Focus and Preparation

This article is written by The Hendon Mob and originally appeared on www.thehendonmob.com

Have you ever found that sometimes you start tournaments well and in others you just can't get 'tuned in'? Sometimes you make finals but when the money counts you make mistakes and have difficulty focusing? What should you do about it?

Let us consider a trained athlete just before he/she runs in the 100 metre final at the Olympics. What do they do? Are they in the bar having a beer or chatting to their friends in the crowd? Not usually. They can be seen 'blocking out' all outside interferences. They may be sat with their heads in their hands or standing with their heads bowed. What do they think about? Winning! Having that gold medal placed around their necks!

How do they achieve the 'focus' that everyone talks about? They probably go through races in their heads that they've won. They 'pump themselves up' by going through past victories in their minds.

Applying it to poker

First though, go through all the hands that you've played badly (some people will take longer than others ;-). Think about hands t