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Turning a Bad Situation into a Good One

No matter how good of a player you are, or how long you have been playing, eventually you will experience a bad beat. This is most often the most flustering time in a player’s game; however, by being able to control your emotions and not exacerbate the situation, there is a good chance you will be able to play off your bad luck and make it into something good. It is this characteristic in a player’s game that can bring him/her to the final table and give them the opportunity to walk away with the cash.



Taking advantage of a bad situation is a key element to success and I believe that there are three basic options you are faced with every time you are plagued with a devastating defeat. On some very rare occasions the circumstances are so miserable that even the most calm and controlled player will become disheveled and then the only trip they are taking is walking out the door after going on tilt. If, however, you are able to avoid the demon of tilt then two very rewarding doors are open to you. You can choose the rather normal thing to do and this is to just brush it off and go about playing your game as though nothing happened, or you can decide to play the mental game and pretend as though you are on tilt. Deciding which of these 3 paths you want to take depends a lot on the situation you are on, so I have described a basic guideline of 3 choices you are presented with, when it is best for you to use them, and what the potential outcomes might be.



Going On Tilt
Obviously this is the worst possible path you can take and you want to stay away from this the best you can. If you do not know what tilt is there are a couple articles on this site describing it in close detail, however, for the elementary player it is the mindset that amateur, and the occasional professional player will go through after they have suffered a horrible defeat. Tilt is basically frustration in lament terms, and when you experience it your “symptoms” include not caring about your money, fishing for cards when you shouldn’t, and attempting to bluff at pots that you have no chance at. For clear reasons there is no reason why you should strategically go on tilt, but it happens to the best of us.



Brushing it Off
After a bad beat, sometimes the best thing for one to do is to just forget about it and go on playing their game as if nothing has happened. This takes a lot of control, yet, if you can just realize that bad luck happens to everyone and it wasn’t your fault that you lost, then continuing playing your game as usual is often the best solution. This is a good decision to make when you have a fairly good amount of chips and you are not suffering from any danger of being knocked out. Like I have said before this cannot always be easy to do but it is very alarming for your opponent to see a player that just went through a bad beat and isn’t showing a sign of frustration. This can really intimidate your opponent and it gives them the illusion that you basically went unharmed in a gunfight.



Giving the Illusion that you’re on Tilt
Now I realize that this seems slightly obscure and it is not something for everybody, yet when it is done correctly and in the right situation, it can create quite an impact. After a player sufferers a bad beat most opponents expect him/her to go on a rampage of tilt and for them to suddenly loosen up and be thrown off their game. This assumption often influences other players to play accordingly to this new “imparity” in the victim’s game and can result in your opponents making poor judgment because they think you are intoxicated with tilt. If you can mislead your opponents into believing you are truly on tilt, yet still stick to your successful playing style, then a plethora of opportunities will be open for your taking. Act as though you are really flustered over the beat you had just been a part of, and instead of slow playing any big hands, throw in the big money and make it look as though you are just playing loose and carelessly. This deception or disguised playing style will only work for a few hands, and is not always a success, so the best time to use it is only when you need to. This is usually when you are a low stack at the table and could be at risk of being knocked out.



You will not always be able to avoid tilt, but the more you can the better a player you will be. The three scenarios that I listed above and especially the latter two can take a lot of practice and emotional control, but when done correctly the rewards are terrific. It is not just amateurs that suffer from tilt, and many professionals can be seen entertaining a crowd with their antics of disparity. Phil Helmuth meditates to try and avoid tilt and many players frequently need massages at the poker table to relieve themselves from stress. A truly unstoppable player has the ability to turn any bad situation into a good one, and when you have accomplished this even the professionals won’t be able to beat you. Good Luck!