10 Oct 2024 Intermediate This material is for medium-skilled players discipline downswing mindset motivation studying In this article, you will learn about 7 most valuable lessons that the famous professional and author of books and videos on poker Nathan «BlackRain79» Williams has learned from more than 10 years of playing poker, which should save you a lot of time, effort and money, as well as nerves from frustration when losing. The goals of the article: both to show something new to beginners and inexperienced micro-limit players, and to refresh the knowledge of more advanced NL25+ regulars. Each of us always has some leaks and illusions about ourselves, and therefore any reader will be able to learn something unknown for themselves. Or to make sure that they are on the right path. Lesson #1: Develop your own playing style I win chips my way, and you win them your way. - Phil Ivey. It's good that you probably have examples of successful high stakes players or any lower limits. After all, they are living examples of the fact that the strategy they play works. But they are them, and you are you. You have different settings in your head, views, mentality, psychology, etc. - and this greatly affects the degree to which the strategy is implemented in practice, even when it is 100% identical. You have different playing conditions, different fields, different experience, and so on, depending on the circumstances. Even if your «idol» is a top reg at your own limit, there will still be a different level of preparation, level of knowledge, skill in reading opponents, as well as courage in the game - to do what needs to be done, regardless of your fears. What does blind copying of game lines lead to? As many players' examples show, blind copying of someone else's game style leads to a lot of confusion in the head and actions, and in the «strategy puzzle» in the player's brain, individual pieces of the puzzle are closed, but the puzzle itself only expands, so the player becomes confused and despondent from the fact that he knows so little, and there is still a lot to learn. In addition, Simple copying leads to the fact that there will be no structure and algorithm for development in training. Usually the issue is closed (or so it seems) with some painful spot that caused a strong negative reaction in the player, but in fact such a spot is not so common and does not have a critical impact on the win rate. But the really important places of the strategy, starting with its foundation, are left for later. This leads to the fact that the player gets stuck or sinks lower and lower in terms of money and motivation to learn and play. What to do instead? Build a playing style to suit your personality and inclinations. - Of course, within reasonable limits from the point of view of unyielding mathematics, because it will still beat random results. Try new techniques and introduce proven ones into the game. You will meet many «experts» along the way who will tell you that you have gone down the wrong path, but what worked in their case and is close to them in spirit is theirs. What is close to your spirit will still periodically break through in the form of those actions that you really want to do at the table. Therefore, it is more profitable to work them out in advance and use them than to overpower and break yourself - no, this desire will only grow in you. Therefore, it will be better not to change yourself, but to play as you like ON TOP of the worked out basic game, which is already bringing profit. If everyone tells you: play TAG poker, and you will make a profit - this means not so much that you should ride along the imposed rails like a robot, but that this basic strategy of the game will bring profit. - Thats' all. - No one forbids you to bring your own personal techniques to it on top of the working base. Lesson #2: Don't be a «Hero» in poker What this means is that you don't need to play at tables with worthy opponents, and especially those who are most likely stronger than you ... play. Poker is a zero-sum game, and where one wins, the other loses. The more competent the opponent, the fewer mistakes he makes and the harder it is to win chips from him in one hand. Being in the black in the long run is even harder. Most likely, playing with decent regulars, you will either break even or be in the red, not even counting the rake in the game. Worth reading: The Dunning-Kruger Effect in Poker: Avoid This Trap What do battles with regulars lead to? If your goal is to prove your superiority to your opponent anyway, then this is a useless effort. You will not prove anything to him - he will not accept the «proof» and will write it off as luck. But next time he will be able to drive you into the red himself. - For any reason or a set of them. - And you will also refuse to admit that luck is not the only factor here. But the most important thing is that you have missed a lot of time and opportunities - to win more and win easier. The skills that you (think you have) acquired - they still need to be practiced on different opponents and their effectiveness assessed over time. The fact that you did well this time is not yet a pattern. If you are interested in superiority over