Before you read this, please read Part 1 of this series by clicking here.
At the beginning of this series, I mentioned that Iggy and I were having a conversation about tournament play, discussing our various strategies and theories.
He stated that: “Joanne focuses strictly on making the money - that's her goal in tourneys.” This is mainly true, but it is a little more complicated than that.
It would be easy to say that my goal in tournaments was to win each one I played in. Really, that is what we all want. How ridiculous and impossible does that sound though? The statement is counter-productive since you will rarely (if ever, in some people’s cases) live up to your own standards and come in first place. I knew that I would be constantly letdown by thinking this way, so it only made sense to change my expectations into something that was still challenging, yet achievable.
I decided that my overall goal was to finish among the top 10% of players in tournaments, 90% of the time. That in itself should be a lofty enough goal for most people, never mind winning every tournament you enter.
To break it down: Most tournaments pay the prize pool out to the top 10%. So in a 2200-player tournament, the top 220 places cash. Whether I’d finish 1st or 219th, I would consider that a victory. The money earned was not always huge, but what you learn is far more valuable.
Compare this to golf.
If you were to only play to hit a hole-in-one:
Does that make it happen more often?
Do you get increasingly frustrated when it doesn’t happen?
Are you learning anything about the other elements of the game such as sand and water traps, putting or wind direction?
Is the game still any fun?
However, if your goal is to consistently hit the ball within 20 feet each way of the flag, you begin to take all the other elements into consideration. Your accuracy will improve over time, you can often reach your goal, and you get lots of practice playing your short game. You may even get a few hole-in-ones.
It is the same with tournament poker.
Once I set this goal, I was able to focus my attention on just making the bubble. I had no thoughts of making the final table, I was just playing to learn how to outlast the majority of the field – which is a tremendous lesson on it’s own.
By doing this, my overall game improved drastically. At first, I began to make it past the bubble on a consistent basis, even if I had to just limp in. Over time, I began to spot the opportunities to build a larger stack along the way and consistently had some higher place finishes. Last month, I made fourteen final tables, and won three of those.
Though it may sound easy on paper, it can be a long, tedious process. Anyone has the ability to do this, but I have found that few people have the discipline to actually work through all the stages necessary to achieve consistent success at MTT’s.
I will be wrapping up this series in my next post: Final thoughts
