The problem is already half solved if you realize that you're on tilt. From there, just tell yourself not to do anything stupid.
Easier said than done. Usually I realize I'm on tilt but say "I'll chase this draw, I'm already down so much, plus I can't miss 15 flush draws in a row can I?". Yes if I weren't on tilt I'd realize that I don't have to miss 15, I have to miss 1 for this one to miss, and that my play shouldn't differ based on how much I've won/lost (unless it has to do with stack size or mentality), but that's what tilt can do. If I realize I'm on tilt, I immediately sit out of all games I'm playing, and do something else (maybe the homework I was putting off by playing
). I used to wait until my BB came around but then I realized I would leak chips even then. In a tournament I can't really do that but I just do my best, worst case scenario I don't money, which is usually majority if it's an MTT. This is one of the reasons I admire people who are able to play poker for a living. They need to survive the bad beats, not go on tilt too much, knowing that the pressure is about 100 times as great on them as it is on me because they're playing for their income. If I lose, it's spending money, and it's nothing more than a hundred or so. I just watched the high stakes poker episode that ended with Farha calling Greenstein down KK vs. AA and setting his kings. That was over a million dollar swing.
Now imagine it's not QUITE that much, but still a considerable amount (a thousand or so?) and this is your job. You have to continue playing after that horrible beat, play the same way you have been, grinding it out, not letting the temptation to play reckless to regain what you lost get to you. I could be the best poker player in the world and I'd have a hard time doing it for a living. Even if I knew I could make a living playing poker, I think I'd stick with it as a hobby/side job, I just don't think I could handle the pressure. After the AA gets cracked by KK for payment on the house, every time I was looking at an all-in I'd remember this time. I'd be pushing way too hard with good
hands (don't want to get called and lose a thousand bucks like I did last time with AA). To be able to resist that, survive tilt, and grind it out day in and day out is tough, and you've gotta have nerves of steel. It's like the quote in Rounders, "this guy hasn't had to work in years", "you don't think what he does is work, grinding it day in and day out?" (very loose not even close to exact quotes).