"The Mental Game of Poker" - Chapters 3-4

Here is the second installment of my review of the above mentioned book:

Chapter 3: Emotion
This chapter was definitely the smoothest and most absorbing part of the book thus far and struck all the right chords. First off, he pointed out that negative emotions are the symptoms NOT the causes of why we play poorly and should be seen as an alarm or as a messenger bringing warnings that we should be on our guard. Negative emotions are created "when flaws in your approach to poker are triggered by certain events or occurrences at the table."

He then goes on to write about how these negative emotions can cause the player to play with a "malfunctioning mind". In a nutshell, when your emotional system becomes overactive, it shuts down higher brain functions such as thinking, planning, awareness etc - and consequently really bad decisions are made at the table. Essentially, when the emotional threshold kicks in, your brain shuts off the ability to think. The idea, is that you must develop strategies to prevent yourself from going over that emotional threshold in the first place.

This chapter just made a lot of sense and really pinpointed how the destructive force of negative emotions can wreak havoc with your game. It was really interesting to note that it's crucial to address mental game problems before you go beyond that emotional threshold -and how important it is to recognise when this occurs at the table.

Chapter 4: Strategy
This chapter is the heaviest of the first four chapters, by far, and really demands quite a lot from the reader if you wish to get into the spirit of what he is attempting to do. You will get nothing out of it if you just read it superficially and gloss over his suggestions. I found myself having to go back to make notes when I realised that I hadn't absorbed the information properly. (These are exercises you are required to do in order to solve your mental game problems. I didn't actually DO the exercises there and then, mind you, but wrote down all the details of what I need to do to fix my problem(s).)

This chapter lays out approaches to resolve mental game problems. There is the short-term approach, which Tendler entitles "Injecting Logic" and the long-term approach called "Resolution." Injecting logic is what you do at the table when you catch yourself having a build up of emotion and it's vital to tackle before hitting the threshold. There is a 6-step formula to go through when injecting logic with the first of these steps, "Recognition", requiring the writing up of a profile and a bit of naval gazing beforehand. That's where the work and extra effort comes in.

Resolution is the long-term process and involves pulling out those pesky weeds from the roots so that they don't return. This revolves around the reader striving to permanently remove those demons by using what he terms the Mental Hand History. Again, this involves the reader being pro-active. As Tendler says, "you have to understand the problem well enough to prescribe a solution" so to facilitate this process he supplies us with a 5-step protocol to go through in order to identify the root cause and to correct it. (Again, this is where I felt compelled to actually write down the process so as to get into the spirit of Tendler's program.)

Initially, I read Chapter 4: Strategy fairly swiftly and ploughed straight into Chapter 5: Tilt without really reflecting on what I had read. It was only until I started reading more of Chapter 5: Tilt, that I realised I really had to go back and make those notes if I was to make proper sense of what Tendler was trying to do AND to do the whole mental game thing justice.

Chapter 5: Tilt, at around 80 pages long accounts for about one third of the book and, is by far the book's longest chapter. As I say, I have only written the details of what I have to do (rather than have written them out) so it remains to be seen as to whether I'll need to stop and write out things in depth first (as part of Tendler's program) before cracking on with said chapter. Anyway, regardless, I'll let you know what I think of Chapter 5 in a later installment.

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To conclude with a few closing comments based on what I have seen so far, the book will definitely help those players who can be bothered to get off their arse and put the effort in. It will also appeal to players who don't object to the idea of a bit of naval gazing in order to improve. BUT, it can be a little confusing as to the chronology of when you should complete the questionnaire and profiles in relation to how it fits in as you read the book. Anyway, I'll get back to you as I press on.