worthy opponents - Heads-Up Poker, a duel at a table for two players, is probably right for you. And in general, It is worth immediately defining for yourself - what is «superiority over an opponent» and what are its measurable metrics. Even if you know or see from the stats that these 5 regs are weaker than you, you still will not earn much from them, so that it would cover the costs in time, effort, nervous tension and missed opportunities - just choose a more profitable table. - Why? Where does the profit in poker come from? Because even a weak reg (nit, ABC-player, tight fish, loose semi-reg, etc.) does not make critical fundamental mistakes in the game, starting with the choice of hands to play and understands something about the game, plus, as a rule, learns from mistakes. Most of their chips are won by steals and continuation bets, but this is far from the same profit that is won from bad players on value betting «calling stations» and calling-down «manians» and similar opponents. Your results will always be proportional to the weakness of your opponents. The more easily your opponents part with their chips, the more productive the game is. The goal of a player who is interested in the monetary outcome of the game, and not «butting» opponents in an attempt to prove something, should be FISH: recreational, bad players, hobby players who play for fun (whatever that may be) and regularly make frequent and big mistakes. The source of chips/money in poker is players who are much worse than you. For a truly good win rate, you need to play with opponents who are bad at choosing what to play with, what situations to enter/quit, what to call with until the end, who hate to fold and chase their gutshots until the end. Or the opposite example: a crazy player with stats like 93/56/22, who also bombs any flop with potbets and barrels until the end. - It is from such clients that big money is made in cash at 6-max tables. Or you need to be a poker genius who also enjoys the work of learning. The verdict is: The choice of tables and opponents is the key to profit and ease of play. If this is beneath your dignity or is not interesting, then you need either HU-poker, or not poker at all. Self-love and what we call ego must be left at the table, and in the game itself, operate only with the criterion of profit and its degree. Lesson #3: Continuously evolve And once again: the ego must be left behind when it comes to poker. This applies to all aspects of it. Including preparation. Poker strategy is constantly evolving. What was effective 10 years ago no longer works today or works poorly for a number of reasons. Today's skills and knowledge also become obsolete with each passing month. I had to greatly improve my skills and master many new techniques, because my simple and previously effective TAG style in my games today already gives a much smaller result. So, if yesterday you could just play tight - according to just your holecards and expect a decent profit, today this will only work in the easiest games with 3+ recreational players who don't care about the money at all. But you are not the only one who wants to sit at such a table. Gradually, the share of regs at the table grows and they begin to exploit the tight incompetent one, who cannot really fight back against them. You should not think that you know and can do everything. This is not true. Besides, tomorrow it will be insufficient for the same win rate. Strategies change, new ideas are introduced, what we call the «metagame» is updated, including how the average opponent plays today, what he learns and what he can do - new knowledge also appears in the public domain. Therefore, the evolution of poker strategy is a natural process in this world, and natural selection also operates here. Those who are not good - lose. To win big money, you need to study the latest updates in strategy and generally constantly work on yourself, analyze the game and improve psychologically. Many will read this as verbiage and self-evident, but it is always necessary to follow this in real action. Lesson #4: Don't get too low in a downswing, and don't get too high in an upswing Or in other words, lose your spirit in a downswing, and your head in an upswing. You will have a million ups and downs: at the tables, in the cashier, and in emotions. - Trust my 10+ years of experience and over 10 million hands I've played. It doesn't matter who you are. The nature of poker is such that even the top professionals have terrible days, downswings for a week, or even for months, when everything goes to the bottom and a lot of natural questions arise. The title of this paragraph is also about those frequent situations when players in a prolonged downswing go down 2+ limits to save what they have and lose as little as possible, expecting negative events to continue at the tables, and in order to feel at least there that they are capable of winning. This is all okay, but excessive - a drop of 1 limit is enough, and there is no need to go lower. But you can also continue playing at the same limit - everyone decides for themselves. The opposite situation applies to an upstreak, when a player, having believed in his invincibility and a «fair wind», suddenly, not