[Dogpile]

no mention of 'tilt' yet so I will enter it into the conversation...

tilt is when you begin to play/trade worse because you have suffered some losses. frustration is the cause. tilt is a MAJOR factor in poker. if you control your 'tilt' -- you have a much better chance.

in poker, it is widely accepted that absolutely everyone goes on tilt to some degree. don't think for a second that you are different -- it is human nature. the key is to try to recognize the conditions for when this happens and try to remove yourself from this situation.

the other day I suffered a brutal stop-out -- to the tick before the market went very strongly in my favor. this was kind of like losing a big pot for most of your stack and then only have enough money for an ante while you go on to make quads vs somebodys full-house (in poker, the biggest pots are when one person makes a really big hand but someone else makes a slightly bigger hand -- as opposed to making quads when nobody else has anything).

I found while playing online poker -- if you suffer a string of bad luck or you make some very bad decisions and you feel the frustration coming on -- it is often just best to shut your computer down and take a break. realize that your head isn't right and you should be patient and wait for it to be right again. shutting down the computer forces you to stop. so much of trading/poker is psychological. so I have adopted this to trading -- after a brutal stop out or just a bad trade -- I will shut my Tradestation down for a bit and take a break. get some air, get some water, take a shower etc... I find this prevents a revenge trade from happening.

controlling TILT in trading is extremely important, just like it is in poker. I just find that you must figure out a way to accept the fact that everyone goes on tilt --- and then to try to adopt some methods to limit the damage from this crucial factor.