Rise above tilt

Tilt happens for one reason and one reason alone – losing. We hate to lose. We are taught that losing is failure and failure is bad. Poker challenges that assumption – losing is not only part of poker, it’s a big part of poker. Ponder this: the best cash player in the world will lose over 40% of the time they play. If you losing gets to you emotionally you are in big trouble. The good news is that for most players, this problem is correctable by understanding what tilt is.

Misunderstanding poker

Most people’s problems with tilt come down to either a basic misunderstanding of the game of poker, or they may understand the nature of the game but not accept it in the moment. The simple truth is that poker is not about winning and losing; poker is about making good decisions. So many poker players get this wrong and focus on the outcome, however very often, because we can’t control the cards, the outcome is irrelevant. If we make correct decisions we will win chips – but we don’t know which pots we’ll win and which we won’t. Tilt happens because people often focus on results not decisions.

Tilt may also happen because you feel negative things about yourself or your play. If you play a hand badly it’s easy to become frustrated and this can result in you turning that one mistake into several bigger mistakes. Again this brings us back to the central point about tilt which is that you can only control your reaction to things, not what happens at the table. Every decision you make, or pot you play is in the past – the cards don’t know you’re angry or disappointed with how you played a hand.

Finally realise that if we struggle with tilt, then so do our opponents for the same reasons we do. Make sure you’re aware of opponents that are tilting and don’t fold anything to them!
 

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