Tilt
Tilt is when frustration or emotion (often after a bad beat) makes a poker player abandon their normal strategy and start playing recklessly.
Tilt describes a mental state where a player lets emotion take over their decisions instead of sticking to sound judgment. Instead of folding weak hands or betting for good reasons, a tilted player chases losses, calls too much, and makes wild bets to try to win their chips back fast. The classic trigger is a bad beat, but anything frustrating can do it: a long cold streak, a needling opponent, or just a rough day.
You'll spot tilt right after something goes wrong at the table. A player who was patient suddenly starts playing nearly every hand, jamming chips in with hopeless cards, or angrily over-betting to bully the table. The giveaway is that the play stops matching the situation and starts matching the mood.
For beginners, the best skill here is noticing your own tilt before it costs you. If you feel your heart racing or you want revenge on the person who just beat you, that's the moment to slow down, take a breath, or step away for a hand or two. Even strong players go on tilt; the difference is they catch it early and reset rather than spiraling into worse and worse decisions.
Example
You hold A-A and get all-in preflop against 7-2, but the board runs out 7-7-2-K-Q and your opponent makes a full house to crack your aces. If you spend the next ten hands shoving practice chips with junk like J-4 just to get even, that's tilt.