The State of Being on Tilt in Poker

A player who is on tilt in poker is referred to as someone whose emotions control his or her thinking ability. Usually, a player who is on tilt produces a performance whose quality is below his or her usual skill level, as shown by relatively degrading results.

Tilt is an emotional state produced by the situations that have happened during a poker match. The main consequence of being on tilt in poker is that you may end up losing all your money just because you let your emotions take control. Here are some situations when you find yourself on tilt:

The first sign of being on tilt in poker is when you think that you have the best hand since pre-flop. All throughout the game, you think your opponents are just bluffing or are probably hopeless with their seemingly weak hands. However, in this pure instance, you let you emotion take control, and that emotion is excitement. You have felt all giddy and excited on the first sight of your cards that you did not even consider your opponent's reaction during the betting rounds, which are an important indicator about his or her cards. You then find out that you have the weaker card, and so you lose during the showdown.

This leads us to the second sign of being on tilt in poker, which is your extreme desire for chasing the lost amount of money. This time, the emotion that has dominated you is disappointment. You feel so disappointed with the previous results that you get all distracted. Remember that being emotionally distracted from previously devastating results is also a form of being on tilt in poker.

The third sign of being on tilt in poker is your extreme desire to experience some action. Although this is perfectly natural, you are on tilt if your desire for action is due to wrong reasons. For instance, this desire might come from extreme annoyance with the other players that you want to take them down. Your feelings towards your opponents might lead you into betting more money than you should, not to mention forming a tensed atmosphere on the poker table. Remember also that some players have notably used this strategy to make you tilt in poker - in other words, they do that behaviour on purpose for their enemies to get emotionally distracted.

Although being on tilt in poker is very natural, playing further under this condition is extremely unhealthy. If you find yourself under this condition, never hesitate to take a break form the poker table. Then, as soon as you have cleared your emotions, sit down and let your rational side make the decisions.