Tilt and your brain. Part 1

[Dazarath]

I just found this thread, and while it may be a bit old (who knows, maybe no one's reading it anymore), I wanted to comment on a few things.

Originally Posted by Efficent

Good definition: Unable to solve a rubix cube in under ten minutes.

I think the problem with this example, which is more analogous to trying to define tilt objectively is that focus is not defined purely by my ability to solve a rubix cube, while heat is generally measured using temperature. So I would argue that yes, the definition is objectively measurable, but no, it is not a good definition. I could also say, "you are focused if you are at least 6 feet tall". Again, this is objective, but it should be pretty obvious that it does not provide a good measuring stick for focus.

Originally Posted by Efficent

How much money would you pay for a pepperoni pizza?

Even this measurement for "love of pepperoni pizza" is faulty. I'm sure Aejones' answer would vary had he not eaten for 3 days versus him recovering from food poisoning due to some rotten pizza. We would need to define a normal state of mind in which he could give an objective answer to how much he values pepperoni pizza in terms of money. But then aren't we just back to square 1?

Originally Posted by Efficent

2. Is 80 degrees twice as hot as 40 degrees?

I see what you're getting at here, but my answer would be:
If we define "hotness" as the difference between the current temperature and some reference point (0 degrees), then yes. But if defined in some other manner, the answer could be no.

Efficient, please don't take this as me trying to nitpick over your posts. I think the original question that you posed will lead to some interesting discussion. I wouldn't have read the entire thread otherwise. Rather, I'm seeing some issues with trying to give tilt an operational definition and I'm hoping someone can chime in with a solution to the approach.

Originally Posted by Comanchie

The CliffsNotes version.

I know, I know......tl;dr

Comanchie, as others have already stated, amazing post.

Honestly though, don't give cliff notes versions. To me, TL;DR implies that the post was not worth reading in the first place. I would never pick up an amazing novel, read it, and then send the author a letter saying TL;DR. No, because I did read it and it was damn well worth my time. Also, people who wants cliff notes for an extremely insightful post don't deserve to partake in that knowledge.

[SEABEAST]

awesome comanchie. missed this until now. have had a longstanding interest in samurai culture, and i think eastern thinking definitely goes hand in hand with poker. really great post.

[ladymuck]

Originally Posted by SEABEAST

awesome comanchie. missed this until now.

I'm glad you found it and caused me to read it, seabeast. Great post, comanchie.

[the fox is bak jak]

Originally Posted by MYNAMEIZGREG

Tilt:
Making incorrect decisions, in the amount of 1 or more, than you would make if you were psychologically stable

How'd I do?

i love it,looks like i'll be catching eltilto quicker than ever b-4 it becomes expensive....

[the fox is bak jak]

n1..

[Kirkdiese]

Originally Posted by Comanchie

Okay, round two. I’ll do my best to keep this from being too long and boring. I won’t try to wear everyone down with details but will try to be concise. The CliffsNotes version. First of all I’ll have to approach this from the context that I am most familiar with – martial arts. I have been a full time professional martial arts instructor for over twenty years and so everything I do filters through that experience. Those of you who are psychology majors (I am not) may have better definitions for certain ideas and be able to explain them in a more analytical way than I can (feel free to chime in). If during the course of this discussion I do not fully explain certain concepts we can address them later if there are questions.

In my first post I discussed the degree to which a person clings to an expected outcome has everything to do with the degree to which they have a positive or negative (tilt) reaction. This reaction affects our behavior and subsequently, our overall results (the greater outcome). Training our minds to be less attached (to not cling) to the expectation of a specific result (in the short term) can be a great tool to dampen tilt and improve our overall results (the longer term). Learning to do this will take introspection and time. I’ll start by laying some foundational ideas.

In feudal Japan the Samurai followed the code of Bushido…cultivating the virtues of discipline, honor, courage and indifference to pain and death. Can you imagine training to become indifferent to pain and death? Honestly I’ve learned that an individual can only become so good at it. Pain is very real and takes on many different forms and intensities. The consequence of death is quite final.

