Meet Andrijana Gligoric, known as "Lija," a professional poker player from Serbia, now living in Malta. Her poker passion started in university while studying electrical engineering, playing in cash games with friends. After college, she moved to Malta, began streaming her gameplay on Twitch, and quickly built a large following. As a key member of Team Global and nicknamed "Cash Game Queen," Andrijana streams almost daily and is preparing to compete in the World Series of Poker.

Click here to get the full show notes and resources from this week's episode

Dara O'Kearney, born on June 17, 1965, in Ennis, County Clare, is an accomplished Irish ultra runner and professional poker player. He has won several ultra running events and claimed the title of Irish 24-hour running champion in 2007. 

In poker, Dara won the 2008 European Deepstack Poker Championship and has earned over $3 million online and $1 million in live tournaments. He co-authored "Poker Satellite Strategy" and "PKO Poker Strategy," co-hosts the popular podcast "The Chip Race," and serves as a poker expert for CardsChat and Tight Poker.

Click here to get the full show notes and resources from this week's episode

Yves Dubois is a former high stakes cash game player who transferred to being an online nutrition and fitness coach for high-performers such as entrepreneurs, high-stakes poker players, and other professionals in high demanding work environments. Knowing the ins and outs of the fitness industry by heart, Yves is dedicated to helping people feel their best, both physically and mentally, and does that by providing individualized guidance to his clients.

In this episode, we’re talking about his journey in poker, why he got started in fitness, and the strategies he applies to coaching his clients and helping them live their healthiest lives.

This week is going to be a bit different.

Over the last few episodes, you've probably heard about the recently launched Poker Mind Coach Academy. It's a community of ambitious poker players all trying to reach their full potential in the game.

One of the benefits of being a member is a bonus segment from the podcast called "Afterthoughts." After we record an episode Elliot, Adrienne, and the guest all need to hang out while the recordings download. There's always a great conversation during that time, so we decided it was a waste not to record it.

Usually, these conversations are only available to Academy members, but this week we'll be sharing the Afterthoughts from last week's episode with Matt Berkey as a sneak peak into the Academy.

For more info on all the other benefits just visit PokerMindCoachAcademy.com

In This Episode You’ll Learn:

• How Matt went from a break even online MTT player to crushing the highest stakes in just 6 months.
• Why Matt was one of the few poker pro fist pumping when Black Friday happened.
• What happened when Matt lost $5.5mm in the 300/600/1200 and was down to his very last buy-in for the game.
• Why poker is rooted in failure, and how using that knowledge can help you not to take the results personally.
• How asking “why” can help you escape the learning curve and start your journey to hitting your ceiling in poker.

Links:

Matt Berkey:

• Solve For Why Academy
• Twitter
• YouTube
• A Gambler's Fallacy

Adrienne Rowsome:

• Watch and Subscribe to Adrienne’s Twitch Channel
• Twitter
• Facebook

Lex Veldhuis is a Dutch professional player and a member of PokerStar’s Team Pro Online. Lex made a name for himself with his hyper-aggressive play in televised cash games like High Stakes Poker and The Big Game.

With roots in online gaming and e-sports, Lex’s true home is on the online tables. Over the last year, he’s dedicated himself to growing his Twitch.tv following and has one of the biggest streams in poker. One of his goals is to build a bridge between the poker and e-sports world, and he will often stream other games as well as host (and be hosted by) large gaming streamers.

In This Episode You’ll Learn:

• How Lex bribed his opponents into teaching him mixed games.
• What Lex did to get branded as a fish, how that got it invited to huge private games, and why he’s done a complete 180 and wants to be viewed as a great player.
• What Phil Galfond, Sauce123 and Jungleman do that keeps them at the top of the game.
• How to prevent burnout during SCOOP and other large MTT series.
• How Lex uses his uses his anger and frustration to actually prevent tilt. (Be careful with this one as the majority of players who say this works for them are just denying they are on tilt)

Links: Lex Veldhuis:

• Twitter
• YouTube
• Twitch.tv

Adrienne Rowsome:

• Watch and Subscribe to Adrienne’s Twitch Channel
• Twitter
• Facebook

In This Week’s Episode:

Doug Polk is known as one of the (if not THE) best Heads Up No Limit Holdem players of all time. In addition to making a name for himself on the tables, he made waves in the poker community by not being afraid to speak his mind and call out other players.

