Reset Your Mind for the End Game

I've been getting deep lately in online tournaments, but seem to make some sort of wierd mistake that I can look back on and clearly see where it went wrong. Call it a brain fart or whatever, but for some reason I'm dominating early and mid stages and when it starts getting closer to the final table, I'm making mistakes.

Part of this could be because I recently went through a downswing and hadn't made it deep in a while, but I figured out it was something else. I'm getting anxious (in an excited, impatient sort of way) about making the final table and making a big cash and I'm narrowing my focus to my cards. I'm losing sight of putting others on a hand and I'm forcing situations in order to win a specific (sometimes insignificant) pot. I'm not thinking about any particular hand I'm representing and I'm just blindly being agressive without regards to my opponent's holdings.

Why am I doing this and what am I going to do about it?
It only makes sense that after hours of play you are going to have wound up tension from multiple coin flips and dodging miracle river cards. This can create an anxious feeling as you get closer and closer to hitting it big. It's certainly a normal reaction, but in order to excel at this game (and any other competition for that matter), you have to eliminate this emotional response...especially when tensions are mounting. It all goes back to that detachment thing I keep talking about.

So the first thing I need to do is recognize that the tension exists. Do a gut check...literally. When you're all wound up, your stomach muscels tend to tighten. If your stomach and shoulders seem to be tensed up, it's a good sign you need to do something. This tension needs to be released in order to think clearly and approach the end game as a new beginning.

What I have done in the past when I recognize this feeling is to Re-set my mind. Consider it half-time or a TV timeout or whatever, but there needs to be moments of stepping back and re-assessing your game plan.

How you re-set is simple:

Step 1: Recognize - Just keep a general tab on your psychological and emotional state throughout the game so you can identify when you might need to do something about it. It's not like you have to constantly monitor yourself and make it a big deal, just be able to determine if your play is being affected.

Step 2: Relax - Step away from the computer (or table in live play), get a drink, stretch, take a big deep breath, shake it off, yell out, etc. Whatever works for you to break the tension and clear your mind, do it.

Step 3: Re-Focus - Take a look around the table. What are the stacks like around you, what are the emotions like of the other players, what types of plays are optimal based on your stack size and these other situational factors? In other words, determine a proactive game plan moving forward instead of being subjected to the luck of the cards. Thinking about the future helps you focus on the end goal and how each decision impacts that.

So moving forward, I'm going to incorporate this re-set plan as a regular routine for tournaments. I'm not necessarily going to stand up from the table everytime things start getting heated. It may be as simple as taking a quick breath and adjusting my game plan to the dynamics of the table. But I will definitely start using it to keep a clear, focused and determined mindset to take down more final tables.

Yummy Stop n' Go

Rather than push since he has the stack and will be getting good odds to call, I don't want this guy to see 5 cards. Text book stop n'go where you push no matter what falls on the flop.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t150 (7 handed)

MP2 (t1060)
CO (t1175)
Button (t2305)
SB (t2600)
Hero (t1445)
UTG (t3880)
MP1 (t1035)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Ts, Tc.
UTG raises to t450, 5 folds, Hero calls t300.

Flop: (t975) Qs, 8c, 4s
Hero bets t995 (All-In), UTG folds.

Final Pot: t1970

Learning the Game vs. Understanding the Game

I'm at a transition point in my experience with poker (No Limit Hold'em specifically) in that I'm shifting from looking to other sources for the "correct" way to play certain situations to a deeper level of understanding of the game, where I look to myself for the answers. Books and poker forums are now reference points for additional perspective instead of text books or instructional manuals with a magical answer.

It's really a shift in confidence. Where I used to think "what did Harrington say about small pairs with 8M again?", I have been in enough situations where I'm referencing my own past experiences instead. I now think through multiple ways of approaching a situation and understand the full implications of each course of action, then select the one that has the highest positive expected value (EV).

I'm certainly not saying that I know everything about the game. I still have a lot to learn and there are definitely answers that others with more experience can provide. In fact, I'm sure there are questions I don't even know to ask yet. But I feel like I've passed through a stage of skill development that has brought me one step closer to reaching my goals.

Playing the Situation

Simple little hand, but nice example of playing the situation.

