There are so many elements that are overlooked or taken for granted if you're playing poker for a living or even as a serious hobby. Probably the most important is to keep a clear mind while off the felt. I'm not saying you can't go out, party or have a good time, what I am saying is that it's good practice to know when you're not clear-minded and to not play during that time.

There are many players out there that fall victim to playing when they shouldn't. I've witnessed on multiple occasions people coming back drunk and deciding to play 5/10 because they feel they're on top of the world. While all this confidence is good, it's rare they have a winning session that they didn't luck into. It's more likely they would lose a few buyins, wake up the next day and realize they had made a mistake.

Having a clear mind is a whole other part of the game that is not taken seriously by a good portion of the poker population. I'm not referring to when you're playing with buddies for fun, what I am talking about are the everyday grinders and people who do this for a living that don't have a stable mind. So what causes instability? Depression, relationship problems, boredom, family issues, tiredness, and tilt from an earlier session are some obvious ones and if you are dealing with any one of these, you really shouldn't be playing anything for serious money until you figure out how to handle it. Some ways to better cope with the things life throws at us? Hanging out with friends, going out, talking to those you're having problems with, listen to music, jogging, going to the gym or even looking over hand histories from previous play & watch training videos. Basically anything but playing.

A know a bunch of big time pro's have "life coaches" which is great for a big time poker player. Someone who keeps track of everything, makes sure things run smoothly and who works with us to build a stress-free environment would no doubt help us all. But, not everyone wants or can afford a life coach, so they have to cope with it on their own which can be tough.

I happen to be very good at this, which is definitely one reason for some of my success. But it was a learning process - in the past I fell victim to some of the pitfalls I've mentioned in this blog. But these days I know when I should not play and I stick to it. I have no problem hopping on my Xbox and playing some non-stressful games to let some steam off and calm down (A couple suggestions would be Grant Theft Auto or Call of Duty lol). I jog regularly which works for me and I know for some people going to the gym and lighting up a punching bag can have a positive effect. Then, when I'm ready to play I can fully focus and play the best I can.

So think about this for yourself and ask your self if you can control your self and do you know when not to play. Do you have trouble dealing with tilt? Do you tilt easily? All of these things are very important and should not be overlooked if you plan to be successful in poker. The most difficult thing is that you're mainly having to cope with it on your own, but if you work at it and be aware, you will understand yourself much better and you'll experience a positive result in your game.

Obviously the current state of online poker is pretty messed up, not only for US players, but for the rest of the world too. While I share everyone's frustration, I must agree with the steps the government has taken. Stars/Tilt broke many laws and most of the charges were stemming from the very shady methods used in the payments department. Now granted, much of this was done to dodge the laws currently set in place by the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act (which is a whole other story and argument in itself), but never the less is a law.

Many professional players lost their jobs (Myself partly included) and must find alternative methods to play, while the recreational player has even fewer options. Players are resorting to moving out of the country, moving to a spot that has plenty of live poker, going to a site that still accepts US players (such as Black Chip Poker), or using a VPN to play (which i discourage because it is against the sites' TOS puts your roll at stake if you do this). I'm still in college right now, so I will continue to play on BCP but after college, I don't know what I am going to do; I guess I'm just hoping things get cleared up by then. I was on Quad Jacks live radio podcast twice talking about the future of online poker, what the options are, and what poker professionals like myself are going to do. And quiet frankly, I do think it'll be cleared up, this industry is simply to big for the current state of online poker to remain as is.

A very similar situation happened in the state of Kentucky a few years back. From what I can recollect, the Kentucky government blocked the domain names to a few of the top poker sites so no one from the state of Kentucky could play. This was overturned very quickly. I would be appalled if I was living in a state like Washington where it is currently illegal to play online poker and is in the same punishable class as sex offenders (Class C Felony). That is just plain out ridiculous on so many levels. Moving on, I kind of hope the government lets Party Gaming back into the US (obviously charging them up the ass and taxing the hell out of it), but this would solve the problem of the government (or harrah's for that matter) having to invest & create a website with poker software that was comparable to Stars/Tilt and not only that, if the government were to get someone like Harrah's to create a real money site, it would only have a US player base until it expanded. Party Gaming already is pretty popular amongst the rest of the world, so that would be smart on the US's side.

Until then though, the whole MERGE platform is still open for business as well as Bodog and a few others I believe. Only time will tell, but the time is ticking on such a big industry, I feel like something is going to happen sooner rather then later. This is of course assuming the House and Senate become intelligent and jump onto this opportunity, so perhaps I'm rooting for the underdog outcome on this one.

-Xorc1st

Let me first begin by saying thanks to all the comments on my video debut. I will be making another one and maybe even a leakfinder in the future. So if you play 100nl or 200nl FR RUSH, get in contact with me to possibly be the focus of a leakfinder!

Now that I've become a very competent full ring cash game reg, the next thing on my poker list is to get good at tournaments. It has always been a goal of mine and just has been put on the back burner. I have summer break in a few months and I want to try and be ready by then. I plan on just playing on the weekends and maybe in the majors. I just basically want to be able to go deep and know what the hell I am doing in a major. I know I have major leaks and flaws and I am working on them.

I am currently being coached by someone and after just 10-20 minutes of talking, I was already way better and he helped me fix a ton of leaks and I went deep in a few tournaments today. So I'm expecting good things!

Cash Games by Week, Tourneys by Weekend is the plan :)

Good Luck at the Tables!

Hey all, I have been working on my game a ton lately and I think i cleared up some leaks I had. I hope to record some more videos soon so I can share with the viewers. My first video debut should be out in the first weke or two or march. Also around this time, look for me to have my own coaching thread in the forums if you want personal lessons.

I'm excited to be with card runners and I hope I have a bright future with them.

Good luck at the tables.

I'm very honored to be part of the Card Runner's Team.

I am mainly a 200nl RUSH player on Full Tilt Poker.

I hope to make my first video soon.

Good Luck at the Tables!