{"id":733,"date":"2017-01-17T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-01-17T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.advancedpokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/?p=733"},"modified":"2021-06-06T14:52:28","modified_gmt":"2021-06-06T18:52:28","slug":"bad-habits-in-the-face-of-good-advice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/bad-habits-in-the-face-of-good-advice\/","title":{"rendered":"Bad Habits in the Face of Good Advice"},"content":{"rendered":"

A good poker book is always a gift. While I have read\u00a0many that cover theory, math, and hand analysis, the ones I have found potentially<\/em> most useful focus on enhancing the physical and mental approach to the game.<\/p>\n

Recently I found myself nodding my head in hearty agreement with numerous excellent points made by\u00a0Patricia Cardner and Jonathan Little in their book Peak Poker Performance<\/em><\/a>. Cardner identifies various bad habits that interfere with our functioning and offers strategies\u00a0to combat them, while\u00a0Little connects these strategies\u00a0in very tangible ways to an optimal approach for\u00a0poker sessions. All of their advice\u00a0seemed so clear, so\u00a0attainable.<\/p>\n

However\u00a0“potentially” is\u00a0the crux of my problem. Let’s look at the current tale of the tape:<\/p>\n

I. Sage Advice from Cardner\/Little:\u00a0<\/strong>Prepare physically for poker sessions by sleeping well, eating right, and exercising. Maximal energy, focus, and brain functioning is not possible if you are not caring for your body.<\/p>\n

My Reality<\/strong>: \u00a0Sitting on the coach the night before a tournament eating a bowl of popcorn (really a thinly veiled butter delivery system) followed by an ice cream chaser while binge watching the first season of The Vikings<\/em>\u00a0until 2am probably doesn’t meet the Cardner\/Little standards of optimal\u00a0prep. Neither does making an orphan of the treadmill for the past month or vowing that once the Hershey’s kisses are kaput, the snack diet will be strictly mandarin oranges and celery.<\/p>\n

II. Sage Advice from Cardner\/Little:\u00a0<\/strong>Sustain a\u00a0proper mental approach by avoiding rumination over mistakes, excessive self-criticism, or\u00a0allowing emotions to drive your behavior.<\/p>\n

My Reality<\/strong>: Found all of these fine points challenging the last two weekends when my tournaments were ended\u00a0by poorly executed directives\u00a0from another excellent Jonathan Little tome,\u00a0Bluffs<\/em>. Apparently, I should not have impulsively shoved all-in representing an ace in my hand when one hit the river when the other player had already paired the raggy board with …top kicker in his hand. So that would be 2 pair to my blown straight draw. “Moron” was the nicest thing my inner critic said over\u00a0the next 90 minutes.<\/p>\n

[bctt tweet=”‘Moron’ was the nicest thing my inner critic said over\u00a0the next 90 minutes.” username=”PokerTraining”]<\/p>\n

III. Sage Advice from Cardner\/Little: \u00a0<\/strong>Avoid procrastination in studying\/training by making a game out of accomplishing\u00a0aversive tasks, structuring a more productive working environment (e.g, put that cell phone out of sight), creating simple to-do lists, and my favorite: Temptation Bundling (which I thought was a reality TV series on Fox).<\/p>\n

My Reality<\/strong>: Now they’re just messing with my brand. Procrastination is the lifeblood of future\u00a0self-recrimination. I’m not sure I’d recognize myself without it. If I was dutifully addressing all the leaks in my game with disciplined daily hand analysis, well where’s the challenge there?<\/p>\n

IV. Sage Advice from Cardner\/Little: \u00a0<\/strong>Don’t just set goals for your poker career: develop a system of\u00a0growth and improvement that is marked by increasingly strong positive habits.<\/p>\n

My Reality<\/strong>:\u00a0See my above love affairs with procrastination and the couch. Tough to bang out a disciplined system of self-improvement when you misplaced your detailed study plan and you figure you’ll find it tomorrow. Right now a new Shark Tank<\/em> just came on.<\/p>\n

In truth, my good self \u00a0does show up from time to time. When it does, growth\u00a0toward a better poker player and person actually seems attainable. I would just like that self to be a more regular resident, rather than a timeshare holder in my psyche.<\/p>\n

