Wednesday Mar 25, 2009 07:19 PM
Tips From the Table
Check Out 'flapjacks' Tip
Hello my friends. Pour yourself a cup of coffee, sit back, and let's share some "flapjacks". Have you ever wondered how a select group of people reach the very top, or the apex, of their chosen profession? There are obviously some secrets out there that few people hold, but many are searching for. 1% of the population of the world holds between 40-50% of the world's wealth. How would you like to be in that percentile? There are some secrets out there that allow a chosen few to experience success beyond the dreams of most individuals.
In 1956 an educator named Benjamin Bloom and a group of educational psychologists developed a classification of levels of intellectual behavior important to learning. I believe this classification can be directly applied to the total understanding of the game of poker. The six levels of the cognitive domain of poker are: 1. KNOWLEDGE 2. COMPREHENSION 3. APPLICATION 4. ANALYSIS 5. SYNTHESIS 6. EVALUATION When we look at the game of poker and see how it is played, we see the various stages of the cognitive domain as we view success in different approaches to the game. The truly successful professionals bring the game to the sixth level. The game becomes a total lifestyle for them. If you apply the six stages, you too can take your game to the top of the poker scale. It doesn't happen overnight.
Around 80% of all players are simply playing at the lowest level. They basically have knowledge of the game. When one progresses to the second level, that of COMPREHENSION, an understanding is taking place. Players are starting to recognize, classify, identify, explain, discuss, and describe different aspects of the game. They are becoming students of the game. At the third level, APPLICATION, they are starting to apply, interpret, practice, solve, illustrate, write about, and get inside the game so to speak. Next in ANALYSIS, they analyze, calculate, categorize, compare, contrast, criticize, examine, experiment, question, and test different aspects of the game. In the SYNTHESIS step they arrange, assemble, collect, compose, construct, design, formulate, manage, organize, and write about many aspects of poker. In EVALUATION, they appraise, argue, assess, judge, predict, rate, support, value, and evaluate many aspects of the game. They are now totally immersed in the game. They become one with it. They are living it!
Look at a player like Daniel Negreanu. He is the consummate professional. He plays in the biggest cash games, is a representative for an Internet site, has a syndicated poker column, and travels around the globe playing and representing the game at the sixth level of the cognitive domain of poker! To truly achieve the apex one must become the perfect amalgam of traits, playing-styles of past and present professionals, and fully immersed in the six levels of the cognitive domain of poker. There are several professionals like him and I believe they all have the secret.
You may say how does this work in other professions? It can be applied to just about anything. Learning takes place at these six levels no matter what you are attempting to master. There is another very important "secret" out there that can be incorporated into your life. It is called the law of attraction. It can be likened to a huge electromagnet. The difference is that this one keeps attracting. It can't be turned off. It brings you the best things in life. It brings you the things that have value and the things that you can't put a value on. When you believe good things are going to happen, the law of attraction can produce some unbelievable results! I'll see you at the tables...
