I hope to open a forum on this site by the beginning of 2006. Response to my
web site has been very promising, and I hope to have enough regular visitors
by then that the forum will have some activity. Nothing is worse than a
forum that gets one or two entries per month. (OK, plenty of things are
worse, but you know what I mean).

Meantime, I still get a few e-mails each week with questions, which I always
answer (at least the first time). Here is one I got a recently, that I may
make the basis of a column someday:

I consider you the absolute authority on limit hold ‘em. [ Barry’s note:
This is always a wonderful way to start a question ] Your strategy and
advice seems to apply to any limit. I have been playing consistently for
about 6 or 7 years, and I play between 10-20 to 20-40 most of the time, and
your advice fits me perfectly…when I’m playing. This is my question for
you though. How do you stay focused on those dry spells when you don’t catch
any hands for several hours and you’re basically a folding station? I have
tried several things, such as lining up chips and re-aligning them, getting
up for a walk, watching TV. The thing is that I don’t want to miss anything
that my opponents are doing while I’m not in a hand, but at the same time I
don’t want to get to impatient and just barrel into a pot I have no business
in because I’m getting bored. It is a constant struggle for me to stay
focused, and I was wondering if you had any advice on that. I have not seen
articles on this topic, so I thought I would ask the one person I am certain
can provide me a meaningful answer. Thanks for your time.

Here was my answer:

OK, let me try to tell you how to stay focused. It is difficult, but people
tell me I am very good at it. here are some tricks I employ. They work for
me, though they may no help everyone.

1 - I make a game out of folding. When I get no hands, I tell myself that
this is a chance to set my new record for folding hands (2.25 hours). Every
hand I throw away I get closer to the goal. Thus, I am not looking for a
hand to play, but rather to not get involved.

2 - I think back to the excellent folding chapter in Zen and the Art of
Poker by Larry Philips. The book is a little repetitive, but the folding
chapter is a classic IMO.

3 - I try to get to the point where I cam replace any player in the game and
play the hands the same way they would. I look at each player and try to
guess how they are playing and what they are trying to do. Every showdown or
reaction provides clues. It is a big and ever changing puzzle, but I work on
solving it. (For example, if a player raises pre-flop and then bets the flop
and check-folds the turn, I still to put him on a hand).

4 - I watch every showdown and reconstruct the play to determine how the
hand was played. From that I try to generalize (theorize) on how the player
will play similar hands in different circumstances.

5 - I try to watch the mood of the players and the table. Did someone get a
bad phone call? Argue with a waitress? Jump in his seat when the flop came?

I miss things, sure, but I try to stay in the game and work on these things.
It is fun to do as well. [End of response]

Staying attentive is one of the skills that anyone can do. And it helps make
quality decisions happen more often, which is the key to making money.