Bad Runs and Tilting Out

[rlg476]

Runs And Tilting out

Every poker player who tackles this game with any amount of seriousness knows that poker is about ups and down. If you have any amount of experience under your Self, you have had the periodic streak of bad luck.

These streaks can run a short time or a long time. Some see as if the entire cosmos is against you. One thing for sure is that the bad luck will test your ability to maintain a solid game.

It’s easy to get emotional during these extreme situations and lose it a bit, but the best players learn to deal with this and accept it as part of the game. It helps to have a process that you can fall back on when it’s running bad, a system that you can run through to get back on track if indeed it’s your play that has changed. I have some questions I ask myself when it’s running bad.

AM I DOING ANYTHING DIFFERENT?

Sometime an old habit will return without me realizing it. Overconfidence can also cost me money sometimes. Having a profitable month or two sometimes makes me feel that I’m going to make money every time I set down.

So I try and make sure my game is still solid. Keeping notes of my long-term profits can provide some mental relief. It reminds me that the rule of solid play is rewarded over time.

DO I NEED TO JUMP DOWN IN BLIND LEVELS?

If the bad run goes on for a long time, my bankroll can deplete to an amount where I have to get out of the game I’m in and jump down a level. I should only be playing in games where I have 200 times the big blind. If I don’t adjust my game and the bad run continues, the percentage of my bankroll that I’m losing increases dramatically.

HAVE I REACHED A DANGEROUS LEVEL OF FRUSTRATION?

Tilt is something that a player learns about early in their career, but continues to deal with the rest of their poker life. When a bad run comes, tilt is always lurking in the background waiting to grab you by the brain and run with it until there’s nothing left,

When I start to feel the need to destroy the mouse in my hand, it’s time for a break from the game. I get out of the game with my tail between legs and I go find something else to do. I try my best not to take it out on the people in my life and I find something that will make me happy. And I don’t go back to the game until I realize that poker has a win/loss variance.

Poker is a microcosm of life in many ways. Patiently waiting for opportunities and taking aggressive advantage of them is certainly a sound way to conduct one’s self in most settings. Dealing with the adversity of running bad is not unlike dealing with personal obstacles and traumatic situations. Maintain intelligence and calm. Realize that it will end.

The measure of an individual is not the level of accomplishment you reach, rather it’s how you deal with adversity. Top pros all learn the mental game and so must you. Staying positive and patiently working through the bad run is bound to save you more cash than freaking out and dumping your stack.

If it gets so bad that you’re not playing the way you normally play, you have to step away for a while. Get your head back into a positive state and go win back what you dumped.

GOOD LUCK!!!!!!.

[nigga z]

I am a fairly solid player and I play around 4-6 hours a day. I understand that im going to take alot of bad beats, but when I go on a bad run or "tilt streak" it is simply UNREAL. I can get my money in with 95% chance to win and they'll hit the one outer on me Every Time. So i like reading about how to control and deal with these bad times. So thanks for sharing your wisdom with me

[HeyKidMove]

I agree, except for the 200 times the BB of the game. I hope this is a typo because for proper BR management, you should have anywhere from 15-20 buy ins. 200 time the BB is only 2 buy ins.