book. The difference comes in your personal life where you have less stress during the week and you can do more things than just thinking about poker. And at the same extend you spent less time thinking coolers, bad beats and their effect on your bankroll. It clears your mind to think more about your game. About the things that you control.

It is really hard to convince yourself that you had to shove that good, but no great hand, where you faced the nuts vs a really unknown opponent who just sat down and called you for three streets. Just because of the population tendencies.

You afterwards see his tight stats or you remember that one hand he played before the big blind came to you and start playing. When he faced a raise and tank-folded on the turn after betting big and repping an overpair and you say "i should have known that this guy is conservative". How tha heck can you do that in 12 hands?? You just see your $$ being lost in your bankroll. That is no good feeling

Better say i played my game, job done for the day let's call my girl or my friend and have a real converstion this time. Not just me talking about the craziness i choose to face every day i play poker.