Losing is a part of any game, and some people handle it worse than others
Playing poker can have people being exposed to many different personalities with different reactions to particular hands, but, in the online scene, things get multiplied. Any given online poker site can have over 50,000 players active and each player could present different personalities and game styles, especially the newer players. A player “on tilt” can be seen with more frequency among the newest players, so know how to react to this situation it’s important.
Going on tilt basically means that a player loses his self-control – most likely after losing a big hand – and starts playing in a reckless way. This can be noticed if a player starts acting carelessly, tossing all their chips even if the hand is not good, or even a really bad one. Whatever the phase the opponent is going through, it can be smart to define how that is going to affect your game. First, always beware of not falling into this player’s trap and play hands that are not good quality, if struggling a small break and get it out of your system.
There are two possible approaches that can be chosen facing a player on tilt. One is to do nothing and stay out, while the other one is to wait for a premium hand to really give the opponent a good reason to go on tilt. Premium hands include everything from having something above a ten, such as an A-K or pocket kings, or maybe even an Ace with another high card. Let’s say that, for these cases, anything above having pocket sixes could be counted as a premium hand.
Before going all-in facing someone on tilt, make sure that you check the position at the table before considering putting up more money with a possibly weak hand – maybe only an A-A or K-K would be worth it. If in doubt, doing nothing and taking no action in any of these hands can also be a good way of handling the situation.