Was there a turning point in your game?

[Indiana]

Was there a turning point at which you began to pull in some serious cash and feel that you were grasping the game? For me it was deciding that I needed to practice mental focus all through the day so that by night when I played it was second nature. Focusing myself on deep thoughts both poker and non-poker related excersized my mind and helped me reach new levels in the nightly games.

Anybody?

Indy

[citanul]

a couple, if we're just talking about sngs,

the most recent was just how crazy you are supposed to be on the bubble, if you play everything mathematically +ev.

prior to that, and possibly more important in the grand scheme of things was the ability to emotionally detatch myself from my play, and to learn to play the "right amount" when i'm playing.

there's probably more, but those two stand out off the top of my head.

c

[stanzee]

Yes, it was when Jesus Christ himself spoke to me in my dream, and said the holy father has given you the gift of poker, so use it. He then went on to say "you are the chosen one, you are the special one, dont let anyone ever tell you any different. Now get an account at party and start busting some fish god damnit!".

[Indiana]

Muuhahahahahaha.

Indy

[MegaBet]

[ QUOTE ]
Yes, it was when Jesus Christ himself spoke to me in my dream, and said the holy father has given you the gift of poker, so use it. He then went on to say "you are the chosen one, you are the special one, dont let anyone ever tell you any different. Now get an account at party and start busting some fish god damnit!".

[/ QUOTE ]

The funny farms here must be really crowded if they let people like you walk the streets.

[MegaBet]

Yes, it was the point where I realised that so many people make dumb plays. To me, the correct play seems so obvious most of the time (hence the multi-tabling), and I find it almost unreal how bad a majority of poker players (mostly recreational I guess) are.

[Indiana]

People in general are dumb man, very dumb. Did you see the WSOP last week? If you watch closely you will catch a shot of me:) But did you see the way that old man played that QQ and AA against Hellmuth? I mean really, 10K into a pot of <10K with such a great hand??? Did you see that dude that put a bad beat on Phil with KJs?

Dear god the play is bad,

Indy

[valenzuela]

the dat I discovered push/fold strategy on 2+2.

[TheNoodleMan]

I think a big turning point in my game was when I learned to play stud 8. Prior to that I would reach a burnout point playing SNGs, and I'd start playing less than my best game.
Having another form of poker to play when I feel burnt out on hold em has really helped keep me from playing poorly. It just keeps me mentally fresh and enjoying the game.

My turning point was when I played Poker Academy 10 people games with all cards face up and realized that my KJ wasn't that good when someone makes a bet from UTG... That and alot of other hands.

Ended up with me making two FT in 1 week after I played PAPro for 3 weeks and since then it have been going smooth.

[johnnybeef]

There have been many turning points that I can look back upon this last year. If there hadn't been, I would have been doing something wrong. In fact, I just hit one. I'm learning how to lose a lot better. Today I'm down 12 buyins at the 33s, and I think in the past that sort of thing would have bothered me. Now that I view poker in a different light, it is all about puting in the hours and paying myself a percentage of a buyin per sng playe instead of whether or not I am up or down, like it used to be.


On another note, I also prepare myself mentally for poker, except that I do it a different way. You say that you work on constantly focusing. While this may be decent in the long run, it is definatley -EV as you can only focus for so long in one period of time without resting. As such, I really don't do any serious mental work until I am done with playing for the day.