How To Avoid Going On TILT

Another tid-bit I got in my e-mail, figured I would share this as well..

How To Avoid Going On TILT

When a poker player goes on "tilt", it means that
he is playing in a way that is DIFFERENT than
normal... in a way that is based on EMOTION and
the events of the game.

For example... if you got pocket Aces and lost a
big hand to someone with pocket 2's, you might go
on TILT because of that bad beat...

Or let's say you had a pair and your opponent went
all-in... and once you folded, your opponent
showed you that he was BLUFFING with a nine-high.

You might go on TILT after that... because you
were TRICKED and you blew the chance at doubling
your chips.

The point is, TILT is an EMOTIONAL state. And the
most important thing you should know about tilt is
this:

Tilt is DANGEROUS.

It's dangerous because it will cause you to lose
money... LOTS OF MONEY.

Why?

Well, put simply, tilt makes you do things that
you wouldn't "normally" do.

It makes you place over-aggressive bets... it
makes you stay in pots longer than you should...
and it ZAPS your self-control and discipline.

The good news is, I can show you how to "avoid"
tilt. But first, let's look at EXACTLY how tilt
occurs when you play...

The PRIMARY REASON that tilt occurs is because of
a MAJOR LOSS. There are other causes, but this is
the main one, so we'll focus on it here.

By "major loss" I mean a BIG POT that you COULD
have won... or even perhaps SHOULD have won... but
DIDN'T.

For some reason, poker players can always remember
the BAD BEATS and BIG LOSSES they've suffered, but
never remember the big victories.

Tilt works the same way.

You can be winning hand after hand after hand all
day... but then suddenly go on TILT following one
lost pot.

When tilt occurs, it first impacts your EMOTIONAL
mind... because like I said, tilt is just an
emotional condition.

Then it will impact your LOGICAL mind.

As much as we'd like to believe we can SEPARATE
our emotions from our thinking, we just can't. The
truth is, emotions are FAR MORE POWERFUL than
logic or reasoning...

So when tilt occurs, you'll start playing in a way
that JUST DOESN'T MAKE SENSE.

You'll try to bluff more, you'll raise more, and
you'll be more aggressive.

Why does tilt work THIS way?

Why does it make you play more AGGRESSIVELY,
rather than TIGHTEN UP?

The answer lies in what our brains are trying to
"accomplish" with tilt.

You see, in poker... and in all of gambling... the
rule is this:

GAINS COME SLOWLY. LOSSES COME QUICKLY.

It can take three hours to win a hundred dollars
but only THREE SECONDS to lose it all... and more.

Now I'm NOT talking about something like winning
the lottery here.

I'm talking about being able to CONSISTENTLY win
money by playing SMART and KEEPING THE ODDS IN
YOUR FAVOR...

That's what Texas Holdem strategy is all about:

Keeping the odds in your favor.

Because the more you play with the odds in your
FAVOR, the more money you win.

Well, when a major LOSS occurs, you lose all that
time you spent building up your GAINS... so your
brain goes on TILT.

And what your brain is TRYING TO DO is to win back
all that money you lost... fast.

In fact, your brain trying to win the money back
as QUICKLY AS YOU LOST IT.

Make sense?

It's kind of like the stock market...

When a stock goes from $100 per share to $50 per
share, it's a decrease of 50%.

But for the stock to get BACK to $100 per share,
it has to INCREASE BY 200%.

That's a big difference. And if you know ANYTHING
about the market, you know that 200% increases are
hard to come by...

The reality is it will probably take YEARS for the
stock to gradually climb back to $100 per share.

But the investor doesn't want to think about it
that way. The investor wants his money back RIGHT
NOW...

And therefore the investor will go on TILT and
make poor buying decisions with his money...
hoping to find that "miracle" stock.

Poker is the same way. Except instead of hoping
for a miracle STOCK, a player on tilt is hoping
for a miracle MONSTER HAND like trip aces or a
royal flush.

The problem is... the ODDS don't work like that.

