One of the most important (and hardest) things you need to know when playing poker, is when to stop. Leaving the table while you are ahead is never easy, but it’s a skill every winner must have – Quitting while you are losing is even harder.
You know what it’s like when you are ‘On Tilt’, your judgment can be all over the place – you bet more, lose more, wake up next day with a hangover and a seriously big hole in your bank account. I had a look around at some of the steps online Poker Rooms make to keep you out of the red and we’ll be featuring these in the coming weeks.
To kick off with here is a piece of software that could help you lose less, play better and keep focused (it could also save your marriage). The software is called Tiltbreaker and I spoke to the makers to find out some more.
Who is the Tiltbreaker aimed at?
The target market for Tilt Breaker is anyone who has lost more money than they should have from playing on tilt and anyone who has problems practicing proper bankroll management. But past that, Tilt Breaker is great for any player who wants to regulate their sessions so that they only play within their optimal playing conditions. You can set Tilt Breaker to provide automated breaks for the following values :
* Stop Loss $
* Stop Win $
* Stop Loss BB
* Stop Win BB
* Stop Time Played
* Stop Hands Played
plus some more values on the way. Tilt Breaker also allows you to limit the max stake you can play for each gametype; e.g. you can set your max BB to $4 for NLHE, and then set a $2 max BB for PLO. It truly is effortless Bankroll Management.
What is the basic principle? Does it mean I cant put money in my poker account?
We want Tilt Breaker to replace your self discipline with a flawless uncompromising discipline. Tilt Breaker will become your Bankroll’s bodyguard. A Tilt Breaker Break will remove you from active cash tables, while leaving your tournaments uninterrupted, so that you can clear your head, analyze your play, and then sit back in with a better strategy and mindset.
At the same time, Tilt Breaker will then prevent all buy-in and registering functions to prevent you from playing before your break is over. These lockdown times are fully customizable to be as long or as short as you want them to be. Some people take as short as 5 minute breaks, while others take hours.
Can I overwrite it or set up limits etc?
Once Tilt Breaker is in a lock-down we have put measures in place to keep you from bypassing it. You can’t close it with Task Manager or uninstall it, and rebooting does nothing. Once your custom lockdown period is over you have full access to everything again. Outside of lockdown, you can uninstall TB in seconds if you wish.
Does it work on all poker rooms and a Mac and a PC?
Tilt Breaker currently works on PokerStars, Full Tilt, Ultimate Bet, and Absolute Poker for the PC. We have plans to add iPoker and Party Poker in early 2011.
What is the longest you would recommend playing online for in one session?
I like to play in spurts of 2-3 hours. I think that is my optimal focusing time before I need to take a break and analyze how I just played. I only play longer than that if I have a big fish on the hook, in which case I just play until he stops bleeding. Unless of course the fish goes into god mode, then I usually have to hit the Tilt Breaker Raqe Quit button to get me off the tables.
Are there any other tips you have to keep focused while playing?
You can read our How to Avoid Tilt article for a comprehensive list on what not to do.
For more info and a 15day free trial check out their website www.tiltbreaker.com.
Flush the Fashion Poker Nights
Our first game is on FullTiltPoker.com on Tuesday February 1st at 9PM GMT.
The Tournament is totally free to enter but there are only seats for 100 players. We have added $50 to the prize money so no-one is going to become a millionaire (but you won’t lose anything either). If you’re up for a friendly game and don’t know who the fish is either, give us your details and we’ll make sure you get the password first.
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