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“He has been such an enormous help to me. I now play virtually tilt-free

and bring my A

-game nearly every time

I play.

”

—

_{Dusty “Leatherass”}

_{Dusty “Leatherass” Schmidt, PokerStars Team Online Pro}

_{Schmidt, PokerStars Team Online Pro}

Author of

Don’t Listen to Phil Hellmuth and Treat Your Poker Like a Business

“I think I’ve been one of the most successful online players over the past

ﬁve years, and there’s been no greater positive inﬂuence on my game

than Jared and nothing else

even comes close.”

—

_{Niman “Samoleus” Kenkre, BlueFire Poker Coach}

“Jared has helped me develop strategies to better manage my approach

to poker and business. If you are having issues with the mental side of

your poker game, I recommend Jared’s services.”

—

Taylor Caby, Co-founder of Cardrunners

“Until Jared, the only advice I had heard about tilt, even from respected

coaches, was ‘don’t do it.’ Now I’m winning almost 12bb/100 playing

stakes as high as

$50/$1

00 Heads Up

00 Heads Up NL.”

NL.”

—

_Liz

_{Liz “RikJamesB1atch” Herrera}

_{“RikJamesB1atch” Herrera}

“Jared invented the ﬁeld as far as I’m

concerned.”

—

_Jesse

_{Jesse May, The}

_{May, The V}

_V

_oice

_{oice of Poker}

_{of Poker}

“Jared Tendler is a pioneer of the poker mental game.

“Jared Tendler is a pioneer of the poker mental game. No one else

No one else

even

compares to his fact-based, scientiﬁc approach that is backed up by

years of

years of study in modern psy

study in modern psy

chology.

This book is the ﬁrst

of its kind and

should be considered m

andatory reading for

andatory reading for any poker player

any poker player

.”

—

_{Hunter Bick}

_{, Professional}

_{, Professional poker player}

_{poker player}

_,

_{, DragTheB}

_{DragTheBar CEO}

_{ar CEO}

“Tilt? Jared Tendler extends his arm and casually ﬂicks a

middle ﬁnger

at it.”

Jon Young, Edi

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(5)

tematically rid yourself of the issues that are getting in the way of

reach-ing your potential. I don’t know where I would be today

ing your potential. I don’t know where I would be today

without him.”

—

_{Danny Steinberg, High}

_{Stakes Professional}

“I’ve met quite a few people in this ﬁeld and no one has had the effect

that Jared did.”

—

Sea

Sean

n Gibson,

Gibson,

Poker News Daily

“I can honestly say that working with Jared is one of the best

invest-ments I’ve ever made.”

ments I’ve ever made.”

—

_{Matt “mbolt1” Bolt,}

_{Matt “mbolt1” Bolt, DragTheBa}

_{DragTheBar Coac}

_{r Coac}

_h

“Jared’s approach works very well because he doesn’t put a patch on

the problem and instead changes t

he way you think, not just about

he way you think, not just about poker

poker

but life in general.”

—

_{Pascal “Stake Monster” Tremblay, Cardrunners Coach}

“Jared is a smart, hard-working, funny guy who is extremely good at his

job. He manages to be both personal and professional, which is a hard

thing to do.

thing to do. If you have tilt issues that cos

If you have tilt issues that cos

t you money

t you money, then you’re down-

, then you’re

down-right silly not to work with him.”

right silly not to work with him.”

—

_P

_aul

_{aul “GiantBuddha}

_{“GiantBuddha”}

_{” Hoppe, DragTheBar Coac}

_{Hoppe, DragTheBar Coac}

_h

Author of

Way of the Poker Warrior

“He teaches you t

hings you simply can’t learn by playing.”

—

_{Ben “NeverScare}

_dB”

_{dB” Wilinofsky}

_Wilinofsky

“I worked with Jared for three mont

hs and my progress was nothing

short of phenomenal.”

—

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(7)

Golf Sets the Stage ...2

Enter Poker ...5

Client’s Story: Dusty “Leatherass” Schmidt

...6

I’m Not a Poker Player ...7

The Problem wit

The Problem with Conventional Pok

h Conventional Poker Psychology

er Psychology

...

...8

Mental Game Fish ...9

Mental Game Strategy

Mental Game Strategy...

...

..

1

0

0 Mental Game Myths ...11

Mental Game Myths ...11

How to Use This Book ...11

2

2 F

F

O U

N

D A

T I

O N

O N . . .

. . .

1

15

5 T H E

T H E

A D U L T L E A R N I N G

M O D E L

. . . .

1

6

6 Sidebar: Flaws are Skills

Sidebar: Flaws are Skills

...

