The best way to win a large pot, or sequence of pots, is to catch your opponent when he or she is frustrated, angry, or in a carefree mode, often referred to as “On Tilt”. When a player enters ‘Tilt’ mode, he or she is likely to make mistakes, bet heavily, or go All In, in a final act of desperation. Recognizing the symptoms early enough will help you isolate and challenge this player, and take full advantage of the situation.
Causes of the Tilt
Usually a tilt mode is caused by a series of unfortunate events. The most common event is a bad beat. Suppose that you are at a table where one player gets aggressive in a hand. Remember, this applies even if you are not in the hand, so be sure to pay particular attention to all showdowns, because you will see the winning hand, and sometimes the losing hands as well. Some poker sites allow you to view the hand history. By doing so, you can identify a bad beat, even if the losing player does not announce it or show frustration. For example, the losing player’s hand was AA and he was called by 2-7 offsuit. You can imagine how angry or frustrated the person holding AA will be. First, the player will be angry that his pocket aces did not hold up. If the losing player remarks about how “ridiculous” or “rigged” the casino is, then you know the player is entering ‘Tilt’ mode. This player has now shown signs of irrational behavior, by the very logic that he or she is exhibiting. After all, if the site is rigged, then why is he or she there?
Signs of the Tilt
If you have identified your opponent as a Tight Passive or Tight Aggressive player, then you know that he or she is less likely to put a lot of chips into the pot. If suddenly, the player moves a lot of chips into the pot and pushes harder and harder to win, this player has probably entered the ‘Tilt’ mode. He or she is either frustrated and wants to win back a significant portion of chips, or, on the other hand, the player is losing patience with the game and wants to exit, with a big pot or two. Another sign of the ‘Tilt’ is when a player becomes carefree. The player does not necessarily have to be angry or frustrated. Sometimes players simply don’t really care anymore because they have to leave, they have a big enough bankroll that a loss at the table won’t really matter, they may have a tournament starting up on another table, or they simply just lost interest in the game.
Seizing the Moment
Once you have identified the player on tilt, the trick is to catch them and win big. In a tournament, always be on the lookout for players that lose a significant portion of their stacks, especially if they were the ‘big stack’ at the table. Many times this player will follow a loss with a big challenge on the next hand. If you are in front of this player, in terms of table position, raise pre-flop, and try to get the ‘tilter’ into the pot. If you are behind this player, or if you are last to act and the ‘tilter’ is in the pot already, you can simply call or if you have a big pocket, re-raise. The idea is simple. Get him or her to commit their remaining chips on a poor hand.
The most important thing to remember is that a ‘tilter”’ can get lucky, and usually, a little luck will calm them down. Do not be afraid to back off from a hand if the ‘tilter’ seems to have caught something, or if your hand becomes a bust after the flop or the turn.
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