Sharking's Poker Tip of the Day

**~~Sharking~~** · 02-17-2013, 01:02 AM

Sharking's Poker Tip #1:

Topic: Perception of Tilt

Most players that are on tilt are not aware of it. They are playing well, but taking beat after beat. This leads to a denial about being on tilt. We feel we have an edge on our opponent and will win back our losses if we keep playing.

Tilt works against us in two ways. 1. Actually playing worse and making bad decisions 2. The perception of others that we are tilted is giving them an edge over us.

The perception of being on tilt is what I would like to talk more about. After losing a big pot, taking several bad beats, etc. we develop a table image of being on tilt. Regardless of whether or not we are actually tilted, this becomes a huge disadvantage. Our bluffs become ineffective because we lose credibility from our opponents, hence our fold equity decreases. This reduces our ability to effectively play speculative hands, since most of the time we will only be flopping draws if we do connect with the flop. Don't bluff after a bad beat. It is not the right timing. Another reason the perception of being on tilt works against us is our opponents gain confidence verse us. Many of our opponents are superstitious and will target players who "appear to be unlucky".

I encourage you to think of tilt not just as an emotional reaction to bad beats, but also from your opponents perspective. Whether you are playing worse or not after a bad beat, your opponents gain an edge over you because of your perceived "tilt" and "unluckiness". Combat it by tightening up after a bad beat. It is the best time to play super TAG. If you do get a big hand, you have a great opportunity to get paid.