The mental side of poker is arguably more important than the strategy side especially in today's tighter higher variance games. Yet it seems like 95%+ of the educational material out there is about the latter.
This has always seemed crazy to me.
This is why I am happy to bring on my blog today arguably the world's most well known poker mental game coach and author, Jared Tendler.
He has worked with some of the biggest names in the industry. And he helped me out early on in my poker career as well.
So without further ado let's get right into the interview!
By the way, if you're new to poker and you just want to know exactly what hands to play, grab my free poker cheat sheet.
Memorize the charts. Stop guessing. Start winning.
Please tell us a bit about yourself and your background.
I’m a Virgo, 37, like long walks on the beach…lol. I’ve been a mental game coach now for over a decade. I started back in 2005 working with golfers – I was an aspiring professional golfer myself and so it was a natural fit for me to start working with them.
I got into this field because I had my own mental hang-ups as I was playing in some big national golf events. I did really well overall – I was 3x all-american and won 9 tournaments in college, but in the big time national events, I was choking.
First time it happened in 1997, I missed a playoff to get to the second stage of US Open qualifying by a shot and I missed a bunch of short putts! It was brutal but that drove me to figure out how to solve my mental problem. What I found didn’t really work for me so I decided to find answers.
That led me to get a Master’s degree in counseling psychology and get licensed as a therapist – which took 2 years of full time work. All in an effort to understand how to solve mental/emotional issues at a deeper level.
By the way, if you just want to learn my simple no BS system for exactly what hands to play, when to bet, raise and bluff, I cover this all in my brand new training program, Play Fearless Poker.
Memorize the charts. Stop guessing. Start winning.
My new Play Fearless Poker training program includes 12+ hours of advanced poker lessons, 100+ step by step example hands and "cheat sheets" below every single video.
If you're serious about taking your poker game to the next level, enroll today.
How did you get involved in working with poker players?
Pretty random actually. I met Dusty Schmidt (aka "Leatherass", legendary online grinder) on the golf course because we had some mutual friends in common. This was in 2007 and he was trying to make SuperNova Elite in just 10 months – which was unheard of back then.
The problem was that he was tilting badly. Destroying computers, mice, and the walls in his office. He basically paid for my coaching with the money he saved on new equipment.
The results of my work with him were immense – he went from winning 20-30k/month to winning over $600k in the subsequent 4 months. After that success I got involved with Stoxpoker and started making a name for myself.
What are the biggest mental game issues that poker players come to you with?
Before I wrote my books, it was far and away tilt. This is something that nearly every poker player I talked to was struggling with. These days, the issues are more related to confidence and motivation.
Do you think that high stakes players have similar mental game hang-ups as low stakes players?
Absolutely. The stakes don’t change the issues, they just change the unique ways those issues can show up. Tilt, fear, motivational issues and confidence issues exist everywhere. No poker player has solved the mental game.
Most of my readers here play at very low stakes. Do you have any general advice for them on dealing with bad beats and limiting tilt?
Bad beats are like a business expense. They’re unavoidable and frankly they’re evidence of quality play. If you’re not taking bad beats, it means you’re not playing well enough to be a favorite.
Bad beats are not fun, but the more you realize they’re part of the game, and that variance is an uncontrollable part of the game, the less they’ll affect you. This is all easy to say, and many of you may already be aware that this is true.
To really make them not affect you, you have to train your mind. Read and think about this paragraph every day you play for the next 60-90 days. Training doesn’t happen overnight.
The Mental Game of Poker and The Mental Game of Poker 2 have both received wide praise. What inspired you to write them and how do you think they would benefit micro stakes poker players in particular?
Micro and low stakes players were a primary motivation in writing them. I know they’re priced out of getting coaching with me and I wanted to give them an opportunity to learn more about the mental game at a lower cost.
Basically they’ll get the information that I share with my private clients. The key is that they’ve got to work a bit harder to really get the benefit. A lot of players – at all levels – falsely assume that just reading the book will cure them.
Like a lot of things in poker, to improve you’ve got to work at it. The same is true here.
I know that you also have a popular podcast where you have interviewed some of the biggest names in the industry like Daniel Negreanu, Phil Galfond and others. What inspired you to start this and what has it been like?
It was a great opportunity to have high level conversations with some of the best poker players/minds around. I’ve really enjoyed it! But to be honest the conversations started to get a bit stale.
So recently I’ve gone in a different direction and have interviewed other people in psychology and other professionals, like a client of mine who is one of the top pool players in the world. It’s been fun to mix it up.
Thank you very much for doing this interview Jared! Where can the readers find your website, your books, your podcast, coaching, social media and anything else?
Absolutely! Here’s my website and they can find info there on where to pick up my books. I also have a ton of free articles, blogs, and my podcast there.
They can also get the audiobook of The Mental Game of Poker 1 or 2 for free – info is here. Here’s the links to my Twitter and Facebook.
Final Thoughts
I hope you guys got some useful stuff out of this interview. I think the most fascinating thing that I will take away is that high stakes players actually have a lot of the same mental game issues as low stakes players.
