Science of card Memory Post no 2

(Dear forum friends, This is going to be a long post, so for those of your that don’t want to go through all of the details I have placed a synopsis at the end. You may want to fast forward.


Dear Keith,


In the first post we discussed the physiology of card memory. This time we will discuss techniques to augment your memory.


1 Monitor your card memory and your mental alertness. Being mentally alert means money when you are playing poker. In your poker diary BEFORE you go to the casino write down your mathematical alertness quotient.


But how do you monitor your alertness. Answer: Get a watch that measures in seconds. Now measure the number of seconds that it takes you to count down from a hundred by threes. 100-97- 94-91-89 etc.


You will find that that will typically takes you certain number of seconds that we will call X.


By observing your poker diary you will also eventually discover that on days that you are particularly alert i.e. On days that your mental alertness quotient is lower than usual because your count down is faster i.e.. X minus 3 or 4 seconds, that your average winnings for those nights will tend to be higher than usual.


You also will learn that on days that you are not as sharp (from chronic fatigue, “a bug coming on” Anxiety or what ever) your X times will increase. For example your Quotient might be (X plus 5 or 6.)


On those days you may find the best thing to do is to grab a nap before you go to the casino.


Or the best money maker technique may be not to risk money on days during which you are more likely to loose money. So you might “do best “ by going to a movie or working in your yard.


Poker is one of the few jobs where when you are a “little sleepy” that day it may mean that rather than going home from a typical job with a guaranteed $200 dollars for the day.


You may end up paying your table $ 200 dollars when you are not sharp. So be prepared to cut your losses.


If you want an even more definitive X number you can measure the time that it takes you to count down from 100 by threes and then to count back up by sevens. This more exact technique will give you an XY quotient.


This technique can be really being helpful as a method to rule out the “pseudo alertness syndrome.”


In this condition you may have played so long that your body puts out burst of adrenalin and you “feel pseudo great” or even “super pseudo alert” but you really are on an adrenaline rush”


If you do a X or an X Y quotient test during stages that you are playing unusually long sessions, you may find that even though you think you feel great, your alertness quotient might be an X plus 10. (Danger !)


This phenomenon explains how we can sometimes join a table where a good player (who might have played all night) is four racks up and then drops three racks in an hour. His alertness and reason simply have worn out. There have been situations where I have seen friends getting caught in this trap an I have called them aside and said


:“Hey buddy, you are an excellent player, but you are exhausted. As a friend I would recommend that you take the winnings that you have left and go home. Get some rest and come back tomorrow. And incidentally tomorrow when you are sharper, I am going to do my very best to kick your A--. So sleep tight, the game will always be here.


2. Sit in seat positions number one. “ The 5 second advantage”


80% of all-important Stud decisions are made on Third Street. If you are sitting in seat number one you have 5 extra seconds to memorize your cards. And 5 extra seconds is a LOT of time.


Example: Since you are in seat number one, you get to MEMORIZE your hole cards before any one else even gets their second down card.


Let’s say that you look at your hole cards, and you have the King of hearts and the Queen of hearts.


So the first thing that you do is to repeat to your self, King of hearts Queen of hearts four times, (that’s how you memorize them)


Mean while every one else is getting their second hole card.


Now even before the door cards come out ,you know exactly which 29 cards you want to keep track of. (11 flush hearts)(6 Kings and Queens)(12 straight cards Aces, Jacks, and tens) And that is a big advantage in your being able to strategically analyzing the three dimensional potentials of your hand.


3. Memorize your hole cards. By repeating your hole cards 4 times when you first look at them, you don’t have to look back at your hole cards as the hand is played out, giving away tells. Also since you really know your hole cards, your mind is free to focus on the more important task of analyzing the changing dimensions of the hands in play.


4. If you can’t see your opponent’s cards because your vision is weak, then you should improve your visual acuity.


Example: If you are in position seven and as the door cards come out they are King, but to you the next card is probably an 8, but you can’t see well enough to be certain that it’s not a 9 or a 7, during the time that you should be spending memorizing your opponents door cards you are wasting part of your time just trying to figure out what they are. And then during the rest of the hand you can’t be really sharp because you are spending half of your time just trying to read the cards.


