Not too long ago, AaawNutz made a post that really got me thinking. At the time, the manner in which he expressed the idea became controversial, and so I think the real point - a very valuable point - was lost.

As poker players, our minds are our weapons. We're trying to outhink, outanalyze, and outsmart people at the table. I know I'm simplifying things a bit, but the gist is pretty clear - you win this game with your brain. <READMORE>

That being said, very few of us really try to train ourselves - our minds - to be in optimal shape for the game. It's tough to achieve. If you work all day and only play at night, your time is limited, and when you have time to devote to poker-related activities, you'd rather be playing. If you play full-time, well, it's pretty much your job, and every hour away from the tables is money lost.

If you were a sprinter, would you lie on the couch all day, then show up at the Olympics and expect to win? It doesn't work that way. The analogy is a stretch, but it illustrates the point. If you want to play at your best, there are some skills and attributes that you can work on to maximize your potential in the game.

Yes, there are very real benefits to working on the mental game. You don't have to maintain a rigourous training regimen; just taking a few minutes here or there to keep yourself sharp can work wonders for your game. Here are some techniques that you might find valuable for optimizing your game.

PATTERN RECOGNITION

That's a huge portion of online poker - figuring out, based on previous events, what bets correspond to what types of hands. Obviously, there's no substitute for playing lots of poker to work on this one. But here are a few more ways to fine tune that sense of pattern recognition.

Buy one of those little books of brainteasers and riddles. Do one before each session, or do a few when you're stuck on a train or plane, waiting for the doctor - use that dead time to work on your analytical thinking.

Cryptography. Browse around online or find a book that teaches basic codes and ciphers. Find new ones, in books or online, and try to break them. It helps you work with numbers and develop better pattern recognition skills.

Minesweeper. I can't state how much I love this simple, classic little game. Every Windows-based computer has it. It's free, and it's easy to learn. Play it, and play it often. Play it until you are only limited by how fast, and accurately, you can move the mouse. It's all simple number-based patterns. There are really only a few, so play until you figure them out. Pretty soon, you'll be able to spot them clear as day.

Go to a free financial information site. Pick some stock symbols at random and look at their five-year charts. Try to pick out reoccurring patterns by sight.

READING PEOPLE

This game isn't all about numbers; it's about understanding people, too.

When you meet someone new, ask them a lot of questions. Work on storing as much information on them as possible. A few hours later, try to recall it. You want to maximize the amount you can remember about people. Then work on using the information that you can recall to form a profile, and try to use that profile to predict how they'd react to certain events. A lot of reading people in poker is figuring out how your opponents respond to anger, excitement, or frustration.

Rail people. This one is huge. One of the best ways to learn to read people is to watch lots of hands. When you're involved in the game, though, it's a little different. You have money on the line, you're looking for a better situation later in the game, you'd be embarassed if your read was wrong, whatever. Railing top players is great, and free. It lets you watch them play and gather information on a lot of the situational moves that they make; then you can ask yourself if their plays illuminate holes in your game. More importantly, it gives you a chance to work on your reads by studying the best competition. We always see the situation the clearest when we're looking over someone else's shoulder, with nothing on the line. Use railing to practice your reads and you'll be surprised how much you improve.

GAME THEORY

Play thinking games, plain and simple. Online, you can find free places to play chess, backgammon, gin, hearts, spades - whatever your favorite is, pick one and mix a game in here and there. It'll keep you fresh for poker, while allowing you to practice basic game theory problems, probability issues, anticipating your opponents, evaluating risk/reward - the good stuff.

Also, you can get Game Theory textbooks relatively cheap after college courses let out for the summer. Pick one up and give it a read; it can't hurt.

ANALYZING YOUR OWN GAME

OK, this is a tough one. We all like to think we're awesome players who never make mistakes. Even the best of us have some holes, however small. You need to train yourself to be dedicated enough to look for them, and honest enough to notice and address them.

This isn't easy, and it's hard to get used to if you don't do it regularly. My best advice is this: pick a sport that you're decently familiar with, but not very good at. One that you've played at least a few times.

Now go play it, on your own, and really focus on trying to figure out what you're doing wrong. Shoot a basketball for a few hours and work on your jump shot mechanics. Go to the driving range and figure out how to hit a long ball straight. You have to focus on yourself, notice your flaws, and adapt.

Then try to carry that over to poker. After you bust from a MTT or SNG, review the game and try to pick out your mistakes. You might even try keeping a journal of all of your bustout hands to try to spot the patterns. And I'm talking about the hands that were the big turning points. If you lost 90% of your chips on one hand, then busted pushing as the shortstack the next, the former is the hand of interest.

USE THE RESOURCES AROUND YOU

These days, there is a wealth of information and support available to serious poker players. Read and reread all of the great books out there; there's no reason not to.

Use Pocket Fives. It's a great community, and as soon as you acknowledge how much this site can help your game, the more you'll see improvement.

Some of us are lucky enough to have a bunch of friends who are serious players. If you do, don't be shy! Talk to them about interesting hands, tough decisions, or trends you've noticed. Ask their advice. Come up with interesting hypothetical situations and see what they'd do, and maybe have a discussion about your opinions, if they differ. Thinking about poker makes you better at poker, and the more views you get on the subject, the more developed your thought process becomes. If you read a great post or article, pass it on to those friends.

A lot of us, however, don't know many people who are serious players. Most of our outside friends just don't get it. Well, that's where Pocket Fives comes in. There are tens of thousands of people here trying to get better, together. Use each other. All of you lurkers out there - start posting. It'll make you think about poker more, and that can only help your game. Having to articulate a thought also helps you develop it more concretely in your head. Don't be shy; if you think up something interesting, a random situation or hand that puzzles you, POST IT UP. All of the players here, with varying levels of experience and different styles, are a resource that shouldn't be wasted. Use them to help your game. If there's someone who you talk to a lot on these boards, work something out to rail each other and analyze each other's play.

There are a lot of ways to improve your poker game, and not all of them involve sitting at the table. All of the ones above will improve your game without forcing you to wager a single dollar. Poker is a mental game, and it can only benefit you to keep your mind sharp.

So, what techniques do you use, aside from poker, to keep your game at its highest levels?

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