This bet was made based on my stack size relative to theirs and the likely hood that one of them had an Ace since there was no pre-flop raise. Also there are no significant draws out there, so the likely hood of getting called goes down.

PokerStars Game #7637832681: Tournament #38704499, $9.00+$0.90 Hold'em No Limit - Level IV (50/100) - 2006/12/27 - 22:05:27 (ET)
Table '38704499 8' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: AgReSSiVe79 (1780 in chips)
Seat 2: akdgh (1295 in chips)
Seat 3: DP388 (2720 in chips)
Seat 4: bigtimin (1230 in chips)
Seat 5: PCD48 (1410 in chips)
Seat 6: TheG8dFather (1115 in chips)
Seat 7: righty0130 (4405 in chips)
Seat 8: LowLead77 (3160 in chips)
Seat 9: cup1948 (1275 in chips)
DP388: posts small blind 50
bigtimin: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DP388 [3h Qh]
PCD48: folds
TheG8dFather: folds
righty0130: folds
LowLead77: folds
cup1948: folds
AgReSSiVe79: folds
akdgh: calls 100
DP388: calls 50
bigtimin: checks
*** FLOP *** [Ts 4c Ah]
DP388: bets 200
bigtimin: folds
akdgh: folds

When I'm Playing Good I...

1. Have a grin. I may not be showing it, but inside I'm smiling because I know I'm going to take everyone's chips.
2. Act deliberately. Every play has a reason.
3. In tune with the emotions of everyone at the table, whether I'm playing online or live.
4. Have a relaxed focus
5. Am having a good time
6. Have relaxed shoulders, stomach muscles and "chi"
7. Completely detached from emotions or results, only reacting to or creating situations
8. Settle into a rhythm and don't tend to think too much
9. Don't commit to a play until I've seen all the action ahead of me
10. Know what the other guy is thinking
11. Make bets that will extract the most chips out of a situation
12. Make sick laydowns

More to come...

Why Am I Playing Poker? (old post from Sept 06)

This was a post from my old Pokermentor's blog from September 2006. I felt it was important to post here in order to give some perspective on why I'm playing poker and why I love the game so much.

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Okay, this is kind of a stream of consciousness post, so bear with me.

Something interesting occurred the other day. I was invited to attend a WSOP Circuit event by a friend who is planning on playing the $1,000 tournament on Saturday, Sept. 30th. He asked if I wanted to play in that event. Well, my bankroll is around $8,000 so I told him that playing in that event would be outside of my bankroll, but I would probably play in the smaller satellites and SNGs.

Well, this friend actually writes articles for Bluff Magazine in a column called "The Amateur’s Mind" and my response about not having the bankroll prompted him to write an article called "Tournament Bankroll Fallacies". This article, which will actually be running in the November issue, talked about the author, myself, and another friend who all approach tournament entry fees in a different way.

To make a long story short, my comment about having the money but not the bankroll to play bothered him because I wasn't taking into account the experience and confidence that I would gain by playing in a larger buy-in event. I also was not taking into account the fun and overall life experience that is had by playing in these types of events.

Now both of us do not play poker for a living, or really a true income per se, but our approaches to managing a bankroll are much different. BUT, his article and subsequent emails that we exchanged really got me thinking. WHY AM I PLAYING POKER?

At one point I felt that I wanted to use poker as a way to make some side money for our family to ensure we were meeting our bills, pay off some debt, etc. Oh, and maybe one day if I made enough, I could officially play part time while teaching and coaching for a living (I am not a teacher, but I've always wanted to). Well after our third child was born, my frequency of play has been reduced to about 3 days a week and I also haven't been playing in as many big tournaments. After staying up until 2 or 3am, my productivity at work was really going to crap. I started feeling guilty about this, so I've been sticking with smaller tournaments that I know shouldn't go past around 12am or so. And even on the weekends, the kids are waking up around 7am and my lack of sleep was really causing me to be short-tempered with them.

So as a result, I haven't been able to put myself in a position to make as much money as I once was. I'm playing in tournaments with smaller fields and now, even if I final table, I'm only making a few hundred dollars. Now, I'm not complaining about "only" making a few hundred, BUT for me to make any side income that is significant enough to make a difference, I'll have to stick with grinding things out over a long period of time.

