Poker Game Tape helps to find your leaks, increase concentration, spot simple mistakes you didn’t know you were making, catch tilt creeping in and dissect your opponents.

In case you missed it, in episode 10 I helped you get a good nights sleep after a poker session and gave you some strategies to deal with your tilty issues.

This is Day 5 of my 30 Day Challenge to release a new podcast every day

Game Tape, Podcast #11

Podcast Mission

My mission is get you to use Game Tape for the first time TONIGHT to record part of your session for review tomorrow.

Why Game Tape?

Game Tape is recording yourself perform so you can analyze it and improve your performance.  Many professions employ game tape: sports players, presentation speakers, stand-up comedians and actors just to name a few.  They’re looking for mistakes made by themselves or their opponents, technical or message issues, and fan and audience reactions.  They are looking for areas of improvement so their next outing is even better than this one.

As a poker player, you can do the same thing.

Game Tape helps us through:

• Leak detecting
• Mistake catching
• Concentration slipping
• Tilt preventing
• Opponent dissection

5 Steps to Using Game Tape

1. Set-up and Test a Screen Capture Program

• Bandicam as it's the easiest to set-up and start recording right out of the box.  You can even record 10 minutes at a time for free.
• Get a good set of headphones with a mic to use to record your thought process as you play. Logitec sells a good simple pair (Logitech ClearChat Comfort/USB Headset H390 for only $28).
• If your computer has a built-in mic, just use it for now until you decide you want better quality sound.
• Run a simple test before you start your session.

2. Record a Session

• Record your next session.
• Make sure you speak your thoughts out loud as you play. Talking through your plays really helps to work out your thoughts and come to the right decisions.

3. First Review – Focus on Your Play

• At a later date (not directly after your session as it’s still too fresh in your mind) you will watch your Game Tape with a Word document open and your focus on your play. Take detailed notes on the 5 issues already mentioned: leak detecting, mistake catching, concentration slipping, tilt preventing and opponent dissection
• Pay attention to the thought process that you’re speaking aloud in the video. Are you obviously thinking through the decisions you’re making?
• Other times, it’ll be obvious you’re not focused. Take note of why this may be.

4. Second Review – Focus on your opp’s

• There’s so much to gain from watching your Game Tape, you’ll need to watch it a second time with an emphasis on your opponents. Look for what hands they showdown, bet sizing tells, timing tells and other indications of weakness.

5. Prepare for Your Next Session

• Taking your notes from the two (or more) review sessions, make a plan as to how you’ll implement any game changes or to do further study on your mistakes. Whether you incorporate them into your next FOCUS Sessions or Volume Sessions, you need to put them in your warm-up so they’ll at least be top of mind.

I recommend recording at least 30 minutes of a session 1-2 times a week.  Normally just do Game Tape for volume sessions (episode 9).

Podcast Challenge

Here’s my challenge to you for this episode: Record your first session tonight!  Download Bandicam and just fire it up.  Record tonight, watch tomorrow and learn from it.