1

8

8 I N C H W O R M

I N C H W O R M

. . . .

. . . . .

2 0

Client’s Story: Niman “Samoleus” Kenkre

...

24

24 Two Common Learning Mistakes ...26

Two Common Learning Mistakes ...26

T H E

P R O C E S S

M O D E L

. . . .

. . . . .

2 8

Preparation/Warm-up ...30

Client’s Story: Dusty “Leatherass” Schmidt

...

3

1

1 Performa

Performa

nce

...

32

32 Sidebar: Results-oriented Thinking

Sidebar: Results-oriented Thinking

...

33

33 Resu

Results

lts

...

34

34 Eval

Evaluation

uation

...

.

34

34 Client’s Story: Niman “Samoleus” Kenkre

Client’s Story: Niman “Samoleus” Kenkre

...

35

35 Analy

Analysis

sis

...

36

36 Use the Process Model Every Day ...36

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(9)

Reso

Resolution

lution

...

....

40

40 Malfun

Malfunctioni

ctioning

ng Mind

Mind

...

4

1

1 Two Causes of Emotion ...42

Two Causes of Emotion ...42

Accumul

Accumulated

ated Emotion ...

Emotion ...

...

43

43 Spectru

Spectrum

m of

of Emotion

Emotion

...

45

45 Performa

Performance

nce and

and Emotion .

Emotion ...

...

46

4

4 S

S

T R A

T E

G

Y . . . .

. . . .

4

9

9 I N J E C T I N G

I N J E C T I N G

L O G I C

. . . .

5 0

1. Recognition ...52

2. 2. Deep

Deep Brea

Breath ...

th ...

...

54

3. 3. Inject

Injecting

ing Logic ...

Logic ...

...

55

55 4. Strategic Reminder ...56

4. Strategic Reminder ...56

5. 5. Repe

Repeat

at as

as Necessa

Necessary ....

ry ...

...

57

6. 6. Quitti

Quitting

ng

...

..

57

57 R E S O L U T I O N

R E S O L U T I O N . . . .

. . . .

5 9

Mental Hand History

...

6

1

1 Sidebar: Correcting Flaws

Sidebar: Correcting Flaws in Poker

in Poker

...

....

62

62 Sidebar: The Mental

Sidebar: The Mental

Side of Poker Mistakes

Side of Poker Mistakes ...

...

..

64

64 A D D I T I O N A L S T R A T E G I E S . . . .

A D D I T I O N A L S T R A T E G I E S . . . .

. . . .

. .

6 4

Tracking Improvement

Tracking Improvement...

...

....

64

64 Writing ...65

Writing ...65

Accumul

Accumulated

ated Emotion ...

Emotion ...

...

66

66 Conclus

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(11)

5

5 Tilt

Tilt =

= Anger

Anger

+

+ Bad

Bad Play

Play

...

..

7

1

1 The

The Natur

Natur

e

e of

of Anger

Anger

...

73

73 Accumul

Accumul

ated

ated Tilt

Tilt

...

7

4

4 The

The Tilt

Tilt of

of Tilt

Tilt

...

7

4

4 The

The Beneﬁt

Beneﬁt of

of Tilt

Tilt

...

.

75

75 Winner’

Winner’

s

s Tilt

Tilt

...

7

6

6 Tilt

Tilt Proﬁl

Proﬁle

e

...

7

6

6 Sidebar: Think You Don’t Tilt?

Sidebar: Think You Don’t Tilt?

...

..

77

77 Seven Types of Tilt ...78

Seven Types of Tilt ...78

Barry’s

Tak

e: Understanding your Opponents’ Tilt

...

..

79

79 General Strategy for Tilt ...80

General Strategy for Tilt ...80

Client’s Story: Liz “RikJamesB1atch” Herrera

Client’s Story: Liz “RikJamesB1atch” Herrera ...

...

..

82

82 What Progress Looks Like and How to Keep it Going ...83

What Progress Looks Like and How to Keep it Going ...83

R U N N I N G

B A D

T I L T

. . . .

8 4

Client’s Story: Matt “mbolt1” Bolt

...

8

7

7 Focused More on Results than Quality ...89

Focused More on Results than Quality ...89

Booking

Booking a

a Win ...

Win ...

...

.

90

90 Pok

Pok

er/Life

er/Life Balance

Balance

...

9

1

1 Predicting Bad Beats ...92

Predicting Bad Beats ...92

Resetting Y

our Mind

...

....

9

4

4 I N J U S T I C E T I L T

I N J U S T I C E T I L T

. . . .

. .

9 4

Sidebar: Assuming

Sidebar: Assuming Y

Y

ou’re Better

ou’re Better ...

