Rethink Multitasking at the Poker Table
Poker and texting affect your game. Think about what happens to your mindset when you receive a text while competing in a poker tournament or playing in a cash game.
What is the likely fallout when you’re on a date, and a text comes to you?
Or, forbid the thought, how do you feel if the text goes to your date, who immediately turns away from you while sharing something personal?
What about during a business meeting?
While driving a car? No question there.
A driver, who is texting, is 23 times more likely to be involved in a car accident, according to a report released by Virginia Tech Transportation Institute.
When was the last time you saw a quarterback check for a text message while on the field?
However, do you turn off your text if you’re a caregiver?
My head is spinning, thinking about all the losses resulting from texting.
Texting During Poker Affected a Coaching Client
One of my coaching clients messaged me on Facebook about getting a text during a poker tournament and how her husband devalued the importance of her time.
Coaching Client: Know what happens to your mindset when you're in a tournament, and you get a text from your spouse saying, “Call me when you can. I have a problem.” I hurriedly called, and he said, “My computer isn't working.” Guess what we'll be discussing at dinner tonight!!
Donna: Ah crap! Watch out, husband! That's why you have to turn your phone OFF during tournaments, just like the chat when competing online.
Coaching Client: I only checked it on a break. I told him I'd leave it in the car next time. It’s just a difference in how men think vs. how women think.
She went on to tell her husband that texting knocked her out of her zone and compared it to his zone with his competitive sport. She said, “I did a pretty good job getting my mindset back, but finished out of the money and didn't know if I would have done better.”
She was disappointed because she’d waited five weeks to compete in a tourney, and all she wanted was one day for her. She’s effectively the caregiver of her husband, who is 15 years her senior, and she spends most of the time tending to him rather than focusing on something just for her.
When we're caregivers, we forget to spend time with self-care. I understand completely that we frequently reach out to see if everything's okay. At the same time, we do need to disconnect in a way where we take care of ourselves without putting them in jeopardy.
My writing has been on the back burner for the last year because my mother, Mama Peggy, has had three surgeries in the previous 14 months. Thank you for your healing thoughts and prayers for Mama Peggy.
When my husband, Gregory, and I had a real estate office, I frequently traveled to speak. He often reminded the staff, “If the building catches on fire, call the fire department, not Donna...if there is a burglary, call the police department, don't call Donna.”
Today when I'm competing in a tournament, Gregory tells Mama Peggy that if he's sick or in pain, “Don't even tell Donna. Tell her everything is just wonderful. She can't do anything while she's miles away; all it will do is pull her away from her game.”
My husband is a poker player, and he understands the game. He’s been my poker coach since 1996. He’s now the Coach’s Coach.
What Does Your Partner Know About Poker?
Many players’ husbands or wives seldom comprehend the importance of disconnecting from what is going on in our life so that we can make correct decisions at the poker table.
The only thing we have control over is how we play the hand we’re in. Shift your mindset, let go of past cards, and stop worrying about the next ones.
If your spouse or partner is not a poker player, they will likely misunderstand how we need to shift. In order to play our best game, we must disconnect from what is going on in our lives and let it go before we sit down at the poker table.
People, who are not poker players, do not quite understand the mindset you must be in to compete.
Your mind needs to be clear to play you’re A-game. Rather than allowing texting to interrupt your decision process and push you around like you're a wimp, play YOUR game.
Until next time, remember my mindset motto:
“Play the cards life deals as if you’ve already won.”
Donna Blevins
Poker Mindset Coach
By the way, please do three things quickly before you leave. Leave a comment below, share with your friends and grab my thank you gift. Your gift is a 4-minute audio that I call an ATOM—A Taste of MindShifting. You'll experience one of my LIVE coaching sessions and learn my Signature Mind Shift Exercise™ “Hmm…Isn’t that interesting”
You CAN shift your mindset at any given moment when you know how!