Recently, Daniel Negreanu (pictured) was a guest on The Mindset Advantage Podcast, hosted on pokermindcoach.com, and gave his opinions on some interesting topics such as mental toughness, the impact of PokerStars returning to the US after being granted a license in New Jersey, and changes at PokerStars.

The first podcast covered Negreanu’s thoughts on the importance of the mental game in poker. He admitted he was focusing on the mental game as well, something he had focused on unconsciously early in his career.

“Around 2003, I would start to do things like if I were traveling to a tournament, I would pack an outfit for the final table,” commented Negreanu. “I would pack a suit and would plan for success. I did this without any outside influence in terms of books and coaching on the subject.”

Negreanu later realized the importance of the mental game and enrolled in the Choice Center in Las Vegas three years ago to study emotional intelligence.

“They didn’t teach me how to play ace-queen there, but they certainly taught me how to get my mindset in a place where I was confident, prepared, and ready for success,” stated Negreanu about the Choice Center.

He went on to talk about why mental toughness is so important to the game, not just blaming bad luck when things go wrong. He also discussed why setting goals is so important and not being “so attached to results.”

The second podcastcontinued with the theme of mental toughness along with views about online poker in the United States and changes at PokerStars and its sister company Full Tilt.

Negreanu reiterated why mental toughness is so important: “The people that are not mentally tough crack get into victim mentality, blame their bad luck, and look at the people that are successful and say, ‘You know what? – they’re just lucky.'”

As many of you know, Amaya Gaming, the parent company of both PokerStars and Full Tilt, received a license to operate in the state of New Jersey in coordination with Resorts Casino in Atlantic City. Negreanu commented that not only is this good for PokerStars and the state of New Jersey, but it could also open the doors to allow PokerStars into other markets considering regulation such as California.

“I think it’s a great step. PokerStars as an organization is a tip-top organization,” commented Negreanu. “Frankly, I don’t know if people realize this or not, it would be very unlikely if the takeover hadn’t happened, PokerStars would have ever gotten back to New Jersey.”

Negreanu added that PokerStars entering New Jersey “bodes well for states like California and Nevada. Also, with PokerStars being a legitimate player in the United States, all the financial support and other support that is necessary in terms of getting any political change done, they can now contribute to that in a more meaningful way.”

Negreanu also shared the common opinion that poker on a federal level won’t be happening any time in the near future. “I certainly don’t think you will see any federal changes in the next year with it being an election year,” asserted Negreanu. “I don’t think anyone is going to make online poker their platform. It rates low on their list.”

Negreanu, who is never without an opinion, also believed that the rate at which losing players are losing money isn’t sustainable for a good poker ecology and that the reduction of third-party software can only help.

“The rate at which losing players are losing money online has risen an astronomical percentage,” commented Negreanu. “They are just getting killed way too quickly.”

He believes that PokerStars and Full Tilt recently making policy changes surrounding the use of third-party software will help losing players stick around longer. “I think the move Full Tilt Poker made was genius. They got rid of their heads-up tables. They’ve eliminated seat selection by essentially saying if you want to play $5/$10, put your name on the list.”

“What that does is eliminate seat-scripting, which has become a rampant cancer to online games, with pros essentially… automatically sitting at [a] table with [a fish] and fleecing him as quickly as possible.”

Perhaps one of the most controversial things Negreanu discussed was near the end of the second podcast. He suggested there could be some reductions to the PokerStars VIP program, which typically benefits heavier grinders more than the typical net-depositing recreational players.

If this occurs as Negreanu suggested, it will likely make many serious grinders unhappy at first. However, as Negreanu also alluded to during the podcast, professional poker players and more serious grinders will, at the end of the day, benefit as well if it means there are more casual players in the pool.

Check out the Podcast here.