Tilting is when you let your emotions take over in poker. You start making decisions
based on your feelings instead of fact (your observations and knowledge).
Tilt clouds
your judgement, and it’s one of the most dangerous things a player can experience.
This
is because you’ll make a bad decision based on your emotions, likely resulting in a
negative outcome, which will only make you tilt further and play even worse.
It can
quickly become a dangerous rabbit hole without an easy way out, so you should try to
avoid it.
Don’t Worry, Everybody Tilts
As dangerous as tilt may be, there is no simple
recipe you can follow to avoid it completely.
Everybody tilts.
Even the best players in
the game you may have seen on TV playing in ridiculously high stakes cash games are
subject to tilting.
One thing that separates top players from the rest is the ability
to concentrate on making decisions, rather than short-term outcomes.
If you focus on
your short term results, it doesn’t matter how good you are, you will be tilting a lot.
In fact, the better you play, the more likely you are to tilt when things don’t go your
way.
This sensation is caused primarily by a sense of injustice. You did everything
right and still lost the pot or busted the tournament. How can you not feel bad about
it?
By understanding the harsh reality of the game, you can make things much easier for
you.
What is a bad beat? If you had AA against 22 and lost a preflop all-in, is it just
very unlucky?
In reality, your opponent had around an 18% chance to win, and that is
going to happen almost 1 out of 5 times.
In the long run, you’re still going to win 82%
of the time, so getting mad because now was your time to lose is ridiculous, to say the
least.
Of course, this is just one example, and many different things can trigger
tilting for you.
But if you concentrate only on making the best possible decision with
all available information and leave short term results aside, you’ll avoid a big part
of negative emotions.
While you probably won’t be able to avoid tilting in all of its
forms, it’s what you do when this happens and how you handle your tilt that makes the
difference.
Understanding Your Tilt Triggers
The above example is just one of many
causes of tilt at a poker table. Not everyone gets triggered by the same things.
Some
of the most common tilt triggers are:
Bad beats
Coolers
Table banter
The overall
atmosphere in a room
Your own mistakes
Playing when tired
These and other factors can
trigger negative emotions, which can and will influence your play if you don’t keep
them in check.
Depending on your personality type, you might get annoyed more easily
than some other players.
While this isn’t the best trait to have if you want to make
money in poker, it’s not the end of the world, either, as long as you understand the
problem and approach it the right way.
Consciously Decide To Not Let Your Emotions
Control You
While some of the tilt triggers vary from one person to another, most
players are prone to tilt after an ugly bad beat or series of coolers.
Basically, an
extended run of bad luck can put many players off of their A-game, even if they have
good technical knowledge.
As I’ve already explained, this is just being human.
It’s
only human to tilt in poker. You just need to learn how to recognize you’re tilting and
then regain your composure.
In a scenario where you did nothing wrong and still lost,
simply due to another player getting very lucky, it’s normal to get upset.
But you need
to learn how to recognize it and consciously choose to not let your emotions control
you. Focus on your decisions instead of results.
The thing is, bad beats will happen
time and time again for as long as you play poker. It’s just how variance works.
You
can’t afford to stay focused on the results of past hands as if these are somehow
indicators of what will happen in the future.
If your pocket aces got cracked three
times in a row, you shouldn’t play them any differently the next time you get them
(provided you didn’t make any mistakes the previous three times).
Of course, this is
easier said than done. Once that sinking feeling starts creeping in that no matter what
you do, you’ll lose, it’s tough.
The hardest part is recognizing and admitting that
you’re on tilt.
If things aren’t going your way and variance is smacking you in the
face, you should be extra careful and take time with your decisions.
Once you find
yourself on a losing side of things, you might start throwing good money after bad,
playing hands you’d never play, either chasing your losses or adopting the “it doesn’t
matter what I do anyway” mentality.
The moment you notice this happening, it’s time to
act.
Most people struggle to regain their composure at the table, so take a short
break. Go for a brief walk, grab a snack, meditate for five minutes, or do whatever it
is that can help calm you down.
And if you come back and still can’t play without
emotions getting in the way, call it a night if it’s a cash game. You’ll be much better
off coming back fresh another time.
Don’t Be Too Harsh On Yourself
Let’s get one thing
out of the way right at the start – you’ll never play perfect poker. No one plays
perfect poker and everybody makes mistakes.
You’ll make mistakes and they will cost you
money.
However, dwelling on these mistakes while you’re still playing can be very
dangerous and lead to a completely different type of tilt.
If you make a mistake that
causes you to lose a significant pot, that’s that. That opportunity is gone, that pot
is lost, and the best you can do is focus on the next hand and try to play it the best
you can.
