The Mindset Advantage Poker Podcast

310 miles. 48 Hours. 1-day notice. That’s what Brian Rast had to accomplish on his bike to win a $600,000 prop bet with Dan Bilzerian. These were the terms: Brian’s $100,000 to Bilzerians’s $600,000. Riding only a road bike from the Las Vegas sign to Bilzerian's house in Beverly Hills (about 310 miles). He must leave by midnight the following day, so he would have no time to train. The crazy part? Brian had only purchased his first bike as an adult two months earlier, and a well-respected cycling coach gave him a 0% chance after looking at a wind map. In episode 50 of The Mindset Advantage Podcast Brian Rast returns to share his amazing story of overcoming the odds and accomplishing a huge feat of physical and mental toughness. (Oh, by the way, he also won the WSOP $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship for a second time which we talk about as well.) In This Episode You’ll Learn: The habit that’s linked with lower brain matter density and worse attention and focus. What it felt like when he set foot on Dan Bi

Bryan “bparis” Paris is one of the most successful MTT players in online poker history. With $9,671,716.97 in earnings (at the time this episode was released), he ranks 3rd in the all time online earnings leaderboard. He also runs a popular Twitch channel, where you can regularly find him playing high stakes online MTTs. Poker success came relatively easily for Bryan. He built his bankroll when the games were soft and was able to maintain a solid win rate without the need for much study. That all changed in late 2014/early 2015 when he found himself in the biggest downswing of his career. In a spot where many players would consider leaving the game, Bryan doubled down and decided to work hard to reclaim his spot as one of the top online MTT players in the world. If you’ve ever worried that the game will one day pass you by, this episode does a great job showing you how to evolve your poker mindset in an ever changing game. In This Episode You’ll Learn: The supplement that studies show may help reduce anxiety

Christian Soto is a professional poker player from New Jersey. He got his start in live, low-stakes, cash games, but now focuses on $5/$10+ cash games and mid-stakes live MTTs. Feeling that the slow grind of cash games wouldn’t allow him to achieve his goals fast enough, he embraced variance and Jumped into MTTs for the shot to get a big score early to boost his bankroll. It worked out, as after getting his feet wet in New Jersey online MTTs he final tabled 2 of the first 4 $1,000+ live tournaments he played. Christian is a Co-founder of Red Chip Poker, a site designed to provide low-stakes live cash game players a friendly environment to improve their game. He’s also a coach for the Solve for Why Academy, who run boot camps for players looking to quickly improve their game. In this episode you’ll learn: How brain training compares to physical exercise when it comes to improving mental performance Why Christian chose variance over stability when deciding to focus more on MTTs Why self-knowledge and understan

Since he first joined us in Episode 3 of The Mindset Advantage Podcast, Jonathan Little has co-written a book with TMA co-host Dr. Tricia Cardner and launched the new training site PokerCoaching.com. Peak Poker Performance lays out a blueprint for playing your “A” game every session. Topics covered in the book include; Creating winning habits, systematizing success, and beating procrastination. PokerCoaching.com is a training site that uses weekly quizzes to show you which areas of the game you need to work on the most. There is also an in-depth monthly homework question where Jonathan grades/discussions the answer to in a webinar. In this episode you’ll learn: How to actually integrate the mindset lessons we talk about into your game How optimizing your environment can set you up for success before you even start playing How watching TV while you play can slash your winrate Why it’s important to have an overall vision of why you’re playing poker How Jonathan was able to final table the WSOP Team Event with

Brent Hanks is a former teacher turned professional poker player who now works for the 24/7 poker network Poker Central. His poker accomplishments include 6 WSOP final tables, one WSOP bracelet and $1,521,204 in live MTT earnings. Poker Central is the world’s only 24/7 Poker TV network, and can currently be seen on most streaming devices such as the AppleTV, FireTV, Roku, and Xbox. They also run and the Super High Roller Bowl, a $300,000 buy-in tournament that starts Sunday, May 29th. The tournament will air live on the CBS sports network starting on May 29th and concluding on June 1st. To learn more visit: https://www.superhighroller.com

When we last spoke to Fedor “CrownUpGuy” Holz, in Episode 34, he was about to start play in an Alpha 8 final table as the chip leader. He went on to win it for $1,589,216. Two week later he took down the WPTN Philippines SHR for $3,463,500. Now, he’s back to talk about how those wins have changed his mindset as well a discuss his upcoming MTT master class. Click here to visit the show page for all resources and links

On Thursday, April 21st, 2016 Olivier Busquet and JC Alvarado touched gloves in the Octagon at Syndicate MMA in Las Vegas, NV.  The fight was the culmination of 6-months of intense training, and a $270k purse was up for grabs.  Over 100 spectators paid a $20 entry fee, which was all donated to the One Drop charity, and thousands more watched online. Most had a financial interest in the fight, with over $1,000,000 in side action was rumored to have been wagered.  The fight was set for four 5-mintue rounds, with a fifth to be added if it ended at 2-2.  The judges were not needed, as the fight was called after just 3 rounds. Olivier had bloodied up JC badly in the third, and it was agreed that it was no longer safe for him to continue.  Olivier opened as the underdog, but after a dominant performance had his hand raised as the winner.  In the week's episode Olivier joins us and shares his thoughts on the experience.  

