Sammy Inspiration for the WSOP
A few years ago, Mike Matusow was drinking pink Vitamin Water for the critical focus he needed during the WSOP. The next year it was just a matter of keeping up with his meds and occasionally mumbling about happy thoughts. Then, somewhere in there, he threw away his laptop and asked friends to forcibly prevent him from playing online.
Heading in to the 2010 World Series, we’ve learned from reliable sources, Matusow has retained the services of Sam Chauhan to give him a mental edge. Two other well-known TV pros also apparently signed up to become Sammy’s mindset disciples, but based on my own eavesdroppings, they want to keep the relationship private … so I’ll respect that (for now).
But maybe his luck is running out? He dad have a few clients on Team USA in this week’s WTP, including Matusow and team captain Phil Hellmuth, and yet the Americans had no one make the final table.
I sign up for a lot of poker-related subscription spam in the course of trying to keep my finger on the pulse of the poker world. One that hasn’t yet been relegated to the auto-junk folder is Chauhan’s “Free Weekly Positive Thoughts”.
Anyhow, was just writing about Matusow’s … er, not sure the word … signing? partnership? enrollment? … when this showed up in my overstuffed email-box. Found it semi-interesting as it offered mindset advice specifically related to the WSOP:
Removing Psychological Blocks for the WSOP
Meditation is an inner journey. Ego is an external one. Meditation removes fear and conflict of the mind. I would suggest that you focus on meditation everyday. It creates that inner confidence that one needs to be at their best. Here is a technique you can use to be at your best at the WSOP.
Start by saying a mantra or affirmation 40 times. Then start taking deep quick breaths through one nostril and release in the other for 5 minutes. The process of of inhaling and exhaling recharges your body with electric current, you feel light and relaxed. Indulge your mind with empowering thoughts of yourself and the people in your life. Start seeing yourself go through the toughest decisions or situations you might be faced in at the WSOP and see yourself overcoming it in your mind. Roger Bannister ran the the 4 minute mile in his head before he ran it physically. No human was able to run it, until he did. Many people started running the mile in 4 minutes after he did. Once the brain removed that block is was achievable. That way if you can face adversity in your mind first and find a solution to get through it. You wont be faced with shock or doubt. You will be able to handle it instantly at the tables. Try to go through as many situations you can. Make this your year!
Sam
OK, sure. My year, go! While I have my own personal thoughts on the importance of properly breaking paragrafs to get the very most out of the words you choose, one thing I gotta wonder is … if everyone in poker became a Chauhan disciple, instead of making poker an overall more positive place, wouldn’t that make it impossible to beat the game?
Check out Chauhan’s recent appearance on Poker2Nite (which just had the plug pulled on it by UB, btw). Huff and Sebok draw out what exactly it is he does that seems to be working, and address the skeptics and haters who balk at his position as the Tony Robbins/Deepak Chopra of Poker, let alone the Joe Navarro of Inner Tells:
Anonymous says:
May 22nd, 2010 at 7:59am
He bases his “teachings” on Neurolinguistic Programming which is a very controversial area of psychology.
Here’s a thought – if I happen to sign up 100 top poker players, wouldn’t sheer randomness dictate that one of them will do well in a poker tournament? Kinda like the “Panorama bracelet bet”?
Poker Shrink says:
May 22nd, 2010 at 9:38am
While not endorsing Mr. Chauhan, Mr. Navarro or any of the other poker mindset gurus, Neurolinguistic Programming is not controversial at all. Unless, of course, you believe electro-shock therapy, straight-jackets and potty-training are the key elements of psychological work.
SCOTT DIAMOND says:
May 22nd, 2010 at 10:50am
Poker Shrink Im for all those you stated :)Listen what Navarro teaches about reading people is so much better than a shrink getting your mind straight. If you do not have the cards in a tournament or some luck, your not going to do well and the only thing the shrink can help you with is not getting on your knees and sobbing or throwing temper tantrums.
You will be surprised at what Navarro’s teachings are about. You all know I have been a cop for close to 25 years now. I have interviewed thousands of people and call it instincts or experience, but I can tell when someone is lying during an interview.