Methods to improve your visually acuity.

A. Move to positions 4 or 5 or 1 or 8. Just being able to see your opponent’s cards clearly makes a major difference.

B. Go to your eye doctor and have him prescribe an inexpensive pair of glasses. That rather than maximize the quality of your vision at 20 feet, (that’s what 20-20 vision means) have him write a prescription for a set of “Poker only glasses at (12-12.) Twelve feet is the approximate functional length of a typical stud table.

C. Wear a brimmed hat or visor. Just like turning off the external lights in a movie theater (which improves your ability to see the screen well) your vision at the poker table is improved by 10% by just wearing a brimmed hat or visor. The hat or visor improves your acuity by removing the distracting glare from the overhead lighting.


5. Take a short break from the game every hour to stay mentally sharp.


Even in medical school the professors made us take 5-10 minutes an hour during their lectures to keep sharp.


So every hour get up from the table for go for a short walk (the exercise will really refresh you) gets a cup of coffee or a soda.


By doing this one trick you probably will find that you can stay sharp for 2 or 3 more hours a session than you usually would.


6 Don’t eat food or drink drinks that mentally slow you down.


Fatty foods tend to make you groggy. Either just drink a glass of juice or a soft drink an hour, or eat a couple of small non-fat meals.


When you eat a big fatty meal at the table there is a huge fluid shift from your body and brain, to your digestive system. That why you can get the “after thanks-giving dinner syndrome” after eating a fatty meal. Where all that you want to do is to lay on the floor and let your belt out and put your feet up.


Drink NO ALCOHOL until you leave the table. Some players feel that alcohol helps them, because for a short while it removes their inhibitions and tends to let them play looser and more aggressive.


But there have been a hundred studies (usually related to driving and job performance) that document, that in the long run alcohol is going to impair your alertness.


Ok 6 new topic is plenty for now. The next post should allow us to finish our review of the science of card memory. At that time we will discuss the memory changes of maturing players.


As I said before, I feel that if you aren’t using your mind to strategically analyze the impact of the cards that are exposed in stud, you simply can’t play advanced stud well. (PERIOD).


. And I suggested that you write abbreviated examples of the points, that we have discussed, in one of your copies of Seven-Card Stud for Advanced Players.


After summarizing today’s points I will add the synopsis of the points that we reviewed in Card Memory Post No 1.


6. Monitor your mental alertness quotient. Example: count down from 100 by threes or down by threes and then up by sevens.

7. The memory advantages of sitting in seat number one. “The 5 second advantage”

8. Memorize you hole cards. “Don’t be a continual hole card reviewer”

9. You can’t remember cards if you can’t see the cards clearly. Change seats, Get a pair of “Poker only glasses”. Wear a hat or visor. But DO WHAT IT TAKES to be able to see very well.

10 Take a break from the game and include a short walk for 5-10 minutes an hour, to stay mentally sharp.

10. Avoid Fatty foods and Alcohol when you play


1. Rank sequence memory technique: break ranks cards into groups of 3 or 4 and then mentally repeat each group, in the sequence that they were dealt 4 times each. (You may need to repeat this during the hand)

2 during a hand mentally change your opponent’s names to the rank of their door cards. I.e. Change Joe’s name to 6, Mary becomes 3, Tom becomes 2.

3.As each following street’s exposed cards are dealt, mentally imagine yourself as a commentator announcing the hand. I.e. “ Look 6 just caught a dangerous suited connector 7!

4 Mentally vividly conceptualize imaginary hands and mentally play them over and over again card by card. Using every possible strategies and counter strategies.

5 Work up to doing an hour’s worth of aerobic exercises a day. Try exercising and then going directly to the card room. You should be much sharper for 4 hours.


Thank you for raising this topic which I feel is vital to playing advanced stud well.


Most Sincerely,

DocAZ

I like the counting-down-by-3s drill for mental alertness. John Fox suggests this sort of test in "Quick Work, Play Poker, and Sleep Till Noon." However, because playing ability can be tilted by factors other than alertness/fatigue, I've devised a checklist for use prior to play, in which I rate myself on a scale of 1-5 for physical fatigue, mental alertness, judgement, stress, and overall attitude. If I rate negatively on any of these scales, I won't play.


