Analyzing the word "life" in your "tournament life"

Cross-posted from [http://www.houstontexaspoker.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35324]

Authors Note: I didn't copy-edit this at all. Just wrote it and pasted into the browser. So, apologies for any incomplete thoughts, grammatical errors, etc that you may find.

I was playing a tournament online the other night and was facing an important decision with my tournament life on the line. After the hand, I kept repeating the phrase "tournament life" over and over to myself. I emphasized the "life" part of it, then started comparing it to actual real life and the decisions that I make for myself in the real world. In the end I feel that I reached a big breakthrough in my tournament game and came to an understanding of what it truly means to have your tournament life in jeopardy and what that is important.

Every day of our lives, we are faced with decisions... from simple to complex. We are given tto he option switch lanes on the highway or stay where we are. We have the choice between eating unhealthy at Taco Bell or cooking in. If someone wanted to, they could very well jump off of a building. Or, they couldn't. We try to make the best decisions always in our lives. In poker, we too are constantly attempting to make the best decision possible. Every street, of every hand, of every orbit, of every tournament... has a choice that we need to make. Ultimately, it is also our goal to make the best decisions possible here as well. Optimal play translates to results.

So, in the real world, good decisions may lead us to things like wealth, good education, and happiness. In poker, optimal decisions in poker lead us to large towering chip stacks, greater control over a table, and an increased chance at making money.

So what happens when you aren't playing at your best?

I guess what I realized is that I needed to start taking the word "life" in the phrase "tournament life" very literally. It sounds so serious (and I'll admit, a bit cheesy) when you give something like your tournament, life. But now, the way I look at things, tournaments *are* alive. You want to keep them alive by making the best decision possible. You want to keep them safe from marginal situations. You do the best you can for them.

And I feel like this thought process has helped me avoid those "fuck it, I don't care" moments that players sometimes get during tournaments. Its especially helped me during the "yellow zone" of tournaments, when you're hovering in the 20BB stack range and everyone else has a larger chip stack than you. Its so easy to feel like you're a lost cause at that point in tournaments. I have a friend who is obsessed with what the average stack is and is just tilted madly if he's ever under it. In my earlier playing days, I couldn't tell you how many times I punted off an entire stack just because I wasn't keeping up with average stack size or because things weren't going my way or something stupid like that. Its important to realize that there is still always play left in the game. There is still always *life* in the tournament. Treat it like you would your own life and do the best you can for it.

I know after rereading this that some parts sound suuuuuper lame and cheese-bucket. At times I guess it sounds kinda like common sense too. In closing, I just hope that maybe this helps someone realize that they shouldn't ever give up on a tournament. Realize how important it is. Especially if you're deep in a tournament. I really think its fair to say that finishing in the money 15% of the time is good in tournament poker. But from an outsider's perspective, 15% is actually pretty small percentage. So, realize that its rare to make the money, even for good players. And its rare to reach that elusive final table. But what separates the min-cashers and bubble boys from the players that consistently take tournaments down, is that the good players realize the importance of the word "life" in their tournament life at that moment.