Poker Strategy Rage Tilt The Dragon URL has been copied successfully! If you know the feeling at all, you likely know it well. Your opponent calls your all in on the turn, flips over a gutshot that had no business being in the pot and hits it on the river to knock you out of the tournament 5 spots from the money. On some days you could handle it, maybe even feel grateful that there are still soft games in 2023, but this is the 4th ugly exit of the day and the voice inside your head is yelling of injustice, demanding revenge, screaming about your inability to make consistent money at the table. Your voice then reminds you that your girlfriend (or even worse, wife) said if you couldn’t replace your income in 3 months you had to go find a “real” job. And now you didn’t just get knocked out of a tournament, you have failed everything and everyone and are on the edge of complete and utter aloneness in the universe. AND IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT, MOTHER!! And so **** that fish and his gutshot, **** this stupid bankroll, **** everything. I’ll show them, you think as you jump into a limit far above your means and instantaneously set your remaining cash on the kind of fire that regulars at the limit feed their children off of. And suddenly, the level of pain you experienced when that fish hit his gutshot a short while ago seems like a tickle. Because if there’s one pain that really seeps into your soul, it’s that of lost hope – even worse, of torched hope. Self inflicted destruction. Shame and desperation is a lethal combination. But this time – a gift. Somehow, in some way, you’re back at the turn. The fish and his gutshot. The River hits as before. You lose again. The rage explodes. But this time – you remember. And so you watch. You don’t know how to change it. You don’t know how to make it stop. But you remember: this feels better than what comes next. So, you just watch. You watch the rage surging through your jaw, you watch your heart constrict around the injustice, you watch your stomach tighten against memories of failure. Suddenly, you realize – the pain is trapped. It wants an outlet, demands it. With mind and body finally connected, no further instructions are required. The rage explodes out from the depths of you like a dragon setting fire to the village hunting it. FFFFFFAAAAAAKKKKK!!! You grab a pillow from the couch next to you and put decades of disappointment into slamming it over and over into anything that won’t break. FFFFFFAAAAAAKKKKK!!! FFFFFFAAAAAAKKKKK!!! FFFFFFAAAAAAKKKKK!!! FFFFFFAAAAAAKKKKK!!! You slam it until your arms begin to tire. Then, suddenly, a deeper breathe than you’ve ever taken. All the oxygen in the room flying up your nostrils directly to the pain centers in your brain. And just when your lungs feel like they’re going to explode…release. Like a helpful giant extinguishing the dragon’s fire in one long breath. FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO You collapse onto the couch, spent. On to the next one.