Getting Control of Tilt

Understanding How to Spot & Stop Tilt From Happening

Tilt in online poker is a very major problem that can cost poker players a great deal of money over time. If you aren’t careful you could lose your entire bankroll to tilt. Even top-rated players suffer from the problem from time to time, but they’ve figured out how to manage it more effectively.

What is Tilt?

Tilt is an emotional state that players get in after experiencing a particularly bad loss, or after losing consistently for an extended period of time. It usually only occurs when real money is on the line and it happens to some of the best players. Players on tilt play far too aggressively, get involved with too many hands and sometimes lose out on a whole bunch of money real quick. It’s vital that you learn how to manage these emotions before you allow them to do too much damage to your game and your online poker bankroll.

Being on Tilt can lead to quick losses, but more importantly if it happens too often it can cause a downward trend in your bankroll over time. It can cause you to lose all your money over time.

Why is Tilt Bad?

When playing online poker you’ll lose bad sometimes, and when you do you’ll probably start playing a bit more recklessly than usual. This is response I was talking about previously. Over just a few hands you might raise when you shouldn’t, call bets that you aren’t likely to win, and cost yourself a whole lot of money. It’s easy to do and it can cut your bankroll down over time.

The Symptoms of Tilt

Read through these common signs to try and determine if you’re suffering from it. Knowing how to recognize tilt quickly is key to stopping it from causing too much damage.

• Wild betting
• Calling everything
• Anger or aggressive play
• Feel emotional toward a particular player
• Racing pulse

Minimizing Tilt Damage

If you believe that you’re suffering from tilt there are some things that you can do to solve the problem.

• Walk away
• Sit out a couple hands
• Take deep breathes
• Review your history

Tilt can cripple you as a poker player or it can serve as one more obstacle for you to overcome, it’s your decision. If you walk away or take an extended break after losing badly you’ll be able to skip over the tilt losses entirely and preserve your bankroll. Taking a few deep breathes and trying to realise that you aren’t the only player to lose horrifically will go a long way to help as well. From time to time you should also look through your hand history. You do this to spot major mistakes that you make in your game, but you can also do it to spot problems from tilt that you might not realise you have. Poker online with tilt isn’t much fun and it’s pretty expensive, but you can battle it with the right strategy.

The Tilt Bluff

Experienced players expect others to go on tilt and are ready to take advantage. Many of these players look out for players that suffer a bad beat and then call anything they have to offer in the next couple hands. You can use this to your advantage. If you get beat bad and then happen to get a premium hand the next round you can really cash in.

To be successful in online poker you can’t be too emotional while playing. Tilt is a very really problem, but only if you let it be. Protect your bankroll, whether it’s in pound sterling, US dollars, or something else. It’s your tool to playing exciting poker games and getting over problems with tilt is the first step to preserving that money.