Discipline: Part VII

This is the seventh of a series of columns on discipline, which is essential for anyone who wants to be a professional poker player. There are many elements to discipline. Here is a list of some of the most important ones for a poker player:

1. Avoiding tilt
2. Finding games or situations where you have an edge
3. Physical conditioning
4. Mental conditioning
5. Maintaining a bankroll

This column continues the discussion of mental conditioning. In the previous column, I covered the general conditioning of the mind. In this column, I will move on to poker-related conditioning. In order to improve at anything, you must do it a lot. To improve at poker, you should play a lot of poker, but while playing is necessary, it is not sufficient. If you really want to make progress, you must study and practice. How do you practice poker? You play some sessions devoted to developing specific skills. (It is usually advisable to play these sessions at smaller stakes than normal, as you goal isn’t so much winning as it is learning.)

Studying: I think one of the best ways to learn is from books. The two best new poker books right now are Harrington on Modern Tournament Poker by Harrington and Robertie, and Excelling at No-Limit Hold’em by Jonathan Little. Harrington provides excellent, detailed coverage of what it takes to make money in today’s poker tournaments. Little, aided and abetted by a large supporting cast of experts, covers a number of topics. While not as organized as Harrington, it discusses more topics and provides a variety of perspectives and techniques. It is also useful to read poker magazines, of which Card Player is the best. There are a number of commercial websites that offer training and training videos. Most of them offer some introductory bargains.

Another useful study technique is to meet regularly with a group of players to discuss hands and situations. It is especially useful to have players who played in the same game discuss situations that occurred. Over the years, I have often gone out for drinks after a session with some of the players. During the WSOP, dinner break groups frequently discuss situations in which they were involved. The one trap is to avoid players who reel off a litany of their tough beats. Try to keep the discussion focused on what the correct decision was and why, not on the actual result.

There are two major types of costly error. The first is small, frequent errors. Each individual mistake doesn’t cost much, but the situations arise so often that there total result is a big negative. Mistakes on which hands to play and how to play them preflop fall into the category. I find that in cash games, playing too many hands and limping too much are the most common errors. In tournaments, the reverse is true. When stacks are short, players don’t play enough hands, and those they play aren’t played aggressively enough. Spend a lot of your study time on eliminating this type of error. Use one of the poker software programs to explore match-ups and to develop familiarity with how to handle various hands in various situations.

The other types of costly mistakes don’t occur often, but occur for large amounts of cash or chips. Pot or even stack-sized errors are horrendous. Remember missing a bluffing opportunity that would have won a pot is as disastrous as calling a large river bet with a losing hand. Most players seldom arrive at the final table of a big tournament, and therefore they don’t have experience in knowing how to handle various situations. When they err in one of these situations, it is often a gigantic mistake. Jonathan Little’s section on tackling a final table in Excelling at NLH, gives a really good coverage of how to handle various stack sizes in various situations. I’d recommend taking it a little bit further, and creating charts of stack sizes, and the plays available to them. For example, assume there are 200 big blinds (BBs) in play, divided among seven remaining players. Start with a big stack, say 50 BBs, and fill in a variety of ways the remaining 150 BBs could be divided, then think about the options you have. There is a huge difference between everyone else having 25 and a distribution like 40, 35, 30, 30, 10, and five. Note also that where the various stack sizes are located in relation to you and to the blinds can completely change the situation.

This column has been devoted to various ways of studying poker. You are probably already saying, “studying is boring, and even if it weren’t, I’ll never have enough time to do all the studying recommended.” Remember, even if you can’t do everything, do something. Take some small steps to improve. Spend 15 minutes a day or an hour a week on poker studies. In the next column I am going to discuss practicing poker. In some ways it is a lot more fun than studying. It is also essential to creating and developing ‘a poker mind.’ ♠

Steve ‘Zee’ Zolotow, aka The Bald Eagle, is a successful gamesplayer. He has been a full-time gambler for over 35 years. With two WSOP bracelets and few million in tournament cashes, he is easing into retirement. He currently devotes most of his time to poker. He can be found at some major tournaments and playing in cash games in Vegas. When escaping from poker, he hangs out in his bars on Avenue A in New York City -The Library near Houston and Doc Holliday’s on 9th St. are his favorites.