Poker: How to Avoid a Tilt.

It has been a decisively long time since I have entered into a tilt during a game of poker, but I can still remember the time when it was a frequent occurrence. The last time that it happened, I was sat in a casino in Las Vegas, no names mentioned, at a 5-5 poker table and I was playing hyper-LAG, which means playing in an extremely ‘loose aggressive’ (LAG) style. In this particular example, I revealed my deplorable image by raising around 8-10 times the Big Blind pre-flop, and this often led to some of the other players folding. The majority of the time the round resulted in a head-to-head and I therefore had to rely, either on my knowledge and skill at the post-flop stage of the game, or on a miracle. The advantage of this strategy is that you will always (usually) be called when you manage to touch a good hand. But, the inconvenience is that if your monster hand is beaten, it is into the jaws of hell that you descend, or something similar but less dramatic!

A Particular Form of Tilt:

Of course, this scenario will only happen occasionally. It is a calculated, educated risk and you will need to learn how to roll with the punches. But this was not the advice that I followed when I went into tilt in Las Vegas. Once I had lost several really good hands in a row, I still had not reached the point of anger, I simply felt detached from the situation completely. And, such a strategy/course of action is also a form of tilt. I am a professional poker player and there should be no room for a tilt in this line of work. The blow was even more painful to me because I had decided to step up my professional poker playing earlier in that particular year, and then I tilted so began doubting myself. My confidence took a pummelling at that table that day, but I bounced back!

The greatest coup of this particular episode in my life was, without a doubt, when I decided to call an All-In against one of my more charismatic opponents. I definitely do not merit the cards that fell at the flop against my opponent’s cards, which managed to finish my drawing hand on this particular round. But unfortunately, this stroke of luck did not reduce my suicidal tendencies while I was sat at that table.

Do Not Confuse a Tilt With Anger:

What is it that actually provokes the feeling of a tilt? In fact, it is often an expression of self-pity: Boo-hoo-hoo, look at me, I’m losing this hand even though I should be the favourite; I never have any luck; it is always me who ends up getting stung; The Aces are killing me, it is always me who comes off worst at this table. These are all examples of some of the things you may hear exclaimed by players who are in a bad state of mind. I am not trying to say that my state of mind is irreproachable, but I can, on the whole deal well with bad beats and losses by remaining philosophical- but this has not always been the same, I have learned how to control them and you will hopefully find that the rest of the advice that is given here will help you. If the situation that I find myself in is not going well I will feel anger and frustration, but I will also try not to translate these feelings into behaviour and thus run the risk of ending up in a full tilt.

There is nothing wrong with feeling angry from time to time and occasionally throwing your toys out of the pram, as long as it does not get in the way of you playing to the best of your abilities. If you are angry but you are still able to play your best game, it means that you are not in tilt. Even if certain objects pass through the window and have been empowered by your anger, if you still manage to make good decisions, then this is, in terms of your poker game ok, but the casino may not be too happy if they find one of their croupiers splattered on the ground having fallen from a window that you have just thrown him out of, but I’m sure you are aware of this!

Variation Is Your Friend:

What I have explained to many players over the years, and especially beginners, is that luck is inherent in the game of poker and it is only with a good dose of luck that you will win at all, although there is a lot of skill on top of the luck, it basically boils down to chances. If poker was a pure skill game, there would not be as much money in the game, and what money would be in it would be given mostly to the very best of players. And the fish would have long left the game. If you play chess against Kasparov you will easily lose 20 xs in a row, would this make you want to play an additional game with him? I doubt it.

The fact that the fish wins as well from time to time with their 8-8 versus your Ace-Ace, will mean that they will return to the table tomorrow to play again. ? How often do people claim to have winning formulas for roulette? This is uniquely due to the fact that they must once have had a good run (and usually when they first start playing). This is a way of thinking that is similar to the way that losing players think. Because they know that they have a chance of winning, they return to play again.

I win obscene amounts of money by playing a game of cards and then I sulk for the sole reason that there are players who are less skilful than me make me lose money. Be happy then that there are some donkey’s who call you at the flop. The fact that they have completed their hand is nothing other than the random distribution of luck. I can accept a loss in the short-term of this type because of this reasoning. It is in the long run that I make my money. There is no reason for self-pity for your bad beats or to sulk over the negative aspects of the game. The only result in so doing is that you will find people will not want to talk poker with you, tired as they are by your constant whining.

You need to appreciate, in contrast, the fact that people will invest money into the game when they are in an outside position. You have done your work and invested your money into the best hand. And concentrate your energies on those situations that take up all your attention, for example, those rounds when you have gone all-in with the least good hand. “I went all-in even though I had a bad drawing hand. What do you think about the way in which I played my hand?” I do not know about you my friends, but for I do not often hear these types of discussions around the poker table, except around professional tables.

You Do Not Play Small Limit Games in Order to Win Large Amounts of Money:

If you are not strong enough mentally to understand and apply that which I have just discussed above, it is not a major drawback, but it does mean that you should leave your poker playing to an amateur level. Otherwise you may find yourself turning into the type of player who sits down at the table and moans to the croupier about their bad luck. The croupier probably doesn’t care, so stop moaning! You are ruining it for everyone else!

But, just because you are that type of player now, does not mean that you cannot change, I used to be like that in my younger days. Everything seemed unfair to me and I would frequently throw paddies, you would have been able to hear me exclaiming such things as “How could you have called, it was bleeding obvious that I had a monster hand!” However, having said this, if it was so obvious that I had such a good hand and that my opponent realised it just means that I have been playing a bad game, you need to hide your hand not reveal them.

It has been a long time now since I adopted the habit of discussing my bad beats with certain of my friends, who then made fun of me and blocked me from their MSN because I was such a miserable little worm. One such friend, I remember, was particularly direct about it. I sent him the history of my bad beats on a $0.10/$0.25 game, and he answered: “you’re playing in No Limit 25 for goodness sakes! You’re rubbish at poker at the moment, and you have no right to sulk so much about losses on such rubbish hands! If you are playing poker at your stage of learning, it is to practice, to ameliorate yourself in the game, to understand it, not to win money. You will only win money when you are more experienced, you’re trying to run but you can’t even crawl yet. I’ll talk to you again in a couple of years, you big pain!”  

Smack, right in the kisser! It was a sucker punch to me and my ego, but it did teach me the truth. Firstly, my little losses mean nothing to anyone else, most of the other players, except those even newer to the game than I was then, would have been beaten when they have held top pairs. So, listening to another player talking about the exact same things that you have already experienced is just going to be boring and they will not bother to answer you very often, if at all.  

A Lesson Well Learned:

Right, let me just explain something here, this article is not intending to criticise, put people down or make fun of them for wanting to describe their bad beats to people. It is just trying to explain by such players can be annoying at times. There is nothing to gain from talking about bad beats until you are a little more experienced and have something worthwhile to discuss, the beginners’ bad beats are ironed out through practice, rather than discussions. If you really want to improve your game then take a step back. See things from a different perspective, it is brilliant when people invest all their money when they only have two outs in order to win the hand. In time, this is what will allow you to win money. If you do not realise this then you run the risk of going into full tilt and to increase the amount that you end up losing. It is said, in poker legend, that good poker players are those who win a lot when they win and lose very little when they lose. They are those players who take a long term view of the game, and tend not to get upset with every little loss; this is the key to becoming a good player and avoiding the dreaded tilt.

This is what I had forgotten on that faithful night when I sat at the table in Las Vegas. But I learned a lot that night, and I have never tilted since. That night was over a year ago, and I can almost guarantee that it will not happen again for at least another two years. There is no room in poker to lose your head. Fact.  

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