-nice suckout a**hole
This is something we've all seen. Maybe it was written by the guy who just lost his trips to your flush,or maybe it was you when you lost all your money going all in with 39:1 odds.

The thing is, we all tilt sometimes. Some people do it more often, but the truth is that every poker player tilts every once in while.

I'm a newbie player. I've played potlimit hold'em for 2 months and NL hold'em for aprox. 8 months. The biggest issue in the start was my temperament, and tilting.

Lets say I had 600$ bankroll, and I sat down on 1$/2$ table,bought myself in with 50$, played my usual tight/aggressive game and find myself on heads up situtation with AA pockets, and A67 on the flop. I've probably raised in preflop, lets say about 4,5 x big blind, raised or reraised in flop, busted one guy out of the pot by going all-in on the turn, and lost 80% of my stack when the "fish" gets a flush from the river.

This error cost me 1/12 of my bankroll, (+200$ for new monitor), but the truth isn't that simple. The problem isn't me losing money, it's me "trying
to get even with the losses"- which is the most stupidest thing you can do while playing poker. The loss of money got me into a situtation where I'll go play and risk over 20% of my bankroll in order to get back the money I lost. And this will result in losing more money, which will eventually get me broke.

So for a conclusion; tilting will cost you more than losing.
(Just for the record, with 600$ bankroll, you shouldn't play games where the buy-in is 50$. You should buy yourself in with 5% of your current bankroll. This was just an example.)

When it comes to tilting, we all divide in to 3 groups:

The first group is the people who don't tilt at all. They might get a _little_ steamy, but they do not tilt, and they have their game under control all the time.

The second group is people who tilt, but manage to control it. They might want to take few rounds off the game, just to relax and just to make sure that they don't play a dime during the tilt. After they feel calm again, they continue to play.

The third group (where we all start, or at least most of us do) is people who tilt, and have absolutely no control over it. They take all the loses personally, and probably start to chase the winner in hope of winning back their money. This vendetta will result as a major loss of money, and will involve a risk of going broke.
The third group usually consists of novice players, who haven't got the necessary skills to control their temper, bankroll, or behaviour.
This doesn't mean that they are complete suckers, they're just not used to play poker in the way it needs to be played in order to be profitable.
(If you want to know exactly what I am talking about, go check out freerolls and playmoney tables)

So, with these things in mind , try to figure out whether you're in third,second or first group. Then try to figure what you need to do in order to control your tilting better.

And if you were insulted by this "article", then it just proves my point doesn't it?

After reading this, please give us your advice about fighting the tilt off!

Turn the computer off. Ive had days where everytime I flopped the best hand the turn or river completely screws it up. Im not talking about weak pairs either. I had a day a week or two ago that I lost a couple big pots when I flopped a set and they caught a one card str8. And the other hit his flush on the river. After I hit a set of Aces on the flop and called his all in with a K3 or 4 suited, I dont remember which one it was.

So its best to just turn it off and comeback another day instead of trying to battle it out. It still irritates me but Im starting to get used to it...Is that bad?

I know this isn't the point you're ranting about, but buying in for $50 is stupid. You should always buy-in for the max 100BB. That means $200. Therefore, in the example, you should have lost 1/3 of your bankroll, not 1/12.

Well, my from my point of view you're on the right path. I usually take 1-3 hours off the playing when tilting. It takes great self-discipline to stop playing, but when you do, you most probably save yourself from losing a whole lotta money. Keep it up.

There are numerous forms of tilt. I don't chase losses, but my form of tilt is that I will start to make lighter river calls when I get tired or have played for to long in a session. I recognize this and I usually just quit and do something else for awhile.

I play HU and do not have the luxury to hide for an orbit or two

btw, interesting way to do research for your article