How to Stop Tilting in Poker

You have to remember that sometimes you will lose even with a good hand.

Going on Tilt in poker is when a player gets so emotionally frustrated that he begins making poor decisions that he would not otherwise make. This is something non-poker players may not understand, but every serious poker player has to deal with Tilt eventually. It's easy to get frustrated when you have made smart decisions for several hours and a player with a lower skill level gets "lucky" and beats you for a pot worth several hundred dollars. Stopping yourself from Tilting isn't possible for everyone but if you are seriously committed to getting a handle on it, it can be done.

Instructions

1. Take a short break every time you start to get frustrated. The next hand will always be there and there is no need to get in a rush after you have suffered a big loss. Taking a short ten-minute break is a great way to clear your head, and it is a habit that will probably end up saving you money in the long run.

2. Train yourself to base every decision you make on cold hard logic. Do not let your emotions influence your choices. This is much easier said than done but you must learn to approach the game this way if you are serious about stopping yourself from tilting.

3. Learn the odds of making your hand pre-flop, post flop, on the turn and river and memorize them. This is a big help when it comes to stopping tilt in the long run. If you were a 10 to 1 favorite to win the hand and your opponent managed to win by hitting a 1 outer on the river, it doesn't feel so bad when you know how much the odds were in your favor. This is still extremely frustrating but it helps knowing that you made a great decision that is going to be profitable most of the time, even if it didn't go your way on this particular hand.

4. Make all of your decisions based on what your m-zone status is when you are playing tournaments. Your m-zone is the size of your stack relative to the size of the blinds and your position in the tournament. Many players find tilting during tournaments harder to prevent than playing ring games. This is because they don't know when it's mathematically appropriate to take risks or tighten up. Develop a tournament strategy that works for you based on your m-zone and do not deviate from the strategy regardless of how you are feeling.

References

• Sit And Go Planet: Dan Harrington Poker Strategy
• Top Poker: Tilt & Playing Online Poker