Gavin Griffin: Poker Questions Asked And Answered

People in the poker community often come up to me and ask about whatever is on their mind. Some of these questions are good questions, and some are bad beat stories in disguise. I’ve been through quite a few things in my poker career and I like to help whenever possible, and in this new Card Player series, I’d like to share my experiences and knowledge. Feel free to ask any poker-related question, and I’ll do my best to answer it in the space below.

Question: Often, at the end of a long tournament day, I find my mind slipping along with my focus and subsequently, my chips. What do you do to keep focused on the long tournament grind? — Pat

Gavin: This is a question that I get asked quite often and it comes up in several different ways. Some people tell me that they hit a wall in tournaments right after dinner break and they always seem to be low on chips at that point or they tell me that they were playing really well and made one big mistake that cost them the tournament. Others still tell me that they can feel themselves losing focus and can’t seem to snap out of it. These things can all happen because of a myriad of different problems but there can also be one common cause for many of them.

If you look at the tournament winners of today’s game you’ll notice a couple trends. First of all, many of them are very young. Poker used to be a game of experience that could only be gained through years of toil and travel. When online poker came along, the fresh minds and spritely bodies of the young took over. They could gain all the technical experience of a hardened road gambler’s life in a year or two and still retain it when their minds and bodies are at the peak of their performance. In addition, instead of having one or two other people to talk to about poker, they had hundreds or thousands from all over the world. The information became widely available so many poker players looked for other avenues to improve on their play and from this sprung the second trend in successful tournament players today, which is fitness.

Many of our winners, younger or older are in very good physical shape. Not only are there guys like Jason Koon and Scott Clements who have 8 percent body fat and tons of muscle from a brutal gym schedule, there are guys like Andrew Lichtenberger who challenges himself mentally and physically by turning to rock and mountain climbing. I, myself, have found new mental and physical challenges in mountain biking, preferring to push myself physically and mentally in ways that I haven’t in a long time.

As a result of all of this fitness in poker, people are more focused for longer periods of time and for more days in a row. When you’re talking about a tournament series or several of them in a row, the stamina gained from being in better shape and the sharpness of mind gained from pushing yourself to levels of discomfort you haven’t experienced before can do wonders for your poker game. Not only does the working out make a difference, but so too does the food you put into your body. If you spend your dinner break at a big meal at an Italian restaurant with starchy, heavy food in your belly when you get back, you’ll find that you bonk not long past the time you get back. I like to spend my dinner break eating something filling but not too heavy and then, if I have enough time, I’ll walk around the casino to get my blood flowing and stretch out after a long day of sitting.

Finally, it’s a tough one to give up, and I’m terribly guilty of it myself, but it might help to put your phone or tablet down. I know tournament poker, and really poker in general, can be incredibly boring. Day after day of a long tournament grind, often without much to show for it, can really get on your nerves and it is sometimes nice to have a show or game to get your mind off of it. However, not only will you focus better on the things going on at the table if you put the phone away, it can help to lower your fatigue factor by the end of the day. Eye fatigue caused by looking at a computer screen is a real thing and can make you more tired, throw off your focus, throw off your vision, or cause you to misread cards in your hand or on the board. Taking a break from or altogether leaving behind your devices can really do wonders for the focus you have at the table.

In conclusion, the best ways to improve focus at the poker table are the best ways to improve your focus in general. Get yourself into better shape, eat right, work out, don’t eat a heavy meal right before or during your play, and keep your devices in your pocket. You’d be surprised what you can gain by doing these things.

If you have a question for Gavin, send it to [email protected].

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