I was thinking today how similar tilting is to being in a terrible accident. Tilting, if you aren't familiar with poker, is losing focus and playing poorly after you take a particularly bad beat on a hand that were a large percentage favorite. Poker players show the same symptoms that accident victims display, and that could destroy your game completely.

I was in an accident on Blairs Ferry when I was younger with my Grandma driving. For years, every time we passed the spot on Blairs Ferry where the accident occurred, I was very uncomfortable and shivers ran down my spine.

The same occurs in poker. When I am chased down by a backdoor flush, the odds are nearly 85% in my favor. But for some reason, whenever I see a rainbow flop and the second of a suit on the turn, I shiver. It's this uncomfortable feeling that can lead to the breakdown of a player's game causing him to fold or be abnormally apprehensive about the looming river.

I don't know what the moral of the story is. Players like Tyler Watt, who feel that the best cards will always win the game, should realize how much mental fortitude you need to be able to withstand the bad beats. You should even go so far as to grin when you realize that given a long enough time span, you will break their bank.