The number one reason good players never become great poker players is that they fall victim to their own emotions and end up on tilt. Tilt is when a player becomes erratic or emotional and starts making poor poker decisions that they wouldn’t otherwise make. This can mean betting too much or too often, playing hands you should fold, or folding hands you should play. All of these things can burn through your bankroll in a hurry.

To stop those trips to the land of tilt, you first have to explore the reasons why most people lose control. Here are the most common reasons people go on tilt:

1. Getting cold cards - No matter how great a player you are, sooner or later the cards will stop coming your way.

2. Having a bad day - Everyone is more than a poker player. There are spouses, kids, outside jobs, etc. These things can weigh on your mind and add to your stress level.

3. Letting other players get to you - Some players talk and give you a hard time as part of their strategy. For other people, it is just natural to be an asshole. Either way, these actions can play on your psyche and get you rattled.

4. Bad beats - No doubt that bad beats are the main reason for people to lose it. Ever poker player has a tale about the worst bad beat of their life. Bad beats will cause anyone but the most skilled players to lose it.

No matter what the cause, getting on tilt is one thing that any poker player has to learn to control. Stopping tilt is a lot like what you tell a child when he or she gets out of control:

1. Take a deep breath and count to 10. Long, slow breathing is a key way for you to allow your body and mind to relax.

2. Walk away. If deep breathing doesn’t help, get up from the table. Take a walk to the bathroom. Step outside for fresh air. Don’t worry about missing a few hands, the table will still be there when you get back.

3. Think pleasant thoughts. I know it sounds simple, but thinking pleasing thoughts can really calm you down in a pressure situation.

Controlling our emotions is one of the key things to playing good poker. Control your mind, and the game will follow.

One of the hot things that is happening in the online poker world is poker leagues.

And one of the leaders in online poker leagues is Poker Source Online.

Recently, Poker Info Page was able to catch up with Maria del Mar Gomez from Poker Source Online and ask her a few questions

Q: What does it cost to join a league?

A: Joining the league is free. Each event has a buy-in of $5 + %0.50.

Q: Is it legal for U.S. players to play in your leagues?

A: Yes it is, PokerStars is open to all players worldwide.

Q:How many players play in your leagues?

A: About 70.

Check out the poker leagues. It may be a great place for you to meet some new people and sharpen your card sharp skills.

So many players who are new to the game of Texas Hold’em Poker get very excited when they look down at their hole cards and find two aces, known as “Pocket Rockets”. While having two aces is exciting, it also has to be tempered. And as always, we are going to let the percentages tell us why this is.

First of all, starting any hand pre-flop with pocket aces is a good thing. It is the best starting hand. But the question is, how good is it? Let’s look at the stats of how often pocket rockets win:

Winning 85% of the time when it is heads up is a pretty good percentage. But if you notice, the percentage drops all the way to 31% in a nine-handed game. In order to put this in perspective, let’s look at this analogy: Give me a dollar and ask me to make change for you. Instead of a dollar, I give you $0.31. That doesn’t feel nearly as exciting!

Let’s look at another pocket pair as a comparison to see what that percentage looks like. Pocket deuces are never very exciting for a new player.

While these percentages are much lower, a pair of deuces wins about half the time in heads up. Yet no one gets excited when they look at the hole cards and find two twos.

The take away story here is that pocket aces are exciting, and they are the best starting hand in Texas Hold’em. But be careful about getting too excited and over-betting or being overly confident.