Do you have "The Right Stuff"? This is the first chapter in one of the poker books I own. In it, it lists twelve characteristics that most winners possess. But as I read these characteristics I noticed that they apply to Trek as well. Let's go through these twelve and see what separates the winners from the losers.
Characteristic No. 1: Winners always demand an edge. In poker it can be better hand, a good draw, favorable position, superior skill, greater concentration, etc. Without it, winners won't play. Well, in Trek you don't have that option. You draw your opponent and don't have a choice. But you certainly have an edge; the trick is to find it. My edge: KillerB. People wonder why I do all the online harassing, and this is a major part. When a player meets me at a big tournament for the first time and he's concentrating on me, just a little bit, instead of his game that gives me an edge. Find your edge; are you a better player than your opponent? Is he distracted by something? Did he just lose his last game and going on tilt? (If you're an avid RNJ fan you know what that means. Len used that word at the last tournament. I'm glad to see I'm teaching the kids.)
Characteristic No. 2: Winners are obsessed with winning. A poker player once said, "I'd bust my own grandmother if she played poker with me." This means that sometimes we have to do unpleasant things to win. In poker you can never play soft. At the poker table I play with the same people often. I've come to know these people. Spent many hours with them. I like some of them, but I'll take their money in a heartbeat. In Trek I don't care if I'm playing Len, my girlfriend, or the #1 rated player in the world, if I can I'm going to beat you 100-0.
Characteristic No. 3: Winners have extreme self-control. Without this control the obsession would become self-destructive. Last year at Worlds before Day 3 started Mike looked like a mess. He said he was up in his hotel room all night crying. Well, I hope he was exaggerating but he still had no control. Mike still got 4th, but I believe he could've won that day if he could've controlled his fear and anxiety.
Characteristic No. 4: Winners are brutally realistic. They don't kid themselves when they lose a game. They don't blame a random selection, bad hand, or a bad beat on dilemmas. They see where they lost the game and what they could have done to change it.
Characteristic No. 5: Winners concentrate intently. This is obvious in-game, what personnel your opponent played, what skills is he lacking in, what cheaters is he running with that deck, etc. But also concentrate when you're not playing. What are the other players saying? Keep your ears open. Some people call this a form of scouting, but you can't help with what you hear.
Characteristic No. 6: Winners think visibly. They verbalize their observations. Len is excellent at this. Sometimes when I attempt a mission he can recite all the people I'm attempting with. Doing that gives you a huge advantage.
Characteristic No. 7: Winners admit mistakes quickly. Self-control and visible thinking enables them to admit their mistakes. It allows them to correct the problem fast.
Characteristic No. 8: Winners learn from their mistakes. Winners rarely make the same mistakes twice. An obsession combined with self-control helps them learn from those mistakes. I've blown countless games of Trek, but I'm glad to say I've never done it the same way twice.
Characteristic No. 9: Winners accept responsibility. They don't complain about how they lost the game. They don't complain because they accept the game as it is - with all its frustrations. When you accept the responsibility it allows you to focus on the only thing you can control: Your own decisions. When I lost to Matthew Frid at Worlds last year, when he pulled the only card he could to win, it wasn't bad luck. I didn't make a bad play but apparently it was the wrong one. I lost the game.
Characteristic No. 10: Winners depersonalize conflicts. Since winning is the goal, an anger or desire for revenge would reduce your edge. If I go to Worlds looking to get Frid back, I would be losing focus on my real objective: winning.
Characteristic No. 11: Winners adjust to changes. The last 1E Worlds they banned cards. This killed the deck I was planning. I dealt with it. I touched on this last month with the meta-game; some decks can win one place and get crushed in another. You have to adjust to what is being played at your tournaments.
Characteristic No. 12: Winners are selectively aggressive. In poker this means waiting for the right cards, right position, the right opponent, or all three. Then they attack. In Trek you can have those things as well. How do you attack? This is where I would start the mind games. If I can think of a way to rattle my opponent I'll do it. Some people may look down at these tactics but I don't. If there's something that you can say to make your opponent lose his concentration I say go for it. Be careful, if you're focusing on how to do this more than your game it defeats the point.
Why do you play Trek?
