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Poker Video: Misc/Other by Tommy Angelo (Micro/Small Stakes)

I have a very hard time quiting because I love playing poker and as you may know as a ADD person it's really hard to stop something because when I am interested in something I am consumed for it for a long time, even when I am losing and i should quit

Last week, Wayne called me obsessive compulsive. I said right, it's my best feature.

Susuki said, "Each of you is perfect just as you are, and you could use a little improvement."

Hmmm, I lost track of where I was going with all that. Something distracted me. :-)

As to quitting, never fear! The Quitting episode is almost here! :-)

Tommy

What really hit close to home for me is the topic of the single tasking. In Susan Jeffers' book "Feel the Fear and do it anyway" she talks about focusing on a goal or task and committing yourself 100 percent to that task. By focusing on the one goal you have chosen , you will make your life quality 100 percent better. I can see what she means.

The problem is that when you work and have a busy schedule and a social life and family there is only so much you can do in a day. This really is the big challenge in my life. I cannot single task.

Yet.

Only when it's something that takes me into the zone or the flow

Btw : read this book if you're interested in the concept of the "zone" or "the flow"
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Finding-Flow-Psychology-Engagement-MasterMinds/dp/0465024114/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_c

In this book it basically is put forward that we are in the zone if the challenge and the skill required is exactly right. If there is not enough challenge , we get bored. If there's not enough skill , we hit a brick wall and fail.

I spend most of my life outside this zone and it frustrates me. When playing poker , too many tables might cause you to hit a wall. Not enough tables and you get bored.

The fact that I am out of this zone makes me reach for other tasks and stuff to do.

I totally get what you are talking about here. I was exactly the same way, severely.

If only I could do one task at a time and give 100 percent on each task , i think poker and life in general would be so much better.

I strongly agree.

Tommy,

Choosing is losing they say. But if you have learned to single-task, don't you feel you are missing out on other stuff ?

No. Not even a teenie little bit.

Don't you have to rigorously select what it is you are going to do ?

I am able to mindfully select what I do, instead of being dragged along by my mind. There is nothing even remotely resembling "rigor" in any of my selection processes. Just the opposite. It's way more relaxing to actually decide things and know I am deciding as I decide, rather than just plow through day after day stressing over what did and didn't happen and what might or might not happen. I notice the lack of stress in previously stressful moments many times per day.

Perhaps it's just the fact that I realise how limited our time on this earth is , that I feel the need to accomplish something and leave a legacy. Have you experienced something similar and how do you deal with it.

Yes I have experienced what you describe. I had no way to deal with it at all. That's why I didn't deal with it. I just lived in it. Only when I started stilling myself every morning did things change, and the change was dramatic. Yes I am sometimes "busy." Yes I sometimes "hurry." But it's stressless. It's mindful. If I am late for an appointment and walking quickly to my car, I am aware of the walking. This makes all the difference in the world.

I'm asking this because it's all tied in with this single-tasking that you do.

What is the optimal way to learn to do that ?

Start here:

www.tommyangelo.com/meditation101.html

Great series Tommy, I started self studying this stuff about a year ago after I got back from a trip to SE Asia. Like all good teachers and writers the content of this series is extremely simple which in turn makes it very powerful. I realize that expressing such abstract ideas and concepts in a clean and simple way is a very difficult task and I commend you for this!

One area of the eightfold path I am very interested in as a poker player is "right livelihood". I'd love to hear your thoughts on this topic. Whenever I come across it in books (just finsihed reading The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching) I never really know if earning the majority of my livelihood playing poker is living right livelihood.

Choosing is losing they say. But if you have learned to single-task, don't you feel you are missing out on other stuff ?

And I always feel I'm missing out on stuff because I multi-task

perfect vid and series, respect Tommy!

Thnx very much for doing this, iv been wondering how to do this for a long time.

+1

In the fishing example, how does focusing on your partner's words go together with mindful breathing when I'm trying not to do two things at the same time?

