Never stop posting man!

so many wonderful gems between the lines in your updates..

it reads like a true story, friend

Well, this was a full on "6 hrs a day for 5 days a week" week (shdfdw week - it'll be a thing!), which is the max that I can reasonably put in right now. Results are fine, emotions are turbulent but manageable. Right now I am sacrificing focus for volume and a sort of "putting the pieces together" kind of grind, which I am happy that I am doing. One step at a time, right?

Anyways, so this is where we're at in terms of the bigger picture:

shdfdw week
shdfdw week
shdfdw week
shdfdw week
work on your game, bro!
rest your mind, bru!

Anyways, have a great weekend friends!

So this is me just playing, as you knew I would. I've decided to become a mental game coach, as you also know, and I made a plan to start out working with poker players and to work with people from different areas once I've had some success there. I've also decided to prove that I know what I am doing, what you could call my Mental Strategies, on myself.



So that's where I am at, and I stand by that decision. But man, it's much easier to go with the "Don't do what I do, do what I say!" kind of attitude. Unfortunately, that attitude also makes you somewhat of a fraud in my opinion. If you want to teach people anything worthwhile, you need to have some real, solid expertise yourself. Not just expertise in talking. Expertise in doing something. So here's to me slowly becoming an expert poker player again, a player who's mentally tough, a player who knows how to get yourself into the right state at the right time.

Cheers.

For example I always thought my poker mindset was good, maybe I am a natural. I don't take things personally, start tilting or have ego problems and I have seen many people starting to play worse, bluffing someone just for the sake of bluffing them, tilt etc. rather than making good exploitive plays. But can I teach them to be less emotional when playing poker?
Probably not.
You don't teach Omaha to anyone? I'm trying to learn 5 Card Omaha, it seems more fun than regular PLO.

There are some things that can make me play worse. I am not very emotional when playing, but I can get angry or sad or depressed like many players, even (surprise!) many winning players. I've got ways of dealing with that, thank god. But to your point, which is a good one: One of the skills that I've acquired and that I am putting in time to learn more about is how to teach certain skills using NLP: How to create more useful (inner) representations of what's happening to you, for example. It's those representations that make you feel a certain way, after all. The word "framing" comes to mind.

I'd love to do some strategy coaching again, but it's not happening yet. Maybe one day!

This is where we're at in terms of the bigger picture:

shdfdw week
shdfdw week
shdfdw week
shdfdw week
work on your game, bro!
rest your mind, bru!

Results-wise, I am not where I want to be. I'd call this a plateau, and I've been here for a while now.

One more week of playing a lot, then I'll do some work on my game. I am excited about playing, and I am excited about taking that break from the tables.

Have a great weekend friends!

...as I missed my post yesterday. So send me a PM if you want that session, and let me know what for. What's your vision?

I'll pick a lucky winner by tuesday, next week.

Good luck!

Bigger picture time (reminder: shdfdw week - six hours a day, five days a week of playing):

shdfdw week [x]
shdfdw week [x]
shdfdw week [x]
shdfdw week [x]
work on your game, bro! [ ]
rest your mind, bru! [ ]

Results-wise, I am still not where I want to be. Mental game wise, I am making big progress in terms of coaching, and in a sense I am making progress when it comes to playing, too: I can reliably play long hours and be psyched to go back at it each morning. That's a good achievement. I can even take a certain kind of break when I am fed up after some bad variance, and it takes me an hour to be psyched about playing again.

I'll go away for a week, so I'll excuse myself from blog posting duties. I'll chat with you the week after next week.

Have a great weekend friends!

Here's to the importance of being handed those Aha-moments which happen during Coaching sessions. "You can't do it all by yourself. You're not an island.". Who said that? Jesus? Abraham Lincoln? Well, somebody who knew what they were talking about. Cheers.

Because there's been very slow progress and not much to report on the tables, I'll use this end of week update to update a mental model in your minds that you may find useful. Even though you may not use it today, tomorrow or even this week, you'll see its use while you're reading about it and you may get excited about using it in some way that works for you, maybe even in a way that clears up an issue that you can now finally solve (and yes, it was meant to be this easy!):

So, when I work with players, I ask them: "What are you good at?"

