A Perfect Game

I talked before on other videos about working to get "in the zone" while playing.  One thing that I haven't really discussed is the ability to get in and out of the zone at will when needed.  I think having that high level of concentration can be pretty taxing and, if you're going to do so in a tournament or cash session that lasts more than a few hours, I think you need to be able to get in and out of that state.

This video talks about that phenomenon and, seeing as it's springtime now, appropriately references a baseball movie.

Steely Dan Warned Us ... Black Friday Has Come

Here are my mandatory poker vlogger thoughts on Black Friday:

As noted in the video, there is a ton of other commentary out there addressing aspects of this situation.  Here are some good blog links to check out for some interesting thoughts on the subject:

For good insight into the legal nuts and bolts behind the issue check out the Black Widow of Poker's Blog.

Grange95's crAAKKer blog has several pre Black Friday posts that also look into the legal issues of online poker as well as commentary on the issue since the indictments came down.

For lots of discussion of all aspects of "Black Friday" see Bill Rini's Poker Blog.

And, as always, I think the Poker Grump has something worth reading on the subject.  As a side note, I'd just say that the Grump was really the first poker blog I regularly read, and it's true, you always remember your first.

For some views on how this situation is impacting people who were serious online players check the pros blogs over at tournamentpokeredge.com (no subscription is required to see the blogs).

For some thoughts on how to deal with the situation see the posts from a couple of mental game coaches: Jared Tendler's post is excellent as is the post from pokerpsyche over at the pokergob site.

I'm sure there are more that could be posted in here, but that's what I've got for now.  If there are other links you think should be spread please feel free to leave a comment on those.

I titled the post harking back to a Steely Dan song (dating myself) and I'll end with a slightly more contemporary reference to R.E.M.: while this definitely signals the end of the online poker world as we know it (at least in the U.S.) it's not game over.  Poker's been around a long time and people's desire to play isn't going anywhere.  Poker will endure.

Team Poker

Santa Fe recently held a team poker event that I played in along with a couple of other VPN members.  Some thoughts on this different format for tournament poker: