The Mindset Advantage Poker Podcast

In This Week’s Episode: Jon “Apestyles” Van Fleet has been one of the most successful and profitable online tournament players of the last decade. With $8,000,000 in lifetime cashes, he’s won some of online poker’s toughest tournaments, including Pokerstars’ $1,050 Super Tuesday and Sunday Grand, and he has the highest average cash of the top 20 players on Pocket 5s’ all-time earnings leaderboard. His most recent achievement, in January, was the largest Triple Crown recorded by Pocket 5s since 2013, featuring wins in the 888 Super XL High Roller and the Party Poker Super High Roller. Jon credits his success to staying a student of the game, constantly adjusting, not being afraid to try new strategies, and prioritizing mental/physical health alongside study. He’s a contributing instructor on Cardrunners, a co-author (with Rizen and Pearljammer) of the book Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time, and has worked with hundreds of students as an online MTT coach since 2011. In This Episode You’ll Learn: How keeping a daily poker journal allowed Jon to discover a huge mindset leak. Jon’s “study prescription” for Adrienne. The great thing about downswings. Why you should be ruthless on the tables even if that’s not your personality in real life. The inverted relationship between the amount of alcohol Jon drank daily and how much he won at the tables. How playing poker for a living gave Jon the freedom to give back in areas that were important to him  Links: Jon Van Fleet: Twitter PocketFives Profile Cardrunners Profile Adrienne Rowsome: Watch and Subscribe to Adrienne’s Twitch Channel Twitter Facebook

In This Week’s Episode: Big news this week!  Dr. Tricia Cardner has decided to focus on other pursuits and will no longer be co-hosting the show. We’d like to thank Dr. Cardner for her contribution to the show and for her dedication to helping poker players improve their mindset. You can follow along with her work by visiting her website: http://www.drtriciacardner.com/ Taking over co-hosting duties is none other than Adrienne “Talonchick” Rowsome. Adrienne is a member of PokerStar’s Team Pro Online and runs one of the top Twitch.tv streams in the poker directory. Her experience in poker and work as an Occupational Therapist gives her a unique perspective, and we are excited to have her on-board. You can watch Adrienne play on Twitch Every Monday, Friday and Saturday. Please check out her steam and support her efforts by subscribing to the channel:  https://www.twitch.tv/talonchick In this week’s episode, we are joined once again by 2x Sunday Million winner Rob Tinnion. Rob runs Pocarr.com, one of the largest backing stables for online MTTs, and the training site Max-Value.com. Since his last appearance on the show, he has placed 2nd in a 1k SCOOP for $314k and released his long-awaited course MTT Foundations.  In This Episode You’ll Learn: What Rob’s optimal schedule looks like and how it’s allowed him to get more done while having more free time. How to structure your study, so you improve faster with less work. Why Rob thinks he sucks at poker, and how that mindset has made him successful. Why winning a lot of money early in your career is the worst thing that can happen to you. How to build the foundations of an MTT game that will allow you to be successful for as long as the game is profitable.

Kurt “kurt23x” Fitzgerald has been an MTT pro for the last 10 years. After Black Friday he briefly gave live poker a try but was lured to Costa Rica by some poker friends. His initial run while living there did not go well, and he moved back home with that plan to get a conventional job and go back to school. After getting a taste of this life, he decided to re-dedicate himself to the game and gave Costa Rica another run. This mindset shift changed everything, and Kurt has been able to maintain his position as a top pro ever since. He recently started a Twitch channel with the goal of raising money for hurricane victims in Costa Rica. Please check out his channel and donate to the cause if able.

Kristy Arnett first made a name for herself in the poker world by reporting on the game. She started playing poker in university, and in 2006 made the move to Las Vegas to work for Card Player. After accomplishing everything she wanted in the poker journalism world, she made the switch to full-time player. She used the added freedom this gave her to focus on self-development. That has led her to become an Emotional Intelligence Coach and to start the “WTF Am I Doing With My Life” podcast. In This Episode You'll Learn: The simple tweak that got 200% more study participants to exercise at least once a week. The reason that Kristy gave up a comfortable job as a poker reporter to play the game full-time. How Kristy uses poker to become a better person. How to decide if a risk is essential to take or if you should avoid it at all costs. How having a vision can help ensure that you are never just drifting through life. Why it’s important to be a decent human being to your fellow poker players.