Also, I thought the part about bad beats being a "business expense" and a sign of good play was also brilliant. I couldn't agree more. If you read this blog a lot, then you will know that I often refer to them similarly as a "tax" that we all have to pay.
As Jared rightly points out, improving your mental game is a process that takes considerable time in training your mind. Hopefully some points in this interview will get you going in the right direction. Make sure to check out his books for more.
If there is anything that you would like to ask Jared or myself in the comments below about the mental side of poker, go right ahead. I would also like to know, what are some of your biggest mental hangups in this game?
Lastly, if you found this article helpful, do me a favor and give it a "Like" or a "Tweet" below. Thanks!
I say it all the time on this blog and elsewhere. Your results at the micros are largely based around how you think. The truth is that most players at these stakes are just starting out at poker and aren't very good yet.
A very simple TAG strategy plus a little bit of table selection and tilt control is easily enough to still get big results in today's games especially at the lowest stakes.
But most people defeat themselves mentally before they ever get a chance to see the success that is easily within their grasp.
In this article I am going to list 15 mental tips for the micros that will get you thinking like the top winners do.
By the way, if you're new to poker and you just want to know exactly what hands to play, grab my free poker cheat sheet.
Memorize the charts. Stop guessing. Start winning.
1. Embrace the Madness!
I used to tell people with a straight face that I have probably taken more bad beats than anyone in the history of poker.
I don't think that this is true anymore.
But the reason that I was able to make this outrageous claim was because at the time I had probably played more hands of poker at the lowest stakes than any one else in history.
You know, the stakes where you see some of the wackiest stuff on earth all the time.
Chase that gutshot!
Flush draw or straight draw? We be calling the whole way!
Middle pair? Bottom Pair? You crazy!? I can't fold that!
When this is the mentality of half the players that you are up against it should not be any surprise that you are going to take all kinds of crazy bad beats. It's just simple math.
Sometimes, they will hardly even be believably, like hitting a straight flush on the river.
But believe me, this kind of stuff can and will happen to you sometimes. So you have to be prepared.
As I discussed in my latest video, learning to stay disciplined in a situation like this is actually the "secret" to beating these bad poker players
It is very important to also remember that this is precisely the reason why the top winners at these stakes are able to sport such ludicrously high win rates.
And that is because the math works the other way too. You see, most of the time when your opponents are chasing their ridiculous draws, they actually miss.
Our brains are hard-wired though to only focus on the few times that they hit.
We conveniently forget about all of the times when our opponent ends up whiffing on whatever nonsense they were chasing and we end up winning the pot.
Yes, these kinds of players can be extremely frustrating to play against at times. But this is precisely why the micros are so profitable! You have to simply learn to embrace the madness.
By the way, if you just want to learn my simple no BS system for exactly what hands to play, when to bet, raise and bluff, I cover this all in my brand new training program, Play Fearless Poker.
Memorize the charts. Stop guessing. Start winning.
My new Play Fearless Poker training program includes 12+ hours of advanced poker lessons, 100+ step by step example hands and "cheat sheets" below every single video.
If you're serious about taking your poker game to the next level, enroll today.
One of the great things about the micros is that if you have a bad day then you lose a few movie tickets or a nice dinner for two. At high stakes if you have a bad day then you could lose a luxury vacation, a car or even a house.
The money doesn't really matter to most people at the micros. Everybody hates to lose but is it really worth losing your mind over $20? How about $50?
You are going to have losing days in poker. It doesn't matter how good you are.
The sooner that you start distancing yourself from viewing the chips as "money", the better off that you will be. And at the micros, this is extremely easy, because the amounts involved are often trivial.
But more importantly, and no matter what limit you are playing, you should learn to view the chips for what they really are, big blinds or simply capital in your business. They are just a convenient way of keeping score like points in a video game.
When you put them back into your bank account, then you can start thinking about them as actual money again.
Everybody has to deal with downswings in poker. This is basically a period during which you are consistently not making good hands and you are getting coolered and taking bad beats much more often than normal.
There is no rhyme or reason behind when a downswing occurs. The same goes for their length and intensity.
Unfortunately there are many people out there who could have been great players but they faced a period of intense bad luck at the very beginning of their poker career and it was too much for them to handle.
This is especially difficult because they had no experience in dealing with it.
God knows I have faced countless setbacks in my poker career. In fact, I have nearly quit the game completely on many occasions during my 10+ year career as a pro.
On the flip side, how many times have we heard about the high stakes players of today who hit a huge heater to start their career?
A huge HU session versus some particular fish. Or they got lucky and hit a big score in a tournament to jump start their bankroll.
Variance (both good and bad) happens to everybody and there is no telling when it will occur. There is a never a good time for a downswing and we will always feel like the heater is simply something that we are owed.
It is better to just stop thinking about it so much. The randomness of variance in poker is never something that will be in your control.
By the way, if you are curious how I play so many poker tables and such long sessions and still keep my sanity, yes I do use several poker software aids and tools.
For the complete list of poker software tools that I use as a pro, click here.
