The Pitfalls of Poker Tilt

Management gurus teach that you should never make a decision whenever you are hungry and angry. There is much wisdom in this teaching because on both instances, you lose your focus and sense of balance. In the same token, you should never play poker when you are angry, or on a "tilt." In poker parlance, going on a "tilt" refers to the inability of a player to make sound judgment and good playing decisions because of anger or frustration. A player who goes on a tilt often times lets his emotions overrule his reason subsequently losing the game and, at times, even his bankroll. Typically, a player with a good hand who gets a bad beat goes on a tilt and starts to make bad decisions at the table.

However there are players who have mastered the art of provocation and have an arsenal of subtle ways to get into their opponent's nerves. Some players get annoyed or angry and start playing out of their element to teach the object of their anger a lesson. They will typically become more aggressive and enter more pots. While this reaction to an annoying external stimulus is normal, it is tilt just the same. Any game-related factor that prompts a poker player to make decisions on the basis of emotions and not reason can be said as being on tilt. And, if not controlled, tilt could lead to financial loss at the game table.

Many avid students of poker have been wondering if it's possible to avoid tilt. Preventing tilt from happening is almost impossible for it would require the player to exert superhuman effort to control his emotions. Avoiding tilt is, therefore, not an option for the rationale poker player for even the best professional players-- to a greater or lesser extent, somehow experience tilt during their games. The best that they can do when they notice that they are on tilt is to manage their anger or frustration to lessen or mitigate its impact on their game.

Different poker players manage tilt in different ways. When they notice that they are on tilt, some players will take a breather; walk away from the table for a few moments to collect their thoughts, smoke a stick of cigarette, perhaps, then go back when they feel sufficiently calmed down. Others take more drastic steps by walking one of the game and calling it quits for the day. There are some, however, who advocate that the most effective way to conquer tilt is to accept poker as it really is--- a game of random chance and skill where anything is possible. Bad decisions and bad beats happen and these are part of the game. Once the player accepts this fact, he would have learned to be unaffected by tilt.