I need help staying Focused, and patient.

[Tigersmith]

Well yea, over the past week I have been having trouble staying focused at the online felt, usually I just give up sometimes even though when im clearly not out of the tourney at all. When I was focused and ready to play on Thursday and friday I cashed in 4 of the 4 events I played. 41st in the Fifty Fifty on FT, 81st on a 20k guaranteed on stars, 1st in the $10 rebuy Sunday million sat. So clearly im doing something right, when im staying focused and patient. Subbed to pokerxFactor 3 weeks ago and it has helped my play soo much its crazy, im going deeper in tourneys with bigger stacks and it seems like im always ahead going all in. (Its ok if i lose ahead thats poker)

Yesterday I played the sunday million for the first time, I ended up getting through 2 hrs of play until i made some stupid move at 17k chips when the average was 28-29k at the time. So yea I ended up in 2663rd place. I was focused for the whole first hr and a half then I lost it.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how they stay focused and patient? Im feeling very confident about my play style right now, but not focusing and not being patient are really killing me. As i know i could be a 100% better player if I just conquered those couple things.

Thanks guys.

 

[flint]

I find that playing with chips helps me stay focused, although I don't necessarily need them.

I think the psychology behind is something like you feel more like you are playing a 'real' game.

 

[maxima191]

I try to listen to relaxing music and try not to play alot of hands to establish a solid image and push the table when it's time.
I watch videos on pokertube to get ideas and always study poker books.

gl-Hope to see you at the wsop someday

 

[Tigersmith]

I actually do shuffle chips while I play online, but I also drink large amounts of red bull. and I think that really hurts me..im gonna stop that this week and see how it works.

 

[flint]

I actually do shuffle chips while I play online, but I also drink large amounts of red bull. and I think that really hurts me..im gonna stop that this week and see how it works.

Yea, I was drinking ED, another energy drink yesterday and I found it to hurt my game very much, being overtly hyper was just not good for the game. I don't know if it was because of that my throat feels stuffy now.

I think you should not drink the energy drink until you are very tired, meaning you're like 5 hours in and its like 2am.

Here are a few one more tips to stay focused. Don't play that many tournaments, but before you do play a 'big' event you need to mentally prepare for it. Forexample I sometimes take a few drinks with my friends and just relax knowing that tomorrow is the 'big' one and now I need to have fun with my friends and relax.

Are you doing enough sports? If not then you should definately hit the gym or something regularily. I think one good way to focus is to get outside and just look around at the beauty of nature (if possible). Here in finland I can climb to the nearby hill and see the whole city from there, while I get refreshed from the cold air. Then I get back to my house like 10-20 minutes before the tournament starts and turn on the music. I prefer to play hip hop music where the notion of being the best comes through.

 

[Stick66]

I actually do shuffle chips while I play online, but I also drink large amounts of red bull. and I think that really hurts me..im gonna stop that this week and see how it works.

When I read the title, that's exactly what I was gonna say. Coke or Pepsi = Yes. Red Bull = No.

As far as patience goes, I've learned that a player needs realize that true poker success comes in the long term. When I used to have trouble with patience is when I was trying to win EVERY hand or even every session. Now, I don't even pay attention to my win rate until the end of each month. I focus on making the right decisions and not making a certain amount of profit per session. Try it.

 

[flint]

And to get you really focused I'll give you one more tip of mine: Narrate your play. Seriously, just think you're making a video and need to tell the audience what is going on in your head. Not only helps you concentrate, but also helps you improve your game as you have to validate reasons how you play certain hands.

Also you could try to make videos for your own use. I find these are good in reviewing what your thought process was with each hand.