Tilt in poker

What is Tilt?

Tilt is when a player plays poorly due to frustration at the table. This is usually because of a bad beat or losing a big pot. Some people tilt more than others and everyone tilts in different ways. A key to winning at poker is to minimise the time you spend on tilt and lose the absolute minimum during this period.

There are of course different levels of tilt at a poker table. Some people think that if a player is on tilt then they will go all in with a poor hand, as a way of venting their anger. This of course very rarely happens as players who play at a reasonable level are not going to literally throw money away just because they have lost a hand previously. They do however tilt like anyone else; there are much more subtle forms of tilt which you can pick up on at the tables.

Examples of Tilt

For example, you will often see people entering pots with another player just to “get back at them” for winning a pot against them previously.

When you see this it is highly likely that player is on tilt, as it is unlikely they would play this many hands against one person if they had no problem with them.

They are likely risking more of their money to try and beat or outplay an opponent with a worse hand, which is of course a silly idea. In poker you are trying to win money in the long run, not win a pot right now to settle a score.

The very best players are not only great thinkers about the game, they control their emotions and offset the effects of tilt
The most common sign that a player is on tilt is that you will see them chasing draws that they otherwise would not.

For example if a player makes a pot sized bet on the turn and you hold nothing but a naked flush draw, usually most competent players would fold.

However when you bring tilt into the equation, a lot of seemingly good players would make a call here. This is an example of chasing losses which is by far the most common form of tilt, and regularly leads too a larger day in the red.