Busted Jacks Review: The Poker Mindset

I think there are many poker players out there who, even if blessed with great talent, just don't have the tools they need to improve how they deal with the roller coaster ride that is variance. At least I know I was one of them, until I read this book.

"The Poker Mindset" by Ian Taylor and Matthew Hilger, is written from the perspective of poker players that have overcome the psychological challenges that are holding back many other players. The book is intended for players of every skill level. It does not propose to teach proper technical play but rather to provide a psychological tool box to help players master the mental and emotional aspects of the game.

"If you are looking to make money from poker, you need to play for the long term and accept the short-term risks." -The Poker Mindset. It is written in an organized and easy to read format that thoroughly outlines each concept with tips on how to incorporate them into your game, and mind. The book covers a full scope of topics such as, how to cope with bad beats, tilt, bankroll management, evaluating your opponents, balancing poker with your life, as well as many advanced topics including a section about what it takes to become a professional.

While reading this book I was able to apply the concepts within to my own poker game with excellent results. I read through the introduction, which gives a general outline for the intent and purpose of the book, then on to the second chapter which outlines exactly what The Poker Mindset is. "The Poker Mindset consists of seven attitudes that you need to adopt in order to succeed at poker over the long term, giving you a psychological toolbox to compliment your technical one." Basically it can help you get your perspective, emotions, and motivation in tune so that you can bring your A-game to the table more often.

If it isn't obvious already, I am very impressed with this book. I've been able to change my perspective on the game in such a way that variance doesn't have nearly the impact on my decision making that it used to. Both of the writers are professional poker players who are also well educated with degrees in subjects ranging from finance to risk management and business. As a poker player I can clearly see that they have a very good grasp on the poker concepts they write about and have presented them in a way that let's the reader see The Poker Mindset from the ground up.

Clearly I would recommend this book to any player, from novice to advanced who wants to improve their profits and play their A-game more consistently.

Play well and have fun!

Boku's Amazing Challenge: An Interview with Boku87

Countless people have gone online or to a casino and have miraculously turned a $100 (or less) gamble into a small fortune. Rarely if ever have any of them called their shot like Boku did. Not only did he say he would turn $100 into $10,000 but he made a side bet with over $11k of his own money that he would do so in 15 days or less, playing poker online.

In late February, 2009 Boku87, as he is known on twoplustwo.com and PokerStars.com, made a challenge to the world in the form of a prop bet (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/54/poker-beats-brags-variance/propbet-turning-100-into-10000-15-days-lowlimit-only-417722). He bet that he could start with a bankroll of $100 and turn it into $10k playing only low stakes sit-and-go tournaments. Everyone thought he was crazy and that there was no way someone could do this without getting extremely lucky. Little did they know, Boku is an amazing multitabler who could stay level headed for hours on end while playing up to 50 sit-and-goes simultaneously. On March 3, 2009 Boku began the daunting task he had set out for himself. After some ups and downs and day after day of "mind crushing" grinding, Boku arose victorious on March 16th and proved to everyone that he could do the "impossible".

I am honored to have this opportunity to ask him a few questions about his awesome test of poker endurance.

Great job Boku. Thanks for taking some time to answer these questions.

If you don't mind everyone knowing, what is your real name?

Since the EPT Monte Carlo everyone knows it anyway, so my real name is Thomas Boekhoff.

What part of Germany are you from?

A small region in North-West Germany which for some reason is called Eastfrisia...Maybe thats why everyone thinks in Germany that Eastfrisian people are not very clever. There are countless jokes about Eastfrisian people being stupid.

How long have you been playing online poker and do you play professionally?

I started playing in March 2006 and left school 4 months later to have more time for playing and earning money with poker.

What was your purpose for making this challenge to yourself and the poker world? Was it just for the money, or did you have something to prove?

A friend asked me to show him how I 40 table. He 30 tables himself and wanted to see me play to see what I am doing different to improve his game. Because I did not want to take ages to load up games at my normal stakes I decided to register for some 3$ and 6$ sngs etc. and I just totally crushed them. I made like 500 bucks in this short session and my friend and I thought if there is a way to make more profit doing this. Like making a challenge that I could make X amount of money at these stakes and so I developed the 100$ --> 10K challenge.

There seems to be some confusion on the forums about how much action you got on this bet. Would you care to clear up the details?

I am not sure about the exact amount but I have about $4K on Fulltilt and a little over $30K on Pokerstars. I know that it was over $30K before I started so I think I won around $35K in bets. Maybe +- a few hundred bucks.

