Having confidence when you play poker won’t ensure that you’re a winning player, but when coupled with a good technical and mental game can make a tremendous difference to your win rate. Not only that, but feeling confident about your abilities will make you a happier poker player who’s willing to grind more hours. It will also have flow on effects to other parts of your mental game that will make you more tilt-proof during downswings.

This is Part 1 in my series aimed at the confidence side of one’s poker game. I actually want to start out by pointing out that a lack of confidence and a little bit of self doubt can actually be a healthy thing for you as a poker player. As long as it’s harnessed correctly and that you are able remain logical and rational when things don’t go your way.

As I was preparing to write this series of articles on confidence, I came across this news story about a player from my favourite football team. He is playing his 300th game this weekend and is in his 15th season of professional Australian Rules Football. I’ve posted an excerpt below.

Simon Black still fears failure
It is hard to believe that a genuine AFL superstar with a Brownlow Medal, Norm Smith Medal, three premiership medals, three All-Australian selections and 173 career Brownlow Medal votes would ever doubt himself. But that is what continues to push him.

“It’s the fear of not being good enough. I’m obviously not the quickest or strongest bloke out there, so I need to be 100 per cent focused every time I play otherwise I’ll get shown up,” Black said.

“I just love footy and I love trying to improve every week.

“I’m always trying to find ways to get better.

“I know I’m probably not the player I was 100 games ago but I still want to be better, I’m still trying to get to the line.

“I’m as motivated as I’ve ever been and it’s that fear of failure that is always driving me.”

Greg Davis From: The Courier-Mail. Read the full article here.

I think one characteristic of proven long-term champions in any field is that they always have enough doubt driving them to be better at what they are doing. If you fall into the mindset of believing that you are better than everyone else to a point where you stop working at improving, overconfidence is actually hurting your game. In this state we lose sight of our weaknesses, stop learning and subsequently fall behind the competition.

As poker players we need to be striving for a stable level of confidence where we are able to believe that we are winners in the games we are playing, even when our results say otherwise (due to bad variance). By getting to this point we don’t let negative thoughts questioning our decision making ability creep in and impede our processes when things start to go bad. A stable level of confidence does not imply zero doubts though.

As Simon Black proves, it’s pretty hard to fail at what you are doing if you approach it with passion, constantly try to get better at it and recognise that you have flaws and you need to work harder than people with more natural abilities than you.

So next time you’ve got doubts flowing through your mind, instead of letting them spiral out of control and winding up with confidence that is too low. Embrace those doubts and work towards something positive by trying to improve your weaknesses. And if you’re someone that has no such doubts, start to question whether you might be suffering from overconfidence, because as far as I know nobody plays poker perfectly and nobody is immune to poker’s fast paced evolution of skill bringing them back to the field.

One of the key areas I’ve been working on in my recent sessions has been eliminating distractions while I am playing. A few years ago, when I was at the peak of my game, I found it very easy to put in long hours without being distracted by things on my phone, Skype, Facebook, Twitter, browsing the web, looking at my hold ‘em manager or cashier all the time. In the last year as the games have become tougher and I’ve moved down stakes a bit I find myself getting bored and my work environment becomes filled with pointless noise that distracts me from playing my best.

I’ve taken 5 dramatic steps and I already feel way better about what I’m doing. They are as follows…

Stay Focusd Chrome Plug-in
An add-in for my web browser that stops me from visiting web pages for a certain amount of time. I set it to the length of my session and subsequently can’t sneak a look at Facebook/Twitter etc. while I play. If you play on a site that is tracked by PTR and you want to use it, you can add an exception so that you can use your browser for that function only. Stay Focusd Link

Hey everyone, I just wrote a brief guide to Zoom Poker on PokerStars over at LifeFish.net! I’ve been playing Zoom religiously since it was released in late March and feel I’ve developed enough knowledge to share my experiences. Zoom makes poker more convienient and a lot more fun and I hope to see the game grow to a point where high stakes Zoom becomes a reality!

Here is an extract…

Know Your Table
Your table line-up changes every hand and therefore so should your ranges/decisions. My number one tip would be to be very thorough about colour coding your opponents allowing you to quickly recognise the dynamics of your table and make decisions accordingly. This can be difficult as the hands move so quickly and you don’t always have time to be taking notes. My advice would be to cut down to one table for a bit and just focus on colour coding everyone for a few orbits. Alternatively, use the replayer to go back over past hands and you can take notes from there.

Click here to read the full Zoom Poker Guide!

