Any chance you could make a PLO video?

Hey Sean, really enjoyed both of these videos - I generally bristle at these type of videos and expect the same tired advice of how not to tilt, etc., but you really have a lot of unique and helpful content in here.

I'm wondering if you wouldn't mind sharing your recent decision making process which led you to playing in some of the nosebleed games running lately (if its something you'd like to remain personal I absolutely understand). How do you go about deciding whether or not playing nosebleeds may be +EV and +LifeEV for you? Does it have more to do with increasing net-worth, challenging yourself, some combination, etc?

Thanks :)

Good question Zizen, +1 on those.

No offence, what WTF is this shit? I don't need to pay $100 a month for someone to tell me to buy a house, especially when you have no idea what you're talking about.  Buying stuff doesn't humanize you or make your life any more meaningful.

Haven't watched this series yet but is high on my priority list since i love Lefort's work. That said I can add some thoughts. Been doing the profesional grind for many years now and have a wife+kids that i support. It's extremely important to be very very over rolled. To try and be so debt free as possible since debt will add financial obligations that can be comfortable now but could be a huuuge burden if you find yourself not being able to play anymore for different reasons (not winning, government etc). And also to have a reasonable back up plan to fall back on if/when poker fails. 

This part is for open minded folks. I personally would also say that players who hold a lot of cash should hold some of their equity in physical gold instead. The financial system is bleeding in so many ways right now and what we saw in 2008 was just a warning imo. Banks can fail and probably will. The western worlds infinite growth program has come to a stop and without natural growth governments have tried artificial growth by taking on huge debt. Having some gold is just a nice way to diversify away from the hazardous environment the global leaders have put us in. 

Good video!

I heard Mr. T is selling some,  Rob.

Really enjoyed this video. I think every point you touched on hit home with me. These are all topics that have been in the back of my mind for awhile, but after watching this I realize I need to make some changes and take action.  I completely agree with you about the importance of relationships in life.  It can be so easy to ignore and not make time for family and friends when your grinding/on a downswing etc, but at the end of the day wether you won or lost money means very little, it's the people in your life that matter.

I also got a lot out of your discussion around keeping a routine, and making sure you feel some accomplishment at the end of the day. It's something that I struggle with at times and know I need to put more energy into other pursuits of mine.  I am always trying to find a healthy balance in my life and what your video really made me realize was how much "silent tilt" has been affecting me.  Poor sleeping, nuritrion and lack of exercise really does wear you down and make you prone to tilt or playing bad in general.  

Cliffs:

Great video man, really really got a ton out of it. Feel pretty motivated to make some changes.

Hey Lefort,

I really liked both of yours "How to be a better poker player" videos. I've been on a big downswing lately, not thinking clearly about the game,  and your ideas, comments, and thoughts were great and made me relax more, think outside the box, relax, and, hopefully, the results will come.

Thanks again, and GL at hs plo 

Really like this video series. In the vein of "making up for not making friends at work" I think traveling to tournament stops to meet and socialize with your peers is a way to do that within poker

Good series Sean. One point Ill make is that you said you might feel like youre one of the few that small errands can bring a sense of accomplishment, seeing as how you havent had those conversations with other pros. I whole heartedly agree that those small things can make a day/downswing less painful. One example is eating healthy food. So often I would get up, be lazy for an hour and then grind. All of a sudden Im starving and calling a pizza shop. Ive changed that to include working out in the morning and buying a slow cooker (highly recommend the slow cooker for anyone who plays mtts). At the end of the day if I win or lose, I still know Ive taken care of my health.

lol, I was obv drinking when I wrote my other comment.. but it is true - buying stuff is pointless. But holding on to cash is also pointless since it devalues.  Excess cash should be reinvested into things which can make future cash, e.g. RIO subscriptions. or kids lol. Buying a house does not make future cash, it simple devalues at a slower rate than real cash.  Therefore you are better off not to buy a house, but rent a house and spend the excess money on things which accomplish the above.

None of this has anything to do with friends, if people like you or think you're normal because you own a house then they are retarded and would be better of befriending someone else.

ps. didn't watch part 1 and stopped the video after the house comment, so the whole rant is based on 5 minutes of this video :)

Love the series, like thinking about this stuff in general, but completely disagree with the comment that "owning things are what humanize you". To the extent that so-called normal people believe this, they are wrong, and would be better off re-evaluating their perspective on material products.

For some of the reasons mentioned here, poker players tend to be quite materialistic and shallow, since making money is explicitly what we do and obsessiveness is rewarding. However, all collected wisdom points towards the ownership of stuff being de-humanizing rather than the opposite.

Rather than be concerned about not fitting in with normal society, we can potentially lead the way in becoming more fully self-realized human beings since our job hopefully encourages us to be more self-aware, rational and sceptical towards accepted practices than other people.

Cultivating a non-materialistic mindset and understanding why a desire for "things" is artificially created is quite liberating. I'm not saying don't buy a house etc, just be aware that a lot of what passes for "normal" is not really so and actually makes people miserable. Embrace the "rogue entrepreneur" (like this term) outsiders' perspective instead.

Yeah some really good stuff in this video especially regarding medium/long term burnout. There is not much written or talked about this subject and Sean is absolutely right when he says that burnout or a drop off in energy levels can creep up on you slowly and drastically affect the quality of your decision-making and technical play. I have experienced this personally and I think it can leave you feeling a little bewildered as to what is happening in real time. Jared Tendler covers theses issues in more depth in his two books and has written some really good stuff on the impact of energy levels and accumulated emotion over the short/medium/long term and how this can ultimately affect your decision making process. 

These are definitely worth a read. Also something that I have found very useful is to plan a 'cycle' length or a period of time that I plan to play poker over between small breaks, usually 6/8 weeks including projected hours/hands. I then write detailed notes after each session/day tracking the quality of my technical play, mental performance, variance experienced, things I did well, mistakes, energy levels and any other notable issues that arose. This has really helped me stay aware of the quality of my technical play, mental performance and overall energy levels throughout a given cycle. Subsequently, at times I have cut cycles short due to feeling burnt out and also lengthened cycles as my energy levels remained high and my technical/mental performance was good. 

Very useful series Sean! Thanks so much for making this its really good to look at all these "soft skills" of poker. They are perhaps the most important.

-Mush

Staying Balanced , with good energy , build nice relationships around friends and girls feeling loved safe and secure. You narrowed most important things to make an happy player on the long term. Also a great way to build a good support during huge swings.
Also interesting way to connect BR and net worth to build the games and limit selection.

Thank You Sean.

David