He’s also had success in the live poker arena with two WSOP bracelets and over $5 million in earnings.

Since starting his training site, Upswing Poker, he’s become one of the most popular personalities in the poker world with one of the top viewed Twitch Stream and YouTube channels in poker.

In This Episode You’ll Learn:

• What Doug did when he lost 90% of his net worth and had to decide between giving poker one last go, or finding another path.
• How to prevent your ego from getting in the way of being honest about your opponent’s strengths and weaknesses.
• The most important mindset to embrace if you have trouble with tilt.
• What you should do when you notice your confidence slipping after losing 30+ buy-ins.
• How Doug worked his way back from a massive $1.7 million downswing.

In This Week’s Episode:

Since his appearance on the first ever TMA Podcast episode, Daniel “Oxota” Dvoress has taken the live poker scene by storm. Since then he’s amassed over $3,000,000 in live tournament earnings, and become a staple in the High Roller/Super High Roller scene.

Daniel joins us to share how the ups and downs of making the transition from online to live, and how he uses mindset work to gain an edge on the field.

In This Episode You’ll Learn:

• Why preparation, play and study for live sessions is so much different than online.
• How learning a new game or format can boost your motivation.
• The exact routine Daniel uses before playing a high roller.
• How Daniel leverages high-pressure situations to run over a table.
• The correct way to use live-tells to enhance your technical decision making.
• How to gain an edge when you’re not a naturally gifted player.

In This Week’s Episode: In Tommy Angelo’s new book, Painless Poker, he approaches teaching the mental game from a new angle.

The book focuses around 7 fictional poker players, all archetypical characters representing the pain we experience while playing, who are attending Tommy’s “Painless Poker Clinic.”

Rather than teaching mindset with the typical textbook approach, you get to follow along with the story and see the changes the characters make in their own game. When you buy the print book directly from Tommy’s site, he’ll send you an autographed copy as well as a free digital download.

In This Episode You’ll Learn: Links:

• Why Tommy decided to use a fictional story to teach mindset concepts.
• Why all poker players should start meditating today.
• The point in your poker career you should start working on your mental game, and why most players start way too late.

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.

Rory Young is a serious high stakes cash games player, who has also reaped significant tournament cash prizes. Rory is also well known for high profile sports bets as well as having founded a high level poker software company.

We discuss his poker and business careers as well as the mindset that was necessary for excelling in both fields and what crossover learnings he made.

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.

• 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.

• 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.)

• 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.

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.

• 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.

• 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

Since he first joined us in Episode 3 of The Mindset Advantage Podcast, Jonathan Little has co-written a book with TMA co-host Dr. Tricia Cardner and launched the new training site PokerCoaching.com.

Peak Poker Performance lays out a blueprint for playing your “A” game every session. Topics covered in the book include; Creating winning habits, systematizing success, and beating procrastination.

PokerCoaching.com is a training site that uses weekly quizzes to show you which areas of the game you need to work on the most. There is also an in-depth monthly homework question where Jonathan grades/discussions the answer to in a webinar.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• How to actually integrate the mindset lessons we talk about into your game
• How optimizing your environment can set you up for success before you even start playing
• How watching TV while you play can slash your winrate
• Why it’s important to have an overall vision of why you’re playing poker
• How Jonathan was able to final table the WSOP Team Event with his Mom and Dad
• The difference in mindset and strategy needed to be successful in satellites vs. regular MTTs

Brent Hanks is a former teacher turned professional poker player who now works for the 24/7 poker network Poker Central.

