Find your anchor! Staying balanced at the WSOP

SOooooo Vegas is BRUTAL! While it has been an amazing experience so far, it’s been one expensive roller coaster ride! These past few weeks have been a serious test of my discipline and mental fortitude, more than my poker skills. While the poker tables have given my there share of challenges, I still feel like I’m playing well and just running bad. I’m not so arrogant to say I haven’t made mistakes, but I’m constantly working on those errors and I know that when the cards turn in my favor and I’m on my A game, big things are gonna happen. Thats poker, that’s variance, that’s life lol. No, the real challenges have been off the felt. Vegas has been even more difficult to stay on track than I thought it would. Some relationship issues, living situation problems, too many drinks, some bad influences, and some deep run busts that tilted me enough to hit table games, have all effected my training and my poker. While I know that sounds like alot, I’m being a little dramatic( shocker lol) to really drive the point home and make myself feel bad enough to be sure not to let any of it happen again. And if you heard or saw some of the REAL sob stories here, you would find out like I am, that what I’ve done is tame and nothing compared to it lol

So on that note, I’ve decided to make this more of a mental game and Fitness based post, to remind myself of what’s really important, get back on track, and to save you all from hearing my bad beat stories! lol (well most of them)  Now I have to give credit where its due and thank Jason Ferruggia at www.RenegadeStrengthclub.com for the email that formed the basis for this post. In the email he had an incredible quote from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson that really stuck with me…

“You always want to protect the thing that allows you to do what you do. In this case, my “thing” to protect is my training. Regardless of what time zone I’m in, or getting pulled in a thousand different directions or how little sleep I’ve gotten – I’ll always find a way to train, get after it and push thru. Training is my anchor – it centers me and allows me to then work a full 12-14 day of business. Find your anchor. Protect your anchor.”  

It really spoke to me in this trying time of run bad. The more I read it, the more focused I became. The bad beats disappeared from my mind, the pressure of winning was removed and clear thoughts of just playing my best poker became my only concern. I remembered to focus on the things I can control and not to get upset at the things I cannot control. I remembered tomorrows another day and Poker will always be there. I remembered that for ME; without training, healthy eating and sleeping well, I’m not  nearly at my best. One of, if not the biggest reason I started this 2Fit2Fold blog, (as cheesey as I know it sounds) was to keep myself accountable. This is MY Anchor. Training, staying fit and healthy, it keeps me sane. Something I definitely need out here. Its something I think anyone playing this series or any serious poker needs.

Poker is alot of fun and can be very profitable, but it’s way too easy to get your hopes and bankroll crushed. Stay Anchored, stay balanced. What keeps you grounded, in control, and on track towards your goals?  Whether you’re out here playing the WSOP,  trying to run it up at your local casino or just sitting behind the computer grinding online, figure it out! Then use it to keep yourself from going crazy and broke out here! lol

Let me know what you think in the comments below, love it or hate it! lol I’ll be playing the Planet Hollywood Ultimate Goliath and then the Monster stack event here at the Rio this week. So I’ll have another post for just poker and bad beats soon! lol Follow the action @TimOK311 on Twitter. @ 2fit2fold on instagram and  facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/tim.okeefe.75 be sure to like my 2fit2fold page while you’re there!

Thanks for reading! Run Good!

Tim