Dealing with losing a big hand

[OnTheCards]

I play mostly MTT. Sometimes when i play I get a really good start to things and find myself in the top 10% of players. Whenever I lose quite a large portion of my stack e.g. 6000 ----> 3000 in one hand I tend to play more reckless and take more chances. Even though, after I have the chunk taken out of my stack and I'm still at average chips, I tend to go on a 'minor' tilt and start playing hands for the sake of it to try and recoup.

Do any of you more expereinced players find that when you lose a large % of your stack you go a little crazy and take more chances and if so how do you deal with losing a big hand. Because I'm finding that a little difficult...

[Flea]

I'm not experienced (although I do know Tilt!!) but dealing with the above depends on how you've lost the chunk off your stack, if you did the right thing and got unlucky or ran into a cooler then why tilt!! - it's a) not worth it and b) have pride in having done nothing wrong.

If on the other hand you've just donked off half your stack then it's ok to tilt as long as you are only tilting because you're angry with yourself.

Other than that just chill and enjoy the ride - chip and a chair and all that, play decent poker and poker gods willing you'll easily recover your relative chip position.

[TheChipPrince]

Coping with tilt, or keeping it to a minimum is amassive part of being a success at poker, there is no hard or fast rule...

Some players never learn to cope with it, some embrace it and cope with it 'ok', but generally 'good' or winning players are the ones that tilt the least...

[Horneris]

We are getting one of these for the flat.

[ChipRich]

We are getting one of these for the flat.

haha, whys it named ChipRich?lol

It'l be sweet in our flat imo

[MANTIS01]

Posted by: OnTheCards

I play mostly MTT. Sometimes when i play I get a really good start to things and find myself in the top 10% of players. Whenever I lose quite a large portion of my stack e.g. 6000 ----> 3000 in one hand I tend to play more reckless and take more chances. Even though, after I have the chunk taken out of my stack and I'm still at average chips, I tend to go on a 'minor' tilt and start playing hands for the sake of it to try and recoup.

As you become a good tournament player you will acquire the ability to make good decisions based entirely on the facts of the situation and not the associated emotions of what's happened in the past. You must become unemotional. When you win big pots don't care so much. Then when you lose big pots you wont care so much. You are there to do a job and can enjoy it later when you have banked your $$. Winning chips is just a means to an end.

I must say though that reckless play and taking more chances shouldn't be likened here. They are completely different things. If you have lost a lot of chips it is likely that your situation will now dictate that you must take more chances. You will be much more inclined to flip now than a moment ago. This is not reckless, it is necessary.

[AlexMartin]

Whenever that happens (lose 60%+ of stack early), unless its a comp i really care about, im deffo gambling to get back in the game. Your equity just hit the fan and there are better uses of your time (other comps, cash games) imo, to warrant playing a shortstack well for a while. Deeper in a comp obv im much more comfy with a shortstack (thanks Mr. Ward).   

[anthonyl]

I guess you should walk away, or load up a 1usd sng n lose your tilt on that somehow

[TheWhisper]

It is hard to not want those chips back, you yearn for where you were even though you still have a decent average stack and have plenty of time to recoup.

[MANTIS01]

It is hard to not want those chips back, you yearn for where you were even though you still have a decent average stack and have plenty of time to recoup.

And that's one of the edges you need for good tournament poker. Yearning for those chips back can't possibly have any helpful influence on current decisions. It's more likely that those feelings will cause you to make poor decisions if anything. But it's only natural for people to feel like that. So your edge comes from not feeling like that.

[Grier78]

If your new stack is less than 10BB then theres not too much wrong with gambling a little, other players will be more willing to call you with a wider range cos they think you are tilting, so don't just stick it in with total junk.

If you are still adequately stacked after the beat sit out for a couple of hands, take some deep breathes and go back to building your stack hand by hand, chip by chip.

If you donkeyed the hand then now is the time to get your arse into gear and play well. If it was a bad beat then acknowledge that you played the hand right and be happy that you had built up a stack capable of taking a hit without knocking you out of the game.

This situation will happen all the time so you need to be able to deal with it if you want to be successful in the long run.

[Matt50]

This is something i am suffering with at the moment.  A couple of months ago i was running well, now my higher pair keeps losing to a set, my AK never hits and my small pair always loses to 2 overcards.

It frustrates the hell out of me, and when it is deep in a tournament, often late at night so i am starting to feel tired it is difficult not to think 'oh f**k it' and hope to get lucky.

I tell myself before each session not to let bad beats get to me, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt, but i do feel that i am starting to cope with it better and that should produce better results in the long run.

[david3103]

^^^^^^^^^

what he said, plus my AK always loses out to A rag, my QQ always sees a flop full of As and , and my flopped straight always gets called by someone with 2 pair who makes a FH

also, why is it that whenever I correctly read my opps shove as being speculative (OE straight or flush draw) and call with my TPTK or better, I lose?

[ZZZZZZZROPE]

^^^^^^^^^

what he said, plus my AK always loses out to A rag, my QQ always sees a flop full of As and , and my flopped straight always gets called by someone with 2 pair who makes a FH

also, why is it that whenever I correctly read my opps shove as being speculative (OE straight or flush draw) and call with my TPTK or better, I lose?

because its a c*nt of a game sometimes!

[Hairydude]

^^^^^^^^^

what he said, plus my AK always loses out to A rag, my QQ always sees a flop full of As and , and my flopped straight always gets called by someone with 2 pair who makes a FH

also, why is it that whenever I correctly read my opps shove as being speculative (OE straight or flush draw) and call with my TPTK or better, I lose?

because its a c*nt of a game sometimes!

  no better way to put it lol