TL;DR as a second post guys, please read it !
It's a real long post guys, I hope you like it. It was an exercise for me to know where I'm actually at. I hope it can help anybody out there !
Now that I'm trying to get better at poker, reading 2p2 seems really like the right thing to do, not only you people inspire me, you also help me to improve that much my game.
Now that I flattered you, would you help me out ? I'm trying to find what are the skill sets of a consistent winning player. I mean, the broad ones, not the technical skills like 3 betting light or floating a LAG but pretty much, general, broad skills or way of thinking and how you acquired them or think you did. My aim is not to have you to create a flat easy path for me to walk on. I would be happy to climb mountains and work my ass off, hard-work seems like the easiest way to success. I just feel like passive learning is really good for me, ie being a phone interviewer and a spokesperson helped me a lot with skill number 1. So perhaps your line of work helped you to get there ?
1) Skill:
-
I am a great observer and I can read expressions like crazy, I see in the eyes, shoulders, general ways of being incredibly accurate informations (at low-stakes, be it cash or MTT), my live winnings are just way above my poor online results.
How: I was raised by an extremely attentive mother. I copied her ways of piercing through everybody's shell, listening to everyone with real focus. People often tell me that when I listen to them, they feel like they are the center of my focus, the only thing I pay attention to. I am still amazed at how much people tell me their worst/best secrets/burdens at the first or second encounter. It's the same about job interviews, I tend to be really soon liked by the interviewer because... (see number 2)
Which leads to a...
A) Flaw: I can be over-confident in my readings, leveling myself into a mathematically bad call because of an expression meanwhile the betting pattern suggests strongly that I'm beat. I can, because of that, forget basics like the fact that a LAG can have AA sometimes too. These things will appear to me as obvious once I review my hands while detaching myself from psychology. I tend to be better at that these days.
and how to beat it : when I'm facing a situation with huge money on the line, I close my eyes and focus on my breathing to acquire a sharper mental-state and put myself back into the immediate action. I also verify that it makes any logical sense. I work a lot on that state to happen pretty much everytime I'm playing.
2) Skill:
-
I adapt myself real quick. Like, really really quick. I'm a real sponge when it comes to people, a Doppelgänger. If you are uptight, I would keep my craziness inside, if you like to laugh I would find the jokes suiting you. I kinda hate it sometimes. At poker that means that if I see you making a move, I would often use that move against you. I would metagame the **** out of you. I love heads-up play and I think that at my level, it's a game where I'm truly good at (again, still small stakes, I'm a beginner even though I'm taking the game more seriously now). I also love Zoom because of that. I'm seeing so much moves in a short span of time, I'm able to copy them and add them as a weapon.
How: I can't be specific there. Psychology suggests that it's for keeping the love of your parents when you are young (Alice Miller). I had a real tough father, perhaps there is a link. I was also kind of an introvert when I was younger, perhaps it was my way to fit in.
3) Skill:
-
I'm learning empirically. If I'm exposed to a good player, I would suck his soul out really soon and incoporate this to my way of playing. But it's only short-term. I get a lot from every session. Again, without books, I learned a lot just by playing the game.
How: No idea, I was always better at listening or doing while in class than studying at home. I suppose it's the next logical step emanating from skill 1. I had hard time as a student because I didn't have that much interest into the subject. I was still learning a lot more just by listening and actually doing it more than reading it.
Which leads to a...
B) Flaw: I tend to lose memory quickly if I don't practice enough. I have to play everyday to keep my high level of experience. To get the feeling of how it is to play really at my best. When I'm getting your moves and apply them to you, it's only short-term. It's like an intense focus which I can't remember after that if I don't write it down.
How to beat it: Play everyday, write down everything you can remember after each session and read it again before going back to the game.
4) Skill:
-
I don't care about what can't be prevented. If I go all-in with AA and a donk beats me with its magnificent 72, I don't care. You will throw **** at me while punching me in the face singing Nickelback and I would be smiling without complaining. I simply don't care as long as my play was correct. I truly care if my play was bad, that can make me angry.