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4. Don't Pay Attention to Your EV Adjusted Winnings
Poker tracking programs such as PokerTracker 4 and Hold'em Manager 2 include a little stat called "EV adjusted winnings". This is basically supposed to tell you what your results would be if you had "normal luck".
There are so many problems with this idea that I don't even know where to begin. However, I don't want to get off on a tangent here.
The bottom line (and why I suggest that you remove this stat completely) is that it will never do anything good for your mentality at the tables. In fact it will only ever produce negative thoughts.
The reason why is that if the EV results are higher than your actual results, then you will use this as proof that you are cursed, it must be rigged etc.
If the EV results are lower than your actual results though, then you will feel like you are just getting lucky and reality will eventually come crashing down.
Do yourself a favor and don't pay any attention to this stat at all. The only thing that actually matters are your real results.
Use a proven winning strategy and stay focused on your long term results only, over the course of months and years.
5. You Have to Build the Pot For Them
Most micro stakes players are passive. That is, they don't really like to make aggressive actions unless they have a really strong hand. They would rather just limp along or call unless they have the nuts.
This is not the key to winning poker. But it is the Friday night home game mentality that most of us grew up with. And it is also the style of play that we often see in Hollywood depictions of the game.
So this leads many players at the micros into thinking that they have to slow-play their big hands. After all, they don't want to "scare them off" by betting too much!
The reality though is that many micro stakes players love to call if they have anything remotely decent.
This is why you are doing yourself a huge disservice by not betting your good hands. I basically wrote an entire book about this very topic.
The biggest mental hurdle here is once again short-sighted thinking. It is focusing too much attention on the times that they folded and conveniently forgetting about all of the times when they called.
The key to changing this mentality is understanding that most of the time when they fold it is because they simply had nothing.
There is no amount of slow-playing in the world that you can do to make somebody call when they have 7 high, no draw.
Micro stakes players love to call a lot. But they are not going to call you with two napkins! They have to have something.
They love to chase these 3 really bad draws for example as I discussed in a recent video.
But you must remember, a lot of the time in this game nobody really has anything good.
So the next time you have pocket aces, make a bet, they fold and you curse BlackRain79 for it please remember this:
You did the right thing.
You didn't "scare them out".
They just didn't have anything to pay you off with this time.
6. Just Play the Game
I learned how to win big at the micro stakes largely by just playing the game.
When I started playing online poker 10 years ago there were no websites like the one that you are reading right now, there were no modern books on the game, advanced poker training sites were not invented yet and forums were in their infancy.
So I basically just dove in and started playing millions and millions of hands and reviewed my sessions every night in PokerTracker.
I eventually learned from my mistakes and became a top winner.
Fast forward to today and I get emails from people telling me that they play NL2 and have been studying GTO poker math for a year. This is simply crazy.
Studying the game is not a bad thing, don't get me wrong. But as mentioned before, all you really need to beat the micros (especially the lower end) is a simple TAG strategy and the right mental approach.
You don't need to spend years studying complex poker math and high level game theory in order to beat NL2 or even NL25.
You just need to log on to [poker site name here], find some fish and start playing the game.
So many people at these stakes will call down no matter what because "they have to". Because if he has it, "then it is just a cooler". No and no.
You don't have to do anything in poker and there is no such thing as a crying call, only a bad call.
If a passive opponent is getting aggressive especially on the later streets (turn and river), then it is very likely that they have exactly what they are representing. You can go ahead and call and keep getting shown the nuts.
Or, you can choose to change this way of thinking and make the "sick fold".
The truth is that these folds will no longer seem sick to you once you get used to making them on a regular basis. And your win rate will love you for it.
By the way, I discuss this in much more detail in my new Elite Poker University training.
Learn EXACTLY how to start crushing small and mid stakes poker games, play semi-pro or even full time pro. Use my proven elite poker strategies to start winning fast.
One of the most common reasons that micro stakes players cannot make the fold is because they get married to a big pair.
When people complain about running bad one of the first things that they usually mention is how their aces got cracked [insert number of times in a row here].
A lot of people seem to think that just because they got dealt AA or KK that they have a license to print money. That is faulty thinking.
These two hands in particular are indeed the two best starting hands in the game. And yes they don't come around very often (about 220 to 1).
However, they are also just one pair. It is very important to remember this.
At the micros, where you are often dealing with large multi-way pots, your actual equity before seeing the flop could sometimes even be less than 50%.
Equity with AA before the flop versus a couple random suited hands
Once again, if a passive player starts going nuts against you (especially on the turn or the river) your pocket rockets or your cowboys are probably dead in the water.
Fold and thank me later.
9. Nobody Gets Rich at the Micros
I have written a few articles before on this blog about how much money you can make at the micros (this one for instance).
These have now actually become some of the most popular posts in the history of this website.
This just goes to show how many people suffer from results oriented thinking. This is exactly the sort of thing that I actually tried to warn against in both of those articles!
Nobody gets rich at the micros.
The micros are where you should be focused on getting a solid grasp of the fundamentals and starting to think about how to outplay a few of the better thinking regs.
They are not a place to plan your future retirement. They are not really a place where you should even be thinking about making a living.
