2:26pm: This is a VERY helpful article originally written by Alan Schoonmaker. I originally read the article 4 years ago, and I wouldn’t be the player I am today without having done so. With that being said, I strongly recommend you set aside 15 minutes at some point to read this.

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If you hit a pinball machine too hard, a sign flashes “Tilt,” and the machine stops working. When a poker player gets hit by too much stress, the effects can be almost as visible and much more destructive. If you tilt a pinball machine, you lose a little pleasure. If you go on tilt in poker, you can blow your bankroll or, if it is too extreme or lasts too long, even lose your home or business. Because luck has such huge short-term effects, you can go on tilt without losing any money this time, and you might not even realize that you’re off balance. However, since the danger is so great, you must constantly watch out for it.

Most of us have experienced brief periods of tilt, and some players have lost control for weeks, even moving to larger games or switching to the craps tables, trying desperately to get even. Since tilt is so common and destructive, this four-part article will cover all the major issues:

I. Avoiding it

II. Creating it

III. Exploiting it

IV. Coping with it

This starts and ends by discussing ourselves, while the middle two parts focus on other people. Of course, we profit when other people go on tilt, but avoiding it or coping with our own emotions is much more important. We can gain a little from another person’s foolishness, but if we go on tilt and stay there, we can lose a great deal.

We all know what tilt classically means. However, for the sake of clarification, I’ll use a broader definition: “Tilt” means someone is making plays for emotional reasons that he would not normally make. Wild aggression is just its most visible form. Another form is to become so upset, frightened, or convinced you can’t win that you “play scared.” You might fold good draws with pot odds or not raise with pocket kings. Your play deteriorates so much that the “I can’t win” belief becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. This form of tilt is less dramatic and noticeable than wild aggression, but it can be equally destructive. Perhaps you won’t have such dramatic short-term losses, but because it is harder to recognize, this form of tilt can last much longer, slowly destroying your bankroll.

1. Avoiding is Much Better Than Coping.Of course, you must learn how to cope with tilt, but avoiding it is much better. Good professionals emphasize preventing problems more than solving them. Good dentists tell us to brush and floss. Good doctors recommend diet and exercise. Good lawyers try to keep us out of court. Exactly the same principle applies here: If you wait until you’re on tilt before taking corrective action, some of the damage will have already been done, and your problems will be MUCH harder to solve. So, stop tilt before it starts.
2. Knowledge is Your First Line of Defense.The first step is to acquire two types of knowledge. First, you need to understand poker thoroughly. Mason Malmuth once wrote: “Emotional control is … aided by a thorough understanding of how the game should be played.” Without that understanding, you may overreact to events that would not severely upset a more informed player. For example, I’ve read many threads on P5s forums stating that someone went on tilt because he played well but was beaten by bad luck and stupidity. Yet, the poster’s own words clearly reveal that he played badly and deserved to lose.Or, take bad-beat stories. Many of them show that the storyteller doesn’t understand the most basic element of poker, the odds. You probably have seen people bitterly complain that they raised with A-Q suited and were called and beaten by an “idiot” with K-2 off suit. They seem to believe that their hand should never lose, but it’s really only about a 2-to-1 favorite, meaning it will lose about one-third of the time. In many situations, the “idiot” would have been absolutely right to call.The second kind of knowledge can come only from detailed, accurate records of your own results. If you’re a long-term winner, these records will show that the bad beat you just took or tonight’s “huge” loss is trivial, a tiny fraction of your total profits. Even if you’re a long-term loser, good records will show that tonight’s loss isn’t that important. That’s why so many experts recommend treating tonight as just part of one continuous poker game. When you put a bad beat or tonight’s loss into a larger context, you’re much less likely to overreact.
3. Identify Your “Triggers.”Although a solid foundation of knowledge is essential, it is not enough. By definition, tilt is an emotional overreaction, and emotions obey their own, partly irrational rules. We all have done stupid things for emotional reasons, and we should understand the factors that trigger emotional reactions.The three most common triggers are alcohol, bad beats, and losing too much money tonight. Alcohol is particularly dangerous because people often think they can “handle it,” even when its effects are obvious to others. The same illogical thinking that makes so many drunk people drive makes them believe, “I can play better drunk than they can play sober.” Other triggers include playing for larger stakes than usual, being “card dead” for hours, obnoxious people, being hungry and/or tired, inept dealers, software problems and bad connections (for online players), and even loud noise or sitting next to an inconsiderate smoker - anything that upsets you. By themselves, none of them may have much effect, but several of them combined can destroy your balance.Triggers are individualistic, and yours may be quite different from mine. You might not even notice things that really bother me, and vice versa. You should therefore remember what caused past tilts, and then avoid as many triggers as possible. Of course, you can’t avoid bad beats, inept dealers, and some other triggers, but you can avoid alcohol, large losses, and many others.For example, nearly all of us have a “psychological bankroll,” the amount we can lose without getting severely upset. It is almost always much smaller than our financial bankroll. You might have a $5,000 bankroll, but get very upset by a $300 loss. If you don’t recognize and stay well within your psychological limits, one bad beat can put you on tilt. You might decide to buy more chips than your usual limit because you’ve “got to get even.” Once you start thinking that way, you can lose control, keep buying more chips, go to the ATM, perhaps blow your entire bankroll, and then borrow money. It has happened countless times.
4. Think About Triggers Before You Start Playing.Some triggers have nothing to do with poker. Problems at home or work, backaches, financial pressures, or anything that troubles you will increase your vulnerability. For example, if you had a bad day at work, argued with your spouse, and have a headache, don’t play poker “to relax.” Instead of relaxing, you could easily become even more tense and play badly; once you do that, it’s just a small step to going on tilt and losing lots of money.
5. Monitor Yourself.You should constantly monitor both your play and your emotional state. Ask yourself again and again: “How well am I playing?” “Why did I make that last play?” “Am I angry, confused, sleepy, eager for revenge?” “Am I feeling the effects of alcohol?” Many people have taken huge losses because they did not realize how much their drinking or other factors had affected them.There are lots of similar questions, but most people don’t ask or answer them. The poker culture is extremely anti-introspective. We’d rather focus on how other people think, feel, and act than seriously analyze ourselves. In fact, your opponents will often see that you are on tilt or approaching it long before you do.
6. When in Doubt, Quit.A later column will focus on what to do when you are clearly on tilt, but don’t wait until you are sure you’re on it. If you see signs that your play is deteriorating, and/or you’re getting upset, go home. I cannot count the number of times that people - including me - have ignored that advice. We may recognize the signs but stay because we won’t admit that we’re not playing our “A-game.” Or, we may think, “Perhaps I’m not playing my best, but this game is too good to leave.” Sometimes we may say it even when the game is too tough for us. We’re so off balance that we can’t assess ourselves or the competition.You may think I’m being too conservative, but we’ve all seen players who are on tilt lose serious money in wonderful, average, and terrible games. There will always be another poker game, but if you go on tilt and blow your bankroll, you won’t be playing in it.

Start a Clean Slate at a New Room, a New Sharkscope, and Keep HFL Free in the Process

This is an article I wrote from back when I first started this site, before it became a blog.

1:40am: This is a true story about the potential effects of “tilt” on the human brain, and how it can ruin not just your day, week, month, or year - but also your life.

For the sake of anonymity, we will call the unfortunate soul “Nate”. About 4 years ago, Nate was introduced to poker, right around the time the poker boom first started. He had no clue how to play, but he took one step in a card room, and knew he was interested in finding out. Nate had a couple of friends from which he could learn. However, like most people, he was no good and lost a little bit of money in the beginning. He was lucky to get away with the downswings at this point, however, as he was mostly playing 3-6 limit hold em and similar low limit games.

After a couple of months of losses, Nate noticed he had started winning. He had a couple of winning sessions here and there, and eventually he noticed he was winning more than he was losing. Nate had turned $200 into about $1,300 within 3 months of learning the game. He then decided to test his skills in a higher limit game (2-5 NL) with his $1,300 bankroll (which is a BAD idea if you have read any of my articles). However, it actually worked out in Nate’s case because he ran into a tremendous run of both great cards and beginners luck in this increase in stakes. At the same time, I was experiencing a similar run coincidentally, and Nate and I were literally lighting the felt on fire. Nate then turned the $1,300 into $10,000 in about a month following his initial $1,300 run. I, meanwhile, had taken in around $8,000 that month, which wasn’t as impressive as his run, but I felt like my profit was more of a steady grind and less of a good run.

With that being said, Nate was on top of the world. He had money he never dreamed he would, he made new friends, and was doing this all by doing something he now loved: poker. He also partied like a rock star and dined like a king. Every night, either before or after poker, he frequented local upscale strip clubs and partook in activities that I won’t mention here. In addition to this, you can tell he was high on life. It’s as if his smile was permanently glued onto his face.

However, as you will find out, that smile did come off his face. What you are about to hear is not pleasant to the ears, nor is it all that uncommon. Don’t think that it can’t happen to you, because there is a fine line between profitability and disaster in poker.

