By
grapsfan |
Published
Jun 29 2007, 02:12 AM
This article is part 2 of a 2-part series by grapsfan on finding a mentor. To see the other article, click here.
Finding the right mentor may be the easiest way to grow your bankroll. But simply pleading randomly for help is –EV. You may meet some nice people, and maybe some of them will help your poker game…but you can also take steps backwards in a mismatched relationship. A few easy steps can dramatically increase your odds of finding your new mentor.
In my “Wrong Way” article, I mentioned how important it was to be active in writing on the P5s forums, so your name is known and treated with the proper regard. It is also very important to read a lot, as many threads as you have time for, in as many forums as you can. Pay very close attention to the people who write in a tone and personality befitting yours. Find the people about whom you think, “Man, I’d like to hang out with that person and buy him/her a drink some time.” You are going to be spending dozens, if not hundreds, of hours, with your future mentor. They had better be someone you like.
Once you identify five or six candidates, start railing them. Watch what games they play, and more importantly, how they play. Don’t just follow results; try to find the methods they use and see if they’re techniques you would like to incorporate into your game. Their track record of success in the games you like to play is important, but not the critical factor. You are looking for players with the ability to shift gears, to play any style and make adjustments to changing opponents. Success alone is not enough of an indicator of whether or not they will be a good mentor.
In a past P5s thread about whether or not to take lessons for a certain individual, a well-known poster stated they would only want to take lessons from the top 1% of the top 1% of poker players; the best of the best. This logic has proven to be faulty across all sports and games…if this were true, nobody could coach Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson. Only former NBA stars could run basketball teams. On the contrary, many of the best coaches have never been successful as players. Tommy Lasorda, Sparky Anderson, Bobby Cox, Tony LaRussa and Walter Alston are some of the most successful managers in baseball history; none of them had a career in the majors. The aforementioned coaches for the best golfers in the world, Hank Haney and Rick Smith, never had the game to hang on the PGA tour.
Conversely, many top players make for mediocre (or worse) coaches and managers. Ask any Knick fan how the Isiah Thomas era has gone. Michael Jordan can’t teach you how to be Michael Jordan; fans in Washington D.C. and Charlotte have found out the hard way. Wayne Gretzky can’t explain to his Phoenix Coyote players how to see the ice the way he saw it…at least, they don’t play like he’s told them.
There is a famous story about Hall-of-Famer Ted Williams when he was coaching the Washington Senators. A young player came to Williams during spring training, asking how to hit a curve ball. Williams started telling the prospect about watching for a certain rotation of the ball as it comes off the pitcher’s hand. When the young man replied he couldn’t see those details as the pitch is released, the difference between physical gifts versus explainable strategy became crystal-clear. Hard work, a physique built for the perfect swing, and eyesight better than 99.999% of the population made Ted Williams the hitter he was. He could teach the first, and help modify the second to your individual body…but without the third attribute, nobody will ever hit like Ted Williams.
Poker has its own highest-level gifts that can be difficult to explain. How do you teach a tight player to have the nerve to make the 3rd raise all-in with rags if the time is right for a massive re-steal late in a tournament? How do you teach an ADD-riddled teenager the ability to be patient and wait for spots to get paid off in a cash game? How do you get a Level 1”I react to my own two cards” player to understand the implications of a Level 4 thought process…can the teacher even remember what Levels 2 and 3 were like?
Everyone looking for a mentor, in their own way, is an old dog looking for new tricks Those tricks need to be taught carefully, succinctly and repetitively if one hopes for them to stick. A good player may be able to explain things in a way the very best player cannot. A successful mid-level SNG player will likely know more about shifting gears than a balls-to-the-wall hyper-aggressive MTT player who dominates the highest buy-in games available.
Once you combine the online personality traits with the game complementary to your own, and you’re certain you’ve got the right person in mind, make contact. Start responding to their posts. Send them a PM with a question or two on a hand or another poker topic. Vocally rail them on a regular basis. Try to build the foundation of a relationship. If your “target” responds and a dialog begins, you can eventually ask “hey, would you be interested in (mentoring me / reviewing some hand histories / joining a discussion group)?
Do your homework, invest a little bit of time in the search, and the odds are much greater the response will be “I’d be happy to.” You’ll also make some new friends along the way, a reward far greater than any pot. I wish you luck and good fortune in finding what you’re looking for. And a mentor to help you become a better player.