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Tournament poker can be very exciting, but like many exciting things in life, it can also be terrifying. There is nothing quite like the thrill of playing at a big money final table. I am often asked how I handle the pressure of playing for such big money. I could give the standard answer of "You have to forget the money and just think about the chips as units." This is certainly true. But, those units are worth a lot of money and forgetting about the money and prestige that comes with winning is easier said than done.
I always had trouble doing this at the critical moments of poker tournaments even as recently as a few years ago. I then started to read some books on Zen Buddhism. Zen has always been associated with the fine arts of flower arranging, calligraphy, and tea making. But there is also quite a tradition of Zen in swordsmanship and archery. Through reading these books and in particular "Zen in the Art of Archery," I have a greater understanding of the process one goes through to master an art form.
There are four basic stages that a player must pass through to achieve poker mastery:
1. Beginner's Passion
"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's there are few." Shunryu Suzuki
A journey that might lead to poker mastery must begin with passion. There is a boundless enthusiasm in the novice poker player's attitude. Poker is fun. It is played with no fear. There is a lack of self-consciousness. The game is played with joy.
When I was just starting to play the game, poker was all I wanted to do. I would play the game about 70 hours a week. But, I was not a student of the game. The action, the camaraderie, the cards, and the chips were enough to consume me. I didn't play well and I didn't care. It was all luck, wasn't it? As long as I could ante up, I was happy. I had no fear as my feelings of self-worth were not tied up in my poker results. I didn't fear anyone as I had yet to attach a significant skill factor to the game.
I may not have been learning in a very orderly fashion. But, much like a future pro golfer lays the foundation of his golf career at a young age playing the game poorly. I was acquiring some of the poker skills that are with me today by sheer osmosis. Even though it took me over two years to start winning at $6 limit, my passion for the game gave me the repetitions necessary to take the next step.
2. The Student Emerges
"He is now forced to admit that he is at the mercy of everyone who is stronger, more nimble and more practiced than he." Eugen Herrigel
At some point, the joy and boundless passion for the game must give way to a structured effort to learn the game. There is a great deal of technical skill needed to succeed at poker. And at the beginning of this journey a great depression can overwhelm the student. He suddenly fears those that are more skilled than he. He longs for the days of blissful ignorance, when he only played because it was fun.
I remember my first poker book. It opened my eyes to a whole new world. It was exciting, but at the same time there were so many things in that book that I had never thought of. How was I going to remember all this information? I would study, but when I tried to apply that new found knowledge, I found myself almost paralyzed with too many conflicting thoughts. I then started to analyze specific situations away from the table. My theory was that if I developed a total technical grasp of each type of hand, I could free myself to react spontaneously at the table. This was a daunting task, and at times it was not successful. But it planted the seed in my mind for the direction my game has taken in the last few years.
I started to become acutely aware of a problem in my game when I moved up in limits. If I found myself in any unfamiliar situation at the poker table, my nervousness would impair my ability to be spontaneous. My mind, racing with technical thoughts brought on by a lack of confidence, would shut out important and profitable information. Once I became comfortable playing at a new level, my confidence would return, my newfound technical skills would become internalized, and my spontaneity would return. This process has taken over twenty years, and has included countless cycles of diving into the poker unknown, followed by the eventual feeling that I belong at that new level.
3. Expert Level is Achieved
"He who has a hundred miles to walk should reckon ninety as half the journey" Japanese Proverb
After years of study, a poker player can achieve expert status. If, however, she becomes satisfied in her success, then mastery will be forever beyond her reach. Improving as a poker player is a never ending process. The competition is always changing and adapting. If a player fails to change and adapt also, then the competition will close the gap or, even worse, pass her by.
Twenty years into my poker career, I found myself having success both in tournaments and side games. But I also felt like I wasn't progressing like I wanted. I seemed to hit a wall in my poker development. I had always been mindful to never become satisfied with my game. But I was, increasingly, finding it difficult to improve.
In particular, I found it most difficult to stay relaxed and spontaneous in tournaments. Gaining the kind of comfort level that I could attain through simple repetition in the side games was a much more difficult task in tournaments. Every tournament is different. There are different games, different formats, different levels of skill in your opponents, and different settings. And suddenly, hole card cameras were added to the mix. I then turned my attention to reading about some of the Zen arts. I had studied Zen Buddhism in high school, and it had always appealed to me. But, I now saw the study of the Zen arts as a way to make some breakthroughs in my poker development.
4. Poker, One Hand at a Time
"If one really wishes to be master of an art, technical knowledge of it is not enough. One has to transcend technique so that the art becomes an 'artless art' growing out of the Unconscious" Daisetz T. Suzuki
Staying in the moment is the path to poker mastery. And it is poker tournaments that present the greatest challenge to this goal. How is it possible to think only about the current hand when you have made bad plays and taken bad beats only minutes before? How is it possible to stay mindful of only the current hand when if you could win this tournament it might change your life? These are questions that can only be answered by each individual player. But, I believe that the study of the Zen arts can lead you down that path.
I realized that the more I could stay focused on the present hand and forget about bad beats and bad plays from my recent past, the better I would play. I also concluded that even more damaging to my focus on the present hand might be the nervousness brought on by thoughts of winning the tournament. Staying in the moment at the poker table is not an easy task. But, when I read "Zen in the Art of Archery," there was a concept that stayed with me. The master archer hits the target without having aimed. This meant that the more I tried to focus on the moment, the more I would not succeed. I could only find that focus from within myself. I decided that I would sit at the table and relax. For two years now, I have been practicing my own form of poker meditation. Instead of trying hard to focus, I allow it to happen through relaxation.
Have I succeeded in staying in the moment at the poker table? Almost never; but I have had some success. In a recent tournament, I was sitting next to a player who, near the end of play that day, told me that he thought I had played well except for a really bad play I had made about 30 minutes earlier. I didn't remember the hand, but after he refreshed my memory, I could only agree with his assessment. I was pleased that only 30 minutes after what might have been my worst play of the day, I had already completely let go of it. I see this as a major stride in my development as a player. Beating myself up over a bad play serves almost no purpose other than distracting me from the task at hand.
I have started to walk the last ten miles in my poker journey, and I am prepared for that walk to take me the rest of my life.
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