Tilting

How do I control my anger. I easily get tilted? Any tips would help as I'm new to this game. Thanks

I think it just comes with experience. When you're new to poker the bad beats hit harder because it's a very unique and frustrating feeling to lose after making the correct play -- something that doesn't really happen that often in other games. But over time you'll come to realize that they just have to happen, and sometimes you'll be on the lucky end of them. I find ultimately the best thing to do is to try as hard as possible to focus your thoughts on the value your decision had when you made it, not on the outcome. If you got it in with 90% equity, train yourself to feel good about that whether or not your opponent hit their out. That part doesn't matter and is entirely out of your control. All you can do is make the best decisions possible, there's no benefit to dwelling on bad luck.

The higher the professionalism, the less anger. Learn the rules, evolve when you know the rules, don't get angry. Because you know why you lost.

Lots of people recommend the Mental Game of Poker by Jared Tendler. I do too. It outlines the various types of tilt and has suggestions on how to deal with them.

Bad beats don't bug me as much as they used to. I fire up Equilab after losing a bad beat, and see if I my play was +EV. If so, I can make peace with that.

Now I do get upset with myself with poor play. That's harder to overcome for me. Quiet reflection and time is the best I can do.

My advice would be take a deep breath and stop playing for two minutes so that you recover the concentration you need to continue playing

I know exactly what you’re going through. I just try to calm myself down. Huge loss on a bad beat? I immediately close the site and go somewhere else to clear my head, whether it be a walk outside or just go watch TV, anything to make me forget about it because nothings worse than losing big, then stupidly losing the rest.

The tilt is the result of a lack of discipline. It is also a result of the lack of control over your emotions. I recommend you in such cases, stop playing and immediately go for a walk.

Experience helps. The other is to judge the hand on how you played it, not the outcome. Poker is a strange game where you can play a hand perfectly and lose, but also can play a hand completely wrong and win. Just remember that making more correct plays will typically (but not always) make you a winner at the end of the day. (or month or year or lifetime)

I have thought about getting a punching bag, then when I feel like tilting, I could just punch the bag instead.

experience is a huge factor when it comes to tilt

you need to learn to control your emotions and be professional about the game

this game isn't for anybody, so mental strength is a big plus as well

The money matters too much if you tilting or you may be fairly new to poker and have to play enough hands where it does not effect you as much. For me I always think hey I got lucky early today, now I guess its their turn to get lucky its also okay to vent out for 10 seconds I occasionally do that but right afterwards it needs to be out of your system if you want to play quality poker.

Mental Game of Poker

P_LASH1 said:

How do I control my anger. I easily get tilted? Any tips would help as I'm new to this game. Thanks

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Thank you for posting

Jared Tendler has 2 books on poker mindset "Mental game of Poker" Vol 1-2

They cover Tilt very well.

Hope this helps

Hope you get a good hand after the beat, bet like your're on tilt. In other words save the tilt play for the good hands, the bet will always represent a tilt if anyone is paying attention. Good luck.

P_LASH1 said:

How do I control my anger. I easily get tilted? Any tips would help as I'm new to this game. Thanks

Click to expand...

hi hi
i don't really tilt
i am so familiar with getting sucked out on and bad flops, that i expect those things
i am so so surprised if i win a pot... if my hand holds, if i win a flip or get a flop that fits
the answer is...
expect the worst & you never be disappointed
then tilt not an issue

I can tilt alsopoker but thats more online than live , i have no clue why. But it is how it is

You need to accept the nature of poker

If it is truly the last hand of the session (such as busting out of a tourney or getting felted in a cash game with no money to rebuy) then just let it out. Allow yourself to vent. It does not good bottling up anger when there is no point to it. That would make you more likely to go off on someone who doesn't deserve it.

If you're still in the game, then try telling yourself, "This next hand is the most important hand I have to play." Sometimes that thought helps me focus on the play at hand and put the bad beat behind me (sort of anyway).

Don't be mad if it's your mistake that you lost , you'll get better .Don't be mad if you lost because sb played better or worse than you but got lucky , this is part of the game . If you get angry , remember , the only result will be to lose a lot more money and your patience/mood , it's not worth , believe me .

I suffer sometimes from tilt as well . If you can't control it , take a break for some hours , a day if needed , that's what I do to forget crazy losses or sessions where I had lost my self-control .

deep bankroll help to avoid tilt then You just focus on good decisions when you play with 10 or 20 % of your bankroll at the table then you can loose your head easilly

first off you arent alone, i think almost everyone has a tilt problem of some sort when they start off. I still have a big problem with that and its been my main focus for the past month to improve. I think one of the most important things is to have very strict bank roll management. In my experience the tilt would take control once i move up stakes and get unlucky a few hands, and then it creates a spiral of playing for more money than you should, and playing a lot worse than you can, and going busto. If you have $200 to play with use $1 at a time (It is recommended to have 40-50 buy ins for cash games). I'm recommending 200 buy ins because you really wont care as much if you lose a big hand for $1 when its such a small perfect of your bankroll. I have played many stakes ranging from $0.50/$1 - $10/$20 (went that high because of tilt lol) and a month ago decided to play the lowest stakes, $0.01/$0.02 until i no longer tilt. It seems to be helping alot.

I listened to an e-book called the poker mindset. It helped me think about things differently. I still tilt though.

The ability to deal with this state should be in every successful player.
a novice should learn this from the very beginning as he began to learn poker and his psychology. then it will be easier if you take it seriously

If you find the perfect way not getting tilt please let me know.

I feel sometimes a little angry when loosing my stack in a bad beat with the better hand preflop or at the flop. A lot can happen at the turn / river in poker. In such situations my opponents very often get lucky - it has nothing to do with great playing. If you figured out that your opponents are just lucky but bad and very loose players just lay back and relax - some times they are not lucky and you will win just by playing solid poker. :wink:

I feel you. I just lost on a freeroll against a player who had a lot of luck and was playing strange in my opinion.

He called my 3BB PFR raise from UTG. I had QJ, he had 35o. I hit two pair, he hit a straight.

He called my next PFR raise from UTG as well. I had AK, hit TPTK. He had 39o and was BB. He hit two pair.

Next, he kicked out another player, calling UTG PFRs with Q7o. And hit two pair.

Sometimes i feel it is really strange that some players win permanently with below marginal hands. Not only for one hand which would account for normal variance..- but several hands across the game? It is as if they could see what will come on the board. Really strange.

You'd win the luck.

Please remember that case.