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5 Ways To Conquer Poker Tilt

The river card peels off, it is harmless, until your opponent flips over his hand. You've just lost the huge pot on the river to a runner runner straight. You feel yourself getting warmer and the frustration builds up until you just don't care about what happens.

For the next few rounds you lose more and more money. All the while you think about that horrible beat you got. He was practically drawing dead and he won, how can it be?

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.

There are simple steps to eliminate and minimize this kind of behavior. I call this poker tilt or simply tilt.

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. What Are You Afraid Of? - I'll begin. I am afraid of losing money and not having enough. You see, I am a professional poker player and I make my living off of playing poker and if I lose I can't live (harshly put). What are you afraid of? Why are you acting like a lunatic when you get bad beat a few times at the poker tables?

2. Identify Your Goal(s) - What is the reason you are playing poker? Most non-professionals get mad because they lose to bad beats. Why do they play poker? I would assume it is to have fun. My #1 goal is to have fun and making money comes second. I started playing poker because I enjoyed it and I intend to keep it that way. What is your goal when you are playing? What is the need to feel like crap while you're playing? So what if you lose some money. Play the limits where the money doesn't hurt and have some fun!

3. Observation - When I started observing myself, everything changed. Progress became quicker and everything became clearer. I know many players who have reached a plateau in their game, because they deny their weaknesses. You have to observe yourself and find what it is you are doing wrong. What are you bad at? It is not meant for you to be hard on yourself. It is meant for you to be able to improve. You can also more easily avoid your weaknesses at the poker table if you know what they are.

4. Quitting - This is a big, BIG part of any good poker players game. Did you know that Phil Ivey quits the highest online poker games after he loses one big pot? Now that takes discipline to do. And it is something you too should do. What would happen if you quit playing whenever you started playing bad and tilting? Your overall winrate or amount of fun would go up. Identify your signs of tilt and start quitting whenever they start creeping up on you, you will thank yourself!

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!

Article Source: http://www.inpop.net

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