From there often stems a fascinating discussion: Some people don't know what they're good at. Others can name a few things, but they sound unsure or even bored. Others know right away, and talking about what they're good at makes them feel excited and energized. But that's not the point that I want to make here. Right now, the point is this: What do I mean when I ask this question? For example:

Are you good at doing things at the poker table that are useful for you in the sense that they help turn you into a better player? Or in the sense that they make you emotionally and mentally stronger? And when you do those things, do you feel more excited and energized by doing them?

Imagine somebody who has tried to eat healthy on and off or years, without ever being able to stick with it. He wants to do something useful, and he can go through the motions, but he can't make it work for himself. That person isn't good at it.

And what I am saying is this, and this is where it gets exciting: Even if that person manages to stick with it for weeks, months and even years: As long as they feel like they're going through the motions, they're just not good at it. When you're good at something, it gets you closer to your goals short-term, medium-term and long-term. And that's what am pointing to when I ask that question. And boy do people get aha-moments when they stop and think about it for those five minutes that it takes, or make it fifty minutes. You wouldn't be able to learn it in five years. You've got to get the pattern fed quickly, and you've got to grasp it yourself and get a good grip on it yourself, in real time.

So with that, have a good weekend friends!

When you're done reading this, you'll have a better idea of what it means to be good at something in the only way that I think really counts: By using what you're good at to get where you want more efficiently and to be more energized when you get there. You'll have the tools to use this Mental Model to make a clear plan for something in your life that you're already good at in order to use it more effectively, or to get good at something that's a big part of your life right now. So let's get started:

When you're good at something you are equally good at stripping it of things that slow you down or even get in the way and you're especially good at getting what you want out of it.

So this is for those of you who realize while reading this that you're not good at things that you thought you were good at, and that the type of mastery that I am describing here is much more desirable to you than you knew before. So read on!

Imagine that you play poker five days a week in order to (this doesn't have to be a conscious goal) one day sit down in that big game and have the result of your life (You are getting all sorts of things out of playing five days of poker a week: Having a self image of being disciplined. Making your own livelihood which you used to be proud of. Getting better at something and learning something new every week which used to excite you. But that distant goal that so many people aim for and are at least semi-conscious of is a good and simple example, and it's going to make a good point).

So what are you going to get out of that day? A rush? A sense of pride and contentment? What I am arguing is that when you're good at playing poker five days a week, then that rush, that contentment and that sense of pride need to be part of many of your sessions, or the result of them. You're good at playing poker five days a week when you use playing poker five days a week to get where you want to get consistently. Not in the distant future, but every week, or at least every month.

The way I, and you if you're reading this with curiosity or at least some mild interest, used to look at "being good at something" is in terms of pure competence. I beat people at playing poker five days a week, so I am good at it. I play more consistently than most of you, I win more than most of you and my state of mind is generally better than yours. Those would be markers of being good at it, which used to leave that big factor out of the equation that is: What am I doing it for?

You can come up with your own examples now: When you're good at getting yourself into a good state of mind, then I can give you 10 minutes to do so and you'll usually manage it. When you have a good mindset then I can give you those same 10 minutes and you'd get yourself into the right frame of mind for many things that you know how to do. You're even better at it if you do it in five. And if you know how to be PUMPED rather than whiney voice "feeling ok".

And this is exactly how you can use this new way of determining how good you are at those things that are important to you in the future:

(1) Make it conscious what you want to get out of it
(2) Apply a bit of pressure: Say that you want to get there within a day, or two days, or even a week.
(3) Adjust that timeframe as a benchmark of where you're at right now. If you want to play five days of poker a week in order to feel a sense of achievement and it took you two weeks of very disciplined play to feel that, then do it in one week and six days next time.
(4) Enjoy that fleeting moment when you get what you came for.

And have a good week. Not every week, but most weeks! Please do.