How: Same mother, same way of thinking. I was complaining a lot when I was a teenager and I understood that nobody likes it, especially girls (isn't it a good motive ?). Also, it's not helping you keeping a good mental state. Since I moved to Canada, I had to take my things together as I was all alone, no family and no friends to help me out if I fell, a situation I was looking for to reveal who I truly am. I was also such a clumsy person before that it would have been a huge loss of energy to yell at or insult myself at least twice a day.
Then,
C) Flaw: I'm not consistent. I have swings of confidence.
I am stuck a in a job I dislike with a dictator at its head and in a tough situation with my father. This situation leads to a lot of insecurity which I'm fighting back. The only way for this to not happen is when I am truly focused. I tried yoga for a week and never felt so consistent. When I was practicing martial arts also, it was crazy how much confidence I had, every day.
How to beat it: When I'm lacking confidence, I'm writing my thoughts quite freely without being judgemental until I reach the problem which lingers behind my weakness. I would also do push-ups and sit-ups if I can. I need martials arts or yoga to be a regular activity. I have to consistently rely on my will to feel strong but once I feel it, nothing can beat me
(well any of you in 2p2 can but that's another topic !). I'm also trying to find a new job which I would be happy in. Involving wine, food or trading.
And another...
D) Flaw: I was lacking discipline. I still am but I used to too. I refused everything from my father when I was younger and he is a hell of a disciplined man. Now that I am understanding him more, discipline feels less like a prison.
How to beat it:Martial arts, yoga, books like Way of the Peaceful Warrior and motivational videos/websites help a lot, Steve Pavlina, TED talks, Zen to do...
5) Skill:
-
Focus/Intuition. If I play Zoom or a live expensive tournament, it's just crazy, no thoughts whatsoever, nothing but true focus. I can throw away AK in a blink if I understand that I'm beat. I would value bet crazy hands that I won't if I try to rationalize my way of playing. When I first tried poker, I was just attacking weaknesses into my opponent behavioring patterns. And even now, if I can focus enough I can get back to that incredibly profitable mental-state/vision.
How: I was a Magic the Gathering competitive player and I played too much fast video games where I was good at. I was good at games since I was sipping through my baby's bottle. Give me any game and I would deduce the very principles of it incredibly fast. I tend also to be creative when I see stronger opposition. The way metagame in MTG works helped me a lot to understand the way it works in poker.
E) Flaw:
-
It's hard to enter that focused mental-state. It's actually what makes me lose more money than anything else. I need to be in that intense focus to be a consistent player. I'm just slightly better than average without it.
How to beat it: doing yoga, closing chatting software or browser, checking that I don't feel HALT (Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired). Napping at every break of a MTT, preparing food before the MTT. Push-ups, Sit-ups when I'm losing focus. Breathing routine.
F) Flaw, emanating from E):
-
If I take the game too seriously, I would be bad at it. If I take it as a game and have fun out of it, I would play really at my best.
How to beat it: I imagine that I just need to actually play without creating too much rules for myself to follow. It's tough though because I feel like I can get money out of that game if I try to be more serious. But if I'm too serious I'm fearful and if I'm not serious enough I would make bad calls because of that. Really a tough line, I don't have any real answer to that one right now.
G) Flaw:
-
I needed a lot of approval from the others. It's actually the less concerning one, it only happens now if I'm playing really tired with people I like.
How to beat it: use the HALT method again to monitor myself before playing, giving random fingers at the screen in case of emergency
What do you think ? Do you feel some of these adaptable life skills/flaws to poker are applying to you ? Do you have ideas helping me to overcome my flaws ?
Now, what about you ? Let us know what are your strengths/flaws and how you overcome them.
We all can learn from every of you whatever your poker level is.
You can express yourself and help a lot the others by doing so, grab the opportunity !
Two Plus Two
Linear Mode
