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Archive for April, 2010

Wise Counsel from Poker Coach’s Coach

April 27th, 2010 |

Even though I'm in training for this summer's WSOP® Main Event, my poker coach did not accompany me to last Saturday's tournament. After busting our early, I desperately needed to hear his reassuring voice.

You see, besides being my poker coach, he is also my life coach, mentor, best friend, and husband. Despite the fact that he only stands 5'3" on a tall day, he is one of the few people I truly look up to… I call him Gregory the Great!

He had not gone with me to the tournament because he was deeply involved in a project with a short-term deadline. Certainly, I understood, but I still missed the grounding and perspective he provided during and after a game.

I always hate to interrupt him when he's working on a major project, but I so needed to hear his voice. After driving for nearly an hour and a half, and becoming more and more frustrated, I called Gregory. Fortunately, he said it was perfect timing. He, too, needed a break and a change of pace.

After explaining to him all the major hands I played during this tournament, he reassured me that I had played every hand correctly. As he says, sometimes, you just get snapped off. Even when you lose multiple hands in a short time frame where the odds are dramatically in your favor, that's still just part of the game.

Sure, I know that. I teach that. However, it does not make me immune to what I call the Double D's… and no, guys, don't go there… the Double D's are the Doubt-Demons.

Gregory reminded me that the main objective in poker is not to win every hand you play, but to make the correct decisions, not just some of the time, now just most of the time, but all of the time.

After going through our traditional debriefing process, we both knew that I had made the correct decisions, each and every time. That's what counts, really counts in poker… making correct decisions.

Perseverance in the long run will prevail… God, I love that man!

Remember…

If you can't raise, don't call.

Donna Blevins
Poker Coach

What if you could learn how to play like a poker pro in only 8-short weeks? Interested? Then check my live poker training.

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Poker Coach Stills Needs Her Personal Coach

April 26th, 2010 |

Author: Donna Blevins

On my lonely, two-hour drive home from a women's poker tournament on Saturday, I realized that I was on post-game-tilt. That's what I call it when I allow my head trash to drown out my sanity and reason.

It's our human tendency to mistrust our decisions and to look for fault. Regardless of how confident you are or how correctly you play, you can still have doubts and garbage that undermine your game.

Before I had my poker blog, I never openly admitted it. Now I welcome the opportunity to shout out to the world, "I still need my poker coach to debrief me!"

I'm fortunate because I married my poker coach. He's my life coach, mentor, best friend, and business partner, and we are on this journey together. However, I was reluctant to call during the drive home because he was working on a project for us.

He had stayed home to concentrate on the next lesson for our coaching program. Since he is a linear thinker and single-minded when he focuses on a task, I didn't want to break his train of thought. A 5-minute phone call can destroy 6-hours of work.

However, I finally realized that since I'm already in training for the 2010 WSOP^® Main Event Championship, this is business, not weakness. Regardless of the size of the buy-in or how insignificant the payout, I always play with the seriousness and conviction of the Main Event. Since I needed perspective and grounding, I finally called.

It never ceases to amaze me how a simple phone call and his voice of reason settle me down. We spent a few minutes working through our debriefing process about whether I had made the correct decisions throughout the tournament, and then, I could let it go.

Sure, it's more fun to win, but in the process, we must embrace the lessons within our losses. My lesson on Saturday… even tho' I'm the Big Girl of Poker and I leave my skirt at home when I play, I still need my own poker life coach. That's not needy, it's just good business and smart poker.

Remember, until next time…

If you can't raise, don't call.

Donna

Donna Blevins

Poker Coach

Stay home and get poker book camp results. Join us in this 8-week live poker coaching… you can still get in, if you hurry:

FLEX-Start Orientation Available

April 21-May 27, 2010

What is FLEX-Start? You can start any time during the FLEX-Start period and still receive your 8 full weeks of live poker coaching in real time. You will automatically get your step-by-step lesson modules each week starting with the orientation. Then, you will fluidly join the live poker coaching at the end of your first week.

Poker Pure & Simple^tm

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Poker Coach Learns Lesson

April 25th, 2010 |

Author: Donna Blevins

Even though I am a professional poker player and poker coach, I continue to learn every time I sit down at a poker table. That is my intention… to become a better poker player with every outing. However, yesterday, I was reminded once again just how subtle poker lessons can be.

High Heels Poker Tour sponsored a women's poker tournament at The Silks Poker Room at Tampa Bay Downs in Florida, and I drove the two hours to play. Well, that is not exactly how I think of it… I actually drove the two hours to win.

Winning poker is about making correct decisions, and in my mind's eye, I won.

