Well it looks like i'm going to turn my game over to a mentor. This is a well known poker mind who backs many bigtime players but none as old as myself. he mostly deals with these young internet wizards. he'll be sending several to tunica next month. im a long way from being part of his "team" but the fact that he is interested in helping me is very encouraging...i'd go so far as to say im honored actually. ill probably save the details of my work with him from here on out for my poker blog and thats if he wants me sharing it at all. but here is the main part of the email i got this morning. i have deleted parts of it ..but im excited about this guys interest in my game and wanted to share what i can with you all. ....
Apparently you have had many losses in your life. you equate those losses with shame
you then in your mind prefer quitting to shame. therefore you must stop seeing not winning as losing.
when you make the correct decision you cannot lose therefore there is no shame.
In the hands that you have posted, in the ones that you have sent me and in the tournys i have
observed you in i see the same theme throughout. You fear losing any hand. losing a hand causes
you to play even tighter than you already do as so to not lose another hand. its almost like you start
out as a champion player and gradually as the tourny progresses become a very poor player. you are
allowing your fear of losing to cause you to admit defeat when it doesnt even exsist. i want to get
deeper into the emotional side of your game in coming days. read the articles i have sent you and
hopefully it will save me some typing.
On your game itself, the mechanics so to speak. How can you not realize that your losing as a big
favorite is due entirely to the fear we just discussed. You never play a hand as a dog, you are without
a doubt the tightest player i have ever run across. since it is a given you cannot win every hand and
you NEVER play a hand as a dog what else can happen but you lose as a favorite? you play so few hands
then compound it by playing them for most or all of your chips that anytime the cards dont fall your
way you are going to be in a hole. in one series you sent me you played 4 hands in an hour, in each of those
hands you commited 75% or more of your chips . true you almost doubled your stack the 1st 3 times but on
the 4th hand your opponent got lucky and all the gains you had made were wiped out in the 1 hand.
True the poker books say that a tight /aggressive style is the best style. but you are an extremist like no other
ive ever seen . you play very few hands yet play them all for all your chips. This is so simple i cannot
fathom how you have become this type of player and not see that it cannot win on a consistent basis.
You have to loosen up your game and you have to become less aggressive. not more!!
Being aggressive does not mean playing for all your chips everytime you have the lead in a hand.
One change i would like to see you make is to get out of the Party 40K everynight. this has to be the highest
variance tourny on the net with over 2200 most nights. instead concentrate on some lower buy-in re-buy
tournys, these should work to loosen your starting hand requirements.
Again i believe that the underlying problem here is your fear of losing. you say you hate to lose, that is incorrect
in my view. you are scared of losing, scared to the point of not taking risks that are +ev in the long run.
Lets look at AQ for example, why are you not raising everytime with AQ? are you aware that in a 9 player game
AQ is the best hand 85% of the time? several times i see where you fold to a minimal raise..this is wrong! this is scared
poker. and when you flop either the A or the Q you are ready to shove your chips in the middle to quickly. if there
are no scare cards on the board why try to drive your opponent off the hand? let the hand play out, build a pot .
ive also noticed that when your cards are suited you always limp. i assume you are doing this to keep players in the
hand for the value it will bring if you make a nut flush. WRONG WRONG WRONG!! huge leak alert! you have to know
that the odds of you hitting that flush can never be high enough to make wasting that premium hand +ev. you should never be
playing that hand for its flush value until you have at least 3 and maybe even 4 to the flush.. play the hand exactly as you
would if it were unsuited ( as described above) then if it turns into a flush draw play its value at that point. until then its
simply AQ. raise and play it accordingly.
I'M running out of time here, i hope we can talk soon i have so much more to run by you. but for now let me leave you with this.
you have great potential in this game. the keys to unlocking it are mostly in your mind and they way you relate your game to
your present mental state.The player i watched in the Gift Tree tourny last week can play with anybody. whatever your mindset was that day is
the mindset we want you to have every time you sit down. honestly most players cannot overcome the obstacles you have in front of you.
younger players do not have these thought processes as deeply imbedded in their subconscious as you seem to have. i would consider it a great feat to help
you overcome these obstacles. but i will not invest the time required in someone who may quit on me at any time. if you want my assistance
the word quit is no longer in your vocabulary. i have a proven record of helping players reach their potential, i see your potential..if you
want my continued assistance you will do it my way and no other. the negative thoughts may not be able to be removed from your subconcious
overnight but the outward expression of them can be. remember all thoughts are positive , its only in your mind that you allow them to be
reshaped as negative. keep your emotions under control , try to begin reshaping your game in the ways i have described. your game can be fixed easily
a little at a time. lets get the mind work done 1st... ill be talking with you again soon.
