/ Matthew Pitt / 24 January 2012 / Leave a Comment 
Aaarrrggghhh!!! The Tilt Monkey!
Stop trying to control things you have no control over. The only area you have control over in poker is how you play your own hands
You may not be aware of this little-known fact but there is a funny little creature that likes to hang around poker players known as the tilt monkey. Usually he stays well hidden from view but from time to time he will climb into your head, take over your brain and do unspeakable damage to your confidence, winrate and bankroll. Bad monkey.
Obviously there is no such thing, that would be ridiculous. but tilt is real in fact it is a very real problem for the vast majority of poker players and is one of the main reasons why someone is not a winning player (with the exception of a lack of actual skill that is.) Everyone has different scenarios that trigger tilt off and each person tilts in different ways so it is extremely difficult to give the make a sweeping statement that covers everything so instead I will explain my own problems with tilt and how I have all but eradicated the horrible four letter word out of my game.
Realise You Actually Tilt, Look Into Why
In months and years gone by I must have started two dozen poker related challenges and not finished any of them. Why? Because of a form of tilt that used to send me over the edge. As I work in the poker industry and talk poker with some very talented players I used to feel it was my God given right to succeed in this game so when things did not go to plan I used to down tools and play a different form of the game or most common was withdrawing my bankroll and switching to a different site altogether. I think the excellent Jared Tendler calls the first part of my old problem Entitlement Tilt. Along with withdrawing my money and changing games, in the hope that the grass would be greener elsewhere, I used to tilt by becoming a complete calling station. Even if I knew I was beaten I would call just so I could have a moan to myself about how the fish always have the goods. It was if losing felt good. But losing doesn't feel good does it? No.
Then something happened where I had an epiphany, a light-bulb moment, where it was like someone gave my head a shake and said "come on Pud sort yourself out," and I started to look for reasons why I was tilting all of the time and set about making changes to combat them. I realised that when I withdrew my bankroll and moved sites and / or games I was simply running from a problem and hoping that Site B would be more accommodating but eventually you realise this is a mundane task, which leads me to the very first step I went through in my quest to stop tilting and that is "stop trying to control things you have no control over." The only area you have control over in poker is how you play your own hands. Moving sites was pointless because I do not control the players there as much as I don't control the players at another site. I cannot control the RNG all I can do is hope to get my money in good and that my hand wins.
Bankroll Management Really Is Vital
Another area that used to put me in a negative mood would be losing X amount of my bankroll. Although I have always followed bankroll management I have always been quite aggressive with it and played with the least amount of buy-ins recommended. This is OK if you can handle the pressure but just losing 3-4 buy-ins made my bankroll look pitiful and put me in a negative mood, which them crept into my game. Since playing with a much more substantial bankroll I have never thought about it or even looked at my actual balance because I know a few losses in a row simply do not matter because I can soak them up.
But for this humble scribbler the biggest cause of tilt was playing after consuming alcohol and not being drunk, just having a few drinks completely changed my mindset and outlook on the game. I found that I became extremely results orientated, took losing more to heart and became impulsive. Since quitting beer whilst playing poker you would not believe the difference in my thinking and how it allowed me to work on other areas of my game.
As a recap I would say that for me the steps to stopping tilting were:
No alcohol whilst playing pokerBeing honest with yourself about your own ability. If you played a hand badly do not beat yourself up about it but realise you played it bad, don't just blame your fishy opponent.Playing with a substantial bankroll (200 buy-ins minimum for tournaments)Stop trying to control uncontrollable thingsResearch what the numbers mean. For example, look at the best in your field and see the swings they go through. Suddenly you will realise your 35 buy-in downswing is nothing at all!We're all focused on the NFL playoffs here in the U.S. right now, what with the Super Bowl being just a few weeks away. The playoffs are a time when individual players often emerge as stars. However, football remains a...
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