So I've got this friend...

[DakotaKid]

We've been playing in home games and on the internet for a few years together, and we're close friends away from the table as well. He's a winning player who lately has been playing badly due to personal distractions. He uses poker night as a way to put all those issues aside for a few hours and enjoy time with his buddies, but now that it's affecting his game, I feel like this amplifies his other issues.

Before, if he was dealing with something, he could go out and play well and get sort of a fresh start mentally to deal with other things. Winning or losing doesn't matter much as long as he sees himself as having played well.

I suggested just sitting for a few minutes before the game reading a particularly good chapter of a particularly good poker book, just to get in the frame of mind to focus on the game.

Does anyone follow a similar practice before playing, and if so, what is your recommended reading?

I've read Feeney's Inside the Poker Mind, but that was years ago before I knew anything about poker, so I confess I don't remember much. Is there anything in there to address this? What about Schoonmaker's book? Or any old Mason essays or similar? I would try searching, but I honestly don't know what to put in the search field to get what I want.

Thanks a bunch.