Wanted: techniques to help shift mentality

Lheticus

Lheticus

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As I'm sure is obvious, playing poker in any situation against different overall table skill levels requires different mentalities. Playing in a micro-stakes table where the play is often formulaic or a freeroll where recklessness is practically required to succeed requires more than a different gear than playing in a tournament with buy in reaching multiple hundreds of dollars or a cash game where 3 digits can change hands in any pot--it requires an entirely different poker attitude.

I have what appears to be a rather uncommon problem in that I am mostly unable to participate in games with proper stakes, so I'm surrounded virtually whenever I play by the former case. This means that in the rare instances I can play in something proper, like our freerolls, league, what have you, I have a lot of difficulty adjusting. Does anyone know any mental tricks I can use to help establish a habit of being able to shift my mentality when needed for something like this?
 
XXPXXP

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my experience is : play more and accumulate enough experience or data to help do the brain mental shift.

think mostly happens because of lack of data, you don't know what level of player you are playing against.

if you got enough data for you to know what kind of player or level of player who you play against, it is easier to do this kind of switching gears.

so play more hands.
 
Martinez

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A few years ago when I played more poker, I found that just sticking to my original game plan, starting hands that it was easier to adjust to any situation.
Knowing my own game first was important rather than trying to understand my opponents. The biggest problem with online play is that there are so many players and that it is possible that you will never sit down with the same players that often, so note taking becomes essential in order to have a chance.
Try and play micro satellites to bigger games to get accustomed to bigger tourneys, that way you get to play against better players at bigger buy-ins. An example, I once played a $10 satti and won a $250 ticket to a $10,000 event. By sticking to my own game plan and not trying to play too far outside my box, I managed acredible 12th spot.
 
Lheticus

Lheticus

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my experience is : play more and accumulate enough experience or data to help do the brain mental shift.

think mostly happens because of lack of data, you don't know what level of player you are playing against.

if you got enough data for you to know what kind of player or level of player who you play against, it is easier to do this kind of switching gears.

so play more hands.

A few years ago when I played more poker, I found that just sticking to my original game plan, starting hands that it was easier to adjust to any situation.
Knowing my own game first was important rather than trying to understand my opponents. The biggest problem with online play is that there are so many players and that it is possible that you will never sit down with the same players that often, so note taking becomes essential in order to have a chance.
Try and play micro satellites to bigger games to get accustomed to bigger tourneys, that way you get to play against better players at bigger buy-ins. An example, I once played a $10 satti and won a $250 ticket to a $10,000 event. By sticking to my own game plan and not trying to play too far outside my box, I managed acredible 12th spot.

Both good advice, but I don't think I'm getting across just how acute this mentality shift is. I'm talking going from playing online public freerolls that attract hundreds of players to playing stakes where gameplay at least resembles proper poker. The freerolls on the other hand very much do not, because of the format. Blinds go up very quickly, relatively speaking, and the money is never reached at more than the top 5%, usually less, of a field of hundreds. It practically necessitates outrageous preflop all ins throughout the first stages just to have any kind of legit chance of reaching the money. Sensible play literally cannot even happen.

Going from that to play that's even kind of legitimate is what's extremely difficult for me. It's a total paradigm shift, and my failure to accomplish it saw me go out in last place in our last SMC freeroll.
 
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Both good advice, but I don't think I'm getting across just how acute this mentality shift is. I'm talking going from playing online public freerolls that attract hundreds of players to playing stakes where gameplay at least resembles proper poker. The freerolls on the other hand very much do not, because of the format. Blinds go up very quickly, relatively speaking, and the money is never reached at more than the top 5%, usually less, of a field of hundreds. It practically necessitates outrageous preflop all ins throughout the first stages just to have any kind of legit chance of reaching the money. Sensible play literally cannot even happen.

Going from that to play that's even kind of legitimate is what's extremely difficult for me. It's a total paradigm shift, and my failure to accomplish it saw me go out in last place in our last SMC freeroll.

It helps if you can motivate yourself.

Long term goals
Short term goals.

What do I want, how will I get it? Obvious answer playing wreckless certainly isn't going to get what you want.

Why are the greats so good at what they do?
and what sort of lifestyle do most of them have?
I don't just mean poker.

Study lifes and mindsets of some of the greatest people on the planet and you'l find that control and mental focus is what makes them, and how important having the right lifestyle is
 
n3rv

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I know in the beginning it may seem like public freerolls are impossible to play properly and private/staked games are completely different.

However, if you play your absolutely tightest game in both it is a good place to start for a beginner.

It is also okay to stop playing any public freerolls which you consider pointless in terms of profits or learning.

But believe it or not, these maniac freerolls do teach you something. The problem you are experiencing is that they only teach you how to beat whales, fish, and donks who care very little about the consequences of risk.

These types of players exist elsewhere in poker too, but they are just incredibly rare and only tend to happen in a game with higher stakes if the player is on tilt.

The guys who posted before me are right. With experience you will learn how to adapt to different player types. But in general the main thing is to just have patience.

For example, if you finished last in the last private freeroll, your aim should be to stay in it for an hour next week, and so on. Eventually you will be able to stay in for 3 hours and navigate your way to a win.

If you start to think of poker in terms of outlasting your opponents instead of trying to win everything in the first hand, you will be a better player than yesterday.
 
