Today one of my poker-coaching clients emailed me about cashing in a micro poker tournament freeroll on a small online site where we are affiliates. She put the "Laughed Out Loud" shorthand after her message… suggesting that the win meant very little because the payout was insignificant.
This morning when I opened my email, I was welcomed by a mass of well wishes and encouragements for Ashira Lavine after she busted out of the WSOP Main Event on Day 1C. What happened next, touched Ashira deep in her soul and convinced her that there are blessings in every loss. Let me tell you how this came about. Read More→
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→
"What is your biggest challenge at the poker table?" is frequently how I first connect with a new friend on Facebook. You see, I'm doing research for m y book, Life Lessons from Poker™, and I find that people share amazing insights when I simply ask.
I find lessons everywhere. Below is a particularly telling conversation with a special woman that started out about poker, and then naturally moved to life. Read More→
Everything is energy. From science to science fiction, most people now get it, and paying attention to your energy at the poker table may be a surefire way to stop losing and start playing winning poker. Read More→
"At the 2007 Main Event, Day 1, first hand, Evelyn Ng sat to my immediate left… Ah crap! comes to mind." Donna Blevins
This time of year, poker minds turn to the World Series of Poker®. Whether this is your first or 15th time playing, you likely have the same nagging question in your mind. Read More→
Just posted this on Facebook in response to someone talking about worry:
"Winning at poker is about learning how to deal with loses and failure… what are the lessons within a loss, and what are the blessings?"
Blessings in a loss… you may say I am a crazy women! 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.
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:
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.
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.