However, it’s not uncommon to get into a frame of mind where you’re stuck on
that one mistake, and all your future actions are somehow dictated by it.
I screwed up
already, so what does it matter?
But it does matter, of course.
You lost one hand, but
there are many, many more ahead.
As long as you have chips in front of you, you have a
chance to turn things around. Even if you’re in a tournament left with just five big
blinds, make the best possible decisions you have with those few chips.
There were
plenty of times I recovered and even won tournaments after only having a couple of big
blinds, and that’s not as rare as you probably think. I
f you concentrate only on
making the best possible decisions, you’ll surprise yourself with the results.
One tip
is to make a note of any hand you think you played badly and mentally file it for later
revision. So, you’re not really “forgiving” yourself, but you’re not letting it affect
your play, either.
Once you’re back home and ready for it, you can go through any
questionable hands and see what you could have done differently.
Once you adopt this
strategy, it will be much easier to move on from poorly played hands and avoid
compounding your losses by making more bad decisions just because of that one that got
away.
Physical Readiness Is Key For Tilt Management
Poker may not seem like a
particularly hard activity in a physical sense, but you can’t separate your mental and
physical readiness.
When it comes to tilting, playing rested, well-fed, and leaving
your other problems aside for the duration of the sessions is very important.
You’ll
become much more susceptible to tilt if you’re playing when tired or have a million
things on your mind.
Take Care Of Yourself
Taking good care of yourself is probably one
of the most basic but essential things you need to do to be a successful poker
player.
It’s much easier to deal with bad beats when you’re playing a session after a
good night’s sleep than trying to power through it, having slept only for a few
hours.
I have tried the latter approach many times over my poker career and can confirm
that there is a vast difference between these options.
The same could be said about
food. If you’re hungry, it will be much easier to get annoyed, even at things that
wouldn’t usually bother you. So, tilt prevention starts long before you sit down to
play.
I’m not going to try and give you an exact plan of what you should be eating to
improve your efficiency, but following a balanced diet and avoiding overly salty and
sweet stuff can take you a long way.
There are many great guides out there that can
help with that.
It’s also worth mentioning that you definitely want to eat before you
start playing, especially if you’re planning for a long session. Either that or have a
dinner scheduled at some point and make sure not to skip it.
Leave Your Problems At The
Door
Whatever problems or issues you’re dealing with need to be put on hold until
you’re done playing.
You won’t be able to sort them out at the table, and they’ll still
be there when you’re done, so focus on playing your best poker.
I know it’s easier said
than done but if you want to play seriously, you need to learn how to do it.
One thing
that helped me the most was devoting some time to prepare before every session you sit
down to play.
It can be as little as 5-10 minutes to review some hands, read strategy
articles, or discuss poker theory with a friend to warm up your brains and get into the
state of playing poker.
It really helped me leave other issues behind, and hopefully,
it can do the same for you.
On top of that, when you get used to doing a warm-up,
you’ll be able to recognize your emotions and notice when you shouldn’t be playing at
all.
Skipping a session when you’re feeling bad could be the best decision you can
make.
Don’t Fall Victim To The Winner’s Tilt
Not all forms of tilting are caused by
negative emotions.
You can go on what’s known as “winner’s tilt” just because you are
feeling too good, as ridiculous as it sounds.
Winner’s Tilt it can be just as dangerous
as tilting when things go wrong, if not more so, because you’re even less likely to
notice it on time.
You’ve probably experienced the feeling when you seem to soul-read
your opponents and drag one pot after another your way.
While it’s a great feeling, it
can quickly lead to playing sub-optimally because of the irrational belief that you can
take everyone down.
The problem is, you never know when your “good run” will end, and
if you start deviating from a solid strategy by playing too many hands, your session is
very likely to end in a disaster.
The second problem that many players face in this
situation is chasing too many draws.
You could lose everything you’ve been accumulating
the whole night in a single hand, chasing your flush draw against the odds in the huge
pot, simply because you feel it’s your night.
Accept That Tilt Happens
Tilt is a part
of poker, just like bluffing, bad beats and everything else, so you need to accept the
reality of the game if you want to succeed.
You shouldn’t feel bad when occasionally
experiencing tilting at the tables because everyone does it, and it doesn’t have to be
a big problem if you’re aware of it and tackle it correctly.
While you’ll probably
never become a tilt-free machine that plays the best poker all the time, you can
minimize the impact tilt has on your results, which is the goal you should be striving
towards.
Now you’re aware of what tilt is in poker, head to our list of the best online
poker sites to put these tips into practice.
