Schnitzelfisch Q & A - Become a productive poker player!

Hi Schnitzelfisch,

after reading the vision-chapter in your productivity guide, I took my time to develop my personal vision statement, which is broken down into the mindmap you can see below.

Since it's my personal statement, you obviously can't judge about some of the points being 'right' oder 'wrong'. However, I'd like you to point me to any logical fallacies you can find, or, more importantly, conflicts within the statement. The biggest conflict I see is between my education/CV and my 'Plan B', of which I'd have a couple. However, I don't see me having the time/energy to pursue any of them, despite the fact that I'm very inspired by your goal of becoming a millionaire which I think is faster reached by doing stuff like poker, instead of pursuing a business career.

Kind Regards,
gsusin

Hi Schnitzelfisch,
I all ready have made quite some changes in my life through you and I am feeling really good about it. I believe for sure that it will have positive affect.

Now, I am at brainstorming. I think it is very usefull. In the first place, I hope it will possitive affect my sleep. I all ready have note down everything what I know immediatelly and also have used your questions, but I really find quite hard. Obv in the next days I will complete it further, so mayby I am a bit to fast with my question, but I have the feeling that I still have to much in my head, but I can't get it out and probaly when I am trying to sleep, it will come. Do you suggest, that I always wake up and write it down or do you have ways to 'get it out of my head on paper'.

@gsusin: What did you use to do that mind-map? I'm looking for good software to do my mind-maps/flow-charts.

@SF: How did you learn poker? Did you learn certain skills in a certain order, i.e. value-betting, then blind-stealing, etc. Or did you just focus on basics then just see where you were weakest?

Will try to think of some more questions.

Couple of questions about nutrition:

Is drinking milk with breakfast & lunch a good or a bad thing?
What kind of stuff is good to put on a slice of bread?
What kind of meals are really healthy fast and easy to cook?

hey Schnitz, thanks for adding me on skype, i'l chat to you soon I hope.

What are your thoughts on the mental impact of taking stabs at a higher stake and failing?

Why does my brain just not hold information!?

I've watched many videos, read many articles and had alot of hands reviewed but the information just doesn't hold, I've been this way since I can remember. I can already read your mind "Take Notes" but is this truly the only way to get it to stick in?

I've never had problems remember pictures, my brain is like a camera at times, but this doesn't help for words and poker strategy

Originally posted by gsusin
Hi Schnitzelfisch,

after reading the vision-chapter in your productivity guide, I took my time to develop my personal vision statement, which is broken down into the mindmap you can see below.

Since it's my personal statement, you obviously can't judge about some of the points being 'right' oder 'wrong'. However, I'd like you to point me to any logical fallacies you can find, or, more importantly, conflicts within the statement. The biggest conflict I see is between my education/CV and my 'Plan B', of which I'd have a couple. However, I don't see me having the time/energy to pursue any of them, despite the fact that I'm very inspired by your goal of becoming a millionaire which I think is faster reached by doing stuff like poker, instead of pursuing a business career.

Kind Regards,
gsusin

Hey there,

I really like the way that you've visualized your vision, and I also think it's great that you've taken the time to think about what you want and how to get it :).

Maybe one thing that you could add is frequent self-reflection and self-criticism. Doing things like daily/weekly reviews and being honest with yourself can help you progress and improve even more. Doing things like time logging and tracking your progress can help you out here.

Another thing that you can think about is how you can connect socializing to other areas of your life. Can you go to the gym/sports with friends/family members? Can you study for uni together with friends? Can you work on poker/entrepreneurship with friends? This can enable you to get the most out of your time.

Maybe there's one more thing that you could add, and that's constant learning and self-improvement, by doing things like reading books, attending courses, conferences, maybe going out of your comfort zone by trying out some new/exotic sports, etc. :).

I understand that you might feel like you don't have the time to pursue other things apart from uni, as I have also felt the same in the past and would probably feel the same if i were you right now.

But with time, I have personally come to realize that it's not about having time. It's about making time and using your time efficiently :). I can already see that you're investing time into exercising, which is great - and it also proves that you can make time for things.

I'm sure that you know quite a few people yourself who will always find some excuse that they don't have the time to go to the gym because they're busy ;). And then you see them watching TV for 3 hours each evening, because they're tired ♦.