Keep in mind that for almost all of us our arena of combat is the game. I will say that if you don’t treat combat (in any form) with deadly seriousness… you will die (within that context) sooner or later. Without going into an all out discussion of the topic of Bushido I will outline some thought processes that spring from it that I am convinced will help you to be less “attached” to the idea that certain things should always turn out certain ways.

To begin with, the Samurai learned to avoid self conceit and to constantly train himself to face death. In other words he had to learn to mentally and emotionally accept the possibility, even the likelihood of death in every duel or battle. He could not allow himself to cling to his safety or even his life during combat. To do so would be to interfere with his ability to act and react correctly and would virtually insure the very thing he was trying to avoid. The only acceptable attitude was complete acceptance of his current reality. Thus you’ve heard the saying (God, I almost hate to say it because it sounds sooooo cliché) “Becoming One” with that event. (Sorry, it couldn’t be avoided)

Practice trying to catch yourself being concerned with the different situtations as you play and acknowledge the feeling but do not allow it a place to root in your mind. You are in that situation, it is real and you can’t change it. You can only accept it, attempt to make the correct play, and move forward… or delude yourself (that would be tilt). This reminds me of a training session years ago when I was working with one of my teachers in front of a class. (Let me preface this by saying that I thought he was kind of a loose canon and I wasn’t convinced that he wouldn’t do great physical harm to me.) I was determined to train under this legend and was willing to assume the risk of serious injury as his training style was extreme to say the least. He had thrown me to the mat and with a particular technique had pinned me to the floor face down with his knee driving my own shoulder into my neck at the carotid artery. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see what was happening and was noticing the shroud of darkness closing before my eyes since he had cut off blood circulation to my brain. (Maybe that’s what’s wrong with my memory…hmmmm.) In a panic I was “tapping out” furiously with both legs. He was choking me with my left arm and the other was pinned underneath me. I became convinced that he either didn’t know or didn’t care that I was dying. He kept saying relax. Relax??!! WTF!!?? Without comprehending what he was telling me, I mentally accepted that this was going to be an accidental training death (ain’t fear great!!??). At that moment my body went slack and I relaxed…guess what? After a moment I could see and breathe again and found myself sitting up a bit disoriented and wild eyed but very much alive (As he looked at me as if nothing had transpired). I since came to trust that teacher beyond question. But I had to do one thing first (and here is the point of that rambling story) I had to give myself “permission” to be horribly injured or even accidentally killed in order to continue training with him. I had to be “Okay” with the potential consequences of the level of training to which I aspired. Weird, huh? By the way, over my years of training with him I was never once horribly injured or killed.

The Samurai lived to die a beautiful death. Death was their business. Preferably dealing it out rather than receiving it. But in receiving death they would accept it with honor and pride in having done their duty. And just like training with that teacher I learned that you cannot develop to your potential if you are not willing to face the consequences (Pain and fear). The two are inextricably connected. They feed on each other. Pain causes fear and fear increases pain. You see where that one is going don’t you? Ever experience either of the two at the tables? I bet. This is why I don’t think measurement and quantification is a very useful means of understanding what causes tilt and learning to deal with it. Each of us has unique levels of tolerance for varying stimuli and our own way of coping. You have to discover your own way. Sklansky bucks is one way, assuming you play correctly (I, more often than I’d like to admit, do not).

The Samurai each had their own methods of preparing for and coping with the horrors of battle. Some would write poetry others would paint. Meditation, reflection and observation of the beauty of nature aided them in re-centering their minds and calming their spirits so that they could once again face pain, fear and death with clarity of mind and resolve. Calming themselves and teaching themselves to not cling to their sense of safety or even their life lest they lose it. I equate this to taking a break from the game.

