Tilt!

I heard about it, read about it, and laughed about it. Now I did it.

I'm talking about going on tilt.

What's Tilt?

For those who don't know, "going on tilt" means letting the flow of the game, or perhaps other players in the game, upset you to the point where you don't play the way you know you should.

What Happened

In my case, I was playing online and lost a series of hands on the river. When the cards were turned up, I couldn't fathom why the other guy had stayed in to luck out at the end. Once I had KK, and a guy with A3 offsuit kept calling my bets and got an A on the river. Another time I had a draw to a flush, gutshot straight or an overcard - basically lots of cards could have given me the probable best hand. My draws didn't come in, and when the cards were turned up on the river, it turned out I was beat by a pair of 2's - and the guy was playing 52 offsuit!

There were several more similar hands in a short period of time.

I concluded two things: A) I want my money back!; B) These guys play really poorly, and I can outplay them.

What a bad combination of thoughts. I lowered my standards for starting cards, and lowered my standards for continuing after the flop. And lost more money, and still more. Before I pulled the plug I had lost about 50 big bets. Ouch!

Recovering

The next day I decided to get my money back, but to do it smartly. I have a setup with two monitors, so opened up three online games at Full Tilt. I raised my standards for getting involved in a hand, and in continuing, to where I would only play the highest percentage games. When a good hand did come, I moved the game window onto my main monitor and put the other games on the second monitor. Within about an hour I had recovered about half the money I lost the previous day, with my chip stack in each game consistently growing.

I'll "rinse and repeat" this evening and try and make up for my first (and last!?) tilt.

Lesson Learned

If you find you're not playing your usual game for any reason, but are pushing mediocre cards too far, just get up and walk away from the game for a while. If you're in a casino, take a break for a meal or walk around outside for a bit. Online, turn off the computer and walk the dog. Refocus. Reflect on how you usually play. Then hit the tables again with a knowledge that the right game play always succeeds in the long run.