Having a checklist helps because otherwise it's too easy to talk myself into playing when I'm not sharp--especially if I've traveled a long way to get to the game. Once on a multi-day business trip to Las Vegas, I played fine the first night but poorly the next two nights, not having adjusted yet to the time zone. If I'd had my checklist back then, I would have avoided those two bad sessions and been a lot happier!

as doyle brunson said..."the most important person in the g is you, even with weak players, if you are slow, dull, upset about your girlfriend,then you are not going to play your a game"..or something like that...well worth reviewing, and doubly so for stud...gl

After the 1st hour of play, ask yourself:


Am I in the groove?

Can I see through the cards?

Can I fold aces-up because I figured out that my opponent has trips?

Is there at least one player who is worse than I am?

Have I identified the good, bad, strong, weak, stupid players?

Is there a bleeding whale at the table?


I could have saved a couple hundred last Saturday night, if I had walked away after an hour.

Hello,DocAZ,

Eating well and taking short breaks from the table do keep my concentration sharp.

Eating the buffet AFTER a session IS best!

Even caffeine cokes and coffee can make some players nervous--hence,adversely affecting their

play.

The idea of wearing a brimmed hat did not cross my mind.

I always wondered why seasoned poker players all wore caps! Well,thanks to you ,I now know.

Guess I'll be wearing my cap from now on!

What about the other 20% and on what street(s) for important decisions?

If I have two or three consecutive losing sessions,I usally take two or three days off.

I'm not in the proper frame of mind to continue playing after suffering these losses.

When I started to read your post a few days ago,I was mentally exhausted. So I decided to wait a few days for my concentration level to be restored before reading your post.

I'm happy to report that today I'm mentally alert and read your post verbatim.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

************************************************** ************************************************** * Linda Johnson stated one reason why she prefers the flop games instead of stud.

It's more relaxing since she does not have to tract exposed cards--hence,does not have to concentrate as much and is able to play longer hours without becoming mentally exhausted.

Is this sufficient reason to learn the flop games instead of stud--for those with poor memory?


Sitting Bull

Dear Bull,

Flop games and Stud are both superb forms of Poker.


But usually a player will be better at one than the other.


.

I feel it is better to learn both stud and holder since so many games are posted and if I find that there isn’t a game going that is profitable in one form I will play the other.


Also learning hold’em will make you a better stud player and vice versa. Once you play hold’em you will never look at a stud flush draw the same again since you have one more card to make your flush with in stud.


I think that at the lower limits i.e. 3/6. It might be easier to make money at hold’em. Unless you can find a good no ante stud game.


. ALL of the poker host at Casino Arizona (paid players) that play 3/6 and 4/8, play Holden with the exception of one that is a Omaha specialist.


I think that the reason may be, that the primary mistake in playing low limit poker is calling with weak hands.


If, 5, 3/6 stud players mistakenly call Third Street in stud there is an extra 5 dollars in the pot.


But if 5, 3/6 hold’em players mistakenly call a hold’em hand there is an extra $15 dollars in the pot. BIG DIFFERENCE.


But low limit games are in my opinion the hardest ones to beat in the Casino, because of the proportionately higher rake.


The key is to look for those Stud games where the ante is not a killer. IE no ante or 5/10 50- cent ante games. That still are loose enough to generate significant pots..


Card memory is important, but joy of the game is the key.


My wife Honey has one of the finest card memories I have ever seen. She started playing 20 hours of gin rummy a weekend when she was 11. But she loves hold’em. She has a huge advantage at Stud. But it just isn’t as much fun for her .And as I always tell her, as long as you make money at the game, you can play what ever you want.


On the other hand I have to really work to keep track of the cards, but I prefer stud.


But the Key is to find games where you don’t loose money.

And develop your skills there. You know how much players can loose at cards.


I wish that you had a computer so that you could play a few thousand hands of hold’em against a simulator. It was a big help in my transferring to flop game.


