Welcome to the second part of this article. Last month I went through the most common forms of tilt; what causes them and how to avoid them. This month I will be doing the same for some of the more obscure forms of tilt. Remember that tilt can refer to any change in your play for the worse, and can occur for a wide range of reasons, some of which are not immediately obvious.

Tight Tilt

Tight Tilt will cause you to fold too much, turning down situations where you have positive expectation from a call or raise. While the cliché often used for this type of tilt is ‘waiting for aces’ it is not normally that extreme. Normally it will be the only slightly profitable hands such as JTs from middle position, 88 from early position, and middle pairs on the flop (obviously situation specific) that the player will muck. Because of this, the lost value as a result of this form of tilt is generally marginal and your win rate will not suffer much because of it. In fact, occasionally players will intentionally start to play too tight in situations where they might normally be prone to a more destructive form of tilt, and this can be a money saving solution. Remember though, that leaving the table is nearly always the best solution in ring games when you find yourself on tilt.

If you start to play tighter, it is usually for one of two reasons. You have either become more scared of losing, meaning you are willing to sacrifice value for lower variance, or you have lost confidence in certain hands (either a particular type of hand or just marginal holdings in general). Unfortunately, there are many psychological reasons why either of these may be the case, the following are the most common.

· You are playing above your bankroll

· You are playing at a new higher limit and are determined not to lose heavily.

· You have won money in the session and don’t want to lose it again.

· You have taken a number of bad beats

· You have had repeated failure to win with a certain type of hand (such as suited connectors, small pairs, straight draws, top pair weak kicker etc)

Detection and Prevention

Anything similar to the following thought processes may lead to this kind of tilt or be the first signs of it.

‘I’m not putting money in with this hand when I will probably have to fold on the flop’

‘I can’t afford to lose a lot of money here, so I’m only going to play with the very best hands.’

‘I’m $100 up in this session. I’m only playing premium hands from now on so I don’t blow it.’

‘May as well fold. The way my luck is going, he’s bound to have me beat.’

‘I’ve missed with my last 10 flush draws, I think I’ll just fold this one before it gets expensive.’

The key to preventing this type of tilt, as with many other kinds, is to treat each hand as a completely separate game, forgetting anything that has happened so far that evening. The fact is, playing a hand when you are on a tear and up 50BB has exactly the same chances of developing in any given way as if you are on a 50BB slump. As soon as you find you are playing a hand differently because of how a session is going or how previous hands have gone you are tilting.

On the other hand, if you are going to tilt then playing tightly is probably the best way to do it because what you are giving up in value is very marginal. It can be potentially dangerous if you realise you are on tight tilt and try to correct the problem, only to overcompensate. In fact, if you are playing in a tournament where quitting the session is not an option, you may want to continue to play especially tight until you are sure you have your emotions under control.

A player on an aggressive tilt will regularly bet and raise when they should be checking and calling. The problem usually manifests itself in the overplaying of marginal hands (such as bottom and middle pair on the flop) or trying to buy the pot too frequently or when it should be clear your opponent has a hand. Severity is obviously related to how much you do it, and it is most dangerous when combined with loose tilt. This form of tilt can be very costly, because it can cost you many big bets in a single hand. Good players will wait for a good hand and will then bleed you for large pot after large pot, while folding when they don’t have a hand. On the plus side, sometimes you can go on a tear, making the rest of the table scared of you, and actually win money. Don’t count on it though.

There are two real causes for this kind of tilt. The first is when you simply lose it. You have taken one bad beat too many and emotion takes over causing you to lose all objectivity, you just want to shove all your chips in the middle and hope for the best. This is a situation where your bankroll can really be at risk if you’re not careful. The second cause of aggressive tilt is a little more subtle. Somehow you will get it into your head that you need to be more aggressive. Maybe you have been drawn out on a few times, or maybe the few times you have shown aggression, your opponents have folded. Whatever the reason, you make an ill advised deviation from your normal game, and before you know it you are piling chips in the middle, while your opponents re-raise you with superior hands.

Often your misplaced aggression will be directed at a particular player. This can be a legitimate tactic when you have identified that player as weak or a habitual bluffer, but too often ego will get in the way and you can find yourself frequently raising a particular player just because you don’t like them for some reason. Obviously this is just playing into the hands of your nemesis if they are smart.

