A Sample Rule – Rule 3 – Playing Undistracted by Outside Influences
Outside influences and distractions may impact your ability to play solid poker and win at any tournament level. Any level of play! If you have any problems at home, work, or socially, you have no business playing in a tournament. You need to be focused, or you are throwing your money away.
I like to give examples of what I have done at different times while playing in tournaments. Here’s an example. I played a poker tournament that spanned 12 weeks of play at the Tropicana. You get points for how well you fared in each weekly tourney, and the top players would be entered in a playoff for the big money. You had to be in the top 20 in points to make it to the big game.
I had serious house issues (maintenance problems) that played on my mind. I won’t go into the details. But it affected my game. I didn’t score any points during that first week. It was the only week I didn’t score some points. Needless to say, any issue that dwells on your mind can and may distract you. Find something else to do. Other than that first week, I was one of the favorites. In case you want to know, I came in third at the end.
Another time, I played at the Riveria Casino (long gone). The tourney was the same style as the Tropicana (No poker room now, and soon to be replaced with a baseball stadium). I didn’t play during the early rounds. I only played in the last three weeks of the tournament. I realized I needed to win at least once and score some points in the other two weeks to make it to the finals.
Again, I had problems that kept me from playing during the first few weeks. This time, I followed my advice. Once I resolved my issues and distractions, I decided I could play and get into the finals. It would take a lot of work, though. It wouldn’t be impossible, but I would have to use all my known skills. Not only did I score enough points to get into the final tourney, but I also won 2 of the three weeks and came in 5th the third week. I played in the finals and came in second. You can’t win them all.
You must have the mental foresight and clear-headedness to play if you desire to have any chance of winning. Don’t waste your money or your time if you have any distractions. It’s hard enough to play quality poker with all the distractions at the table to include problems outside the tournament.
This is a sample rule of the 52 rules I present to you in this ebook. I don’t put links in this book, but I thought this sample rule should give you a link to distractions. Here is a list of things you need to do when playing tournaments at Your Poker Dream. My blog page will give updates on the relevant information you need when playing tournament poker.
