Over the past decade the poker industry has grown tremendously. With that growth has come the formation of two poker powerhouses in the online poker sites PokerStars and Full Tilt poker. Both of these sites needed to expand their reach and each took an interesting route as they began to build their team of rosters. PokerStars focused on the world champions and promoted their site using ad campaigns centered around Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer, Joe Hachem, Peter Eastgate and Joe Cada. Full Tilt simply brought the names and faces people that followed poker knew. They focused on Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson and eventually Tom Dwan.
As time passed sports stars and celebrities became front and center in terms of endorsements and in fact, unscheduled in relation to this blog, ESPN The Magazine wrote about tennis stars turning to poker, highlighting Full Tilt's James Blake and PokerStars' Boris Becker. It seems may seem as a one-off sponsorship to some, but today's signing of poker mindset coach Sam Chauhan might signify the start of a new trend where sites look to sign those who can really help your game.
Now, Chauhan isn't a poker player and that needs to be front and center. Don't expect him to be at the felt all that often trying to battle it out with players as they try to bust him to win a t-shirt. He's not a player, but he is really good at what he does and that is bringing the best out of poker players. In 2010 his roster of superstars (Phil Hellmuth, Antonio Esfandiari, David Williams, Gavin Smith and many others) brought in over $3 million in tournament earnings. That number also doesn't include John Racener's second-place finish for $5.5 million in the 2010 WSOP main event.
I've said it to him directly a couple of times and I'll be the first to admit I have no idea how he does it, but whatever he does, is in fact working. That's what Full Tilt is banking on.
This signing is something altogether different and it's a signing with intentions of creating better players. It's a signing that says, hey, we're looking out for our players and we want you to get better.
Chauhan has been signed on to help Full Tilt develop the Full Tilt Mindset Academy and rid as many players as he can of that negative aspect of the game we know simply as tilt.
"Mindset matters the most when you have two players that are equally skilled and the only difference in the match is the mindset," said Chauhan. "It will give you an edge if the mindset is on the right track. I'm going to be helping out and creating the Full Tilt Poker Mindset Academy which is an online academy and possibly working with qualifiers who come into town for a big event."
Full Tilt plans to share Chauhan's teachings through a variety of interactive applications on the FTP Academy with the topics still to be finalized.
"I'll be doing a lot on when people are on a downswing and breaking the patterns of a downswing," said Chauhan. "I'll teach some tricks with the mind that gets people focused and teach them that they don't need to hope to get lucky. They'll learn how to deal with tilt and the thoughts that are taking them in the wrong direction. I'll teach them not to put themselves in a psychological disadvantage. Don't give other players a psychological edge from the moment they sit at the table, and that's what most players do.
Chauhan had previously taught at the World Series of Poker Academy and understands that while cost may have prevented some from coming to hear his strategies, now he's able to reach a wider audience.
"The greatest thing about this is that there are a lot of people who might play on the site who normally can't afford to even come to an academy or be able to get some help," he said. "If they're going through a rough patch, they can [go online] and I'll have the ability to help them out and make a difference in their lives. That's what excited me about the opportunity."
The Full Tilt Mindset Academy will be released in a few months, so until then, stay off tilt and keep your mindset in a good place. After all, according to Chauhan, a good mindset can lead to a good bankroll.
Small blinds: After debating in yesterday's blog about the return of Peter Eastgate, a press release went out today from Eastgate saying that he is in fact back in the poker world. He'll be returning to action starting with EPT Copenhagen just before the National Heads-Up Poker Championships. Phil Hellmuth, Adrian Peterson and Larry Fitzgerald are co-hosting a charity poker tournament on February 18 and 19 at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas benefiting the Starkey Hearing Foundation. A huge field of celebrities and athletes will be in attendance including Steve Martin, Don Cheadle and Roy Williams. "Dutchmaster" pulled in $290,942 early Thursday morning after winning the $109 six-max re-buy multi-entry event during FTOPS XIX.