So…do you go into the arena (battle), knowing beforehand that you may experience pain and/or death? Even more importantly, are you okay with that? Do you give yourself permission to experience pain? How much? By “allowing” yourself (that is, not clinging to the idea of your safety) to experience pain and the possibility of death you will learn to relax into it and decrease its effect on you mentally and emotionally. It’s hard to wrap your mind around this one, I know. Been there. Try this…think of someone you love more than life itself in a burning house. How worried are you about your own well being as you rush in to get them out? Very little I’d wager. It’s the same thing. The hard part is learning to harness and direct that ability. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying anyone can have absolute control of it but you can increase your control of it by degrees.

I am reminded of a quote from the video series “Band of Brothers” the true story of the 101st Airborne during WW2. An officer named Speirs addresses a fear stricken soldier in a foxhole during a battle. He says to him (not verbatim) “You’re still hoping that you can get out of this war alive. But the sooner you realize that you’re already dead the sooner you’ll be able to do what you need to do.” Fatalistic, I agree. But doesn’t our game require a certain amount of fatalism?


Now for something a little on the practical side; First, each one of us must take the time to understand how we react to certain events. As a fighter one can react to the pain of a blow in any number of ways. Shock, anger and fear are the main emotions that tend to surface. Poker has many parallels to physical combat so you’ll need to do some thinking to make these connections. Ever been suddenly punched in the face? If so take some time to recall how you felt (besides the obvious physical pain). If you haven’t been in a fight before then just substitute some other traumatic event and follow along. Your first reaction probably went something like this… ”Oh SH..” “What the HE.. is going on here!!!???”. For a moment or longer you were, most likely, utterly LOST and if you didn’t make some quick mental adjustments to your state of mind and adapt to the circumstances quickly enough you probably got hammered into the ground all the while wondering, “What happened and how did I get myself into this!!!??? OMG whadoIdo whadoIdo??!!” (I’ve felt like this playing poker and it sucks—this is when I donk off a stack or ten) This is the state of that you cannot allow yourself to get into. On the streets it can result in death. You must prepare for this in advance. At the moment of crisis…it’s too late.

We need some skills. The ability to recognize the approach and arrival of danger is one. Knowing in advance how we tend to react to the ensuing circumstances. Everyone will have to be responsible for taking time to mull over the depth of meaning of this for himself. There is an exercise that I have used with great success (pertaining to keeping a calm and focused demeanor) in the face of possible danger. Visualization and what I will call “Emotionalization”.

I use and teach my students this exercise: Take the time to imagine different circumstances that you might find yourself in. For instance, you are leaving work, on your way to your car in the parking garage after a late day. You notice an individual paying a bit more attention to you than you are comfortable with. He starts to approach uttering some lame and transparent verbiage in (what could be) an effort to “close the gap” and seem harmless. The fear begins. (That’s right all you “He Men” you’re scared and you know it, you’ll never convince me otherwise) Because you are facing the unknown. “Is he harmless?” You know nothing about him except how he looks (your heart is pounding) as he moves closer you notice he has his hand in his coat pocket and he’s continuing his dialogue which seems deceptive and insincere (it may or may not be a diversion to set up an attack but you don’t feel warm and fuzzy to say the least). Suddenly he pulls out a knife slashes at you. He hisses “Gimme your F’N money and your keys!” Your heart feels like it’s about to explode, your mouth is so dry that you can’t swallow and you’re unable to think clearly. The only thing you can see is a gigantic knife. (In reality, the knife probably has about a four to six inch blade but you have a terrible case of tunnel vision so it just looks HUGE!)

This is what is called in law enforcement and military circles as an ADRENAL STRESS RESPONSE. It’s your body’s reaction to the perception of mortal danger and it can be absolutely debilitating. The kind of feeling you get during a car wreck. Most people react with panic and confusion. Sound familiar? …Just get check raised all in on the turn?

Right now it’s not important to go into what you’re going to do about that situation. What is important is your mental state and you can learn to control it better. Practice this mental “game” and bring to it as much emotion as you possibly can. Attempt to make it “REAL” in your mind and heart. Emotionalize it.

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).

Remember this, your mind is your tool. You don’t have to let it dictate how you will think or feel. You really do get to choose. It just takes practice. Act, don’t react. You must be deliberate.

