Poker calculations — counting odds, pots weighing, measuring hand strengths, and many more — can help you play the game better from one point of view. You can make better, more logical, decisions whenever you play, thus resulting better profitability at the end of the day. Poker calculations can only be learned by doing, although you can simply play low-stake games or go to one of your favorite social networking site and play poker with no real money attached. By mastering the needed calculations, you can simply improve the overall playing experiences and make sure you are making good decisions all the time.

Still, counting your hands’ relative strength to the dot may not be enough because your opponent may get stronger hand on the river. As much as it hurts to lose to a Three of a Kind on the river, these things happen and you need to prepare yourself for it. Intuition is what you should need. Learn how to observe and understand your playing environment better, and in no time at all you will be able to read tells, predict your opponents’ move and the relative strengths of their hands, and play better poker in general.

Being on tilt makes you do whatever you can to take down the pot; this can be good if your hand is more than strong, but in most cases you are betting blindly even when you know the hand you are holding is nothing to win with at all. The best strategy you can use to handle tilts is to simply walk away from the table — easier said than done as always.

Tilts usually appear after you experience bad beats. You will not be able to make cool and calculated decisions for the next couple of hands because your mind is still set on that hand — and money — you lost. To maintain focus, count the number of hand you play after bad beads. If after five hands you are still not winning, simply say thanks to everyone and walk away to refresh.

Winning can also cause tilts, but the impact may not be as severe as when you lose several big bets. You may get this sense of invincibility, pushing you towards making bad bets afterwards. When you take down a big pot, make sure you set aside at least the starting play money and put them in your pocket to make sure you don’t lose more than you can afford.