Hi Everyone:

The fifth installment of "Bad Beat Therapy, Part Five: Poker, Emotions, and Non-Reciprocal Information" by Robert Samuels is now available in our Two Plus Two Online Poker Strategy Magazine:

https://www.twoplustwo.com/magazine/...eat-part-5.php

Best wishes,
Mason

Great stuff, thanks for sharing.

In my opinion the author doesnt know much about meditation. It has nothing to do with escaping anything. Meditation is focus on awareness and so obviously honesty with ourselves otherwise it s not awareness. I think the author confuse the meditation with other relaxation techniques. That s what it seems when he says 'an escape into counting your breaths' whatever... it seems mostly like a text 'me at least i m not like that' kind of text

I think he's making the point that with something like tilt, or indeed any psychological issue, you have to treat the cause not the symptoms.

To do that, you actually have to understand psychology, not just go on a weekend course on meditation, hypnotherapy or whatever.

Focus on awareness sounds more like grounding to me.

I like using the word awareness because it includes a lot of other things I then dont need to say. But what does poker guru sounds like ? Am i the only one noticing it implies something negative these days ?

I like using the word awareness because it includes a lot of other things I then dont need to say. But what does poker guru sounds like ? Am i the only one noticing it implies something negative these days ?

Why starting a text implying 'some people are bad not me i ll show you ' you know nothing about subtletly you not even aware of your own feeling

Hate to be a hater but this article....

The notion that radical acceptance/honesty is not a key component to optimal meditation while feeling suppression/numbing is, reflects a surface level understanding & significant misunderstanding. I can understand how it could be viewed that way. The positive correlation between meditation & mindfulness argues against these types of assertions. I’d also respectfully disagree with the statement, “What most players don’t understand is that feelings are important sources of information.” Especially in the context of discussing/criticizing meditation!!

The article is written from a narrow perspective which helps the author substantiate his opinions but IMO doesn’t accurately describe how other poker players really make decisions. A massive fish may be exclusively intuitive but outside of that relatively tiny player pool in 2018 I don’t think this mindset is very common. If the intended audience is newbie poker players I’d feel much less critical. Furthermore, AFAIK many top pro’s learn the nuances of how & when to more effectively tap into the “gut brain” & make profitable decisions while considering that internal feedback.

Finally, there is an over abundance of general statements that “some poker players...” do x, y, z. It makes the article feel a bit all over the place & relating to an earlier point, I’m often not sure what types of players the article attempts to categorize or is directed at. Trying to tackle complicated topics like meditation & the subconscious while elaborating on extremely obvious ideas (like overplaying J3 after being card dead) in the same piece confuses me as a reader.

It’s particularly problematic when the author leads with strong assertions that exhibit a significant lack of expertise about the subject matter.

its have been intresting to read, thanks)