How to get to the next level

OK I feel like I've come so far in this game. I feel like I am on the verge of the next level of poker thinking and such. I feel extremely confident when ever I play. I play live poker only now for money cause the online thing just wasn't working out for me. I feel like I'm playing better than I ever have.

My question is what book, training tool, or other can help me get to the next level. I've read, Supersystem, Full Tilt, and read through a couple of other books. I've taken some good "stuff" out of each book. I'm now looking for some training tool that will help me get to the next level.

LET'S SPECIFICALLY BREAK DOWN YOUR MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL GAME!

Mechanics and betting strategies will take you to a certain level, but w/out a high level of mental toughness, the "next level" will avoid you.

NEXT LEVEL, IMO... means outplaying your opponents, mentally!

What do you think I'm thinking you're thinking I'm feeling... because you're thinking "x", and I know that you think I'm feeling what you're feeling... but I'm going to make you guess whether or not I'm really feeling or thinking what you think I am...

I dare you to try to outthink me... impossible, because you never know what I'm thinking or feeling!

Brent, how are you going to reach "next level?" What must you do, mentally and emotionally?

Good luck,
Dayne

Personally ive found that the higher the stakes get the more psychological the game becomes, before sitting down at a table full of sharks i strongly suggest you re think your game from the 3rd person, its risky to assume that your well enough to play at the next level without numbers/graphs/data/large sample size, your view on your game can easily/dangerously be distorted by things like ego and variance.

One of the most important aspects of high stakes play is playing a perfectly balanced style, there are too many observant players watching your every move and the moment they have you figured out your toast, this may sound extremely hard but as you get experienced it becomes second nature, there is a whole lot of reading on this subject but it basically comes down to this: with every move you make think to yourself "what will the other players on the table interpret my style as after this move??" remember the answer to these question's and you will have no probs whatsoever.

I suggest you purchase/read ALL the "Harrington on Holdem" books as they are in written in context of that next "level" you speak of, they are really solid and i suggest you "study" and "research" each chapter in each book rather than reading through it, i have found that doing this really helps.

What do you usually play, rings our tournaments? And what limit?

IE, the difference between moving from $10 NL to $25 NL is substantially less than moving from $50 NL to $100 NL.

As far as training goes, there are several training sites on the web which have video tutorials which are great in that they are specific to online poker. Most have free samples. I've never actually paid for any of their services, but I've learned a lot from what I've seen in the free samples.

experience, at this point, I say you move up and see what you can do, if you can't it will be a learning experience at the very least. you can read all the books you want but your gonna need some experience at a higher level

u can read everything u want,but unless u play the hours of poker just won't click just be a student of the game,pocketfives got some good articals,

Anyone try the poker academy sites? Any value to those??

I need to get to the point where you think I have X and I might really have X and you know that I know what you have and I know you don't know what I have and you know that I know this. Wait... ya I think. JK

Depending on what limits you are playing this may be somewhat counterproductive. If your opponent is a level 0 thinker meaning he only thinks about what cards he has, and you are thinking on level 2 meaning what you think he thinks you have, you will be outthinking yourself, because he's only thinking about his own cards. What you need to do is to assess what level your opponent's thinking level is, and go ONLY 1 level beyond that.

In other words...

"OUTPLAYING YOUR OPPONENTS, MENTALLY"


Dayne

Not to raise the slightest question of skill, but are you properly bankrolled for it? Good BR managment must come first if you plan to be a long term winning player.

Even the very best player can lose it all if he doesn't manage his money. I'm surprised not one post has mentioned this very basic principle of moving up in stakes.