After his $10,000 run, Nate then went on to higher limits. He gave 5-10 NL a shot, which also proved to be profitable. He then turned $10,000 into $20,000 within another month and a half or so, and at his peak had earned $23,000. With more money than he had ever known in his life, and with a great bid of confidence from the other players in the casino, Nate stepped up to the big weekend game: 10-25 NL . The idea of making $2,000 routinely on a single pot was highly attractive to him because he felt very comfortable with his ability to play the game and to think and make better decisions than the players around him, no matter what their income level was. Nate didn’t “crush” the game as he previously did with 2-5 NL, however he didn’t do all that bad either. It is very routine to lose or win $2,000 in one single session in this game. However, as a wise person once told me, “the wins never feel as good as the losses feel bad.” Nate had a bad night and lost $3,200 in a session, and this did not sit well with him at all. In an attempt to get his money back, he took a trip to the “pits” to play some baccarat. As we all know (hopefully), casino table games are “house revenue” games, and have a negative expectation in the long run. Nate simply did not understand this concept as he sat down at the table. However, in a “fortunate” swing of events for him, Nate actually got ALL of his money back plus another $500. He gave me a call to tell me the good news, and he sounded like he was on top of the world. This one event would change the course of his life as we know it.

I took the time to explain to Nate how dangerous these casino games were, and explained to him the best I could the concept of negative expectation and long run return. He assured me that he understood what I was saying and that it was a one time occurrence just intended as a way to “get even” from his recent losing session in the big game. Nate went to sleep with piece of mind but then returned the next night to give the 10-25 NL a try again with a fresh outlook and clean slate. Low and behold, the same unfortunate situation presented itself before him, and he was stuck $2,500 for the night about 6 hours into it. We would always walk over to each others’ tables to check on each other to see how the other was doing. On my way to the big game to see how he was doing, I noticed that he wasn’t there anymore, and someone new was in his seat. I found it odd that he would leave without saying goodbye, even if he had a losing session. It just didn’t seem like something he would do. On a hunch, I thought he might have went to the baccarat table again, so I took a walk over there. I was shocked to see he was there for the second night in a row. I then asked Nate “what in the world” he was doing, and urged him to get up. He assured me that he would in a little while. When people tell me something, I give them the benefit of the doubt until they prove otherwise, so I went back to my cozy spot at the 2-5 NL table.

At the end of my session and on the way out, I stopped by the baccarat table to say goodbye to Nate. However, we was not there. I thought, “this couldn’t be good, no way.” I was right. I got a call about 10 minutes later saying “dude I’m SICK. I lost $8,000 tonight.” Of course I felt bad for him, but I wanted to be a good friend rather than a sympathetic one and told him that although I feel for his situation, I cannot comfort him because I originally disagreed with his decision to play baccarat. We had a meaningful and seemingly constructive conversation about how we would easily be able to grind the money he lost back by playing solid poker AND going back to the middle stakes. I explained to Nate the effects of bankroll on his play and also his “tilt factor.” He agreed, vowed to only play poker, and we ended the conversation.

The next month consisted of Nate grinding his money back, and calling me at the end of the night looking for advice on if he was making correct decisions or not. Most of his poker decisions were correct, and I assured him that his decisions at the poker table were never in question. Once he won all of his money back, he once again started playing 10-25 NL despite my disapproval. In fact, as a measure of protest, I told Nate that I would not talk to him until he did two things: 1. stop playing limits that weren’t in his bankroll range, and 2. stop playing baccarat in attempt to make up for money that he lost in poker. There was a noticeable difference in the frequency of time we spent talking, as he knew I was ashamed of him. I also got the feeling he was ashamed of himself as well, despite his uncontrollable urge to mend his wounds at the baccarat table. I didn’t hear from him in two weeks, so I figured things couldn’t be that bad because if had lost a significant amount of money in one night or week, I would have received a call from him for sure.

Then the phone rang. It was Nate. Before I could even say “Hello”, he interrupted me by saying “It happened again.” I said, “What do you mean ‘it’ happened again?” He said, “Me. Me happened again.” “How much have you lost?”, I said. He replies, “You don’t even want to know.” I held my breath and expected the worst, but he told me that he had about $7,000 left. I told him to calm down and to put things into perspective: after all, he started with $200 and had been able to live off his profits from poker for a good while now. He was distressed almost to the point of being inconsolable. However, by the end of the conversation we had come to an understanding of where his mind was and where it needed to be. He vowed, once more, to never play baccarat again and to grind back his profits by playing 2-5 NL.

Things went well for about a week. The phone rang again. It was him. “It’s gone”, he said. “All of it?”, I replied. “Yes, Jason.” Obviously there were no words I could possibly say to him to console him or to make him feel any less worse than he already felt. The only thing I could tell him was that I am his friend, and I was there for him, so if he needed to vent or if he needed a person to talk to about it, he shouldn’t hesitate to get in touch with me. He took a cold shower and then went to sleep for what seemed to be about a week, because I didn’t hear from him.

