110 – Dylan Linde – Maintaining Mental Toughness

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Summary:

In this episode, Dylan Linde, a renowned Run It Once coach, professional poker player, and author of Mastering Mixed Games, reveals what it takes to build and maintain mental toughness. He shares why his ability to see strategic similarities between games has been a catalyst for his success. Elliot and Dylan talk about going back to the basics, learning from small hands, and reviewing your bad plays.

Listen in for a quick coaching session from a pro – and learn the mindset training strategies that have done wonders for his game. 

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• [00:40] – Introducing Dylan and his poker journey

  • 02:30 – He had temper tantrums when he lost and was challenged to constantly improve
  • 03:05 – His life changed when he won his first tournament; he plays a variety of games and likes the weird variance
  • 03:50 – He loves watching and playing poker; he lives in Vegas

  [04:20] – Tips when trying new games

  • 04:25 – Find similarities with the games you know; adapt your thinking to the new game
  • 05:00 – Start with strategic similarities
  • 06:14 – He can travel easily to play poker and plays different mixed cash games in LA

  [07:10 – Coaching tips to improve your game

  • 07:30 – Be honest and review your play; think about your overall game, not just the big hands
  • 08:25 – Small hand errors compounded are what really hurt you
  • 09:00 – It was difficult for him to be honest at the beginning; now he happily shows his bad plays in order to teach others
  • 09:50 – Building mental toughness means owning up to your mistakes and learning from them

  [10:15] – On going back to the basics

  • 10:30 – You master fundamentals by cementing the basics in your mind so they become unconscious
  • 11:00 – he loves no-limit hold ‘em because there are many interesting, nuanced spots; limit game are driven by mathematics and are less dynamic

  [12:30] – On mixed games online

  • 12:45 – It has died down a lot in recent years on big platforms, but there are smaller apps and browser sites with crazy games

  [13:40] – On his recent book, Mastering Mixed Games

  • 13:50 – It was challenging to reveal the information he did; he was approached to write the book and initially didn’t want to
  • 15:00 – He wanted to give people an easy way to start and learn that wasn’t intimidating
  • 15:50 – The book is a good place for people to begin; he’s gotten great feedback from readers

  [17:30] – On mastering his mindset

  • 17:55 – In the beginning, he started by studying so he’s feel strong and ready to play
  • 18:21 – He uses Primed Mind and meditation has really changed his game
  • 20:00 – He didn’t initially realize how his mindset was negatively impacting his poker game

  [22:10] – What Dylan would like to see from mixed game growth

  • 22:27 – He’d love to see low-stakes mixed games on sites like Party Poker; people are willing to learn new games
  • 22:45 – Certain games are regionally-specific
  • 24:25 – People who learn other games know that there are diminishing returns when microscopically studying only one game

3 Key Points

1. Find strategic similarities between games and adapt your thinking to each.
2. Be brutally honest with yourself in order to improve.
3. Try mixed games and grow your knowledge of poker as a whole.

Contact/Resources

• A-Game Poker Masterclass – Website
• Dylan’s book – Mastering Mixed Games
• Dylan’s Twitter
• Run It Once

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