My Experiences with Poker Tilt

No one is tiltless, but anyone can tilt less.
- Tommy Angelo

1. In the Beginning...

I didn't even know what poker tilt was. I imagine most amateur poker players and perhaps even some professional poker players are the same as I was.

I was playing awfully because I was tilting and I didn't even know what tilt was, that made it even worse!

2. I Learned About Tilt...

I don't remember how I learned about tilt, but I have som vague memories of reading the 2+2 poker forums just after I'd taken a shot at $3/6 Limit Hold'em and tilted horribly.

I asked why I lost so much and why I was being so paranoid at this new limit.

Apparently this phenomenon was called tilt and it was one of the most important aspects of any professional poker players game.

3. There Was Light in the Darkness...

Now I had a vague idea of what I was dealing with, but thought no further of what poker tilt was. I was lucky the games were very good a few years ago, this allowed me to win even though I tilted too much.

4. The Teacher Appears...

A short amount of time passed and I came in contact with a poker teacher called Tommy Angelo. He specializes in minimizing poker tilt.

I had around 4-6 hours of coaching with him. After our session I read the forums, his website and generally contemplated what it was that I had been shown.

5. Meditation and It's Effects...

I had been playing with meditation on and off. But around December 2005 I really got into it. Started doing it daily for about 30 to 60 minutes.

Has it helped me?

Absolutely! It has expanded my awareness. I notice things I never noticed before. I notice things I noticed before and I notice them faster.

I am able to be a lot more objective while playing poker and am able to minimize how much I tilt.

I am by no means a robot, I still have episodes of tilt I'd like to eliminate.

6. Doing Other Things...

After immersing myself in the game of cards for almost a year. Doing nothing else, I read poker, I played poker and I breathed poker.

It dawned on me that it helped my game a lot to engage in other activities as well. This became especially apparent when I was having a rough stretch of bad luck in poker.

When I was totally immersed in poker and it didn't go well my whole life was affected in a big way.

Luckily, nowadays I am a bit more balanced, not much, but making progress ;-)

Summary

Learn what tilt is
Discover how it is affecting you
Keep your life balanced
Stay away from junk food!

Finished Already - Where Are You Going To Click Next?

All done with Poker Tilt? Read the next article on when to quit a game