Most of your poker sessions will start near or at the A level. Being in top form means this:
1) that you are fully conscious and actively using your rational analysis;
2) can fully (at least for now) withstand a tilt;
3) being able to stop playing at the right time.
The last two points are related to the first, so let's look at the bigger picture. First of all, what do I mean when I say that you use consciousness? Remember the difference between the conscious and the subconscious, which we have discussed in previous articles. Conscious thought processes are discursive (prone to deviation), experienced in the presence of language, and are also slow. They also correlate strongly with the analysis of poker theory.
However, it would be wrong to say that when you play at A level you only use your consciousness. Even when you are playing at maximum capacity, you are always "employing" your subconscious in most of your actions. Your conscious mind is simply too slow and too busy to process all the hands you encounter. ( And to be honest, the process would probably be excruciatingly boring - imagine having to explain every c-bet or raise preflop to someone.)
When your conscious mind is sharp and fully focused, it usually does three things: first, it processes the background of the game, such as game flow, scans and the psychology of your opponents; second, it is "on standby" in case a hand suddenly needs direct analysis; and third, it monitors your state of mind and the game itself. There are a few rare exceptions that would cause the consciousness to join the game. When you are playing an A-level game, your conscious mind is skilfully supporting this juggling act.
But what happens when you start playing at B or C level? Consciousness is certainly not simply thrown away at this stage. It's still there, it's just more tired, not as sharp and doing less work - it's juggling three balls instead of four, perhaps. Maybe it doesn't make scans to monitor the flow of the game, or it doesn't read the psychological profile of the players as often, maybe it stops checking your state of mind and allows you to play a longer session even though you are tired. Or maybe the hand threshold that would stop you from continuing to play has gone up. Of course, it's not that the conscious mind doesn't analyse any hands, when the subconscious mind doesn't know how to deal with a particular hand, it passes it on to the conscious mind no matter what, but easy or strange hands won't be double-checked as usual, and you'll be more inclined to accept the intuitive response of the subconscious. You will also find it harder to resist cognitive shifts and less likely to think about how those shifts might affect your original conscious response (which requires additional processing). And what happens when the game goes down to D level? At this point, our consciousness has probably switched off - it no longer pays attention to our state of mind, no longer models the opponent's portrait, and certainly no longer double-checks standard hands. Occasionally, when we try to pass a hand that is very large or so strange that it requires a decision, the conscious mind still gives an answer. But there is a good chance that this answer will be very biased, because the subconscious motivation will be at the edges of our discursive thinking. That motivation may be the desire for a tie, the desire to avoid risk, or the desire to be disturbed. At this stage, it is already difficult to finish the game. Usually, it is only when the subconscious mind wants to end the game, when you feel so bad that you don't want to play anymore, or when you have lost hope of getting a draw.
You have probably noticed that there is a continuous, gradual process going on at the moment. In poker, we often talk about "autopilot", but in reality, there is no autopilot, no on/off button. Your acuity of consciousness is both increasing and decreasing during the session, and this process is usually continuous. So instead of using the binary term "your game" vs. "autopilot", we should describe a session as a process of unconsciousness, as a natural loss of acuity over the course of a session.
Remember also that consciousness is the main defence against tilt. You have probably noticed long ago that most people hardly realise that they have already bridged. And this is another cognitive shift: most people believe they are more resistant to tilt than they really are. That includes us, no matter how clever or tilt-proof we think we are.
In an A-level game, you will be less affected by potential tilt events, but it will also be harder to recognise that you have reached your tilt threshold. Once you start to tilt, your subconscious mind will override your conscious mind and prevent you from realising that you are starting to tilt. In other words, the point at which your conscious mind will conclude that you are bridging is usually after a while and then the conscious mind switches off. This does not bode well for us. How can we improve our chances of recognising and avoiding a tilt during a session?
First of all, there is one useful mental belief. If you are an incorrigible tilter, sessions
At the beginning, it would be useful for you to say to yourself:" Today I can tilt and one of my challenges is to stop myself before that, I will finish playing before I tilt, I will have to meet one of my goals for the day".
How does it feel to tilt? When it happens and you don't want to stop playing, your subconscious has two choices: quit and feel bad about losing, or continue playing and possibly feel good about the draw. Don't dismiss this behaviour as illogical, but instead realise that it is simply a response to a different stimulus construct than you would like. Applying the above belief about finishing the game before the tilt, which is a worthwhile goal that makes you feel good, will make the termination of the game more attractive to yourself. You will create the possibility of feeling good even after quitting the game, which will make your subconscious mind naturally make that decision.
The second way to manage tilt is the context approach. Instead of hoping that your inner observer will catch you before the tilt, employ external safeguards to help you against the tilt. One example would be to force yourself to stop playing after a certain number of missed buyins, or after a certain tilt trigger (e.g. after missing a big flip or soul-read, or after moving up and then returning to evens). Including external mechanisms to define when to stop the game will avoid constant lag and late notice of tilt. Of course, to use this method you have to be able to obey the rules you create. Alternatively, programs such as Tiltbuster or just temporary breaks (every 3-6 hours) are also a great mechanism for self-control. A less technological and more versatile approach is simply to create strict rules: "I will stop playing immediately after a soulread" or "I have to stop playing immediately after I go down three buyins".
The context approach can be very effective, but it does not address the underlying emotional weaknesses, so it is best to use a cocktail of these approaches, both in poker and in life.
By Haseeb Qureshi
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