Is your brain being overloaded?

I have an assignment for you.  I want you to run a mile, juggle 3 balls for 15 minutes and spin a hula hip around your waist 100 times.  Unless you’re a well trained circus performer, you instinctively know that you won’t get ANYTHING done if you do everything at once.    You have to split it up and concentrate on ONE THING AT A TIME.

So why do you think it’s different when you’re playing poker?

• Why do you play poker and watch TV?
• Why do you play poker and browse TwoPlusTwo?
• Why do you play poker and talk to your friends on the phone?

When you multi-task, your energy is being spent on just paying attention to everything that’s happening.  Instead, you SHOULD be concentrating on adjusting to your opponents and improving your game.  You might feel like your accomplishing more when you multi-task, but that’s an ILLUSION.

Multi-tasking isn’t always a bad idea.  It’s fine if  it’s a simple task and the stakes aren’t high.  You can obviously drive your car and listen to music (but I bet that a professional race car driver keeps the radio off).

When you’re playing poker, RESIST the temptation to multi-task.  Shut off your browser and TV.  Don’t answer your cell phone.  Remove all distractions.  Respect the game and give it your full attention.

I’ll prove it to you.  A study by M.I.T.  researchers had students try to beat a series of challenges.   They did stuff like memorize strings of numbers, solve word problems and shoot basketballs into a hoop.

• If the students had average performance, they’d get a small reward.
• If they were significantly above average, they got a medium reward.
• And if they were way above average, they got a big cash prize.

You’d expect that the bigger the reward, the better the students would perform, right?  In other words, if the big cash prize was $5,000, you’d think the students would perform way better than if the prize was only $100.

The study had a surprising result.  If the students were required to do even a little bit of thinking, the large cash prize led to WORSE performance.

Now that’s a really surprising result.  So they replicated the study across the world.  They tried it in India were the huge cash prize was 2 months salary.  Again, the higher cash rewards led to WORSE performance.  The only time cash incentives actually work is for purely physical labor.

There is a catch though.  You do need SOME money to be motivated.  You need just enough so you don’t worry about paying your rent and you can just concentrate about thinking about poker.

So if money doesn’t motivate people, what does?  There are 3 main factors that are important to motivation.

1. Autonomy – do what you want to do, when you want to do.
2. Challenge & Mastery – humans just like to get better at stuff.
3. Purpose – what’s the big picture, what do you want to accomplish in life?

To be a motivated professional poker player, you need to be self-directed, have a unyielding desire to master the game, and have a clear sense of purpose  (not just “I want to make a lot of money”).

Check out the video below for more info:

"Boards don't hit back."

Bruce Lee is widely considered to be the best fighter of all time.  He died when he was 32 from an allergic reaction to a painkiller, but his philosophy and wise words (which are shockingly relevant to poker) continue to be an inspiration.  Here are 20 lessons you can learn from Bruce Lee.

Mental Toughness

1. Don’t fear failure.
2. Optimism is a faith that leads to success.
3. A good martial artist does not become tense but ready.

Tilt & Variance

1. Know the difference between a catastrophe and an inconvenience. To realize that it’s just an inconvenience [...] is part of waking up.
2. Like everyone else you want to learn the way to win, but never to accept the way to lose — to accept defeat. To learn to die is to be liberated from it.
3. The happiness that is derived from excitement is like a brilliant fire — soon it will go out.
4. A martial artist has to take responsibility for himself and face the consequences of his own doing.
5. Forget about winning and losing; forget about pride and pain.
6. Walk on.

Adjusting to Your Opponents

1. When the opponent expands I contract and when he contracts, I expand. And when there is an opportunity, “I” do not hit, “It” hits all by itself.
2. Let your opponent graze your skin and you smash into his flesh; let him smash into your flesh and you fracture his bones; let him fracture your bones and you take his life.
3. You can never invite the wind, but you must leave the window open.
4. Don’t get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water.
5. Truth has no path.
6. Jeet Kune Do favors formlessness so that it can assume all forms and since Jeet Kune Do has no style, it can fit in with all styles. As a result, Jeet Kune Do utilizes all ways and is bound by none.

