The Tilt Effect in Poker
You will sometimes notice people going on tilt after they have had a crushing bad bead. You watch their judgment deteriorate before your very eyes. Why? generally they start chasing the lost money they should have won. They start to play more hands and chase more pots in the hope of clawing back the lost money. Their sense of reasoning goes out of the window. they try to force the play instead of patiently waiting for the opportunities the open up for them.
Going on tilt can be very damaging to your confidence and your bankroll.
Poker is a game of patience. If you lose your patience, you are likely going to lose your money. Everyone has gone on tilt at one time or another. You need to take a good look at yourself after a bad run of cards and ask yourself if your play is being affected. Ask yourself, "Am I tilting?" If you feel that you are on the dreaded tilt and sitting at a cash game take a step back from the tables. If you are at the casino, take a wander over to the bar. Have a beer and a chat. Lift your spirits and let it go. If you are playing online, just leave the table, go make yourself a coffee and watch TV, browse the internet or play with the kids. Do anything to take your mind off poker. That's all fine and well if you can get up and leave but if you are on tilt during a tournament, you need to get your focus back or you are going to me out of the tournament, quick style. I'm a tournament situation, the best thing is to sit back and play a tight game. Wait for the cards to start flowing in your direction again. Don't make any bold plays.
Tilt can affect any player at any given time. you need to deal with it. you need to control your emotions before they control you. Imagine the table has noticed you going on tilt. You look down at your cards and you have a fairly strong, but beatable hand. You raise and the player after you raises over the top of you. You think about it, and fold. The player exposes his winning hand and has nothing. Now this can bring on a full blown tilt effect. You are thinking about that lost hand. You are not concentrating on your current situation. ten minutes later, you are heads up with this guy again. This time you have middle pair. This guy has reraised you again. There is a very dangerous board and in normal circumstances you would have made a fold. This time you decide to call him. The river card comes out and doesn't help. This guy is betting into it again. You are not confident of winning the hand but you call anyway. This is not the way you would normally have played the hand. You were tilting and the other player probably knew it.
Everyone encounters ac bad beat, it's how you deal with it that matters. Poker can be very cruel at times. You need to learn to let it go. Concentrate on your play. try to get the focus back into your game. Remember the previous hands are gone. You are not trying to win money back. Think of your bankroll starting at zero every time you enter a new hand. You just need to focus on playing well. If you keep focusing and playing well, in time you will get the lost money back. Just Don't force the play. try to play the way you would normally. Take the focus off the past and focus on your current play and watch how the others around you are playing.
That is the bad aspects of Tilt covered, now for the good news. You are not always the one who is on tilt. Watch out for other players with steam coming out of their ears. Watch for the signs of them going on tilt. Tighten up your play a little when you are playing them. If they are starting to play wild and reckless, concentrate on extracting as much money as you can from them when you get a made hand. They have forgotten avoid the statistical side of poker. Use this to your advantage and keep picking away at them. Usher them into forced errors. This is your time to take advantage of the tilt effect.
I know it's tough but always try to think rationally when you are sitting at the poker table. More money is lost when players are not at their mental peak. Poker has a very strong psychological aspect to it. It is far more than just a game of chance. Try to recognize when you are on tilt and deal with it in a rational manner. Everyone get bad beats. just think back on the hands you have lucked out on, to someone else's cost. As they say, swings and roundabouts. Just Don't make it worse by falling into the tilt trap.
YOU WONT SEE PHIL IVEY ON TILT MUCH UNLESS IT'S FULLTILT
USE the FULLTILT POKER BONUS CODE - "PPABONUS" (Site Accepts USA Players)
I will look out for Tilting players - Take me to Full Tilt Poker now!!!
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