Your friend,

Doc AZ

Hi Doc--I'm a low-limit stud player interested in learning hold'em. I got the Sklansky books and am studying diligently, have played a little play-money hold'em on Paradise, now I'm getting serious and I got the Wilson turbo hold'em and will work with that along with Sklansky. Any other tips on making the switch? I find the preflop hand rankings to be the most intimidating thing so far, for example it's hard to remember that KQ is so far down in the groups, more than you'd think--any tips on learning these? You're such a good poster I'll listen to whatever you have to say.

Play 5-10 Holdem at the Taj.


I AK in the BB. I 3-bet it pre-flop. Flop comes AKT. I go for a check raise. Another player bets. I raise, He re-reraises. I cap. Turn is a T. I bet, He calls, River a blank. I bet he calls. He turn over QJ for Broadway. I didn't even see it.


I have K8, Flop comes KJx. I bet. Another player raises. I fold. He shows J6. I get semi-bluffed off of top pair by middle pair. I folded the best hand on the flop several times that night.


If I had been more alert, I would have recognized that this was a tougher game and adjusted my play accordingly. Or would have changed tables.


Seeing through the cards and in the groove..


2 weeks ago, same game.


I have AJ in late position. Middle position open raises. folded to me. I raise to knock out the blinds. 2 of us see the flop. Flop is Jxx, He bets, I raise, He re-raises. I fold. He asks, "How did you know I had kings?" "Blue contacts," I replied.


Another hand:


I have A5 in the blind. Flop is AT5. I bet, Another player raised. Guy to my right re-raises, I fold. The hand plays out. He shows AT and asks me what I had. I tell him. He says, "Damn, you're good"

I'm not doc, but look for patterns in the hand groups - like being suited is worth a 2 group promotion, except for AK and AQ.


The easiest way to learn these (or a blackjack playing strategy, or French verbs) is to write them out.


Learn 1 piece at a time - first the pairs, then the offsuit hands, then the suited hands.


Once you learn the first 6, take your time with the rest, they are not that exciting anyway.


Writing things out over and over (and testing yourself) is a great way to memorize.


Good luck.


Dan Z.

I don't think that looking for a game with a small ante is necessarily the key to winning at low-limit stud. The key is finding cooperative opponents. My usual stud game is $6/12 with a $1 ante and $2 bring-in. I will also sometimes play in a $3/6 game with a $.50 ante and a $1 bring-in. The rake in these games is hideous (10% to $4 at $6/12, $4.50 at $3/6), and there is a $1 jackpot drop, but I do well, not because of the structure, but because loose, passive opponents abound. I have, in recent months, been playing much more hold'em than stud, as my local room has trouble getting together stud games larger than $3/6, and rarely gets $15/30 stud off the ground. I'm a winner at $6/12 hold'em, and a modest winner at $15/30 hold'em, but I'm a small loser at $8/16 hold'em. Again, I believe that this has less to do with the structure, which is the same for $6/12 and $8/16, as it does with the nature of the people who play the games. The $8/16 is the biggest game which is jackpot eligible, so it is where the low-stakes and the high-stakes (well, mid-stakes) players meet. The game is, generally speaking, more aggressive than any other game in the room. It's where the gamblers play. Something about that extra $2 chip makes people crazy. It's a fun game, to be sure, but it's also dangerous, and I've been avoiding it more and more lately, as I think I've gained an understanding of why I haven't done very well in it.

Bill, aren't your good calls here mostly the result of reading the individual players correctly rather than reading "the game" as a whole?

Maybe. But I think the overriding factor was that I was tired and just couldn't pick up on the cues.


Winning weekend. Drove up with family from DC. Wife drove most of the way. I studied poker books and slept. Checked into hotel. Ate dinner with family. Since I was staying two nites, I just played 5 hour sessions.


Losing weekend. Came up on crowded bus. Sat next to fat lady on bus. Uncomfortable sleeping position. Played from 8:00 pm to 3:30 am. I could tell I wasn't playing my "A" game.

Hello,Bill,

From your examples,I would say that overall you saved more money than you lost. In my book,that's a win.

These were NOT examples of big errors.

They were more like correct play.


I can't picture any of these players being THAT much tougher than you.


Sitting Bull