To No Limit Hold'em players who can't "pull the trigger"

We are all born gutsy. When we were babies, we weren't scared to explore. We put anything in our mouths and touched anything that moved or didn't move. Everytime we failed to say a word, we had the guts to keep trying until we made it. We were never scared to look stupid. Each time we fell we had the guts try to get up without being conscious of what others might think. Unfortunately, our guts got beat from out of us as we grew up. We were taught not to ask stupid questions. We were told to conform. We were trained to say "I can't". How does one develop guts? Answer: Get in touch with the gutsy kid that ALREADY lies within you!

Remember what the late World Series of Poker Champ Jack Strauss said, "Better one day as a lion than 100 days as a lamb!"

Beware Perfectionism

Perfectionism is the enemy of winning poker. Learn to thrive on ambiguity. Learn to live with chaos. Learn to make intuitive leaps based on imperfect information and inadequate sample sizes. There is absolutely nothing wrong with making mistakes, only in not learning from them. Mistakes are the best teachers anyone could ever have.

The great thing about poker is that you don’t necessarily have to be the best to be successful. All you have to do is to be better than the opponents that you have at this particular table. In fact, you don’t even have to better than ALL of your opponents at this table. Two or three donkeys are sufficient to make a table profitable for you in the long-run.

Table selection is the key. They say that the world’s sixth best poker player is broke. Why? Because he always plays against the top five!

Also remember that among equally skilled poker players, the one who tilts less wins. Be sure to keep your head straight and your emotions in check at all times. Oftentimes, it’s the “emotional intelligence” differences between players not the “skill differences” that make the difference in success or failure. A mathematically and strategically superior poker player can easily be an underdog relative to a less sophisticated poker player if the latter has better control of his emotions.

Relax and be easy on your self. Permit your self to make mistakes and learn from them quickly. Poker is not a game of perfect. It is a game of constant and never ending improvement.

Kill Tilt NOW - Thank you

I would like to take this time to thank those people who have read my book.

                           Kill Tilt NOW

I am happy that you have found my book to be very effective in your efforts to remove tilt from your lives. I've always been very confident that my book would give dramatic improvements in self discipline for anyone who takes the efforts to understand the concepts and do the techniques that I describe in the book. Thank you, guys. 

The Power of Beliefs

Emotional Intelligence for Poker - 5 of 5

The fifth and final EQ skill. Let’s face it, we poker players do not live in a vacuum. We all are part of a family unit, a community, society. We are social creatures who are dependent on others and who others depend on, be they family, friends, an “investor”, a “horse”, etc. We are also members of a community called “the poker community”. It is important that we teach ourselves how to treat our fellow poker players well so that they will thus continue to play the game and (if we are professionals) continue to “contribute” to the game and, through the process of “word of mouth”, bring their friends along. We poker players are in the service business. We are also in the entertainment business. The ability to handle relationships with other players is critical part of poker success.

In conclusion. IQ is important if you want to be above average. But EQ is a far more important form of intelligence when it comes to reaching the stratosphere of excellence.

Tilt Cure Video #2

This is my all-time favorite tilt control video. Please do no watch it unless you are on tilt right now. If you are not on tilt right now do not watch it. Just come back later once you're on tilt.

Tilt Cure Video #2

Emotional Intelligence for Poker - 4 of 5

EQ Skill #4. Recognizing emotions in others. In his book Super/System, poker legend Doyle Brunson writes, “Poker is a game of people”, “That’s what Poker’s all about. People…and the strategy you use against them. More than any other game, poker depends on your understanding of your opponent. You’ve got to know what makes him tick…” Empathy, the ability to enter another person’s mind and get a feel of what he feels, is the number one poker ability. And it is even more important in no-limit than in limit. It is also very important in high stakes games where the games tend to be shorthanded and psychology-oriented (as opposed to math-oriented). I believe low EQ is the reason many high IQ mid-limit grinders fail miserably at the high limits – often against people who haven’t even read a poker book in their entire lives – much less respect poker theory!

Emotional Intelligence for Poker - 3 of 5

EQ Skill #3. Motivating one self. I believe that the inability to motivate themselves into taking the right actions is the primary reason why many high IQ players have become very successful at under achieving. They can talk a good deal about the importance of table selection, being selectively aggressive, being patient, and so forth. But when it comes to getting themselves to actually do these in the heat of battle, they choke, or worse, tank and go down in flames. In Goleman’s words, “Emotional control – delaying gratification and stifling impulsiveness – underlies accomplishment of every sort”. If you gave two people, one with average IQ but with above average motivation and a second one with high IQ but low motivation, the same bankroll amount and then placed them in the same environment for a year, my money is on the first guy.