You can't SUDDENLY win a ton of money... just
because you lost it in the previous hand.

That money is no longer yours...

In addition, a major lost pot SKEWS YOUR ENTIRE
PERCEPTION:

A pre-flop raise of 1,000 chips no longer looks
"big" after you've just lost 10,000. So you decide
to call the raise with your K-4 offsuit... because
TILT has got you by the balls.

The point is this:

You must AVOID TILT. Period.

But how?

A lot of pros will tell you that the way to avoid
tilt is to, "Think logically, take a deep breath,
and remember that it's all part of the game."

Phooey.

You and I both know that that stuff doesn't work.

Because like we said before, TILT IS EMOTIONAL.
And that means it CANNOT be solved with LOGIC.

The key to avoiding tilt is to CATCH IT right
before it happens...

So the VERY MOMENT you lose a big hand... or take
a bad beat... THAT IS WHEN YOU MUST "INTERVENE"
with your mind.

THAT is when you must take control.

And you can't just tell yourself, "Hey, this is
just a part of the game..."

No.

You must SEPARATE YOURSELF from the game... for
however long it takes to "regroup".

For instance... if I lose a big hand at a casino
I'll usually have my chips covered up and I'll
go grab a quick bite to eat. I'll get some fresh
air... call my girlfriend... go back to my hotel
room... whatever.

THEN I will come back to the table and continue
playing.

When I'm not in a casino and don't have the luxury
of being able to take a break from the game, I'll
simply "sit out" for the next few pots and pay my
blinds.

I'll fold my hands and just watch... I'll breathe
deeply and focus on MY GAME. Period.

This "separation" is the secret to avoiding tilt.

Because first of all, it keeps your emotional
brain from consuming your LOGICAL brain. Don't ask
me why... I'm not a scientist. I just know that it
WORKS.

And secondly, separation allows you to KEEP THINGS
IN PROPER PERSPECTIVE.

You'll be in control. You'll know that a pre-flop
raise of 1,000 chips IS A LOT... and you'll fold
your measly K-4 because you're thinking CLEARLY.

You'll go back to YOUR GAME. You'll remember your
strategies and techniques... and you'll gradually
start winning with the ODDS BACK IN YOUR FAVOR.

Honestly... of all the tricks, techniques, and
Texas Holdem secrets I teach, avoiding tilt can
quite possibly have the BIGGEST effect on your
bankroll...

Because whether you spend ten hours or ten
THOUSAND hours "grinding it out" at the poker
tables, your money will VANISH if you go on tilt.

Which brings me to ANOTHER interesting secret I've
discovered...

The EXPERIENCE OF TILT is actually just an EXTREME
form of experience that happens ALL THE TIME when
you play poker.

What I mean is EVERY TIME YOU LOSE A HAND you're
going on tilt. Except, this tilt would be a small
version of "the real thing."

Stick with me here...

If TILT is just an EMOTION, then you're ACTUALLY
going on tilt all the time... except it's only
noticeable during the really big pots.

The truth is you're going on "Tiny Tilts" all
game... every game... that are swaying you back
and forth and back and forth from the REAL
STRATEGIES AND ACTIONS YOU SHOULD BE TAKING.

That's why the PROS are able to avoid tilt so
effectively...

Because they've played SO MUCH POKER that they
know the RIGHT play to make... in virtually every
situation. Emotion just doesn't factor in.

And ultimately, that's the BEST way to avoid
tilt...

...is to adopt a complete SYSTEM of playing
STRATEGIES and techniques that YOU STICK TO
throughout the game.

Take emotion out of it. Just play the proven,
step-by-step methods that will help you
CONSISTENTLY win the most money at the table.

And the way you do that is by either playing for
years and years and years... and "figuring it out"
on your own...

OR...

By using the system of WINNING strategies and
methods created by someone else.

I enjoyed this post so much, I read it twice. I will use it for a reminder next time things aren't going so well at the tables and find myself slipping deeper into the abyss. Thanks for posting it. Peace

Twizzy, who is the author of the emails that you post? Just out of curiosity.