His poker accomplishments include 6 WSOP final tables, one WSOP bracelet and $1,521,204 in live MTT earnings.

Poker Central is the world’s only 24/7 Poker TV network, and can currently be seen on most streaming devices such as the AppleTV, FireTV, Roku, and Xbox.

They also run and the Super High Roller Bowl, a $300,000 buy-in tournament that starts Sunday, May 29th. The tournament will air live on the CBS sports network starting on May 29th and concluding on June 1st.

To learn more visit: https://www.superhighroller.com

When we last spoke to Fedor “CrownUpGuy” Holz, in Episode 34, he was about to start play in an Alpha 8 final table as the chip leader.

He went on to win it for $1,589,216. Two week later he took down the WPTN Philippines SHR for $3,463,500.

Now, he’s back to talk about how those wins have changed his mindset as well a discuss his upcoming MTT master class.

Click here to visit the show page for all resources and links

On Thursday, April 21st, 2016 Olivier Busquet and JC Alvarado touched gloves in the Octagon at Syndicate MMA in Las Vegas, NV. 

The fight was the culmination of 6-months of intense training, and a $270k purse was up for grabs. 

Over 100 spectators paid a $20 entry fee, which was all donated to the One Drop charity, and thousands more watched online. Most had a financial interest in the fight, with over $1,000,000 in side action was rumored to have been wagered. 

The fight was set for four 5-mintue rounds, with a fifth to be added if it ended at 2-2. 

The judges were not needed, as the fight was called after just 3 rounds. Olivier had bloodied up JC badly in the third, and it was agreed that it was no longer safe for him to continue. 

Olivier opened as the underdog, but after a dominant performance had his hand raised as the winner. 

In the week's episode Olivier joins us and shares his thoughts on the experience.  

Anton Wigg is a professional poker player from Sweden, who has racked up over $11 million in combined live and online MTT cash events. Apart from the headline figures, his longevity in the game is truly remarkable.

Beyond his achievements in poker, Anton has created a group of elite tournament poker players who collaborate to improve on every aspect of their performance. They do not solely focus on technical aspects in their game, but also mindset and broader aspects of physical and mental performance.

Anton has also created a startup company, and we’ll talk about what lessons he transferred from playing poker on such a high level to the business world.

Rob Tinnion is best known for winning the Sunday Million outright twice and has been one of the most consistent online MTT winners over the last few years with over $650,000 in total profit.

He is also a manager and coach for the backing group Pocarr, and founder of the MTT training site Max-Value.com.

Rob’s rise to the top of the MTT world is a great case study on how far hard work and a strong mindset can get you in poker. He began his career in the tough post-Black-Friday environment and didn’t have a huge score early to jump start his career.

Instead, he grinded a low ABI and worked incredibly hard on his game. After a rough streak, he joined Pocarr as a backed player and used their library of resources to further improve his game.

After winning the Sunday Million twice in 5 months and owning a large share of Pocarr, Rob continues to serve as a manager and coach.

Sean Kapul is a mid-high stakes PLO cash game pro who has been winning at the game since 2008.

Sean decided to take a shot at going pro after hearing his older friends constantly complaining about their conventional jobs. A 2nd place finish, for $50,000, in a 1k Venetian 1k MTT during his last year of university gave him the buffer he needed to take the plunge.

In our interview, Sean talks about how his poker career is just one piece of his plan to live his dream life. This is why he decided to move to Buenos Aires, and travel the world, even before US players were forced out of the country by Black Friday.

He also coaches PLO cash games, with a focus on helping NL players make the transition to PLO. 

If you’re interested in learning more about his coaching, you can visit his site: www.plomastery.com

You can often find Matt Berkey sitting in the biggest game in Ivey’s room, where six, and even seven, figure pots are regularly contested.

