Tendler MGOP1 — the A-to-C-game spectrum
Tendler's first move is to refuse the binary. Tilt is not a switch; you are not either tilted or focused. You are at some point on a spectrum from A-game (best decisions you are capable of making) through B-game (typical execution) to C-game (visibly compromised decision quality). The spectrum is what you measure, not the binary. Each session begins with a check-in; each ends with an honest mapping of where you actually played.
Chapter focus Define your A-game, B-game, and C-game in concrete behavioral terms — not aspirational platitudes.
Load-bearing idea
You cannot improve what you cannot name. Tendler’s A-to-C spectrum forces specificity. A-game is not “playing well”; it is a list of three to five concrete behaviors — pre-action thinking, range-vs-range awareness, willingness to fold a strong made hand to a story, etc. C-game is the corresponding list of failures — open-raising hands outside your range, snap-calling river bets you should fold, sizing tells.
The spectrum shows up in poker-coach at two points:
- Premortem at session start: the A-game checklist becomes a list of things to verify every 30 minutes
- Postmortem at session end: the mental_game_pulse field maps the session to a point on the spectrum, and the postmortem prompt asks you to defend the mapping
Retrieval prompts
- What three to five behaviors define your A-game, specifically?
- What three to five failure modes define your C-game?
- How does Tendler distinguish a mental-game leak from a technical leak, and why does the distinction matter?
- What is the inchworm model and how does it relate to the spectrum?
Re-derivation log
Write your A-game checklist into the file ~/poker-curriculum/mental/a-game-checklist.md. Five items max. Concrete. After every session, score yourself 0-1 on each. Track the score over time. The score itself is a calibration measurement.