Vol.:(0123456789) Journal of Gambling Studies https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-019-09903-7 1 3 ORIGINAL PAPER Ability to Discriminate Online Poker Tilt Episodes: A New Way to Prevent Excessive Gambling? Axelle Moreau 1,2  · Serge Sévigny 3  · Isabelle Giroux 1,2  · Emeline Chauchard 4 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2019 Abstract Tilt is a very common term in online poker players’ vocabulary, it describes a state where the player is no longer able to make rational decisions because they are overwhelmed by strong emotions. This study aims to explore the relation existing between the frequency of Tilt episodes, the player’s perception of these episodes and excessive gambling in online poker. The sample is composed of 291 adult French-speaking online poker players. All participants completed an online self-assessment questionnaire. The results of the clas- sifcation analysis showed that the sample could be divided into three groups. The frst group, named ‘‘players in control’’ included low excessive gambling tendencies with low perceived and measured Tilt frequencies. The two other groups showed high measured tilt levels, with perceived tilt levels that were diferent from the measured levels. Furthermore, these two groups present a moderate usage risk of developing an excessive gambling ten- dency in a money-based game of chance. These results show the existence of a relation between the player’s capacity to perceive tilt and the online poker player’s behavior. Keywords Problematic gambling · Poker · Tilt · Internet · Irrational beliefs Introduction More and more studies have recently investigated the specifcities of online money- involved games of chance (MIGOC). These recent studies indicate that online MIGOCs are associated with higher rates of pathological gambling and higher negative conse- quences compared to regular gambling modalities (Costes and Eroukmanof 2018; * Axelle Moreau Axelle.moreau.tlse@gmail.com 1 École de psychologie, Université Laval, Pavillon Félix-Antoine-Savard, 2325 Allée des Bibliothèques, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada 2 Institut Universitaire sur les Dépendances, 950 Rue De Louvain Est, Montréal, QC H2M 2E8, Canada 3 Faculté des sciences de l’éducation, Département des fondements et pratiques en éducation, Pavillon des Sciences de l’éducation, 2320 rue des Bibliothèques, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada 4 Laboratoire de Psychologie des Pays de la Loire, Université de Nantes, 1 quai de Tourville, BP 13522, 44035 Nantes Cedex 1, France