Getting Your Mind Into The Game

What distinguishes the winning me from the losing me? I have prolonged losing streaks and it seems like my swings are a lot bigger then most of the players I compare myself to. Part of this is due to my loose aggressive playing style, but I have discovered that another thing is more important. During my losing streaks I am for some unknown reason unfocused. Even though I know what I need to do to get back on track, I just can't get my mind into the game. The result of this is that I revert to playing cards instead of playing poker.

In limit hold'em most mistakes are minor, seen from a mathematical point of view. The only mistake that is major is if you fold too many hands on the river when the pot is big. But poker is much more then math, and the fact is that when you've got your mind into the game, you will be able to make delicate decisions based on small pieces of evidence unique for the specific situation at hand. You will have to know what each opponent is capable of, and whenever you are involved in a hand and have to make a decision, you must ask yourself "why this guy and why now?" The more information I have available in addressing that question, the more mistakes I will be able to force my opponent to make, and the more mistakes I can avoid making myself. I am not talking about completely avoiding mistakes. From every hand you play you get new pieces to the puzzle of how he plays. Poker is not a game of exact information. You will therefore have to assess the probability that your analysis might be incorrect as well as the level of risk involved when your analysis is wrong. Also, you must assess the probability that your answer is right. It is rare for you to have a situation where you can be 100% sure of what your opponent holds.

But when I am on one of my legendary losing streaks I don't think like that. I don't pay much attention to the game, and therefore I don't collect a lot of information on my opponents. If I play online, poker tracker might tell me his basic playing style, but that doesn't tell me much about how he thinks- which is what I want to know when I ask myself "Why this guy and why now?" The poker tracker stats may allow me to play my cards better, but it will not really help me playing the mind game that poker really is.

When I play without having my mind in the game, the information I will have to base my decisions on would look something like this:

Seat 1: Tight player;
Seat 2: Tight player;
Seat 3: Loose player;
Seat 4: Tight player;
Seat 5: yours truly,
Seat 6: Tight player;
Seat 7: Loose player;
Seat 8: Tight player;
Seat 9: Tight player;
Seat 10: Loose raiser.

I have raised pre-flop with AKo and got called by seat 6 and seat 1 in the big blind. The flop comes K65rainbow. It is checked to me, I bet and both players call me. The turn is a 2. It is checked to me again, I bet, seat 6 calls and now seat 1 check-raises. What are my options? First off, I should realize that the raise came from the big blind who holds a random hand. But as I don't pay attention I overlook this fact, and decide to 3-bet failing to try to see the situation from my opponents seat, simply thinking, "I like my hand". Seat 6 folds and seat 1 cap it. I now fear that I am beat, but the pot is now so big that I feel pot committed and I duly call his last raise and his river bet. And sure enough. He shows 43s for a straight to beat me.

Now lets look at the same situation as it would play out when I have my mind into the game. Now the information I have collected on my opponents would look as follows:

Seat 1: Tight aggressive player who involuntarily peeks at his chip stack when he hits a monster. Can bluff but rarely does;
Seat 2: Extremely tight player who never defends his blinds and apparently only plays the top pocket pairs;
Seat 3: very loose player who will play any hand for any amount. Calling station. Only bets/raises when he has a strong hand;
Seat 4: Tight passive player. Only play good hands and only bets when he hits the flop;
Seat 5: yours truly,
Seat 6: tight aggressive player who seems to be playing with scared money. Can be pushed out of winning hands;
Seat 7: Loose aggressive player who bluffs a lot when scare cards hit. Call him down with a hand;
Seat 8: Tight passive player. Respect his action after the flop;
Seat 9: Tight aggressive player, who holds his cards in a specific way when he intends to fold;
Seat 10: Loose aggressive strong player. Don't get involved unless you are willing to play a big pot.

This time I would realize that seat 6 probably has a king with a reasonable kicker or a high pocket pair. Being a tight player, I don't see him calling a pre-flop raise cold and calling the flop without a made hand, but one I can maybe beat. So I am not too worried about him. I therefore direct my attention to seat 1. I put him on a wide range of hands, as he called out of the big blind. Knowing that he exerts a tell when he hits his hand big, I spot that exact tell when the turn comes and he hits his straight draw. I therefore check behind him, which makes seat 6 bet his king. Seat 1 now re-raises and I know for a fact that I am beat and fold.

Even though most would not consider my play when I don't have my mind into the game a big mistake, it cost me 5 big bets more then it did when I had my mind fully focused on the game. And if my long-term hourly rate stands at 2 big bets per hour I just wasted 2� hour right there! Furthermore, such situations come up all the time in limit hold'em. In the old days when I was playing the $1-2 6-handed online games I used to count the number of big bets per hour I lost due to situations where I should have known better. Initially that number ran at over 20 big bets per hour, but by performing this mental exercise I soon got the figure down below ten. Nowadays, I can sometimes play for a full night and only make a couple of mistakes when I am in the zone.

The ability to keep your mind fully into the game can be a huge edge. Yet it is extremely hard not to be distracted. This is why online players end up playing multiple tables while surfing the web and responding to e-mails, and this is why live players end up watching TV or discussing this or that in between hands instead of paying attention. Even if I don't do these things I still find my mind constantly trying to wander off, and unless I fight it, my mind will get it its way. Playing online there are several methods I apply to stay focused. I turn off all other programs while playing including poker tracker (as this forces me to pay more attention), and I constantly try and ask myself whether I am "in the game" or not. If the answer is no I (should) quit. While it is often assumed that being a professional poker player is about "logging table hours" I find that in my case, a lot of money can be saved by leaving the game when I'm not mentally there. In live play, other mechanisms apply. I count my exact position relative to the button when the cards are dealt, I watch the player behind me while the players ahead of me act, I ask myself if I remember what was shown down on the last 5 hands, and if I don't, I decide to regain enough attention to remember the next five hands. And finally, I try to sit on my chair in a way that prevents me from slumbering mentally and which forces me to dedicate some energy to remain in that position sitting up.

Thanks to Leigh Lightfoot-Martin for proof reading this article.

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