Poker Forum > General Discussion
Mental Game - The Process Model
VBlue:
--- Quote from: mporter123 on November 01, 2012, 14:25:43 PM ---
--- Quote from: VBlue on November 01, 2012, 13:41:36 PM ---
Arbitrary rules like 4 betting every time somebody 3bets you seems ridiculous and surely is just burning money. I don't know how this is going to help your game.
Rather than improving your B and C game, why don't we just play A game all the time? :)
Do you play cash or MTT"s?
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The 4-betting thing is to be done over a couple of sessions to experiment with how players react to 4-bets and to see how it affects your decisions when faced with a 3-bet. It is not a fixed rule for the rest of your playing career. I took the advice from Kevin MacPhee. He knows a thing or two about pre-flop aggression.
To improve your overall game you have to work on your weakest elements as well as adding new skills. Everyone has an A, B and C game. It is called Inchworm - a very simple but effective way of describing how someone can effectively improve their overall game.
I play MTTs mainly, but some 6-max cash and speed poker.
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VBlue:
--- Quote from: AAroddersAA on November 01, 2012, 14:29:49 PM ---
As far as poker goes, yeah The Mental Game of Poker is a book I would not mind reading and I am sure I will do at some point. It has had a lot of good feedback as has Jared Tendler. Not sure what his background as a poker player is (not sure if it matters) but as far as mental game strategy goes he is top notch.What do we think are good session goals to have?
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He was close to going pro as a golfer but decided to go for his MSc in Psychology instead as he felt being a golf pro was just too tough for most and he didn"t want to take that route. He has worked with loads of golf pros, met Dusty Schmidt "Leatherass", and drew parallels between the work he was doing with golfers and poker pros.
Good session goals (I have been focusing on pre-flop aggression) might be simple things like playing tighter OOP - only 3-betting and never flatting, flatting more in-position with medium strength-hands like AQ/AJ/KQ, or 4-betting all 3-bets (only for a session as an experiment - not a long-term set in stone play).
VBlue:
--- Quote from: AAroddersAA on November 01, 2012, 14:29:49 PM ---
I think Noble got the preparation bit spot on actually. We should play if we feel like playing. There are plenty of other things to do if we don"t feel like playing. I think it links with what I was saying about making sure you are awake and feeling ready before logging on. These have to be sensible parts of what I guess would be mental preparation. Sometime when I miss this out and play when I know I should not be I end up losing at the start of the session and spending the rest of it digging myself out of a hole so what you say is logical. I am guessing it differs for each of us slightly though so we have to find what works best for us.
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For us recreational players this is fine, but for some pros or semi-pros volume is key and they might need to play despite how they feel. I don"t disagree with much of it for us. There is some stuff on playing when not at your best but I will add more later on it.
VBlue:
--- Quote from: AAroddersAA on November 01, 2012, 14:29:49 PM ---
I assume the 4-bet every time you are 3-bet was just a hypothetical example. A goal like that should be something like "profitably 4-bet light" as there are spots where you just can"t do it but I see where you are going with the idea of it.
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It was an idea from Kevin MacPhee, advocated at a level or two below what you currently play, to see how 4-betting 3-bettors can simplify later decisions and to experiment against different opponents to see how effective it was in getting 3-bettors to fold, or being 5-bet by tight players and having an easy decision to fold your own hand (for example).
If you click it back, I forget the actual percentage, but you do not need to get folds too often for it to be a profitable play long-term. I can add more on this later if interested?
VBlue:
--- Quote from: mporter123 on November 01, 2012, 14:51:33 PM ---
Out of interest, how often would you say that you play your "A" game when you play online? How do you define "A" game?
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This is a great question Mark. Jared was telling me how I should put some time into defining my A game from my B and C games. So what elements of your game would you evaluate to determine how you play?
Perhaps it would be focus (which I class as taking in all the nuances of a game - position, stack size, opponent tendencies/HUD stats, ranges, etc.), concentration (avoiding distractions bascially), and then some other elements like reading the game well...I"m struggling to think more right now. You then build a picture of your A game, B game, and C game. Maybe a C game tendency would be playing too many pots OOP, or limping instead of 3-betting in position (for some people anyway). You might make a common mistake that you have rectified but it slips in at times so is part of your C game still when yo forget or repeat the mistake.
I am Mark too Rodders :)
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