Tilt Odds

Using implied tilt odds in poker

Let me tell you about a Phil Gordon strategy called implied tilt odds.

I just love it when i hear about a poker concept that is a little out of left field. I also consider this one a great on the spot excuse for playing a hand badly and getting lucky.

One of the best ‘unique poker plays’ I have come across is this Phil Gordon strategy (although I am not convinced he uses it often) that is designed to wrangle chips away from a tight rock of a player based on what he calls "Implied Tilt Odds"

Imagine a situation where you are playing against a really tight table, or a really tight player and you really want to loosen up the game and get their very well defended chips flowing.

Tight Tony enters the pot with a raise which lets you (and every other player at the table) know that he has Aces, Kings, Queens or Ace King at worst. You look down and see 69 of spades and make a loose call and the flop comes down 5 hearts, J spades, 2 diamonds.

You totally don't have good odds to play this hand. In fact you would need running spades, running 78, running 34, running 66, running 99 or running 69 to take the hand down. I wont even tell you how far away you are from being able to call any bet against a player with monster pocket pairs in this situation, because it is not worth considering- or is it?

With Implied Tilt Odds it is not the money you will win in this hand that make it worth calling, it is the result your beat will have on the playing style of Tight Tony throughout the rest of the session that will make it all worth it.

Tight Tony would have his faith in the logical order of the universe shattered by you hitting your winning hand on the turn and river here.

He would see red and probably have a hard time breathing for a while.

This will be followed by rage and a thirst for revenge that could not be satisfied by waiting around for the next monster hand. He will try to win with the sort of hands you just beat him with and BINGO, the game and his money are all yours for the taking.

A simple word of caution though.

Using implied tilt odds is designed for playing against tight or at least very solid players who don't part with their chips easily. It also helps if they have heaps of money at the table and plenty of time to hang around.

Finished reading implied tilt odds ?

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