How to Play Online Poker: Dealing With Emotions

People have different reasons for wanting to play online poker. Some play for recreational purposes, others to try to make a little money on the side, others have rakeback deals and to try to make poker a living. Some like the ease of getting into a game, others like the variety. Whatever your reason for playing poker, you’ll probably enjoy it more if you play well. One trap to avoid when trying to play your best online poker is allowing emotions to dictate your play.

How Emotions Affect You in Online Poker: Tilt

Tilt is a danger that both live and online poker players face. Essentially, tilt happens when you make a good play and are rewarded for it with a horrible beat. Your blood boils, your head spins, and you start making crazy, undisciplined plays in order to teach the poker fates a lesson. Of course, this usually results in more and bigger losses. In a live game, this is bad, but in an online game, where you can just click a few buttons to send more money over from your bank account to the poker table, it can be disastrous.

Other Dangers of Emotion in Online Poker

Another pitfall to watch out for is using one big win or big loss as an excuse to move up in stakes. In online poker, moving to a higher stakes game again is as easy as a few clicks of the mouse. There’s no need to get up, put your name on a board and wait for a new seat. Resist the temptation to move up in stakes until you’re really ready, as a premature move can annihilate your bankroll.

 Best of Luck - TGDx