In my last article, we broke life and poker down into two important aspects: the very near-term (“what you do”) and very long-term (“who you are”). Those are the two parts of the game that you can control. The variance inherent to poker dictates that you have losing streaks, take bad beats....the runs over days, weeks, months that makes you crazy and can change “what you do” and “who you are”.

The P5s message board, and many others dedicated to poker, is packed every day with players complaining about their recent results, and what can be done to turn things around. I counted six new posts on the topic in one 24-hour period. Obviously, dealing with the variance is a huge problem. <READMORE>

We’re all aware of how a disastrous stretch can affect “what you do”. When you’re going bad, it’s only natural to get a little gunshy and thrown off of your game, the best way you can play it. You don’t bluff even though your read is that your opponent is weak, because you KNOW that fish is going to call off his whole stack with bottom pair and win the hand. You give free cards to a drawing hand, because you KNOW that they’ll call any bet you make, so why put extra chips at risk when they’re just going to catch their next card anyway? You just call a raise with KK rather than push a huge pot, because you KNOW an ace will hit the flop and this way, you can get away from it.

The reality, of course, is that you don’t KNOW anything based on your bad luck in the last tournament, the last day, the last week. Each hand of poker is an independent trial, a problem to be solved that has many variables, but only a few decisions to come to the right solution. Check. Bet. Raise. Fold. The cards our opponents caught or the draws we missed previously have no bearing on any of those four possible actions. All that matters is the shortest of the short-term, the here and now. Check. Bet. Raise. Fold. After 20 years as one of the most successful and feared players in the game, Johnny Chan said that all he does is to try and play each hand as perfectly as he can. His focus on the “what you do” moment-to-moment play of poker is what makes him great.

Doyle Brunson learned that focus after miraculously overcoming cancer. Once he faced death in the eye, he developed a new appreciation for living every moment he is alive. His stretch of 50+ winning sessions in a row after his recovery is the stuff of poker legend, as is his continued success for the 40 years after that. You can see from the twinkle in his eye that Doyle gets a charge every time the cards go in the air, the thrill of every pot. He’s seen everything you could possibly see at a poker table, and yet, it’s a new challenge to him every time he sits down. He lives for each hand. Check. Bet. Raise. Fold.

As my first step in swearing off the middle ground and focusing on “what I do”, I’m going to put together a checklist of things to consider every time the cards go in the air, things I will do to keep myself in each moment. I’ll publish my personal list here, but everyone’s list will be different based on the games they play, their most comfortable style, and what their strongest and weakest skills are. Don’t write me and say, “Graps, you fucking donkey, I tried what you said and lost 10 straight games.” I already know I’m a donkey, and my vow is to no longer care about what happened in the past 10 games, yours or mine. It’s all about the next moment, the next decision to be made. Check. Bet. Raise. Fold.

MY “WHAT I DO” LIST:

1) I will not use the advanced action buttons…they cause me to miss out on opportunities to steal a pot or call when the odds are right for me to do so. I do not have as much information prior to my turn to make a decision as I do when my turn comes.

2) I will take good notes on each player at the table. An old Chinese proverb states that “the palest ink is better than the sharpest memory”. If I choose to ignore previously gained information, it makes it tougher to make each individual decision the right one.

3) Through my notes and immediate observations, I will try to identify the tightest and loosest players in the game as soon as I can. Extremes in poker are weaknesses that can be exploited.

4) I will not be tied down to those initial impressions. The player who raises 7 times in the first orbit may have had AA all 7 times. The player who lays down every one of the first 20 hands may have seen nothing better than 94 offsuit, but they will push hard with any suited ace.

5) If the opportunity presents itself, I will try to make a play that takes me out of my comfort zone, whether that be laying down a big hand against a loose player, or making a hyper-aggressive bluff with nothing against a tight player.

6) I will no longer dwell on the cards I had after I fold them. A flop of 643 does not mean I should have played my 75 offsuit from early position. After-the-fact results do not change the quality of an immediate decision.

The concepts I’ve presented here are fairly straightforward. I hope that everyone can use them to become a better player (except, of course, when I’m across the table from you). Next time, we get to the harder part: the “who you are” of poker.
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