Game Coach Jared Tendler Talks of Poker as a Mental Game
Modern poker players are trying not only to master various poker strategies, but also to sharpen the mental abilities required to play poker. One of the best mental game coaches in the poker world is Jared Tendler who has authored a book called “The Mental Game of Poker” in two parts.
Tendler is also the coach at an Internet poker training portal called StoxPoker.com, which has recently been acquired by CardRunners. He also offers personal assistance to individual poker players who approach him. Tendler got an MA in counseling psychology at the Boston-based Northeastern University, after which he went to Arizona to work with golfers as a sports psychologist. A meeting with poker pro Dusty Schmidt led to his migration into the poker world, and today he works mostly with poker players.
Recently, Tendler spoke to Card Player about how poker is a mental game. When Steve Schult asked him about tilting, he replied that poker players could have several reasons to play badly, adding that, after working with several poker players, he has come to the conclusion that “by and large, when people were talking about tilt, they were talking about anger being the cause of why they were playing badly.” Speaking about the importance of determining the cause of bad play because different strategies have to be used for different causes, he said: “If you are unmotivated, lazy, bored, or feeling a lot of pressure, all of those scenarios will have a different strategy to correct the problem, than if you are actually angry.”
When asked how poker players can actually fix tilting issues, Tendler said that the first part of the solution for tilting is “recognition,” adding that most players hardly realize they are tilting until it is too late and they have lost all control. Stating that it is very difficult to regain control once players have lost it, he said that “it is much easier to prevent it from happening, but it takes some work to do that.” He said that he makes his clients fill a detailed questionnaire to help them understand why they tilt and how they can deal with it.
When asked about other mental issues poker players have to face, Tendler said that the biggest issue is fear or anxiety that clouds players’ ability to think. Further listing out various mental issues, he said that players often have to deal with motivation issues, adding that several poker players are just too lazy to improve their game. He also said that poker players have trouble with concentration, especially when there are so many distractions such as mobile phones and social networking sites around.
Tendler also spoke about the “Zone,” explaining it as “peak mental functioning.” He said: “It’s often called the state of flow, but basically when you are in the zone, you have the ability to make high level decisions very easily, nothing frustrates you.” While players in the Zone need not necessarily win all the time, they are definitely in “total command” of the game.
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