Focus is key; but it helps when the cards hit, too...

Sat in a 3/6 Holdem game last night. It was a good session.

Focus is really the key to good play. Last night, I stayed focussed throughout the session, and was making good reads, good laydowns and good value bets. Of course, variance was a factor (as always) and I was hitting flops and draws pretty regularly.

It was one of those nights where I was really able to get in the heads of the other players. I had some big hands early that connected well, and really punished a few people who tried to outdraw me. In more than one instance, they drew to a big second best hand, which must have stung pretty badly. In any case, the few players who were paying attention started getting that "deer in the headlights" look about them every time I raised. The nice part about establishing and image (and actually having someone notice, which is very rare at this limit), is that it allows you take some pots with "just one more bet" because the guys who are paying attention are playing scared. But, back to the key: it was focus that allowed me to know who was paying attention and playing scared, and allowed me to save bets against the calling stations when I missed.

It's actually very tiring, maintaining that kind of focus. I used to poo-poo guys who wore headphones and listened to music when they play, but I've been doing that a lot lately. I find it helps with focus. I can play it low enough that I can easily what's going on at my table, while drowning out the extraneous noise from beyond. Also, I have a hundred songs that I really love, so it helps calm the irritation when a bad beat comes along; great tool to assist in avoiding tilt.