Is this a form of tilt?

[Chipless Wonder]

I really can't think of any other explanation for my play here...

Down to seven players at our table. The blinds are 400/800 and I have 14,600 chips. It's folded around to me in late position. I raise to 2,400 with . As I look at George in the big blind I get the feeling that he is going to push all-in with any two cards. It folds to him, he stares at his cards for about fifteen seconds, then pushes all-in.

This would be an easy fold against any other player in the tournament. But the more I sit there the more I convince myself that he was planning to make this move before he ever looked at his cards. I decided to try and get some information from him and he got up and walked away from the table. This helped to convince me he definitely didn't want a call.

It's 9,200 more chips to me so I'll be left with less than four big blinds if I call and I'm wrong. Clearly no poker player in his right mind would call George down here with only queen high. But guess what I did?

The bigger question is WHY? What spell do players like George have over me that they can induce me to play so poorly? And how can I overcome this weakness in my game?

[CW Buckeye]

The way I see it is this:

You view George as one of the best players around. Outplaying George is what you strive for when you two are at a table together. The problem is that his game is different than your game, so when you try to outplay him, you are going away from your game.

George excels at the 'i know, that they know, that I know, so I'll do X' game. You wanted to catch George with his hand in the cookie jar so bad that you didn't think about what he could have, or even what you wanted him to have. The best case you could have hoped for was to be a favorite with two overcards. That's not even that great of a favorite.

I guess it could be a form of tilt. George tilt. He does it to a lot of people. His game is making other people make mistakes. He made you make one by being in your head, because to put it bluntly, only a donkey would make that call, and we all know you aren't a donkey. You just wanted the satisfaction of having George turn over J6 off, even though you would only be a 65% favorite. Think about it, that was the BEST you could hope for.

My advice when playing with George is to play to your strengths, not his. When you do, you are one of the top players around.

[DevilFish73]

I agree w/ EVERYTHING Chad said above... I would just add that you had to have been on tilt to make this play... I can't even think of a hand other than say j10 or q9 vs. your q10 that you would be happy about... Scott you need to put this in your memory bank as one of the worse decisions you have ever made (we all make them from time to time... some more than others)... You have been on top of your game for sometime now, but you make one of these "hero calls" (TERRIBLE PLAY FOR ALL OR MOST OF YOUR CHIPS) every once in a while that eats you alive...

[Goldnutz69]

Keep your eye's on da prize is a great saying for this subject. Always remember its not about out playing people, its about winning the tourney. I mean what good does it do to out play one person, just to be the next one out. Always make the best play for a given situation. You said it yourself, you would never call anyone else in this spot with Q high. So why call George in this spot. What do you gain from this call? Most people have no "poker memory" , and play hand to hand, So even if your right by calling, and he has J10 or something it's not like anyone will care tomorrow. George will play no different than he always does and nothing will change. Except for the fact that he will realize that your willing to put your chips in against him with a weak hand, and he will exploit that. Another thing to think about is, How easy is it to beat someone who is always looking to out play people. These are the easiest players to set up for big pots. Thats why we confront so much at the table when we play together. I know your going to try to push me off some hands, and that you are going to make some big calls. Once again very exploitable. I would never say that attacking weakness at the table is bad, as long as your attacking. But calling all-in with Q10 is not very much of an attack. I think the best way to avoid these spots , is just to not make up your mind about a play before someone else acts. I make this mistake a lot myself,and it almost always put me to the rail.