We’re all human, and most of us are lugging around emotional baggage of one sort or another. Most players tend to view tilt as a reaction to events that happen exclusively while playing poker, but that is not the case. It is imperative you be at your best when you sit a table – whether that’s in a casino or in an online poker room. If your ability to think is impaired, then you will not be on your “A” game. All of these events, including events not even related to poker, can cause a player to start losing emotional control.Īvoiding tilt is important because poker is a game of decisions and, like drugs or alcohol, anger impairs your ability to think rationally and logically. Tilt is the poker phenomenon of playing poorly due to emotional distress, usually anger, caused by a combination of any number of events: bad beats, bluffs gone awry, long stretches of being card dead, losing a series of “coin flips”, losing to a perceived lesser player, or just reacting badly to something said by an opponent. The ability to keep your emotions in check – to avoid tilt – will go a long way towards determining how successful you will be. There are many concepts to master to become a successful poker player, but one holds the key to your ultimate success and it has nothing to do with cards.

Reviewed by WSOP Winner Chris ‘Fox’ Wallace.How Much Money Can You Make Playing Poker?.

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