How to deal with tilt?

[MediaBLITZ]

How to deal with tilt not how to avoid it. Some great suggestions have been posted so far. I am like phil hellmuth on tv when i receive a bad beat, just envisage that.

Ohhhh.... well thank you so much for clarifying

 

[Arjonius]

I suspect TV gives us a false impression of how volatile Hellmuth actually is. Many people find it entertaining to see him go off, so when he does, it gets shown. Plus I'd be surprised if he doesn't play it up to maintain and reinforce the poker brat image that distinguishes him from other top players.

 

[Big_Rudy]

I suspect TV gives us a false impression of how volatile Hellmuth actually is. Many people find it entertaining to see him go off, so when he does, it gets shown. Plus I'd be surprised if he doesn't play it up to maintain and reinforce the poker brat image that distinguishes him from other top players.

Yeah, this ^. Hellmuth is not a dumb guy. He knows that every time he "acts-out" it's like printing money for him and his reputation. He then leverages that reputation with endorsement deals and such. EZ game.

 

[MediaBLITZ]

Yeah, this ^. Hellmuth is not a dumb guy. He knows that every time he "acts-out" it's like printing money for him and his reputation. He then leverages that reputation with endorsement deals and such. EZ game.

Cut him a little slack - he has GREATLY toned it down. Now when he goes off (which is now muttering some slur to himself) he ends it with "Nice hand." Prince of a guy

 

[Big_Rudy]

Cut him a little slack - he has GREATLY toned it down. Now when he goes off (which is now muttering some slur to himself) he ends it with "Nice hand." Prince of a guy

Oh, I'm not saying I dislike it. I actually find Hellmuth entertaining. I just happen to believe he's fully aware of what he's doing and has reasons for doing it. Now, I'm not saying he knows every word that's gonna come out of his mouth once he starts. But, I believe that a majority of the time he makes a conscious decision TO start..... gotta keep the legend alive and all. Besides, what fun would a poker world be without Hellmuth blow-ups??????

 

[MediaBLITZ]

Oh, I'm not saying I dislike it. I actually find Hellmuth entertaining. I just happen to believe he's fully aware of what he's doing and has reasons for doing it. Now, I'm not saying he knows every word that's gonna come out of his mouth once he starts. But, I believe that a majority of the time he makes a conscious decision TO start..... gotta keep the legend alive and all. Besides, what fun would a poker world be without Hellmuth blow-ups??????

Well that's what I'm saying - there has not been a blow up in quite a while. And that also comes down to "he's fully aware of what he's doing and has reasons for doing it." It's a kinder, gentler Hellmuth and probably in the hopes more people will buy his branded goods. I don't know if there was an intervention or what, but somebody talked some sense into him and he flat out decided not to be a brat anymore.
BTW, I am and always have been a Hellmuth fan. My favorite part of last years wsop was when he sat in to do commentary. I think he's one of the smartest players out there. Could probably use some more balls but he is a smart cookie. If I made FT of WSOP he'd probably be the guy I'd call for coaching. Well, one of them.

 

[Shwiggler]

This is a pretty good article on tilt in my opinion. Click Here

Also, Tommy Angelo writes some really great stuff about dealing with tilt.

 

[Big_Rudy]

BTW, I am and always have been a Hellmuth fan. My favorite part of last years WSOP was when he sat in to do commentary. I think he's one of the smartest players out there. Could probably use some more balls but he is a smart cookie. If I made FT of WSOP he'd probably be the guy I'd call for coaching. Well, one of them.

Agree. I actually think it's pretty funny how all these Johnny-come-lately, top-tier pros wrote him off as a dinosaur who couldn't play the modern game, then he crushed in last year's WSOP.

I actually had the pleasure of watching him do a telecast live from one of the WSOPs, must be 3-4 years ago now. Really a super, super knowledgeable player and, despite his "image" a pretty nice guy IRL.

 

[MediaBLITZ]

And as for all his alleged arrogance - he swallowed his pride and got some coaching himself.
I can identify with a guy who hates to lose that much.

Agree. I actually think it's pretty funny how all these Johnny-come-lately, top-tier pros wrote him off as a dinosaur who couldn't play the modern game, then he crushed in last year's WSOP.