If there is one thing I MUST improve it is what I do when I KNOW I am tilted. I know what to do and am actually better now at walking away than I used to be but I still get tilted much easier than I should. BTQ Diablo I think she is posting the tips from the pros that FullTilt Poker sends out, not sure but I think that is where they come from.

I am getting better at controlling myself when I f'up or when I suffer the bad beat/bad bluff loss. When I feel my checks start to flush, and my blood reaching the boiling point, and the expletives start to fly out of my mouth, I try to sit back and take a deep breath. I may even sit out a few hands just to get myself under control. You have to get to a point where you realize that bad beats, etc. happen to everyone, and you just have to leave it and move on to the next hand.

Well when I make a mistake, as long as I recognize it, I don't get screwed up over those, it is when I get hustled or get sucked out on by an extreme long shot that I lose my dam mind, most of the time I walk before it gets too nasty but I still hang around too long sometimes!

I have really learned to control tilt so much during all my hours of live play. Tilting is a natural human resopnse to an adverse situation. We as people tend to chase our losses and bad decisions rank right up there with losses or negative outcomes. In my game, tilting comes in many forms, most of which I am able to control relatively easy and with minimal or no chunking off of my chips in the process. Usually just a couple of quick words to myself, inside my head, putting things in perspective, and I can usually control tilting very well. Bad beats usually don't tilt me very bad, because I usually have replayed the hand in my head a couple of times and will have either figured out how I screwed it up and could have played it differently, or how I played it to the best of my ability and shit sometimes happens in poker and that's just that. Most of the time what appears to be a horrible beat at the table, after close scrutiny, isn't nearly as bad as it seems. The other player--aside from those one or two outer rivers he may hit--usually isn't that huge an underdog in the hand. This thought process usually works to do two things, first it makes me think rationally and that keeps me from being elevated in a way, and second it puts some perspective on the situation and I can move on tilt-free.

The one thing that really chaps my ass, is someone who absolutely cannot play, plays like a maniac, and talks shiat while doing so. This loose-aggressive style--combined with little or no real poker knowledge--lends itself to short term swings in either direction that can sometimes be very large. When I'm on the losing end of a few of these pots, I sometimes feel myself forming a personal vandetta against that one person at the table. In this way, I have been tilted. I usually realize it and can recover rather quickly, but have sometimes let my absolute hatred for a donkey influence my decision to make bad calls or -EV plays. The only thing that makes me feel a little better in this situation is knowing that if I tighten up and can manage to stick to my game, I will be able to weather the swings from the maniac and bust him somewhere down the line.

I think everyone can improve on their ability not to tilt to some degree. There are pros that seem un-tiltable, but I believe in all reality, they just have an uncanny way of keeping their tilting so concealed that we nor their opponent can see it. When they get rivered by a schmuck calling them down with [.4h8d.] and catch a runner runner gut buster straight draw to beat their top set, there is no way in hell--at least in their minds--that they arent pulling a Phil Hellmuth.

brilliant, cheers

That was a damn long post that I found very interesting well wriitten and very informative and I have to agree with diablo,

this is where my problem is but after reading these post I have a better chance of not going there just wait and play good poker and it will come back sometimes LOL

I can really appreciate the value of this post. I'm by no means a pro, or even semi-pro player, but my biggest flaw is going on tilt. I can usually make that slow climb to a decent chip stack, but one bad beat and I'm all in on 7 2 off suit.

I forgot about writing that long ass thing. ill try to keep it shorter in the future. Damn that was long.

Diablo

To answer your question..

Rory Monahan

TY. Just curious. When you post these if you don't mind will you add the authors names? I like to know who wrote articles and I'm sure they would like to be credited for them even though you aren't taking credit for them yourself.

i just play video games when i get put on tilt until ive blown off enough steam

ah, i usually just meditate before i play a session.

great post.

debussy calms me down pretty good too. anything classical.

another great read, ive seen this get the best of us...

wow this is great, alot of info,and help me alot
thanks again

WOW

Read these posts two days ago, and it really stuck in my mind. I was playing in a game online yesterday.

