Tilt in Poker - 7 Unknown Factors: Part 1

Hello all you guys out there grinding the tables heavily or just venturing in the poker business briefly, I’m am professional poker player and coach Scrimitzu, and this is my first article that I write on poker, I hope we’ll have a long and glorious collaboration.

This partnership works like this: I promise that if you’ll read my articles on a regular basis, you’ll improve your game a whole lot in the long run, and you in turn have to keep working on your game and just coming back for more.

We want you to be at the top of your game and crushing those limits, so follow me whenever I’m posting an article, because being among the guys who read these means being among the winners.

Tilt has been around since ages have passed, just look at this:

And how can we, as simple poker players, argue with the great Buddha? The answer is simple, we can’t.

But what we can do, if we don’t have that optimal control when tilting, is to understand it better and breach it’s causes, so we can approach the problem from the root up.

If we just snip the body of this problem, it will just grow on us again next time we lose four buyins to Lady Luck or our bluffing spot was perfect but the other player “didn't understand” and “is so bad” so that he called with a marginal holding.

First off, we need to understand tilt more as a fluctuation of emotions than pure anger. So what I mean by this is that your emotions are affected by a series of things that could be totally non-related to poker, but this emotional variance can cause fluctuations also in your game, making it an A- game, maybe B game, C game, and sometimes when more fluctuation factors arise, D and E games.

You might actually be a winning player, but you’re donking off a lot of stacks when you’re tilting, and tilting often enough that you’re losing in the long run. That’s why we need to address some tilt issues that you maybe didn't know about, and contribute to your state when hitting the tables.

Tilt is more a fluctuation of emotions than pure anger

That means that external factors that happen in your “outside-the-tables” life could influence your overall game performance and we don’t want that to happen, now do we?

It takes a lot of practice and possibly meditation to overcome exterior factors and when you’re at the tables to be perfectly objective, but I promise you guys that with a few preparations it can be done!

So let’s get to it, shall we?

We’ve all been there. During the middle of the session we realize that we just came home from work or classes and we were so pumped up by the idea of playing poker that we forgot to eat. Heck, most of the times when I wake up in the morning and fire up the PokerTube stream, I also forget to eat.

A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that being hungry can cause extreme anger in some people.

The researchers found out that the people with lower blood sugar were more angry than not, and it affected their relationships and all-around behavior.

So next time when you’re firing up those tables, remember beforehand to either fire up that barbecue, or just get some leftovers or snacks to aid you in your journey on the virtual felt.

If you thought hunger was bad, wait till you get a load of thirst. You don’t have to be overly thirsty to get angry, just mildly dehydrated.

It has been medically proven that mild dehydration leads to anger, fatigue and mood swings, and also sometimes headaches! Dehydration affects cognition, concentration and the general ability to think clearly and control mood.

So be sure to have that bottle of water standing beside, and don’t forget to use it! Don’t wait for your mouth to be as dry as some people’s humor, take regular sips so that way you won’t even experience the beginning of dehydration, or it’s dreadful symptoms!

Being hungry or thirsty can lead to anger, fatigue and mood swings

If you’re arguing often enough with a member of your family, you might have not noticed, but this affects your poker game in the long run, because it imposes you not thinking 100% at the game and it may result in wandering thoughts and lack of concentration.

This is also true for arguing with your spouse, partner, friends or business associates, and just anyone that could matter in your life! So next time when you catch yourself arguing, let go just because it’s usually not worth the energy, let other people have their way and you just nod and do whatever you would be doing in the first place. Emotional distress vanished!

You can always improve your mood by exercising regularly, and this also helps control tilt in the long run! Exercise helps release the serotonin hormone which is the chemical that is responsible for your happiness, so exercising regularly(also sunlight helps), will make sure that your serotonin levels are running high and you’re doing greater than ever at the tables.

So next time you get set under set, the opponent hits his gutshot vs your top two pair and you get it in with the nut flush and the opponent rivers a boat, consider running, jump-rope or a combination between outdoor squats, push-ups and pull-ups, or just going to the gym as your best options, and playing on to get back to even your worst option.

That’s about it for this article guys, Part Two is coming in two days so stay tuned,we’ll have the other three reasons in the second article, and also add some vital information that you can use to prevent tilt at all costs and be in your Zen Zone as much as possible.

Until then, let nothing affect you and remember this quote from our master, Bruce Lee:

This means you need to adapt to anything and be ready for everything.

Until next time, good luck at the tables and Blo Blo Blo!

Scrimitzu signing out.

Tilt in Poker - 7 Uknown Factors: Part 2