The Goodies

So here is my graph to date. I've played about 20,000 hands this year. While my stats are going to be slightly off (because I've just started to use this program) for the most part they should be relatively accurate. You can see the giant downswing there in hands ~4800-6600. Yeah, thats what they call tilt. From wikipedia: "Tilt is a poker term for a state of mental confusion or frustration in which a player adopts a less than optimal strategy, usually resulting in the player becoming over-aggressive." That pretty much sums it up. What causes tilt? For me, it is outplaying opponents in huge pots and having them crushed, only for them to draw out on me. (Get lucky and catch one of the few cards that can beat me) Obviously this is part of the game of poker, and as evidenced by my graph, I think I have corrected my minor tilt issues. But just as important in avoiding huge downswings is playing within your limits. If I take a couple bad beats (getting your money in good and losing anyway due to getting drawed out on) while I am playing OUTSIDE my limits, then I'm also prone to huge downswings. That is why tilt and playing the proper limits go hand in hand. I personally believe BR management is one of the biggest, if not the biggest part of winning poker.