How to Deal with Tilting; Every Players Nemesis
There’s no uglier four-letter word in the poker world than “tilt”, which is best described as letting events of any sort affect the player’s mindset, leading that player to act in a sub-optimal manner. The degree of tilt metaphorically increases with the departure a player makes from his best style of play, and one will hear expressions such as “extreme tilt” or “horizontal tilt” when describing a player who’s clearly lost his edge. Many players intentionally try to tilt their opponents, using almost any possible means, because a truism of the game, written about by David Sklansky (among many others) in the seminal book The Theory of Poker, is that a poker player’s profit at the table comes from his opponents’ mistakes. If all players were equal and played perfectly, all players would be losers, measured by the amount of the house rake.
Tilt does not have to necessarily mean being too aggressive, though the famed blowups by players such as Mike “The Mouth” Matusow are classic examples. Playing too passively is a form of tilt as well, such as shying away from playing pots against a particular player because he or she has won the last five or six pots where you’ve battled. Tilt means any departure from your optimal play, and avoiding it – or at least recognizing it and correcting it – is vital to the health of your bankroll.
Recognize the Causes of Tilt
It’s therefore important to recognize the conditions that produce tilt in most players, and examine their effect upon you. Note that your mileage may vary: things that tilt other players may not tilt you, and vice versa. But here’s just a sample of tilt-inducing happenings:
1. Bad beats – Bad beats happen to everyone; such is the nature of the game. Extreme bad beats, or suffering three or four tough losses in a row, is enough to tilt many players. Consider stepping away from the table for a bit if you feel like the cards are being mean, and that the poker gods are out to get you. The pros do it, and so can you.
2. Chasing losses – Most players hate to leave a game a loser, but beware the sunken-cost fallacy: The cards themselves have no memory; just because you’ve lost the last few tough hands doesn’t mean that the next one will automatically be a winner. Chasing pots because you’re “due to win this one” is a recipe for “being felted,” meaning losing all your money or chips. For this reason, many cash-game players institute a “stop loss”, meaning a limit beyond which they will not put any more money into that session. It can be measured in dollars, buy-ins, whatever, but heed it. If you’re losing money in a given session, things aren’t going your way, and your own tilt just may be involved.
3. Letting it ride – While many poker players believe in the concept of “playing a heater”, continuing to play just because you’re ahead and have “free money” to play with is a classic sign of tilt. In this case you’re not valuing the money that you’ve already won, making you more likely to lose it back. Heed the warning signs, which may come in the form of new players, growing fatigue, or a few hands’ worth of setbacks. Not all good games stay that way.
How Players Act
Table behavior – Rude behavior is tilt-inducing for many players. Sometimes it’s intentional, as in the player who constantly gets in his opponents’ faces, challenging them and hoping to incite action… and perhaps, mistakes. Excessive inaction against these players can also be a form of tilt; they want you to play their game. Recognizing various player types is vital to success at the table. Another type of table behavior is unintentional; players can have poor hygiene, stall excessively, get involved in others’ hands, or act in any number of ways that can induce tilt. If it does, try understanding why it tilts you and correct for it; failing that, find a new table. Play your own game, not that of other.
This just barely scratches the surface of what tilt is and how it negatively affects your play. Simply put, if you don’t feel you’re playing your best, you probably aren’t, and you may be on tilt yourself.
Author: Joseph Falchetti (twitter)
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