Nate then walks up to me on a routine night at the 2-5 NL and tells me that he was able to get his hands on $2,000 and that he was back with a fresh outlook and new attitude. Even though I disagreed with $2,000 as being a sufficient bankroll for 2-5 NL, I encouraged him in his decision to return to poker because I knew that when he is playing his “A” game, he is one of the better players in the casino. He sat down with me at the 2-5 and crushed the game just as I thought he would. “See? I told you, man. This is where it’s at.”, I told him following our session. He seemed slightly encouraged but it seemed like something was still on the back of his mind. “It was a loan, Jason.”, he told me on the way out. “Are you serious?”, I asked, although he was obviously very serious. I didn’t even need to tell him that this was a bad idea, he already knew. However, I still had faith in him as a player, so I hoped for the best and wished him luck.

Two weeks passed and he turned $2,000 into $5,000. Two more weeks passed and he turned $5,000 into $10,000. A month later Nate had overcame all odds and turned $2,000 into $20,000 once more and once again he was on top of the world. I asked him what he thought about paying back the loan now that he had the money and a comfortable bankroll. “I’ll let it ride until I get down to the last $2,000.”, he replied. I shook my head and disagreed, but knowing Nate, there was no changing his mind.

Well, since you know before reading this story that it is a “nightmare story”, I don’t think I need to tell you what happens next. In short, Nate once again “got comfortable”, started playing higher limits, and was unable to handle the downswings. Lightning struck yet again, and Nate was once again broke. However, I didn’t get a call this time: I had to call him. For a week or so, he didn’t answer his phone out of shame, which is understandable considering the level of embarrassment he probably felt. When I finally got in touch with him, he asked me, “Dude, what is wrong with me?”. I then told him that he had a problem.

Once again, on a routine night at the 2-5, Nate walks up to me noticeably more happy, and he told me that he now has $4,000 to work with. I asked him if it was a loan, and he just walked away without answering.

Can you believe what happens next? He once again turned $4,000 into over $20,000: $22,000 to be exact. We had a conversation on the phone where i preached to him for about 4 hours straight that he was given a third lease on life and that he needed to guard this bankroll with his life, and he agreed. However, once again I found him at the 10-25 NL table on a Friday night. I looked at him in scorn, and pretty much ignored any attempts he made to justify his decision. I then decided to just cut all ties to my personal emotion when it came to this matter, and that he had to make mistakes on his own in order to fully learn his lesson. On my way out, I once again stopped at the table just to say bye only to discover that he was not there.

Low and behold, he was sitting at the baccarat table with a sob story about how he had lost $1,500 on some “donkey call” another player made pre flop, calling $1,500 with Ac5c while Nate held KsKc, only to spike an ace (actually, two aces) on the flop. “I give up.”, I told him, so I just sat there at the table with him and watched him play. To make an already long story shorter, I will just sum things up by saying that 4 hours later, it was gone. All of it. We then walked out together, and I thought he might be suicidal at that point, so I stayed on the phone with him on the way home. He still owed me $500 from this one time I spotted him when he wanted to buy into a 2-5 NL game but didn’t have the cash on him. He vowed to repay me, as soon as he got a job. I told him not to worry about it at all, and that he had more important things to focus on, namely paying back $17,000 in loans (which I only thought was $6,000 but he admitted it was more) and regaining his sanity. We hung up and parted ways for the night. A couple of weeks went by and I didn’t hear from him, so I gave him a call. He didn’t answer. People at the casino were asking about him as if I was his secretary, and I put two and two together and realized that he might owe some people money. More time passed, and I still hadn’t heard anything from Nate.

To this day, I still haven’t.

1. What lesson can be learned here? First off, never ever ever ever ever play a limit that your bankroll cannot support (see my bankroll article). Secondly, and perhaps even more important is: never play casino revenue table games. Those games are not designed for the player to win, and as we talked about in a previous article: there is a reason casinos “wine and dine” players with free meals, hotel rooms and guest privileges. And last but not least, learn to control your emotions at the table. Ultimately, Nate couldn’t control his “tilt factor,” and this was his fatal flaw. It was a shame to see someone with so much raw talent at the poker table not have the discipline to be a true professional at what he was doing. Do not make the same mistake!
2. The key to avoiding the same fate is knowing yourself. Know everything about yourself. Know your tendencies, know your habits, know you strengths and most importantly: know your weaknesses. If you are self aware of the destructive behavior that can cause you to lose your bankroll, you can avoid it when you recognize you are heading down an undesirable path. For example, if you know you will be tempted to play blackjack to make up for your poker losses when you have a losing session, only bring a certain amount with you to the casino and leave your atm card at home!
3. Always keep in mind the big picture. If you are a true professional poker player, you know that your hourly wage includes the losing sessions. On your way out of the casino on a miserable night, just tell yourself, “It’s ok. I’m still making $x/hr.” Only you know what your statistics look like in the long run, which is why keeping track of your results is so important, as we have already talked about.

Start a Clean Slate at a New Room, a New Sharkscope, and Keep HFL Free in the Process