If you work on constantly increasing your energy levels (sleep, nutrition, exercise), you will be able to get more and more done in the same amount of time. Managing your energy efficiently can help you a lot (doing hard things when you have a lot of energy, doing easy ones when you don't), also maybe organizing yourself could help (take a look at the books "Getting things done" and "Eat that frog" for example).

You can also try to be honest with yourself and track your everything you do for some days (time logging), and identify the things that you do which don't really provide any value to you (do you browse the internet mindlessly? spend time on facebook/9gag? play games on your mobile phone? ). Once you identify them, you can slowly eliminate them/start using that time more productively.

Another thing which you can do is try to carry books/audiobooks with you at all times, so you can listen to them/read to them while on a bus/train or while you're walking/driving/exercising.

I'm not sure if it is my place to give you an opinion on college/entrepreneurship/poker, as each of them has its pros and cons and what is best for you really depends on what you want. I'm sure that if you decide to invest time into something else apart from it, you will find a way to make time for it, even if you make some other sacrifises.

If you are really interested in what you're studying and see yourself as an employee, there's nothing wrong with that. I do however agree that it's always wise to have a plan b/multiple streams of income, as they can help you avoid unpleasant situations in life :).

I hope this helps,

-SF

Originally posted by liessens
Hi Schnitzelfisch,
I all ready have made quite some changes in my life through you and I am feeling really good about it. I believe for sure that it will have positive affect.

Now, I am at brainstorming. I think it is very usefull. In the first place, I hope it will possitive affect my sleep. I all ready have note down everything what I know immediatelly and also have used your questions, but I really find quite hard. Obv in the next days I will complete it further, so mayby I am a bit to fast with my question, but I have the feeling that I still have to much in my head, but I can't get it out and probaly when I am trying to sleep, it will come. Do you suggest, that I always wake up and write it down or do you have ways to 'get it out of my head on paper'.

Hey there,

it's very nice to hear that you're applying the knowledge yourself and improving as a person, keep it up!

What I do to avoid having too many things in my head is try to always write them down immediately when I think of them. So for example I would always carry a small notepad with me or a phone in which I would write whatever got into my head that I don't want to forget later on. Later I process these notes and put them into proper places.

I think you can do this before you go to sleep/when you wake up as well yeah, so whatever is on your mind you should just write it down immediately, and eventually you will run out of the things that you'll want to write down ;).

Of course this is a long process and takes quite a bit of time to really clear your head, but it's definitely worth it since it'll be easier for you to fall asleep in the future and also you won't forget things :).

What often happens is that when you think of something, you will then immediately think of something else as well (associations), which is good because it will enable you to clear your head faster. What you can also do is try to go through the questions again every day/every 2nd day or so.

Let me know how it goes!

-SF

Originally posted by Raknyo

@SF: How did you learn poker? Did you learn certain skills in a certain order, i.e. value-betting, then blind-stealing, etc. Or did you just focus on basics then just see where you were weakest?

Will try to think of some more questions.

Hey there,

I've started playing poker 4+ years ago, when I had rather little knowledge of how to learn efficiently to be honest. But when I look back at it, I think my learning ways were actually pretty good. Let's see.

I remember that I used to read all the articles that were available to me at the current status level. I was obsessed with making notes, so I noted everything down, rewrote/printed out preflop charts, etc. (played fixed limit, a lot of charts there).

I remember even trying to make charts/mind maps for postflop play, that was quite fun actually ♦. So I wrote down different strategies for different postflop scenarios, really going into details.

The bad thing was that I relied on those charts too much while playing. Even though it worked for me, I think that I should've focused more on understanding than just copying things into my head at that time. It was the "articls says that i should do this, so i'll do it" attitude. I never doubted an article or tried to think about other, more creative ways.

I also spent a lot of time in the hand evaluation section, posting hands, evaluating other peoples' hands and used equilab a lot to analyse the spots in depth. I think that really helped me improve as a player, improved my hand range thinking, etc. I also became a voluntary hand judge for fixed limit, so apparently I've been doing something right.