In the early stages of the game i was second from chip lead. Playing very good poker as well as hitting the cards. Then it came , a big bad beat, took two thirds of my chip stack. I was gutted. Ready to go on tilt. All in on any hand.

Then it came to me, stop, think, breath in and play your usual style. I slowly built up my stack again, and eventually came second. I was very happy.

Thanks very much and keep them coming!!!!! (they really work)

It was a very interesting post. Hopefully I will learn from it and never go on tilt again. I am one of them people that if i go on tilt I probably will never get out of it.

I think from now on when ever I have a question or thought to share I'm just gonna pull up an old post where someone said it better anyhow. Old lessons are just as valid and important as new lessons I suppose...
Isaac

LOL tilt usually only gets me on the last hand of a tourney cuz the "Bad beat" usually knocked me out.Sucks still tho

I tell you what, that's a pretty good article there.

I tend to go on tilt sometimes for very minor things, and sometimes I'm not even sure if I'm on the Tilt because the changes in my game seem that minuscule. They're not though, and it does lead me into tricky situations that you'd much rather not have to endure on the table.

Thank you for posting this up. I have lost money by going on tilt and it is good to finally have a good solid strategy on how to avoid it. Thanks man!

Nice post!!!

I think that a good way to avoid tilt is to laugh and give out a sarcastic scream (The way you do when you are explaining a story "and all of a sudden he went AHHHHH!!!" - if u understand what I mean )

Then I start to think "I knew that card would fall" then I think "But I was only 10/1 fav, so I suppose the next few times I`m bound to take it down" I laugh again, think `tight` and move on.

This does it for me guys!!!

thanks for the good advice

The only cure for tilt is to walk away but if you hve seen the beats enough they just wash over you. Some things others see as bad beats i dont anymre say ak v aq q flops thts just pooker but i will still get pissed off at the bad 1s say trip q losing to quad 7s lol

Great info for an amatuer player.Theres a few players I might need to show this too.One of the best post ive seen yet,thanks for the info.

I could have used this last week when a cold run of cards and not having a smoke for 3 days because im tryin to stop sent me on major tilt.
I play mostly heads up matches, and it just seemed like every donk that was trying to give me thier money would river me.
I really started to play bad and unrational, pushing preflop with middle pockets and chasing bad draws.
Atleast I woke up the next day and the nicotine jones was gone and i won my losses back.

Haha well i got the all cure for this so called TILT you guys are suffering from. Its very simple load a bowl of your finest herb and burn it down although illegal in the US and other parts of the US marijuana is proven to do wonders for online gaming. Everything from CounterStrike to Everquest. Im quite sure that online poker falls somewhere in there as well, bassically it just cools yours nerves .

I really enjoyed that article on tilting. I think the best thing to do, in my experinces, is to remind your self that stuff happens and sometimes you can't avoid it. Just sit back and try nt to dwell on it. Take a deep breath and count to 10. This does help. Just remember that your game is good enough that you can win and let it go.It's all over now and there is nothing you can do to change it. So why try.You didn't get the chips that quick thefirst time so settle down and play your game. You can always come back, it just takes time. Remember that Rome wasn't built in a day and niether was your stack. Don't force it and good things WILL come to those who are patiant.If you can nurse a short stack you handle a bad beat.

This will sound daft but I noticed i tilt more if I have an audiance, if its just me on my own where no one can here me or see me I can brush off tilt very quickly, but if my wife is hanging around for example I can go into a full on rant and rage that last a long time, like I said sounds daft but I know it to be true in my case, simple solution play in isolation.

Mozzi

i usually take a deep breath and remind myself its only a game and only money that i will win back in time if i keep playing good poker

Looks like the Roy Rounder newsletter

I tend to have a cigarette after a particular bad beat and think about what has happened. Just like sparking up after sex

20 a day on the poker front and a packet a year on the sex front

omfg this thread is sooooooo old it needs archiving if it is popular