Rob Tinnion is best known for winning the Sunday Million outright twice and has been one of the most consistent online MTT winners over the last few years with over $650,000 in total profit. He is also a manager and coach for the backing group Pocarr, and founder of the MTT training site Max-Value.com. Rob’s rise to the top of the MTT world is a great case study on how far hard work and a strong mindset can get you in poker. He began his career in the tough post-Black-Friday environment and didn’t have a huge score early to jump start his career. Instead, he grinded a low ABI and worked incredibly hard on his game. After a rough streak, he joined Pocarr as a backed player and used their library of resources to further improve his game. After winning the Sunday Million twice in 5 months and owning a large share of Pocarr, Rob continues to serve as a manager and coach.

Sean Kapul is a mid-high stakes PLO cash game pro who has been winning at the game since 2008. Sean decided to take a shot at going pro after hearing his older friends constantly complaining about their conventional jobs. A 2nd place finish, for $50,000, in a 1k Venetian 1k MTT during his last year of university gave him the buffer he needed to take the plunge. In our interview, Sean talks about how his poker career is just one piece of his plan to live his dream life. This is why he decided to move to Buenos Aires, and travel the world, even before US players were forced out of the country by Black Friday. He also coaches PLO cash games, with a focus on helping NL players make the transition to PLO.  If you’re interested in learning more about his coaching, you can visit his site: www.plomastery.com

You can often find Matt Berkey sitting in the biggest game in Ivey’s room, where six, and even seven, figure pots are regularly contested. His poker career started as just a way to fund his dream of making a Major League Baseball roster. After playing four years of college baseball, Matt set off on the road traveling between pro tryouts along the East Coast and in the Mid-West. In between tryouts he would find the local casino and play $5/$10 NL to support his travel. In 2006, he made the switch to a full-time poker pro, and he quickly climbed the ladder to the biggest cash games in the world. He credits his success to the many hours he’s spent studying game theory and opponent tendencies. Matt runs the exclusive Solve For Why Academy, a poker camp created to take players from good to great. Each camp is restricted to 9 attendees who receive hands-on training from Matt and his team of coaches. To learn more about the camp and see if you qualify to attend visit: http://solveforwhyacademy.com

Adam Sherman is an online MTT pro turned Wall Street Trader. His first major score came in PokerStars’ Wednesday Quarter Million event in January '10 for $58,200. He followed that up with a victory in the Stars $150k Guaranteed for $41.1k and also has a first place finish in the Nightly Hundred Grand for $22,700. One of his largest online tournament cashes came courtesy of a victory in the PokerStars SCOOP-22-H ($3,000+150 NLHE 4-max) for $210,000. Less than a week later, Adam placed 2nd in the SCOOP-31-H ($2,000+100 NLHE Cubed 1r+1a) for $173,000. Those scores came only one month after he took down the Sunday 500 for $89,500. In April 2012, Sherman chopped the PokerStars Super Tuesday and cashed for $69,000. In August 2013, Sherman was back at it, finishing second in the PokerStars Sunday Million following a four-way chop for $150,000. In May 2015 Adam won the PokerStars Sunday 500, taking home $76,000. In 2014 he made the move to New York to take a job in a Wall Street trading firm. In our interview, we dis

Ryan, aka "YourDoom", is a successful NLH cash game pro, video producer and coach. Over his last one million mid-to-high stakes cash game hands, he has maintained an 11bb/100 winrate. Before poker Ryan obtained a Master's degree in Secondary Math Education, and worked as a math teacher. He has translated this teaching ability to YourDoomPoker.com, a poker training site for high level players. You’ll also learn: The tasty treat that could potentially boost mental performance Why so many pro poker players are unhappy How to overcome the mental road blocks holding you back from being your best The massive difference that good game selection can have on your winrate The 3 things YD does before he plays a poker session How to make your fold button a weapon

In part 1 of our interview with Olivier Busquet, we covered an incident that sparked his motivation to become the best HUSNG player in the world, how he started to learn deep poker theory and what he’s done to improve his tilt issues. In part 2 we dive into his strategies for dealing with downswings and discuss his upcoming high-stakes MMA prop bet vs. J.C. Alvarado. You’ll also learn: • How a properly timed nap can boost your study efforts. • How to recognize when you’re playing bad so you can quit and reset. • If you should drop down in stakes when on a downswing. • How Olivier found himself fighting another pro in an MMA match for six figures. • How Olivier is learning to develop the discipline that eludes most poker players. Links:  Olivier Busquet: Olivier Busquet (@olivierbusquet) Dr. Tricia Cardner: @DrTriciaCardner DrTriciaCardner.com Positive Poker Excelling at No-Limit Hold'em

