Hey guys!
My name is Erik Stenqvist and I will be one of the coaches on this bootcamp focusing on the mental side of poker. I will be be looking through your threads for anything I feel I can assist with, give my take on or help you break down issues you are struggling with.
Poker today is becoming more and more about who can play their A-Game most often, longer and avoiding tilt. From my experience the emotional and mental side of poker is the one area where you can be a "fish" in relation to your poker skillset and still play higher stakes. Why? Because almost everyone else struggles to it to some extent, and some can't beat 50NL because of it. So stay ahead of the curve and put some rewarding and necessary work on you approach to learning the game, structure, becoming stronger mentally, and balance in your life in general.
They way I look at the game is different from most players. I don't see poker as anything else than a highly competitive arena with time pressure, monetary risk, lack of control, and tough decisions. The person that you are is who is going to show up at the tables, not the poker player, not the coach, just you. When we look at poker this way we have many more tools to work with, if we accept and recognize that the issues we have at the tables are ultimately personal in nature and only our reaction t the current situation, we can begin to put some practical work into changing our approach to the game.
Most players know the logic behind tilt, the theory so to say. But yet so many players struggle greatly with tilt and fear in the game. And the reason is often that we try to sort out our mental game problem by thinking about them. It's almost like going to the gym and thinking about lifting weights, you got to do the work. Something I feel is lacking in the poker world is a structured practical approach of exercises, mainly while playing but also away from the tables, where we can actually practice handling emotions, negative thought patterns, and tilt.
But first we need to take a step back and take a look at ourselves and out issues and accept that they are there whether we like it or not. We then need to bring awareness to the issue, ask ourselves some tough questions, and then start looking for tools in form of exercises so that we don't go unarmed to the arena when we start facing the issues.
I also practice what I preach. If I have advice for you or tell you what I think it's because I have either done it myself or I have experience working with someone else on the same issue. In the style of the bootcamp ill try to be as direct, honest and effectively helpful as possible to cut straight to what I believe is the core issue.
If you have anything that you feel might be to personal don't hesitate to pm here on the forums.
Lastly I want to say that I'm happy and excited to be here, to ahev a chance to work with you and help as much as I can!
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If you want me to have a look at something in your thread just say hello here or bump and I'll have a look. I will try to look through the threads as much as I can but you can always get in touch with me here if I missed anything...
~ Erik Stenqvist