How can someone over six feet tall look so small?<\/p>\n
I went to a local football match where a player, for 35 minutes, barely moved out of the centre circle. Looking defeated, he slogged around slowly with a hunchback, barely getting a kick in.<\/p>\n
The referee blew for half time.<\/p>\n
Watching the dejected bloke trudge off the park, I felt compelled to walk over to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that\u2019s the end of my match,\u201d said the player glumly.<\/p>\n
I wanted to shout at him until he broke out of his miserable trance.<\/p>\n
Of course he\u2019s going to take you off, I thought to myself. You\u2019re not putting in the graft and you deserve to be on the bench.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you want to be taken off?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d heard through the grapevine that he wasn\u2019t happy with the club and had every intention of leaving at season\u2019s end.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d he replied, stoic and uncompromising.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you need to wake up,\u201d I responded. \u201cChange your physiology. You need to keep on your toes and never top moving. Stand tall. Puff out your chest and shout for the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miraculously his manager let him stay on the pitch and it paid off. In the second half, he scored three times without reply.<\/p>\n
Three days later, I\u2019d given myself a small bankroll of \u00a32,000 to play with in my local game. Surely that was enough to build on my bankroll.<\/p>\n
I was, however, extremely pessimistic and my bankroll, like my attitude, worsened.<\/p>\n
A few months later with \u00a3900 remaining, I sat down in a \u00a31\/1 Dealers Choice cash game and lost another \u00a3400. With only \u00a3500 left, I decided enough was enough and pulled out of the game.<\/p>\n
I thought about the day at the football ground as I drove home that evening, realizing that my attitude mirrored the player\u2019s miserable first half performance.<\/p>\n
I became my own worst enemy and finally knew why.<\/p>\n
Can you recall a period when you were winning a lot of money in a cash game, or accumulating chips quicker than McDonald\u2019s on delivery day?<\/p>\n
I bet you felt happy, relaxed and calm because that\u2019s exactly how I feel when consistently winning.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been scientifically proven that we are influenced both by other people\u2019s non-verbal behaviour and, more importantly, our own.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re feeling down, negative and pessimistic the results will, more often than not, reflect your state of mind. Your ability to make the right decisions depends on a positive state of mind and harbouring negative thoughts can drag a poker game<\/a> down quicker than a scandal can sink a politician.<\/p>\n How then, do you get yourself out of a slump?<\/p>\n You may have heard of the phrase \u2018fake it until you make it.\u2019<\/p>\n Social psychologist Amy Cuddy, in her Ted Talk on Body Language, goes one step further in saying, \u201cfake it until you become it.\u201d<\/p>\n This is the tagline slumping poker players should live by.<\/p>\n Her studies show that testosterone levels increase while cortisol levels decrease within two minutes of actively changing your body posture.<\/p>\n Every now and then take a brief break from playing. It may sound absurd, but stretch your neck like a king cobra, spread your arms like a swan going into battle and expand your chest like a mountain gorilla making a dominant stand.<\/p>\n Take comfort knowing you\u2019ll be doing this in your own home.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re playing live get up and do some press ups, go for a walk and stretch, smile and laugh. Do whatever it takes in order to fake it until you believe it.<\/p>\n It doesn\u2019t happen instantaneously and takes a lot of little changes to see a discernible change.<\/p>\n As well as keeping an eye on your own physiology, keep an eye on your opponent\u2019s. Go on the attack if you notice someone has become inward and appears to be shrinking in stature.<\/p>\n Keep reminding yourself of the posture you need to maintain the assertiveness, confidence, and optimism required to take your game to the next level.<\/p>\n Do you have any poker tips of your own that you’d like to share? Please do so in the comments box below.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Get all the latest partypoker updates from your favourite social media outlets. You can\u00a0Follow us on Twitter<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Like us on Facebook.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" How can someone over six feet tall look so small? I went to a local football match where a player, for 35 minutes, barely moved out of the centre circle. Looking defeated, he slogged around slowly with a hunchback, barely getting a kick in. The referee blew for half time. Watching the dejected bloke trudge<\/p>\nKeep up to date with the all things partypoker!<\/strong><\/h3>\n