Because this was a week of meditation and writing for me, I'll use this end of week update to expand on the mental model of "What are you good at?". So this is going to be part 3 - the final part.

So, when I work with players, I ask them: "What are you good at?"

And you can think of it like a map, and the question is whether you know the terrain well. Every place is a state of mind: Concentration. Distraction. A moment of joy. Contentment. Pride. The Zone. You get the picture.

If you are good at, say, "playing poker five days a week", and the specifics, every word in this sentence, are important, then I want to know where that gets you on that imagined map. If you know the terrain well, then playing five days of poker is going to get you to contentment and that sense of pride that we've all felt as sure as my bicycle would get me to the place where I buy coffee. It's that simple.

Now, if you're not good at riding your bicycle to the coffee place then you might end up at an unfamiliar road. Go left or go right? Easy, if you brought your phone! You did, right? Because they don't know that they don't know the map, some people, believe it or not, are so sure that they know the terrain that they leave their phone at home, start pedaling, get lost and then have no clear way back nor to their destination, which doesn't help their state of mind. And afterwards they'll complain about the journey to their spouse, too. Then they'll go to bed thinking that that was a bad day. No harm done if you do it once, right? The journey is the destination, after all. Now imagine you do it EVERY DAY. That was me at a point in my life. I've gotten more clarity since then, thank god, and a clearer sense of what to do about it, too. And, if you're still reading, then so can you. That's the good news. The not so good news is that you've got to do it yourself.

So with that, have a good weekend friends!

Hey friends. As I missed my post yesterday, one of you lucky basterds is going to get a free mental game session. In order to grab it, do this:

1) Get ready to send me a PM
2) In that PM, tell me what you hope to achieve from that Mental Game Session: How can your Mental Game, once you've taken it to the next level, help you achieve your goals?
3) Click "Send"
4) Wait patiently. I'll pick a lucky winner by tuesday.

As for this message:



This is a shout-out to all those poker players out there who are getting better day after day, week after week, month after month. What I love about poker players is that they aren't afraid to put in those 20 minutes a day to improve their technical game and even their mental game. Those 20 minutes a day add up to hours and then days. I know that many of you put way more effort into it, too. But compare that to some people from other areas: Telling somebody to work on their mental game for 20 minutes a day is easy enough when you work with poker players, cause I know that you guys are willing to put in the work. But when you talk to other people? "No thanks."

That's what you hear. Because those 20 minutes, five days a week, that's not what people want to invest, even when they've got a clear issue that they'd love to figure out. They want that magical quick fix that doesn't exist outside of a 7 day 10k Tony Robbins seminar.

Another week of, hopefully, progress. Because nothing much happened, here are some good books that I read recently:





These books, especially the second one, combined with a certain episode of the JBP-podcast, make for a diet that's been somewhat hard to stomach, if fascinating. Here's the episode:



And for those of you who'd like some more background info:

Theodore Dalrymple is a former psychiatrist who spent a lot of time working in prisons, and his writing is superb.

Jordan B. Peterson is probably the most well-known psychologist in the world.

Cheers folks, and have a good weekend!

If you look back through this blog, you'll likely notice that I've changed my way of posting over the last year or so. That's because I've hit a rough patch starting in August 2020, and I am still somewhat in it both mentally and results-wise, which has given me an opportunity to think about the mental game of things not going your way.

Overview

As a sort of overview, when things keep not going your way, I think there are three things that you can use to create a sort of useful pattern for yourself. I'll go into more detail about each of them in future blog posts:

1) If you keep showing up, things tend to get clearer
2) If you expect states of mind that put you out of your comfort zone, Despair, Anger, Confusion, and others, you can endure them more comfortably, and that's what you need to endure for days, weeks, months and occasionally even years.
3) If you rely on feedback that's been reliable in the past, or that's reliable based on rather objective arguments, then something is going to get better, even if it's not the thing that you'd hoped for.

Keep grinding for now. I'll update you later.

