"Are you sure you want to exit?"

Gambling is a mug's game, but poker is different.

You've just lost a series of online poker games because you've obsessively played marginal hands like K-10, Q-9, 8-7 (well, it was suited) and the worst of them all, Q-J (why does this hand never, ever win?). You make as if to hit the laptop screen, repeating the satisfying motion of doing so for perhaps seven or eight punches, and then come to your senses.

You have been on tilt. This is not good. Log off, and out, quickly. You resolve to do so. But as you're exiting the most evil game on earth, a sign flashes up. It says:

"Are you sure you want to exit?"

You go to hit the screen, but something stops you. You say to yourself: "Poker is different from gambling. Maybe I should play again. But first I'll check the charts and see what real life might serve up tomorrow."

And then you see this. And you say unto yourself (and the kindly, altruistic souls who man online poker games around the world, 24/7, with no thought but for your own enrichment):

"Yes, I am sure I want to exit."

Comments

[JBG]

what's 'on tilt'?

[Alex Wade]

Hi JBG,

'On tilt' describes what happens when you lose your judgement in poker and start playing recklessly. It usually happens after you've suffered a bad beat (an unlucky losing hand). Every poker player knows the sensation but the good ones don't do it, or, if they do, recognise the signs and stop playing immediately.

Cheers
Alex