Tilt is a poker term for a state of mental or emotional confusion or frustration in which a player adopts a less than optimal strategy, usually resulting in the player becoming over-aggressive. This term is closely associated with ‘steam’ and some consider the terms equivalent, but ‘steam’ typically indicates more anger and intensity. Placing an opponent on tilt or dealing with being on tilt oneself is an important aspect of poker. It is a relatively frequent occurrence due to frustration, animosity against other players, or simply bad luck. Experienced players recommend learning to recognize that one is experiencing tilt and avoid allowing it to influence one’s play.
The most likely origin of the word ’tilt’ is as a reference to tilting a pinball machine. The frustration from seeing the ball follow a path towards the gap between the flippers can lead to the player physically tilting the machine (in an attempt to guide the ball towards the flippers). However, in doing so, some games will flash the word ‘TILT’ and freeze the flippers, causing the ball to be lost. The metaphor here being over-aggression due to frustration leads to severely detrimental gameplay.
One commonly suggested way to fight tilt is to disregard the outcomes of pots, particularly those that are statistically uncommon. So-called ‘bad beats,’ when one puts a lot of chips in the pot with the best hand and still loses, deserve little thought; they are the product of variance, not bad strategy. This mindset calls for the player to understand poker is a game of decisions and correct play in making the right bets over a long period of time. Another method for avoiding tilt is to try lowering one’s variance, even if that means winning fewer chips overall. Therefore, one may play passively and fold marginal hands, even though that may mean folding the winning hand. This may also imply that one plays tightly— and looks for advantageous situations.
The act of putting an opponent on tilt may not pay off in the short run, but if some time is put into practicing it, a player can quickly become an expert at ’tilting’ other players (with or without using bad manners). In theory, the long-run payoff of this tactic is a monetarily positive expectation. Common methods of putting a table on tilt include: Playing junk hands that have a lower chance of winning in the hope of either sucking out and delivering a bad beat (which can be an enjoyable occasional style which will make the table’s play ‘looser’), or bluffing the opponent off a better hand (with the option of showing the bluff for maximum tilting effect).
Other tactics include: victimizing individuals at the table, (which is often considered a more old-fashioned tactic, identified with 1970s ‘verbal’ experts such as Amarillo Slim), or feigning intoxication, i.e. hustling, excellently demonstrated by Paul Newman against Robert Shaw in ‘The Sting’ (although his technique included cheating). Taking an inordinate or otherwise inappropriate amount of time to announce and show your hand (also called ‘slow-rolling’) at the showdown is also considered tilt-inducing. (Such deliberate breaches of etiquette have the side effect of slowing play and risking barring, thereby limiting the earnings of the expert player. For this, and other social reasons, such tactics are mostly associated with novices.)
The Daily Omnivore 
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