Meditation and Poker

Bluffoon · #1 07-19-2006, 11:37 PM

So many bad things happen when you are playing poker and one thing I have always struggled with is getting discouraged and having bad bad thoughts and losing focus and getting a little funky when things arent going well.

Recently I have started to meditate while I play. Shutting down my internal dialogue and trying to quiet my brain.

I have found that it is making a big difference in my ability to keep my head in the game and to keep myself in the present and focus on what is important and not get caught up in a negative internal dialogue.

What I do is try to be alert for any negativity and I cut off the thought whatever it is and quiet myself and still my brain. If you have no experience with meditation you may want to practice some exercises that can help you learn to do this. I learned to meditate years ago and can pretty much just fall into this state.

An easy way to learn to quiet your mind is to sit quietly and focus on your breathing. Count your breaths starting with one to four over and over, keeping all other thoughts out of your mind. At first you will constantly have outside thoughts. Just push them away and keep your mind still and clear, returning your focus to your breathing.

There are many different methods for meditation and any bookstore will have a number of books avalable that will keep you busy for a lifetime of meditation.

Well that's all really I just thought that I would share something a little outside of the box that has helped my game. Does anyone else do anything like this? If you try something like this let me know how it works out for you.

Kooky... maybe. But meditation has alot of great benefits and it has helped my poker game too!

Poker Plan · #2 07-20-2006, 12:02 PM

IMHO this is something we should all be moving towards. Total emotional control and dissassociation while playing- no hint of excitement or emotion when winning or losing.

Keep at it.

Ian

Quanah Parker · #3 07-20-2006, 01:48 PM

Great post.

A lot more helpful and sensible than the guy who posted about taking LSD and playing poker.

jrockhaf · #4 07-20-2006, 02:23 PM

When you someone refers to no excitement or emotion while playing poker ,Phil Ivey imeidiatly comes to mind.Win or lose , he has total concetration.Is there any other pros close to as focoused as him?

innerpeace · #5 07-20-2006, 02:55 PM

i agree 1000% with you.

meditation is very, very good for your game. i made my biggest leaps in ability, win rate, and limits once i began a regular meditation practice. i would say that there is a high positive correlation between amount of time one spends meditating on a daily basis and overall poker success (and of course success in other aspects of life).

i incorporate these techniques at the table as well. in live play it's not always easy to close your eyes and meditate (without drawing attention to yourself). but i think this might be one of the few legitimate cases for sunglasses at the table.