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The concept of tilt is something most poker players are aware of, but the severity of the effect is only realized by a few. Taking a bad beat or two then losing your composure during a poker game is called tilt. When another player gets under your skin it can also happen. You tend to make plays you wouldn’t normally make which end up costing you money when on tilt. Often these plays cost you a lot of money. When playing live in a casino or card room, you only lose control at one table at a time then usually can regain your composure after just a few hands. Playing online on 6 to 8 tables a once is a different story.

Playing online affords many advantages like faster dealing and multi-tabling. This allows you to play ten or even twenty times the amount of hands as live play. This is a great way to make extra money when you’re playing your best poker, but when you’re on tilt it can cost you a small fortune. If it takes you ten minutes to calm down, you will generally tilt for three or four hands in a live game. If you’re playing online, you may well see sixty or more hands in a ten minute span. If you are tilting for sixty hands, chances are that you will make more mistakes and lose more money. When this happens, instead of gradually calming down, poker players tend to become more agitated, and lose more money. Losing more money will cause you to stay on tilt or become even worse and the cycle is hard to stop once it starts. So how do we identify such situations?

Some degree of tilt is probably experienced when a normally tight solid player begins playing fast and loose. The number of hands lost in a row is another thing to look for. You may not realize you’re on tilt, but if you are spewing chips, you better do something fast to calm down and stop the bleeding.

The easy answer is to just take a walk. Get up and take a 10 minute break and regain your focus. The problem is that if you’re playing 8 tables, and you stand up every time you lose a big hand, you’ll spend more time walking around than playing poker. Another, more realistic, answer would be to tighten up your game and pay extra attention to every play you make. I like to talk to myself to make sure that all of my plays make sense for a few minutes after losing a really nice pot. “Does it make sense to raise with Ace Four Suited under the gun?”. If the answer to my question is no, than I fold the hand. I also try to fold a few borderline hands that I may otherwise take a chance with. It sounds crazy talking to yourself, but if you try it you may be surprised at how many mistakes you save yourself from making.

The answer to tilt is different for everyone. The common solution is that you need to do whatever works to calm you down and get back on your A game. If you’re multi-tabling, you need to do it quick or your bankroll will take a serious hit.

The author is a successful limit cash game player. He plays poker and receives Action Poker Rakeback from Rakeback Solution.

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