Tilt

Remember when you played pinball and you shook the machine too hard because you were starting to get upset and you didn’t want the ball to go down the hole and then that mean “TILT” light lit up and that got you even madder. Well poker is just like that.

You have a rock solid hand (Ad As) and everything is going great and you’re reeling in this fish and the board is (Ac 3s 8d Jc). When all of sudden the river comes the 4s and now if the fish has 2 5 they beat you but there is no way any player could of called all your bets and got this far with 2 5. Then they raise you and it’s exactly what they have. Your mind swims with how stupid their play was and how you are going to get even with them. Two hands later it happens again and now you are off the deep end, you are on “Tilt”.

The next hand they are in, you call and it doesn’t matter what you have because you are going to get them. You lose that one making matters worse. What can you do?

Tilt is a reaction to the situation and our bodies will secrete adrenalin and neurotransmitters that affect your thought process. Tilt can only be counteracted by experience and realizing that bad beats happen and over time things will even out. For those without experience the best remedy is to take a break. It’s better to walk away and do something else until you have regained your composure than to play with your body in overdrive.

Once you can take a bad beat and say “Well that’s poker.” and actually mean it then you are well on your way to counteracting tilt. You will still want to get those chips back and hopefully more from that player but at least you will have your wits about you. Other good players who see a players take a few bad beats will watch to see if that player self-destructs or not and try to take advantage of the situation.

So remember, there is a reason why the odds are not 100% every hand. Sometimes that 3% has to hit and you have to be able to deal with it. Don’t let tilt get to you.