You're always doing at least two things at the same time: breathing, and whatever else. The idea here isn't about what (or how many) things you are doing, but rather, what you are paying attention to. Our normal state is to have one of the things we are doing, namely, thinking, dominate. And our thinking tends to not be about precisely what is happening at this instant. If you consciously put some -- even a small amount -- of your attention on your breathing, you will by default derail some of your thinking some of the time, and the result will be that at those moments, you will be paying more attention to other present-tense things besides your breathing, such as, the person talking to you.

Tommy

One area of the eightfold path I am very interested in as a poker player is "right livelihood". I'd love to hear your thoughts on this topic. Whenever I come across it in books (just finsihed reading The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching) I never really know if earning the majority of my livelihood playing poker is living right livelihood.

Here's a short definition of right livelihood that I think sums up the detailed teaching pretty well:

Right Livelihood: abstaining from dishonest and harmful means of livelihood

With poker then, the question comes down to the word "harm" in the context of poker. This is an expansive topic. One angle to consider that's a couple layers deep is that if you start thinking that taking someone's money is harmful, then what you're saying is that the "correctness" of playing poker as a livelihood depends on a person's actual poker results. If today he is ahead a little as a "pro," and tomorrow he is behind, then suddenly, because he is now "a losing player," does that mean that so far he hasn't caused harm?

There's much more to it than that. I'm just tossing that out there to show there's lots of room to explore this topic. I think of poker in the context of right livelihood as a means to examine just what the heck "harm" is. I think there's more to "harm" at poker than taking someone's money. In my current perspective on the word "harm," I believe I can play poker without harming anyone, no matter how much I win or lose, so for me, today, playing poker for a living would not be wrong livelihood.

Tommy

"dishonest" -- Of course there is some deception involved in poker. In a recent artictle, Tommy, you wrote about how were (loosely quoted) "incapable of telling the truth" when it comes to discussions about hands.

However, I do not see this as "dishonesty" because it is within the rule set of the game that we do not let people know what cards we have, and we try to trick them. It would be wrong livelihood, however, to be a card mechanic and deal yourself full houses, of course. So where is the line drawn?

Pokertracker/HEM could give us a more interesting discussion into what is or is not dishonest, or to stretch the term a little bit, fair. Is it fair to casual player that we have data mined hand histories and HUDs? I argue it is because it is available to him, and if he read the terms of agreement for joining the site he would see it is in the rules.

Again, I think the crux on whether or not Poker is an example of right livelihood falls on the crux of how we define "harmful". 95% of the time, poker is not a harmful activity to our opponents. People bring money to the casino and if the leave without the money they came with, oh well. Sure they're blue as they're leaving the parking structure, but they will fall asleep just fine. The problem comes when we are playing against gambling addicts or degenerates.

We've all seen them. My friend only plays live poker on the day that unemployment and other government aid checks arrive in peoples mailboxes because of this. He knows this is an easy money day.

Certainly, there are people who are not eating enough because of their gambling problems. Undoubtedly, these people are suffering. But is it US, the people sitting across the table, that are causing them pain? I would argue no. Maybe its just the addictive nature of the game, but we are not there to prey on helpless people. They just ... show up. If I could snap my fingers, I would make poker games less juicy and bar all people that can't help themselves from playing.

But, what about my friend who shows up on the days people get the aid checks?

Thanks again for the enlightening series.

"dishonest" -- Of course there is some deception involved in poker. In a recent artictle, Tommy, you wrote about how were (loosely quoted) "incapable of telling the truth" when it comes to discussions about hands.

However, I do not see this as "dishonesty" because it is within the rule set of the game that we do not let people know what cards we have, and we try to trick them. It would be wrong livelihood, however, to be a card mechanic and deal yourself full houses, of course. So where is the line drawn?

Wherever you draw it.

Again, I think the crux on whether or not Poker is an example of right livelihood falls on the crux of how we define "harmful". 95% of the time, poker is not a harmful activity to our opponents. People bring money to the casino and if the leave without the money they came with, oh well. Sure they're blue as they're leaving the parking structure, but they will fall asleep just fine. The problem comes when we are playing against gambling addicts or degenerates.

We've all seen them. My friend only plays live poker on the day that unemployment and other government aid checks arrive in peoples mailboxes because of this. He knows this is an easy money day.

