how hard is it to control your emotions

[chuckycheese]

Why is it? When playing poker at any stakes, it is so easy to get your emotions involved, especially after a bad beat. I for one have a tough time with it. I think this might be called self control. Does anyone have any suggestions for handling this situation.

 

[makisaa]

Controling emotions it is very important, everywhere in life, and in poker is very important. Imagine that controling your emotions is like cleaning the fog from your mind and helps you think clear. Think wisely!

 

[thedarkman]

Why is it? When playing poker at any stakes, it is so easy to get your emotions involved, especially after a bad beat. I for one have a tough time with it. I think this might be called self control. Does anyone have any suggestions for handling this situation.

I have found it easier as I got older. Getting angry never changes anything.

 

[DS3]

I find the first course of action is a healthy swearword or two! No table thumping mouse smashing nonsense, but then... never act on the tilt. There is no denying some days are grim. Today I got clobbered every time I had a playable hand but at the end of it all, I can essentially let it all go, and, I plan to play later today.

It does not matter what you put a bad run down to -luck, variance, RNG- it is going to happen. So. Don't get too high on your run good and don't get too low on your run bad.

I keep records of most things I engage in within poker. First I keep screen shots of bad beats (actually hundreds) and exits from tourneys. What that shows is for the majority of the time I am getting it in with the best starting position. Whilst the outcomes are frustrating this also shows that I am not butchering hands. So, there is something like a satisfaction if not confidence that I am generally playing correctly.

But I also keep records of the bad beats I have inflicted and my results over all. And results wise all my accounts are on a slow but steady climb.

So erase the day to day results oriented frustrations. Nathan Williams recently said he goes through periods where he ignores his account balances in downswings - he literally will not check them as it adds to a feeling of negativity.

That said I do check, because there has not been a period since I joined CC where I have gone a few days and not cashed. It could be cashing for a few cents in a basic free roll, but I do not care. All should be looked at positively. And, if you keep an accurate track of results I think you will find over a span things are fairly consistent and in all likelihood you are not on the downswing you might think you are on any given bad day.

 

[Datdude1]

We are emotional creatures so it does get hard trying to hide your emotions while competing. However, if you want to be a good poker player, this is a skill that you have to learn.

 

[Uncloggie]

I have found it easier as I got older. Getting angry never changes anything.

That's a good point !

I've learned to avoid stress. It's a killer.

Poker is just a game; if you have money on it you have to be prepared to lose it. Learn to be a good sport and lose well, enjoy the high when you win. It's not worth getting yourself down when you lose.

Going a little off topic,

The hardest for me to overcome is/was road rage. Because it's life threatening I guess it makes the primal reactions come out in me? I don't get upset much anymore about the minor traffic "upsets", but when some drivers' selfish idiotic actions are potentially deadly it always tends to infuriate me along with the adrenaline rush..

Perhaps there is a lesson there, our bodies do have chemical reactions in play with our emotions. I know I used to get a real endorphin rush whenever I won big in Poker. I guess the effect diminishes over time, but it is still there mildly. I guess I just need to win bigger amounts to get that back. Imagine taking down a Million prize or something..... chillls....

 

[Alizona]

The more poker hands you play, the less emotions affect you.

It's a simple equation really. A linear relationship. It's kind of like a maturity thing. Younger people are quite emotional, but older people have "seen it all" and don't have such extreme reactions anymore. It's the same in poker. Newer players react very strongly, but veteran poker players really don't.

Once you've played millions of poker hands and thousands of tournaments, tilt literally just goes away. It has for me. I never tilt anymore and I used to have a problem with it back when I was just learning the game.

You know what the problem is? YOUR EXPECTATIONS. When you pick up AA, you expect to win, understand? And when you don't win, you literally feel like you got cheated, or got "shafted" or whatever phrase you prefer... but it's just one poker hand in a lifetime of poker hands, you see? It is meaningless in the overall scheme of things. If you've only played 500 hands of poker in your life, you will always feel these negative emotions over the "bad beats" and the "coolers", such as when you pick up KK and get called by AA and lose... unfortunate, unlucky, yes certainly... but it's still just one hand. By the time you have played 5 million hands of poker, you will have seen this happen over and over and over again. But here's the key - if you are a solid player, you will also see it happen over and over and over again IN YOUR FAVOR. Over our lifetime, the "luck factor" eventually approaches zero... meaning, the bad luck and the good luck cancels each other out!!! And what are we left with? Only the relative skill level between the players to separate us.

So my advice is to play poker hands until you have blisters on your fingers from the cards and the chips, or from clicking the mouse button. Trust me on this (I have played millions of poker hands over the past 15 years)... it eventually goes away. You eventually LOSE your expectations regarding the outcome. You will eventually just "take it all in stride", you won't punch walls or scream and yell and get upset or angry or sad... and at this point... you will finally have made it. You will finally be a "good poker player", and just work on improving your skills to become the best poker player you can possibly be. There's really no "magic short cut" to this process... just keep the faith that it will eventually get better and you won't react so emotionally to the negatives at that point.

Don't let expectations drag you down. STOP EXPECTING TO WIN. Just play as good as you can play, and keep learning the game along the way. You CAN do it and you WILL do it... if you truly understand my words. I hope they help someone. Best wishes!

