Setting Goals in Poker -
Establishing your Poker Long Term Goals
As a poker player, you
might aspire someday to play in the World Series
of Poker Main Event. Maybe you want to one day
compete in each one of the
Full Tilt
FTOPs
events, or take
down the Sunday Millions on
PokerStars.
While it is important to set long-term goals in
life and in poker, it is equally important to
write down your goals, as well as to build a
plan to accomplish each of your objectives.
Decide what you want to do
The first step in your
long-term poker goal setting is to decide what
you wish to accomplish. Let us go with the goal
of playing in the World Series of Poker Main
Event. You decide that in 2025, you are going to
play the WSOP Main Event. Get a piece of paper
out or open your word processor now and write
this down. Use the heading
Long Term Poker Goals.
Figure out how you are going
to get there
Simply writing your
goal is not enough. We need to know how we plan
to get there. Maybe we will play a few extra
hours each day or even work towards
multi-tabling more tables when we play at
Full Tilt Poker.
You may even decide that you are going to create
a separate bankroll designed to earmark any
online poker tournament winnings this year into
your 2025 WSOP Fund. Mapping out the
"how"
will help you to focus on the problem. The
problem being "I want
to play the WSOP Main Event in 2025."
The solution to the problem is detailing the
ways you are going to get to the WSOP Main Event
in 2025 - the roadmap to the WSOP, if you will.
Maybe instead of buying
in directly, you are planning to win your way
into the Main Event. Devise a plan to build a
bankroll for WSOP Satellites, or commit to
playing x number of WSOP satellites on
Full Tilt Poker
that will help to
get you into the WSOP.
Set a training schedule
In order to get to the Main
Event, you might be well served to brush up on
your poker tournament strategy. Commit to
reading books designed to better your
understanding of poker tournament tactics each
night can help you become a better tournament
player. In addition to reading for 30 minutes
every night, you also want to set aside time to
discuss what you have read further reinforcing
the poker concepts you have just uncovered. If
you are a registered player at
Full Tilt Poker you will
also have access to the Full
Tilt Poker Academy which is a great
resource of poker training materials, lessons
and videos from Full Tilt’s poker pro's.
A disciplined training schedule can be
customized specifically targeting your goal -
allowing you to "train"
to accomplish whatever it is you strive to
achieve in the poker world.
Document and Track your
Results
Keep a written log as to how
you are doing with respect to your training, as
well as log your time and results you've
achieved in working
towards your goal. If
you keep a detailed record of your win rate and
the time you are setting aside for accomplishing
your long-term goals, you will be better able to
determine if you are on track. Additionally, you
should be able to see if you need to adjust your
goals and expectations.
Goal setting is an important
part to your poker career. Keeping a detailed
record of your goals, as well as designing a
specific plan for "Getting
there" will help you
focus on achieving results throughout the course
of your poker career.
|
