Tilt is a poker term for a state of mental or emotional confusion or frustration in which a player adopts 😊 a suboptimal strategy, usually resulting in the player becoming overly aggressive. Tilting is closely associated with another poker term, "steam".

Placing 😊 an opponent on tilt or dealing with being on tilt oneself is an important aspect of poker. It is a 😊 relatively frequent occurrence due to frustration, animosity against other players, or simply bad luck.

The term originated from pinball where physically 😊 tilting the machine causes some games to flash the word "TILT" and freeze the flippers.[1]

Tilt is also common in other 😊 games, especially chess and esports. Tilting in esports causes players to "lose control due to anger". The most extreme reaction 😊 is termed a "ragequit", angrily leaving the match or quitting the game, physically turning off the device or breaking a 😊 part like a monitor or control device by smashing it.[2]

Common causes of tilt [ edit ]