The Perfect Pre-Game Checklist

Our results from any particular session of are impacted by a long list of different factors, but how well do you prepare for each individual session?

Many players are happy to spend a day studying the latest in fashion concepts, but they're not so interested in reviewing hands from their last session. When it comes to preparing for the next session they do absolutely nothing. Their mental game commitment consists of agreeing not to play while drunk, and little more.

As more and more players become aware of how much their results are affected by being in the wrong frame of mind, the importance of preparing for a session has increased dramatically. Why should you let people have what is essentially a free edge over you?

It's not difficult to implement a pre game checklist, once you have worked out what gives you the best results, you just need to stick with it. Be self disciplined enough to run through it every time before you play.

It's Personal

Having experienced in the past, a large cut in my win rate when I was trying to play too many hands in poor physical condition, I was advised by my coach to examine my mental game and session preparation. Once I realized that my physical condition was affecting my play, I started to build a pre-game routine.

Everything I will write about here is so important to me for getting the best out of my limited talent. If I can not adhere to any part in full, then I probably won't play at all. I recommend that anybody reading takes this as seriously as I do if they want to get the very best out of their efforts.

Recipe for a Ritual

Our sleeping habits have a huge effect on our cognitive abilities. It is widely known that seven to eight hours of sleep is recommended for good health, but most people don't realise how much we are mentally affected by sleep deprivation. Quite often, particularly with teenagers and those in their twenties, it is possible to wake up feeling physically just fine after only half a night's sleep. There will be a reduction in mental reasoning abilities but this is usually unseen. People assume that if they feel fine then everything is fine. An extreme example of this behaviour is somebody who is drunk but feels okay to drive, they genuinely feel fine but we know they are not.

With our poker results having a delay built in, we don't get to see the immediate effects of playing when too tired, so it's easy to think there are none. I persevered for about half a million hands knowing full well that I wasn't preparing to play like I should have been.

If you are not well rested then don't even think about playing if you care about your results. Every session counts.

Exercise and diet are important as well.

One of the most effective parts of my pre game ritual is my warm up immediately before I take my seat for the session. This consists of at least fifteen minutes walking, and the difference in how alert I feel from the very first hand is amazing. It shouldn't be acceptable to you to spend the first half hour's play getting into the groove. Make sure you're fully alert before you start. Even something such as household chores for half an hour can be enough to get you a little warmed up. Just find something to do that involves moving around.

It is really important to understand that we are all affected by stress to some degree, and it is almost impossible to work out exactly what it changes in your own personal game. During my troubles I spent hours analysing my database and still never found what I was doing wrong. But not knowing is not a problem if you take care of your sleep schedule, exercise and eat a healthy diet.

Once I sit down, I do my mental warm up. This can be anything from reviewing a few hands on a part of my game that I've recently worked on, to something as simple as memorising some new pre flop ranges. This made a big difference in how confident I was in making early decisions. Fully warmed up mentally, my thought processes were noticeably smoother.

The Checklist

Ask yourself:

1. Are you fully rested?
2. Are you feeling over stressed in any way?
3. Have you eaten a suitable meal to keep your energy levels up?
4. Are you fully hydrated?
5. Are you feeling alert?
6. Have you followed a mental warm up plan?

This is what works for me personally. Following this checklist makes me feel confident that I am in shape to play my best.

The first two points might seem more like common sense, but my opinion is that the majority of players are far too blasé with these factors, and you should all promise yourselves that you won't be from this point onwards. A badly played session counts. Thinking just this one time will be okay, should not be acceptable to you.

What Else Could Help Us?

Music might be helpful, maybe even essential, for some of you. If you're playing in a live game then make sure your iPod is loaded up with what tracks you prefer. If you arrive and find that you don't have what you planned to have with you, then it will stress you out to some degree; it's poor preparation.

Caffeine drinks can be good for keeping your concentration levels high. I personally am too sensitive to caffeine to make it a regular part of my preparation check list, a cup of tea before an afternoon session is all I would ever want. Experiment yourselves and see what works for you, then build it into your pre game checklist.

Something as seemingly insignificant as our clothing choices might be good to check. If you are sitting in an uncomfortable pair of jeans that are maybe a little tight, this could begin to annoy you after an hour or so. Maybe you are wearing clothes which are too warm. The smallest points can sometimes have a big effect.

Do you have any small chores that need doing but you keep putting them off? These are things which will stay on your mind and can interrupt your concentration. It's probably good practice to stay on top of all the little things as a poker player, because anything on your to-do list, which can start coming into your mind, will affect your thought processes negatively. We all know how hard it can be to concentrate when we're worrying about something. This is the next addition to my own checklist when I return to playing.

Anything at all which is using mental energy should be taken care of as best as possible. When you are in tip top shape your thought processes will almost feel automatic, it's a great feeling, and what we should all be aiming for.

That's all for now. Don't forget to post up your own pre game checklists in the comments below so we can all compare ideas.