SO...that got me re-evaluating why I play. I make enough at in my career to support my family, so why am I so worried about this regular side income? For me to achieve this long-term dream of teaching/coaching and playing poker for a living, I would have to commit a significant amount of time to playing poker. More time than I have to give really. Do I really care about grinding out a couple hundred a month and following strict bankroll management rules?

Meh, in a way I do and in a way I don't. I play poker because I LOVE the game. I love the blend of psychology, math and competition. I love how it's helped me learn how to achieve a calmer, more focused state of mind when approaching different aspects of life. I love the fact that I have something that continuously challenges me and that pushes me to become the best. When I stopped wrestling competitively in college, there was a void missing in my life. I no longer had something that I could pour my heart and soul in that related to my own personal achievement. With poker, I have this and I want to push myself to become one of the best. I want to break down my own personal barriers of self-doubt and I want to see how far I can take this thing. I think this love for competition is why I like tournament poker over the other forms. So really my ultimate goals are related to winning significant tournaments (whether this is the nightly $55K guaranteed on Stars or a WSOP bracelet). All efforts that I put into poker should now be focused on achieving these goals.

So am I playing poker because of the money? Only from the sense that money is the measurement for success. Money is how you keep score. And while the monetary/income oriented role that money plays is obviously a nice byproduct; it is NOT why I am playing.

Wow, okay...there's the breakthrough. There's the self-realization that I was hoping would come from this blog entry. If you've made it this far, thanks for listening. If you haven't, then I'm talking to myself and that's okay too.

So, what next? What about bankroll managment? I've always called myself a bankroll nerd because I never really took a shot at playing tournaments that might be outside of my roll. I mean I had $8K and it still made me nervous to play $100sngs.

Now I'm not saying that I'm going to start playing the daily $100 rebuy on Stars and every Sunday tournament. But, what I am going to change is my feeling about losing money. Since my goal is not to generate income (again, I'm looking at this as a nice byproduct), if there is a tournament that I really want to play in I'm going to be more likely to take a shot at it for the challenge and the reward of a big payday. The whole thing about playing within your bankroll is that if you REGULARLY play at a certain level and hit a downswing in variance, it can put you in a position to go bust. I do not plan on regularly playing outside of my bankroll. For the most part, I will still play within my bankroll. But I think the difference is that now, especially because the frequency in which I am able to play has been reduced, I am not going to shy away from tournaments that will put me in a position to make a nice payday. And even more importantly, I will play in tournaments that challenge me and are in line with my competitive goals of being one of the best. I also think this new attitude will help me become a better player because I am detaching myself from the monetary aspect of money. I won't be worried about losing a certain amount of money. Instead, I will be looking at the opportunity to make a certain amount.

Good luck at the tables...unless you're at mine :-)

Observing People, Not Just Their Play

When everyone took their seats last night, I noticed that the gentleman to my right was wearing a visor. Underneath the visor it was apparent that he had went through some sort of hair plug or hair growth treatment. He was probably in his early-to-mid 40s.

What does this say about him as a person?
Loosing his hair at a relatively early age is probably hard for most men to deal with. But the fact that he has done something about it means that he is concerned with his image and how others see him. He probably wears the visor because the treatment isn't finished yet and doesn't want to look awkward.

What could this mean about the way he plays?
Since he is concerned with his image, he will likely not want to get into situations where the table sees him make a bad play. He'd be embarrassed. So in the back of my mind, I felt if a situation arose, I could put him to the test and make him laydown. At the same time, I knew this would only work a few times because he would not want to look like he was getting pushed around. Obviously I was going to pay attention to his play and table talk to see if my observation was valid. It was.

This worked out beautifully for me. Right after the first break it folded to him in the small blind. He raised 2.5x and I re-raised with a marginal hand, putting him in a push or fold situation. He mucked (again, not wanting to look bad). I took down a few more pots he was involved with and I could tell he was starting to play with ego and felt like I was getting out of line. After a few rotations, an early player limped and he raised 3x. I picked up AA. I thought about shoving, but instead put in a raise which would cause him to push over the top of me. As planned, he pushed with AJ. GG sir.


I like this concept of this post. I'll try and find more examples like this.