Emotional Intelligence for Poker - 2 of 5

EQ Skill #2. Managing emotions. As you see yourself from this meta-state perspective, ask yourself, “Given the situation that I am in, am I experiencing an emotion that is appropriate for this situation?” If the answer is yes, leave the meta-state and re-associate back to the primary emotion so that you can get on with the business at hand. If, on the other hand, the answer is no, immediately ask yourself, “What would I want to be feeling instead?” After you get the answer, visualize how you would look like, sit/stand like, breath like, if you were to have this more appropriate emotion right now. Once you’re satisfied with this self-image, either step into it or pull it towards you so that you will thus be able to integrate it into you. Then come back to the present moment and get on with the business at hand.

Tilt Cure Video #1

This is the first of a series of videos that you can watch to rid yourself of tilt. Do NOT watch this video if you are not on tilt. If you are not on tilt now, DO NOT watch this video! But make sure to come back here once you go on tilt later. Again, do not watch this video if you are not on tilt right now. It will still be here later, I promise.

Tilt Cure Video #1

Emotional Intelligence for Poker - 1 of 5

I believe that EQ is a much better predictor of poker success than IQ. According to former Psychology Today senior editor Daniel Goleman, Ph.D., achieving emotional intelligence involves developing five major cognitive skills. Here I present them in relation to poker:

EQ Skill #1. Knowing one’s emotions. “Self-awareness – recognizing a feeling as it happens – is the keystone of emotional intelligence”. One cannot control what one cannot be aware of. In order to become aware of our emotions as they occur, we must learn the skill of “meta-cognition”. This is the capability to detach oneself from one’s feelings and take oneself to a perceptual position that is above this feeling. Linguistically, you can enable yourself to do this by asking yourself the question, “What specific emotion am I feeling right now?”…..and as the answer comes to you, immediately ask yourself, “And how do I feel about feeling _______?” Insert the name of the emotion on the blank space provided. This second question should bring you to a meta-state that is detached from the primary emotion. From this perspective, you will have the leverage to make the appropriate emotional changes, as necessary.

Advice from the late Chip Reese

“There are probably 100 top players who are basically equal in ability, many of whom play better than I, but it’s consistency that counts. At the poker tables, success is based on consistency and winning the war in the long run. You don’t worry about winning any particular day or recovering all your losses if you are losing; it requires playing steady which involves money management and control of your emotions. The main thing for a professional player is to last in the game. There are many players who can play well from the front, and they look great when they are on a roll, but when things go bad and the breaks are against them, they fall apart. My main objective is to play a steady game, last until the end and not let it affect my life. I try to be consistent.” - the late Chip Reese, Poker Hall of Famer

The lesson: Just learn to think in terms of the long run rather than try to "get your way" in the short run. There is a lot of variance in the short run and if that is your focus you will be feeling a lot of frustration trying to control something that you can't. Focus instead on things that are within your control: your decisions, your state of mind, your responses to events, your time horizon, and so on.

The Poker Player's most important asset

Everyday, right after you wake up, look at yourself in the mirror and say, “I am not my plays, I am above my plays. I am not my performance, I am above my performance. I am not my results, I am above my results. I am not my bankroll, I am above my bankroll.” Also repeat the following affirmation: “I am not a human having, relating, doing, playing, or having. I am a human BEING”. Also, “My thoughts and my behaviors are programs. I am the programmer of my thoughts and the manager of my behaviors”.
Learn to separate what you do, what you have, what you own, and what results you achieve from WHO YOU ARE. You are much more than anything you do, know, relate, have, and achieve. In all the poker books that you will ever read this is the most important thing that you can teach your mind and integrate into your daily actions, thoughts, and behaviors. Read it again and again and again and again in the next few months. It is that important! It is the key to high self-esteem, which in turn is the key to having the ability to not take anything personally at the poker table be it bad luck, getting outplayed, having a losing streak, getting criticized and so on.
High self-esteem is the foundation of poker discipline. Everything else is secondary. You ARE a human BEING, not a human doing, relating, having, owning, or playing. You are much more than your actions, your relationships, your things/stuff, and your results. I wish I could repeat this often enough.

Having high self-esteem is the nuts.

