Some players will actively try to put you on tilt, especially if they’ve earmarked you as a weak and inexperienced player. If you let someone needle you, your play will suffer, you’ll focus on the protagonist and, sod’s law dictates, you’ll end up busting out against him.

It’s exactly what happened to a poor Internet qualifier in the 2004 Poker Million tournament. Teddikins (a self-styled moniker) was on the big blind with Devilfish on the button. Teddikins had already made the mistake of needling Devilfish before – ‘who is the Devilfish? He’s just my little fish’ – a tactic that spectacularly backfired in front of the TV cameras. The Devilfish gave it back to him with both barrels and the trembling Teddikins made a terrible call after raising under the gun with A-8. Devilfish moved all-in with a pair of Jacks, and as the confrontation dictated, Teddikins couldn’t make what would seem like an obvious pass.

So how can you avoid getting in a situation like this? If you’re playing online disable the chat function. If you’re playing in a bricks-and-mortar game stick your headphones on or just stay silent. Blanking your opponent is a great way of putting him on tilt. At worst they’ll just move onto another, more susceptible, target.

When Mike ‘The Mouth’ Matusow attempted to put Greg Raymer on tilt in last year’s WSOP, the big man refused to get drawn. The net result? He played a great game and ended the day as chip leader. It’s a lesson worth heeding.