With time, things changed of course. Now I would work on my own game way more, analyze spots in depth, find my weaknesses and work on them. I think articles and videos are fine, but they should be perceived more like guidelines than rules/ultimate truths.

Of course, for a beginner they are a must. But when you progress through the stakes, you should invest more and more time into developing your own game in my opinion. Working on your game on your own and also with a small group of very motivated people who play similar games+limits than you should be the best way.

When you come to a relatively high level, it's wise to try to polish your thought process and focus during your sweat sessions as well.

If you have any more specific questions that could help you more with your situation, please let me know :).

-SF

Originally posted by Riverdiver
Couple of questions about nutrition:

Is drinking milk with breakfast & lunch a good or a bad thing?
What kind of stuff is good to put on a slice of bread?
What kind of meals are really healthy fast and easy to cook?

Hey there,

hmm, I'm not sure what exactly you're wondering about - productivity effects or health effects?

1. I don't think drinking milk is as bad a thing as some people advertise it. I don't think it's a good thing either. For productivity it shouldn't matter/make a difference though. As for the health, there are many different opinions on it. I personally think it's not the healthiest option, but if you drink it in moderation, I don't think that you should have any problems because of it.

2. I don't really eat bread ♦. Some ideas though:
-vegetables
-eggs
-tuna/sardines/salmon (smoked/canned), other fish
-you could also try making some spreads with tuna + yoghurt, etc.

3. Chicken ♦! Meals with chicken and vegetables are quite fast, also things like eggs + vegetables, omelettes, protein shakes, smoothies (fruit + yoghurt + nuts maybe), salads (with tuna/eggs again), fish fillets are also fast to cook... Maybe google to find some quick recipes, then pick out the ones that have healthy and fresh ingredients :).

-SF

Originally posted by conall88
hey Schnitz, thanks for adding me on skype, i'l chat to you soon I hope.

What are your thoughts on the mental impact of taking stabs at a higher
stake and failing?

Hey there,

well I think this depends on the mindset of the person who takes the shots :).

If they have a good mindset, they won't care. If they fail the shot, they'll usually accept it, move back down, work on their game more, maybe try out some new stuff on the lower limit which they're crushing, grind back the monies and take a new shot, rinse and repeat till they succeed :).

If they have a bad mindset, not many good things can happen as you could imagine ♦. They can tilt, don't want to move down, start playing bad, bust their bankroll, become really demotivated, etc.

If you're asking more in a way like "should you take shots and what should you do if you fail at them?", I can say:

Yes, definitely take shots! Get out of your comfort zone, it's the only way that you can improve ;). Sure, you'll fail some of them. Perhaps many of them. But if you set a stop/loss when taking shots (to avoid having a huge downswing on a new limit), and constantly be willing to move down if things go in the wrong way + work on your game, you should be fine. Constantly evaluating your game and mindset will help you a lot along the way as well :).

-SF

Originally posted by MattDenness
Why does my brain just not hold information!?

I've watched many videos, read many articles and had alot of hands reviewed but the information just doesn't hold, I've been this way since I can remember. I can already read your mind "Take Notes" but is this truly the only way to get it to stick in?

I've never had problems remember pictures, my brain is like a camera at times, but this doesn't help for words and poker strategy

Hey there,

taking notes is definitely not the only option to remember things, but it's a fairly efficient one. Here's why: It's active. It makes you think about the things you write. It makes you do something while you watch the video, not just watch it without focus. It's easy to understand things when someone tells them to you, but it's hard to repeat them after 1 hour (or in an exam at uni for example ♦).

So the key to good recall in my opinion is active learning.

Here are some things that you can try:

-You can try stopping the video and thinking about the concepts yourself while watching the video. Try to guess ranges yourself before the coach tells them, try to think what you would do in the spots in the video, etc. The key is to THINK about the information that is presented to you, not just accept it.

-You can try repeating the things in your head in your own words. You can maybe try modifying the feynman technique so that you tell the worlds to yourself in your own words, instead of writing them down.

-You can learn way better if you learn the things as if you had to teach them to someone later on. This will immediately make you focus on more details and pay more attention. OR, even better! Schedule some sweat sessions with a friend to discuss what you've learned from the video/try to teach things to a friend. You can do it over skype chat too :).

