Andreas

YOU ARE THE WEAKEST LINK

By Andreas (Orph)

No this isn't another episode of Ann Robinson's brutally humiliating show, rather this article is addressing the biggest problem every poker player faces and needs to address. I'm talking about tilt. Let's take a look at what tilt really is and why it causes so many problems.

We could say that tilt is basically not being able to deal with an uncontrollable event and we would be right, but there's more because every player deals with tilt differently and this opens up the discussion to a wide variety of opinions. My take on tilt is this, regardless of what it does to a player its extremely important to understand how tilt effects your play, as, essentially controlling or minimizing the effect can prevent loss of money and in some cases loss of sanity.

Let me tell you a story of a friend of mine, after reading this you will have a good understanding of what tilt really does to a player and how essential it is to control it, this is a true story and as sad as it is it needs to be taken seriously.

When he first started playing poker it was recreational, he never intended to be a consistent winner or make a living, but over time his talent kicked in and he started making money regularly. Once this happened he took the leap of faith and decided to sell his business and play full time. At first things were great he was banking large sums of money and living a life of riley. He did what he wanted when he wanted. This continued for 2 years until one day, playing his normal game, something happened to him which had never happened before. He lost a big hand, his quads were cracked by a straight flush. The minute it happened he couldn't speak, he just sat there staring at the screen. Once he realized what happened he got insanely angry and started tilting off his bankroll, at the end of that session he had blown over $90,000 yes $90,000. And the next day was worse, having had little sleep and spending his waking hours going over the hand in his mind, he was so angry that by the time he hit the felt there was nothing he could have done to prevent what happened next. He lost his entire bank roll in that one and last session he ever played. His total loss in 2 days was $316,000. And the insane thing about the whole affair was that the money he lost with his quads was a mere $3000. Can you see know why i am so passionate about getting our members to control there tilt. The good news is my friend is back on his feet again and doing extremely well, although he will never play poker again.

Because everyone deals with tilt differently i can't tell you how to control it, what i can advise is that you sit and have a good look at what makes you tick. You may or may not have as much as my friend did but tilt is tilt.

Remember we are the weakest link between what we see and what we allow to affect us, you must learn to control your temper when uncontrollable events unfold as they are within your control. Don't make the same mistake he did even if its for less money. I dread to think how bad it would have been had he had a wife and children. Just think about that the next time you lose a hand.