I started using my skills at the Poker table and also have read Navarro’s book as well as some other books regarding interviewing techniques.
I have had more success going with my instincts of late then failure so if you have not attended one of Navarro’s seminars, try it if your serious about your game.
For the record, I have never met Navarro and he wouldn’t know me if I was infront of him 🙂
BJ Nemeth says:
May 22nd, 2010 at 2:54pm
Here is Wikipedia’s overview of the scientific view of Neuro-Linguistic Programming:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NLP_and_science
Basically, more research is needed. Why? Because NLP rarely makes testable claims, and when it’s been tested in the past, it has been tested poorly. It hasn’t been disproven, but the weight of evidence is on NLP, not its critics.
Aside from the obvious-to-everyone factors in Chauhan’s method (calming down Hellmuth, getting Gavin Smith to stop drinking), I’m highly skeptical that Neuro-Linguistic Programming will improve results for poker players.
DanM says:
May 22nd, 2010 at 6:33pm
I wonder if there would be the same questions asked about NLP if it were a physical thing. I bring this up because the doctors who initially came up with “aerobics” were originally met with similar skepticism. Only thing for them is that the proof could eventually be seen in the pudding.
I actually dated a girl years ago who was really in to NLP. (She was a gynecologist, btw, which came with its own issues … BJ, we’ll have to chat offline about that.) I listened all about it, and even went over to the house of someone who supposedly was the creator of NLP. Much of what I read in the workbooks they had made sense, however, the people themselves were a little cultish. Went to a Christmas party with nothing but NLPers, and left wondering when I was gonna get my purple robe and Nikes.
What about the hypnosis part? I’m guessing that’s the sorta thing folks might not buy into either, yet i’d contend, dude, i’ve been under hypnosis before (at a hysterical comedy show!).
But if we’re gonna go down this path, then it gets a bit more philosophical. Some might say whether it’s religion or anything else, having something — anything — you can believe in makes a difference as to one’s mental state.
As a guy who has paid much more attention to my actual brain in recent months than ever before, I have seen the pathways, and have seen/heard/felt the results when they are blocked. (Remember that TPB episode, BJ, when I was slurring my speech? I wasn’t drunk, but my brain thought I was. I can show you the pictures!)
With all that said, I think what I like about Chauhan’s approach is that he doesn’t focus on the power of any one certain technique … he takes bits and pieces from a variety of them in a way that seems to work — or at least keeps his players continuing to work with him. I bet you could look at old Vince Lombardi halftime speeches and find elements of the same stuff, even though at the time, he and his players probably thought it was just football.
DanM says:
May 22nd, 2010 at 6:44pm
*** I have had more success going with my instincts of late then failure so if you have not attended one of Navarro’s seminars, try it if your serious about your game. ***
For the record, I have worked for the past couple years with a poker player on game skills, and we almost never talk about AK and flush draws. Instead, it’s all about getting in touch with the gut feelings/instincts/whateveryouwannacallthem — and learning to act accordingly … that’s the tough part! But still, I have become convinced that gut reactions and instincts are things that can be taught and worked on.
Interestingly, it was the kinda left-brain results charts that made the difference. (We all believe in left-brain-right-brain, right?). As part of my exercises, I had to identify certain “feelings” in my gut and track how my chipstacks ended up from that point. Sometimes they would grow, sometimes they would decline to zero. Over time, however, the variance of the cards was mitigated, and you could see clear statistical analysis showing the dollar results of acting on certain gut feelings.
Matches Malone says:
May 22nd, 2010 at 11:00pm
As with any cultish experience, it follows that there will be detractors as well as benefactors of the specific method of said cult.
I agree that mental state is important. That’s on the border between CA and NV, right? 🙂
Has anyone read the Phil Helmuth Jr. parts of Navarro’s book? They’re laughable. Makes the book almost not worth buying, however, I got mine free, so, I’m ok 🙂
See you clones at the tables, hopefully @ the WSOP….