Improving

1. Even today, I dare not say that I have reached a state of achievement. I’m still learning, for learning is boundless.
2. We have great work ahead of us, and it needs devotion and much, much energy.
3. Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it.
4. When you’re talking about fighting, as it is, with no rules, well then, baby you’d better train every part of your body!

Table Selection

1. The worst opponent you can come across is one whose aim has become an obsession.

Bruce Lee’s words can help you find the path to poker enlightenment.  Next time you’re facing a difficult decision at a poker table, maybe you should just ask myself “What would Bruce Lee do?”

I’m kidding of course.  There’s still plenty of weak, exploitable players in HU (despite what some people think).  At many points in your poker career, you’ll feel like the game is unbeatable.  We’ve all been there, but dedication in the face of adversity is what makes the good players great.

Props to IheardJoeblows for creating the video.  Read the thread to get the inside jokes.  Here are the lyrics:

What?
How the fuck did he call that? Ugh, then he sucks out. Ah fucking motha, ugh. Ugh.
These chips man, they’re fucking crazy. What’s wrong with these chips? Crazy chips! That’s what I call them.
Man, if they weren’t crazy, they would be like coming towards me in some sort of patternized notion man.

I’m quitting the game, when I reach in my wallet
No money heads up, everyone’s solid.
I move in ahead
And still you gonna call it
Then you suck out, cause everyone’s solid.

I’m quitting the game, when I reach in my wallet
No money heads up, everyone’s solid.
I move in ahead
And still you gonna call it
Then you suck out, cause everyone’s solid.

It doesn’t make sense, I’m on the small tables
but this heads up, it means a small table.
I’m really depressed, looking for an anchor
What should i do, stab me in the ankle?
No, I won’t do it, this isn’t my fault.
It’s the government and not enough donks.
The good players just dive bomb and win,
Thinking of a plan when a maniac moves in.

What should i do? Raise every button?
It’s like trying to raise Benjamin Button
He doesn’t grow up, he just gets younger
and after while he slow plays with under.
I’m fucking depressed, working real hard
To be a good player and play with these cards.
And then i realize, I’m not that good
I don’t have a shot so i really should…

I’m quitting the game, when I reach in my wallet
No money heads up, everyone’s solid.
I move in ahead
And still you gonna call it
Then you suck out, cause everyone’s solid.

I’m quitting the game, when I reach in my wallet
No money heads up, everyone’s solid.
I move in ahead
And still you gonna call it
Then you suck out, cause everyone’s solid.

Ah man, I’m just too lazy to work hard for easy money.
Jay-gee mofus.
Wanna know something? I have a job.
Unlike like you, I work hard during the day.
So maybe I’m a little lazy, yea?
You fucking degenerate.
God, what kind of cruel asshole would kick someone when they’re down!?
Jay-gee mofus.

Cash out and reward yourself

We all know that setting goals is an important first step towards success. In a previous post, I said:

Don’t set goals for yourself that are out of your control.  Whether you win $3,000 this month or not is something that’s not entirely up to you.  Set goals on things you can control, like playing a certain number of hours, watching a certain number of videos, responding to a certain number of forum posts, etc.  Put in the time and success will follow.

But just as important as setting a goal is rewarding yourself when you reach it.  A lot of players make the mistake of trying to build their bankroll as fast and possible and refusing to ever cash out.  And early on in my poker career, that’s exactly what I did.  I thought that seeing the money in my account go higher and higher was all I needed to stay motivated.  It was like scoring points in a video game — getting the high score was reward enough.  But I was wrong.

As I matured as a poker player, getting a personal “high score” became less and less important.  I realized that money was only a suitable reward if I spent it.  Numbers on a screen or green paper in my pocket only goes so far.  I wanted memories and tangible objects for my hard work.  I used the money I won in poker to buy a TV, a camcorder and beer, start websites, go on trips, and take my fiancé to fancy dinners.

At the end of every month, I cashed out part of my bankroll.  Even if I had a bad month, I could still at least cash out the money I got from my online poker rakeback account and treat myself to something special.

And the best part is, when you do go on that inevitable downstreak, you can look back fondly on the stuff you’ve bought with your poker winnings and push through to that heater around the corner.