according to their skills and nor his bankroll, moves up the limits and gets hit on the nose there, losing much more than he could have won at a calm pace at his limit, or 1 higher. Read also: How to Safely Move Up Stakes in Poker To make it easier to get through such periods, it is always worth remembering that many things in the world are cyclical: after winter comes spring, then summer, then autumn, and then a new winter comes . . . The cycle repeats. You should prepare for winter in the summer, gaining «fat» for difficult times. You all understand perfectly well - what fat we are talking about. This allegory also applies to poker. After an up there will be a down, after a down - a new up. Between them there are plateaus - periods when the game is going normally, not in an extra profit, but not in an extra loss either. However, it is cyclical. So what you win in an upstreak should be perceived as something that can be taken away in a downstreak. Or something that you can live on in bad periods. The same should be said about the opposite times. Lesson #5: Take crises easier and make the best of them I won't lecture you on life, but as I already said, you will always have tough periods in the game (and in life). And sometimes - really tough. When you're so sick of losing that you want to quit the game, start another account, and so on, according to superstition. - That's normal. - They happen to everyone. Over the long term, the winner is the one who moves forward despite the problems, and also solves them as they come. The one who is able not to destroy what has proven its effectiveness over the long term: if a given line, technique, strategy brings profit - they should be used further without noticeable adjustments. It is during a downswing that the player's psychological fortitude comes to the fore. The mental attitude works well: «What happened yesterday is yesterday. Today is a new day, and everything will be great for me.» Yesterday, did you lose 10 stacks (in cash) or 10 tournaments in a row? - Okay. It was yesterday. Rest your head, reboot and start a new day. Yesterday's result is not important, and it does not affect how the cards will be dealt and what will come out on the board. You do not influence the cards being dealt, but you influence your actions in the game and outside the game - this is in your personal power. Strengthen your personal mental poker fortitude and take a simpler attitude to a single painful hand or session - there will be thousands of them, and the biggest down is always ahead of you. As well as the greatest up in your life. One hand or session is just a drop in the ocean of a poker career. As has already been shown, the one who does not give up, but draws conclusions and grows above himself - as in life, always wins. Lesson #6: Develop a habit of working and playing a lot Developing a habit means doing a given action without much mental effort to start the task and in the process. That is, the importance of the task and the thrill of it should become minimal against the background of everything else you usually do - at the same level of desire and pleasure. It should become natural and easy for the player - just like eating, watching YouTube, etc. down the list. I learned one simple fact very early in my poker career and follow it completely: The one who does a lot and «in the right direction» gets a great result, but not the one who is just more talented and smarter. Because knowledge, talent and intelligence by themselves mean nothing when they are not accompanied by actions, or do not generate actions. - There are plenty of examples in any area of life. What does it mean to work «a lot» and how does it manifest itself? As I have already said about natural selection in poker, if you intend to win well and consistently, you will need to constantly improve yourself: The skill of reading opponents The skill of following a strategy without unnecessary deviations The skill of solving complex spots with limited time The skill of manually performing the action that is considered the most profitable And many more other skills And of course, the skill of regularly working on the game: Analyzing individual hands Analyzing your (and someone else's) hand base Analyzing actions in the game and looking for better options Looking for trends: profitable and unprofitable Building a plan for analysis and physically implementing it And many more other skills This is the only way you will gradually but CONFIDENTLY progress in strategy, psychology (there are skills there, which are discussed in other articles) and game practice, steadily and systematically growing your bankroll, limit and spirit. Game practice is the regularity of the game, its volume, approach to game selection and tuning into the game. As a rule, the more we practice in any process, the more we improve in it. The longer the pause, the more we forget from what has not entered the subcortex. In addition, in cash, as nowhere else, the distance necessary for the actual realization of those mathematical models and concepts that we use in the game is important: equity, EV, fold equity, pot odds and other concepts. Here is also the profitability of a particular spot. All of