5 Steps to Prevent Holding uNL'ers Back. (Carpal \'Tunnel Post)

[GSykes]

Take this advice coming from someone who has been playing poker somewhat seriously for 4 years years has never manged to play full time higher than 200nl. This isn't because I am the worst player in the world but I don't apply the 5 basic necessities to 'Keep it Real' while advancing through the ranks from uNL to MSNL.

I believe most players are missing 2 of these 5 steps.

What are those five basic steps?

1. Playing a lot of hands.
2. Studying the game.
3. Taking it seriously.
4. Balanced lifestyle.
5. Self Control

Hell, I didn't realize I wasn't doing this “poker-life” right until a couple weeks ago and since revamping my lifestyle to accommodate poker rather than the opposite which was true for the longest time.

I will go over the steps, a little bit more in depth:

1. Playing a lot of hands.

Well, this one is pretty self-explanatory IMO. I would look at 100k month graph and say to myself holy crap this guy is an animal but in reality he puts in less hours playing poker per week than a full time job at 40 hours.

If you work a regular job or go to school which I imagine a lot of the uNL community does than I am not recommending playing 40 hours a week but play as much that your lifestyle can accommodate. If thats 10 hours a week 2 tabling than by all means as long as you do the next four steps you will be on your way.

2. Studying the game.

...and I don't mean browsing BBV for hours on end either [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]LOL!(no hate to BBV)

I am saying post 2 hands a day that gave you trouble spots, read SSNL & MSNL read the stickies read every single one of Pokeys posts :P. I am not saying become a slave to the game but to anyone who wants to improve has to be willing to learn.

I wont be the first one to say it and I know I wont be the last uNL has some great posters and it also has some rather I will put it politely not so good advice but you will be guided in the right direction as the good advice drowns the bad advice content wise.

Did you have a tough time playing AK in a 3bet pot the other day? Well lookey here in SSNL I see 3 AK hands on the front page one probably with something close to your situation. I will say it one more time participate on the forums there is a wealth of free and great knowledge.

3. Taking it seriously.

This is my BBV mode I call it and I don't mean to be negative once again to BBV but it really does bring the FPS out of me. Take poker seriously when you sit down to plat say to yourself.

“I am the best at the table and not taking into account todays results, I know in the long run I will be profitable, all I need to do is to make correct decision after decision”

I don't mean make one good decision this session, continue to make good decisions. I know some players who can't play long sessions because the don't continue to make good decisions as they fatigue. If that is like you, it really is +EV to play shorter sessions mixed in with reading 2+2 in between.

4. Balanced lifestyle.

This one was a huge one for me while grinding the low limits. I didn't balance my lifestyle I got absorbed into poker. I used to be a very social able person and after sitting at my computer grinding hand after hand I kind of cut myself off from the “real world”. I know this is kind of an extreme but I know it is easily to do when you are playing well and the results are showing.

What I have been doing is I just pick a night to go do something when my girlfriend isn't around on Tuesday nights I shoot pool in a fun league. I play 3 hours of poker before heading out and I am done for the night. I shoot some pool have a couple beers and just unwind a great tilt reducer IMHO.(so is a girlfriend but they cause life tilt overall +EV)

Another one I wish I was doing more of recently is working out. I think it is the best way to work off steam and tilt is do go for a run or work out. You will really notice a difference in your mental state.

5. Self Control

So you have 1-4 all down you play 5k hands a day while dating a super model girlfriend and you party like a rock star every night while you have your own personal assistant to analyze poker tracker for you to give you your most recent leaks. You come back from a busy night of hookers and blow and you find yourself playing 5000nl with a bunch of regulars, while most likely you are drooling but mind you its probably from the cocaine the regulars are drooling to because of the oh so sweet fresh fresh newb that has come to grace them at there table.

Alright once again, I kind of exaggerated again but you get the point. No matter how good you do for the first four steps. One little blow can really screw a month up. Say you played 50k hands of 50nl and ran good and made $2500 that month yet you decided you are gonna play some stakes a bit higher after having a not so good session to end the month. You take a look at your graph after the wreckage at 10/20nl and I guess its back to 25nl for a couple of months.