Enjoying the blog? Go on over to the sidebar and subscribe. Each new installment will arrive in your inbox the day of publication.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A good poker book is always a gift. While I have read\u00a0many that cover theory, math, and hand analysis, the ones I have found potentially most useful focus on enhancing the physical and mental approach to the game. Recently I found myself nodding my head in hearty agreement with numerous excellent points made by\u00a0Patricia Cardner […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":768,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[60,62,63,61,8],"class_list":["post-733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-habits","tag-jonathan-little","tag-patricia-carrdner","tag-peak-performance","tag-poker"],"yoast_head":"\nBad Habits in the Face of Good Advice - Advanced Poker Training Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/bad-habits-in-the-face-of-good-advice\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bad Habits in the Face of Good Advice - Advanced Poker Training Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A good poker book is always a gift. While I have read\u00a0many that cover theory, math, and hand analysis, the ones I have found potentially most useful focus on enhancing the physical and mental approach to the game. Recently I found myself nodding my head in hearty agreement with numerous excellent points made by\u00a0Patricia Cardner […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/bad-habits-in-the-face-of-good-advice\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Advanced Poker Training Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-01-17T14:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-06-06T18:52:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/jonathan_little_ept10pra_d3_2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Paul Gearan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Paul Gearan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/bad-habits-in-the-face-of-good-advice\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/bad-habits-in-the-face-of-good-advice\/\",\"name\":\"Bad Habits in the Face of Good Advice - Advanced Poker Training Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/bad-habits-in-the-face-of-good-advice\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/bad-habits-in-the-face-of-good-advice\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/jonathan_little_ept10pra_d3_2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-01-17T14:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-06-06T18:52:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b72b581f78107bb5ddaec07c6859d9de\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/bad-habits-in-the-face-of-good-advice\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/bad-habits-in-the-face-of-good-advice\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/bad-habits-in-the-face-of-good-advice\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/jonathan_little_ept10pra_d3_2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/jonathan_little_ept10pra_d3_2.jpg\",\"width\":450,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"Johnathan Little\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/bad-habits-in-the-face-of-good-advice\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Bad Habits in the Face of Good Advice\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Advanced Poker Training Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b72b581f78107bb5ddaec07c6859d9de\",\"name\":\"Paul Gearan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/90003b297a2e9c62439597c27152785d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/90003b297a2e9c62439597c27152785d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Paul Gearan\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/author\/paulgearan\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bad Habits in the Face of Good Advice - Advanced Poker Training Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/bad-habits-in-the-face-of-good-advice\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bad Habits in the Face of Good Advice - Advanced Poker Training Blog","og_description":"A good poker book is always a gift. While I have read\u00a0many that cover theory, math, and hand analysis, the ones I have found potentially most useful focus on enhancing the physical and mental approach to the game. Recently I found myself nodding my head in hearty agreement with numerous excellent points made by\u00a0Patricia Cardner […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/bad-habits-in-the-face-of-good-advice\/","og_site_name":"Advanced Poker Training Blog","article_published_time":"2017-01-17T14:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-06-06T18:52:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":450,"height":300,"url":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/jonathan_little_ept10pra_d3_2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Paul Gearan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Paul Gearan","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/bad-habits-in-the-face-of-good-advice\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/bad-habits-in-the-face-of-good-advice\/","name":"Bad Habits in the Face of Good Advice - Advanced Poker Training Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/bad-habits-in-the-face-of-good-advice\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/bad-habits-in-the-face-of-good-advice\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/jonathan_little_ept10pra_d3_2.jpg","datePublished":"2017-01-17T14:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2021-06-06T18:52:28+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b72b581f78107bb5ddaec07c6859d9de"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/bad-habits-in-the-face-of-good-advice\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/bad-habits-in-the-face-of-good-advice\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/bad-habits-in-the-face-of-good-advice\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/jonathan_little_ept10pra_d3_2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/jonathan_little_ept10pra_d3_2.jpg","width":450,"height":300,"caption":"Johnathan Little"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/bad-habits-in-the-face-of-good-advice\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Bad Habits in the Face of Good Advice"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/","name":"Advanced Poker Training Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b72b581f78107bb5ddaec07c6859d9de","name":"Paul Gearan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/90003b297a2e9c62439597c27152785d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/90003b297a2e9c62439597c27152785d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Paul Gearan"},"url":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/author\/paulgearan\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/jonathan_little_ept10pra_d3_2.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6C1Pb-bP","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=733"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3176,"href":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/733\/revisions\/3176"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pokertraining.com\/poker\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}