If you ask a poker player why they play 99% will say, "To make money." They are kidding themselves. First, most of them are losers. Second, nobody does anything just for one reason. In the book it has you rate your motives for playing poker. They are:
Make Money __%
Socialize, meet people __%
Relax __%
Get excitement of risk __%
Test self against competitive challenges __%
Sense of accomplishment from winning __%
Pass Time __%
Other (specify) __%
The blank spaces should add up to 100. Here's what I think an average Trek players motives are:
Make Money 0%
Socialize, meet people 50 %
Relax 15%
Get excitement from risk 5%
Test self against competitive challenges 10%
Sense of accomplishment from winning 5%
Pass Time 15%
Now here are my motives for playing Trek:
Make Money 1%
Socialize, meet people 5%
Relax 5%
Get excitement from risk 15%
Test self against competitive challenges 30%
Sense of accomplishment from winning 34%
Pass time 10%
Now my motives are no better from the average player. The point is that we all play for different reasons. If your motives are closer to an average player than most of those characteristics don't matter to you. You play for fun and to hang out with people and there's nothing wrong with that. Like in poker if you there to have fun and lose a little bit of money you really win. You're accomplishing your motives. However, if your motives are similar to mine and you're not accomplishing them they should be important to you. They are what will separate you from the rest of the field. Now here's what's going on in the fine land that is Jersey:
ST:CCG 2E New Jersey Premier Series Standings
1. Len Neidorf 84 Pts.
2. John Corbett 60 Pts.
3. Michael Keller 56 Pts.
4. Nikolai Fomich 50 Pts.
5. Steve Fitchett 28 Pts.
6. James Bottomly 26 Pts.
7. Vera Sergeyeva 16 Pts.
7. Rob Tapp 16 Pts.
9. Matt Sinclair 8 Pts.
9. Tim Geary 8 Pts.
9. Cliff Lentz 8 Pts.
12. Drew Christensen 6 Pts.
NJ Premier Series Schedule
Jan. 24th- KillerBOWL IV, Champion - Len Neidorf
Feb. 22nd- The New Jersey Pre-Territorial Open, Champion - Michael Keller
Mar. 28th - New Jersey Territorial, Champion - Michael Keller
Apr.17th & 18th - The Jersey Masters, Champion - Len Neidorf
May 16th - The New Jersey Player's Championship, Cinnaminson NJ, (Major) $10 entry fee Prizes: $25 Cash (minimum) Foils- Martok (2), Shinzon, Storage Compartment Rares- Elim Garak, Seven of Nine, Storage Compartment + Packs
*NEW* June 6th - NJ Maiden Voyage (The Kellerman Invitational), Denville NJ
July- KillerSLAM!
Sep.- The World Champion Invitational
Oct.- The World Series of Trek
Nov.- KillerBAD BLOOD!
Dec.- The New Jersey Premier Series Championship (Major) $10 entry fee
Point Breakdown
1st - 24 Pts.
2nd- 18 Pts.
3rd & 4th- 14 Pts.
5th thru 8th - 8 Pts.
9th thru 16th - 6 Pts.
17th thru 24th - 2 Pts.
26th thru 32nd - 1 Pt.
*Majors worth double points*
The last month saw both Title belts changing hands. Nikolai, riding a huge push after beating Mike and myself in a previous tournament, took the Cruiserweight Belt (1750 rating or lower) away from Steve. In the last tournament Mike had the option of putting up the belt against Len or myself or nobody, if he didn't we would both have a shot at the Player's Championship. He decided to give Len the shot. This was a bad move. He lost his game to Len. I managed a timed win over Len. (A nice one where he was attempting a mission in overtime for the win and he double crewed. I stopped the first with Whisper in the Dark; I failed to draw a Timescape, I was running 3! I stopped the second by using Machinations to download Talosian Trial to hit the second away team with the same Whispers) However, I lost to Mike's Borg Deck, again. I thought I could abuse it with In Training, I was wrong. So Len won the belt and became the first ever two-time World Heavyweight Champion. The 16th will be the Player's Championship, the first of two "Majors", and it'll be another new format. Three rounds and then the top four will have a playoff. Once again it'll be Len and I battling it out for the World Heavyweight Title.
Now that you know if you have the "Right Stuff" you need the "Right Skills" Next month we'll discuss exactly what that is. Until then, I'll see you clowns around.
John Corbett
P.S. any questions, stories, hate mail please feel free to send to johncorbettjr2 at comcast dot net
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