His poker career started as just a way to fund his dream of making a Major League Baseball roster.

After playing four years of college baseball, Matt set off on the road traveling between pro tryouts along the East Coast and in the Mid-West.

In between tryouts he would find the local casino and play $5/$10 NL to support his travel.

In 2006, he made the switch to a full-time poker pro, and he quickly climbed the ladder to the biggest cash games in the world.

He credits his success to the many hours he’s spent studying game theory and opponent tendencies.

Matt runs the exclusive Solve For Why Academy, a poker camp created to take players from good to great.

Each camp is restricted to 9 attendees who receive hands-on training from Matt and his team of coaches.

To learn more about the camp and see if you qualify to attend visit:

http://solveforwhyacademy.com

Adam Sherman is an online MTT pro turned Wall Street Trader.

His first major score came in PokerStars’ Wednesday Quarter Million event in January '10 for $58,200. He followed that up with a victory in the Stars $150k Guaranteed for $41.1k and also has a first place finish in the Nightly Hundred Grand for $22,700.

One of his largest online tournament cashes came courtesy of a victory in the PokerStars SCOOP-22-H ($3,000+150 NLHE 4-max) for $210,000. Less than a week later, Adam placed 2nd in the SCOOP-31-H ($2,000+100 NLHE Cubed 1r+1a) for $173,000. Those scores came only one month after he took down the Sunday 500 for $89,500.

In April 2012, Sherman chopped the PokerStars Super Tuesday and cashed for $69,000. In August 2013, Sherman was back at it, finishing second in the PokerStars Sunday Million following a four-way chop for $150,000. In May 2015 Adam won the PokerStars Sunday 500, taking home $76,000.

In 2014 he made the move to New York to take a job in a Wall Street trading firm. In our interview, we discuss the similarities he’s found between his two professions, and what poker players should do if they want to stock trading.

Ryan, aka "YourDoom", is a successful NLH cash game pro, video producer and coach.

Over his last one million mid-to-high stakes cash game hands, he has maintained an 11bb/100 winrate.

Before poker Ryan obtained a Master's degree in Secondary Math Education, and worked as a math teacher.

He has translated this teaching ability to YourDoomPoker.com, a poker training site for high level players.

• The tasty treat that could potentially boost mental performance
• Why so many pro poker players are unhappy
• How to overcome the mental road blocks holding you back from being your best
• The massive difference that good game selection can have on your winrate
• The 3 things YD does before he plays a poker session
• How to make your fold button a weapon

In part 1 of our interview with Olivier Busquet, we covered an incident that sparked his motivation to become the best HUSNG player in the world, how he started to learn deep poker theory and what he’s done to improve his tilt issues.

In part 2 we dive into his strategies for dealing with downswings and discuss his upcoming high-stakes MMA prop bet vs. J.C. Alvarado.

• How a properly timed nap can boost your study efforts.
• How to recognize when you’re playing bad so you can quit and reset.
• If you should drop down in stakes when on a downswing.
• How Olivier found himself fighting another pro in an MMA match for six figures.
• How Olivier is learning to develop the discipline that eludes most poker players.

Olivier Busquet:

• Olivier Busquet (@olivierbusquet)

Dr. Tricia Cardner:

• @DrTriciaCardner
• DrTriciaCardner.com
• Positive Poker
• Excelling at No-Limit Hold'em

Olivier “livb112” Busquet is known as one of the most successful heads up SNG players in online poker history.

In recent years, he has branched out to live MTTs, where he has quickly racked up $6,857,078 in earnings.

Olivier’s passion for greatness was sparked when he was berated for his losing HUSNG SharkScope graph early in his poker career.

A desire to get that graph even quickly transformed into making the games his full-time grind and he could be found near the top of the HUSNG profit leaderboards for many years after.

Olivier has been very public about his issues with tilt, most notably his epic chat blow-ups, and in this interview we take a deep dive into how he’s worked through fixing them.

