Jared Tendler's Mental Game Forum

How to play more?

Page: 1

User

Post

7:29 am
June 18, 2010

g2gcul8r

Bulgaria

Member

posts 4

Print this Post

Hello,

I've being a professional player for one year now. In the beginning of this year I realise that I've started to play really short session and struggling to play longer. I started to try to fix this and to play more per week, but now almost 6 moths later I'm no ware.

I want to play/study poker for 40 hours a week, but in my best weeks I can't get it to more than 30 and this is when I have bigger study:play ratio. My average is for this year is 10 hours per week play and like 4 for study.

I feel so bad with my self that I can't play more, and this is probably making me play even less. I'm desperate, can someone help me?

Thank you

10:29 pm
June 19, 2010

g2gcul8r

Bulgaria

Member

posts 4

Print this Post

No one here?

9:41 am
June 22, 2010

Jared

Admin

posts 72

Print this Post

I'm here, was just away this past weekend.

There are many different reasons why you would be struggling to put in more hours. Knowing that reason is key to knowing what the solution is. I could just give standard advice here, but I prefer to know more about the specifics of your problem, so I can give something that will help you specifically.

Describe more about what happens when you try to put in the hours to play, such as… What gets in your way? What thoughts go through your mind? Do you tilt or have other mental game problems when you do play more hours? Describe your mindset when your running well or when thing are going well in your game? Feel free to say more, these questions were just to get you started.

Best,
Jared

10:28 am
June 22, 2010

g2gcul8r

Bulgaria

Member

posts 4

Print this Post

Obviously is not that easy to pin point the reason. Probably that is why I have struggled with that so long.

When I first started to notice that I don't play a lot of hours I was winning every session for couple of weeks and I probably decided that I don't need to play a lot. Of course that is nonsense, but that started to make my non-playing a lot something of a habit.

I don't want to play when I'm not focused and thus I make short breaks, but I have a problem sitting again and from wanting to make a 5 minute break, I make like an hour.

Also when I sit in the morning to play I usually play more hour this day, but most days I postpone the stating time for hours.

It's a lot easier for me to play MTTs. I don't have problem making 6-7 hours session and for that reason I started to play my normal amount of cash tables and one MTT. Obviously I can not sit out on the MTT and thus play till I but there. This gives me a good playing time/break ratio, but the problem is that there is not a lot of good MTTs that start in the hours that I play. I live in Bulgaria and FTP/start MTTs are made for US mostly.

But I feel a little bit of a failure that I need to do something like this to play longer. I love to play, and I want to, but last months don't give me a lot of hope

I don't think that I tilt a lot, and generally I don't care about bad beats or result, but I can have a problem in that direction. I can see how a bad mindset can stop a person to play long hours.

If I need to give a specific reason why I don't play a ton, is because when I started playing small amount I started making less money, but my expenses were same, so now like 7 months later I play the same limits, and most of my student are now playing higher than me, and I don't want to grind month to get to higher stakes, but I don't have a choice.

Also in the past I trained every day and was eating healthier, but in the last 3 months I'm depressed, because of my bad results and I train not so often. And drink coca cola all the time

I will try to do this:

- exersice 5 days a week

- start playing as soon as possible in the morning with one small MTT open.

- play till I'm bust in it

- get a lunch

- and open another MTT

- Will not play on Saturday, and play only on Sunday in the evening and not my main game (will play some new game or a lot of MTTs)

Sounds good?

Any other ideas?

Thanks a lot for the help.

Best,

Cherufe

8:27 am
June 23, 2010

Jared

Admin

posts 72

Print this Post

The ideas you've listed are solid, here are a couple other thoughts to add to them.

1) You mention that the bad habit started when you were winning a lot. That's a common reaction to winning because the mind can assume poker is easy and winning is guaranteed to continue happening. Of course this isn't true, and of course you know logically that it isn't. But in that moment, the confidence you have is to a small degree build on a lie. The lie being the winning is guaranteed to continue. It may seem really subtle, but that same lie is what is weighing so heavily on your mind now – that the struggles you face right now are going to just continue into the future. So I mention it because by taking direct action to achieve your goals, you break that lie and prevent yourself from believing it.

2) Seeing that you put exercise as one of you tasks to improve, also think of playing poker as a form of mental exercise. So to increase the number of hours that you are able to focus perfectly for you have to build the muscle back up. It's the same as you get back to working your body out. What you were capable of doing 3 months ago, you are still capable of doing, but it's going to take some time and work to rebuild your body, and in poker term, you mind back to that level. Keep in mind the same principals of rest for the mind as you would for the body too. So as you're pushing yourself forward, be sure to give your mind a rest, as that will help greatly in building mental muscle and endurance rapidly.

Does this all make sense or help?

Jared

11:36 am
June 23, 2010

g2gcul8r

Bulgaria

Member

posts 4

Print this Post

Yes, it does.

In the last months that I'm trying to improve I'm seeing it my self. Now it's a lot easier to play let's say hour and a half without stopping, and before was struggle to play even 40 min.

I think I need to work mainly on starting sessions and not taking big breaks.

Thank you for the help.

I will do my best to stick to my mental exercise

Page: 1

You must be logged in to post	Login Register