You read about it all the time when you read poker articles, it is called "Tilt" and we are not referring to the site Full Tilt Poker, we are referring to the state of being which is "tilt".

Basically if you "tilt", you are losing it, and for many players this means many different things. The general cause for this state of being is loss of control over circumstances you should generally have control over when you play poker. Players have to learn to recognize that they are not in control of the hand they are dealt, but they are in control of basically everything else that happens when they play poker, so tilting is not cool. Remember poker is a game for cool customers; players who can keep their cool under any circumstances, because if you go tilt, so too does your game!

Tilt is the poker demon, it turns online poker players into mouse mashers, keyboard crashers and undercurrents of simmering rage. No coach can straighten this out, only the player can. Flinging a mouse at the wall in violent enragement after that undercurrent of percolating insanity hits you on a bad beat or other loss is not such a bad thing however, but it can't really be done in a live WSOP final table event.

Essentially when you are able to get rid of the anger quickly (by mashing your mouse) this is a good thing – so its not actually tilt. It could save you the game, because if you play while still swimming against an undercurrent of rage, you will play like crap and likely lose your bankroll and your shirt, and this is actually what tilt is.

Assessing and controlling tilt means developing a new set of disciplinary skills. We reiterate, poker players are very cool customers, good poker players are even cooler and they don't allow themselves to tilt. They defend themselves against this demon like a warrior slaying a dragon. With tilt, it is either kill or be killed, and slaying the mouse is not the answer!

The point is actually to never go tilt in the first place, and good poker players know this. In this way there is no demon to slay! Some poker players may actually go to the extent of practicing Zen or other esoteric arts in order to understand and practice self control. Although it is not so much an issue of practicing self control, as it is, getting into a poker playing mindset where self control is not even necessary.

All poker players can at some point or other be expected to tilt, you would have to be an emotional zombie or incredibly well balanced not to. Having a full understanding of why you were beat while playing correct poker, by another player, playing incorrect poker, and stopping tilt before it even begins is essential to become a really good poker player. You have to be able to take any situation in your stride and move on like it didn't even ruffle your tails feathers. But you also have to feel this way too, to pull it off, and not allow it to affect your game.