Digging In Deep

There is a reason APA VIP TRAINING is a program that lasts 10-16 weeks.  There is a reason it often takes a bit longer than that.  Let me shoot off the cliche and get it out of the way:

Poker takes a minute to learn and a lifetime to master.  From game theory and techniques alone - the basics of how to play, the intermediary modules on Cbetting, to more advanced concepts like 4betting light - the amount of time necessary to take it all in as your own personal knowledge is easily never going to fit into the 16-weeks.

But there is a more important reason we designed the intensity of the training the way we did.  To break a student down mentally.

Anyone can play great poker for short spurts of time - a three-day tourney here, a few cash games there.  But to be a true pro and grind it out consistently and constantly?  To sit there as the game itself tries to grind you out?  It takes a while for that ugliness to manifest.

That time, I've discovered, happens between weeks 6-9.  Roughly halfway thru the training program.  It is at this point that the student has that feeling that he has "learned a lot" and "should be sailing smoothly"

It is also at this point that - variance delivering - a student will smack into a wall and slowly slide downwards like a wet wad of tissue.

Elsie and I are at this point. 

Surprisingly though, it is not Elsie that has hit the wall hard, but another student we are training parallel to him.

This one is not a bad student by any means - he listens to all our input, he has a great natural knack for the game, and his starting hand ranges are impeccable.

So, in a world where a lot of poker authors devote massive amounts of energy to teach the preflop game (starting hand range), how can someone with the optimal range still be losing?

This is a good place for the cliche "You can lead a horse to water, but can you make him drink?"

If you can get him to float on his back, you really got something.

The sheer volume of hands that go to showdown betray the leak.  Our student loses focus post-flop.  And I wrote him thus:


"...BRING THE FOLD BACK!  your WTSD is ridiculously high.  even with a decent starting range (you have that) if you can't let go post-flop, you are an even bigger fish.  because by then you have put in more money to lose.  remember this:  SMALL HAND = SMALL POT.  when you have one pair (HUGE losses with one pair hands) and the pot is being bet twice or thrice... always always always consider letting your one pair go..."

"...bad preflop plays.  again, your starting hand selection is GREAT.  it is your decision to continue after heavy action that is costing you.  it looks like you have no respect for their bets and raises.  you play your mid pocket pairs like a person in a tournament.  DON'T!"

This next part, I find amusing, given recent revelations in my own game.

"...also, please try this: NEVER FLAT a 3bet preflop.  NEVER flat a 4bet preflop.  ever."


The clarion call here is for FOCUS.  We have set our student up with sandbags, guns, and ammunition.  Now that the battle is truly joined - with bad beats and suckouts and coolers on a daily basis - it is the time to really feel what this stupid game we love so much can do to our psyche.

It can make them forget the very basic questions we train them to ask:

do i have a reason to bet?
do i have a reason to call?

I write our student further:

"...now i know you may be feeling crushed right now.  but losing $200 is the reason we gave you a 300 EURO bankroll.  we saw this coming - and we prepared for this ;-)

it is demoralizing, but it is an important experience! you have to:

1) find the strength to pick yourself up and stay focused - keep moving forward
2) trust us when we say this is just a part of the bumpy ride - especially during the learning stages.  the key is to learn from it.  losing this much helps you to never forget some of the things you did wrong.
3) trust yourself the way we trust you... and more!  as i show you some of your hands, you already know what was wrong and right.  you just have to practice and get used to the idea of doing the right thing all the time.

do this, and this will be your lowest point.  we go up from here!"



Time to dig in and clear our heads boys.  The enemy is going to come rushing over that yonder hill.  There will be many of them, but they are going to come at us one at a time.  We won't need a machine gun.  A simple bolt-action rifle will do.  You have the weapons, the ammunition, the protection, the element of surprise.  PICK THEM OFF!  Load, Aim, Fire, Kill.  Rinse and repeat.

One hand at a time.

When you look at things that way, it really is just like shooting fish in a barrel.