...

96

96 Terrible at Sp

Terrible at Sp

otting Good V

otting Good Variance

ariance

...

....

97

97 More Than is Fair ...98

More Than is Fair ...98

Injustice Tilt Opportunity ...101

Wishing Pok

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(13)

An Excuse Not to Learn ...103

Clien

Client’s Story:

t’s Story:

Barry Carter

...104

Bad Beat Stories ...106

Jealousy

...

1

07

07 H A T E - L O S

H A T E - L O S

I N G T I L T

. . . .

. . . . .

1 0 8

Competitiveness ...109

Money

Money Lost

Lost

...

..

1

2

2 Client’s Story: Jordan “iMsoLucky0” Morgan

Client’s Story: Jordan “iMsoLucky0” Morgan

...

1

3

3 Believing Y

Believing You Can Win Ever

ou Can Win Every Hand

y Hand

...

.

1

4

4 Lost Skill

Lost Skill...

...

1

5

5 Losing Gets Personal

Losing Gets Personal

...

1

6

6 Losing

Losing Hurts

Hurts More

More Than

Than Winning

Winning Feels

Feels Good

Good

...

1

7

7 M I S T A K E T I L T . . . 1 1 8

M I S T A K E T I L T . . . 1 1 8

Expecting

Expecting Perfection

Perfection ...

...

1

9

9 When a Mistake Is Not a Mistake ...122

When a Mistake Is Not a Mistake ...122

Obvious Mistakes ...123

Threatens Your Goals ...125

Know Too Much, Mastered Too Little ...125

E N T I T L E M E N T

T I L T

. . . .

1

1 2 7

2 7

Overconﬁdence...128

Losing to Fish ...130

Client’s Story: Liz “RikJamesB1atch” Herrera

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Regaining Conﬁdence ...142

Takin

g Your Money

...

..

1

42

42 Enacting Revenge

Enacting Revenge

...

....

1

44

44 Your Soul Owned...144

Your Soul Owned...144

D E S P E R A

T I O N

T I L T

T I L T . . . .

. . . .

1

1 4 5

4 5

Sidebar: When Losing Feels Good

Sidebar: When Losing Feels Good ...147

...147

Non-negotiable Strategy ...148

U S I N G T I L T

T O I M P R O V E Y

O U R P L

A

Y

. . . .

. . .

1

1 5 0

5 0

Keeping

Keeping Records

Records

...

1

5

1

6

6 F

F

E A R

. . . .

. .

1

5

5 The Nature of Fear ...156

The Nature of Fear ...156

Barry’s

Tak

e: Be Fearless

Like Ivey

...158

Incomplete Information ...158

Fuel to Perform ...159

F E A R

P R O F I L E

P R O F I L E . . . .

. . . .

. . 1 6

1

1 .

. Overthinking...

Overthinking...

...

..

1

6

1

1 2. Not Trusting Your Gut ...162

2. Not Trusting Your Gut ...162

Barry’s

Tak

e: Feel Players

e: Feel Players ...162

...162

3. Second-guessing ...163

4. Performance Anxiety ...163

5. Negative Future ...164

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Fear of Mistakes ...172

Fear of a Bad Run ...173

Client’s Stor

y: Pascal “Stake Monster” Tr

y: Pascal “Stake Monster” Tremblay

emblay

...

1

7

4

4 Fear of Moving

Fear of Moving Up in Stakes

Up in Stakes

...

1

7

6

6 Risk Aversion ...177

Risk Aversion ...177

Clien

Client’s Story:

t’s Story:

Barry Carter

...178

7

7 M O

M O

T I V

A

T I

O N . . .

. . .

.

1

8

1

1 The Nature of Motivation ...182

The Nature of Motivation ...182

Inspiration ...183

Barry’s

Ta

Take: Prop Bets

ke: Prop Bets ...185

...185

Stable Motivation ...186

C O M M O N M O T I V

A T I O N A L P R O B L E M

S

S . . . .

. . . .

1

1 8 6

8 6

Laziness ...186

Procrastination ...188

Running Good and Bad ...190

Burnout

...

1

9

1

1 Sidebar: Underesmang Stress

Sidebar: Underesmang Stress

...

1

9

1

1 Goal Problems

Goal Problems...192

...192

Client’s Story: Matt “mbolt1” Bolt

...195

Freerolling Y

our Talent

...

1

96

96 Stop Dreaming ...197

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8

8 C O

C O

N

F

I

D E

N C

E

. . . .

. .