-You say that you're a visual person? Try using some visualizations then. You can try to be creative and visualize some concepts, or maybe work with programs like equilab to get nice visualizations of hand ranges :).

-Another thing that you can make if you like visuals are mind maps. Try connecting things, drawing maps, making some illustrations, etc. It should definitely be more fun than just writing down sentences!

-You can try working on your game intensively while you're playing. Think about hand ranges constantly. Think about the possible lines that you could take. Try to exploit the opponents all the time. This will definitely help you improve your game as well. Reviewing hands in a hand replayer might work as well, since that's kind of visual.

Last, but not least, make sure that you're 100% focused while learning and that you don't have other distractions, such as skype, forums, phone, etc. near you when you're learning.

You can take a look at my Learning to Learn video series for some more ideas, maybe you could use some thought process drills/database filters/database hand reading drills to work on your game instead of articles and videos :).

Consistency is also very important with learning. If you learn once in a while/post hands once in a while, the progress will be slow. If you work on your game daily, the results will come ;).

Writing things down is definitely good in any case though, because you can keep them for future reference, and because if you write something down, you force yourself to be active. So don't completely ignore that ;).

-SF

Thanks SF

I've taken notes on all my hand Evals this year in a word document. It seems I already subconsciously do this "feynman technique" I will read it out in my head and explain it to myself until I understand it. This only little step I've made has made a change already

Thanks again!

Originally posted by Schnitzelfisch

Originally posted by gsusin

Spoiler

Hi Schnitzelfisch,

after reading the vision-chapter in your productivity guide, I took my time to develop my personal vision statement, which is broken down into the mindmap you can see below.

Since it's my personal statement, you obviously can't judge about some of the points being 'right' oder 'wrong'. However, I'd like you to point me to any logical fallacies you can find, or, more importantly, conflicts within the statement. The biggest conflict I see is between my education/CV and my 'Plan B', of which I'd have a couple. However, I don't see me having the time/energy to pursue any of them, despite the fact that I'm very inspired by your goal of becoming a millionaire which I think is faster reached by doing stuff like poker, instead of pursuing a business career.

Kind Regards,
gsusin

Hey there,

I really like the way that you've visualized your vision, and I also think it's great that you've taken the time to think about what you want and how to get it :).

Maybe one thing that you could add is frequent self-reflection and self-criticism. Doing things like daily/weekly reviews and being honest with yourself can help you progress and improve even more. Doing things like time logging and tracking your progress can help you out here.

Another thing that you can think about is how you can connect socializing to other areas of your life. Can you go to the gym/sports with friends/family members? Can you study for uni together with friends? Can you work on poker/entrepreneurship with friends? This can enable you to get the most out of your time.

Maybe there's one more thing that you could add, and that's constant learning and self-improvement, by doing things like reading books, attending courses, conferences, maybe going out of your comfort zone by trying out some new/exotic sports, etc. :).

I understand that you might feel like you don't have the time to pursue other things apart from uni, as I have also felt the same in the past and would probably feel the same if i were you right now.

But with time, I have personally come to realize that it's not about having time. It's about making time and using your time efficiently :). I can already see that you're investing time into exercising, which is great - and it also proves that you can make time for things.

I'm sure that you know quite a few people yourself who will always find some excuse that they don't have the time to go to the gym because they're busy ;). And then you see them watching TV for 3 hours each evening, because they're tired ♦.

If you work on constantly increasing your energy levels (sleep, nutrition, exercise), you will be able to get more and more done in the same amount of time. Managing your energy efficiently can help you a lot (doing hard things when you have a lot of energy, doing easy ones when you don't), also maybe organizing yourself could help (take a look at the books "Getting things done" and "Eat that frog" for example).

You can also try to be honest with yourself and track your everything you do for some days (time logging), and identify the things that you do which don't really provide any value to you (do you browse the internet mindlessly? spend time on facebook/9gag? play games on your mobile phone? ). Once you identify them, you can slowly eliminate them/start using that time more productively.

Another thing which you can do is try to carry books/audiobooks with you at all times, so you can listen to them/read to them while on a bus/train or while you're walking/driving/exercising.

