With the Main Event within one say of hitting the final nine, I thought I’d share a little story about my friend, and Bluff contributor Antonio Esfandiari, who is currently still fighting with a tad over $4 million chips.

The story starts last October, when I was introduced to Mindset Coach, Sam Chauhan by my buddies at the WSOP Academy, who thought Sam would be a good fit for Bluff. Upon meting Sam, I was instantly sold on his teachings, and to be quite honest, I didnt even have a clue at the time how powerful they could really be. When he was nineteen years old, Chauhan’s interest in understanding why people do what they do led him to study the mindset technologies. Sam used these skills to help him succeed in business. He has a unique ability to build conscious and subconscious rapport with anyone, making him a valuable asset to individuals and businesses alike. Chauhan has quickly become a highly sought after speaker, recently speaking at an event with Deepak Chopra and Ben Stein, and works with celebrities, MMA fighters, and now poker players.

Sam has since become a regular Bluff Magazine contributor, and we’ve become good friends in the process, so when Antonio mentioned to me about a month back that he had met with Sam, and was contemplating working with him, I didn’t hesitate to give Sam my glowing recommendation. In fact the conversation via text went a little like this:

Antonio: What do you know about this guy?
Me: He’s the nuts, for sure.
Antonio: In good way, or bad way?
Me: Definitely in a a good way.
Antonio: You scared me there, but thank you for the recommendation.

According to Sam, the next day, Antonio and he came to a six month coaching agreement, where Sam would do all he could to help Antonio refocus on poker, not his poker skills, mind you, but o not allowing any outside distractions into his life when poker needed to be the priority. There were some new rules for our resident lifestyle columnist, and Antonio would no longer be allowed to have his phone with him while he played, let negative thoughts deter him from playing his A game, or party while he was still in a tournament.

The next tournament Antonio played was the $3,000 buy-in triple chance event, and I saw a group of rubber bands on Antonio’s wrist, a sure sign he was practicing Sam’s teachings, and had bought into his system. After day one, Antonio was one of the chip leaders. Antonio went on to finish 24th in the event, and was thrilled about his first cash in the WSOP this year. Sam and Antonio continued to work, continued to focus on getting Antonio in the best mental shape of his life before the Main Event; Antonio was becoming a Mindset machine. As a fan, and friend I kept an eye on his Main Event progress, and after each night, I’d notice his name still in the mix, still fighting. Of course, some things never change, and Antonio missed his Bluff Deadline, begging me for more time, and for me to hold tight for him to make the final table. He was so focused on poker, that he hasn’t yet had the time to write.

Yesterday was a tough day for Antonio, he got short a number of times, and instead of giving up, he constantly fought back, doubling up when he needed to at all the right moments, continually giving himself the best possible chance for success. This resurgence from Antonio, is nothing short of phenomenal, and I could not be more proud, or happier for him going into today. You may think it’s all coincidence, but I know better, and to me the proof is in the pudding. Hopefully his performance opens up the worlds eyes to what it takes to succeed on the highest level in poker; its not just the cards, its not just his pre-flop, or post-flop play, its how he handles adversity, how he handles being a chip leader, how he handles his twenty minute, and ninety minute breaks, how he handles himself when each day is done, and each morning begins, and right now — with Sam’s help, there is no one more locked in mentally than Antonio Esfandiar (**note** Phil Ivey may not be human so he doesn’t count).

Tap into the powers of Poker Mindset yourself by checking out an archive of Sam’s articles right here at BluffMagzine.com