The jaded people out there may say that I am too much of a Polly Anna for the poker world. However, there can only be one first place in any poker tournament. In order to win at poker in the long run, you have to embrace your losses. You must learn the lessons your losses bring, and, then, move on to the next hand and the next game.

How did I bust out? It doesn't matter. I lost the last hand I played, pure and simple.

Does it matter that within the span of 90 minutes, I got pocket Kings cracked twice and busted out with pocket Aces? No… not unless I played them incorrectly, or not unless it put me on tilt.

What does matter is that I made the correct decisions throughout the entire tournament. When I took a beat, I took a moment to reflect and evaluate, and then moved on to the next hand.

So what was that subtle lesson? It was that I still need my personal poker coach to debrief effectively, and I'll tell you more about that tomorrow.

Until next time,

Remember…

If you can't raise, don't call.

Donna Blevins

Poker Coach

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Today – Women’s Poker in Tampa

April 24th, 2010 |

Author: Donna Blevins

Event Notice – High Heels Poker Tour Women Only Event – WSOP Qualifier

Are you in the Tampa Bay area? Do you yearn for a chance to enter the World Series of Poker® Ladies Event but just don't have the cash. Then, this is a fantastic, affordable opportunity to win your way into this year's Women's Event in Las Vegas.

However, you must get on your horse and get there TODAY!

Date: Saturday, April 24, 2010

Time: 3:00pm – 11:55pm

Location: Tampa Bay Downs, Tampa, FL…The Silks Poker Room

WSOP LADIES EVENT QUALIFIER

Buy-in = $125
Starting Chips = 10,000

1st place = Seat to the WSOP Ladies Event + $500 travel expense

2nd place = Seat to the WSOP Ladies Event + $250 travel expense

Rest of the prize pool will be distributed after the top prizes have been paid out.

Even though there is a minimum of 50 players, as of 9:30am Eastern today, there were 53 confirmed on the High Heels Poker Tour events page on Facebook.

Remember my motto:

If you can't raise, don't call.

Donna Blevins

Poker Pro and Poker Coach

When you are ready to take your poker game to the next level in, it's time for 8-weeks of live poker coaching plus 12-month access to private membership site & resources including updates

Live Poker Coaching Has Started BUT You Can Still Get In
Flex-Start Orientation Available

April 21-May 27, 2010

What is Flex-Start? You can start any time during the Flex-Start period and still receive your 8 full weeks of live poker coaching in real time. You will automatically get your step-by-step lesson modules each week starting with the orientation. Then, you will fluidly join the live coaching at the end of your first week.

Take advantage of the FLEX-Start and take your poker game to the next level.

Poker Pure & Simple^tm

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What is Your Greatest Poker Challenge?

April 13th, 2010 |

Author: Donna Blevins

One of the new members of my Poker Pure & Simple™ 8-week live, poker training program is playing in a major poker championship this weekend. In preparation for the tournament, last night I asked her to answer one question instantly with whatever came to mind:

The Question: What will be your greatest challenge during this poker tournament?

Her Greatest Poker Challenge:

My greatest challenge during the tournament will be staying disciplined and only playing premium hands. Then, if I lose with a premium hand, not getting on tilt. That can leave me feeling defeated, especially if I lose a big pot.

My Response:

What you're telling me is that your biggest challenge is mindset.

I understand 100%. Every poker player has been there.

You told me that I'm sitting on your shoulder whispering, "When you can't raise, you can't call!"

Here is your second whisper:

"Stay in the Moment."

Regardless of where you are in the poker tournament, focus on making the correct decisions… not just some of the time, not just part of the time, but all the time.

You already know how to make correct decisions. You have proven that. You have earned your way into this poker championship by making correct decisions.

The key is that correct decisions come for staying in the moment.

Tilting is simply a case of staying in the past and being judgmental about how you acted. Even if that action took place only a split second ago, it is still The Past. It is not The Now.

It's the "Should'uvs" and "If only's" that will defeat you, not the cards.

You already know what and how to play. When you stay in the moment, it is easy to trust your instincts and your read on the situation.

Ask yourself over, and over again, "Why do I always make the correct action at the poker table?"

Your subconscious then searches for answers that reinforce the fact that you always make the correct action, rather than searching for reasons why you do not. That strengthens you and serves to raise your confidence in your decision-making abilities.

When you ask empowering Why Questions, your subconscious mind will do the rest.

Until next time, just as she has, remember my motto:

If you can't raise, don't call!

Donna Blevins
Poker Coach

PS: I am dedicating this post to my poker coaching clients, who honored me by allowing me to share their journey with them.

