Here are some thoughts I had after reading Quarterbacks and SNG Mentalities; the paragraph on short-term memory really hit home to me!

I like this quote ‘…just like how true SNG players should never let what happened in the previous game, set, or day affect how we approach the next’. I’m generally ok dealing with a bad day or two, but can sometimes fall back into old habits after a long downswing. This can lead to missing bvb and bubble shoves in particular, as I want to avoid confrontation.

As the quality of poker players improves I can see that the mental side of the game will become even more important. I’m a big tennis fan and in tennis the difference in skill level between the men’s top 100 is quite small- the main difference is the mental edge that certain players have.

Nadal has one of the strongest mental games; he will always fight until the last point and never give up. Commentators say that its because he approaches each point separately, and just gives 100% on the current point. As a result he can come back from seemingly impossible situations.

In the recent Australian Open semi-final Andy Murray was a set down, and had set-points against him when he came back to defeat David Ferrer to reach the final. He said ‘I actually thought it was 4-3 – just before the umpire called it 5-5…I was so focused and wrapped up – it probably helped me out.’

In Conclusion I’m reminded of a video I was watching of a cash game involving Tom Dwan and Phil Ivey. After Ivey wins a big pot, Dwan asks his how much he is up- Ivey looks back like he has asked the most stupid question ever and replies, ‘Does it matter?’

I just realised that I was over halfway through the training programme, and wanted to share a few thoughts.

James and Colin have done a great job so far, and I have improved a great deal in my poker play. I still feel that the first few lessons are the most important and the material within them should help transform anyone into a winning player- over the long term!!

Now that I have most of the basics memorised, I’m able to think more thoughtfully about each game I play and look at the games in greater detail. This understanding would have been far more difficult without being 100% confident of the early lesson material- which I still look back over.

I just had my heads-up lesson which was full of great stuff which will help benefit my game. There is alot of detail to be discussed concerning heads-up play – however I am pleased that Colin and James waited untill now to discuss it. Looking back I feel that basic heads-up strategy works fine in the lower buy-in games, and allowes greater concentration on other aspects of the game. 

I know I still have many leeks to fix and areas to improve; but its a Marathon and not a sprint!

I’m going to put in some good volume over the weekend, so I’ll give Colin’s ‘Mental Preparation’ a look. Check out this mind-stretching technique video on YouTube to improve your play- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqsV4dL4oo8

Good Luck at the Tables

Charlie

December was not a great month for me, however I did qualify for Blackcard and put in some decent volume. 

I occasionally find it hard to avoid focusing on short term results results- something that I need to work on; however during a recent downswing I found it helped to drop down limits to get my confidence back up.  The two video’s on the website about variance are really good, and hit home the importance of giving 100% in every game- and never tilting! I also re-read parts of ‘The Poker Mindset’ by Ian Taylor and Matthew Hilger which deals with some mental aspects of poker.

The last few days have been very good, with my best ever upswing from the 6-Man Super Turbo’s. I know I have been running well for the last few days- so its important to not get carried away, and just make sure I’m always playing good poker! I’m about 3/4 through clearing the half year bonus which will be a nice boost to the bankroll when completed.

I just recieved an e-mail stating that I had won a prize in the Sit n Go Madness raffle, I was jumping with excitment and opened the e-mail to find I had won a ‘Full Tilt Poker Hat’, but still any extra bonus is good. I might wear it when I next play some golf- then hopefully i’ll get asked to a really fishy home game.

Hi everyone, I’m Charlie from England- and have been playing super-turbo’s since the start of the year.

I decided to share some of my goals, and thoughts about the games. Currently I’m playing a mix of $20, $10 and sometimes $5 games. In December I’ve been really trying to get my volume of games played up, and have given myself a target of playing about 1000 games a week. 

I need to give myself enough time to study, and go over previous concepts from lessons. This is a big change for me, as before starting the coaching programme the only studying I did was reading poker books. I had sit n go wizard but did not know how to use it properly, its obviously important to know how to properly use the tools at our disposal!

Within the next week I will complete one goal that I set myself in September, this was to qualify for Blackcard.  This gives 2x Full Tilt points and other advantages.  

My results since adding in some $20 games have not been great so far, but I’m sure these will improve with time. I know that I’m playing much better than I was when I played the same $20 games before starting the coaching programme, so it should just be a matter of time before I see positive results.