2

0

3

3 The Nature of Conﬁdence ...204

The Nature of Conﬁdence ...204

Stable Conﬁdence

Stable Conﬁdence ...205

...205

Under-conﬁdent and Overconﬁdent

...207

D E V E L O P I N G S T A B L E C O N F I D E N C E

. . . .

2 0 9

The

The Skill

Skill of

of Recognizing Variance

Recognizing Variance

...

...2

1

1 The Skill of Recognizing Y

The Skill of Recognizing Y

our Skill ...

...

2

1

2

2 The Skill of

The Skill of Recognizing Y

Recognizing Y

our Opponents’ Skill

...

2

1

4

4 Barry’s

Barry’s

Tak

e: Deﬁning

e: Deﬁning Y

Y

our Edge

...

2

1

5

5 Illusion of

Illusion of Control

Control

...

....

2

1

6

6 Client’s Story: Matt “mbolt1” Bolt

Client’s Story: Matt “mbolt1” Bolt

...

....

2

1

9

9 Illusion of Permanence ...220

Illusion of Permanence ...220

Illusion of Learning ...222

Wishing ...223

Client’s Story: Sean Gibson

Client’s Story: Sean Gibson ...224

...224

C O N C L U S I O N

Y

ou Have

ou Have Not Mastered

Not Mastered

This Book

...

....229

A

P

E

N

D

I

X

I

Warm-up and Cool-down...231

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I N T R O D U C T I O N

P L A Y E R S W H O A R E S U C C E S S F U L

in the mental game of poker use a

strategy that’s prov

strategy that’s proven to work for them.

en to work for them. They have a structure and me

They have a structure and me

th

th-

-odology in how they approach the mental game, and don’t need to

odology in how they approach the mental game, and don’t need to

rely on a lucky rabbit’s foot or praying to the poker gods.

If there were no way to

If there were no way to control whether you play in “the zone” or go on

control whether you play in “the zone” or go on

tilt, my work as a mental game

tilt, my work as a mental game coach would be nothing more than blow

coach would be nothing more than blow

-

-ing smoke up your ass. Tilt-ing and play-ing your best happen for

ing smoke up your ass. Tilting and playing your best happen for

predict-able reasons and occur in predictpredict-able patterns. As a poker player, you

able reasons and occur in predictable patterns. As a poker player, you

proﬁt from your ability to analyze the patterns and habits of your

oppo-nents. Using the tools provided in this book, you will develop the ability

nents. Using the tools provided in this book, you will develop the ability

to study the pat

terns and habits in your own mental game.

1

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T H E M E

T H E M EN TN TA L GA L G A M E O F PA M E O F P O K E R O K E R

• “For some reason, I decided to play like a donkey last night.”

• “I’m running really bad; maybe I should take a break.”

• “I always play my best game on

Full Tilt

.

.”

”

• “After being up big, I somehow manage to spew off a few stacks.”

• “I wish I could play as well as I did today, all the time.”

If you think the mental game is random, you simply lack the skill to see

how it’s predictable and rational.

Skilled poker players are easily able to see how the actions of weaker

opponents aren’t random. They pick up on betting patterns, timing tells,

physical tells, and verbal tells, which allows them to exploit the games of

weaker players. Weaker players don’t have the skill to see the

predictabil-ity

ity in their game. The same

in their game. The same is true in

is true in the mental game. Right now

the mental game. Right now

, you prob-

, you

prob-ably don’t have the skill to recognize the actions, thoughts, and emotions

ably don’t have the skill to recognize the actions, thoughts, and emotions

that lead you to play your best or worst. That makes you a mental game

ﬁsh. Thankfully

, you were able to

, you were able to evolv

evolv

e from being a

e from being a poker ﬁsh—and

poker ﬁsh—and with

with

the right information you can do the same with

your mental game.

With poker more competitive than ever, more players are turning to the

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I N T R O D U C T I O N I N T R O D U C T I O N

he swept through the professional ranks, he brought a new set of rules

that forced other professional golfers to

take ﬁtness and the mental game

more

more seriously

seriously

.

Prior to Tiger’s emergence in golf, only a few of his peers looked at

ﬁt-ness as essential to

ness as essential to their game. Many players were out of shape, and so

their game. Many players were out of shape, and so

golf wasn’t always looked at as a

real

real sport. Tiger also had a level of

sport. Tiger also had a level of

focus, determination, and conﬁdence that further separated him from his

competition. The

combination of his physical and mental prowess forced

other players on tour to follow his lead in order to remain competitive.

Tiger forever changed the way professionals approached the game.

Now

, nearly every

, nearly every golfer on the

golfer on the PGA T

PGA T

our (and other

our (and other major professional

major professional

tours) has a physical trainer and a sport psychologist or mental game

coach. It

’

s become t

he new standard.

