Poker Discipline - Avoid Going On Tilt
Instructions On How To Avoid Going On Tilt
Poker can be a very frustrating game, because there are almost so few guarantees. Imagine that you have a perfect read on your opponent, you bet the hand perfectly, and he throws all his money into the pot, only to flip over the cards and find out that you have him in a dominating position. You’re ready to drag all of his chips over to you when the last card is flipped and he gets his miracle card to win the hand. This happens to every player if they play the game long enough, but is something most players can’t handle. They go “on tilt” and end up losing the rest of their chips out of frustration. The very best poker players, however, can avoid going on tilt. Here are a few ways to avoid a meltdown when things don’t go your way.
Perhaps the easiest way to avoid going on tilt is to simply leave the table and get a change of scenery. When I play poker, there are some nights where everything comes easily and it seems like I can’t lose. I try to play as much as possible on those nights while things are going well. But it’s inevitable that there will also be some bad nights. On those nights, I try to play as little as possible. As much as I want to be at the table and trying to make money, I know that sometimes the best way to make money is to not lose it. That is, after all, the most basic idea of poker. Make as much money as you can when you have the best hand, and lose as little as possible when you don’t.
Sometimes, even if I’m in the middle of playing, I will get up from my seat and take a few minutes off to avoid going on tilt. If something has happened to make me upset, I will leave the table for a few minutes to collect my head. I’ll gladly pay a little bit in blinds to avoid losing all of my chips just because I’m on tilt.
Finally, I like to remind myself that taking bad beats is a part of the game, and that having a player suck out on me with a lesser is actually a good sign. I would rather lose a pot after getting all my money in with the best hand as opposed to winning a pot after getting all my money in with the worst hand, because I know that even if I take a bad beat, I’m playing well and reading my opponents well. That means that over the long-run, I will be winning more pots and making more money. If my opponent wins the hand after having only a 14% chance of winning, at least I know that if I play long enough, I’ll win that hand 86% of the time.
Poker is a very mental game, and it can be difficult to avoid going on tilt from time to time. The important thing to remember is that you shouldn’t let a few hands in the past affect how you play in the future. Players that can avoid this pitfall have a much better chance of being successful.
