Tilting from Slow Roll

Slowrolls suck and its a dick move. But getting you on tilt is the entire point. Anger is the emotion where you lack control, and losing control at the poker table is a dangerous thing and often costly.

I wouldn't do intentionally until the other player as an absolute asshat to the table and me. But if some guy is clearly tilting at my table...awesome for me. No offense. It means you are probably going to make many costly mistakes and I'm there to make money.

Once you get good enough to make profitable plays in poker and stay out of the red, I think the biggest focus in poker is just that...focus. Eating well, sleeping well, working out, doing whatever you have to do to mentally prepare for making the best decisions you can. If I spot someone in the opposite state, super tilted, its the same as spotting a drunk fish in terms of play poker. I just hope to catch something before the ATM closes.

Keep working on your mental game. Its a giant leak. I'm not even the close to my best just at poker right now and I am constantly working on my mental game.

Good luck

For the most part I hardly ever go on tilt. Like I mentioned early in my post, controlling tilt is something I've worked on & feel I've been successful at. A few weeks ago my 1st two hands would've put some on tilt (1st hand KK, lose to JJ when rivered a J & 2nd hand 77 flop a 7 vs. KK with rivered K), stayed the course, played well & logged in a profit that night. I don't mind losing, it happens.

I agree tilt can be very costly, I wholehearted agree that when I see someone tilting bad & attack them.

I control anger very well, just not at the poker table, but in life in general. I have a F-it attitude & don't get upset by things I can't control. This instance was a rare occasion.

Maturity is hard sometimes, even for old guys.
Some things just don’t happen, you have to work on them. I think it’s entitlement, but it can be hard to lose to bad players when you work so hard on your game.

The answer is to ‘just play the game’

There’s a strange guy, good player that sits in my game too often. I don’t like him very much. He’s irritating still, but doesn’t bother me anymore. I know his game and for me:

Just play the game!

You must evolve until nothing bothers you when playing poker. Always, always, always going to be a lot of distractions. Many people are not nice playing poker.

Just play the game!

Read some Tommy Angelo
Read some Jason Su
Take a walk if something makes you mad.
Your outburst was/is not helpful

Just play the game!

I look for the good
Maybe this nutcase poker player has a hard life and is blowing off steam. Maybe he’s had a bad day, or maybe he’s just an ******* like the guy in my game.

Just play the game!

I’m trying to be helpful, because I know you. I have been you. I have always had a terrible temper, but never out of control. I usually get quiet when I get mad. I don’t get verbal and you shouldn’t either.

I have conquered these emotions and you can too. But ‘you’ have to do it.
Nobody cares, do better!

Just play the game!

Learn to control yourself, it’s a superpower
When you get past this stage, nothing can stop you! You Got This!

Everyone one hates a slow roller.

just feel like it's incredibly bad poker etiquette

Sometimes mentally reframing the situation can help. If a fish slow rolls me, I tell myself they're paying for that privilege. In the long run they're paying you to be there. So if that's how they get their shits and giggles, more power to them. Keep collecting EV.

Especially as a professional poker player part of your job is to graciously accept these situations. For example I know a recreational player who used to love to tell a story about the time he bluffed Phil Helmuth and showed the bluff. That one hand and the story made it worth it for him to sit in a high stakes game and (probably) lose whatever amount to a big name pro.

Slow rolling is bad etiquette, but especially if a fish does it I just laugh it off and say, "You got me."

The fact that you recognize slow rolls as a tilt trigger is already a big step. The thing that helped me was reframing it - a slow roll is the other player telling you they have zero emotional control at the table. Thats information you can exploit. Every time someone slow rolls you, they just told you they make decisions based on ego not strategy. File that away and use it against them.

This is a natural byproduct of the environment that poker is. There will always be a dirty player. Or one who is a disrespectful *******, or all of the above. You also have been agitated by his rude slow roll to the point of being as rude as possible back towards this player as if his background is relevant which just degrades yourself. This is a fine reason to accept that participating in live poker is harmful in many ways to all and to remove your emotions when you do choose to play.

I once got viciously slowrolled (guy tanked nearly 5 minutes on the river vs my Jam HU, and then finally called and showed the nuts. He even immediately defended his slowroll verbally, when I didn't say anything about it.

Ever since that moment whenever someone tanks on the river, or doesn't show right away, I *expect* to get slowrolled. Which is an emotional hedge and I'm no longer surprised, but laugh internally at how pathetic/rude they are.