Avoid Tilting - Save Money

Just as tilting is the no.1 enemy of your poker bankroll, discipline could be considered the no.1 factor in turning you into a winner. Despite the fact that poker is mostly considered a game of skill, there is a luck factor in it too, and how one deals with that luck factor sets good players apart from weak or mediocre ones.

The tilt is something that will sooner or later hit you too. There are a variety of reasons that can bring tilting about. Knowing about these reasons is the first step towards combating the phenomenon and allowing discipline to upstage your emotions.

Believe it or not, personal issues can trigger tilting without additional influences by other factors. Therefore, whenever you sit down for a game of real money poker, you have to make sure there are no personal problems hovering about to cloud your judgment.

Sometimes cards run cold, and many people feel cheated at times like this. That too will potentially lead to tilting. The problem behind tilting is a very basic one: we're all brought up to believe that there is a right and a wrong in this world, two clearly defined nuances of everything that happens around us. Right has to triumph over wrong regardless of the circumstances. This is what we are taught as kids, this is what television indoctrinates us with, and this is what politicians always build upon. The sad truth is though, there is no such thing as right and wrong in this world. Everything is a function of the point of view you adopt. Something that may be right and beneficial for one person can be the deadly poison of another. Everything is relative, therefore, nothing right or wrong can happen to you when you play poker Running cold is not wrong. It is just a fact like any other that you'll have to deal with. Tilting on account of it, it the worst way you can choose to tackle the issue.

The same goes for bad beats too. People often tilt when they're outdrawn by some hilariously bad calls several times in a row. They somehow feel they've been short-ended, and they did not get credit for something they should have been credited for. Something unfair has happened. Nothing is farther from the truth though. In poker, you shouldn't take anything for granted. There is nothing there you should ever expect to get credit for.

There are only positive EV and negative EV decisions.

As the fundamental theory of poker goes, every time you make a positive EV decision you win something (even if you happen to lose on the particular hand), and every time you play on negative EV, you lose a little. That does not mean that poker owes you something when you are indeed playing a 90-10% situation. It simply says that you have 90% chances to win, but it doesn't say anywhere that the 10% that you're opponent is acting on won't come through for him. If you focus on acting only on positive EV situations, you'll be a winner eventually. If you look at it like that, there's absolutely no reason why you should tilt. What it really comes down to is playing on a proper bankroll. Even though theory says you will eventually win if you stick to positive EV, being under-bankrolled takes this guarantee away from you.

If your entire bankroll consists of $60, and you lose $20, you'll find it extremely hard to swallow and to write it off to the luck factor. If you have $5,000 in your account though, a $20 loss is not likely to set you up for a tilt.

Some people can be driven to tilt via the chat feature that every online poker room comes equipped with. There are players out there who make this an integral part of their strategy, so if you know you are temperamental and that you are vulnerable to other people getting on your case, turn the feature off.

Stay in control at all times, and let nothing slip by. Small edges like rakeback, good bonus deals, positive EV situations, reads that you make on your opponents, all have to come together to make you a winner at the end of the day.