Bloggers / Matthew Pitt / 27 May 2009 / Leave a comment

No matter how high or low a player's skill level and experience is and no matter how cool they are under pressure, all will suffer or have suffered from tilt at some point during their careers.

When a player is on tilt, they will find it extremely difficult to control their emotions and therefore will find making rational decisions an arduous task.

Many players have been in great positions to win tournaments but then suffered a bad beat, were shown a bluff in a vital pot or even had someone call the clock on them for taking too long and have gone on tilt as a result. The trigger could be a hundred and one different scenarios depending on the player's character but controlling it is possible.

If you are in a cash game and feel yourself getting hot under the collar and making loose calls and raises that are not part of your usual game, simply get up out of your seat and walk away for a few minutes. Let the cat out, make yourself a hot drink or go to the toilet, anything that will give you chance to calm down and put things into perspective.

If you are in a tournament or SNG and cannot really leave your seat then you should just stick to playing premium hands for several orbits or until all your negative feelings have exited your system. If you are heads up then you simply cannot do this or you will be blinded away, in this scenario it is best to take an extra few moments to make your decisions, whether it be call, fold or raise so that you are more likely to go through your normal thought process.

Finally, try to realise that nobody is luckier than another and that poker is not rigged towards anyone, it is simply governed by mathematics. Understand that getting your money in as an 80/20 favourite will actually result in you losing one time in five but also that when you get your money is as a huge underdog you will also suck out on your opponent at the same rate. It is easy to remember the times when we have been outdrawn but we tend to forget the times we hit our miracle cards to come from behind!

The very best players in world all go on tilt at some point, it is almost impossible not to if you love to win and hate to lose but the one thing that separates the elite from the very good players is their ability to keep their tilt under control.

Related Entries

Tilt Control
Multi-Tilting™
Prone to MASSIVE tilt......worse than me!

Download Betfair Poker