Winning Makes Me Tilt!

Following in the footsteps of ollyscope, I left the 2/5c tables behind and headed to the 10/25c tables about a week ago. I had had enough of the bet-bet-shove, bet-bet-shove mentality...I wasn't winning, and more importantly, I wasn't learning. So, down to a bankroll of $22, I stepped it up - Chris Ferguson would have had a heart attack!

I pretty much took ollyscope's advice - on the 10/25c tables don't go in on a ridiculous pre-flop bet, keep it fairly tight but bet fairly aggressively when you have the best hand. You can pretty much read what a player has on the strength of the bet (there are a few exceptions, but compared to the 2/5c tables it's much easier to predict hands).

Long story short: I'm one week into playing to 10/25c tables. Started with $22, haven't bought back in, and currently stand at a bankroll of $107. So, I've increased my bankroll over five-fold in less than seven days. Obviously, I'm a happy boy. I firmly believe that this increase in wins is because I'm playing better, reading the game better, not being afraid to fold out a decent hand. And of course, a tiny amount of luck. But I have a problem...

When I get one part of my game sorted, I discover a flaw somewhere else. My problem is perhaps slightly unusual: when I win, I start to tilt. Yep, stupid I know. Shortstackers tilt. Donks tilt. And so does Pablo_Bueno when his stack gets so large he can't see the felt from the chips. For example, last night I won a monster pot in up around the $30 mark, so I'm sitting with a stack of $43 (my usual buy in is $20). My tight play goes out the window...I'm awesome now, I'm untouchable...let's have a go on this hand that I'd never dream of playing if I wasn't up...oh, what a rubbish flop, let's try and bully this other guy off the table...oh dear, he has the best hand.

So I lost part of my stack to the guy I won big from (despite ollyscope warning me I was a POW), and then I found myself in a pot with another guy (who had felted out twice already) after hitting a set of 3s. I bet big, despite the flush being on. Ollyscope warns me not to be a POW again. I don't listen. I call the flop. He shove all in on the turn. I call. Damn, he has the flush. But wait, is that another J coming down to give me a full house! An undeserved win. I couldn't function after that and I turned the computer off. Although I won the pot, I felt dirty because I did exactly what those 2/5c players did to me. Retribution, perhaps? I don't know.

What I do know is that I need to keep my head when I start winning big.