them are calculated on an infinite / long sample, and therefore require playing a number of hands on this particular spot for its full implementation. Being people, we are capable of playing not an infinite distance, but a distance large enough for the practical realization of a mathematical model for a given spot - out of thousands of them - into a real profit over a distance. It should be noted that it would be good to accept the return already at a higher limit than the one where you started the distance. And also, in cash, a large share of income is rakeback, which requires the VOLUME of the game, because rakeback is a % of the direct amount of generated rake for a given time period. And the rake volume directly depends on the number and size of large pots played postflop (preferably with a showdown). This is not a call to fight to the end, but the fact is: the return volume is directly proportional to the number of such spots. And also, in cash, a large share of income is rakeback, which requires the VOLUME of the game, because rakeback is a % of the direct amount of generated rake for a given time period. And the rake volume directly depends on the number and size of large pots played postflop (preferably with a showdown). This is not a call to fight to the end, but the fact is: the return volume is directly proportional to the number of such spots. Someone may be more talented than you, someone may be luckier than you, but no one should surpass you in effective results. - This is completely and entirely within your control and responsibility. You and only you will influence the course and results of this process. Lesson #7: Always remember your «Why?» and «For what?» You will have endless ups and downs, wins and losses for weeks - such is the crazy nature of poker. However, as has been said many times, you and only you ultimately influence what actions you take in the game, and in life too. And it will be great if you always have a beacon on the horizon, which is getting closer and closer. These are your true, deep and real goals and reasons for which and for which you play this wild game. You must answer yourself honestly: why and in the name of what do you need poker. «Why?» First and foremost, you must clearly answer yourself, what is your Why and Why for poker? And it is better to write it down. «Why» - these are the reasons for the game. For example, these: To work for myself and freedom of location, I am my own boss (but also an employee!) - flexibility in time, Availability of knowledge and effective opportunity to apply it, Almost unlimited winnings - just act effectively, The liberating limit is relatively close - NL25-NL50 for most countries, Many ways to earn money: disciplines, strategies, opponents, etc. ... «Yes, I just like to make combinations / bluff opponents» Clearly describe your personal reasons and incentives for playing our crazy game. «For what?» «For what» is the purpose of your poker game. For example: To earn - in abundance - where I want to To help my parents, friends, those who are dear to me To provide myself and my family with total freedom - as much as I can To travel regularly and enjoy life To invest, sponsor and do charity To motivate the best coaches to teach me up from the bottom of their hearts To regularly participate in the largest tournament series and have a real chance of winning them To be useful to the world as a whole and feel that with my money and actions I have not lived in vain. «Yes, I just like to make combinations / bluff opponents» Write down the answers to 2 questions in detail: What will happen if I achieve my goal? And what will happen if I don't achieve it? What exactly will you feel, do and who will you consider yourself to be. The same thing: constant motivation should be sewn into the brain. First, operate with real reasons and goals at this stage of life - small and achievable. There is no need to immediately aim higher than the sky - your brain will very quickly realize that this goal is actually unachievable now, will activate the energy saving mode and will turn on the sabotage mode of your actions, which you will soon feel in full. - Everything comes gradually. Summing up Nathan «BlackRain79» Williams has been playing poker for over 10 years and has played 10+ million hands - a number unimaginable for the vast majority, and he regularly shares his experience. You can learn a lot from him - if you want to. Everyone saw what they wanted in this article: someone valuable ideas, someone guidelines, someone specific ways to solve their problems. And someone just saw here empty talk. It is impossible to please everyone, but this was not the goal of the article. Our site is educational, and the goal of any material here is to give the visitor a grain of something new or well-forgotten old, which helps many to improve their game a little. And even the most fastidious can - if he wants. As a rule, we learn only what we were ready to learn the first time, letting the rest pass by our eyes and brain. With repeated studies, something new will be revealed and previously learned will be revised. This article was written from the video Top 7 Poker Lessons Learned (as a 10+ year pro) by Vladimir ABIVPlus.