Sun Tzu was an ancient Chinese military tacitian.  His military strategy masterpiece, Art of War ($2.99), has some pretty solid advice for poker players.  Here are 40 great poker tips from Sun Tzu:

Deception

1. All warfare is based on deception.
2. When able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.
3. Hold out baits to entice the enemy.  Feign disorder and crush him.
4. Do not swallow bait offered by the enemy.
5. Simulated disorder postulates perfect discipline; simulated fear postulates courage simulated weakness postulates strength.
6. At first, then, exhibit the coyness of a maiden until the enemy gives you an opening; afterwards, emulate the rapidity of a running hare, and it will be too late for the enemy to oppose you.

Table Selection

1. Attack him where is unprepared; appear where you are not expected.
2. Take advantage of the enemy’s unreadiness, make your way by the unexpected routes, and attack unguarded spots.
3. If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him.  If he is in superior strength, evade him.
4. He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.
5. He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.
6. The rule is not to besiege walled cities if it can possibly be avoided.
7. He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.
8. So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak.
9. A clever general avoids an army when its spirit is keen, but attacks it when it is sluggish.
10. No ruler should put his troops in the field to gratify his own spleen.
11. When it was to their advantage, they made a forward move; when otherwise, they stopped still.
12. Move not unless you see an advantage; use not your troops unless there is something to be gained; fight not unless the position is critical.

Psychology & Tilt

1. If your opponent is hot-tempered, seek to irritate him.  Pretend to be weak and he may grow arrogant.
2. The clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy’s will to be imposed on him.
3. If the enemy is taking his ease, he can harass him; if well supplied with food, he can starve him out; if quietly encamped, he can force him to move.
4. Disciplined and calm, to await the appearance of disorder and hubbub amongst th enemy – this is the art of retaining self-discipline.
5. Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing.
6. Tactical maneuvering consists of turning the devious into the direct, and the misfortune into gain.
7. A whole army may be robbed of its spirit; a commander-in-chief may be robbed of his presence of mind.
8. To be near the goal while the enemy is still far from it, to wait at ease while the enemy is toiling and struggling, to be well-fed while the enemy is famished – this is the art of husbanding one’s strength.
9. Dangerous faults which may affect a general: Recklessness, cowardice, hasty temper, delicacy of honor (which is sensitive to shame).
10. It is only if one is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that care thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on.
11. When a fire breaks out inside to enemy’s camp, respond at once with an attack from without.

Variance

1. If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.  If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.  If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.
2. To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.
3. Thus the good fighter is able to secure himself against defeat, but cannot make certain of defeating the enemy.
4. He wins the battle by making no mistakes.  Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory, for it means conquering an enemy that is already defeated.
5. Prohibit the taking of omens, and do away with superstitious doubts.  Then, until death itself comes, no calamity need be feared.
6. A kingdom that has once been destroyed can never come again into being; nor can the dead ever be brought back to life.

General Poker Strategy

1. Ponder and deliberate before you make a move.
2. The skillful tactician may be likened to the shauai-jan.  Now the shuai-jan is a snake that is found in the ChUng mountains.  Strike at its head, and you will be attacked by its tail; strike its tail, and you will be attacked by its head; strike at its middle, and you will be attacked by head and tail both.

Aggression

1. By consistently hanging on the enemy’s flank, we shall succeed in the long run in the killing the commander-in-chief.
2. The general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not what what to defend; and he is skillful in defense who opponent does not know what to attack.
3. If the enemy leaves a door open, you must rush in.

You thought the competition was horrible in 2004?  If poker was around, I bet Sun Tzu would crush souls in 544 B.C.

Guilt is a powerful way of controlling people

I’m almost done with Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.  She’s a really good writer, though the story can get a bit frustrating at times.  Anyway, one of the key points in her philosophy is that guilt is a powerful way of controlling people.  Make them feel guilty and they’ll do almost anything you want.  It works for religions, charities, and yes, even poker.

Guilt it the secret to controlling your opponent and making them go on tilt.
All you have to do is make your opponent feel guilty about a play he’s made.  To do that, you have to find out how to push his buttons.

• Is he playing above his bankroll and losing a certain amount of money will make him feel guilty?
• Will he feel guilty when you flop the nuts and he calls all 3 streets with middle pair?
• Will he feel guilty if you minraise his continuation bet, he shoves with air, and you call him with top pair-weak kicker?

