The Mindset Advantage Poker Podcast 095 - Wayne Yap - From Financial Adversity to the Top
Feb 14, 2019
28:14
In this episode, Wayne Yap, high-stakes poker professional and advisor, reveals how he made his way to the top despite severe financial adversity – and a two-year stint in the army. Elliot and Wayne discuss the importance of studying and building a network within the poker community. Listen in to hear an expert share his strategic thinking, practical game theory, and mindset mastery tips so you can jump stakes and play bigger.
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Time Stamped Show Notes:
- 00:50 – Introducing Wayne, his journey, and direction
- 01:20 – His started by playing small games in Singapore; his parent’s business was failing and he went into the army for two years at that time
- 02:00 – He didn’t have the money to practice his game so he downloaded poker videos and would watch them while out in the jungle while in the army
- 02:40 – The importance of studying
- 02:57 – Learning is important in any field if you want to improve and succeed
- 03:07 – The learner’s mindset is the most important thing
- 03:25 – How he ensured his improvement and success
- 03:32 – He had financial pressure so he felt like he had to get good
- 03:55 – After the army he went to Macau with some good high-stakes poker players and because he studies math and statistics he was helpful to them
- 04:10 – He learned from them and was valuable to them; this helped set up his network
- 06:05 – How long it took him to support himself through poker
- 06:22 – He got into high-stakes in about six years
- 07:05 – He didn’t appreciate it then, but does now looking back
- 07:42 – The mindset needed for the system used in Macau
- 07:53 – He said it was lucrative but killed brain cells
- 08:30 – Sessions run 24 - 30 hours and some do doubles to play longer with VIPs
- 09:33 – It’s not professional; after 20 hours, they are delirious and need to release awkward energy
- 10:50 – He knows only 5-10 people who like it to some degree; most of the time they’re miserable and tired and are doing it for the money
- 11:55 – He got very bonded with the people he played with; everyone became friends
- 12:38 – How the VIPs play in Macau
- 12:48 – The ones that come back to play want to be good players but don’t care about losing money
- 13:20 – They don’t care about the game but get to make friends with pros
- 13:50 – Advice for player who want to get to high-stakes
- 13:55 – Decide whether you want to be good at poker or be good at poker and make money
- 14:20 – Poker is dynamic; GTO is not the angle
- 15:37 – You can’t ever practically apply the exact solver outputs; you work on assumptions that can be wrong
- 16:30 – Don’t get stuck on the theory part
- 17:20 – Things Wayne sees around mindset
- 17:35 – The biggest mindset flaw is that people take things too seriously
- 18:25 – Letting emotions get to you has a negative compounding effect at the table
- 19:10 –The money you have is more valuable than the money you earn; find your threshold and know how much money you need and what you can afford losing
- 20:50 – Know your emotional limitations around losses
- 21:13 – What Wayne would’ve done differently
- 21:50 – Strategy-wise, zoom out a few levels from where you are
- 23:10 – Wayne’s next steps
- 23:25 – He explored block chain and made investments
- 23:45 – He wants to educate, train, and empower others
- 24:05 – He plans on doing cryptocurrency education and feels he brings a fresh perspective
- 24:33 – He’s teaching people how to play and make money playing poker; it’s important to build soft skills
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