TILT - a lesson from poker

TILT - a lesson taken from poker:

It's called tilt and at some point every player in the game experiences it to some degree or another.  Even the best of them.

Tilt is when your mental state goes down and you become side tracked from concentrating 100% on your play

Any time you’re making a play that you would not be making if your emotions were in check and your thinking was clear, you are on tilt.

Tilt can drive even the most measured player into a frenzy of bad moves and missteps, and tilt is one of the main reasons why many players can never be successful

Although it will vary in degree from one person to the next, it's impossible to avoid all tilt entirely.

The cause of tilt can come from anywhere and it's usually personal

Play enough and you will come to know what an affect ‘tilt’ brings to the game

You can also put others on tilt but that is not nice.

A player on tilt will call you all the way down and you will beat them big in the long run if you are just patient.

There is a lot to be gained from a player who it on a tilt. They can be like cash spewing ATM machines - play them relentlessly

Nobody is immune from tilt. Nobody.

Tilt is more about the player than the game. When tilt happens it's all about how you handle yourself as a player.

Some personality types are just more vulnerable to tilt than others but it is always a very serious leak in anyone’s game.

A truly great player rarely lets tilt effect their game or just don't tilt nearly as often, or as severely.  They have become accustomed to the fluctuations inherent in the game.

Any time that you’re on tilt, you are making bad decisions and playing the game poorly.

You might escape with little-to-no damage but the longer the tilt drags on, the uglier the picture gets

For a hardcore tilter, the emotional interference persists into the next game, and the next, and the next

With some players all it takes is one bad beat and they are on a tilt

Tilt is not always triggered by losing either,  winner’s tilt is a very real problem for some players.

The strong emotions aroused by winning can be just as mind-clouding as any form of despair.

You could be the most skilled player in the world but in the end all those skills won’t do you a bit of good if you go on tilt.

You cannot know how to handle tilt until you’re aware of it, you must be able to recognize when it’s happening to you

You need to be aware when you’ve started to make decisions based on emotion rather than clear, rational thought.

It can help to have a friend alert you to those times when you’re leaning precariously over the edge. But ultimately it comes down to you.


When you feel any signs of tilt, no matter how slight or seemingly harmless, it's time to step back from the game for awhile.


Remember, the game will always be around tomorrow, but once your roll is gone, it's not coming back.