I actually had the pleasure of watching him do a telecast live from one of the WSOPs, must be 3-4 years ago now. Really a super, super knowledgeable player and, despite his "image" a pretty nice guy IRL.

 

[RamdeeBen]

I struggle with beats, still do to this day. I think it will always be there, I just try to get better at dealing with it.

If I feel myself doing daft things, I will simply quit these days. There have been far to many times I've wanted to get "even" even against players who had no involvement in the hands and have had awfully bad tilt sessions where I've nearly busted my roll numerous times, biggest was about $1k in less than an hour..and all that was from a "bad beat" from a $15.00 heads up game from someone completely different and that's how bad it got for me.

It can destroy you mentally and of course you BR. Like I say, I'm still learning but the best of advice is to just QUIT and just insta close down the site.

 

[LeanAndMean]

Oh come on Red. You NEVER suck out on other players? That is just not true. Maybe you don't remember, but it happens. keep a paper at your side and every time you hit a 3rd K against the AA, mark it down. Or when you shove when short stacked and hit that miracle card, mark it down. then when you are the victim next time, look at the list and see how many times you have benefited by the SO.

 

[MediaBLITZ]

Oh come on Red. You NEVER suck out on other players? That is just not true. Maybe you don't remember, but it happens. keep a paper at your side and every time you hit a 3rd K against the AA, mark it down. Or when you shove when short stacked and hit that miracle card, mark it down. then when you are the victim next time, look at the list and see how many times you have benefited by the SO.

His suck outs are just fine card playing while those other guys...

Lean is on to it here. It's just a state of mind you have to change because it is self destructive. By maiking so much of losing hands - bad beat or not, you are (in your mind) reinforcing negativity and fear for the next time you come across a similiar situation. Stop talking about and start talking about winning.
I'm going to tell about how I floated a guy to the turn who made a ridiculous bet on the flop and picked up my trips to put him on tilt.
I am not going to even think about the guy who tried to bluff me off and ended up rivering an inside straight. What I remember about that hand is my read was 100% right on. He had squat and was trying to bluff me off.

So my friends used to (still do) talk about this other player we know who "always wins" and you never hear about him losing. Well now I get it and I'm becoming one of those guys.

 

[Karkus77]

the two things i do when i am tilting, if its bad, i take a break/go to bed, if its just a bad hand, i punch my punchbag really hard (it works!)

 

[Big_Rudy]

the two things i do when i am tilting, if its bad, i take a break/go to bed, if its just a bad hand, i punch my punchbag really hard (it works!)

Lol. I've actually thought of installing a heavy bag in my home office where I play most of my poker .

 

[Karkus77]

Lol. I've actually thought of installing a heavy bag in my home office where I play most of my poker .

it really does work, one good punch, i broke a table and a door before deciding a punchbag would be a good investment

 

[Big_Rudy]

Lol. yeah, I've broken "things" before, too. Also thought I'd broken my hand once when I punched something a little too hard. Turned-out, luckily, it was just swollen/sore for a couple of weeks. That'd be a fun one to explain to my doctor/insurance .

The funny thing is, I'm usually pretty calm when I play. 1 bad beat isn't going to tilt me. Neither will 4-5 etc, etc. But, I DO have a point where I just can't take it anymore. Thankfully, I usually don't reach that point. I think it's only happened 5-6 times in several years of online play.

 

[redvulture61]

Poker will always be a game where you can do everything right by making all the right decisions and still lose. It's not like Chess where you have full control over what happens.

 

[Poker Orifice]

Bit of a derail with the Phil Helmuth stuff but fwiw he hired Mindset coach Sam Chauhan.
A comment by Helmuth in his blog shortly after working with Chauhan, "Stay in the moment... there was a world of difference in how I played! I was positive, calm, cool, collected and I felt zero pressure."
(pretty certain alot of Helmuth's 'acting out' is not really acting at all).

 

[Poker Orifice]

It just seems like it happens more times to you because you're at a table with 9 other players. So assuming they all get just 1 suckout each during the game, that puts the "Suckout" odds at 9 to 1 against you! you see 9 suckouts to your one. That would seem unfair to anyone, but that's just the way it is. It's all part of the game.