Playing 50 tables at one time is absolutely mind boggling for most people. How did you work your way up to 50 tabling without completely frying your brain? Do you have certain personality traits or characteristics that allow you to play so many tables at once?

Well I started with just 4 tables and stayed at 4 for a few months. One day I saw the rhainkhan video and thought "Wow so many tables I think I should try more than 4", and I started to slowly add some till I got to the maximum of 12 tables (in 2006)
I started playing SnGs on Full Tilt but they denied me rakeback so I switched to Pokerstars in November 06 and just loaded up my tables as usual and expected to get the "you can't open more than 12 tables" message at one point but it never happened and I opened like 15 tables. I was surprised that it was possible to play more than 12 tables and I had no problem with handling more than 12 so I just opened up as many as I could handle which was about 25 at that time. Since then I slowly added a few more and also switched from 9man to 18/45man which are easier to multitable because they have less shorthanded situations.

I think I am mathmatically gifted, I learned counting to a thousand and stuff basically by accident when I was four so I think being good and quick at math is useful.

What would you say is the most important characteristic for anyone trying to play so many tables?

You have to be able to make decisions very fast and standardize your game. So no sick moves or bluffs and you should avoid tough situations as you do not have time to think 10 seconds for one hand.

I read on twoplustwo.com that before posting your challenge to the poker world, you made a bet with a friend that you could get people to give you 3 to 1 odds on this challenge. Is this true?

We did not really bet on it but we were thinking about how much I could demand. I did not think I was a 3:1 underdog but I thought people would think I am a 3:1 underdog so I chose those odds.

While playing nearly 7000 sit-and-goes in less than 15 days you had two long stretches of 1500 games each, where you only broke even. Have you ever experienced this before? How did these breakeven stretches effect your confidence?

I have had long breakeven stretches before but certainly not at this level. I expected to be done at 5000 SnGs at the most and only if I ran really bad. I thought it might take about 4000 SnGs but that downswing that caused me to breakeven for 1500 SnGs was just brutal. It just destroyed all my plans and I actually had to switch to a daily 13-14 hours grind.


Was there ever a point where you felt like throwing in the towel, and giving up, and if so, what got you through it?

At one point after a session I had around $4K and I thought about quitting as I had to play another 7 days or so and I was totally exhausted and not in the mood to play any more poker. But I just couldn't face myself anymore if I quit at that point. I only needed to make like $1.50 per sng in 500 Sngs per day which is not that hard so I just had to do it, if I like it or not. It was hard to force myself to keep playing but I knew I would win if I ran ok and played good.

How many hours would you say you spent actually playing poker during this challenge?

I would guess about 150 hours.

Since you are most likely the only person ever to attempt this endeavor, you must have quite a different perspective about volume than the average player in online poker. I don't think anyone has ever played this much in this short a period of time. What are your thoughts on this experience? Have you had any revelations or enlightenments about poker arising from playing this much volume?

It was just brutal. No one should ever play this much. I could not sleep at night, I could not eat and I could not drink. Basically I was a total mess during this bet.

Has this experience brought you to love poker, hate poker, or are you indifferent?

During the 1500 SnGs breakeven stretch I have sworn to myself I would never ever play poker again. But now that it is over I don't feel like that at all anymore. I just like poker the way I did before the bet.

Did you accomplish what you set out to do with this challenge?

My goal was to win some money with prop bets and I did that so I accomplished my goal.

Will you be getting back to grinding any time soon, or are you taking a vacation?

I will take at least one week or probably up to a month or so. I really need a break from poker.

Do you have any big plans for your winnings?

Not really, but I will think of something nice.

Will you be playing any live events this year?

I always wanted to play some live tournaments so I am probably going to play some smaller ones in the APPT or LAPT. I might play some WSOP events, too.

You were probably hoping I wouldn't go there, but a lot of guys saw your sister in the live video stream and just went nuts about seeing her. What would you say to all the guys out there who have a crush on her? Is she available?

She has a boyfriend for about 3 years. So no chance ;)

Who do you look up to/admire in the poker community? Do you have any mentors that you would like to share some credit with?

My thanks goes to Joey Micheal, Jonathan Little and Chip Ferguson. They are instructors for SnG Icons.
Before I watched their videos I just broke even but their videos really improved my game and are the reason why I am winning.

Thanks Thomas for doing this interview. I think you inspired a lot of people out there by doing something we all thought was nearly impossible. Congratulations on your success, and good luck to you in all your future challenges.

Boku has a blog at http://10kpropbet.blogspot.com with summaries of his daily struggles.

© WK Cook 2009