Leak #3 - Not Managing Tilt well

Tilting

Leak #3 "not managing tilt well" is symbolized by an electrified man. Often this is how we feel before or when tilting, overwhelmed by a huge electrifying field. Tilt happens to all texas holdem poker players, but this is how you react to it that makes the difference between being a losing or a winning player.

You are at a table with a huge 80/25/1 fish with a full stack. You have been waiting for a while for a good hand to play against him when you finally get Q♣Q♥. You raise 4 bb, he calls and the flop is Q♦ 8♥6♠. You feel an adrenaline rush when you discover this beautiful top set, you bet half pot, he raises, you 3-bet allin and he calls.

Your moment of glory has arrived. The turn is 9♥ and the river is 5♠, two blanks. You expect to collect this huge 200 bb pot, when to your amazement you see that you have been sit out and that all the chips went to the fish who shows Q♠7♠.

Steaming

You are steaming. How could this #!&?}! call for his entire stack with TPNK, and how can you be so unlucky (you had 92% chance to win this hand) as to lose against a runner-runner straight?

From then on, there is a persistent bad taste in your mouth and you want to get back as soon as possible what you consider your own money. You rebuy and wait for a good hand. After a few orbits you get A♦T♦ in the cutoff, you raise, everyone folds to your friend in the big blind who reraises.

What could this calling station have? You raise 4-bet him allin, he insta-calls and flips pocket aces.

No miracle cards come and you lose another stack. Now you are utterly furious and steam is coming out both from your mouth and from your ears, if you can imagine the picture. If you already play poker, you know exactly what we are talking about. Otherwise if you want to learn how to play texas holdem on the Internet, believe us these are very common situations and there is no way to avoid them.

There is no way to avoid bad beats, but it is up to you to avoid tilting!

As a matter of fact it is a good thing that these bad beats happen because it means two things. Firstly, it means that there are some fish around who are willing to take disproportionate risks with weak hands where you have a significant advantage, i.e. some players do big -EV plays.

Secondly, negative expected value means that you are the favorite but they will win occasionally. You must understand (or shall we say you must remember) that when you are in a +EV situation, there is a chance that you lose.

The good news is that these winning bad plays will reinforce the fish bad habits, they will remember these big pots that they won and they will keep on doing the same mistakes. So in the long run playing holdem against them is a profitable activity.

Conquering tilt

The way to combat tilt is first to understand what tilt is, and we have given you a good idea in this article. Tilt can be accentuated if some players use abusive language against you in the chat box, if you are exhausted or if you have personal issues.

In order to become a good holdem player, you absolutely need to be self-aware when tilt is starting to pop up in your head. The best remedy against tilt is to leave the tables.

This is what the top players do. Turn off your computer and walk a few blocks around your house to get some fresh air. Go to the swimming pool or take a cold shower. The effect of tilt is temporary, so by getting away, you let tilt dissipate.

If you cannot leave, here is the least that you should do and this is one technique recommended by Mike Caro. Get much tighter for a while until you regain your balance!

Tilt can appear under various scenarios which depend on the player. Some players tilt when they are on a big winning streak. When you do not get good cards or when you do not win pots for a long time, another kind of tilt is the simmering tilt. At some point you cannot take it anymore and start making wild bets, which may degenerate in large chip losses.