The Psychology of Tilt
How much does tilt really affect the outcome of a hand or even a whole tournament? I think it has a much greater effect than many believe and so I think it is important to discuss it. Many players ignore it and just say, “I never tilt” and go on believing they don’t when all the while they are completely on tilt. There are many different degrees of tilt, some of which are obvious and others that are not as recognizable to either the player on tilt or to the observers. Being honest with yourself as to whether or not you tilt is a key to becoming a better player. Knowing what factors can put a player on tilt will help you recognize when you are tilting. Remember, poker is a game that has a huge psychological factor. Your own psychology is the most important. Without the correct mindset, you have zero chance of being a consistent winning player.
First, let me say that there is a difference between tilt and “steam.” Steam is simply blowing off some hot air because you are upset at a result. This can actually be healthy and good for your mind. A good player with a strong psychology can actually use steam to keep himself off tilt. Phil Hellmuth, as an example, is the king of steam. He has no problem letting everyone know how bad a play was or how amazing a result is based on the math of the situation. This is his way of venting and getting it off his chest. However, he does not let it affect his decision-making in future situations. That is the big difference. Tilt is disastrous because, by definition, it is when you let results affect how you play in the upcoming situations. I don’t steam, but sometimes wonder if I just let it all out with a bloodcurdling scream for the thousands of bad beats, bad situations, and unfavorable results I have endured, that maybe I’d be better off. As it is now, I just laugh it off and that stupid phrase comes to mind, “Well, that’s poker.” This works for me, so I guess there is no reason to start screaming and kicking over chairs. Just remember that knowing your own psychology and knowing what calms you and what enrages you is important to keeping yourself on your “A” game.
So what puts a player on tilt? Yikes, there are literally thousands of reasons a player can get upset and then completely “donk” off his chips, including outside forces like phone calls, bad news, and home issues. Make sure you have a clear head before you sit down to play. At the tables, however, the most common catalyst for tilt is a bad beat. I have nothing to say about that other than, “Get over it!” In my mind, there is no such thing as a bad beat. If the card that beats you is left in the deck, then it has as good of a shot of being the next card up as any other. If bad beats couldn’t happen, then you wouldn’t even play the game. The fact that poker is not all skill is what makes it so great. If you wanted to play a game based on skill alone, you’d play chess … or checkers (These are about the only two games in the world that are 100 percent skill).
OK, moving on. What else tilts a player? I’ll just list some things and maybe dig into them a bit, but you will see that one common denominator is the true reason for all tilt while at the tables. Making a bad play that you regret often will tilt you. You ran a bad bluff that was unnecessary or you didn’t have enough information and just donked off half your stack. Somebody bluffed you and showed you. Sometimes you don’t even lose a single chip and go on tilt. Maybe you were in a situation where it was 50-50 whether or not you should play your hand and you choose not to. You would have flopped the nuts and there was tons of action and chips flying everywhere and you missed out on a huge pot that you really needed. Or maybe you played a hand where you were a huge favorite and the miracle card came that split the pot with your opponent. You didn’t lose any money but you were beside yourself with anger. Or, how about table talk? Maybe you just didn’t like some of the people at your table or what they were saying and now you unnecessarily went after them with marginal holdings.
Regardless of the cause of your tilt, it boils down to your own ego. Whether you make a bad play, get outplayed, or make a great play that doesn’t work out right, it’s your ego that puts you on tilt. Get over yourself. It’s ironic that the better player you think you are, the more often you tilt. I won’t name any names but I’m sure you can think of a few that are victims of this. Obviously, most pros have their egos in check but I am sure you all know of that guy at your home game, local casino, or online who just thinks he’s the best thing since the miniskirt (That’s a better analogy than sliced bread, in my opinion). He gets bluffed out of his chair or a worse player catches the miracle card and before you know it, his fragile little ego causes him to tilt off his remaining stack. “I’m better than you; there’s no way you should have beat me in that hand.” “There’s no justice in poker.” “I made a great play and you got sooo lucky.” “That’s the last time you will bluff me, I promise you that!” I, I, I, me, me, me, blah blah blah. Once you realize that this game is not about you and that the results do not matter, then you will be less likely to tilt. You have to take all the emotion out of the game. The game is all about making good situational decisions and what happens after that is meaningless. Once you have made your decision, the flop, turn, and river are just blank pieces of paper. With any luck, the chips will come your way after you have made the best possible decision most consistently (and they will, by the way). The key is to be confident in your decision making. I mean, really love your own choices. Once you reach a level at which you know all the factors that go into decision making and you use them all to make the best decision every time, you will be hugely profitable over the long term regardless of any bad results that happen along the way.
A good friend and great poker player, Scott Fischman, and I were having a drink in Australia at the Aussie Millions last year and he asked me a question that illustrates this point. He asked, “Do you get more upset when you take a bad beat or when you shove all in in the small blind with 6-2 and the big blind wakes up with aces?” He meant the latter to illustrate an example of a perceived bad play. I thought about it for a minute and said, “Well, I’d hate myself if I shoved with 6-2 and didn’t really need to do so, walked into aces and crippled myself. And I try not to get upset over bad beats. Hmm.” So I was starting to lean toward pushing with the 6-2 if given those choices. As I was mumbling along trying to give my answer and trying to act like I don’t let bad beats upset me, he interrupted and said, “The bad beat upsets me way more.” I said, “Why?” He said, “Because I have faith in my decisions. I believe in myself with whatever choices I make regardless of the result. If I felt like pushing with 6-2 and had my reasons for doing so and walked into aces, I would just laugh it off. Oops, that didn’t work.” So, the point here is that if you make good decisions and believe in them 100 percent, then the results are irrelevant. And just because Scott may get upset over the bad beat doesn’t mean it will tilt him. There is a difference between not liking a result and letting it affect you.
So, what is the purpose of tilt? I mean what are we trying to do by overplaying our hands and failing to recognize situations? Well, we are trying to get our chips back to regain our flexibility so we can settle down again later and have a chance to still win. Being that that is a good reason and quite necessary, why is tilt so bad? Again, it goes back to decisions. The one making the best decision has a higher percentage of winning a pot or not losing one. When you fail to recognize a situation or overplay a hand, you are relying too much on luck. The object of poker is to take as much luck out of the game as possible. It is already so riddled with luck, why add more of a luck factor by overplaying something and praying for the result to be favorable? Whenever you put your chips in just hoping for something to happen, you are probably making a mistake. This is where playing against a tilting player can be dangerous because, in the short run, that guy on tilt might just catch what he needs, and now put you on tilt. Sometimes, however, the fact that your opponent is on tilt may be just enough of a reason to make your decision to call him easier. Just pay close attention to chip stacks and think strategically in relation to what point of the tournament you are at when factoring an opponent’s tilt into your decision making. Always weigh the risk versus the reward, asking yourself what happens if you fold, call and win, or call and lose.
Never underestimate the power of tilt. Tilt can even carry over into a whole new tournament, especially for those who play online. Don’t let that happen to you. Find something that relaxes you, a thing, a word, a statement, or a laugh and keep reminding yourself that as long as you made a good decision, the result doesn’t matter. If you made a bad decision, then forgive yourself and don’t do it again - if you still have chips left, of course. Just remember to keep ego and emotion out of it and always be honest with yourself and know when you are on tilt, even if it’s just a “little” tilt.
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