In this week’s episode, Simon Jonas shares how being a poker pro has given him the freedom to travel the world and explore his passions. You'll hear how the praise he got from becoming a great player made him question if there was more to poker than just getting to the top, what he discovered after reading 120 books in 2 years, and the one thing he’s sure is more important than mastering math and theory if you want to be good at poker and actually enjoy playing. If you’ve ever felt like you’ve lost your passion for poker or that the game wasn’t as fun as when you first started, you’ll enjoy listening to Simon’s story. If you’d like to hear more stories and tips from Simon check out his PokerSprout Blog. In This Episode You’ll Learn: How to ignite the passion you once had for the game. Why you need to think twice before moving into a grind-house. Why you'll learn more watching a 10-minute poker video than a 90-minute one.  The reason why most player’s approach to study ends up in a dead-end. How to play outside your comfort zone without losing your shirt.  How getting praised as a great poker player made Simon feel less confident about his game. 

Dan Heskett was a successful high-stakes HUSNG professional, but after one private coaching session with Elliot, he was inspired to take his life in a new direction. In episode 52 of The Mindset Advantage Podcast, Dan shares the result of that session and why it led to him getting qualified in Hypnotherapy. He also discusses his journey as a professional poker player, and his new direction to help pokers players and men improve their mental game at the table and in the ‘dating’ scene. In This Episode You’ll Learn: What ‘interleaving practice’ is and how it can improve the effectiveness of your study. The one exercise Dan does before every podcast, poker game, and interaction with women that makes him feel ‘unstoppable’ The 3 skills you need to succeed with poker, women, and life that you’ll never get from school. The difference between playing VS. practicing (why the players who ‘make it’ ‘practice’ more than they ‘play’) What to do if you have confidence issues when talking to women How to use Hypnotherapy to deal with anxiety, improve your poker game, and be socially attractive to the opposite sex What to do if you can’t afford Elliot’s $300 session rate but still want high-performance coaching.

The Mindset Advantage Guest Run-Good continues as Eric Crain recently took down DraftKings Millionaire Maker. He also placed 3rd, 4th, and 12th in the contest and totaled $1,350,000 in winnings on the day. He returns on this week’s episode to talk about what it was like to sweat the final minutes of the game and how the score will impact his career. He also shares valuable insights on what it takes to play Daily Fantasy Sports for a living, and lays out a framework for anyone looking become a profitable player. In This Episode You'll Learn: The strategy Eric used to go from losing DFS player to multi-million dollar winner in just one year How to transition from poker to DFS, and why poker players are so successful moving over How winning a major DFS tournament is different from a big poker score Why Eric is in no rush to buy a house after his big win How being a huge sports fan can actually hurt your chances of winning at DFS  

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 Bilzerian's doorstep thus winning the $600,000 prop bet. How he was able to stay mentally strong even when the experts were giving him no chance to win. How Brain called his shot (by betting big on himself) in the $50,000 Player’s Championship. Why Brian doesn’t want to be judged on his tournament success, even though he has one of the best resumes in the game. The mindset differences between being an underdog and being a big favorite. Links: Brian Rast: brianrast.com/blog twitter.com/tsarrast instagram.com/tsarrast Dr. Tricia Cardner: @DrTriciaCardner DrTriciaCardner.com Positive Poker Excelling at No-Limit Hold'em  

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. The most important software to study if you want to take your game to the next level. How to handle the thought (or reality) that the game may one day pass you by. How having a child affected Bryan’s poker mindset. Why it’s important to play live poker occasionally if you are strictly an online player. The mindset shifts that “old school” players need to make to be successful in today's games. Links: Bryan Paris: Twitch.tv/bparispoker Twitter.com/bparispoker Instagram.com/bryanjamesparis Dr. Tricia Cardner: @DrTriciaCardner DrTriciaCardner.com Positive Poker Excelling at No-Limit Hold'em

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 understanding your bias is one of the most important factors of the mental game What it means to be a “Paper Champion” poker player How being excited and passionate can help take your game to the next level