Finding My A-Game
In our journey together, we've delved deeply into the intricacies of high-level poker strategy, uncovering the nuances that transform good players into great ones.
This week, I'm taking a slight detour to share a personal story – which also serves as the foreword I wrote for Elliot Roe's new book.
Many of you have reached out with questions about how I’ve worked on the mental aspect of poker – staying focused, handling pressure, and overcoming the psychological hurdles that often accompany this intense game.
The truth is that I’ve had to work — and still keep working — on my mental game much more than you may think.
Many years ago, I was lucky enough to discover the services of Elliot Roe, who, to this day, is my mindset and performance coach. With Elliot's guidance, I’ve been able to not only overcome many mindset roadblocks, but to fundamentally reshape my approach to poker and its role in my life.
I don’t have any financial incentives to promote Elliot’s work. But his insights have been a game changer for me, and given my number one goal of this newsletter — to help you grow and reach your goals as a poker player — I believe sharing these insights is invaluable.
I’m also excited to have my words published in a book for the first (but hopefully not last) time!
Without further ado…
My Foreword to “A-Game Poker”
Your outcomes aren’t a direct result of your knowledge and skills.
They come from your knowledge and skills multiplied by your performance.
As someone who’s spent half my life making quick, complex decisions while playing against the best poker players in the world, this was painfully obvious to me from the beginning.
At some moments, or even some days, my mind worked on an entirely different level than others.
Though I was absolutely aware of these moments as they were occurring,
I couldn’t predict them or make them happen.
After working in the business world, I realized that the difference between an A-day and a C-day wasn’t quite as obvious to me there. I wasn’t sure how much it mattered in a more “normal” setting, away from intense competition.
That was before I met Elliot Roe and he showed me how I could bring the things he taught not only into my approach to poker but into my approach to my life away from poker.
I’ve learned the concepts in this book over the years, both through Elliot’s course and through working with him directly.
Dollar for dollar, I’ve invested more in Elliot’s teachings than in every book I’ve ever owned or ever will own, but the return on that investment has been enormous.
Through some of the concepts and exercises outlined here within, I unlocked potential that would have gone unrealized. I learned to perform well more consistently in all areas of my life. I gained clarity on my life’s direction, and I achieved great things by facing fears I wasn’t even aware I had.
Let me give you just one of the many examples.
Washed Up
For over a decade, I had competed in the highest-stakes poker games online against the best players in the world with great success.
Then came 2015, when I stepped away from poker to work on my businesses.
It was around this time that poker solvers began having a profound impact on the way people played.
I never studied with them before stepping away from the game, and I didn’t touch them over the next four years, as I worked on running my businesses.
Truth be told, I was unhappy about solvers.
I’d figured out how to beat the biggest games without tools telling me how to play. That was my strength. I was a figure-outer.
Know what I wasn’t? A studier. A memorizer.
My memory isn’t anything to write home about, and I squeaked by without doing my homework in high school by figuring things out during tests.
I expected that, in the post-solver era of poker, the winners would no longer be the figure-outers but the studiers. And so, though I never accepted it, I worried that my days as an elite poker player – one who could beat world-class players – were behind me.
That thought, anytime I faced it, made me sad.
Poker was the place where I achieved greatness. I played a game that millions played, and I rose to the top. I wasn’t ready for that part of my identity – that achievement – to be over.
My whole life, I was told that I could achieve
anything I set my mind to, and I believed it.
In fact, I made sure not to work too hard so that I could always continue believing it.
Elliot calls this the “Too smart to try” program.
He taught me how and why it had been installed early in my life and was still running into adulthood.
(I have no doubt that 12-year-old Phil would’ve been an incredible student if he’d had the opportunity to work with Elliot)
Through exercises contained in this book, I realized that I was afraid to try to learn from solvers.
If I didn’t try, I’d never know whether or not I could be a great player again.
If I gave it a shot, I might learn that I wasn’t as smart as I was told throughout my childhood.
The Galfond Challenge
The exercise continued to help me overcome the fear I’d unearthed, and through further work with Elliot, I devised a plan to help grow my business while doing what I truly loved: Challenging myself against the top players of today.
The Galfond Challenge was born.
I studied with and learned from solvers. I competed on a huge stage, 1 on 1, against world-class players.
This was just about the most extreme version of my fear
I could dream up, and I faced it, brimming with excitement.
During the first of five challenges, I immediately faced incredible adversity and crushing losses.
Thanks to my work with Elliot, I kept my composure and competed admirably.
Through the Galfond Challenges, I learned that I was capable of contending with the best in the post-solver era. I learned that this part of my life didn’t have to be over. I simply had to adapt.
Competing on the same level with great players would have been enough, but as it turns out, I went on to win all five of my matches!
It has been, hands-down, the most rewarding experience of my poker career.
I now know with complete confidence that I’ll always be able to compete at the poker table if I set my mind to it, and it’s hard to express how happy that has made me.
Without Elliot, I might have stayed retired. I might have never learned what I was capable of.
You
Perhaps the fears you will uncover will come from someplace else. Maybe the issues holding back your performance are entirely different.
Fortunately for you, Elliot has worked with numerous high-performers from all walks of life, helping them navigate their unique sets of goals and challenges.
Whatever you want to accomplish and whatever you’re dealing with, he’s seen it.
And – judging by the unanimous glowing reviews from those I’ve personally referred to him – he’s probably helped conquer it.
As a client of Elliot’s, I’ve long wondered what makes him so good at helping others unlock their greatness.
Yes, he’s got that experience. Obviously, he’s an intelligent problem-solver. Sure, he’s had training.
But those things are true of other people, too. What is it that sets Elliot Roe apart?
It wasn’t until I became his friend that I understood.
Elliot is so good at what he does because, save for spending time with family, there is nothing in the world he’d rather be doing than helping others become the best version of themselves.
This unmatched passion and dedication are what have shaped him into the master that he is today.
ROI
The contents of this book will lead you to outcomes that may range from small improvements in your performance to huge upgrades in your life as a whole.
We’re all unique. I don’t know which sections of this book will make the difference for you. I just know that some of them will.
Think of the work that you do.
What would a 25% increase in your output or performance mean for you?
What would even a 5% increase be worth over the next ten years?
I don’t know you, but I can guarantee you’ll see a return on the modest investment into this book and the time it will take to put Elliot’s wisdom into action.
Study this book with the aim of improving your performance in your career, but don’t be surprised when something more profound happens.
If you’re interested in Elliot’s book, you can find it here. Again, to be clear, I have no financial interest in the book. As should be evidenced by my foreword above, I believe that Elliot’s work is extremely valuable, and I wanted to share that with you.