• Whether having a few drinks to calm your nerves helps or hurts your game?
• Why you should never berate the weak players in your game, especially by pointing out their losses.
• How Olivier made the shift from using “brute force” to win to gaining a deeper theoretical understanding of the game, and why everyone needs to make that change if they want to stay competitive in today’s games.
• Why a serious study practice is essential if you wish to make a living at poker.
• How your circle of poker friends is quickly becoming an important factor in having an edge in poker.
• Why Olivier self-banned his online poker chat.
• Why Olivier believes being mentally strong is a requirement to be a long-term winner.

Olivier Busquet:

• Olivier Busquet (@olivierbusquet)

Dr. Tricia Cardner:

• @DrTriciaCardner
• DrTriciaCardner.com
• Positive Poker
• Excelling at No-Limit Hold'em

Carlos Welch has been playing and studying the game of poker for over ten years.

He is a writer for various poker media outlets and has been a frequent guest on several poker podcasts.

He plays small to mid-stakes tournaments and is well known for his extreme frugality - most notably his decision to live in a van.

Although he travels the world playing poker, he is not quite a professional poker player. He considers himself more of a professional poker student.

You can keep up as he lives his dream by watching his Twitch channel at www.twitch.tv/carloswelch and following him on Twitter at @HipHop101Trivia.

• The two activities you can use to boost your happiness and reduce depression
• How Carlos got a room for just $350 per month in Vegas for the WSOP
• How your overall life happiness should be factored into the games you play
• How to be a successful player without becoming jaded
• Why the “expense” side of poker profitability is just as important as “revenue”

Paul “Internet” Otto got his start in poker at the play money tables and worked his way up to being a mid/high-stakes 6-Max NL pro. He is also a highly regarded coach and video maker, producing content for IveyLeague.com.

Paul is the owner of PokerMarket.com, a website where you can sell and buy both tournament action and poker content. You’ll also find an active forum and rakeback deals on the site.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• The two food types that can prevent you from getting a good night’s sleep
• How you can disconnect from the value of money while you play, so you can make the best decisions each hand
• The mindset you need to be successful when switching between Online and Live cash games
• How to approach improving your game, no matter what format you’re playing
• How to move up to mid/high-stakes once you’ve been successful at low stakes
• Why everyone should use math to improve their game, even if you think you’re “just a feel player”

Fedor Holz is a 22 year old player from Germany, now residing in Vienna Austria. In his short career Fedor has won several tournaments including the WCOOP Main Event 2014, he plays the high roller circuit now and placed 25th in the 2015 WSOP Main Event.

Mental Game MP3s | Poker Mind Coach

Sylvain Loosli is a french elite poker professional who is currently living in London. He comes from Toulon (France), earned a masters degree in business studies and currently lives in London. Sylvain has been playing Poker professionally since 2011 with total live earnings of almost $ 8 Mio. In this episode we’ll discuss how Sylvain got to the top and how he makes sure to stay there.

Eric Crain burst onto the poker scene when he was featured in the ESPN Coverage of the USPC in Atlantic City (video below).

His online and live MTT earnings total $1,584,960 including 3 WSOP Circuit rings, 3 WSOP final tables, and a $215 WCOOP win for $281,524.

Eric’s poker career has been the definition of swingy, and in our interview he discusses winning and losing million dollar bankrolls on multiple occasions.

He also talks about his recent switch to Daily Fantasy Sports, the mindset needed to be successful there, and preparing for two $50,000+ buy-in DFS Championship events where he will be playing for a $3 million and a $5 million first prize.

