There are a million articles written on the topic of tilt. The internet abounds with information that describes the game’s vices. You can see helpful tips in one place and hear expert opinion in another. Some dive deep into the study of the issue down to the Freudian hidden subconscious signals; others utilize the higher mathematics and third-order nonlinear partial differential equations to explain the phenomenon of tilt, but it all comes down to one thing: if you do not learn how to control tilt, your entire session can get derailed.

A student in 2CardsCollege‘s top group, Alexander “UmbroSS”, describes the simplest ways to deal with tilt.

One cannot just close the client when he wants to. The particularity of this area of poker is that you have to endure and fight through it.

Shout obscenities at the monitor, finger through beads or chips, put a punching bag near the workplace. Do what you want to let the steam off. It’s better not to tilt at all, but we’re all human beings and it is our nature. The emotions are stronger than reason, which is why they are hard to rein. We understand that it is necessary to stay cool and remain within appropriate boundaries and imagine ourselves to be Patrick Antonius.

“I am a rock, I am a rock, I am a rock,” we repeat again and again, but it does not work. The fact is that the emotions live inside us and when something activates them, it becomes impossible to control them – no logical arguments have an effect on the subconscious mind.

Anyone can be sucked out on anytime, and always in the “most important” all-in. The villain has pulled two outs? Well, okay, if, let’s say, it was a coin flip instead, then I wouldn’t have written this and you wouldn’t be reading this. Played poorly? Extract benefit from this; save the hand and study it later.

What to do if tilt has paralyzed you after all? There are several options: release that we have discussed earlier, avoidance, and replacement.

Everyone goes through avoidance when they do not want to notice their emotions. Instead, they convince themselves that the next time it will be different. It is important to find your optimal state at a time when the blaze starts inside of you and retreat back to this state. You cannot control your emotions if you do not acknowledge them. You must make it clear to yourself that now they control you, not vice versa. Then it is possible take actions to change everything.

The best solution is to stop reacting automatically, but this will require breaking yourself down. Very few possess this skill. It is much easier to replace a negative outflow with the positive one.

There are constant inner dialogs during a session. You are talking to yourself, evaluating what is happening. When the internal dialog is mostly pessimistic, this leads to a deterioration in the quality of your game. After all, our feelings and thoughts affect our actions. That is why it is very important to establish a positive communication with yourself.

“I will not play in the Sunday Million. I will get sucked out on again closer to the bubble”

This way you prepare yourself in advance for a bad outcome in the tournament, and most likely this preliminary mood will play its role. Try to feel the enthusiasm about the event. Say to yourself, “Everything will turn out well.” This will greatly increase the likelihood that the tournament will go the right way for you.

“I am such a loser. I will never play ABI $ 100 and above”

Such thoughts materialize; this is not a joke. It is better to replace this statement with a positive one: “Every day I get in better shape and one day I will be able to get to the top of the poker Olympus!” You will not notice as you begin to approach the target. Weird but true.

“I had 70% pre-flop and lost once again. It is unfair and wrong! “

You must learn to accept the current situation and extract new experience, knowledge, and skills from it. Follow the ancient wisdom: change what you can change and bear with things that are not in your power to change.

“This player irritates the hell out of me!”

In fact, you are the one who has elected to react with irritation and anger. Choose different feelings to react to this person. For example, say with a smile: “What a dummy!”

“Oh, I am so mad!”

You are experiencing negative emotions, but it does not mean that you are truly an angry person. Changing the internal dialog is one of the most effective ways to change the game for the better.

I am also a sinner in this respect. However, after regular work in this direction, the emotional influence on my decision-making has significantly decreased. Two minutes of tilt can screw up two days of grind. Remember that.

Impossible for you not to tilt? Feeling that you are about to do something contradictory to Nash? Sit out everywhere, come out to the balcony, and count to 10. And then come back and keep yourself together, you’re a man, dammit! (Ladies, sorry about that)