If your expenses are extremely low though and you live in a country with a low cost of living then many people have and will continue to "go pro" at these stakes.
I did it so I would be a hypocrite to blame others for doing the same.
But this should not be your primary motivation. If your main reason for getting into poker is to make money then your time would likely be better spent elsewhere.
The money does not come fast or easy in this game. Play poker because you love it. Work hard, study hard, and then and only then, will the money start to come.
10. Embrace the Grind
As mentioned, success in poker does not come fast.
In today's games it often takes most people a couple of years to start making really decent money. This is if you want to use proper bankroll management and learn the game the right way.
You will have many unsuccessful attempts at moving up along the way which will force you to move back down and grind back what you lost as well.
It's boring, it sucks and there is definitely no get rich quick scheme here.
However, if climbing up the ranks and making some real money in this game is something that is a priority for you then you should ideally make some time to play every single day.
And if you can, just play all day on the weekends.
In short, you must take this game extremely seriously if you want to get world class results and become a semi-pro or even a full time pro one day.
There is tons of good poker software these days which can help you grind out the hands easier, but there is no substitute for putting in the long hours at the poker tables.
11. Don't Listen to the Know-It-Alls
You will see them at the tables. Turn the chat off. You will see them on the forums. Limit your time on forums.
These are the people who think they know everything there is to know about the game and if you don't play "the right way" according to them, then they will let you know about it.
Pay them no attention. You need to develop your own style of play at the tables within a TAG or a LAG framework.
There are many ways to skin a cat at the micros. There is no correct CBet% or 3Bet% for instance. You will see big winners with widely varying ranges on both of these stats at all levels of the micros.
Simply put, do what works for you at the tables and don't listen to anybody who has a problem with it.
There have been countless cases of successful innovators in poker who the know-it-alls made fun of. Within a few years they were copying them.
While timing tells and betting patterns do exist in online poker for the most part you should just focus on playing your own cards especially at the lowest stakes.
Most of your opponents are not thinking on any kind of deeper level and many of the regs are playing on a lot of tables at once.
When they fight back they aren't picking on you out of the blue. And when you can't get them to fold it is usually because they have something decent.
Don't resort to FPS (fancy play syndrome) and try to emulate your favorite TV poker hero.
Your 9th level thinking will not work against a nitty 12 tabling reg at NL5. Nor will it work against a recreational player who won't fold bottom pair to save his life.
They will just call you down anyways and you will become even more tilted.
Keep things simple at these stakes. Save the fancy stuff for higher limits.
13. Learn to Quit
One of the best things that you can do immediately for your win rate at the micros is to learn to recognize the signs of tilt and quit right away.
You have to learn to remove your ego and accept when it is simply not your day. Many people bury themselves in this game by continuing to play and chase losses while playing their C, D or F game.
This is something that took me an incredibly long time to learn and it might for you as well if you are an extremely competitive person.
But you have to remember that the game will always be there tomorrow. Your goal should always be to make sure that you are on your A game as much of the time as possible when at the tables.
So this is why the reverse is also true. Learn how to extend your sessions when things are going well and you are on top of your game. Don't get into the "protect your winnings" mentality because that is just as much of an illusion.
Make playing your best at all times your goal and the results will follow. As a poker pro, this is one of the biggest lessons I ever learned.
This is why I included an entire section in Modern Small Stakes dedicated to just the mental game of poker.
14. Focus on Hands Played and/or Rakeback Goals
If you look back through the crazy history of this blog for many years all I posted was how many hands I played that day along with my goals for the month and rakeback.
I realized that I cannot control the crazy variance that comes with this game on a day to day, week to week or even month to month level.
This is why I choose instead to focus on numbers and data which I do have control over.
If I want to play 100k hands in a month then I can calculate how many hands a day that I have to play in order to achieve that goal.
The same goes for rakeback which is basically free money at the end of the day that some online poker sites will pay you if you play a lot.
If you want to achieve a certain rakeback goal, then find out what it takes to get there and go make it happen.
Don't waste your time focusing on what you don't control, monetary goals.
Sometimes you will be pleasantly surprised.
Sometimes you will be disappointed. There is no point in stressing over it.
Focus on the stuff that you actually control in this game, and ignore the rest.
15. Have Fun
We all started playing poker for fun. Well, most of us anyways. It should always remain that way.
The day that poker becomes an endless grind for you and there is no pleasure in it is the day that you should take a break and consider your future with the game.
The people who have the most success in poker are typically the ones who seem to always be at the tables. They are there because they love to play. And if you love something then you will be much more motivated to improve.
Always keep it lighthearted especially when fighting your way through the madness that is the micros. You will win some, you will lose some. Work hard on your game but always remember that it is just that, a game.
Follow your passion for it and the results and the money will follow.
Make sure you pick up a copy of my book Crushing the Microstakes which will teach you the strategy that I used to crush the micro stakes for some of the highest winrates in online poker history.
Lastly, if you are really serious about taking your poker game to the next level then I would suggest enrolling in a high level advanced poker course.
Let me know in the comments below what you think. What mental advice do you have for the micros? If you found this article helpful please "Like" or "Tweet" it below!
