I was recently on a call with several members of my group coaching program. One of them – we’ll call him Bob – shared a specific story from his rough month at the tables.

The action was slow (something I’m seeing players struggle with more and more these days), and Bob decided to add a couple of heads-up tables against the only player sitting – a player he’d previously decided he wasn’t going to play against.

Now, Bob didn’t necessarily think he was an underdog to this player. He just wanted to focus on his 6-max game rather than his heads-up game for some time, and he didn’t want to play tough players in a game format he wasn’t actively studying.

He shared this story among others from throughout the past month, but I zeroed in on this one in particular, because a new perspective popped into my head as he was telling it.

That’s the topic of today’s post.

The Obvious Problem

It's evident to most of us that breaking our pre-set rules is almost always a bad idea. Bob knew this, too, and he was frustrated with himself for the decision.

I've always recommended creating guardrails — rules you set for yourself while thinking clearly, away from the pressure of the table — and following them at the table, trusting your former clear-headed self over the current, somewhat impaired, version of you.

And Bob had done this — at least the first part!

When you break a rule that was there for a reason, you’ve likely made a poor decision.

Either you’ve come up with an excuse that isn’t good enough, or you didn’t think through the potential exceptions beforehand when you were supposed to be thoughtful and clearheaded.

Or maybe you don't justify it – you just quietly tell yourself, “I shouldn’t be doing this,” as you click the buttons.

Regardless of your reasoning, you’re doing something that you previously thought was a bad idea, and there’s a pretty good chance it is.

Hidden Problems

What's equally or even more important — and what I told Bob — is that by breaking his rule, he was off his A-game in two different ways.

Rule-breaking as an indicator

If Bob were cool, calm, collected, and focused, he wouldn’t have broken his rule. By making the choice he did, he proved he wasn’t at his best.

Not only was he playing an opponent he previously decided to avoid — he was doing it while on his C-game!

Rule-breaking as a trap

Once he decided to play, he stacked the deck against himself even further from a mindset perspective.

When you do something you know you shouldn’t, as soon as something goes wrong, the thoughts start to creep in:

“I shouldn’t have done this.”
“I knew this would happen.”
“Why am I so stupid?”

Each self-critical thought chips away at your confidence, distracting you, and making it harder to play your best.

Bob agreed, and shared that several times during the session, the thought “Should I be playing this?” popped into his mind. And he said this framing should prevent him from repeating the same mistake.

What Are Your Rules?

I can’t tell you how many players I’ve talked to who agree that setting rules and guardrails like Bob did is a great idea, yet still haven’t done it for themselves!

They convince themselves that it’s great for others but doesn’t apply to them. They’re capable of making good decisions in the moment, even though they recognize that others aren’t always.

Don’t let that be you!

Do you have any rules set for yourself when you play? Any stop-loss, session length, or break rules?

If you take one thing away from this, let it be action. It’s one thing to read about an idea and nod along, thinking, “That sounds right. That was helpful.”

It’s another to take what you’ve learned and apply it.

If you want to be the kind of person who applies it, here’s what I’d encourage you to do:

Set some rules.

These rules can be based on things that you’ve noticed in the past.

Do you play worse when losing a lot? When winning a lot?

Does your play drop off significantly after 6 hours at the table?

Do you notice that when you’re tilted, you play faster?

Do breaks help you reset and refocus?

Do you play your best when you’ve done a short pre-session routine?

Reflecting on where you’ve gone wrong in the past and protecting yourself from that version of you in the future are what rules are all about. So use the past as inspiration for your rules.

Set a timer for 5 minutes (that’s all!), remove all distractions and notifications, and write out 2-6 rules for yourself.

If you let yourself read a single word of something else (a text, an email, a calendar notification), if you eat something, if you listen to or watch something — if you do anything else during these 5 minutes — restart the timer.

That’s it!

(If you can’t spare 5 minutes of work to improve your earnings at the poker tables, I’d encourage you to ask yourself why you think you deserve to win.)

Followthrough

Once you have your rules, remember what Bob learned, so that you don’t have to learn it the hard way.

Trust your original rules. They’re there for a reason. You can adjust them between sessions, but during the session, stick with what you came up with.

The next time you want to break one, take it as a cue. If you break your rules, you are, by definition, not at your best.

If you’re considering breaking one, you’re probably off your game, too. Perhaps it’s a good time to take a walk or call it a day.

Damage control: The First Domino