The last card is dealt face up and it gives your opponent the winning hand. He made a runner runner full house beating your flopped straight. That is just crazy you think to yourself. Some heat and anger build up inside of you and you start playing like a reckless maniac, raising and calling off your chips.

For the next few rounds you lose more and more money. All the while you think about that horrible beat you got. He was practically drawing dead and he won, how can it be?

This is what happens to most poker players out there. It sucks, but it is true. In one way or another you too are throwing away money like this. You can deny it if you want but that is not why you are reading this article, is it?

If you take simple steps then you will easily get your black belt in the art of tiltlessness. All I ask of you is perseverance.

When I lose control and get hot is when bad things start to happen. I often get tricked by my mind that I have control when I do not.

Here are 5 ways you can start minimizing tilt:

1. What Are You Afraid Of? - I'll begin. I am afraid of losing money and not having enough. You see, I am a professional poker player and I make my living off of playing poker and if I lose I can't live (harshly put). What are you afraid of? Why are you acting like a lunatic when you get bad beat a few times at the poker tables?

2. Identify Your Goal(s) - What is the reason you are playing poker? Most non-professionals get mad because they lose to bad beats. Why do they play poker? I would assume it is to have fun. My #1 goal is to have fun and making money comes second. I started playing poker because I enjoyed it and I intend to keep it that way. What is your goal when you are playing? What is the need to feel like crap while you're playing? So what if you lose some money. Play the limits where the money doesn't hurt and have some fun!

3. Listening To Yourself - Have you ever thought about listening to your mind and observing your body? What are the signs of you going into that zone of "I don't care about anything"? My signs for example are that I get a feeling in my chest, I get hot and start to sweat. Frustration and anger build up and this is when I know I have to stop playing unless I want to lose money. Sometimes I slip and keep playing, it happens to everyone but everyone has lapses. The more you do this, the better you become. If you even practice these steps a little you are way ahead of most people on this earth.

4. Quitting A Game - The best players in the world know exactly what I am talking about. Quitting a game when you start playing bad is something you too have to learn. This will be useful for you even if you are playing for the fun of it. If you start playing bad that means something is affecting you. What is it? The bad beat or something else? Has it affected your amount of fun? If no then keep on playing! If you are an aspiring professional poker player then you have to quit whenever your game is slipping. This is absolutely crucial to your long-term success. If you just take one poker tip out of this article then let it be this one.

5. Pleasure - Having fun while playing is why we play poker, isn't it? I mean, it doesn't make sense if someone played because it made them miserable, right? So make sure your priorities and goals are straight. Keeping poker fun will do many things for you. You will learn faster, you will feel better and everyone around you will notice. Good luck!

If you desire to take your poker skills to the next level then visit texas holdem poker 101 where you will find an immense resource of high quality poker tips made by a professional gambler.

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