What is the real day to day life of a poker grinder like? It is kind of crazy that this gets discussed so rarely because what you do away from the tables is just as important as your strategy.
How do you prevent tilt for instance?
This is something that is especially important for inexperienced poker players who often suffer the most from poor emotional control at the tables. Indeed, as I have stated before, I believe that the number one bankroll killer for beginner level poker players is without a doubt, tilt.
But what if we dig a little bit deeper and talk about how mood, mental and physical states can affect our play and the likelihood of tilting even before we sit down? In other words how about we look at some of the main root causes of the problem instead of looking for band aid solutions?
Tilt is going to happen to us no matter what in this game from time to time but it is certainly within our control to lessen it's impact. Professional athletes have all sorts of pre-game rituals and use mental imagery techniques to get themselves prepared.
Why shouldn't poker players? If you take this game seriously (and especially if it is your job) then you should be mentally and physically preparing yourself for the grind before you even sit down to play.
I want to stress here that I am not a psychologist or a psychiatrist and I have a very limited academic background in the subject (a few college level courses).
However, I have played poker professionally or semi-professionally for 10+ years now so I have had ample experience in understanding how my own physical and mental states can affect my results.
What follows will be based on what I have learned in that time. Let's start with some of the more obvious stuff first.
By the way, if you're new to poker and you just want to know exactly what hands to play, grab my free poker cheat sheet.
Memorize the charts. Stop guessing. Start winning.
Poker and Nutrition
You are what you eat, literally. Everybody probably already knows this but it bears repeating here. You are going to feel way better about yourself if you choose the rice/chicken, salad and green tea rather than the big mac, fries and a coke.
This is not to mention what all those extra calories are going to do to your waistline! "Bad food" is often loaded with sugar and leads to insulin spikes which can affect your mood rapidly. Healthier choices that have more actual ingredients found in nature will often have the opposite affect and provide you with a much more stable mindset.
I don't want to sound like some health nut here trying to sell you on the benefits of eating right. You already know all this. Everybody does and it is a personal decision whether you heed that advice or not.
However, something that I have found as it relates to poker though is that you should always eat a moderate portion before playing a session. Even if you eat healthy food, if you eat too much you will often get that lethargic and bloated feeling afterwards which is not conducive to making the quick high quality decisions that online poker demands.
This is indeed a bigger problem though with a lot of high fat/high sugar "North American diet" foods that are popular today. They are extremely calorie dense and if you eat out in restaurants a lot the portion sizes are often enormous as well. It is much harder to OD on the chicken salad than a huge plate of pasta.
So at the very least, if you are planning a poker session try to make sure that the meal you have beforehand is of a moderate size and of course preferably healthy.
You can always snack on something during your session if you get hungry. Again preferably something healthy like apple slices and almonds. Prepare these ahead of time so that you can just grab them out of the fridge during a washroom break.
I discuss all this in more detail in the poker pro sections of my new Elite Poker University.
Poker and Exercise
Regular exercise simply helps me feel better both mentally and physically in life and improves my mindset and results at the tables immeasurably. Ask yourself this, have you ever done some strength training or fitness and said to yourself at the end, "well that sure was a waste of time!"? No of course not! You probably felt great once it was over.
Those endorphins are pumping, you feel energized and proud of yourself. Sure it might have sucked during the session and you may have felt like quitting. But afterwards you always feel a natural high. And then of course there are the long term health benefits and lowering of stress levels which is what directly relates to reducing the impact of tilt.
The problem for most people though is just getting started. They will procrastinate and put off going to the gym for another day. Soon enough of those "another days" pile up and they have all but quit exercising altogether. I know the feeling.
We all lead busy lives and it can be so easy to make excuses and put it off. If this is a problem for you then I suggest prioritizing fitness as the first thing that you do in the morning no matter what. I have really taken to this of late myself because I have been traveling a lot and often don't have the easy access to a gym that I normally do.
So in order to make sure that I stay on a regular exercise schedule I do some light strength training and go for a jog on most days as soon as I wake up. And I literally mean as soon as I wake up. I crawl out of bed and start doing some sets of pushups, tricep dips and body squats for 20-30 minutes. I then put on my running shoes and I am out the door for a 30 minute run at the beach, in a back alley, where ever. I try to do this at least 3 or 4 times a week.
I should mention that I typically wake up at 6am and this is a great time to safely run anywhere even if you are in a completely foreign place. If it is raining heavily then I may just do some jumping jacks, burpees or Tae-Bo type stuff in my hotel/guesthouse room. Anything to get the heart pumping a bit. I think music is a great motivator as well so I always listen to something uplifting and inspiring like Trance. I highly recommend Armin Van Buuren's weekly show "A State of Trance."
I complain vigorously to myself on most mornings both before and during these exercise sessions but I always feel like a million bucks when I am done and throughout the rest of the day. Don't allow yourself to make excuses.
There is always time in every day for this crucial element in your life and poker. Start first thing in the morning before you do anything else if procrastination is a problem for you. Eventually it will become a habit and you won't even need to think about it.
Everything that I have written about so far was probably a bit mundane and you have likely heard a lot of it before. However, sometimes we need to be told things again and again for them to really sink in.
