As poker adepts, we go over so much material, concepts and study that sometimes, we forget some of the stuff that helped us out in the beginning. With this in mind, here's a couple things that I had not touched in years that I went over recently and I felt helped me out.
First of all, "Playing to Win", basically Sun Tzu's Art of War for modern day gamers. I first read this and applied it to FPS & MMOs back in the days and going over it again sharpened my blade, so to speak. A very good book for focus, discipline and the proper mindset you need to develop to become a dedicated winner at your game : http://www.amazon.com/Playing-Win-Becoming-David-Sirlin/dp/1411666798/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312830810&sr=8-1
What can a 2NL player teach you? Probably not how to balance your river check-raise range, but i've seen adepts lose sight of the more fundamental insights that serious beginning players have. Some of you may scoff at the simplicity of these clips, but getting this stuff right is so important (and to be honest, there's some days where I still misapply this stuff) that I feel it deserves mention :
Playing poker to learn, not to make money. Despite making good money, I still think that even after almost 2 years and a million hands later, seeing every single session as a learning experience is VERY important to keep improving (at least to me!). Even though I feel my game is the highest it's ever been, playing to learn is probably one of the most important point that keeps me going in every session as energized and focused on getting better as I can be : http://friendlyp.ning.com/video/inner-game-4-poker-nubs-play?id=2437628%3AVideo%3A42299&page=2#comments
Accept the realities of poker : http://friendlyp.ning.com/video/inner-game-for-poker-noobs
Poker is not about how you win, it's about how you lose : http://friendlyp.ning.com/video/inner-game-4-poker-nubs-3
Keeping your brain healthy for poker : http://friendlyp.ning.com/video/how-to-take-care-of-your-brain
Last but not least is a classic and has been one of the pivotal tools in my poker journey : the concept of the week series in the micro FR forum. Every so often I like to browse a couple of those threads, just to make sure I didn't forget anything. I feel like I have a solid grasp on most of the stuff there, but every so often I find a gem I missed or that I had forgotten : http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/78/micro-stakes-full-ring/concept-week-schedule-table-contents-397190/
Sometimes I get a little discouraged when I look at how much I still have to learn, but when I look back and see just how far i've gotten, it makes me pretty proud of my achievements. Finally, results-wise I should hit Supernova again near the end of month and finally cash in on my first 4k bonus, FTW! (should have been waaaay before but I blew a lot of FPPs on 650$'s and 1500$'s in the past). Currently behind pace for 200K VPP this year but I think there's still hope. Keep working hard, grinders, and good luck at the tables!
