Ten Tips To Help Avoid Tilt
Tilting refers changing a game drastically due to a bad beat or some bad luck. In poker, you can be crushing the game you play, but end up donating every thing you made in a session due to one poor decision as a result of tilt. Here are some useful tips to help avoid tilting in poker.
Tip One: Results orientated: It can help not to be results orientated about poker. If you are in a coin flip situation or only a 60:40 favorite to win the hand, there will be plenty of times the luck of the cards don't go your way, and there is no point beating yourself up about it, all you can ever really do is to consistently get the money in good. A lower variance style of game would also ensure you wouldn't rely on coin flip situations as much.
Tip Two: Bad beats: The same thing can be said when you get a beat beat or suckout in a cash game or in the early stages of a tournament. If a player is making really bad calls pre-flop to try and get lucky and this one time he gets his miracle flop, the vast majority of the time this player is going to be donating chips to you at the poker table, so you should be wanting to play against him.
Tip Three: Mood: If you are not in the mood to play poker then resisting firing up a few online tables and playing your C game! There will be games running 24/7 so never play unless you are not tired and feel in the mood to play.
Tip Four: Look for signs of tilt: Learn to recognize the signs that suggest you might be tilting, such as playing more hands and becoming a calling station, being more aggressive in spots without really thinking about the situation or the types of players you are playing against, calling with draws when you are not getting the correct odds, making big hero calls on the river because "he must be bluffing" and so on and so forth. Have the discipline to stop playing whenever our play has deviated from your normal game, since you are very likely on "tilt".
Tip Five: Stop loss strategy: Implement a stop loss poker strategy so if you were to lose a predetermined number of buy-ins you would have the discipline to leave the game and fight another day. This will ensure you will never lose a considerable percentage of your bankroll because you were having one of those days. How many buy-ins you set for it is up to you, usually a 2 buy in stop loss strategy is a good one as it won't hurt you too much.
Tip Six: Unrealistic goals: Don't have certain expectations on how much you expect to make in any given poker session. When you are trying to achieve a certain short-term goal it may affect you in a negative way and cause you to tilt off chips. Just play each hand for what its worth that is all you can do.
Tip Seven: Spot the fish: Try to identify the fish at your poker table. If you are not one of the one or two winning players at a typical 6-Max table then you are likely seen as one of the soft targets. Why play in a tough game, which will only cause you lots of frustration when you could play in easier games that will guarantee a profit.
Tip Eight: Card dead: Some days it's going to feel like you haven't been dealt good cards in hours. Have the discipline not to play cards you normally wouldn't just out of boredom or frustration. Again this comes back to recognizing signs of tilt.
Tip Nine: Getting personal: Some players really try and get into the heads of other players at the table in an attempt to try and get them on tilt. It's pointless allowing these players to affect you. If you allow them to get into your head, they've accomplished what they wanted. Be bigger then that.
Tip Ten: Longer sessions: Try and avoid them if at all possible. Even the best players are susceptible to tilt during really long sessions. It's hard to remain very focused for extended periods of time. How long you should play for is really very player dependant. You know your body better then anyone else; as soon as you start feeling mentally or physically exhausted make sure to call it a day.