PokerStars poker blogger challenge: There is a FREERoll tournament every day this week. If you are a poker blogger and playing in this event, all you have to do is register for the challenge and have your blog certified. To do that you simply grab a piece of code that PokerStars gives you when you register and drop it on your site. It links back to their site and verifies you are the owner of your blog.
I'll see you at the final table!
Until next time, remember my motto…
When you can't raise, don't call.
Donna Blevins
Poker Mindset Coach
What kind of payoff are you expecting at the poker table in 2011?
This following video tells what one of my poker coaching clients has experienced. Read More→
In April 2010, I received the following message through my Facebook page from a woman poker player I had just befriended:
"I just wanted to tell you I went on your website over the weekend, and I am using your poker mantra, "When you can't raise, you can't call!" I have it on a big note on my computer that I keep up when I am playing online… Have to say I've only lost 2 tournaments since then. Been winning a lot. It's a really great saying. I thought if one saying could have such an effect on my play, what would your class do for my game? I really would like to bring my game up to the next level."
At 6'5" tall, people often called me The Poker Amazon , but I don't really see myself clad in a short leather toga carrying a bow and arrow. Rather, I see myself more like Poker's Wonder Woman, decked out in that red, white and blue costume.
Sure, the outfit is sexist, but, on a more practical note, I don't know if I still have the legs for those short shorts.
Yet, I've always loved her invisible airplane, gold cuff bracelets that deflected bullets (great protection against pocket aces), and lasso of truth. Yah, think about how useful that lasso would be at the poker table.
When a player tires to bluff you out of a huge pot, just gently lay the lasso around his shoulder, and ask, "Are you bluffing?"
Struggling to hold the words back, he blurts out, "Yes, I'm bluffing!"
Sweet!
This weekend while I was looking for images of Wonder Woman for this post, my husband spoiled that image of me as Poker's Wonder Women forever. He walked by and asked me, "What does red, white and blue stood for?"
When I gave him a puzzled look and shook my head, he replied, "Red, white and blue stands for redneck, white trash, and blue collar."
At 6'5" tall, people often called me The Poker Amazon, but I don't really see myself clad in a short, leather toga carrying a bow and arrow. Rather, I see myself more like Poker's Wonder Woman, decked out in that red, white and blue costume.
Sure, the outfit is sexist, but, on a more practical note, I don't know if I still have the legs for those short shorts. Read More→
Have you ever found yourself stuck in a project because you felt it was not good enough? Or, stuck in your poker game or at a point in your life because you felt you were not good enough? Well, I certainly have. Read More→
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.
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.
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:
"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 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