Hope this post was helpful….feedback is welcome and encouraged.

I know, I know......tl;dr

This just blew my mind. Incredible post.

Out of all the poker players I meet in home games and casinos I feel that maybe 1% put forth the kind of effort that Leggo/Internet players do through education and introspection. They are all obsessed with poker, many play every single day, but they just aren't obsessed with taking the steps necessary to improve to the level of the players they want to be. Aejones, Greg, Chewy, Clayton, Seabeast have all created and continue to create their own luck in essence. I'm sure it is why I and others aspire to play like them. It's the stuff like this that makes the internet generation way ahead in regards to skill in the live poker world.

It's at this very moment that I accept my fate, whether good or bad, and choose to follow the evolution of Leggo Pro's with the confidence that I am smart enough, passionate enough, and dedicated enough (and god darnit people like me...lol) to follow the path(s) they lay out for us as members. Look forward to the day's of HSNL, whenever I do get there.

[cntgetmedown]

Just finished reading, I think it's definetly amongst the most valuable posts I have read in a forum in a while.
Thanks for the contribution comanchie.

[jubalong]

After having a massive meltdown tilt over 3 days I watched through the Tilt series and spent a little time thinking about those issues. Self-excluded myself a week from stars one week to get my head back on the right place. Here are some concepts I have found to be very useful for me. I haven't read this whole thread so excuse me if I take credit for something already mentioned. I play NL25 on stars, but was a winning NL50 reg earlier fwiw.


1. Have a positive mental attitude towards all your opponents and the plays that they make.

I realized that some of the source of my tilt was due to mentally berating my opponents. I didnt neccessarily do it in the chat, but I was thinking bad thoughts directed to one or more of my opponents. I think these negative thoughts linked up to other human beings,,, sparks something in the brain that really makes a terrible match with the ability of playing your A-game.

2. Be thankful for any easy decision

I also often used to be angry and moving towards tilt when all I really was faced with was alot of easy decisions hand after hand after hand.

Example On NL25 you had to fold a set of aces when a guy check-raised all-in when a third diamond came on the river. The hand before you had to fold JJ for a 4bet shove for 30$ preflop. You raise it up with 22 in CO and BTN flats before a player with a 15$-stack 3bets to 3$. This would often be like a boiling point for me. Thinking damn; now I don't have setmining odds and I will not have the oppertunity to catch that wonderful deuce on the flop and stack this motherfucker (which you should not be thinking, hence point 1. ) and win back the money I lost the two earlier hands

Just hit the fold button and be thankful for the easy decision and think about all the bad players that would either setmine or push all-in, both massive -EV options. Think about how a bad player would pay off the flush, probably stack off with JJ about 65% of the time and now would probably push it all-in with deuces because he just couldnt take it anymore. All that money will eventually gravitate towards you since you know how to minimize your losses.

I realized that by thinking "oh well, just another easy decision", you also get more mental energy to focus on the hands where you have more complex decisions to do.

3. Do not check your bankroll or update and look at HEM or PT graph while playing.

Focus on playing your A-game, period. I used to have the graph showing how much I was up/down for the session on HEM and I click the refresh button very often, and I often saw that when I started to feel an hunch of tilt my graph for the session started to slowly decline instead of going up. When I play my a-game my graph is steadily increasing with the occational big pot either lost or won. When I start tilting this changes and you get a steadily decreasing graph with the occational big pot lost or won, just than when your tilting the big pots seem to come more often and they are usually lost, and the ones you win are often not as big as the ones you loose. This gives you a sense of panic, and all you want to do is to get back to the peak of your session and then end. It always end in massive spew and a 4BI up in 500 hands session can soon become a 5k hands session where you desperately trying to get even. You sit there updating the graph every 5 hand and can't understand why the graph won't stop decreasing.

The Kenny Rogers song "The Gambler" isnt really very educational, but the line: "You never count your money, while sitting at the table, there be time enough for counting, when the dealings done", is actually valid for online BRM-poker.

[onesandzeros]

"Tilt" : Temporarily Inactive Long-term Trauma