MentorHB: General

I started writing a book when I was working for pokerstaking to help improve the mentoring, wanted to keep a copy of it so posted it on my blog, I've only written 2 sections and the rest I'd just drafted the notes - still useful to get it on paper. Don't think I will finish it now as I quit working for PS and also intend to take on a few mentees in the following months, want to focus on them and as always, improving my own game :) 

• Mentee Goals and Ambitions
• Developing a Relationship
• Game Selection
• Tracking Progress
• Mentallity
• Session Ideas
• Miscellaneous
  
  
  Session Ideas (HEM/Live/Sharkscope) - interactive sessions ensure mentee is active in the session / opening their mind with open ended questions / filters / marking up & reviewing hands / happy with HUD - elaborate more this section about actual poker & ways to improve their actual play / leak finding session - add filters to document
  
  
  
  
  Video (mentor can create in own time from hands sent by the mentee or a specific tournament), camtasia
  Email or Word Document Report – as above but with email or word document response
  
  
  
  
  Interactive sessions – make sure mentee is participating, ask questions to stimulate thinking (what about if you 88 here rather than JJ, etc.)
  Ask for mentee to explain their thought process as that is what you need to know to help them improve (i.e. if they have any errors in their analysis or missing out vital information)
  
  
  Developing a Relationship:
  
  
  Relationship – first find out whats wrong, if the mentee was a winning player, but isn't now, then what has changed/what needs to change? (ask) important mentee believes in you/trusts in you/ enthusiasm is contagious (if they do not work hard or ignore your advice then give them grief!)
  Player needs to be honest about how he is playing
  Ensure on right level with the mentee, that they understand what you are saying and why you are saying it
  Active listener (not just a lecture, its 1 to 1)
  
  
  Game Selection
  
  
  how many to play at a time
  ensure they are playing within their limits
  put together a schedule – add games for them to play when going well for the month (motivation)
  
  
  Sharkscope:
  Rebuys/non rebuys
  6 max/non 6 max
  buy in levels
  satellites
  turbos
  add screenshots
  
  
  
  
  Mentality
  
  
  Believe they can win, focus their energy in the right place, improve their brain, balance poker and life, enjoying poker
  Encouragement
  Positivity
  Mentallity - warming up before playing, review tactical errors, time on tables against off the tables, learning process (do they play different in replayer then when at the table) attitude confidence / willing to learn / apply new ideas, positive attitude, accepts he is human will make mistakes,
  
  
  Miscellaneous
  
  
  Links to articles and videos – if you read a good article or watch a good video online then email the links to your mentees, reference them to books you believe could improve their game.
  Post on forums
  Misc - Feedback / 
  
  

MentorHB: Tracking Progress

Tracking Progress:

It is important to track the progress of mentee so that you both aware that he is improving.

This is also good for the mentee's morale, and it is an easy way to re-assure the mentee, if he does have a bad day at the tables but played well, that he can be happy with the way he played and that he is improving as a player (it should always be one of the mentee's “aims” to improve as a player, so you can reassure the mentee he is achieving his aims and consider it a successful day, even if a profit is not achieved); rather than being disheartened and feeling that his efforts are not being rewarded.

Mentality is a very import aspect of poker and is discussed further in the “Mentality” section.

A good method for tracking progress is by concluding each session with a summary, then re-visiting the summary at the start of the next session. A short summary in bullet point form is sufficient to remind the mentee of all the areas he wants to work on, and he can keep them next to his desk or on his desktop as a note to read in preparation for his next session.

Notes on the mentee's desktop are a good way to keep the mentee focussed on the areas of his game that he wants to improve on, as well as a way for him to track his own poker development

For example if you spotted that the mentee wanted to improve on playing from the blinds and believed he should play less hands, then you could start the next session by reviewing his VPIP/PFR/etc. in HEM from the blinds and see if the numbers have changed since the previous session (can use HEM filters to set specific dates).

