I recently deposited money into Poker Room (PR) for the first time so I could play in yesterdays Poker Diagram listener tournament. Up until now I’ve avoided playing at PR partly because the offer no real micro limit games (my training ground) and because I find their poker client damn ugly (avatars? please!).
Those points aside, I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to play with the Poker Diagram boys so I deposited $50US figuring that I’d use the change to play Sit and Go’s.
I’ve only played in two $5+$0.50 tournaments so far, with the following results:
4th Feb, 2006 – 2nd place
5th Feb, 2006 – 1st place
I know two tournaments is nothing to brag about and traditionally when I’ve reported success on my blog it’s been just before a big fall, however, there’s something that I think I’ve gotten down in these two tournaments that has been costing me in that past. I’ve spoken about it before, one word, concentration!
In these tournaments I have made a concious effort to concentrate on the tournament and not be distracted by anything else. MSN off, browsers closed, TV off, meals out of the way basically it’s just me, the cards, the chips and my opponents.
When I set up this kind of atmosphere I watch everything, what do my opponents do when I raise? What about when others raise? What are their betting habits? Are they aggressive/loose or tilting? When you can build up a profile of your opponents over the course of a game you can’t help but play better.
If you find yourself being distracted during on-line poker try forcing yourself to concentrate, you might be amazed at the results!
