Let’s talk about poker and psychology

In other words, tilt is a state of mental confusion in which the person is unable to focus, gets distracted from the game and emotions start to take over. As a result, bad decisions become harder and harder to avoid.

In life we can go through similar periods in which our mental confusion make us take terrible decisions that we later regret. This can be caused by having to face too many circumstances that are not favorable to us, and because of not having enough resources to cope with this, we collapse.

The problem is that this uncontrollable state ends up causing a vicious circle, in which the more bad results we get, the bigger the frustration and aggression, which further increases the state of confusion.

Unfortunately, when emotions are overactive the loss of higher brain functions is something that no one controls. It’s a hardwired part of our brain that isn’t going to change. | Source

Types of tilt we can encounter in our lives

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• Desperation Tilt : is the type of tilt that happens when you start taking extreme measures to win. This is when the urge to get your money back is so strong that you do things like play higher stakes, play for much longer, play too many pots, gamble or even start playing casino games in the hopes of getting lucky. | Source

This type of tilt can also manifest itself in our lives because it is related to all those situations in which we have a reaction full with anger and frustration. In these cases we develop a tunnel vision, we focus so much on the situation or person who has unleashed our anger, that we are not able to see beyond that. This state of blindness leads us to take terrible decisions that can harm relationships and make us lose good opportunities because we aren’t interpreting our context in a proper way.

Tunnel vision in this context means only seeing what we want to see and ignoring every bit of information that might be alerting us of the mistakes we are doing at that moment.

• Injustice Tilt is the tilt that is created when you believe you run so bad that it is unfair. You believe your luck is worse than the math suggests is possible. It's so common for players to get angry in this way after a sustained period of running bad that for a long time this type of tilt was just thought to be part of the game. While it is very common, not all players tilt when they run bad, nor do they think the game is unfair. | Source

This state of loss of self confidence is quite common in everyday life and can make us stay inactive by resorting to any justification to find shelter in our comfort zone, because since we have been getting so horrible results, the option to remain inactive seems more attractive than usual. The problem is that we do not realize that in this comfort zone we are not only losing time without gaining experience but also there is a lack of productivity, either personally or professionally, which, due to their cumulative nature, could create very serious difficulties for us.

• Entitlement Tilt is a form of tilt most players don't like to admit they have, but it is one of the most common, so really dig deep and look for it. Even if you don't feel entitled in a dramatic way … you can still have small versions of it that create a big problem for your game. | Source

In this state, the person begins to believe that he is invincible, so he stops paying attention and starts acting too loosely or too aggressively. As a result, he begins to commit mistakes.

Being in this state can cause us to take many things for granted, stop paying attention to them. It is a common phenomenon in relationships for example, in which over time we forget to take care of the small details that can make the other person feel appreciated. It can also happen on the professional level, when after a series of good results we become less disciplined and more careless, causing a drop in performance. In any case, if we do not correct this quickly, bad results are guaranteed.

• Revenge Tilt: This is where tilt starts to get personal … Revenge is common in all walks of life, so it's not surprising that it would be present in poker. However, it many surprise some of you who are typically more mild mannered and don't typically seek vengeance outside of poker. | Source

This tilt perfectly exemplifies those moments in which we let ourselves be carried away by the provocations of others and, instead of responding wisely and with restraint, we allow emotions to take over and guide our behavior. It also manifests when we put too much pressure on our shoulders wanting to be perfect, which ends up exerting a weakening effect that can start to take a toll on our psyche.

If you watched the video above, this is the type of tilt the player suffered in the movie.

• Running Bad Tilt happens because all of the tilt inducing things—injustice, losing, mistakes, entitlement, and revenge—happen so frequently in such a short period of time that your mind can't handle it. Normally, a couple bad beats here or there don't really bother you, but when they accumulate more and more each day eventually you can't take anymore and tilt. Plus, if you tilted in your last session, some of it will carry over to the next day, so less tilt inducing things need to happen before you tilt again. This accumulation will keep building and building each day, until you eventually can't take it anymore and take a break from the game. | Source

This situation in which the person might be depressed because of the lack of good results, usually occurs when we suffer a considerable failure, whether in personal or professional life. The blow is so strong that w e can lose confidence and doubt about our ability to even be able to recover. It implies a situation of hopelessness in which we feel that we have reached the bottom and we are not strong enough to fix the broken pieces.

What can we do about it?

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We all have sensitive points that can make us have a strong reaction when someone presses them. Knowing these weak points will allow us to handle them better and be prepared so that a "perfect storm" is not triggered inside us. When it comes to exploring them, it is of vital importance not to fall into self deception and be honest with ourselves to realize what really bothers us, and what makes us lose our patience and get caught up in the confusion.

Besides, it is not uncommon for players to have a natural tendency to overestimate the chances of winning and feel that it is "unfair" when their opponent wins. In real life the same thing happens to us. If we face problems with wrong expectations, thinking that they should not be happening, we will only add fuel to the fire of frustration. Instead, it is better to apply radical acceptance and assume that there will always be good and bad times.

But when the state of tilt is starting to manifest itself, so does dissociation, which causes a feeling of desolation, and incredulity, in this moment we sense the there is an unbalance against us, and this make us adopt a persecuting mindset to restore a "fair" balance of victories and defeats. Since each person can react differently it is essential that each of us discover our own mechanism and detect the clues that can warn us that about what’s about to happen with our psyche.

Dissociation is when there are “disruptions in aspects of consciousness, identity, memory, physical actions and/or the environment”. | Source

It is also defined as "a mental process that causes a lack of connection in a person’s thoughts, memory and sense of identity. Dissociation seems to fall on a continuum of severity. Mild dissociation would be like daydreaming, getting “lost” in a book, or when you are driving down a familiar stretch of road and realize that you do not remember the last several miles." | Source

In poker when we feel we are losing concentration and aren’t playing at our best, we can always take our mind away from the game for a while by leaving the table. In real life, if we can not physically move away from the situation that is stressing us, it is convenient to adopt a psychological distance using relaxation techniques that can help us to assume a more rational and detached perspective of what is happening to us.

There is a concept used in poker (and in trading) called “stop loss” which consists in “the rule of stop losing at the certain point that are universal as they allow us to act based on objective criteria, not our personal opinion". | Source

This concept is also very interesting for life because it encourages us to reflect on what we are willing to lose and how far we want to go. It is about setting a maximum point, drawing a line while we are fully aware, that protects us in case the emotional brain takes over.

Conclusion

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Any type of game or sport, whether they are in real life or simple video games, can be seen as tools through which we can increase our understanding about life in general.

In the case of poker, the winners are usually individuals who know how to develop and maintain a proper mindset no matter the difficulties that there might be, facing said difficulties in a rational way and keeping the necessary control and thought process to take good decisions.

Life, if you think about it, is pretty much the same.

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Have you ever felt some type of "tilt" in your life?

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