Playing poker online is all fun and games… until the pressure sets in. Have you ever gone from feeling optimistic to full-blown rampage in the course of a poker game, only realizing you were losing emotional control when it was much too late to hit the brakes? Then you know what a poker tilt feels like. This is actually a very typical issue in poker, and it all boils down to an issue of self-control… or lack thereof.
You can’t play properly under the influence of angeror other overblown emotions, much like you can’t play properly under the influence of alcohol or other mind-altering drugs. The very best poker players are those who can always keep their feelings in check and use their critical thinking to best advantage. If you’re looking for ways to get a handle on poker tilt and take your game to the next level, this article will be useful!
Dealing With Tilt is Only Possible Before it Happens!
Anyone out there who may be desperately looking for a way to deal with poker tilt must realize it’s just not possible. Once you’ve lost control, there is no turning back. If your emotions overflow to the point of rampaging fury, you’ll be quite unlikely to go back to that calm and collected posture that is so essential to do well in a poker game. In other words, when you realize you have once again lost your temper, the best you can do is to just step away from the table because nothing good will happen from that moment onwards. You can’t beat poker tilt when it’s settled in! But you certainly can learn to keep it at bay.
You have to think of poker tilt as a point of no return, so you can focus your efforts to avoid crossing that threshold. There is no chance you’ll somehow manage to relax when you’ve reached the “berserk” point, but you can learn to be attentitve to your emotions and judge how far you remain from that line while taking actions to step back. The farther away you remain from the tilt line, the easier you’ll manage to stay in control.
You do this by keeping your emotions in check and being very rational. To stay away from the tilt, you must get in the habit of constantly gauging your own emotions by watching how you react to major events in a game. If you feel like verbally asssaulting other players when they win a hand , then youre emotions are getting out of control. If you feel annoyed because you keep getting bad cards, you instantly get a step away from your comfort zone and towards the tilt zone.
You want to be in a position of mental acceptance and just observe the flow of the game rationally and focus as much as you can on analyzing your ideal next move. This doesn’t mean ignoring your emotions – it actually means being hyper-vigilant to the slightest sign of disturbance.
If favor playing online casino poker, you should actually find that managing the tilt threshold is a little easier, compared to playing in a traditional casino. There are less distractions when you’re sitting in front of your computer, and other players will have fewer channels available to taunt you with. The principle remains the same however – you have to keep watching your emotions attentively so you can manage them rather than be managed by them.
How to Control Poker Tilt Using Simple Tricks
When you’re keeping your mind’s eye on that line of no return, there are several poker tilt tips you can use to stay relaxed and as centered as possible.
Listening to music is one of the simplest and most convenient techniques available. You can just wear headphones to tune out the banter and stay focused on the game, and that will help you control your personal atmosphere.
Meditation and deep breathing also works for many players. When you feel emotions stirring, just focus on breathing as deeply as you can and put all your attention in your breath to shut down any distractions.
Positive affirmations can also be useful to keeping your emotions steady; just repeat specific phrases inside your mind over and over in a soothing tone, such as “the right cards will come” or “winners know how to keep calm”.
If you don’t want to learn meditation or do affirmations and you don’t feel like listening to music, you can just take a short break to get distracted and get back into a happy place in your mind. Often you’ll realize that will make a tremendous difference your performance!