Ersinhan Ersin Poker Journal

Almost every player that has been playing poker for quite some time would have experienced going on tilt. A player would go on a tilt when he is usually playing in a very different way than normal. This would normally be because of emotions or because of what might have happened just then during the game. Rather than sticking to the normal game strategy, the player may go on tilt and would start doing things that would normally not be done by him. He would start making very aggressive bets, stay in the betting for very long when he should get out and would lose his self control and discipline.

How does tilt happen?

The main reason why any player would go on tilt is because he/she suffers from a bad loss when expecting to win the pot. Tilt is also known as a bad beat. This can cause a massive emotional surge in the player which cannot be easily controlled by most people. Emotions tend to be much more powerful than logic and reasoning since they always tend to win the thought processes. In the mind, the player would see all the patient strategies that have been used to built the chip stack and all of it being blown away in just an instant.

The response of the player would be to try to recover the defeat as quickly as possible. The brain would try to win all the money lost in a short amount of time. This would only result in more losses since the player would be calling and playing bets which he would normally fold in most cases.

How to avoid tilt?

Tilt can be avoided by the player. It would require a lot of discipline and the player would have to stick to his strategies at most times. Quite a lot of players, even the professionals believe that tilt can be avoided by just taking a break for some time and collecting the thoughts. However, this would not make much of the difference. The only thing that you would have to do is to just get yourself out of the poker room for some time. If you are playing at casino, just walk away from the table. Go for a walk or get yourself a cup of coffee.

If you are playing online, hit the sit out tab and take a break from the computer. You would need to do this on an immediate basis. Do not give into the temptation to just play one more hand to see if your luck would change. Take a break for as long as it would be required. You would just have to get back in the right mind frame and use your strategy like always when you get back to the table. Try to get the emotion out of your mind and think about the situation logically. If you do this, you would be doing yourself a favor by avoiding the losses and would find it easier to avoid tilt.