• How too much positive thinking can actually stop you from hitting your goals
• The consequences of not learning to respect the money
• What it takes to make it as a pro today
• When should you start working with a mental game coach?
• Why Eric put his computer tower in a bathtub and turned on the tap

Mental Game MP3s | Poker Mind Coach

Mark Herm (known online as “Dipthrong”or “shippitt”) is one of the most successful online tournament players in the world. He has been playing online poker professionally for 10 years and has amassed over 6 million dollars profit in poker play. He has also run one of the most successful online poker backing operations in history. He has won nearly every big online tournament including a Sunday Million victory for $229 000, a victory in the Full Tilt Poker Major for $128 000, and chopping the Sunday 500 on PokerStars 3 times… just to name a few.

Along with online success, Mark has had some deep runs in the live arena, despite not playing much. His most notable runs have been an EPT Prague final table for €100k, 3rd place in the 2014 WSOP $1500 Mixed Max for $128k, and a 226th place finish in the 2014 Main Event.

Mark has backed/coached many of the best online players to play the game and was recently ranked in the top 10 in the world according to Pocket Five.

 Mental Game MP3s | Poker Mind Coach

Mental Game MP3s | Poker Mind Coach

Joshua 'jdawg91' Hoesel is a 24 year old US born SNG pro that has resided in Rosarito Beach, Mexico since November, 2011, and plays on PokerStars as "slayerv1fan".

He has achieved SuperNova Elite+ four years straight, playing mostly midstakes to nosebleed hyper-turbo SNGs.

In that time he has accumulated over 7 million VPPs, and will likely become the youngest player to earn 10 million lifetime VPPs on Pokerstars, which has currently only been achieved by four players.

Having faced many ups and downs over the course of his career, most of which has been publicly recorded in his yearly blog threads on the TwoPlusTwo forums, he is someone to be looked up to for overcoming adversity and having the mental capacity to always strive to improve on and off the tables.

He is now working behind the scenes with a newly created MTT stable, FishTailStaking, which will be looking for new players in the near future.

 Mental Game MP3s | Poker Mind Coach

This is Part 2 of our interview with Daniel Negreanu, a professional poker player who has won six World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets and two World Poker Tour (WPT) championship titles. The independent poker ranking service Global Poker Index (GPI) has recognised Negreanu as the best poker player of the past decade.

Since his second place in the Big One For One Drop 2014 tournament, he is the biggest live tournament poker winner of all time, having accumulated over $30,600,000 in prize money. He was named the WSOP Player of the Year in 2004 and again in 2013, making him the first player in WSOP history to win the accolade more than once. He was also the 2004-05 WPT Player of the Year. He is the first player to make a final table at each of the three WSOP bracelet-awarding locations (Las Vegas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific) and the first to win a bracelet at each. In 2014, he was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame.

 Mental Game MP3s | Poker Mind Coach

Daniel Negreanu is a professional poker player who has won six World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets and two World Poker Tour (WPT) championship titles. The independent poker ranking service Global Poker Index (GPI) has recognised Negreanu as the best poker player of the past decade.

Since his second place in the Big One For One Drop 2014 tournament, he is the biggest live tournament poker winner of all time, having accumulated over $30,600,000 in prize money. He was named the WSOP Player of the Year in 2004 and again in 2013, making him the first player in WSOP history to win the accolade more than once. He was also the 2004-05 WPT Player of the Year. He is the first player to make a final table at each of the three WSOP bracelet-awarding locations (Las Vegas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific) and the first to win a bracelet at each. In 2014, he was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame.

Tommy Angelo grinded for 15 years before opening his “TILTLESS” coaching business ten years ago. Most of his clients are professional players. Tommy now defines himself as a writer. His 2007 book, Elements of Poker is widely considered to be one of the best poker books. Tommy writes a monthly column for PokerNews, he makes videos for RunItOnce.com, and he is finishing his third book, Painless Poker.

Tommy’s teachings go into extreme detail on every aspect of living the poker life. In broad strokes, he places emphasis on mental health, and reducing unhappiness, as means to increasing profit and well-being.

Tommy is like the Vince Lombardi of poker coaches.