Another important factor about tracking progress, is ensuring that the player continues to improve after they have a win or multiple wins. It is common for players to become complacent after a win or multiple wins and stop improving as a player; it is the responsibility of the mentor to ensure the mentee is constantly improving regardless of their results, and this is should be your main goal as a mentor – to constantly improve your mentee's poker game.

MentorHB: Mentee Goals and Ambitions

Mentee Goals and Ambitions:

Taking some time to discuss with your mentee what he wants to achieve from poker is a great way to get your player motivated and in the right zone for playing winning poker. It is especially good if you have a new mentee who has lost for a sustained amount of time, as you can use it as a time to re-baseline (new mindset).

You can break down their ambition into separate goals (i.e. the ambition is what they want to achieve, the goals are how they are going to achieve it) for short term and long term. It's well worth documenting these once created and to schedule a time/date that you are going to revisit the goals in the future.

It's important to ensure that your mentee is able to balance his life and poker, so when you create goals together ensure they are realistic, achievable, and that the mentee agrees with them. Generally having financial goals isn't recommend due to the nature of poker, however using them as milestones for game selection (e.g. “if you are up over 1k this month then try some 50 rebuys”) is a good way to help progress players through the stakes and give them something to aim towards

Some example ambition/goals below (it does not matter what you label these terms as):

Ambition (this is what the mentee wants to do): To improve/maximize potential profit as a poker player

Goals (this is how the mentee is going to do it): Spend 30 minutes before every session reviewing hands from the previous session Organize a session just to increase knowledge of HEM and HEM filters Record every day after playing, an analysis of my own performance with comments Never have more than 6 games open at one time

Ambition (this is what the mentee wants to do): To clear player deficit

Goals (this is how the mentee is going to do it): Review / produce new game selection with mentor / sharkscope Mark up problem Hands in HEM for review with mentor Bank a profitable month Record own live session X evening for posting on website and open review

It is recommended that the goals are measurable, so that when they are revisited you can determine whether they have been completed or not (i.e. rather than a goal to “increase volume”, have a goal to “play X amount of games a month”).

If the goals are not complete by the deadline then make sure you explain to the mentee that the goals/ambitions were agreed together, and if they are not on-board, or not taking on the changes you recommend; then it is a waste of both your time and that you'd rather be with someone who wants your help.

Inform Pokerstaking if you have players like this because when a player has been assigned mentors it is because they are in deficit and we as Pokerstaking decided they needed help with their game, sometimes players can be stubborn when on losing streaks or neglect negative aspects of their game that need improving, even when clearly identified by their mentor – make sure they accept/confront these areas and report it to Pokerstaking if not as we are a business that cannot afford to waste money on players that are losing and not doing anything to change it.

The goals you create together don't necessarily have to be poker strategy related, for instance if there is a disconnect between the way your mentee plays when discussing hands in the HEM re-player, to when playing hands at the tables; then you may need goals that will improve the players mental state, e.g. to have MSN/TV/FB/Skype off when playing or to have a break/eat fruit/drink water every hour, etc.

Teach your mentee professional/effective approaches on and off the tables (i.e. good habits) based on your own experience and knowledge, and use the goals to integrate it into their overall game.

Quick though: Positive thinking

I read and talk to people about the concept of thinking positive. In my experience I think that a lot of people mis-understand it though or don't fully appreciate the benefits of thinking positive.

Thinking positive is about looking at a situation and deciding the best way forward and realising where you should focus your efforts. It is about taking responsibility for your own success. It's not neglecting negatively or saying "if I believe I will win, then I will win".

Yes, you need to believe you can win to win, and remembering past examples or reviewing previous wins is a good way to re-assure that belief and confidence in yourself. Mainly though, it is your approach to situations - how I can improve my situation? What can I control that can be changed to make things better? Why do I accept things that are holding me back or not fulfilling their potential? Who sets my limits? 

You only have a certain amount of energy to apply yourself with, a healthy lifestyle will improve your stamina and mental efficiency - you must focus your energies in the area's that will benefit you most.

Positive thinking