Lheticus

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I know in the beginning it may seem like public freerolls are impossible to play properly and private/staked games are completely different.

However, if you play your absolutely tightest game in both it is a good place to start for a beginner.

It is also okay to stop playing any public freerolls which you consider pointless in terms of profits or learning.

I don't consider myself a beginner. However, I also said that my rl situation now is such that I can't stop playing those freerolls because it would mean not playing poker altogether except for Cardschat events.

But believe it or not, these maniac freerolls do teach you something. The problem you are experiencing is that they only teach you how to beat whales, fish, and donks who care very little about the consequences of risk.

These types of players exist elsewhere in poker too, but they are just incredibly rare and only tend to happen in a game with higher stakes if the player is on tilt.

The guys who posted before me are right. With experience you will learn how to adapt to different player types. But in general the main thing is to just have patience.

For example, if you finished last in the last private freeroll, your aim should be to stay in it for an hour next week, and so on. Eventually you will be able to stay in for 3 hours and navigate your way to a win.

If you start to think of poker in terms of outlasting your opponents instead of trying to win everything in the first hand, you will be a better player than yesterday.

None of this answers the question I actually asked. This was never about HOW to adapt to different player types, it's about how to get myself TO actually go "okay, this game is different from those derpfests" and physio-mentally switch to the attitude better suited for that play. I have a pretty good idea what that attitude is, what I meant is in my last SMC fail it was a matter of adopting that attitude, which I failed to do. I thought maybe somebody knew one of those silly little mental tricks or something that could help me do that.

Everyone's given me good general advice--however none of it addresses the specific thing I asked.
 
rancidcarp

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I don't consider myself a beginner. However, I also said that my rl situation now is such that I can't stop playing those freerolls because it would mean not playing poker altogether except for Cardschat events.



None of this answers the question I actually asked. This was never about HOW to adapt to different player types, it's about how to get myself TO actually go "okay, this game is different from those derpfests" and physio-mentally switch to the attitude better suited for that play. I have a pretty good idea what that attitude is, what I meant is in my last SMC fail it was a matter of adopting that attitude, which I failed to do. I thought maybe somebody knew one of those silly little mental tricks or something that could help me do that.

Everyone's given me good general advice--however none of it addresses the specific thing I asked.
try playing every type of game to win. no need to change a formula or mindset here. play them all like your life depended on it. why play a donkfest any different than a buy in? youll see the same play everywhere except higher usually means better just keep it in mind and learn from it. .only mental thing that changes it for me is how long the late reg is or is it a bounty or the pay structure. just keep playing all that will come naturally
 
veltins

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just Play your own game . no Need to Change the gear like other Players. but yes try to read other top Players books and put it to your game theories
 
n3rv

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I don't consider myself a beginner. However, I also said that my rl situation now is such that I can't stop playing those freerolls because it would mean not playing poker altogether except for Cardschat events.



None of this answers the question I actually asked. This was never about HOW to adapt to different player types, it's about how to get myself TO actually go "okay, this game is different from those derpfests" and physio-mentally switch to the attitude better suited for that play. I have a pretty good idea what that attitude is, what I meant is in my last SMC fail it was a matter of adopting that attitude, which I failed to do. I thought maybe somebody knew one of those silly little mental tricks or something that could help me do that.

Everyone's given me good general advice--however none of it addresses the specific thing I asked.

If you consciously want to achieve something and your subconscious isn't letting you do it then it could be a range of issues that is making you tilt... hunger, tiredness, boredom etc. - these are things which are personal and aren't always quick to address.

But honestly, advice such as "try to only focus on poker in terms of the time you want to last" is intended to be taken as a little mental trick to stop your subconscious from tilting into donk mode too early on in the tourney. Other tricks to get you aware of the present moment include only focussing on your breath.

I assume people offering advice are actually telling you their personal little tricks that help them shift their mentality in some ways before they play. Maybe if you write out what you intend to do before you play it could help your conscious thoughts get into your subconscious.
 
BearPlay

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I couldn't agree more with N3rv.

I believe that every shift in behavior begins first with a Decision. And, thereafter, as threats to the new behavior change come up, address them with: "No, I'm going to honor my decision to _________".
 
Ducbim

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I think that freerolls only ruin your game and you can't learn anything good from freerolls. In freeroll you have to beat thousands of players just to earn few bucks, you need to have extreme luck. To improve your game you need to play at stake that is suitable for you: not too low & not too high, depends on your bankroll. If you play too low, you will not value your chips. On the other hand if you play too high, you will start to scare your opponent's big bets and make bad decisions. Practice a lot in your affordable stake & focus on the game.
 
gus201

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Every one has come across this at one point and time in their career of poker .
learning how to evaluate the table and getting a good evaluation of the individual player will help out here.

If your a math player and using PT , or Holdem Indicator then knowing what the numbers mean and having enough data to make a good generalization of the players. I think some where they have the explanation for the percentages to tell you some what how to play .

learning from free rolls will help your game if you know what your looking for and can understand the players and how each individual will react against you .
Remember you can have the same type of player/players around you but each will act and respond differently .

If you start their and work on some of this it may help your game .

Good Skill at the table



My question is to you after rereading your posts again is this " Do You Know what your needing to move on ? if you do then you know what the problem is and should have an Idea how to fix it " seams to me and others you have more a problem then you think .
 
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