I'd have to disagree with this ^
I believe OP is referring to 'I get sucked out on more than I suckout on my opponents' & would assume this is referring to hu scenario vs. player he's in hand with... not a comparison to how many suckouts in total are happening on any given 9-player table.
Also, the ratio of sucking out & getting sucked out on is not 'equal'... at least it isn't (generally speaking) for decent players in Tournament play as they are typically getting it in with the best of it more often than not.

 

[redvulture61]

I'd have to disagree with this ^
I believe OP is referring to 'I get sucked out on more than I suckout on my opponents' & would assume this is referring to hu scenario vs. player he's in hand with... not a comparison to how many suckouts in total are happening on any given 9-player table.
Also, the ratio of sucking out & getting sucked out on is not 'equal'... at least it isn't (generally speaking) for decent players in Tournament play as they are typically getting it in with the best of it more often than not.

That's exactly what i was trying to convey in my post. Yes of course it would be outrageous to proclaim that i have never got it in worse and come out on top because we have all have more than a few times. However, the ratio of someone sucking out on me to me sucking out of them is much higher. I don't think what you see from Hellmuth on Tv is acting out. Poker can be a stressful game, and when everyone wants to hero call you with nothing and win it does take its toll mentally. Someone like Hellmuth or Phil ivey will never be able to win the wsop, because everyone wants to be able to have the momentum of saying i won a hand against "Phil hellmuth".

 

[quintass]

Yeah, this ^. Hellmuth is not a dumb guy. He knows that every time he "acts-out" it's like printing money for him and his reputation. He then leverages that reputation with endorsement deals and such. EZ game.

It is one thing for the "suckEE" to get really upset and rant about a bad hand, and for the most part is to be expected. However, to humiliate, belittle, and curse out the "suckER" on national tv is quite another thing and shows no class at all. For that reason alone I think Hellmuth is a low life. .

 

[Big_Rudy]

It is one thing for the "suckEE" to get really upset and rant about a bad hand, and for the most part is to be expected. However, to humiliate, belittle, and curse out the "suckER" on national tv is quite another thing and shows no class at all. For that reason alone I think Hellmuth is a low life. .

Well, that's the other thing. While I generally like Hellmuth, and admire his talent/play, I'll be the first to admit he goes too far in this area. I mean I like a Hellmuth blow-up as much as the next guy, but he shouldn't be belittling his opponents like he sometimes does. A little jab here and there is fine (imo), but he does go too far sometimes.

For example when he says stuff like "This guy can't even spell poker", ya gotta love it. C'mon, just a little, right? But when he gets in someone's face and just continually calls him an idiot, moron, etc, etc,yes, that's way over the line. I, for one, was in the camp that thought he should have been penalized heavily for those actions the year of his famous "Northern European" blow-up.

 

[Poker Orifice]

It is one thing for the "suckEE" to get really upset and rant about a bad hand, and for the most part is to be expected. However, to humiliate, belittle, and curse out the "suckER" on national tv is quite another thing and shows no class at all. For that reason alone I think Hellmuth is a low life. .

To continue with the Helmuth derail... I've heard that Helmuth is actually a really nice, generous guy & a great father, etc. etc.

Not so sure Ivey &/or Helmuth won't ever win a WSOP cuz other players are gunning for them.... I mean a couple 2nd's in 2011 as well as runner-up in player of the year is pretty damn close imo & didn't Ivey just win some big live tourney recently?

 

[calicard]

What ever you do try to avoid going on tilt in a rebuy. It can get really really really expensive

 

[redvulture61]

To continue with the Helmuth derail... I've heard that Helmuth is actually a really nice, generous guy & a great father, etc. etc.

Not so sure Ivey &/or Helmuth won't ever win a WSOP cuz other players are gunning for them.... I mean a couple 2nd's in 2011 as well as runner-up in player of the year is pretty damn close imo & didn't Ivey just win some big live tourney recently?

I'm talking about the main event. The other events, yes it possible even expected we will see one of these two win another bracelet in the future.