You should also know that nobody is perfect as regards nutrition and exercise. I regularly screw them both up myself. The important thing is to keep trying to create and maintain better habits and if you fall off the train to pick yourself back up and get on it again.
Good nutrition and regular exercise will pay big dividends to your bottom line at the tables by allowing you to think more clearly and thus make better decisions. It will also greatly improve your overall mindset and lower your stress levels which is a huge key to reducing the impact of tilt.
Let's move on.
By the way, if you just want to learn my simple no BS system for exactly what hands to play, when to bet, raise and bluff, I cover this all in my brand new training program, Play Fearless Poker.
Memorize the charts. Stop guessing. Start winning.
My new Play Fearless Poker training program includes 12+ hours of advanced poker lessons, 100+ step by step example hands and "cheat sheets" below every single video.
If you're serious about taking your poker game to the next level, enroll today.
Understanding how your mood or mental state can affect your game before a session is something that rarely gets discussed but it is so important. Now once again I am not a trained psychologist here so I don't want to dig too deep into real mental health issues such as clinical depression.
I don't really have any personal experience with this kind of major debilitating depression either. If this is something that you suffer with though, then you may want to re-evaluate how it affects your game and maybe even put poker on hold for awhile until you get control of it.
For most of us though it is the more run of the mill stuff like being in a bad mood due to a stressful day or feeling mildly depressed (the normal kind that most people get from time to time) due to some life event or even just feeling lonely. These states of mind can affect your game more than you might think.
We all have bad days and I know that on my bad days I am more likely to have a much shorter tilt leash than normal. Whereas it might normally take 5 or 10 bad beats/coolers in a short period to get me off my A or B game on a bad day I might be feeling tilty after just 3 of them. My overall decision making and the likelihood of making mistakes will also suffer on my bad days.
So it is important to recognize your mental state or mood and address it before you even sit down to play. Just because you are a bit short of temper or mildly depressed does not mean that you need to cancel your session though. It just means that after you recognize the problem you decide to allocate 10 minutes before the start of the session to some meditation or mental imagery. Shutting the door and having a quick "time out" of simple deep breathing exercises can often dramatically improve your mood.
Sit cross legged, close your eyes and start slowly breathing in deeply until your lungs are completely full. Exhale just as slowly and do this 50 times. If you would like some sort of relaxing background atmosphere while performing this calming exercise here is 2 hours of Thai Buddhist monks chanting.
This simple meditation technique may seem tedious at first but you will be in a much better state of mind to play poker after doing this. It should not take more than 10 minutes of your time and you really only need to do it on those bad days where you feel a little stressed or depressed.
Most professional athletes prep both physically and mentally for hours before the actual game begins. Surely you can find 10 minutes to make sure that you are in a relaxed state of mind before loading up the tables. Ideally, do this before the start of every session!
See my complete guide to tilt control by the way, right here.
Poker and Substances
This is going to be a bit of a difficult topic for me to get into because different substances affect people in different ways. However, I can discuss what works (and more importantly what doesn't work) in my experience.
Let's start with everybody's favorite, alcohol! I had some nights very early on in my poker career that were either very memorable or very regrettable due to playing while inebriated. I have both won and lost several thousand dollars in one evening while playing under the influence. I am (proud to admit?) that I also won my first poker tournament while hammered even though it was only for about 1k.
Overall, I may have actually been up a little bit in my playing drunk career. But it was after one final night where I had been dealing with a lengthy downswing and tilted off about 2k at 1/2 and 2/4 that I told myself that this needs to stop. Truthfully, in today's tougher games my results probably would have been much worse at these stakes while playing in this state.
I simply do not play anywhere near my best if I have had one too many. I play much more aggressively than normal (although this is not always a bad thing) and tilt harder and want to jump stakes if losing. This is why when I chose to take this game seriously and make it a profession I swore off playing while drinking alcohol completely.
I do not drink and play period. I do believe that there is some truth to the idea that a light buzz (one or two beers) may make some people feel more loose and possibly even play better. I choose not to go down this path at all though.
Alcohol and poker can be a lethal combination for your bankroll and it is really easy to go down that slippery slope of feeling the buzz and having a few too many. I am not here to screw around in this game. I have had absolutely zero tolerance when playing poker for many, many years now. No alcohol at all. This is what works for me.
I personally do not use any drugs when playing poker or at all for that matter either. I definitely don't want to come across as preachy about this topic or belittling those who do though. Many people for instance use marijuana on a regular basis because it makes them feel more relaxed. I think that if this is something that works for you then more power to you. This is something that only you can know and I don't really have much more to say on the subject.
The same would go for all of those prescription based medications that are popular these days such as Ritalin for ADD. If you feel that this positively affects your concentration at the tables then I would say that it is probably a good thing then. Just be totally honest with yourself about any of these substances. Are they +EV or -EV for you at the tables?
The same can be said for energy drinks and caffeine. For me personally I rarely drink either of these while playing poker or in general. I will sometimes have a single cup of coffee in the morning but that is all.
