While it is a lot easier to put someone on tilt in no-limit, it’s much harder to do so in a limit game just because most hands are not as large. However, there are still ways I’ve found to do so. My favorite one works on most people, but it is difficult to pull off because it requires a couple hands, and the right situation (note: I’ve found this to work on no-limit as well).

It is a two hand process:

1.) Make a spectacle of bad behavior in a hand.

The first step is to bluff, get a fold, and then show your hand. It has to be in the correct situation though. First you have to bluff out someone in a limit game, which is not always easy, but it can be done. Now comes the part of showing your hand, but two requirements have to be met before you show your hand.

a.) The player has to think about it for a bit before throwing it away. This ensure that they do have something, and you’ll know that they’re most likely throwing away the winning hand. Also, you want them thinking about your play, and what you have given how you’ve played the hand. You want this to be an emotional decision for them. Showing a garbage hand will not have the same effect on a person if they have garbage as well. It also helps if the table makes a big deal of it as well. This will make them want to get revenge for their damaged ego.

b.) It has to be right for your table image. If you are getting large-size pots to begin with and people are folding because they’re scared of you, then there is no reason to give them doubt that you don’t have the best hand. Let them keep folding winning hands, and let you keep getting nice-sized pots. If most of the pots are rather small, you might want to encourage people to stay in pots with you to make them larger. In other words, it’s not worth putting one person on tilt if it will ruin your chances of getting money from the rest of the table.

Now, unless they are seasoned veterans, they are going to want to make sure that you don’t pull that on them again. Hopefully their pride is damaged as well. Pride is a huge factor in people going on tilt.

2.) Quickly beat them again.

While they are still emotional over their last fold, a second beat is needed. This needs to be a hand that looks exactly the same as before. You need to bet exactly the same, and similar cards need to be shown. It needs to look like you are making the same type of claim just as you claimed in hand 1. For example, if two queens were up in hand 1, and you were bluffing that you had the 3rd queen, then in hand 2, you should have what would be comparable to the third queen. You want them thinking that they have you pegged on a bluff only to find out that they misread you again. This is a very good way of trapping someone in no-limit as well.

Now they should be on an emotional roller coaster. They’ll be questioning their ability to read players, and will feel totally outplayed. I’ve only seen a couple players that didn’t go on tilt to some degree and most players will have self-destructed by now. I know I personally had this done on me and watched myself blowup just a few hands later.