 Mental Game MP3s | Poker Mind Coach

Jaime Staples also known by his alias Staples is a Canadian professional poker player from Alberta, Canada who specializes in live streaming of online low stakes multi-table tournaments on Twitch.tv. He primarily plays on PokerStars and became a 'Friend of PokerStars' in April 2015. As of 2015, his total live tournament winnings exceed $9,000 and his online tournament winnings exceed $550,000.

 Mental Game MP3s | Poker Mind Coach

Alexander ‘msusyr24’ Carr is founder of Pocarr. Alex has played over 100,000 tournaments on PokerStars and is also a coach for Pocarr. Alex now plays primarily cash games and MTT’s while helping manage Pocarr. 

 Mental Game MP3s | Poker Mind Coach

Elliot Roe is a licensed Hypnotherapist based in Las Vegas who specializes in helping poker players resolve their mindset issues at the table. During his career, Elliot has worked with over 150 poker players from NL25 all the way up to some of the best known high stakes pros. 

Elliot's take on mindset issues differs from many of the other mindset coaches. He uses his expertise in hypnotherapy to explore players’ past experiences to help to resolve their issues at the table. By helping clients to  understand and resolving the issues of their past  it enables change in their behavior at the table. Mental Game MP3s | Poker Mind Coach

This week’s guest is Ana Márquez, a professional poker player from Spain. She began playing poker during her time in college, initially playing cash games in Atlantic City. Before she joined Americas Cardroom in 2022, she was a member of Team PokerStars as well as Team 888poker. Ana has been ranked as #1 poker player in Spain and won $2 million in live tournaments.

Having been successful in many tournaments, her highest cash prize to date is $445,000 by finishing third in the Partypoker Live Millions Vegas Main Event at the Aria Resort & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip.

As a true professional, Ana does not only work on her technical game, but is also focused on her mindset routines to execute on the highest possible level.

Adam "coffeeyay" Sobolewski. Currently residing in Denver and also the Shetland Islands for poker, Adam is a Heads Up SNG pro and coach. He created the "CoffeeHUD" for heads up players and is the author of "Math in HUSNG's". Adam has a BS and MS in Mathematics and a BA in physics with honors, a university level teaching certificate and has taught semesters of calculus and physics.

Dr. Tricia Cardner is a peak performance strategist who provides coaching and consulting to some of today’s biggest names in poker, sport and business by teaching them how to use psychology to gain an edge over their competition.

After becoming enamored with the game of poker, she conducted research on the psychological traits of elite tournament poker players for her doctoral dissertation called Peak Poker Performance: A Qualitative Case Study.

She combined her research and her experience playing MTTs into an upper-division university course on the psychology of poker.  She is the author of Positive Poker which features commentary by Jonathan Little. Positive Poker, A Modern Psychological Approach to Mastering Your Mental Game, combines her years of psychological research, clinical experience and poker playing into one place.

She is a co-author on Excelling at No-Limit Hold’em, and her chapter focuses on mental toughness for poker players.

She is currently developing an online Psychology of Poker course to further help poker players improve their mental games.

You can follow her on Twitter @DrTriciaCardner

Website: www.DrTriciaCardner.com

Patrick “Pads1161” Leonard is a MTT pro with over 2M in online earnings.

He also coaches and runs a very successful MTT staking group.

He’s twice reached the #1 spot in the PocketFives Online MTT Rankings, and has accomplished the rare feat of final tabling every PokerStars Sunday Major.

His love for creating media led him to get a Journalism major at the University of Sheffield, and he keeps that passion alive by blogging, podcasting and creating videos.

His personal blog thread on the TwoPlusTwo forums is incredibly popular, with almost 270,000 views at the time of this recording.

Patrick’s strong approach to the mental game makes him a great example of the right way to approach professional poker, a role that he admittedly seeks and enjoys with the players he chooses to stake. 

Mental Game MP3s | Poker Mind Coach