A week of grinding and nothing much to report. I am way more excited about posting on Tuesday than I am about writing something now, so that's what I'll do. Future Simon, I wonder when and in what manner you finally got out of that rut. The good news is that it's the first rut I've ever been in. The bad news is that I am still in it.

Have a good weekend friends!

Because you know that working harder increases the chances that you're more successful and that you build good habits, if you're anything like me you strive to work harder, which is good.

And because the devil is in the detail, if you train yourself to get simple, pavlovian sucess-stories from playing longer each session, your nervous system is going to adjust better to that simple rule: Work harder for better rewards.

In the past, I'd worry about dropping EV if I kept playing longer. A part of me completely understands that, but if you want to train yourself on the level of your nervous system that harder work = bigger success, then you need to dumb that down and have some experiences that let you know immediately that longer sessions = bigger rewards. It's all well and good to sort of know that putting in hands helps you generate more EV, but there's that level of complexity where you simply learn that "I played longer today, and it was more rewarding because I played longer". So how can you create those experiences?

You'd want to engineer a setting in which the chance of winning is increased towards the end of your session. You could play in tougher games first and in softer games later as a sort of rule. You could make it a habit to keep that one table with the big fish open, to keep playing for an hour each time, because that's when it's most likely that you'll grind out a steady profit and when you may even win a big pot easily. You could take that break to work out between your sessions so that you're fresher and more alert in that second session, increasing your chances for success. But most people don't do these things. In my coach state, I can access them and I know how to sell them well. As a player, I am not always sold, and I was sold zero ****ing percent a few years back. I mean, no way. It seems like it's so much work. First you've got to decide on something, then you've got to practice it enough to anchor it on that deeper level, and even then success is not guaranteed. As long as there are people like me, your chances for bigger success are even greater compared to my chances, so to speak, if you simply don't think like I used to think and don't do what I used to do.

If you train yourself on that deeper level that harder work = bigger success then you won't know yourself in a few weeks from now. Or make that years until that day when you look in the mirror and realize how much has changed for the better. Sometimes all it takes is one decision, or as Tony Robbins likes to say:

Another week of grinding, and I've got a clear goal for the first time in months. It's something I really want, and I know how to practice it, which I am motivated to do. Here it is:

I'd like to play freely.

I may proceed by giving you more details on my method and my progress in the next weeks, which is something that I am a bit anxious about because I'd rather keep these things to myself until I've worked them out pretty thoroughly. There's also still one or two other topics that I'd like to cover, namely:

The Mental Game Of Grinding

1) If you keep showing up, things tend to get clearer
2) If you expect states of mind that put you out of your comfort zone, Despair, Anger, Confusion, and others, you can endure them more comfortably, and that's what you need to endure for days, weeks, months and occasionally even years.
3) If you rely on feedback that's been reliable in the past, or that's reliable based on rather objective arguments, then something is going to get better, even if it's not the thing that you'd hoped for.

So that may come up to. Anyway, here's to a great weekend of relaxing and doing a lot of swimming. Cheers mates!

So there's this thing in my life that I keep going towards, as if it was a place. As places go, it's a good one - it gives you that good feeling and you never regret having been there. Looking forward to it fills me with a sort of happy anticipation, and even now I am aware of how I am going to change some plans and manage some expectations, if necessary, in order to do this thing in the next few days more often. Even from here (the present) this thing radiates a sense of relaxation, and because anticipation + relaxation = joy that fills me with... you guessed it. I've got faith that this thing won't go away. Surprisingly, this thing is not as big as you might think in my life - and it's something that I share with most people on this planet, strictly speaking, even though for them this may be a different thing than it is for me. But what I mean to say is that I don't own it nor does anybody else - in this sense, it's like a wild animal that I love encountering. It makes me feel good and there's always something to explore. I could radically change my life in order to really spend more time with this animal, but I don't need to. It keeps coming back because it needs what I need. So I love the thing, and the thing loves me.

Living without the thing would be rough. But I am confident that I don't have to. Still, even imagining it drains the world of color. But what's much more important is that this thing gives me energy. It helps clear my head. If it was a tool, it would be invaluable. This thing helps me get back on the horse and play my A-game.

