Mental Game Forum

Ned_bg said:Hello Jared!
I am just back from Paris. I went to play 2 small tournaments there. I had a lot of time to thing and I found new problem in my game. Your book and last time I consult with you, you were very helpfull so I have good progress with my mental game. Now it is time for next step.
At the begining of novembet I played satellite in Bulgaria – $200 rebuy. First day I was big chip leader – 4x av.stack for the moment. The tournament was 3 days and I manage to finish in top 5 and won on of 5 $12 000 package for WPT Bellagio Five Diamond.
At the begining of december I played WPT Bellagio in Las Vegas. The biggest tournament I have ever before that was 1500 euro and the biggest seccess was in 500 euro tournament. Fisrt day I finish with 40K stack – I start with 40K. Second day I build my stack from 40K to 224K. That let me finish in the money in day 3 without risk. I am 57th for 100 payd places.I was happy for that but I believe I could finish better.
Few days ago I went to Paris to play 2 tournaments. First tournament I finish as a chip leader day 1 and we make final table – 9 players.Second day we played final table and I finished 8-th(total 125).
Second tournament was 2 day event also. I finish first day as a chip leader 3,5x av chip stack for 20 players (all in the money). Second day we continue play and I finished 7th (total 179)
I guess I was lucky on all the events. But I played well most of the time. Do you see what is common? At one point I am chip leader in the tournament. I believe that big part of that is because my skill and style of play and other part is luck factor. But as you see in all the tournaments I didn't manage to finish really high (except satelite). I stopped playing my A+ game, I wasn't focus, I didn't take optimal decidions. All of the tournamen are with high buy-in for me and I don't have enough experience at that level. I do well and I finish 1st a lot on lower levels for me.
As a mental game coach do you see problem and what can you recomend me? I really apriciate you help because it is at top level and I believe part of my progress is because of you.
Best Regards, Ned

Hi Ned,

Congrats on the great progress in your game!

There are a few things I see that could be improved and it starts with what I've highlighted in bold. The reality is that 95%+ of the time that you play a tournament, you'll walk away thinking you could have done more. Playing perfectly happens so rarely. The reason I highligh this line of yours is because I believe you didn't celebrate your success in that tournament as much as you should have. It was a BIG tourny for you, and to have played so well to get to that point, at this point in your career is a great success and should have NO negatives attached to it. No feeling bad that you could have done more. Instead, you look practically about what you learned (Both + and -) and use that information to take you further. The reason this is important is because you need to celebrate these important steps along the way. I know it wasn't your end goal, but it was a critical step toward winning because of your skill, not just because of luck.

The other area to improve is how you handle being a chip leader. A common problem for players in this spot, is to start to think that being the chip leader means they are the favorite and now "should" win. Realizing your in this position can shift your focus away from what got you there – focus on playing your absolute best – towards only winning. Think about it: At the exact time when your in the best position to win, you change your mental focus. That's the exact opposite thing you want to do. You want to bear down even harder because you now know that you're the target at the table – everyone is gunning for YOU and YOU need to be at your absolute best even more.

Simple solution. Remain focused on playing your absolute best until you have no chips or you have them all.