A Quick Tilt Cure for Online Players

This tilt pattern interrupt can be especially useful if you are playing on-line.
If you feel tilt, immediately identify what specific tilt feeling (anger? impatience? fear?) you are experiencing. Actually feel it and once you do, immediately give it a name. Once you have done this, get up from your chair and stand a few feet behind it. While you are doing this see yourself sitting in the chair feeling those tilt feelings. Notice how you looked as you were feeling those negative feelings just a few seconds ago. What was your posture like? How shallowly or deeply were you breathing? Do you notice any tensions in your face expressions and body muscles? What were you saying to yourself?
Once you've done this, do a break state. Say your phone number backwards. Or recite the alphabet backwards. Or say out loud the classic George Carlin Cheer. Walk around, stretch, and release the tension.
Next, stand once again a few feet behind the chair on which that other “you” is sitting and ask yourself, “How would I rather feel instead?” “What state of mind do I have to be experiencing in order for me to be able to play with focus, confidence and discipline?” Once you have the answers, see how you would look like if you were now sitting on the chair with these positive (tilt-free) feelings. How would you be breathing this time? What would your posture look like? How relaxed would your facial expression (slight smile) be? How loose are your muscles and joints? What positive things are you saying to yourself?
After you have created this detailed picture of how you look like now that you are focused, confident, and have the discipline of a winner, go back to your chair and sit down. Notice how you are sitting and breathing as you now take on this new posture. Be aware of the positive things that you are now saying to yourself. And as you do, notice these good feelings spread throughout your body.

To Stop Gambling Problems, NLP is An Effective and Easy to Use Treatment

One of the more effective treatments to stop gambling is the NLP stop technique. NLP is neuro linguistic programming. Simply stated, when anything becomes a habitual behavior, it builds neural pathways in the brain. The brain becomes "wired" to perform that particular behavior. Every time the behavior is repeated, the programming goes deeper and becomes more entrenched.

Sometimes this pattern of wiring the brain is useful. For instance, when any new skill, like playing the piano, is learned, we read music and move our hands through conscious effort, but after repetition, when the brain becomes wired and the neural pathways are formed, we automatically move our hand to the proper keys when they eye detects the notes on the page. Another skill that becomes a habit and is stored in the subconscious is driving a car. At first, the student driver must try to remember everything but after a while it becomes automatic and the driver may drive down the road and think about things other than driving, even talking on the phone, while safely driving.

The key, of course is that these skills and habits re stored in the subconscious mind, also called the unconscious because we seem to do many things, unconsciously, without thinking about them.

Neuro linguistic programming means training the brain using words to form new neural pathways. One NLP technique is the stopping technique. A skilled hypnotherapist guides the client to a relaxed and accessible frame of mind and then has the client picture him or herself starting to do the unwanted behavior, in this case, gambling. Just as the client forms a picture of gambling and the neural pathways for gambling are stimulated, the therapist says "stop!" and the client lets the scene fade from his or her mind. As this is repeated, over and over, the neural pathways are rewired and the urge to gamble begins to fade away.

The neural pathway isn't gone, it is simply rewired and the problem gambler has developed a new habit, non-gambling. Of course, the gambling problems never really go away completely so it is a good idea to continue with a good 12 step group of some other form of support.

Specially trained therapists can use the NLP stop technique and in several sessions get the problem gambler on his or her way to recovery. Another alternative is MP3 files that can be downloaded from the internet or even listened to online.

The key to successfully using these relaxing guided meditations is repetition and a positive attitude. Because they are so simple to use many people are now using them on a daily basis. You never know, that person sitting on the plane beside you with the headphones attached to the little MP3 player may be treating him or herself for a gambling problems or some other unwanted behavior. It is that simple and widely used.

Guest Author: Wil Langford, R. Hy., is a 54 yr. old. Clinical Hypnotherapist, Integrated Energy Therapist, author, and therapist. Will offers his guided meditations for gambling problems online and they may be listened to or downloaded at gambling problems relief. He may also be contacted by email there to answer questions free of charge.

The Negative Role of Inner Conflict and Self-Sabotage

The legendary gambler Nick the Greek once remarked, “Everybody gets what they want out of the casino”. Decades later, the market wizard commodities speculator Ed Seykota echoed, “Win or lose, everybody gets what they want out of the markets. Some people seem to like to lose, so they win by losing money.”

These two statements apply to poker as well. For poker is like a Genie. It feels obligated to grant its participants its wishes. But it is a very odd kind of Genie in that it has a tendency to grant the wishes of the unconscious mind NOT the conscious mind.

What exactly do I mean by this? Well, if you did a survey and asked people why they play poker, most will say, “I play poker to make money”, or some variation of this statement like, “I play to maximize my hourly expectation”, or “I play to maximize EV”, or “I play to build wealth”, or “I play strictly for the profits”, or “I play to win in the long run”. But the kicker is that when most players declare these statements, it is their conscious minds that are doing the talking.

Underneath the surface, their unconscious mind has other (“playing poker to satisfy compulsive urges”, “playing poker for the ‘action’, “playing poker to escape from reality”) intentions. And it is a virtual certainty that these unconscious intentions (known in psychology as “secondary gain objectives”) will have its wishes come true, either by directly getting what it wants or at the very least by creating an “inner conflict” within the player’s brain that self sabotages the so-called conscious intent (“playing poker to win”, “playing to maximize EV”) that the conscious mind believes it is honestly and sincerely trying to achieve. The name I have given this unfortunate condition is "subconscious bankroll implosion".