Tendler released The Mental Game of Poker last year and the book quickly became one of the most critically acclaimed poker books in years.
Professional players like Dusty Schmidt, Ben “NeverScaredB” Willinofsky and Lex Veldhuis are all huge fans of the book.
“The response has been very positive,” said Tendler at the WSOP on Thursday. “I’ve had a lot of people come up to me and tell me it’s helped them.”
Tendler takes a lot of pride in the fact his book isn’t a quick fix to your poker game.
“It’s not like the matrix where you just download information and all of a sudden you’re crushing. I like the fact people struggle with it and work with it.
"This is the real stuff. I think that’s been the biggest praise I’ve gotten for it."
Tendler also provides mental coaching to players on an individual basis and perhaps the strongest testament to his skills is that former client Max Steinberg won a WSOP bracelet this summer.
“He was very clear about how much of a difference there was emotionally, him compared to the other players,” Tendler said.
“He sent me an email about it. Under that kind of pressure, all of your mental game weaknesses get exposed.”
Tendler: Even Phil Ivey Makes Mistakes
The WSOP can be overwhelming to the average player and Tendler maintains the number one problem he runs into at the WSOP is the way players perceive their mental game.
“There are a lot of players out here who want to believe they are better tactically and mentally then they actually are,” he said.
“That’s kind of the definition of weak players. That’s why real professionals love to play against weak players.”
Tendler went on to say it’s just not possible to have no mental weaknesses and the best players are always working out the kinks in their game.
“Phil Ivey did an interesting interview a few days ago that says he actually makes a lot of mistakes but he’s constantly thinking about it and he’s constantly aware of the mistakes he’s making,” he said.
Surprisingly Tendler has yet to actually play at the WSOP but admits it certainly does appeal to him.
“Absolutely [I’m intrigued by the WSOP],” he said. “I stayed until the very end last year to watch the final nine. It’s as exciting as being at the U.S. Open for me.”
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