All you Need to Know About Tilt

Understanding what negative situations do to you on a personal level and what your reactions to it are is very important for a poker player. After all, controlling one’s emotions is of utmost importance so that you do not reveal your emotions to your opponents. That’s when knowing what “tilt” is pays off.

The various emotional responses that tilt induces

Making mistakes is not considered as tilt. All players sit at the table with some knowledge of the game and they may think of a move before actually executing it. That’s just a bad move but not tilt. Some factors cannot be controlled. After all, poker is a game that involves guessing what cards the other person holds.

Tilt refers to the mistakes one commits under the influence of things that can be controlled. Some of the common reasons why a person commits tilts are:

1. Playing under the influence of drugs, alcohol or other nerve-calming sedatives. These just addle the mind and players make foolish moves that they would not have done under normal circumstances.
2. A long losing streak is the most common tilt trigger for poker players. Not being sure of when a share of the pot can be won affects a player’s morale and self-confidence.
3. Taking a bad beating at the hands of an opponent is also a common tilt trigger.
4. Making disparaging talks about opponents with other people around the table may give you a false sense of self-confidence and spoils the bonhomie around the table. Games get ugly; tempers rise and the hands become worse.
5. Not being able to find a good card, also known as being card-dead for a long time is another common tilt trigger.
6. Not eating well enough before the game due to nervousness or for any other reason may leave a player light-headed at the table and unable to focus on the cards at the tables.
7. When a person sits at the table without enough sleep, the brain is again fuzzy and unable to concentrate. The urge to sleep overpowers concentration and will-power and players make mistakes.

When you are making poor poker moves knowing they are wrong, but unable to control your mind well enough to stop them, they are known as tilts. These are definitely controllable so the next time you’ve not had enough sleep, make a conscious decision to stay away from poker tables and don’t lose any money at the table!

Different forms of tilt

Just like each person is an individual being, their feelings and reactions differ vastly. In order to avoid making mistakes, you should first know what those mistakes may be. If you can correctly identify poker tilts at the beginning, half your problem is solved. Keeping a calm and practical mind is of utmost importance at the poker table. To help you know more about tilts, the common ones have been listed here:

1. Berserker tilts – Like a raging bull that has no real ambition but just pushes its way through the crowd violently, inflicting injuries on others and itself, poker players who are loose-aggressive, frustrated with losses or angry blindly make moves without thinking about the consequences. This is the most dangerous and difficult type of tilt as it is an emotional one. It largely leaves the player completely out of cash and feeling demoralized.
2. Lily-livered tilt – Tight-passive tilts that are opposite of the berserkers see players who are too timid to raise or bet. While berserkers announce their tilt loudly, these players are silently demolished by this trigger. It creeps upon the player and by the time is identified would have already caused a lot of damage to the player.
3. Winner’s Title – Overconfidence – just one word should give you an idea of what this title does to you. On a winning spree, you are certain you’ll take home a deep share of the pot. Well, overconfidence blinds you to the rising stability of other players who may take advantage of your tilt and recover larger shares of the table and may eventually beat you at the table.
4. Frustration tilt – When a person is card-dead for a while, frustration creeps in. This is often the initial stage of a person getting into the berserker tilt mode. Many people also consider this a milder version of the berserker. You know it’s been a long day, an even longer journey, but delude yourself to believe you can recoup losses suffered at the table or win even more than you already have.
5. Something-to-prove tilt – Flourishing fancy moves to impress or subdue other players is a wise move, provided you’re not up against the pros. People may be fooled by them and treat you with more caution than required, under bet or raise. But pros will know exactly when you’re phony and home in like a shark that has scented blood and finish you off at the table. Well, not quite such a bloody scene unfolds, but you do walk away with a huge loss and impaired credibility.
6. Despondent tilt – When you are down and out and convince yourself that you cannot get on a better footing at the table, although there may be such options available, is called a despondent tilt. After long cashless streaks or a drubbing at the hands of other stronger players at the table triggers this tilt.

So no matter how good a player you are, if you are gripped by one of these tilts, it would not be easy to extricate yourself from its grip. So beware of these tilt triggers!