5 Ways to Beat Tilt at the Table

Tammy · Jan 2, 2020

Tilt is something every player deals with. Knowing how to recognize it and combat can be the difference between protecting your bankroll, or spewing it away.

Our new and improved guide goes over everything you need to know about recognizing tilt, combating it, as well as how to handle variance and keep from tilting. We've combined all that along with tips from our Poker Experts. If you have ever suffered from tilt (and face it: we all have) then this is a must read:

Top 5 Ways To Battle Tilt At the Table

Let us know your thoughts: how does this article stand up to your own methods? Do you have any tips and tricks to share with us on battling tilt?

WVHillbilly · Jan 2, 2020

Breathe! When you get that tilting feeling sit out on all tables and just count a few breaths. If you're still feeling it, it's time for a break.

Tammy · Jan 2, 2020

WVHillbilly said:
Breathe! When you get that tilting feeling sit out on all tables and just count a few breaths. If you're still feeling it, it's time for a break.

Seriously, the best and most straight-forward advice right there. ^^

iwishudcall · Jan 2, 2020

nice advice. thanks!

bellicoso · Jan 2, 2020

Good article. I think for me, the important thing is to walk away for at least a few hands and collect myself. I'm an online player, so this is easy; just hit the Sit Out button and go have a smoke break! The next most important thing for me is to stick to my game plan. I don't want to deviate just because of a bad beat.

Thanks for the post! Good luck to everyone going forward!

CarlosLemarDixon · Jan 2, 2020

Knowing what triggers you to tilt is a good one. Makes one think of better ways to deal with emotional responses to situations on the felt. I'm actually looking into Sports Training Hypnosis and NLT (Tony Robins) If I could just avoid Tilt I might actually win.
I could be doing so good and then misread one hand and my stack takes a hit.
Thanks for the post.

NeoBandit · Jan 2, 2020

I am working on my tilt problem right now.

This article is the exact thing i am dealing with right now. I am playing micro stakes and a few low stakes games on ACR. These Players will often go all in with 10 3 o and win. This for some reason drives me insane and puts me on tilt. Yes, I know these are the players I should be waiting to KO when i get dealt a playable hand. But these people drive me so insane watching them do this hand after hand and than brag about it just boils my blood. I end up getting angry I used to hit my desk and swear but I have progress in controlling my tilt where I don't do that anymore. So I am making progress. I have won a couple of tournaments when I have been able to keep my tilt under control. I have the potential of being a good player once I learn to control this. I have won some satellite tournaments and some of the venom won some money and than got tilted and lost it all over a couple of days. I still have a ways to go but At least I know with more work on my tilt I will become a good player. Thanks for this article I need to keep working on my tilt. I see progress but still got work to do.

ACESOVEREZZZ · Jan 2, 2020

Tilt

Thanks for posting. Good article to read for sure ! I know we all have been there and as for me when playing in the tilt mode I do fair well.

Thanks again for posting this article as it is something all should read.

:top:

4nocreativity · Jan 3, 2020

Really good article. I take a break when tilt hits. It's hard cause I want to win my money back but I know better. I'll win it back another day.

Thanks for sharing a good article

EarnDAStack · Jan 3, 2020

Thanks for sharing this great article Tammy!!

One of the things I’ve been trying to implement to combat some of my tilt issues is saying to myself after a bad hand “This is only one of several million poker hands you’re going to play in your life. It’s fine, learn what you can from it, write is off as poker tuition and move forward”

I think ingraining “one of millions of hands” into my head has helped me put it in perspective

maxivega · Jan 3, 2020

Excellent advice and very helpful to get out of those situations.

Jack Reacher · Jan 3, 2020

Do not apply rules number 4 and number 5 in the same time.If you are evaluated yourself as a poker player with modest skills apply rule number 5 more if it is otherwise apply rule number 4 more.

MemphisGrind · Jan 3, 2020

So, I have thoughts on this, and I will try and stay on topic as far as one by one in order like the link has it. But, I want to start with one of my threads from last year.

"I feel like a lot of the poker community especially those that mainly play free rolls or at the micro level, either feel like they are the most unlucky player alive, or constantly have a mindset similar to this "how can that donkey beat me every single time."

I get it, you take a bad beat at the worst possible times, and it just feels like every bad beat that you have ever took in your life swells back into your brain, and all of sudden you're not just mad at this one particular bad beat but the culmination of ALL your bad beats you ever took, and it seems like they are all this one persons fault or that this ALWAYS happens to me.

