I have recently started to re-read Jared Tendler's The Mental Game Of Poker 2 which largely focuses on positive elements of the mental game such as playing in the zone consistently. Part of his approach is to write down in an A-Game Journal the conditions that exist when your A game is achieved and learn from this information. Last night was such a night. I was really focused, playing instinctively and using what Jared describes as intangible competence and conceptual competence. Here are my notes:
Rice Krispies before I played.
Minimal internet distractions.
Positive mental attitude based on a good, though tough week at work.
Happy family situation.
These conditions existed as I played my usual set of evening poker games in a year where I am playing well and running better than Usian Bolt in a pair of turbo trainers. I failed to cash in my two Full Tilt Daily Double games but was happy with my play and am feeling good about my 30% cashing record in 2014. I also played five dirty dozen jackpot sit n gos following a good set of games the previous night. The result was more than impressive with a sequence of first, second, first, third and second. Whilst playing I was never in tune with the order of games but was focused in all the games on winning, though I never really felt I had a shot at winning four in a row. If I had known my last game the previous day was a win I might have felt/acted differently! Upon checking afterwards my sequence of 1121 is as close as it gets to the two thousand Euro jackpot, though I never had more than 20% of the chips in the heads up battle I lost. A really encouraging night which I should learn from and be encouraged by. It is clear I need to put in a little more volume to ensure a jackpot win is inevitable rather than likely.
