Going on tilt is the expression used in poker when a player's judgement becomes completely obscured by emotion, rather than rational thought, usually resulting in appalling play.

The trouble with going on tilt is that if we were truly aware of it when it happened we would never really go on tilt in the first place! It is also true to say that as we are all individuals, when and how often we tilt, will vary as widely as we do.

Some players really are more prone to cracking up, though the best players tend to be those that can keep a level head most of the time. Though some people are just naturally calmer, we could all do with training ourselves to keep our heads more consistently.

Bad tilting sessions invariably cost money and in the worst cases have been known to cost entire bankrolls and more, so training ourselves to keep them at bay is one of the most valuable things we can do to improve our game.

The first thing you have to do is to be honest with yourself, something which is easier said than done.
I see a lot of players who are clearly on tilt and yet even after the event and having had time to reflect on it ,are unwilling to admit that they lost their head, blaming it on someone else's bad play or just bad luck. However, to everyone else at the table, their play was certainly the result of a head of steam rather than clear decision making!

The next thing you have to do is to identify exactly what it is that makes you go on tilt in the first place as we all react to situations in different ways.

There are really 4 main things that usually have the effect of tilting us and those are: bad beats, other people's comments or behaviour at the table and sometimes even the way we have played a hand ourselves. The fourth has nothing to do with poker and is to do with life away from the poker table.