Two Plus Two Older Archives - Task and Purpose in Poker: My Pooh Bah Dissertation (long)

Thanks to everyone who took something from this...made the grief I got from my wife for the couple hours I spent writing it worthwhile. A simple explanation of "Have a plan in poker and have a task and purpose when you do it" wouldn't have done it.

I think of many times, tournaments especially, where I pull a "donk" move that results in a big chip loss and think..."why did I do that?" and be unable to come up with a a good reason. I would be betting, checking, raising or folding often for the hell of it. Have that reason or "purpose" in mind before every move. If it works, great, if not, there's next time. At least you'll know why you did what you did.

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This was something I used to do a lot more of. But thinking that much takes actual effort and it's just easier to go on auto-pilot and say 'I've got decent cards...so I play them. I've got crap cards so I don't play them.'

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I continue to battle through this, and it probably explains my month long water tread in the 50+5s. It'd be great to simply point to Variance, but I know that when multi-tabling, reading 2+2, watching TV, and changing the occasional diaper all at once, my game suffers. Focus is essential. It may get repetitive saying "what do I intend to accomplish in the play of this hand" for each hand of the tournament, but it keeps your focus and ensures that a proper T&P is in place.