Poker Shrink says:
May 23rd, 2010 at 10:21am
One aspect of NLP is eye movement. I would say that eye tells in big hands are best tells I have been able to use at a poker table. Of course, you have to take the time to learn what “up and to the right” means etc. Because they are involuntary and nearly universal they are big money tells.
Try it yourself. Ask someone to think about a blue elephant; notice where their eyes go. Try it with half a dozen people — see a pattern? You can catch a blue elephant bluff every time.
SCOTT DIAMOND says:
May 23rd, 2010 at 2:33pm
Well Thank you all for agreeing with me. It works for me and unfortunately Navarro is making money at it when I probably could do the same thing. I dont have a passion for teaching as much as I do for playing the game.
I would if I was asked, i have trained alot of deputies in my years but the Poker Community is a different breed. I have not WON a big event in my short career so I do not get any rspect for what I say or do.
I do however appreciate sites like this that let me say what I feel.
My blogs have been read by quite a few people but I was dumped for a controversial one at a major magazine but at least I had the opportunity.
If and when I ever build a descent bank roll I might even at my age be a factor someday. I may be 54 but I dont feel any different now then I di when I was 25 physically but mentally I have matured so much because of life’s experiences and ZI have chosen to be a family man as BJ knows over other things in my life.
But I do know the game and enjoy it immensely and coming to sites like Pokerati to read posts from other intellectual people, is priceless.
Mark my words my goal is to win a WPT event or WSOP event someday I have yet to play in a WPT event and the only WSOP event I have player are the 2007 2008 Seniors event. I missed the ME by 3 players in a satellite in 2008. But im growing as a player and Im happy with the results.
Continue to use your “GUT” Dan listen to that little voice in your head, it works.
DanM says:
May 23rd, 2010 at 4:40pm
LOL, yes Deputy, every once in a while you say something that doesn’t make me do somersaults of disbelief. Kinda like BJ.
Always good for poker players to have friends in law enforcement, too. Thanks for your resume. You know, however, we will at some point use it against you!
BJ Nemeth says:
May 23rd, 2010 at 9:38pm
Let me clear up one thing in my earlier comment: Gavin Smith tells me that the decision to stop drinking was his own, and had nothing to do with Sam Chauhan.
The error was entirely mine, as I learned about the two things (Gavin giving up alcohol and working with Sam Chauhan) around the same time, and I assumed they were directly connected. But let me set the record straight — Gavin gave up drinking on his own.
This pleases me, because if the desire to give up drinking came from within, it’s much more likely to work (in my opinion).
If it isn’t obvious, I’ll be rooting hard for Gavin Smith to win his first WSOP bracelet this summer.
SCOTT DIAMOND says:
May 24th, 2010 at 9:30am
Thanks Dan, Being a Deputy is always been used against me. I cannot go to certain events with some, because of things that go on at them.
I have always been razzed by my friends since I was 10 about being the All American Boy who never did anything defiant. I am ok with that. 🙂
As for Gavin I too am also proud of him! Ever since I met him I have liked him I saw the goodness in him and knew maybe it was a phase he was going through or some personal issues that caused him to drink.
I was not close enough to him to stick my nose into it though. He however was a round some really good people in Sebok, Eric and others and I am glad he decided on his “OWN” to deal with it.
I have to agree with BJ, doing it on your own means so much more then being hypnotized by some Doctor.
Oh and Dan I would actually pay some kind of money to see you do somersaults! What about you BJ? 🙂
Emily says:
May 30th, 2010 at 4:50pm
Thanks Dan, Being a Deputy is always been used against me. I cannot go to certain events with some, because of things that go on at them.
I have always been razzed by my friends since I was 10 about being the All American Boy who never did anything defiant. I am ok with that. 🙂
As for Gavin I too am also proud of him! Ever since I met him I have liked him I saw the goodness in him and knew maybe it was a phase he was going through or some personal issues that caused him to drink.
I was not close enough to him to stick my nose into it though. He however was a round some really good people in Sebok, Eric and others and I am glad he decided on his “OWN” to deal with it.
I have to agree with BJ, doing it on your own means so much more then being hypnotized by some Doctor.
Oh and Dan I would actually pay some kind of money to see you do somersaults! What about you BJ? 🙂