Anything similar to the following thought processes may lead to this kind of tilt or be the first signs of it.

‘Sod it, I’ve lost $300 tonight already, what does it matter if I lose more’

‘My opponents are playing with worse hands than me on average. I should always raise for value’

‘If I keep raising, they’ll have to put me on a big hand and fold’

‘My hands never hold up in these multi-way pots. From now on, I’m going to raise even with marginal hands pre-flop’

‘I raised with Aces and everyone folded, they might as well have been 7-2!’

‘He keeps raising me! From now on I’m going to raise him back.’

The reason this type of tilt is rare is because aggression is generally a good thing, and for most players the problem is not being aggressive enough. To prevent this type of tilt, you need to remember why aggression is good so you can spot the circumstances in which it isn’t. The purpose of raising as opposed to calling is the following.

• For value when you have a pot equity edge
• To protect your hand against draws
• As a bluff or semi-bluff

Therefore you should only raise if you feel one of these is applicable. If you think there is a good chance you are behind and there is no real chance of forcing a fold, then you normally have no business raising. In a lot of hands, all the aggression in the world will not win you the pot and you just have to accept that.

FPS is an acronym for ‘Fancy Play Syndrome’ and is a term used to describe when a player makes a tricky play when a more straightforward one would be better. While everyone is affected by FPS occasionally, it is also a form of tilt, and players can find themselves making a string of ‘FPS plays’ without realising they are tilting. The two main examples of FPS are sandbagging with a big hand and playing aggressively with a marginal holding (or even nothing). Note that is not to say that these two things are definitively bad, just that often players do it when they should be making the more obvious play. Sometimes a player will lose sight of his primary goal (maximising profit) completely and will make plays because they ‘look good’ or similar.

Cause

It is sometimes difficult to see why players fall victim to FPS, but it is generally either because they are having a bad time at the table and are trying to ‘make things happen’ or they are having an especially good time and get overconfident. Either can cause a player to completely forget or ignore what kind of players they are playing with, and attempt the sort of fancy moves that are either lost on them or they can see right through. Playing at lower limits than usual can often contribute towards FPS tilt. At the low limits you should usually play more straightforwardly, yet the comparatively low stakes may actually cause you to play trickier as you are less concerned about losing.

Detection and Prevention

Anything similar to the following thought processes may lead to this kind of tilt or be the first signs of it.

‘I’m not getting good value out of my premium hands, I need to disguise them more.’

‘These players are rocks, I’m sure I can get them to lay down a lot of their hands with some tricky play.’

‘If this works it will be the sexiest play ever!’

This type of tilt is rare, and preventing it is often just a case of training yourself to keep it simple. At the lower limits of poker, the obvious play is very rarely wrong. To clarify this, there is sometimes a better play based on astute readings of the particular player or situation but by making the ‘by the book’ play you are rarely giving up much in value. Consider these two examples:

1. You hold 33 in the big blind. An EP player raises, there is one caller, and you call. The flop comes 995r. You check, the pre-flop raiser bets and the other caller folds. What is your play?

2. You hold JJ in the cut-off. An MP player limps, you raise, the button, the big blind and the limper all call. The flop comes down AJ6r. The big blind checks and the MP player bets, what is your play?

In both hands above there is an obvious play, fold in the first hand and raise in the second. In both hands there may be a better play depending on the reads you have on your opponents and the specific situation. In the first example, if your opponent is a solid player who can lay down a hand, a check-raise may work, and if your opponents in the second hand are especially tight and/or aggressive then you may smooth call here. However, in both hands the obvious play is not far wrong and will often be the best play. Except in very extreme circumstances, you will not be giving up much by making the obvious play in the above examples, and this is true for most hands until you reach high limits.

Because of this, the best way of avoiding strange bouts of FPS tilt is by making the obvious ‘by the book’ play as often as possible. Protect your hand and build a pot when you think you are ahead, fold if you suspect you are behind and drawing slim and call if you have a good drawing hand and have the pot odds to do so.

Remember that all forms of tilt exist only in the mind. By being disciplined and prepared, and by playing within a sensible bankroll structure you will help protect yourself from most forms of tilt. Play for the long term and don’t let any hand get inside your head for too long. And remember the golden rule. If you feel yourself beginning to tilt, get up from the table and walk away.

Ian Taylor (aka Piemaster)