Certainly, there are people who are not eating enough because of their gambling problems. Undoubtedly, these people are suffering. But is it US, the people sitting across the table, that are causing them pain? I would argue no. Maybe its just the addictive nature of the game, but we are not there to prey on helpless people. They just ... show up. If I could snap my fingers, I would make poker games less juicy and bar all people that can't help themselves from playing.

But, what about my friend who shows up on the days people get the aid checks?

I believe that it isn't in your best interest, or mine, or those we judge, for us to try to determine what is right livelihood for anyone but ourselves. If there is ever a clear cut case of minding your own railroad, this is it.

Tommy

First off, I want to repeat how amazing this series is.

It is giving me the tools I need to get rid of barriers that I have blocking me from achieving further levels. I had already identified those barriers but this has given me the tools.

I already purchased a zabuton and meditation bench and am trying to single-task. However , my mind is very very restless and I have all the trouble in the world calming it. On the rare occasion that I do feel like I have it under control , a huge sense of relief and calm washes over me. But it's hard to consistently reach that state. Especially with work that has been so busy and distracting.

But here is my question and I believe it will be handled in a next episode but I'm firing it anyway.

I have problems handling downswings. I have linked very positive feelings to seeing green positive numbers and very negative feelings to seeing red negative numbers.I would go as far to say that they are linked up to my identity. After a huge downswing i really feel like a genuine loser which spills over into other areas of my life.

I am dealing with this in a completely wrong way , and that is by OR 1. Quitting poker (and then getting back a couple of days/weeks/months later OR 2. Erasing all my hand histories and pretending it didn't happen (clean slate).

When I do this I instantly feel better. I know this is wrong because you can't plug your leaks if you throw your db out ... But what can I do about this and will this get handled later on in the series ... ?

But here is my question and I believe it will be handled in a next episode but I'm firing it anyway.

I have problems handling downswings. I have linked very positive feelings to seeing green positive numbers and very negative feelings to seeing red negative numbers.I would go as far to say that they are linked up to my identity. After a huge downswing i really feel like a genuine loser which spills over into other areas of my life.

I am dealing with this in a completely wrong way , and that is by OR 1. Quitting poker (and then getting back a couple of days/weeks/months later OR 2. Erasing all my hand histories and pretending it didn't happen (clean slate).

When I do this I instantly feel better. I know this is wrong...

WHOA! STOP RIGHT THERE!

One could say that if you inject heroin into your veins in order to "instantly feel better," that this could be considered by some to be "wrong."

But to throw away data about the past in order to instantly feel better – it seems to me that nothing could be more right. But then, I put a high priority on feeling better. Maybe you should too.

"... because you can't plug your leaks if you throw your db out ..."

Sounds to me like there are times for you when the database itself IS the leak.

Okay, I do hear what you're saying. A couple times in the series, Wayne and I talk about Bandaids and cures. Throwing out your db would be a bandaid. It would help ease the pain that comes from looking at it, but it wouldn't cure the real disease that makes looking at your db painful in the first place.

Bandaids are good! Use them!

I think you should try going a few days without keeping any records or looking at them or saving them. Just fly totally free for a few days, or even a couple weeks, and THEN step back and look at your whole poker situation and ask yourself if you really "need" your db to "plug leaks." Or are you just addicted to and identified with the whole mess.

I already purchased a zabuton and meditation bench

Use them, and you’ll quickly see that:

...numbers ... are linked up to my identity.

Is true.

Tommy

This is this most untilting hour I've ever had. So great watching a poker series that has a ton of value not just for poker but for life also. It says Bi- weekly on the series though, isn't that twice a week? Probably should change that to Bi-monthly or am I wrong?

Either way so good looking forward to ep4

Tommy
There are many things I would like to say to you. But I think it would be incoherent and cluttered.
So I will say just two things.

Thank you Sir.

Keep up the good work

Dan

Tommy
There are many things I would like to say to you. But I think it would be incoherent and cluttered.
So I will say just two things.

Thank you Sir.

Keep up the good work

Dan

Incoherent and cluttered? Tommy's used to that. Trust me. Lots of opportunity to train.

Tommy is on vacation. So, like someone who picks up the Oscar for the winner I'll say, "Tommy thanks you and promises he will keep up the good work."

Wayne