This is getting kind of long winded and I thought it would be a little bit shorter than this but I still have some things to cover.

Always make sure you are thinking in the long term and not letting your game play being effected by short term outcomes. Sure it sucks to be outdrawn but take those sklansky bucks to the bank!

Put in your hands and the results will follow is what I tell anyone. You will print money at these levels its just that simple.

Obviously this is more of a psychological post than a strat post so while I end this post I am going to give you a link to some great books to follow up if you are interested.

Zen and the Art of Poker: Timeless Secrets to Transform Your Game
The Tao of Poker: 285 Rules to Transform Your Game and Your Life
The Poker Mindset: Essential Attitudes for Poker Success

I guarantee if you do lots of #1 and do a fair amount of #2 while always #3ing and having #5 as long as you maintain a #4 you are good to go.

[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] GSykes

[smittymatt]

Good post, your my fking hero. GO TEAM NBS!

edit: first

[BoerfSt]

Thank you, I need to work on 1 and 4.

[ShipitFMA]

nice post

[corsakh]

Good work [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Spurious]

good post

i could analyze my game more often, but i am lazy :/

[2mb]

Solid post. [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]
I own the first book you mention (Zen and the Art of Poker) and it's helped me a lot to prevent tilt and to develop the right mindset for poker. I'd recommend it to any serious player.

[matrix]

[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] top stuff OP ...

I'd add in a little something more to the mix - and will probably write up a longer post on this when I gots the time.

I think another thing that holds a lot of people back (and I'm talking from personal experience here as well) is doing too much of #1.

Yes you gotta play a lot of hands - but on the flipside you ought to think about the quality of the hands you play as well as the quantity. By that I mean are all your poker hands sitting down at 216748632784632 tables and grinding??

If so this is bad. Work out a schedule and play the majority of your hands at 216748632784632 tables to keep on top of #1 it's good to play the bulk of your hands at peak times, but also play a few hands at ONE table (or two if you can't handle one table) really really really focus and concentrate on that one table try and read peoples hands accurately every hand thats dealt - try and get inside their heads - try manipulating them to do what you'd like them to - pick out one small thing from the forum stickies or from a good poker book like the new PNL one and try to apply that thing to your game that session - really give it 110% focus and concentration - once you're done playing spend at least as long as you played studying the hands you just played - get out pokerstvove check out your equities and see how good the decisions you made were (this is a good healthy dose of #2 really) - even if you only do this for a 1 hour session each week and your standard of play will improve faster than if you just keep on grinding and grinding and grinding.

[monkover]

so true matrix
tnx for the great post gsykes

[kaz2107]

[ QUOTE ]
[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] top stuff OP ...

I'd add in a little something more to the mix - and will probably write up a longer post on this when I gots the time.

I think another thing that holds a lot of people back (and I'm talking from personal experience here as well) is doing too much of #1.

Yes you gotta play a lot of hands - but on the flipside you ought to think about the quality of the hands you play as well as the quantity. By that I mean are all your poker hands sitting down at 216748632784632 tables and grinding??

If so this is bad. Work out a schedule and play the majority of your hands at 216748632784632 tables to keep on top of #1 it's good to play the bulk of your hands at peak times, but also play a few hands at ONE table (or two if you can't handle one table) really really really focus and concentrate on that one table try and read peoples hands accurately every hand thats dealt - try and get inside their heads - try manipulating them to do what you'd like them to - pick out one small thing from the forum stickies or from a good poker book like the new PNL one and try to apply that thing to your game that session - really give it 110% focus and concentration - once you're done playing spend at least as long as you played studying the hands you just played - get out pokerstvove check out your equities and see how good the decisions you made were (this is a good healthy dose of #2 really) - even if you only do this for a 1 hour session each week and your standard of play will improve faster than if you just keep on grinding and grinding and grinding.

[/ QUOTE ]dude i couldnt agree more with u. i have gotten so much better when i droppped back down to 4 tables and only played when i wanted to and could play my A game. it is remarkable how much it helps. but too many people here only see the short term effects of them and thus dont do it and r missing out on a lot