Ever notice a sudden leap in your game? Are you bluffing at all the right times all the sudden, or finally able to fold QQ to a raise at the right time? It doesn't always happen in an instant, but you notice it that way. I've been working on improving my focus at the tables for a year now. There's only so much theory you can learn, and believe me I've learned it. Odds? Got em. Math? No problem. Playing styles and aggression? Looking good. Paying attention to the players at my table instead of watching South Park while I play? Well that's a different story...

Teaching other people to play poker makes me pay attention to my own skills much better than I used to, and a few weeks ago one of my pals, who is learning to play, asked me about focus. I was scolding him about bluffing a calling station, and he told me he didn't know the guy was a calling station. How could you miss that?

"Well we're talking on MSN and Family Guy is on, and I'm eating, I didn't notice."

That used to be me. I thought I was simply too scattered to ever be really focused on one table for any period of time. I thought maybe Ritalin would help, and I reorganized my desk a million times to make things easier. I tried and tried to focus completely, but it seemed like it was to no avail. I was simply trying to learn something that I thought couldn't be learned. Well not any more. The last few weeks I have noticed a big change. All my work is paying off and I have realized that I am seeing more of what's going on at the table than I ever thought I would.

I still have a lot of work to do, but it's very nice to see some of it pay off once in awhile. I feel like I've been waxing Mr. Miyagi's damn car for months now, and I finally understand some of the reasons why. It's starting to come together into something useful. I've found that focus is not about hard concentration; it's about being easy and relaxed. It's not hard work at all, it's very simple. Lean back in your chair and absorb what is happening on the screen or at the table in front of you. Like watching a ball game or your favorite show. Be interested in it, pick apart what everyone does in each pot, and play the old guessing game with yourself. What does the raiser have? How about the guy who is calling him?

The same sort of learning curve happens with all kinds of things in poker. It's a game of variables, and it's an art form at it's highest levels, so not everything you learn is easy to quantify. The right place to make that big bluff, or the right time to lay down your aces after someone has flopped a better hand, can be tough things to learn. But if you keep working on them, one of these days you'll notice that you're telling someone else how to do it, and it seems easy to you. Be patient and study hard, even when it seems you are getting nowhere, and you will find yourself further along in your journey soon enough.

Poker has treated me very well over the past month. I haven't really built my bankroll much, but I've paid off $1,100 in medical bills without my bankroll dropping much, so it's been a good month. My knee is also much better, though I don't know if it's over a thousand bucks better. Word to the wise, get a good office chair, a trackball or a wireless mouse with a gel bump on the front of the mouse pad, and whatever else it takes to be comfortable. It could save you a lot of hassle and pain in the long run.

See you at the final table,
Fox