Again, I was asked a few questions on Twitch. First, what separated the Baron and LLinus from the rest, and second, what is the difference between a student who succeed in the CFP vs one who didn’t. Now besides everything I said above, and in the previous months (😃 ), here is my view on it.
Baron and LLinus approached poker in a very different way, but obviously, both had great success. LLinus was more of a person who simplified his game, limiting himself to a couple of betsizings. For example, LLinus for a long time only used a 1/3 cbet sizing, a 2/3 OOP stab sizing etc, where Baron could throw out any sizing on any street, always looking to throw you off and manipulate the ranges.
What they both did similar though: they understood how GTO worked, how poker was played, how EV was generated. However, instead of copying that, the difference was in their interpretation. They used that information to create a strategy that achieved the objective of a poker hand, their desired outcome. LLinus’ game was more about keeping his ranges more together and playing rivers more often and making great decisions once he got there. Whereas Baron’s river play was more a result of the strategies he used on an earlier street.
Let go of thinking that the game should be played in a certain way, and certain sizings should be used, and look at poker more from the bigger picture.
Now as for the second point: why did some students succeed and others didn’t. They are getting exactly the same technical knowledge, but it is what you do with it that is going to make the difference. I would say a big part of it is discipline, in other words, the ability to execute consistently what i necessary to get to the next level. Now, some players have more resistance when it comes down to discipline, which is usually a mental game issue. This relates mainly to the beliefs they have about themselves, the belief/confidence they have in that it’s actually possible, and if succeeding, is in-line with what they truly want on an unconscious level. This newsletter is way too short to get into details, so I will leave that up for Adam to fully explain in our program The Mechanics of Poker.
Also, a number of other factors that distinguish successful students:
- Seeing the struggle towards reaching the top and the process equally enjoyable. And also, being curious about that process and what they can learn.
- As a result of that, they are less outcome oriented: they don’t crave results. So, the net won results on short term basis matter less to them.
- They see and accept reality as is, and deal with it correctly. They have realistic expectations, which helps them stay consistent through the ups and downs of poker.
With this, I could go on and on. If you want to know more about what brings success in our opinion, check out our PA principle series on our Instagram account.