I'm not sure if it is my place to give you an opinion on college/entrepreneurship/poker, as each of them has its pros and cons and what is best for you really depends on what you want. I'm sure that if you decide to invest time into something else apart from it, you will find a way to make time for it, even if you make some other sacrifises.

If you are really interested in what you're studying and see yourself as an employee, there's nothing wrong with that. I do however agree that it's always wise to have a plan b/multiple streams of income, as they can help you avoid unpleasant situations in life :).

I hope this helps,

-SF

Schnitzelfisch, thanks a lot for your reply! I am doing daily, weekly and monthly reviews and I've done time tracking exercises before and listened to some audio books on poker psychology.

Your suggestion of including self-reflection into the vision statement is nice, I'll do that by the end of next month. I want to focus on sleep and energy in the upcoming weeks, as I believe Scott Young when he says that energy is the scarce factor for productivity, not time (just like you say).

Do you have any more suggestions on sleep than the ones is can find in your productivity guide? I'm especially looking for answers to the following questions:

• What room temperature is optimal for sleep?
• How do I find out how much sleep I actually require?
• How long before going to sleep should I (not) eat (and what)?
• How long before going to sleep should I be away from my computer?
• What should I do to get tired, so that I don't stay up in bed?
• Is there a way to find out at what times I should not wake up because I'm in an REM-phase?
• Do things like light clocks actually help waking up in the morning?

If you can point me to somebody who knows this kind of stuff, that would also be appreciated!

Best,
gsusin

Hi Schnitzelfisch,

I'm currently a student and I do most of my work at the university.
So, when I have an exam coming, I go to the library and I learn there. This works really well for me, it's a nice environment and there is not much that distracts me.
The problem is when I want to learn at home, there is always a distraction and I get nothing or very little done. I end up surfing the web mindlessly or doing something else unproductive.

Next semester I can do most of my work at home (programming plus my bachelor thesis).
In fact I have to do most of my work at home, because I need my own computer.
Also I would lose two hours everyday for the drive to the university, so I really would like to get more productive at home.

Any thoughts on that?

Originally posted by gsusin

Schnitzelfisch, thanks a lot for your reply! I am doing daily, weekly and monthly reviews and I've done time tracking exercises before and listened to some audio books on poker psychology.

Your suggestion of including self-reflection into the vision statement is nice, I'll do that by the end of next month. I want to focus on sleep and energy in the upcoming weeks, as I believe Scott Young when he says that energy is the scarce factor for productivity, not time (just like you say).

Do you have any more suggestions on sleep than the ones is can find in your productivity guide? I'm especially looking for answers to the following questions:

• What room temperature is optimal for sleep?
• How do I find out how much sleep I actually require?
• How long before going to sleep should I (not) eat (and what)?
• How long before going to sleep should I be away from my computer?
• What should I do to get tired, so that I don't stay up in bed?
• Is there a way to find out at what times I should not wake up because I'm in an REM-phase?
• Do things like light clocks actually help waking up in the morning?

If you can point me to somebody who knows this kind of stuff, that would also be appreciated!

Best,
gsusin

Hey there,

I'm not sure if I can answer all of the questions, but I will do my best to help you with most of them.

You can find out how much sleep you actually require simply by testing. If you wanted to find the optimal sleep schedule for yourself, it would probably be best to test many different schedules for a month each and see how it goes.

On the other hand, if you did this, there would be a lot of adapting periods which will screw up your productivity while you're testing this. I would recommend you to still do some testing (and ofc. to make notes on how you felt during the days with different schedules etc.), but maybe just try out a couple of different schedules (maybe normal 8h/night at consistent time, biphasic, polyphasic) and see which one works best for you.

In my opinion, it's good to eat before you go to sleep (I'd say 30min-1h), because this will allow you to sleep and recover better (especially if you exercise a lot during the day). I think it's best if you eat a meal that is rich in slow-absorbing protein, because the idea is to avoid starving throughout the night. I would also add some fibres, which slow down the absorption of proteins even more. Examples? Fish, meat, eggs, dairy, etc. combined with vegetables/fruit.

The longer time you are away from the computer before sleep, the better ♦. 30min is really bare minimum IMO, 1h is even better. This will enable your brain and eyes to rest/shut down slowly.

Reading books before bed works great for me, or playing with my cat/talking to my gf/parents.

I'm afraid that I don't know the answers to room temperature, REM timing and the light clock, but you can get some more info on sleep by reading this article, and perhaps ask Demarco if he knows the answers to the other questions.

Btw, what is a light clock ♦? I do know that getting natural light into your room as soon as you wake up (and also going out of the appartment to actually see the natural light) will help you wake up faster.

I hope this helps,

-SF

Originally posted by Arwed
Hi Schnitzelfisch,

I'm currently a student and I do most of my work at the university.
So, when I have an exam coming, I go to the library and I learn there. This works really well for me, it's a nice environment and there is not much that distracts me.
The problem is when I want to learn at home, there is always a distraction and I get nothing or very little done. I end up surfing the web mindlessly or doing something else unproductive.

Next semester I can do most of my work at home (programming plus my bachelor thesis).
In fact I have to do most of my work at home, because I need my own computer.
Also I would lose two hours everyday for the drive to the university, so I really would like to get more productive at home.

Any thoughts on that?

Hey there,

I understand how you feel, I've had similar experiences in the past. What I think would be the optimal solution is to keep going to a library or a similar environment,

1. because there are no distractions
2. because other people will study around you, which will motivate you
3. because you can study together with other people/help each other out

For these exact reasons I work from an office together with a couple of poker players, even though I could potentially work from home. Interdependence is just so much better.

But if you do really want to work from home, then I suggest that you do some research. You can find out what exactly distracts you (make a list of these things!), then develop solutions for each of them.

For example, in order to eliminate browsing on the internet, get a program like Stayfocusd or LeechBlock. To avoid being distracted by people calling you on the phone, put the phone in quiet mode/turn it off while studying. And so on.

Another thing that you can do to eliminate distractions is wake up early. Other people will be at work/school/sleeping, so they won't be able to distract you as much as in the evening ;).

Once you've identified the possible distractions, let me know if you should have any problems with eliminating them. I'd be happy to help you out :).

-SF

Alright Schnitz RTT314 here once again.

I thought I'd make a reflection post regarding my last month in case ure wondering whats up with me or any of that jazz. I expect this post to be rambling around quite a bit - i will mainly say out whatever i think in whatever order it comes.

So lets seeee.

Basically quite a lot of stuff happened in february and I'm pretty glad overall with my productivity in that month.
I kept a lot of stuff from what i initially started ( i hope you still remember and if not check my older posts ) but there were some stuff which fell out from my schedule even though I did kept doing them for a month.
Like I have a 90% healthy diet now for 2 months + and I cant see that i will move back to my old diet any time soon. I make a break day every 1-2 weeks and I also eat some chocolate a few times but thats all when it comes to bad stuff.
On the other hand for instance i completely stopped with yoga. And I do not even miss it! Or I do not feel that i would be in a disadvantage by not doing it throughout the day so I'm completely okay with that. I guess I naturally stopped doing what was unnecessary anyway?

Other thing which I kept doing are: playing the red X game in my calendar, going to gym 2 times a week and also walking on avg about 30 mins/day, making an excel table where i write down each productive thing I did that day and I reward myself with a little bit of money for each of those things. (I bought the Harry Potter Collectors Edition from that money already and a cool wireless headset haha)
Also I watch a poker video each day and take notes out of that into a word sheet.

A funny thing is that I made this "accountability partner" thing with the poker videos. I gave 30x30$s to a friend of mine and he gives me back 30$ for each video I watch. If i miss out on a video he gets to keep the 30$ for that video. Sounds cruel but it makes me do it and my friend wont mind the extra money either if I miss out on one vid. (which I did alrdy once)

TBH in retrospect my february was a lot less strict than my january considering my plans but I still completed ~ 70% of the stuff that I initially did in january.
Another thing which is in my head that dont feel too much happier than before these changes still. Its nothing BIG I mean im not unhappy or anything. I never was. But I guess I expected to get a bigger mood or feeling change over the longrun than what I actually got so far. Thats the only thing:)

Alright pretty much these stuff came out of my mind this time. I'm curious what will you say about them,
RTT314

Hey, that's some awesome progress!

I see that you're gold now also :). Keep us updated!

-SF