As a successful amateur golfer in the late 1990s, I had aspirations to

become a professional. There was only one big problem; I kept choking

under pressure in national tournaments. One month after Tiger won his

ﬁrst major title, I choked trying to qualify for my ﬁrst major. Shortly after

completing my freshman year at Skidmore College, where I won two

tournaments, I played in the ﬁrst stage of qualifying for the US Open in

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T H E M E

game continued to improve steadily over the next three years—except in

big tournaments. Even though I earned All-American honors three times

and won nine tournaments in college, what I learned from sport

psychol-ogy didn’

ogy didn’

t prevent me f

t prevent me from choking under

rom choking under

intense pressure.

My dreams of professional golf weren’t entirely destroyed; I just had to

ﬁgure out a solution to this problem. Since what was available in sport

psychology at the time didn’t work for me, I decided to go ﬁnd my own

answers. I knew I wasn’t ready to play professional golf; but if I could

ﬁgure out a solution, then I could play professionally and have another

career option.

I suspected that conventional sport psychology was lacking an

under-standing of the cause of mental game problems. The traditional wisdom

standing of the cause of mental game problems. The traditional wisdom

in golf was much

in golf was much as it is now in

as it is now in poker

poker

. I was given te

chniques to increase

focus, increase conﬁdence, and reduce anxiety, but I didn’t learn why I

choked in the ﬁrst place. At the time, I believed the reason was because of

personal issues that I or other golfers face

d, so I enrolled in Northeastern

University for

University for a master’

a master’s degree in counseling to

s degree in counseling to gain that skill. Yet

gain that skill. Yet, what

, what

I discovered over the next 10 years is this: While personal

I discovered over the next 10 years is this: While personal issues cer

issues cer

tainly

affec

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sim-Trusted by over 1 million members

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Enter Poker

A stroke of good variance had me playing a round of golf at Bandon

Dunes Golf Resort with Dusty “Leatherass” Schmidt in the summer of

2007. Serendipitously, I met this professional-golfer-turned-poker-pro

soon after starting to play professional golf myself. From his years in

golf, Dusty already knew the importance of

the mental game; so when

he was on the verge of his ﬁrst losing month as a pro, and his pursuit

of SuperNova Elite being derailed by problems with tilt, he called me

for help.

Dusty was the perfect ﬁrst poker client because of his background in

golf. He knew my knowledge of poker was limited to home

games and

a few trips to Foxwoods Casino. To help me better understand poker,

he often use

d golf terms to descr

ibe poker issues. The more we worked

together, the more obvious the parallels between golf and poker

became to me. The major differences are obviously the details of the

game and the amount of variance. Golf has a lot of randomness—“rub

of the green,” as it’s called—but it pales in comparison to the variance

in poker. Having to sustain long stretches where skill does not equal

results makes the mental game even more important in poker than in

golf. It takes a strong mind to hold up during sustained bad runs, and

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T H E M E

Dusty “Leatherass” Schmidt

$3/$6 to $25/$50 NLHE

P O K E R S T A R S T E A M O N L I N E P R O

Author of

Don

’

t Listen to Phil Hellmuth

11

and

and Treat Your Poker Like a Business

Treat Your Poker Like a Business

22

“Before I became a professional poker player, I played professional

golf. As a golfer, I couldn’

t afford a

sport

s psychologist, but I knew how

powerful their impact was

; everyone on the

PGA T

our had one. I always

thought there was a big correlation between poker and golf, and I

ﬁg-ured a spor

ured a spor

ts psychologist could really help my poker game, so bac

k in

2007 I contacted Jared Tendler to help with some tilt problems.

It took a few sessions before Jared got his head around poker, but I

got some real instant beneﬁts just from talking things out, and even

more once he started to understand the game. As a poker player, I’m

trained to get inside the heads of others, and Jared’s role was very

C L

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Rather than singing some mantra, doing breathing exercises, or trying

to hypnotize me not to tilt, more than anything Jared helped me just be

more logical in how I approached the game. As Jared’s ﬁrst poker

cli-ent, I am now more in the maintenance phase. When we chat, he often

ent, I am now more in the maintenance phase. When we chat, he often

ﬁnds some small leaks in my mental game. I don’t think anybody owns

anything forever. P

eople’

s mindsets

change, emotions c

hange, so work-

hange, so

work-ing with Jared keeps me on top of my game.”

ing with Jared keeps me on top of my game.”

_____________

___

_______

1 (Imagine Media, 2011) 1 (Imagine Media, 2011) 2 (Imagine Media, 2010) 2 (Imagine Media, 2010)