Being Fully in the Moment by John Anhalt

I'm sure you've heard a lot ofpeople talk about not letting the past effect your future decisions, but realistically,this is going to happen quite a bit. You take a bad beat, get frustrated, andthen get involved in the very next pot, when you should have been"insta-mucking" your hand to begin with. 

Some of us are much better aboutcontrolling our emotions and ego at the table, but most of us, no matter howgood we are at this, could make dramatic improvements in learning how tore-center ourselves, and be FULLY in the moment. The reality is, the daysevents, the current bad beat you took, the horrible fight you had with yourpartner, the cat you ran over on the way to the casino, are all going to effectevery decision you make at the table. And, as all of you should fullyunderstand, playing the most profitable poker you can play, has to do withmaking the BEST decision possible as consistently as possible over a longperiod of time. 

So, consequently, your current stateof mind when you sit down at the table,  is a crucial factor indetermining how successful you can really be at poker. This is poker at an evenhigher level, this is the game you'll be playing against yourself your entirelife. It should make a lot of sense then, that not only do you have to learnhow to play against an array of different personality types on the felt, butyou have to learn how to play against your ego, while balancing your emotionalstate.

There are really two importantconcepts to getting yourself in an ideal state where you can be fully presentin the moment. 1) Determining your current state of mind, and how recent pastevents may be effecting you, and 2) Letting go of all of those past events, andfocusing in with laser like precision at only the decision at hand.

I recommend that you create apersonal "ritual" for yourself before you decide to play a game ofpoker. You don't have to light candles, burn incense, and chant to the holymother cow. It's just a matter of creating a repetitious set of actions thatwill prepare your mind to let go of the past, and focus on the current task athand. It can be as simple as saying one sentence to yourself, such as,"I'm ready to play poker, so I'm going to let everything else go, centermyself, and focus my mind to play the best poker I can play". Somethingthat simple, can make a HUGE difference in every session you play. Don'tbelieve me, good! I didn't want you to believe me, I wanted you to try it!

If you've noticed one thing aboutprofessional sports, you should be able to notice who the truly great playersare in any individual sport. They are deemed great, not only because theyperform extremely well, but also because they can do this very consistently. Alot of professional athletes talk about "being in the bubble", wherethere's no crowd, no winning, no losing, but instead just the pure action theyare doing. Meaning there is no weight put into whether they score a goal, makethat basket, or catch that improbable throw for a touchdown. It's"merely" the action, and only the action.

This is the second part of being inthe moment. If you're involved in a pot in poker, and you begin to think aboutwinning the hand, losing the hand, losing the money that's already in the pot,then you've already begun to lose the hand. Don't worry about what you investedinto the pot in the PAST, don't concern yourself with victory, focus in andanalyze all of the available information, and make the best decision possible.The more consistently you can do this, the more your poker bankroll is going togrow. I guarantee it.

John Anhalt is a poker coach andowner of training site www.pokerzion.com