“Peter, I never tilt, it’s not a problem.”

If you say you never tilt, you’re probably lying (or very unaware).

Yes, I said that. Calling you a liar.

Tilt isn’t just “raging, shouting and beating your fist into the wall” after a bad beat.

Tilt is when you get affected by emotions and play worse than before.

Sure, frustration and anger are the usual suspects when we tilt.

But what about feeling bored? Feeling injustice? Feeling bullied? Feeling sad? Feeling lonely?

There’s a variety of feelings that can impact your winrate (often without you knowing it).

If you read this article, I’m sure that you will experience less tilt in the future and be able to win more money consistently.

Your tilt won’t disappear magically, but I can help you become aware about what tilt you experience and help you take control over your mind to reduce it.

How most players try to deal with tilt

“I normally try to realize when I tilt and tell myself to stop it”.

These are the words of one of my clients.

He’s a good NL200-500 reg and has a strong mindset.

But every time he tried to tell himself “do not tilt” it didn’t work.

Why?

Because it does not treat the root cause and it doesn’t offer him a better perspective.

And that leads me to the two most effective ways to stop tilt in poker.

Strategy #1: Create a tilt profile

It sounds boring to create a tilt profile. I get it.

And what is it anyway?

Well, a tilt profile is all about understanding your tilt and where it comes from.

“Peter, I know my tilt. I just get fucking angry and start playing bad”.

That’s not good enough.

I want you to expand your awareness. I want you to know why your tilt comes and the deeper roots behind it.

To make your tilt profile answer these questions now:

• What are the trigger/s that make me tilt?
• What emotions do I feel?
• What situations in my life may be adding to the limiting state of this feeling?

Here’s an example:

1. Triggers: Playing vs the aggressive reg who seemed to own me
2. Emotions: I felt bullied. I felt weak. I felt like I was a bad player.
3. Bigger picture: I guess this could have something to do with me being bullied in school. I experienced XYZ … and I now understand how experiencing something ‘similar’ on the poker table creates such an intense feeling in me.

Now these are golden nuggets. This is awareness on a new level.

Awareness is essential to start treating the root cause and not just put band aid on the symptoms.

Strategy #2: Choose your perspective

What creates tilt?

Your perspective.

Nothing else.

It’s not you being unlucky. It’s not you losing money.

It’s how you put your perspective on being unlucky or losing money.

Get it?

Let me give you an example.

What perspective do you think creates the most tilt?

“That guy is so fucking lucky all the time against me”

or

“Okay, he got lucky there. But if I keep playing my A-game I will eventually win over this guy. These situations are what allows me to make a living out of the game.”

The perspectives are on the exact same situation. You got unlucky, and villain won the pot.

It’s so important to realize that you can choose a perspective that helps you feel better.

It seems so simple, right?

But we often lose control over our thoughts in the heat of the moment.

That’s when we go down the rabbit hole of creating limiting thoughts.

Thoughts that lead to tilt.

Right now I want you to:

1. Identify three thoughts that often occurs when you are tilting
2. Write three reframes that helps you feel better

Ready, set, go.

Don’t skip it!

I get it. Reading about the work is much easier than doing it.

So now, I want you to make a conscious decision.

Decide to do the two steps now.

Don’t think about it. Grab a piece of paper or open Google Docs and write.

It has the potential to make your winrate explode and help you in more areas of life than poker.

I know that doing mindset work on your own can be tough!

Do you want help with emotional management, mindset and effective ways to deal with tilt (and much more)?

Reach out to me. You can learn more about me and my coaching at www.pokerlifecoach.com

I only have a couple spots left for clients, so no promises.

Join one of the best free communities for poker mindset work

Join the SixPlusHoldem Discord server today to learn more about the mental game of poker. We have a mindset channel where we discuss tilt, meditation, and other mindset strategies for being a better poker player. Take your game to the next level today.

See you there.

Your Mindset Coach
Peter Rasmussen