Olivier “livb112” Busquet is known as one of the most successful heads up SNG players in online poker history. In recent years, he has branched out to live MTTs, where he has quickly racked up $6,857,078 in earnings. Olivier’s passion for greatness was sparked when he was berated for his losing HUSNG SharkScope graph early in his poker career. A desire to get that graph even quickly transformed into making the games his full-time grind and he could be found near the top of the HUSNG profit leaderboards for many years after. Olivier has been very public about his issues with tilt, most notably his epic chat blow-ups, and in this interview we take a deep dive into how he’s worked through fixing them. In this week's episode you'll learn: • Whether having a few drinks to calm your nerves helps or hurts your game? • Why you should never berate the weak players in your game, especially by pointing out their losses. • How Olivier made the shift from using “brute force” to win to gaining a deeper theoretical understa

Carlos Welch has been playing and studying the game of poker for over ten years. He is a writer for various poker media outlets and has been a frequent guest on several poker podcasts. He plays small to mid-stakes tournaments and is well known for his extreme frugality - most notably his decision to live in a van. Although he travels the world playing poker, he is not quite a professional poker player. He considers himself more of a professional poker student. You can keep up as he lives his dream by watching his Twitch channel at www.twitch.tv/carloswelch and following him on Twitter at @HipHop101Trivia. This week you'll learn: The two activities you can use to boost your happiness and reduce depression How Carlos got a room for just $350 per month in Vegas for the WSOP How your overall life happiness should be factored into the games you play How to be a successful player without becoming jaded Why the “expense” side of poker profitability is just as important as “revenue”

Paul “Internet” Otto got his start in poker at the play money tables and worked his way up to being a mid/high-stakes 6-Max NL pro. He is also a highly regarded coach and video maker, producing content for IveyLeague.com. Paul is the owner of PokerMarket.com, a website where you can sell and buy both tournament action and poker content. You’ll also find an active forum and rakeback deals on the site. In this episode you’ll learn: The two food types that can prevent you from getting a good night’s sleep How you can disconnect from the value of money while you play, so you can make the best decisions each hand The mindset you need to be successful when switching between Online and Live cash games How to approach improving your game, no matter what format you’re playing How to move up to mid/high-stakes once you’ve been successful at low stakes Why everyone should use math to improve their game, even if you think you’re “just a feel player”

Fedor Holz is a 22 year old player from Germany, now residing in Vienna Austria. In his short career Fedor has won several tournaments including the WCOOP Main Event 2014, he plays the high roller circuit now and placed 25th in the 2015 WSOP Main Event. Mental Game MP3s | Poker Mind Coach

Eric Crain burst onto the poker scene when he was featured in the ESPN Coverage of the USPC in Atlantic City (video below). His online and live MTT earnings total $1,584,960 including 3 WSOP Circuit rings, 3 WSOP final tables, and a $215 WCOOP win for $281,524. Eric’s poker career has been the definition of swingy, and in our interview he discusses winning and losing million dollar bankrolls on multiple occasions. He also talks about his recent switch to Daily Fantasy Sports, the mindset needed to be successful there, and preparing for two $50,000+ buy-in DFS Championship events where he will be playing for a $3 million and a $5 million first prize. In this episode you'll learn: How too much positive thinking can actually stop you from hitting your goals The consequences of not learning to respect the money What it takes to make it as a pro today When should you start working with a mental game coach? Why Eric put his computer tower in a bathtub and turned on the tap Mental Game MP3s | Poker Mind Coach  

Mark Herm (known online as “Dipthrong”or “shippitt”) is one of the most successful online tournament players in the world. He has been playing online poker professionally for 10 years and has amassed over 6 million dollars profit in poker play. He has also run one of the most successful online poker backing operations in history. He has won nearly every big online tournament including a Sunday Million victory for $229 000, a victory in the Full Tilt Poker Major for $128 000, and chopping the Sunday 500 on PokerStars 3 times… just to name a few. Along with online success, Mark has had some deep runs in the live arena, despite not playing much. His most notable runs have been an EPT Prague final table for €100k, 3rd place in the 2014 WSOP $1500 Mixed Max for $128k, and a 226th place finish in the 2014 Main Event. Mark has backed/coached many of the best online players to play the game and was recently ranked in the top 10 in the world according to Pocket Five.  Mental Game MP3s | Poker Mind Coach

Paul is a former high school teacher who now plays and teaches heads up sit and go tournaments for a living. He is perhaps the best known coach for these games professionally. He has developed two very popular courses that teach people how to become profitable at regular and turbo speed games as well as the hyper turbo husngs. Paul’s hourly rates are $100 per hour and he works via Skype and screen sharing. Contact Paul on Skype/AIM (cogdissonance1) or at cogdissonance1@gmail.com. Mental Game MP3s | Poker Mind Coach