• Grind 100nl rest of month
• No looking at results until until end of month (get rid for esults/EV columns in HEM and use AHK to block cashier on Stars)
• Listen to Mental game podcasts
• Buy/read Mental Game book
• Write a short blog about confidence
• Develop some focus excercises
• Break zoom tables every two hours
• Review marked hands from previous session before resuming from break
• Review a regular per day
• Two sweats/reviews with LifeFish guys
• Review a hand (my own or from forum) everyday with a LifeFish
• Watch a few Ultimate Grinders free videos and decide if I want a membership
• Review these goals on May 1st and post another goals blog

Poker Stars, $1/$2 No Limit Hold’em Cash, 6 Players

Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager – The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

BTN: $226.72 (113.4 bb)

Hero (SB): $472.25 (236.1 bb)

BB: $565.19 (282.6 bb)

UTG: $309.15 (154.6 bb)

MP: $273.72 (136.9 bb)

CO: $205.42 (102.7 bb)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Q T

UTG raises to $6, MP calls $6, CO calls $6, BTN calls $6, Hero calls $5, BB folds

Flop: ($32) 2 6 4 (5 players)

Hero checks, UTG checks, MP bets $20, CO calls $20, BTN folds, Hero calls $20, UTG folds

Turn: ($92) 3 (3 players)

Hero checks, MP checks, CO checks

River: ($92) 5 (3 players)

Hero bets $64, MP folds, CO raises to $179.42 and is all-in, Hero makes a dumb call

I’m writing this blog from Newmanmi’s kitchen table after a week of hanging out with him, pwnchizzle and RaiderDuck. It’s been fun as always, but at the same time a sad reminder that we were all holidaying in tropical North Queensland this time a year ago without a care in the world. So much has changed in our worlds has changed since April 15th, 2011. Pwnchizzle is only chilling with us when he’s not busy saving lives as a doctor and poker is much less a topic of conversation.

Pwnchizzle had a couple of days off and we headed on a road trip North to a small fishing town called Cervantes. I went on monkey tilt because the local tavern couldn’t show me the Lions game live on TV and we had to wait for two hour delayed broadcast and then at 3 quarter time the entire town was blacked out. The next day with few less drinks in me a I realised I had a season pass on my phone to watch every game live. Thankfully, we were getting thrashed and it didn’t matter, but it soured the first night a little.

The next day was much more enjoyable though as we visited the Pinnacles (limestone formations sticking out of the ground). Newman’s lowered car struggled to tour as round the narrow and rocky dirt track through the

National Park, but got through unscathed. I was kind of hoping I’d get see him in rage mode having to change one of his brand new tyres (after he blew one of hisod one’s in the boiling heat on middle of highway last time we were on a road trip).

The weather has been great the whole trip and we’ve been spending a lot of time by the beach and swimming pool. RaiderDuck has been to pole dancing class twice to keep up his skills, as well as an amateur pole dancing show with some randoms he met on Facebook. I’m averaging about 15 games of pool a day, and still enraged by the Newman house rule that you must nominate a pocket on the 8-ball and that pocket is yours and yours only for the rest of game, results in some ridiculous end game play. Other than that, we’ve just been waching/betting sports, playing basketball and having a few drinks. Good times.

There may or may not be a video blog published at some point later in the trip (it’s been too long!). For now, enjoy this…

Full Tilt report exonerates Alderney gambling regulator
A report into the Alderney gambling regulator’s handling of the besieged Full Tilt Poker website has found it was “appropriate, timely and fair”.

Its author, Peter Dean, said the episode was “an example of regulation working as it should”.

He said the Alderney Gambling Control Commission had “conducted the ‘fit and proper’ tests with appropriate rigour”.

The commission revoked the online firm’s licence in September after claims of financial fraud. Read the full story…

This report would have been about as independent as my left nut. You can’t call yourself independent when the entire economy of your country is dependent on a positive report. In the wake of revelations of years of dodgy loans to players, non-segregation of funds etc etc at Full Tilt Poker. It can’t be denied that the AGCC failed massively over the course of many years and deserve no credibility going forward.

Yet another example of why it is foolish to rely on government (who can’t even run a post office) to regulate instead of the private sector (those who actually have something to lose if they don’t do their job properly). No doubt the AGCC will remain largely unchanged out of this whole debacle and again oversee millions of dollars of players money…

October was a pretty grueling month, apart from my success playing live I was pretty disappointed with it. It’s kind of a weird time of year in general for me, footy season is over and cricket hasn’t really started and I don’t have a lot of distractions outside of poker. I think next year I might look to do some traveling at around this time. A while back I posted about having some concentration/blurred visions issues, which at the time I attributed to going cold turkey on caffeine. I got checked out by a doctor and optometrist this month. We kind of figure out I was getting temporary short sightedness as a result of gazing at my computer screen all day. SO since then and definitely from now on I’m going to be looking to take more breaks to allow my eye muscles to relax for a bit.

