The river is dealt, it seems innocuous, but then your opponent shows
his hand. The pot is being shipped to his destination and you start
getting hot because he just sucked out on you. This is the definition
of a bad beat. You no longer care about anything and start raising it
up.
The next hour you play horribly and throw away money because you just
don't care. It is all so unfair, how could he win? He was under 1% to
win it when the money went in on the flop. Ridiculous!
You know why you're reading this article. This happens to all of us and
you are not an exception. I am glad you're reading this because that
makes you one of the few that have the guts to take a hold of this
phenomenon. It is not easy to face yourself and improve in this way.
If you take simple steps then you will easily get your black belt in the art of tiltlessness. All I ask of you is perseverance.
When I lose control and get hot is when bad things start to happen. I
often get tricked by my mind that I have control when I do not.
Here are 5 secrets to getting closer to your black belt in tiltlessness:
1. Fear - There is fear in everyone of us. Some have more, some have
less. It doesn't make you any better or worse than anyone else. It does
sound new-agey, but trust me. After over 3 years of playing poker and
battling with my inner demons, I know there is truth to this. I am one
of those people who try stuff out before telling others about it. And
this time I am telling you that you have to identify why you are
tilting. You cannot banish something before you have identified it.
2. Goals - Recently I have begun to visualize what my goal is before
each session of poker. My first goal is to have fun while I play. I
started poker because it was the most interesting game I had ever come
across and I have no intentions of changing that! Is your goal to have
fun or is it to be miserable? I'm guessing you want to have fun, right?
That makes two of us. Identify what is standing in your way of fun.
Maybe you are playing a limit that is too high or maybe you just need
to re-arrange your priorities. I don't know. Ultimately it is up to you
to find your own way.
3. Being Aware - Awareness is crucial to any good poker player. You
have to observe yourself. Otherwise you just do not know how you can
improve. You might get hot and become frustrated after a few bad beats.
Once you know this you can stop playing before it starts. There are
always signs before the signs, did you know that? If you learn more and
more how you work then you can start changing that to more useful ways.
4. Quitting A Game - The best players in the world know exactly what I
am talking about. Quitting a game when you start playing bad is
something you too have to learn. This will be useful for you even if
you are playing for the fun of it. If you start playing bad that means
something is affecting you. What is it? The bad beat or something else?
Has it affected your amount of fun? If no then keep on playing! If you
are an aspiring professional poker player then you have to quit
whenever your game is slipping. This is absolutely crucial to your
long-term success. If you just take one poker tip out of this article
then let it be this one.
5. Pleasure - Having fun while playing is why we play poker, isn't it?
I mean, it doesn't make sense if someone played because it made them
miserable, right? So make sure your priorities and goals are straight.
Keeping poker fun will do many things for you. You will learn faster,
you will feel better and everyone around you will notice. Good luck!
