One thing I pride myself on is that I don't really tilt. I still get a little mad when I get sucked out on, or lose a game I think I should have won, but I don't let it affect my decision making.

Now, I think it's critical to get a little mad in those situations. If you don't have a competitive fire and a strong desire to win, then you're not going to be successful as a poker player. <READMORE>Every loss needs to sting a little, just enough to motivate you to win the next time. The loss of money should never sting, because that means you're playing above your means, but without that emotional component – your competitive instinct – you wouldn't have the drive to improve. You also wouldn't remember, and make sure not to repeat, your mistakes.

This sting is all well and good, so long as it doesn't affect your decision making process. Once it does, there really aren't any cards that can save you. A large component of poker is confidence. You must have 100%, unwavering confidence in your reads at all times. When you pull the trigger on a steal, you need to be certain it will work – because the worst thing that can happen is for you to be second-guessing yourself after the fact.

That's what tilt really is – a fog over the table that you can't see through. You start hesitating on firing out continuation bets you usually would make without a second thought. You start seeing monsters in the closet, assuming everyone has that one hand that beats you – and in the process, let them draw out. Every time you know you're beat, you think “what if” and talk yourself into calling. Your reading skills disentegrate; suddenly, you can't put anyone on a hand anymore, and it's like playing in the dark. In this state, desperation often outweighs judgement, and you start overplaying the first decent hand you see just because you don't know if you'll get another opportunity.

I just finished my first ever tilt session. For over a month, I've been running worse than I ever thought possible. I'm card dead, going whole games without a single pair or premium hand. My AK isn't hitting, my pocket pairs aren't flopping sets, and those gutshots and backdoor flushes keep cracking my decent made hands. If Im tied at 1500 with one player, with three players left, his A4 is probably a favorite over my AQ. It sucks, there's no doubt about it. But don't let it turn into a self-perpetuating cycle. When the cards start running good again, you'll keep losing if you let the bad times change your game.

For two games, I gave money away. I overplayed weak hands and underplayed strong ones. I talked myself into bad calls, and ran bad bluffs.

And then I snapped out of it. I sat down and thought about some of the mistakes I was making, and I came to some conclusions.

Gather information. It's one of the keys to the game. In addition to paying attention to betting patterns early, don't be hesitant in using probe bets to see where you are in a hand. When I was tilting, I was either over-betting in an attempt to steal without first gathering information, or checking because I didn't want to expend the chips necessary to find some clues. There's nothing worse than having a marginal to semi-strong hand and having no idea where it stands. That leads to bigger mistakes on later streets.

None of us are mind readers. We can't tell just from an opponent's preflop call what they have. Barring any very specific betting tells, preflop action only gives us a pretty wide range of hands. If you're going to make a move, or decide how to play later streets, don't be afraid to gather info with a marginal hand. It's better than making moves in the dark or on pure intuition.

Speaking of playing in the dark, make sure you know why you do everything you do at the table. When you're tilting, you stop using a logical thought process to analyze bets or plan a course of action. You play off your gut, instead, and end up giving away chips because “you thought you could get him to fold” - but without basing that on anything. Don't make it a pissing contest. Before you make anything other than a standard play, a hand that plays itself, say out loud to yourself what your plan is. If you're going to make a steal bet, why do you think it'll work? If it gets called, what will you do on later streets? If your plan is ridiculous, or you don't have one, you'll become painfully aware of that very quickly.

Find reasons to fold. That's what separates great players from losing players. Bad players are incapable of really tough laydowns. They look for reaons to call every time they have any hand. Look for reasons to fold. If you just can't justify a fold, that's a strong indication that you need to call. Especially in the early stages of a game, it's a much bigger sin to call with a marginal hand than to fold one. Many of the pots you lose are avoidable. It's tough to make those laydowns, but you'll notice many top players have more respect for a sick laydown than a sick bluff. There will always be more chances to gather chips, but not if you bust out of the tournament. We're always eager to go with our guts when they say our opponents are bluffing; listen to to your gut when it says you're beat, too.

Measure your reads. You're trying to get into you opponents heads, to determine how they play. If you don't expect their moves – even in hands you're not in – you do not have a good enough read to do anything other than play your cards. You need to be able to feel when they're going to bet before they do it, because you've got a grasp on their habits and timing. If there moves are catching you by surprise, you do not have a strong enough read to act on. This works better with better players, as they'll make more positional/situational plays, but rings true in general too.

Last, remember that bad streaks don't last forever. Every losing streak is followed by a winning streak. Don't play desperate, and don't chase losses. If you don't want to play after a horrific suckout, don't take it as a personal challenge and rush back in. Play more when you're winning than when you're losing, that's so important I can't stress it enough. Most players do the opposite.

There are plenty of other ways to combat tilt. Take a break, listen to some calming music, play a different type of game to stay fresh. These are some pointers to help you snap yourself out of the cycle of sloppy play that tilt brings. Hopefully, you won't ever need them. Chances are, sooner or later you will. Anyone can rack up money when they're running hot. It's how we react when things are stacked against us that really defines us as players. Shine in those grim times, and you'll find that you won't be playing in a fog for long. </READMORE>