Find out what buttons you need to push to make your opponent feel guilty and tilt is guaranteed to follow.

What do you do to get your opponent to go on tilt?
Post a comment!

Back in May, I talked about the three things you need to master to become a great poker player.   But the key ingredient to greatness that I didn’t talk about is experience.  Beyond just playing lots of hands, experience includes watching training videos, getting coached, or posting in forums.  The more you play, the better you will get.  Just put in the time.

In Outliers: The Story of Success, Max Gladwell makes the argument that in order to master anything, you have to put in 10,000 hours of work.  Assuming an 8-hour day, that 1250 days or about 3.5 years (with no days off).

Take Bill Gates. Before he dropped out of Harvard and started Microsoft, he was programming like a maniac for 7 consecutive years.  Or take The Beatles.  When they got one of their first gigs in Germany, they played nonstop, all night long, seven days a week, for weeks on end.

Here’s a quick anecdote from Bill Buxton’s book Sketching User Experiences.

“A ceramics professor comes in on the first day of class and divides the students into two sections. He tells one half of the class that their final grade will be based exclusively on the volume of their production; the more they make, the better their grade. The professor tells the other half of the class that they will be graded more traditionally, based solely on the quality of their best piece.

At the end of the semester, the professor discovered that the students who were focused on making as many pots as possible also ended up creating the best pots, much better than the pots made by the students who spent all semester trying to create that one perfect pot.”

When I was in the 2 Months, 2 Million house this summer, I had a chance to ask Dani and Brian how much time they think they put into poker.  They said they definitely spent over 10,000 hours.

No matter how much talent you have, you have to put in the time in order to be successful.  Maybe 10,000 hours is not the magic number and it probably varies from industry-to-industry.  But I believe in the concept.  Poker is not an easy way to make money and just like anything else, it requires a lot of practice to master.

So here’s the practical, takeaway advice.  Don’t set goals for yourself that are out of your control.  Whether you win $3,000 this month or not is something that’s not entirely up to you.  Set goals on things you can control, like playing a certain number of hours, watching a certain number of videos, responding to a certain number of forum posts, etc.  Put in the time and success will follow.

You'll see the biggest gains if you improve your play when you're running bad

Seth Godin had a great post on his blog today.  Even though he’s talking about marketing and customer service, his advice applies really well to poker.  Let’s say you have a bike race coming up and you obviously want to have the best time you possibly can.  The thing is,  everyone goes super fast on the downhill sections (limited only by physics and safety) and it’s really hard to get an edge on your opponents there.  On the uphill section though, through athleticism and will, you have a chance to actually make significant gains and do what your opponent cannot.

Poker seems like an easy game when you’re running well.  You’re hands keep hitting and you’re opponent keeps paying you off.  Well guess what, fish run hot too.  And when they do, they probably think poker is an easy game.  The truth is, a lot of your edge comes when you’re not running super hot – those marginal situations where a fish has no idea what he’s doing and you do.  Those are the uphill battles that you should set your sights on.

As Seth put it:

Most of your competition spend their days looking forward to those rare moments when everything goes right. Imagine how much leverage you have if you spend your time maximizing those common moments when it doesn’t.

Hero (BB) ($200)
Button ($245)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 8♦, 6♦
Button bets $6, Hero calls $4

Flop: ($12) Q♦, 6♠, 9♦ (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $8, Hero raises to $30, Button calls

Turn: ($72) J♠ (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $55.55, Hero calls

River: ($183.1) 5♣ (2 players)
Hero bets $108.45 (all-in)

My line makes no sense.  In retrospect, there are 2 ways I could’ve played this hand.  With a gutshot, flush draw, and a pair on the turn I could lead and call a shove or checkfold the river if I didn’t improve.  I messed up pretty bad, but we all make mistakes at the poker table. Winners learn from their mistakes. Losers don’t.

It’s really important to acknowledge your mistakes, but not dwell on the them.  Dwelling on mistakes makes you lose confidence in your game, go on tilt, etc.  I try to hold my head up high when I mess up.  I’m not ashamed or embarrassed.  As Emmitt Smith once said, “I may win and may lose, but I will never be defeated.”

Learn to fail successfully.