One of the critical points of this article is to express that after taking a bad beat, the feeling of tilt you encounter is not a product of the tilt itself, but the internal stresses you place on yourself. In essence, tilt is the moment when something happens that you didn’t expect to happen. The next thing you know is that your pulse is pounding, your neck is tight, and your lips are pursed.
How do you alleviate the burden of this?
While all of these inner stresses are part of the fabric that makes you who you are, over time, any ability can be enhanced. When they first arise, the trick to stopping the tilt from manifesting is to identify the subtle signals. You can use a few strategies to disperse it early and keep yourself focused on playing your “A” game.
About the Three Rs
One strategy is called The Three R’s for coping with pressure situations. You will relieve the burden and concentrate on playing solid idn poker by following these easy steps.
- Recognize how stressed the muscles in your neck or stomach are. Are your legs firmly wrapped around your chair? You’re pursing your lips and banging down your chips? If so, this is a clear indicator that you should calm down and not take things so seriously. You must first understand consciously that your play is being undermined.
- This can be a slow or deep breath or a routine such as riffling chips that calm the nerves. You might want to move away for a little bit from the poker table.
- It’s time to concentrate on the job at hand once you have settled down. “Forget the consequences of the past and ask yourself,” Right now, what is my job? What is the size of my stack, and how is this changing my poker strategy? How do others see my play? How do others play? What are the hand ranges for my opponents? Staying positive with rational feelings about the present and not emotional ones is the secret to re-focusing.
Final Thoughts
Mental abilities are just like every other ability in poker. To learn them, to make them part of your subconscious, they must be practised over time. Every time you play poker, you must continuously work on your mental game. This could be going up in boundaries, joining a major poker tournament or something else that could allow you to thrive with additional pressure. But understanding this ahead of time and not believing you are resistant to these behaviours will help you identify them and rise to the challenge, no matter how high.
