IF WE KNOW WE DO, WHY DO WE DO?

[socal1111]

How do we tilt?
Why do we tilt?
How often/sessions do we tilt?
How much does it cost us?

... Knowing all this, why do we then choose to KEEP TILTING?!

(YEP, I SAID CHOOSE! WE MAKE THAT CHOICE, IT DOESN'T CHOOSE US!)

Why wouldn't we make improving that part of our game #1 on our priority list?

Because there's such a short-term luck factor in poker, "cards," alone... or how we bet them, will never be enough. We're going to need something else-- something greater than the NEED TO RELY ON THE FLIP OF A CARD. "Burn-n-turn" will sometimes be our best friend, but like many friends... they come and go!

What are we going to rely on when that card DOESN'T hit? When we played the hand beautifully-- reraised to build the pot, while our equity was at it's highest... waited till the turn to pop, and thin the field, creating best chance to win pot. We played pre, flop, turn perfectly, but then the dealer turns over that dreaded river...

WHAT THEN??

How will our hand-reading skills help us then? How will our betting strategies we've learned from book 'X' bail us out then? We need something more, in order to keep surviving, to keep breathing.

What we will do when that nasty river snaps another buy-in? And another? How will we handle the 3rd straight losing month, when strategically, we did everything correct? We've done everything correct! We've done everything correct!

OR DID WE?

How do we really know we're playing our best? It's been 3+ mths. since we booked a winning session worth talking about... that can be incredibly tough on the mind. How do we know we've done all we could?

"Because I talked to friends," Joe said
"I asked questions on forum X," Shmoe answered
"Everyone says there's nothing I can do. The losing streak will work itself out," Moe replied.

Cmon... NO ONE really knows. No one but us! It's up to us to know we actually may NOT be fine. We may need to work on 'X'.

BUT, WHAT IS X?

I ask again. And I'll probably ask again and again:

What are we going to do when the cards we need don't show up? When they say, "screw you, Mr. poker player... we're no longer friends... at least not for a few hours/sessions/mths!"

How do you tilt? Why do you tilt? How often do you tilt? How much does it cost you?

... THEN WHY IN THE HELL DO WE KEEP CHOOSING TO TILT?!

Stay focused,
Dayne

[Ovaltine88]

put a stop loss limit everyday.
I have a stop win limit too, to prevent winning tilt.

[Monty3038]

How do we tilt?
Why do we tilt?
How often/sessions do we tilt?
How much does it cost us?

... Knowing all this, why do we then choose to KEEP TILTING?!

(YEP, I SAID CHOOSE! WE MAKE THAT CHOICE, IT DOESN'T CHOOSE US!)

Why wouldn't we make improving that part of our game #1 on our priority list?

Because there's such a short-term luck factor in poker, "cards," alone... or how we bet them, will never be enough. We're going to need something else-- something greater than the NEED TO RELY ON THE FLIP OF A CARD. "Burn-n-turn" will sometimes be our best friend, but like many friends... they come and go!

What are we going to rely on when that card DOESN'T hit? When we played the hand beautifully-- reraised to build the pot, while our equity was at it's highest... waited till the turn to pop, and thin the field, creating best chance to win pot. We played pre, flop, turn perfectly, but then the dealer turns over that dreaded river...

WHAT THEN??

How will our hand-reading skills help us then? How will our betting strategies we've learned from book 'X' bail us out then? We need something more, in order to keep surviving, to keep breathing.

What we will do when that nasty river snaps another buy-in? And another? How will we handle the 3rd straight losing month, when strategically, we did everything correct? We've done everything correct! We've done everything correct!

OR DID WE?

How do we really know we're playing our best? It's been 3+ mths. since we booked a winning session worth talking about... that can be incredibly tough on the mind. How do we know we've done all we could?

"Because I talked to friends," Joe said
"I asked questions on forum X," Shmoe answered
"Everyone says there's nothing I can do. The losing streak will work itself out," Moe replied.

Cmon... NO ONE really knows. No one but us! It's up to us to know we actually may NOT be fine. We may need to work on 'X'.

BUT, WHAT IS X?

I ask again. And I'll probably ask again and again:

What are we going to do when the cards we need don't show up? When they say, "screw you, Mr. poker player... we're no longer friends... at least not for a few hours/sessions/mths!"

How do you tilt? Why do you tilt? How often do you tilt? How much does it cost you?

... THEN WHY IN THE HELL DO WE KEEP CHOOSING TO TILT?!

Stay focused,
Dayne

There is no spoon.

Actually this makes a lot of sense but it is still hard to prevent. There is a certain element of chance in poker, as in all games of skill. If it was possible to play perfect EVERY time and not lose, there would be no point in playing, you just follow the xyz plan.

Perfect poker = no poker. No one is perfect, but we all try to attain as close to a perfect game as we can, the thought though that comes to mind is 'perfect' is different for every player.

Tilt though affects us in all aspects of life, example: Have you ever flipped of another driver? Then sped the rest of the way home? Tilt.

Has your wife or husband ever said something that ticked you off and you stewed on it for days? Tilt.

Dealing with it an letting it go is hard... and I don't know the answer.

[socal1111]

put a stop loss limit everyday.
I have a stop win limit too, to prevent winning tilt.

LOL!

My definition is different than most. My definition: WHENEVER I'M NOT PLAYING MY BEST.

(more than just emotional, out of control feelings)
-Too tired tilt/ game selection tilt/ fight with wif tilt/ too loose tilt/ too tight tilt/ can't quit tilt/ quit too soon tilt/ ... and soo many more!

For whatever reason, when I'm not playing my best, "I'm tilting!"

When I'm not playing my best, I'm losing. When I AM playing my best, I'm winning!

Learn how to play my best, more often... winning, more often.

[Ovaltine88]

Perfectionism is not the way to go in Poker.
Poker players are bound to make mistakes.
The players take makes the least mistakes are the pro.
I suggest you read Ace on the River.
Downswings are inevitable in Poker, just don't make it too costly.

[socal1111]

Perfectionism is not the way to go in Poker.
Poker players are bound to make mistakes.
The players take makes the least mistakes are the pro.
I suggest you read Ace on the River.
Downswings are inevitable in Poker, just don't make it too costly.

Playing my best more often has nothing to do w/ perfectionism... it has EVERYTHING to do w/ improving-ism!

I have read Ace On The River-- gr8 book!

There's no such thing as PERFECTION... but there is such thing as STRIVING FOR IT!