I am one of those people who gets negatively affected by too much caffeine or energy drinks in my system. However, maybe you are different and it helps you concentrate and think more clearly. Just be honest with yourself and cut them out if they are harming your game or your sleep in any way.
When NOT Playing Poker is +EV
Despite taking all of the precautions and steps above there might be some days where it is just better to simply not play poker at all. You always have to remember that the games are there around the clock 365 days a year. Taking one day, or even a few days or a week off is not that big of a deal especially if you do not play this game for a living (most of you reading this do not). It is simply more profitable sometimes to not play at all. Recognizing this is another one of those pre-game prepping skills that I talked about above.
One of the most critical times when you need to be on the lookout for this is during a prolonged downswing. We are often taught to just battle through it and keep your head up during these dark hours. But truth be told, sometimes the best thing that you can do during these periods is to simply limit your play. The reason why is because even if you feel completely fine in your day to day life, these downswings have a way of eating away at us. They lead to negative feelings even before we sit down to play and fatalist and poor decision making while at the tables.
Sometimes downswings can simply be so lengthy, even for a winning player, that breaking through it could take weeks or even months of big volume. There are very few players who can get in there each day during these periods and consistently keep their wits about them. They are indeed some of the biggest winners in this game.
This is not a skill that can be learned over night though. It takes years and years of practice and a deep understanding of the long run nature of this game. This is why it is often better for newer players at the micros to simply take some time off when things have been going poorly for a long period of time.
This will allow your mind to get away from the game for a bit and stop the negative thoughts and feelings that can have a devastating impact on your play. If you don't want to get away from the game completely then instead of playing you could choose to conduct a thorough session review or database review. Often I make my biggest breakthroughs during these periods and I come away feeling much better and ready to go the next day.
Another time when it is sometimes better not to play at all is when you are really tired. We all lead hectic lives and sometimes you are simply exhausted when it comes time to play your session especially if you typically play at night. Sometimes the wiser decision may be to take the night off and perhaps watch a training video or read a poker book instead. Again, the games will always be there tomorrow. This is about not knowingly sitting down to play when you know that you are only capable of playing your B or C game at best.
But more often than not being tired is simply due to a lack of sleep. A lot of people suffer from insomnia these days. I get it from time to time myself. It is important to know that you will not be capable of playing your best on 4 hours sleep. And no amount of caffeine or energy drinks will fix this either. Once again, the games will always be there tomorrow. Use this opportunity to study the game or even just read something totally unrelated to poker. Reading a good book is the best cure that I have ever found for insomnia.
Lastly, we will all go through some difficult setbacks in life such as the death of a close family member or a divorce. It is definitely advisable that you limit your play during these periods or even stop for awhile altogether. You will be too distracted and emotional during these periods to play your best. Poker is just a game. There are much more important things in life.
Final Thoughts
I hope that this article proved useful to some of you out there.
You really get what you put into this game and it often goes well beyond your actual play at the tables these days.
You certainly don't need to spend hours and hours studying advanced poker training to get ahead these days.
Because most of your opponents at the micros these days have an absolutely terrible approach to the mental game (i.e., they just sit down and play whenever they feel like it and sometimes tilt off a few stacks when things go bad). Oh well right?
Not alright.
If you take this game seriously and you want to get ahead then you need to start understanding that your mental and physical state are just as important as how well you play AK in 3Bet pots. In fact arguably much more important.
People always think that the biggest winners have this secret technical knowledge or mathematical formula that allows them to win so much. No. What they actually have is an ability to be on their A or at least B game literally all of the time when most others coast along on their B or C game and dip into D, E or F when things don't go well.
At the micros you can often succeed by simply not making the same tilt inspired mistakes that the vast majority of your opponents make on a regular basis. This starts before you sit down at the table and fits into an overall positive approach to life.
From the very basics of eating the right foods and getting regular exercise to recognizing your mental state before sitting down and perhaps meditating for a little while in order to focus your thoughts and release all negative energy.
And sometimes it involves simply having the wherewithal to recognize when you are too tired, inebriated or in too poor of a mental space to play. Simply keeping yourself from playing the game during these times alone can have a big positive impact on your winrate.
In today's tougher online poker environment you need to approach this game like a professional more than ever if you want to get great results.
Most people focus almost all of their energy on getting technically better at the game when at least half the battle simply revolves around being mentally stronger than your opponents on a consistent basis.
By focusing some real attention on this aspect of your game for awhile you might be surprised at how much it can affect your results at the tables.
Lastly, for my entire poker strategy for crushing small and mid stakes games, make sure you grab a copy of my free poker cheat sheet.
Let me know your thoughts below on how you think your mood and mental and physical states affect your play at the tables. If you enjoyed this article please "Like" or "Tweet" it below!
I rarely mention the mental side of the game on this blog. I have talked about tilt on a few occasions before. However, the mental side of the game runs a lot deeper than that. One aspect that I want to touch upon today is having a winning mentality.
You may have heard me talk before about knowing that you are the best player at the table any time you sit down to play. Now I don't mean this in a literal sense.
As we know, skill can be very difficult to determine in poker because it takes such a huge sample to get long term results on ourselves much less anybody else.
