Thursday 28 May 2009

Tilt Control:

How could he have called? You had a set on the flop, bet out the flop, he called, and check raised your opponent all-in on the turn. He called, showing only a flush draw, which he hit on the river. Bye-bye tournament. “Why? I got him where I wanted him, and why is he rewarded for that?” A strange feeling is boiling up toward your head. And before you know what it is, your mouse dies when it collided with the solid wall, falling in pieces on the ground. Tilt!

Sounds familiar? Everybody has felt it someday, the annoyance when losing a big pot or several pots in a row. The feeling where you like to smash things up, or try to win the lost pots back by moving up in limits, taking high risks. The huge amount of negative energy rushes through your vanes, and you need to lose that, otherwise you’re losing money. Tilts are always losing you money in the long run. Sure you might win your losses back a few times when tilted, but believe me, this won’t happen most of the times. Your mind is clouded and your analysis blurred. Tilt is a negative emotion, and therefore it has a negative expectation of your winnings. Tilt control is essential to be a winning poker player
.

As said, tilt is an emotion and emotions can be controlled in one way or another. One proved tilt control method is to take a break. Just shut down all your tables, quite the poker client, and start doing something else. Doing physical exercises is good way to lose the negative energy fairly quickly. Putting your mind on completely other matters. How long those brakes must be is difficult to determine. It depends on the nature of the person who is tilting, but also the conditions of the pots where the player experienced bad luck. It’s possible you’re experiencing an intense streak of bad luck over a period of days, weeks even months. Therefore, a brake of a few days or a few weeks is appropriate. This tilt control method is quite drastic, and is inconvenient when you got a bad beat when playing tournaments and you’re still in play after the hand. Another tilt control method is to do breathing exercises. Because breathing is something you can control and regulate, it’s a useful method for achieving a relaxed and clear state of mind. And by doing that you can focus and make the correct analysis again, in short, play your A-game again.

Although those tilt control methods are proven to work, they’re counter methods. By having a good mindset may avoid tilting in the first place. When you recognize that poker is a game where luck is a short-term aspect, because in the long run skill will overcome all luck, you shouldn’t be bothered when losing a pot due to bad luck. A good bankroll management will help here too, because it takes away the pressure of not losing too much of your bankroll at once. All in all, a good bankroll management and tilt control will pave the way where poker skills can walk freely to victories.

No comments:

Poker Blog Headline Animator