[mayonegg]

Another scenario envisions me watching television on my couch when I see a flash of movement outside the window. Realizing that something’s not right as I hear a crash at the front door I spring instantly into action rather than staring aghast and unbelieving while an intruder breaks through and threatens my family.

Now here’s where the real work begins. You can’t just do this exercise once and consider it done. This is a long term process (just like your game). You are training your brain to do a particular thing under stressful circumstances. You are training your brain to relax, accept reality and focus on what needs to be done. Practice doing this in real situations such as the near miss of an auto accident when your heart drops and your tongue tastes like metal. Do it when there’s a sudden pounding on your door a 3:00 AM (even though it turns out to be your drunk buddy needing a place to crash). Do it when someone sneaks up on you and says “Boo!” You get the picture. Do this every chance you get whenever you have that rush of excitement, fear, panic that we all run into from time to time…these are training opportunities…don’t miss them.

As you feel your way through and learn to recognize the different emotions try to stay focused on being clear headed, goal oriented and as relaxed as possible. Acknowledge the feelings but mentally keep them separate from the mind’s work of dealing with the situation… Surviving and ultimately triumphing. (Developing this control takes work).

Very cool, I'll have to try this. Great post all-around .


WRT quantifying tilt, I think people in this thread are going about it the wrong way. Counting mistakes that people make (when they wouldn't otherwise) would be the best way to quantify tilt if we are observing other people play, but I think it's more useful to take an introspective approach for ourselves. What I mean is, I can be steaming but not get any playable hands for a while, or only have very obvious decisions, so being on tilt won't affect my play immediately. The damage is done by not quitting during this time and possibly making mistakes later on. We should be looking to recognize this feeling BEFORE making a play we know is wrong.

To define tilt as "one or more mistakes that we wouldn't make while stable" says that we have to make a bad play before admitting that we are on tilt, but I feel that recognizing the increased probability of making a mistake in the near future is more important.

I'm sure there are measurable physiological responses like heart-rate, blood pressure, etc... but this type of measurement isn't convenient.

Maybe the way to define tilt is by thoughts that come up. I can only speak for myself, but I always recognize (at least I think I do) when I shouldn't be playing (whether on tilt or tired or drunk), but I talk myself into it, "THERE'S A 30/10 GUY WITH 38 WTSD ON MY RIGHT, I CANT LEAVE!! I'LL NEVER FIND A SPOT THIS GOOD AGAIN!!!" And there are times where I can profitably play my c-game against soft-enough competition, but it doesn't happen nearly as often as I tell myself it does. Maybe the way to quantify tilt is one or more instances of the thought "I should quit, but..."