October Results

- 80,000 hands – Achieved

- 1 session of sweating a friend per week – Failed

- Review top 5 regulars on my list – Failed

November Goals

- 80,000 hands

- Work on my discipline and concentration, in particular making some big laydown vs. nits

- Take more breaks

- Talk more strategy with friends

Gym/fitness

Not quite as happy with my effort in October as I was in September. Didn’t set the world on fire in gym, but also didn’t slack off too much. Had ambitious goals of running a lot, but struggled for motivation most of the time and cricket kind of got in the way a bit. Total fail at playing a single game of squash in October, hoping to rectify that in November. I’m going to Europe at the end of November for a few weeks, I really want to try and keep up my gym work and more importantly eat well while I’m traveling.

October Results

- Run 100km – Failed

- Get back into Squash – Failed

- Set some new PBs with weights – Pass

- Attend on cricket training per week – Achieved

November Goals

- Run 40km

- Play 2 sessions of squash

- Set some new PBs with weights

- Attend on cricket training per week

- Don’t eat crap while on holiday

Other

October Results

- Learn 4 new Ukulele chords and work on my strumming and chord progression – Failed

- Play a ton of Fifa 11 – Achieved

November Goals

- Relax and have fun on holiday and use time away to just think more about the future

Clip To Inspire

This month’s song comes from the Soft Pack, from petteytheft’s hometown of San Diego. I like their sound

In October I’d like to get back to playing some serious volume as well as work on really improving my game away from the table. I’d like to try and go beyond reviews of my own hands and into studying some other regulars, taking in a bunch of videos and delving into some strategy discussion.

September Results
- 80,000 hands – Failed
- Constant and thorough hand reviews ala August – Achieved
- At least 5 poker free days – Achieved
- Tackle 3 of the most important concepts I want to delve into – Pass Mark

October Goals
- 80,000 hands
- 1 session of sweating a friend per week
- Review top 5 regulars on my list

Gym/fitness
Started out the month really well on the cardio side, but that has kind of slipped away in the later half of the month. The guy I’d been playing squash with went overseas and my girlfriend and I haven’t found the time to go and play badminton. From a weights point of view I’m really happy with my output in September in terms of volume of gym sessions and effort I put in. I’m going to Europe in late November and I know I’m going to eat crap and not exercise as much as I should while I’m over there so I kind of want to be in awesome shape before I get there. Hence, through October and early November I really want to push myself. The weather is starting to get better in Melbourne and I’d love to get out and do more running in the next few weeks.

September Results
- Really push myself each weights session, not just go through the motions – Achieved
- Protein shake after every session – Achieved
- Play either Badminton or Squash at least once a week – Pass Mark
- Attend every pre-season cricket training session – Achieved
- Dedicate more time to health and fitness and less time to poker – Pass Mark

October Goals
- Run 100km
- Get back into Squash
- Set some new PBs with weights
- Attend on cricket training per week

Other
September Results - Learn a song on the Ukulele – Achieved
- Test drive more cars and make a decision on a purchase – Achieved

October Goals
- Learn 4 new Ukulele chords and work on my strumming and chord progression
- Play a ton of Fifa 11

Clip To Inspire
Nick Cave is one our best Aussie musical exports and I’ve been enjoying this song from his side project band Grinderman.

In September, I’m hopefully going to have a bit more free time on my hands given that neither the footy team I play for nor support made the finals and cricket season is still a month away. I also think I want to play a little less poker this month and study a bit more. Therefore my goals are…

- 80,000 hands
- Constant and thorough hand reviews ala August
- At least 5 poker free days
- Tackle 3 of the most important concepts I want to delve into

Gym/fitness
Between footy trainings and games and just feeling generally sore and a bit run down my weight training was kind of pathetic in August, I definitely want to turn that around in September.I also want to maintain the improved cardio fitness I picked up through August. I’m also keen to play Badminton and Squash a bit more with the spare time I’ll have.

- Really push myself each weights session, not just go through the motions
- Protein shake after every session
- Play either Badminton or Squash at least once a week
- Attend every pre-season cricket training session
- Dedicate more time to health and fitness and less time to poker

Other
- Learn a song on the Ukulele
- Test drive more cars and make a decision on a purchase

Clip To Inspire
This is just a really fun song by an awesome Aussie band called The Cat Empire. It’s a couple of years old, but I certainly hope to “Welcome fishies to my hook” this month