That's my thing. What's your thing?

Things are less clear-cut now than they used to be, so I'd say that I've put something like 30+ hrs into working on my game and playing, plus fifty minutes of meditation. I've been making some money too, which is nice. Time to head out for a relaxing weekend which always gives me so much energy to start the week fresh and ****ing pumped!

So have a good weekend friends!

For players who struggle with motivation to play, I recommend that they get into a habit of playing smaller and bigger sessions or warm-up sessions and focus sessions, or carefree sessions and pressure sessions - there are many names for this, but the concept is always the same:

The "smaller" sessions aren't necessarily any shorter nor are they played on less tables, even though you can do those things. No, the "smaller" sessions are played at such low stakes that you can get into a state of playing with a carefree mindset reliably. In the beginning, this may require some practise, but most players get used to it and it means that you can really cultivate that curious, playful state of mind at the poker tables which is pure gold for obvious reasons: These are the sessions where you can try out new plays. Here you can practice gto-strategies without getting hurt. In these sessions you can reliably and accurately play your A-game. There are people who give me this bs of "I just start spewing if I play too low". To those I say:

Pull yourself together and cultivate a professional mindset.

The "bigger" sessions are ones that you play at your usual stakes, or even slightly higher. This is where you can experience some real pressure, so that's why I like to call them pressure sessions.

There are two patterns that I am familiar with that you can use once you've established a carefree mindset in the small sessions and a focused, pressure-aware mindset in the big sessions, that can be useful in order to achieve different goals. I've only tried the first one extensively myself but have recommended the second one a few times with exciting results, so take them with a grain of salt and think them through for yourself before you try them.

• Learn on a fundamental level that hard work pays off:

Play your "normal" session first, and then a small session that's fun and playful afterwards. Anytime you feel like you need to put in more work and get more done, repeat doing this: First play a normal session, then in order to squeeze more productive hours out of the day, play a "small" session afterwards that's playful and carefree. This way, you immediately get some benefit out of working longer. The pressure lifts and you get to have some fun while still achieving some goals that can be very productive: Like practising strategies in game or being accutely aware of opponent's leaks and your edge.

• Learn on a fundamental level that you can aim for something big regularly, relax, reset and try again next time with a fresh mind:

Play several "small" sessions before you play a pressure session once every few days, every week or even just once a month. Make this pressure session really worthwhile:
Set an aggressive stop loss that may force you to go through some real pain. Set an aggressive time limit that you need to hit before you can end the session if you don't hit your stop loss.
Schedule a day of fun and relaxation for the next day, ideally even invite friends and just plan to have a great time no matter what.

I am confident that this advice is worth 99 € as a part of a coaching session, but I am selling it for 49 € in this imaginary transaction. What a deal!

This was just a week of meditation and contemplation... no biggie!
But with that new regulation in Germany, I really needed this. Who knows what the future is going to bring. One thing is for sure: I am not going away. These past few months and years have made me stronger and turned me into a better person. Finding MY approach to poker, which I am still doing and which is a task that I am going to complete before I even consider quitting this beautiful little game, is making me stronger as a driven and productive person. It's teaching me about motivation and discipline. So this is me taking a moment to acknowledge that and be grateful. And that's all.

Have a good weekend friends!

Sorry to hear about the new regulations in Germany. These things are outside of our control, and all we can do is adapt to an ever-changing landscape of poker regulation.

I believe the pandemic may also have been a catalyst for such changes, if the trend was already in place, due to online bettors increasing amidst lockdowns.

Cheers man.



As I've missed both of my posts last week (I was on holiday. Yes, it was good.) I'll give away TWO MENTAL GAME SESSIONS FOR FREE!

Mental, I know.

Here's what you need to do:

1) Get ready to send me a PM
2) Tell me what you want to get out of that free mental game session
3) Click send

And then wait for me to (hopefully) notify you by Tuesday, next week if you turn out to be one of the two lucky winners.

Good luck, folks!