Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Tilt after 1 1/2 - 2 hours
I have noticed when I play I do very well my first hour and a half, usually going up big or small, but up none the less going up. I continue to play to think that I can keep increasing my funds and I start to make small mistakes because I become "greedy". Then I start going back down slowly, and it speeds up from there if I keep going. I would like to be able to play 6 hours straight at some point but I keep trying to do long sessions and it's not working. I know some people listen to music when they play but I'm told not to since I'm still learning I shouldn't have distractions. I am around 12k hands or so and I'm up about $2 all together, twice this weekend I went up $50 in the first hour and a half, then kept playing and lost it all again. I want to play long so I can get more practice and get better but it looks like at this point I'm going to set my phone for 1 hour 30 minutes, and when the alarm hits I'm done for that session then will take a hour break. Has anyone experienced this when they started out? I really want to get better but I guess breaking up the sessions with hour break between may help... What do you guys think about listening to music when you play? Should I wait another 10k hands.... Any other advice?
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2 comments:
I had great feedback from cardrunners on this, here is what they said broken up by spaces.
To answer your first question, I think everyone experiences the "Oh my god, I'm up! This is cool!" phase of poker. It's probably more common at the micro stakes than anywhere else. It usually wears off people as they put more hands in, get better, and see that it's commonplace. I know I was there, as well as a couple friends I talk with. I still glance at the BR from time to time, whereas they can go an entire session without. My suggestion to you is force yourself not to look at your bankroll at all during a session, be it an hour and a half or six hours.
As far as listening to music, I think it is fine to listen to it as background noise. As long as you aren't singing along with it, it should be okay. If you can't let it be something to help with the downtime during sessions, then don't use it at all.
Some other alternatives to help with the boredom are shuffling chips and shuffling cards. Either one of these also help. As long as you don't focus on the "extras" and mainly focus on your game, you should be fine.
taking regular breaks is a good idea for sure - no need to extend past 90 minutes if that works for you just take 30min break and play more 90 sessions if you have the time and motivation
i never check results till the session is over and sometimes not till the next day - i find it a distraction and possible source of tilt - while playing just focus on game selection and playing your A-game
One of the most important skills at the poker tables is discipline, and discipline comes in all sorts of different aspects:
1. The discipline to wait for good hands.
2. The discipline to give up on bad flops/turns/rivers.
3. The discipline to fold when you're obviously beaten.
4. The discipline to not chase losses.
5. The discipline to not overplay wins.
etc.
Your problem here is a reasonably common form of tilt -- they call it "winner's tilt," and it's one type of lack of discipline. Here are some ways to try to deal with it:
1. NEVER look at your bankroll while playing. It's irrelevant where you are at the moment, because in the next hand you could be up or down a buyin. If you get tilty from big wins or losses, don't look.
2. Close tables when you double up on them. By "resetting the clock" you force yourself to go back to square one, which will help you to avoid overplaying your situation. This isn't a tournament, so you can't bully the table with the big stack -- if you can't keep playing your usual winning A-game when your stack gets large, close the table and open a replacement when you win.
3. Take short breaks frequently. If you walk away from the table for 15 minutes every hour you might be able to reset your internal clock and defeat your inner donk before he steals your money.
4. Remind yourself that these aren't "winnings" anymore; they're just part of your newly-enhanced bankroll. Often people play much looser with "winnings" because they pretend they're on a freeroll. If you think of this as your new bankroll you may be more inclined to continue to play your tight, winning game, since you're not playing with "their money" but with "YOUR money."
5. Realize that you're not playing many independent sessions; rather, you're playing one very long poker session that lasts a lifetime. As such you don't need to worry about short-term swings (whether they are up or down) -- all that matters is your long-run trend.
Great advice and should be taken seriously. Breaks are very important. I usually come back refreshed. I definitely experience both forms of tilt when I play. Never thought I had "winner's tilt" so that tip definitely helps. I definitely used those tips this evening. So yeah, I'm back! In one form or another.
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