The Most Important Poker Skill

It's funny how it can take a lot of time to really *get* a concept. It's often a process that's different for everybody. Sometimes you only need to read something once and it automatically clicks. Sometimes it might take weeks, months or even years before a concept truly sinks in and becomes a core part of your arsenal. And today, I think I had one of the most significant ah-Ha! moment in my poker career.

What was this big revelation? It's actually really simple, so basic that it's often overlooked, or at the very least is not given nearly enough thought ; poker requires focus. I can already hear you laugh, thinking "did it really take you years to figure that out?". Actually, yes! Now, i'm not talking about basic focus. If you're watching TV and not really paying attention to the game, you're obviously doing it wrong. No, what i'm talking about goes deeper than that.

I always knew that getting complacent with poker can quickly drain, if not outright kill a winrate, but today I realized how quickly this shift can happen. Here's what happened ; it was a typical session and I was doing good. My reads were solid and I was very confident in both my folds and vbets. I wasn't thinking about my results or how many hands I had played and I was intently focused on the game. After awhile I was feeling a little tired and hungry so I decided to take a quick break.

I checked my hand count, saw that I was about 1k short of today's goal so I took a few minutes off, made myself a sandwich and came back... however something had changed. I was now playing to finish off that last 1k (out of 7.5k) instead of playing poker to win. This might seem silly but it's actually a huge difference. My killer instinct was gone, mistakes quickly added up which tilted me because of how stupid some of these mistakes were. Although I did finish my 7.5k, that last 1k hand was almost certainly -EV given how many mistakes were made.

What's the lesson in all this? It sounds so simple yet it's importance cannot be overstated ; to truly own at poker, you must be intently focused on winning and killing the competition. This is not something that's exclusive to poker, athletes often refer to this state as being "in the zone" or being in a "flow-state". This is not a new concept for me but today, the contrast between being "in the zone" and completely losing my edge was so strong, so obvious that it made me realize the true importance of playing only when in that state.

I remember poker genius Boywonder saying the real difference between a 2000NL player and a 200NL player is consistency. This means that in a purely theoritical environment, a 2000NL player is not that different from a 200NL player. However, the 2000NL guy will almost always play "in the zone" and therefore make a lot less "execution" mistakes than his 200NL counterpart. While this is true in any competitive game, it goes double for poker since the penalty for losing focus can be very steep.

So why was today so significant for me? In the end, I think today's events allowed me to analyze myself more accurately, which will allow me to not only know when i'm in the zone, but also to consciously monitor and alter my concentration when needed. Re-reading this, I know it seems really esoteric but I think this particular realization is a cornerstone in any serious poker player's career because it allows you to do three important things :

1) Consciously alter your mind to work in a flow-state
2) Honestly monitor yourself to accurately assess your current state
3) Stop playing as soon as you feel the flow-state slipping

When i'm in the flow-state, my reads are precise, my math decisions are obvious, I always feel 2 steps ahead of everyone and i'm extremely confident. It's funny how often I magically "run good" when I play in this state. However, when i'm not, as in today's last 1k hands, I feel confused, lost and i'm spewing left and right, losing (or not winning) many small & medium bets, not to mention the occasional stack-off blunder, all things which can very quickly make the difference between a big winner and a struggling break-even player.

I honestly think these 3 skills are more important than anything else in poker because if you can't master yourself when it matters, all the theory and strategy in the world can't help you. Thus, if you want to improve your game, remember that while your opponents will change, the one person you will always have to control at the table is yourself. So be honest with yourself, get your game on, get out there and play to win!