This is a terrible mental error that needs to be fixed. If it's not you will never make it to the next level of your poker ability. Tilt will consume your mind. If your emotions are too high you make poor poker decisions because the brain prevents you from being able to think straight. No one controls this loss of higher brain function you may have often heard it referred to as the "fight or flight response" where your strategic thought processes are out the window and your pretty much left with your "instincts" or actions learned at what is called unconscious competence.

So since you can't control the fact that your emotional system shuts down your ability to think then it's imperative that you control your emotions BEFORE reaching your emotional threshold. Having a clear mind before you play, having goals, and a clear strategy even a warm up and cool down routine before the start of your session are all important to the success you will have. If you take a bad beat and feel like you are getting close to your emotional threshold. Take time to get yourself back to ground zero again before continuing. You can even have tilt that has come over from another session on a completely different day."

I have spent a lot of time working with tilt, studying different mental game strategies, and I agree with all of the 5 tips. Matter of fact a good bit of what I have learned is from "The Mental Game of Poker 1 and 2" written by Jared Tendler, M.S. which is referenced in point 2 about "entitlement tilt"

Basically, we can only control what we can control.

AndreyMav78 · Jan 3, 2020

The article is as usual interesting and informative. Of course, all these things are in the head, but it is always useful to systematize them. It was especially nice to see the section about the “break”. Thanks to СС for useful and interesting information)))

JRTHEKING · Jan 3, 2020

Good article...

I think as far as cash games go I find that having a properly sized bankroll for the game goes a long way to controlling emotions caused by the swings and variance. Nothing worse than having a short roll and going on a bad run. Tilt can take over mighty quickly and it usually ends badly along with chasing bad cards. I have some experience with this unfortunately

malitoxdk16 · Jan 4, 2020

I have a high temperament .. I often make mistakes often but this guide was perfect to try to focus on what I should do and not get carried away by my anger

Drumsound · Jan 4, 2020

The article is pretty standard stuff, but its good to remind ourselves every now and again.

xxxSSSxxx · Jan 4, 2020

I have the ability of photographic forgetfulness. As soon as I played the hand, I forgot about it :icon_sant

johnny tigre · Jan 4, 2020

Do the whoosaaa..... of Martin Lawrence in badboys II.

Whooosaaaaaahhh.....

LOL

Bev · Jan 4, 2020

Patience is something that cannot be taught. To me it has to be learned from experience .
There are some very good tips here , but in the end it generally boils down to individual control.
I realize there are many things that can push anyone. So, it takes a saint sometimes to make it through allll the different situations that can push even the most patient person to tilt !
I am like xxxSSSxxx, I forget hands real quick once played and if I went out - I see why whenI played it and it is best to forget most of those hands anyways !

acidburnfx · Jan 5, 2020

Always good to remember! Breathing deep is key to calm down and feel some degree of relaxation. Human brain has a kind of "breathing pacemaker" and it also affects one's state of mind.

Syltan · Jan 6, 2020

For me, the beginning of this 2020 New Year is still not very happy. I played 30+ tournaments at different poker rooms and not in one I couldn’t get into ITM and I admit honestly I’m close to tilt and this article is very static. You always plan to achieve new goals in the new year, such a beginning of the year is sobering and descending to heaven from sinful earth. I hope my patience is enough to absorb me tilt)

fundiver199 · Jan 6, 2020

In my experience tilt is more of an issue in fast games, especially if I multi table. I guess, its because, bad beats and coolers come to fast for my brain to absorb one, before the next one happen. For instance this morning I played some turbo SnGs on Stars and ran not to well. 3 times I ran into pocket kings preflop and lost. When I finally got it in ahead with AK against AT, a T came on the river. When I flopped two pair, my opponent flopped a set. When I turned a set, my opponent rivered a flush.

After this I was already getting into the tilted mindset of "OMG how can I run this bad???" But this is not rational at all. Unlike the previous poster I have actually had a brilliant start to 2020. So why focus on those last 6 tournaments, where admittedly I ran bad, when I have run good in so many others? And this is also part of, what help me overcome tilt. The recent past matter no more than the distant past. By reminding myself about this I was able to regain my composure quickly and win SnG number 7, which limited my losses for the session.

Edison A · Jan 6, 2020

Take a Break and recharge batteries ... It is good advice, there are players who stop playing just hours to get away from a bad run, but I have read articles about this which is advisable to stop playing 1 day, well each person has a different perspective

kley126 · Jan 7, 2020

excellent article, the best thing to control this situation is to get away from the tables take a good rest or even wait for the next day because not all players react in the same way I include among those who have a hard time controlling this situations relax relax and analyze outside the table is the best and you avoid major losses

5 Ways to Beat Tilt at the Table

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