When you are ready to take your poker game to the next level in, it's time for 8-weeks of live poker coaching.

Poker Pure & Simple^tm

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Poker ABCs – D is for Vitamin D

April 12th, 2010 |

Author: Donna Blevins

If you go on tilt at the poker table or in the conference room, people usually just think you're a jerk. Who would ever imagine that it's because you rarely see the light of day and have a Vitamin D deficiency?

Several years ago, I heard a TV doc say that Vitamin D was not just for bone health, it was also one of the most powerful healing chemicals in our body. He went on to recite a long list of features and benefits of Vitamin D. Three got my attention:

1. A lack of Vitamin D can contribute to depression and mood swings

2. Virtually every cell in the body has Vitamin D receptors and must have Vitamin D to function at their peak

3. Our skin makes Vitamin D naturally as a response to sunlight, but it cannot create it on its own

Around the same time that I saw this on TV, I ran into a poker player acquaintance, who had been playing full time for about 12 months. He had always been a solid player and made a good living playing cards, looked healthy and was pleasant at the table.

The next time I saw him, a little more than a year later, he was short tempered, and his face was an ugly, grayish color. He frankly looked sick.

I asked his wife how much time he spent outside in the daylight, and she said none. He played until the wee hours of the morning, came home, slept until dark, then went back to the card room. Once I told her about what I had just heard about Vitamin D and its impact on our overall well being, she vowed to get him outside once a day.

She did just that. He now looks and feels better, and his poker game has dramatically improved.

Vitamin D is perhaps the single most underrated nutrient in the world of nutrition. It may also be another important part of playing winning poker.

Until next time, remember my motto:

If you can't raise, don't call!

Donna Blevins
Poker Coach

Receive the benefits of a poker boot camp without leaving home. Stay home and still get individual, live poker training brought to your personally by Donna Blevins. Take your poker game to the next level in my 8-week live poker coaching program:

Poker Pure and Simple^tm

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Poker ABC’s – C is for Courage

April 10th, 2010 |

Author: Donna Blevins

"The road to perfection is one basic step after another."

In poker and in life, C is for the Courage to take action, even when fear overwhelms you. Have the courage to let fear be your friend.

Fear may just be telling you something is out of sync. Rather than allow fear to choke you at the poker table, tap into your courage and use fear's energy to heighten your awareness.

In the fall of 2008, I experienced my first vision quest during a woman's retreat. Frankly, I was skeptical when they said the intention of this exercise was to find my animal spirit guide. Even though people often say that my approach to life appears New Age, at my core I have constant battles… conservative vs. liberal… being fixed vs. demanding change. You could say that I am never bored!

Since I was having a fun few days with a wonderful group of women, I decided to jump into this as an experiment. What could it hurt?

After 20 or 30 minutes, I was startled when I came upon a regal, male lion sitting under a tree in the middle of a wheat-colored mesa. He was sitting very still with his front paws crossed. I felt no fear, just surprise.

He looked up at me and in the deepest, calmest voice you can imagine, he said, "What took you so long?"

At that moment, I realized that for the better part of my life, I had been looking for my courage. Maybe one of the reasons I love poker is that to win at poker, you must be courageous. You must face your fears. You must play your game, not someone else's.

Today, at the poker table and in you life, may you act with courage and honor your lion spirit.

Until next time, remember my motto:

If you can't raise, don't call!

Donna Blevins
Poker Coach

Receive the benefits of a poker boot camp without leaving home. Stay home and still get individual, live poker training from the comfort of your home or office. Find your courage and raise your confidence at the poker table in my 8-week live poker coaching program:

Poker Pure and Simple^tm

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Full Tilt Charity Tournament Today

April 4th, 2010 |

Author: Donna Blevins

Poker forums are a great way to connect with other poker players as well as pull people together for a great cause. Today, at 2pm EDT, Full Tilt Poker is hosting a charity tournament sponsored by PokerNations forum to benefit PokerGives.

PokerGives.org was founded by four of the icons in the poker industry. I am honored to call these four special people my friends:

Mike Sexton, Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher and Lisa Tenner.

Bravo to PokerNations.com, PokerGives.org and FullTiltPoker.net.

If you have put off getting a Full Tilt account, take action right now so you can play in today's charity event. Here's my online poker resource page if you need a quick way to download their software and get the latest bonus.

Today and everyday when you sit down at the poker table, remember my motto:

"When you can't raise, don't call."

Donna Blevins
Poker Coach

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Archive for April, 2010

Live Poker Coaching Has Started BUT You Can Still Get In Flex-Start Orientation Available

Live Poker Coaching Has Started BUT You Can Still Get In
Flex-Start Orientation Available