Also, you don't actually have to be the best player at the table in order for it to be a profitable spot. You just need some players that are worse than you, preferably far worse.
But what I am really talking about with this statement is a belief (or a deep inner confidence) in your abilities. You should know that a simple belief in your own abilities can take you very far in this game.
Often this is the difference between top players where the edges in actual knowledge about the game are very small.
This is because having a belief in your own abilities allows you to see the game more clearly and make better decisions.
One of the biggest obstacles that downswings present is the complete opposite which is a lack of confidence. This causes people to always fear the worst and think negatively about future results.
When you expect to win instead, then you will see opportunities for success and take them.
This might be in the form of pouncing on the chance to take on a fish at a stake which is higher than you would normally play at.
It could also simply mean making a bold play against a reg because you feel that he is weak in a certain spot.
Having a winning mentality simply allows you to loosen up, think more clearly and be your best self at the tables. So how can we develop this attitude?
By the way, if you're new to poker and you just want to know exactly what hands to play, grab my free poker cheat sheet.
Memorize the charts. Stop guessing. Start winning.
It All Starts From Within
I don't mean to get all Dr. Phil here but I think that if you have a solid self image in other aspects of your life then it will spill over into your poker game as well.
You should think highly of yourself (although not to the point of narcissism) in everything that you do in life. If you struggle with this then at the very least you should try "faking it until you make it."
That first date or that job interview is going to go way better if you aren't full of negative feelings about how you might screw it up. Instead focus your energy on how much you will crush it.
The same goes for poker. Even when mired in a sick downswing it is very possible to still approach the tables each day with a smile on your face and an expectation that today will be different.
This is how I became a poker pro starting with $0, as I discuss in a recent video.
It was due to a deep inner confidence in my poker abilities. And this is something that you need to develop too.
But people ask me, how do you believe in yourself at the poker table if you don't have any good results yet?
Well, it is not necessarily about results (although that does help). It is instead an attitude.
And this attitude of self belief that you bring to the tables is something that is 100% under your control, at all times.
And if nothing else, convincing yourself that you are a great player even with no results to back it up is still a far better approach than the hopeless, expecting to lose attitude that most people will bring to the tables in a situation like this.
By the way, if you just want to learn my simple no BS system for exactly what hands to play, when to bet, raise and bluff, I cover this all in my brand new training program, Play Fearless Poker.
Memorize the charts. Stop guessing. Start winning.
My new Play Fearless Poker training program includes 12+ hours of advanced poker lessons, 100+ step by step example hands and "cheat sheets" below every single video.
If you're serious about taking your poker game to the next level, enroll today.
One of the best ways to instill this winning mentality in yourself even if you do not have a history of success in poker is through your preparation.
Many MMA fighters will tell you that their training is way harder than the actual fight itself. This allows them to feel more relaxed going into a fight and focus purely on the mental side of the sport.
It is the same in poker. If you are well prepared in studying all aspects of the game from your own database to books, training videos etc. then playing the game will be the easy part.
This doesn't mean that you should spend hours upon hours every single day studying the game. I mean if you have the time for this, then great but most people don't.
However, in the time that you do have, you should use it effectively. So this means that if you are reviewing your own database or sessions that you are using the right metrics and looking at the right information.
If you are watching training videos make sure that you are taking notes and asking the coach follow up questions on the forums or in private afterwards.
In short, do the work that is necessary to prepare yourself for success in today's games and you will already have a big leg up on your competition once you sit down at the tables.
Develop a Winning Poker Culture
Lastly (and you may have heard me mention this one before as well), is to develop what I call a "winning culture." What this means is having a history of success in the game.
There is nothing that is going to instill more confidence in your abilities than to be able to look at a graph with a big sample size where you absolutely crushed it. You just can't beat cold hard facts.
So this starts off by playing in games that you can beat. If you aren't beating your current limit and you have been playing there for a considerable period of time (several weeks or more) then maybe it is time to consider stepping down.
One of the biggest components of success in poker is the ability to tame your own ego. There is always somebody out there who you can beat and there is always somebody out there who can beat you.
Find the ones that you can beat and play with them on a consistent basis. If this means that you need to play for pennies right now then so be it.
And of course finally, track your progress!
If you still aren't using a poker tracking program and are serious about online poker at all, what are you thinking?
One of the main uses of these programs (above and beyond all of the highly useful data) is the ability to track your own results.
"I think I am about breakeven" is not a good enough answer anymore. Get a poker tracking program and let it properly take note of your results for you.
Therefore, if things aren't going well you can finally stop deluding yourself into thinking that there isn't a problem. The numbers don't lie.
I hope this article was helpful for some of you.
It might seem like a small thing but I can tell you from experience that when I am on my "A-game" with my attitude at the tables I always play my best.
Our attitude is absolutely something that we control when we sit down to play and it can have a huge impact on our decision making and emotional control as well.
You owe it to yourself to give yourself the best shot to win. Next time you play start working on developing your winning mentality!
Make sure you grab a copy of my free poker cheat sheet to learn my entire strategy as a 10+ year poker pro.
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