“Jesus!!! He just two outered me!!”
“I was like 80% to win & he binks it on the river!”
“Sod it, I can’t be bothered anymore, allin!!”
As pokerplayers we have all heard and uttered the above phrases & frankly far more colourful language when things are not going our way, whether it be someone getting lucky against us, facing an opponent who makes us feel like we don’t know how to play poker or just not being able to win one damn pot regardless of what we do. We have entered the world of “Tilt”.
Being only human & therefore quite readily prepared to tell themselves the odd white lie, the majority of players will say they are not majorly affected by tilt, maybe they’ll get annoyed “Once or twice” but not in a big way, besides that donk should never have been in the hand ! I think the truth is we all suffer from tilt far more than we say, for tilt is not just about anger & there are as many potential causes as there are thoughts in our own heads. The subject of tilt is one close to my heart at the moment as no matter how well I think I have played or that I got my opponent to commit with a worse hand, I am not winning, bubbling hither and thither & finding pocket aces can’t beat pocket 10′s. EVER.
Fate may be giving me a break as a new book I have been keeping a close eye on is now available to pre-order “The Mental Game of Poker“.
Jared Tendler has been a regular guest on the only podcast I listen to regularly and a lot of what he says certainly strikes a chord with me, his approach is not just relaxation techniques and giving us corny self-help mantras but one where he explains in a calm and easy going manner how we are wired & that what appears to be random tilt moments can be predicted and rationalized. Jared has used his skills as a sport psychologist to help pro poker players around the world such as Dusty “LeatherAss” Schmidt to develop their mental skills to compliment their poker prowess and from the excerpts I have read from this book he will help us to tweak and work on our mental engine so it will perform better. Thankfully this will not be a book you have to wade through & possibly tire off because you’ll be able to skim to the relevant sections covering the problems you have, be it from anger, fear, an over estimation of ones abilities, etc.
Would I recommend this to everyone out there ? No but only for one reason, if you want this book to help you then you will have to be 100% honest with yourself, warts and all and not everyone is prepared to do that. Those willing to face themselves will undoubtedly find Jared’s help will visibly reward their adventure into self improvement.
P.S – While typing this I did get runner runnered but only swore mildly this time….
