I am almost tilting about continuing this seemingly endless row of questions. But as we all know: Real progress is hard earned. The process is very valuable and I strongly recommend that you, my dear stubborn reader, do it yourself. It really helps! In the beginning it is maybe not so nice to realize all these mistakes and flaws in yourself. But hey dude, you weren't born perfect, and probably also picked up some bad habits on the way... So knowing is painful but good. Like the dad who is beating up his kid and says: this hurts me more than you, son :) Ok without further ado, let's go:


16) Do you ever act without thinking in a way that's negative? If yes, why? What is the typical situations when it happens?


Yes, sir, I do sometimes. The worst situation is in big pots. It seems my mind goes kinda blank. I am a very intuitive player but I still always try to use logic and sometimes I just seems I can't. I want to give him a range, a state of mind, an image, an idea of my image etc. but the only think that comes is: I have top pair top kicker in a reraised pot - I am not folding! (fucker). I think it is due to fear of making a mistake and also fear in general (result-oriented thinking). It sometimes also happens because I am distracted or just because of carelessness. So I just autofold a mediocre hand in the small blind even though the big blind is not defending at all. In my personal profile (I did a DISC test) it showed that I often make very quick decisions - and not always thinking it through. I try to tell myself to take my time all the way. And in reraised pot's I can only act when partypokers clock has passed 10 seconds - just to make sure I don't rush the decision (or give away timing tells).


17) Describe your mindset when you are playing your best.


Decisions come really easy - it is like I just see through the action and ideas just appear effortlessly.  Folding strong hands is natural, if they are second best, and I also have the courage (or know when to) to stack of with top pair in certain situations. It is also really fun to play and sometimes it even seem like I am 'director of the game' and can make people play like I want to - like the Pied Piper (see picture). Da Zone is a niiiice place to be - no distractions can reach you and you see and feel everything.


       


18) Do you ever get down about your ability as a player? If so, can it happen after one bad session?


Yes and yes. Sometimes it just seem like I get no ideas and my reads are bad and I don't know enough. How can all these REG's float like every time? Can they see my cards? Knowing what you know is not always easy (you somehow forget all that is learned so well it is at the unconscious competence level - so it just seem like you don't know anything. The feeling never stays long, thankfully. Bad sessions is mostly a problem in this regard when I also play bad (I feel like a loser that played like a loser). Still it only takes one decent player to make a mistake that I wouldn't make to get rid of this feeling.  


19) How well do you typically handle  pressure situations in poker or elsewhere (if different than poker)? Describe.


Reasonable well I think. I (almost) never panic and usually the focus and motivation sharpens as the pressure goes up. It can become too much though, but in general I feel at home with intense pressure (I love blitz chess). In life I also tend to rise to the challenge. So in general I don't think choking is a big issue - I am a fighter and feel very much alive when slugging it out.


20) Do you have any specific memories in poker that you still think about or that pop into your head randomly? (bad hands, tournament bust outs, or others.)


No! No negative (poker) stories survive very long - I always try to look forward. I honestly can't remember any hands older than a month (Alzheimer light?). I do remember a few good stories. Like a good beat where I won 3 buy-ins at 3-6 getting all-in with AKs agaisnt KK and AA! In chess the scars are deeper...


21) Does thinking about poker ever keep you up at night, or prevent you from enjoying your life? If so, what are you thinking about? Do you ever get stuck thinking about mistakes? 


Yes it does - like a lot of things (my sleeping habits could improve) - recently the amazing movie 'Barney's version' (See it!) destroyed my sleep. But ok back to poker. If I have lost a lot it sorts of feel like my plans got derailed (it will take longer or be impossible to reach my economic goals). Sometimes I just feel sad after losing and it can be difficult falling to sleep. But mostly when poker disturbs my sleep it is because I am thinking about strategy - how to combat different strategies etc. I often get good ideas in my bed (and not only sexual hehe)


22) Hypothetical question: You have the ability to magically make any of the issues in question 5 disappear. Which  one would you choose? Why? What do you think your game would be like without it?


I think I would magically make myself work more on my game. So D) is puff gone and now I work like 3 hours a day on improving my game - think I could really become quite good (just below the very best). Working on my mental game do seem to help a lot and at the moment I don't experience any big tilt issues. So fixing the motivation (and lack of time) and laziness issues would make a big impact. I think I could reach my economic goals: Independent (as in never have to work again, if I don't want to!) before I am 45 years old. So... why the hell don't I do that? (I do have a lot of other important things on my mind). I think my game would be better in every way. I would be more sure at the table and my lines would be crisper and sharper. I often don't know what is 'standard' - if I worked this hard I would. 


 


23) List and describe your mental strengths.


A)  A big fighter


B) Good at motivating other people and myself


C) Demanding and not afraid of risks


D) Good at seeing the overall structure and finding the right strategy


E) Positive attitude


F) Get's ideas - sometimes too many


G) Not afraid of changes


H) Believe in myself


E) Fights against routine (can also be a weakness)


J) Not afraid of the truth


This will have to do for now - feel really good about myself right now :)