Tilt Breaker Interview with PokerSoftware.com

Brand new to the Recommended Program here at PokerSoftware.com is Tilt Breaker, which provides a one-stop method to prevent tilt at the tables and preserve your bankroll. At $49, it’s a steal and includes a special Smart Lock function that differentiates between tournaments and cash games. PokerSoftware.com caught up with Tilt Breaker developer Adam Baldwin to get the inside scoop about this groundbreaking new program.

PokerSoftware.com: Tell us about the background to the development of Tilt Breaker. How did it originate?

Adam Baldwin: Tilt Breaker originated from my own tilt habits. I would get so angry from the injustice of the game and of how "unlucky" I thought I was. During one session in particular, I wanted to just slam something and at the same time have it quit my session. Tilt Breaker has evolved a lot from that simple idea, but that was the basis of the original concept: hit something hard when you are angry and then have that object make you take a break because you are clearly tilted.

PokerSoftware.com: What is Tilt Breaker? How can online poker players benefit from it?

Adam Baldwin: Tilt Breaker is a tilt control, automated stop-loss, and bankroll management software. In order to be a winning player in the long-run, you need to have skill, a solid work ethic, and self discipline to practice tilt control and proper bankroll management. There are all kinds of programs out there that focus on the first two. However, there is nothing out there for the third part of the equation: self-discipline. That is what Tilt Breaker is trying to accomplish: removing the self-discipline factor from the equation.

We want to become your personal self-discipline, a bankroll bodyguard, an uncompromising angel on your shoulder that tells you, “Hey, you know you play like s@%t when you are down four buy-ins, so chill out and take a break" or "Hey, you definitely are not rolled for the Phil Ivey death match you just sat in on steamers." Tilt Breaker will be there for you every time.

It isn't necessarily only for players with tilt problems either; it's also a great way to regulate your sessions to your optimal playing conditions. There are plenty of pros that just keep playing marathon sessions and get mentally fatigued, which rapidly impacts their skill and focus. But they keep playing because they aren't technically tilted and don't have a clear head to realize what frame of mind they are in. Again, Tilt Breaker will be there for you every time.

PokerSoftware.com: Can you break down the major features of Tilt Breaker? What features are forthcoming?
 
Adam Baldwin: The current key features for Tilt Breaker are:

An Auto-Break system that will automatically engage a lockdown once a preset value is hit: for example, hitting a $ Stop Loss. A lockdown basically prevents any registering and buy-in options. It removes you from any active cash tables; active tournaments are left untouched. We currently have eight Auto-Break values that can be enabled at the same time, plus more on the way, and you can set a unique lockdown time for each Auto-Break value.

A Rage Quit button that will stay on top of all windows on your desktop. It was designed to capitalize on that brief moment of clarity through your tilt haze where you realize that you need to stop playing. Three clicks and your bankroll will be safe.

A Smart Lockdown system that identifies cash and tournament tables and treats them separately. A Delay Timer comes up to allow active hands to finish, “Sit Out Next Hand” is checked on all cash tables, and once it expires, all cash tables are closed. Tournaments are never interrupted.

Cashier Blocking option for the habitual cashier checkers

A Session Information Tool that displays your real-time stats for each Auto-Break Value when you hover your mouse over the Tilt Breaker icon in the System Tray.

Features in development are:

A Bankroll Manager feature that will let you customize the maximum stake level you can play for any specific game type. So, let's say your bread and butter is No Limit Hold'em, but you are also trying to learn Pot Limit Omaha. You can set a rule that you cannot play above a $1 big blind in PLO, but you’re still free to play any NLHE stake, or you can set a rule for both.

We are going to add options so you can customize the lockdown for each Auto-Break value. For example, you can have Tilt Breaker check “Sit Out Next Big Blind” instead of “Sit Out Next Hand” or set it to not remove you from your cash tables for Auto-Break values like Stop Hands Played and Stop Time Played.

Tournament Support and Additional Sites - We currently only support cash games on PokerStars, Full Tilt, Absolute Poker, and UB.com. We plan to add tournament support for our current sites and then expand to other sites, however that could reverse.

PokerSoftware.com: What success stories have you received from customers?

Adam Baldwin: We have only been out publicly for a few days, but we have received some great testimonials from our beta testers. Most users have said that Tilt Breaker paid for itself almost immediately and some of the high-stakes players reported that it has saved them thousands of dollars already. We got an A+ in our first review, which referred to Tilt Breaker as “Table Ninja for your mindset and bankroll,” and we are now on the prestigious PokerSoftware.com Recommended Software list. A pretty good start!

PokerSoftware.com: Talk about the importance of players having bankroll software.
 
Adam Baldwin: To take a great quote from mental game coach Jared Tendler, "Tilt is only a problem because our brain is designed to shut down the higher brain functions that control logical thinking, decision making, planning, organization, etc. when anger rises too high. Also known as the fight or flight response, when you’re no longer able to think clearly, you play poorly. It’s as simple as that.”

There are going to be plenty of times in your poker journey when you are tilted, fatigued, or emotionally unstable from something that happened in life, and you are going to make bad decisions at the table. In these small windows of time where bad decisions are made, you can blow months or even years of hard work. Entire bankrolls can be gone in the click of a button. Your bankroll is the lifeblood of your poker career, so you need to have something in place to protect it when you can't.
 
PokerSoftware.com: Do you use Tilt Breaker yourself?

Adam Baldwin: I use the Rage Quit button all the time in heads-up sit and gos to keep me from tilt-accepting a rematch when I know I shouldn't. I also use Auto-Break's Stop Loss $ to keep me from devastating my bankroll in PLO. It's a huge help. Tilt Breaker's Auto-Breaks give me time to get away from the tables, reset my mind, evaluate my play, pick out mistakes I made, and then sit back in an hour later with a better strategy.

PokerSoftware.com: Can you share your own poker story?

Adam Baldwin: I guess you could put me in the serious amateur category, although I would like to become more of a semi-pro eventually when I have more time. I started like most, playing in high school and college home games and then eventually moving online. I have solid stats, but I decided I didn't want to pursue poker as a career. My college roommate, Justin "Jockin Jz" Zaki, actually plays professionally. He final tabled a WSOP event this year and played in November Niner John Racener's mock final table simulation, so I am living vicariously through him at the moment.