I was playing Holdem last week and played two non standard hands that both won the pot. In Holdem terminology, I played two pieces of trash and made the nut on the river with each one. In this particular instance in poker terminology it could be said, again in that I was tilting. Nothing new there, we tilt all the time, most of the time without even realizing it.

Tilt applies equally well to everyday life. Driving fast in the morning to make it to work on time, studying for a test late the night before, these are cases of tilt in action. Perhaps you lost your patience with someone for no obvious reason, or the sight of someone you dislike makes you suddenly angry. These are all instances of every day tilt in action away from the poker table.

One of the most interesting things about tilt is it sneaks up on us, and unless we are really aware of how we are behaving and why, we tend to go on and off tilt almost every day. Think about today, and try to remember if there was any time period when you found yourself having feelings or doing something before you realized it? Maybe something as simple as making a biting ‘deserved’ comment before you realized it ‘slipped’ out of your mouth?

These are some simple examples of how we tilt everyday. Tilt for poker players is deadly to their money, and something all good poker players try to avoid. Here is an example of why a poker player going on tilt is so serious. Pretend for example you are a just starting out professional poker player. You payed attention to all the advice and you saved up six months living expenses and enough money for your poker playing bankroll to ensure you will not go broke. You have now left your job behind and you are starting on your new lifestyle.

You wake up in the morning and feel a little tired, perhaps you had a drink to many last night celebrating, and had a little less sleep than you should have to be completely rested. You get ready to eat, but there is nothing in the fridge so you go to a coffee shop for breakfast. Your eggs are not cooked the way you like them to. You send them back and they are closer, but not right, but you eat them anyway. The coffee tastes a little bitter too.

A few more little annoyances happen in your morning and it is off to the poker room. The person who puts your name on the board for a table seat leaves for break, and as some time goes by you realize that people who have arrived after you are being sent to a tables with open seats. The poker room manager apologizes for the error and finally you get to sit down and start playing.

There are a couple of really poor players who are really getting lucky in spite of themselves. They have ran you down (beaten) a couple very good hands you have held. You start to take it personally, and decide you are going to show them who is the best player. Suddenly you realize that the chips you traded your hard earned money for to play in this game today are almost gone! How did that happen you wonder? As you start to think about it dawns on you that you are not in a very good spot. You are tired, angry, and not making good decisions. In poker language, you are on tilt, and just now realized it.

Remember those trash hands I spoke of? I played those on purpose to tilt some players at the table. One player, a pro left the table and took a long break when my second hand tilted him. A second less experience player, became angry and decided to punish me by aggressively playing against me. He lost a lot of money before he went home broke. We all tilt every day. Watch yourself for signs of tilt, so you do not end your day wishing you could do a few things over.