How to Tilt Your Opponents

Tilt is a terrible thing when it happens to you but it can be a great thing when it happens to one of your opponents. Any time you can get your opponents to play sub-optimally (whether due to emotions, inexperience or anything else), you benefit. Tilting poker players are among the most profitable players of them all.

If you have ever been at a table with an opponent who is tilting, you probably already know how much money they can give away in a single session. These players will go on binges of raising, betting and calling with nothing. Some players don’t make it as obvious when they tilt but they still play a less than optimal game.

The Fake Bad Beat

One of the most sure-fire ways to tilt an opponent is to put a bad beat on that person. The problem with that strategy is that bad beats require you to play a bad game by chasing draws you shouldn’t be chasing. There is a way, however, to make it look like you placed a bad beat on that opponent without actually having done so. Sound like magic? It almost is.

If you have an opponent whom you think you can bluff, the easiest way to tilt that person is to make the occasional bad call with a draw. The key word here is occasional. Whether it’s a flush, gutshot straight draw or anything else, it doesn’t really matter. Just so long as it’s a draw that you shouldn’t be chasing. In most cases, you’ll miss your draw. That’s when you place a bluff and try to steal the pot. If you catch your draw, make sure it goes to a showdown. Let that opponent see that you chased and hit a crappy draw.

This move has two methods to induce tilt: the most sure-fire happens when you hit your draw and show it. Even if you don’t hit your draw, it can still irritate your opponents to lose yet another pot. Some tilt sessions aren’t born out of a single bad beat. Instead, they are caused by a player feeling like he just can’t win a pot no matter what he does. In either case, you win.

The Float Play

The float play is a great way to get under your opponent’s skin. The float play is a move in which you call an opponent’s preflop raise, then call his bet on the flop. If that opponent checks to you on the turn, you make a bet and steal the pot. You can read more about it in this article about the float play.

The float play irritates your opponents because it’s difficult to defend against. If you pull the same move several times against the same opponent, it can quickly irritate him. It’s sort of like using a cheap tactic over and over again in a video game. If your opponent doesn’t know how to counter the float play, he will become irritated for falling victim to the same maneuver over and over again.

Showing Bluffs

This is a proven tactic to upset hotheaded opponents. Every single time you make a bluff, show your cards. Even if it’s in a small, worthless pot. Show your opponent your cards every single time you steal a pot or steal the blinds. This will irritate your opponent after a while and it will eventually affect his play.

If you play live poker, this tactic should probably be modified so that you only show big bluffs. The simple reason is because you don’t want to look like a jerk and have the entire table gun for you. Live poker players expect a certain modicum of decency at the table, and this tactic of showing every single bluff dances the line.

Table Talk

There are two ways you can go with this tactic:

• Trash talking
• Acting like a clueless fish

Trash talking definitely works but it’s not for everyone. Some people would rather try to win through skill rather than by trash talking their opponents. This tactic is definitely not advised for live poker players. There are too many things that can go wrong, including you being asked to leave or someone deciding to take a swing at you. The good news is that it works wonders with online poker.

The method of acting like a clueless fish can be used at both online and live poker tables. All you have to do is act like you are confused about who wins a couple pots or use some sort of basic poker lingo incorrectly. This method won’t always induce tilt but it does bother certain players who take poker too seriously. You have to be careful that you don’t come off as sarcastic, however, because then you’re just trash talking. Make the act believable.

Combination of the Above Tactics

Any combination of the above tactics plus table talk is a great way to tilt your opponents. For example, if you pull a fake bad beat on someone and then throw in a little clueless trash talking, you’re going to really get under someone’s skin. The same thing goes for showing bluffs and making comments about those bluffs.

Keep it Classy

These tactics are all legitimate poker tactics but the “trash talking” tactic lies on the border between acceptable and unacceptable. If you use that tactic, use it with care. Remember: poker is only profitable as long as the fish feel welcome at the tables.