Controlling your emotions and avoiding tilt in tough qiuqiu spots
Playing QiuQiu is an emotional rollercoaster. Your mental state can be affected by both the highs and the lows of winning and losing big pots. This emotional volatility is “tilt” in poker parlance, and it is very costly if you don’t learn to control it. Whether online or live, the key is being aware of your emotional state and having techniques to reign yourself back in when you feel yourself getting tilted.
Recognize your triggers
The first key is situations tend to trigger strong emotional reactions in you at the qiuqiu onlinetable. Do you tend to get frustrated when you’re card dead for an extended period? Do bad beats send you on tilt for hours? Does aggressive play from opponents throw you off your game? Whatever your tilt triggers to recognize, be ready when they happen. Keep a poker journal and circumstances that seem powerfully emotional over time. Once you know what to watch out for, you anticipate these spots and be ready to short-circuit the tilt response.
Breathe and refocus
When you feel the tilt coming on after a bad beat or other emotional trigger, the first thing to do is just breathe. Seriously, just take five deep breaths in and out. It disrupts the “amygdala hijack” where your emotions dominate rational thought. As you exhale, tell yourself that it’s just one hand; it doesn’t change your Expected Value, and focus on the best decisions for the current situation. Visualize yourself calmly moving on to the next hand without being influenced by emotions.
Walk away if needed
If you find yourself getting extremely upset and to control your emotions, stand up from the table and walk away. Go splash some water on your face, get some fresh air, or just walk around for 10 minutes to cool down. Don’t play another hand until you’ve regained composure. If on serious tilt, you should stop playing entirely for a while if on such a tilt. Just log off and come back later when you have a clearer mindset.
Talk yourself down
Another effective tilt control technique is to talk you down from emotional reactions. When you feel frustrated or upset after a suckout, tell yourself out loud (or in your head) to calm down. Remind yourself it’s just variance, that you can’t win every hand, and this one situation doesn’t determine your overall skill level. Verbally reprimanding yourself to remain calm can sometimes short-circuit an amygdala hijack before it spirals out of control.
Leave ego at the door
An inflated ego and sense of entitlement are often at the root of huge tilt reactions. When your ego gets wrapped up in results, every loss feels like a personal attack. The key is accepting that losing is part of poker, and that results often come down to luck in the short run. Once you let go of your ego and stop taking wins and losses so personally, it’s much easier to stay emotionally detached and avoid tilt. Don’t expect to win every session. Focus on optimal play, and the results will follow.