 

[SAKhur]

Perhaps it's all about the loss of a few buy-ins, which shackles your attention. Your game will become completely different when you are confident in your financial safety cushion. Your mind will be relaxed and you will not be distracted and concentrate on money. Play at the limits that your bankroll can afford.

 

[Roller]

online poker without emotions is the key to successful sessions and prevents tilting off profits or potential profits at the tables. Acceptance and not investing your emotions in hands that play out with unexpected results can be a key to success.

 

[77ecos]

It is essential to control emotions, we have seen it in live broadcasts as no one escapes from a good anger, anger and frustration must last a second to stay focused, it helps me that I have several tables open and I can continue in others When you are at a table playing my music works a lot for me, there are many occasions when I am enjoying a song and in that I am left out in a painful way and I do not continue singing but in a certain way it calms me to continue listening to the music, it is An example, but like that, several things can help, maybe at that time of being left out, see a video that you like, a coffee, etc.

 

[azgeda]

It’s pretty tough, I get really upset and frustrated with bad beats

 

[Alexey Shley]

Emotion control in poker is the most important part of the game, if you cannot control your emotions, then no matter how well you play, your stack will go to the bottom at the first bat beat. If you can control emotions then you can be disciplined.

 

[Garfield52]

If you let you emotions take over your play then I guess you are a bit on the immature side. After all it is ONLY A GAME !!!. it is not the end of the world if you start with pockets aces and some has 2 n 7 offsuit and he ends up beating you on an all-in. the sun will still come tomorrow morning.

 

[10gerka]

first thing you should know is that in this game called poker you are going to have coolers quite often and therefore we will have many reactions and emotions in the game, so we must get used to live with that, we can not avoid it, it is part of the game, What we must do when we have situations like this or similar is to calm down and continue giving our best game, we know that the results are not instantaneous, it is long term, that is why it should not affect you, at first it will affect you, but then it will not affect you at all, you must be very disciplined in that and things will change for the better.

 

[recerveau]

Why is it? When playing poker at any stakes, it is so easy to get your emotions involved, especially after a bad beat. I for one have a tough time with it. I think this might be called self control. Does anyone have any suggestions for handling this situation.

My suggestion is: Study the game until you understand that there are things you don't control. That way you will charge yourself less.

 

[kasinogyn]

For me it's very difficult. when I lose a game with a very good hand I get very frustrated and end up giving up playing and playing anyway to lose.

 

[alien666dj]

The way out of this situation is that you need to reduce the number of decisions on each street. That is, to bring your decisions to automatism in standard situations. Such as opening with a preflop raise, 3Bet, all-in, fold.

 

[lukovnikofff]

I also sometimes succumb to my emotions when they move me, but I always try to quickly forget about this distribution, since nothing has changed, I try to disassemble this distribution and see if I played it correctly, if I played it correctly, then nothing can change here! In general, I myself do not really know how to cope with emotions, but I understand that they interfere with me during the game! I would also like to know a practical way to deal with them or work on them! Good luck to everyone at the tables!

 

[Piligrin66]

You need to control your emotions, especially when playing live poker with friends, and what I was told that friends of 9 people played poker, the bank was big and one player, when he lost the main hand, threw cards in anger in the player's face, he was then disturbed , but it could get to a fight.

 

[Lena M]

Why is it? When playing poker at any stakes, it is so easy to get your emotions involved, especially after a bad beat. I for one have a tough time with it. I think this might be called self control. Does anyone have any suggestions for handling this situation.

Hello.
If you want to learn to control your emotions, you must first learn to control your risks. If you clearly control your expenses and follow the system of bankroll management, then you can easily control your emotions.

 

[nutself]

Controlling emotion is no way an easy task, however some people are better at it because their good temper, others have to train themself very hard in order to be good at it.

 

[Izzeee]

I believe it's what we tell ourselves about situations that can trigger our emotions. Self talk is important with most things in life.

 

[ph_il]

my secret to controlling my emotions is to be indifferent about anything that happens and to have low self esteem, so nothing ever really matters.

 

[1984]

Why is it? When playing poker at any stakes, it is so easy to get your emotions involved, especially after a bad beat. I for one have a tough time with it. I think this might be called self control. Does anyone have any suggestions for handling this situation.

At 1:34 When someone brings this emotion case up, always pop up this scene for me...:

Personally, never knew anybody who could manage it permanently, all the time, generally, not just in poker, you know yourself, you should find it out how to reduce (in poker).

Also, I don't care much anymore, but there are poker related psychological materials about that from many people out there, you can get basic ideas, what you are anyway able to find out yourself.
Again, just my opinion, i think those are waste of time, as all talk about generally, but you are original, special, they don't know you, so no way any will simply work, because someone try to tell you what "rules" you should follow, how to deal, behave in situations like that...

 

[DiegoRamos]

Why is it? When playing poker at any stakes, it is so easy to get your emotions involved, especially after a bad beat. I for one have a tough time with it. I think this might be called self control. Does anyone have any suggestions for handling this situation.

Interesting...

I usually open several posts and respond here on CC.

Your question came after my answer:

https://www.cardschat.com/forum/general-poker-13/tilt-remedies-495552/post-6226046.html

Curious isn't it? lol

I think it will help you too.