In chapter 26 of A-Game Poker, Elliot Roe outlines a practical framework for recovery, built around five types of “recovery experiences” that help you reset mentally, emotionally, and physically so you can keep playing your A-game over months and years—not just a few hot weeks.
1. The Five Recovery Experiences
Roe bases his framework on four categories from the Recovery Experience Questionnaire (Detachment, Relaxation, Mastery, Control) and adds a fifth of his own:
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Psychological Detachment – Stepping away from poker mentally and physically.
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Relaxation – Low-effort, enjoyable activities that reduce stress and tension.
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Mastery – Challenging, growth-oriented activities outside your main field.
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Control – Having choice and agency over your time, relationships, and environment.
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Anti-Focus – Deliberately letting your mind wander without structured input.
Core principle:
Recovery is personal. The categories are universal, but the activities should be tailored to what works for you.
2. Detachment: Actually Leaving the Game Behind
Detachment means more than just standing up from the table.
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Physical detachment:
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Leaving the poker room or grind station.
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Ending the session and moving into a different environment.
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Mental detachment:
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Not spending your “off time” on:
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Forums
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HH chats
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Group strategy discussions
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Not talking poker nonstop when you’re supposed to be relaxing.
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Roe’s warning:
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Total obsession with poker might help short-term growth, but:
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It often hurts long-term sustainability, happiness, and relationships.
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A-Game Players deliberately carve out time where poker is not part of their mental space.
Your job:
Honestly assess how much time you spend truly disconnected from the game. It’s usually less than you think.
3. Relaxation: Low-Effort, Enjoyable Activities
Relaxation activities should be:
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Low in mental and physical demand.
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Enjoyable and stress-reducing.
Examples include:
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Meditation, yoga, light breathing work.
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Massage, visualization, sauna or steam room sessions.
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Gentle walks or hikes (especially in nature).
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Light entertainment:
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Casual video games
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Movies, TV, comedy shows
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Board games, concerts, dancing, hanging out with friends
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Bonus: some of these bring long-term health benefits too (e.g., sauna research, nature walks).
Key mindset shift:
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These aren’t “wasted time” if used deliberately.
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As long as you’re not using them to avoid work, but to recover so you can work and play better, they’re part of your A-Game system.
4. Mastery: Challenging Yourself Outside Poker
It may be counterintuitive, but mastery in another domain can be deeply restorative.
A mastery activity is:
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Something outside poker where you’re building skill and competence.
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Demanding enough to engage you fully (often producing flow states).
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Emotionally and mentally rewarding because you’re progressing.
Examples:
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Sports and training approached with progression (weights, running, BJJ, etc.).
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Martial arts (Roe especially highlights Brazilian Jiu Jitsu):
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Strategy and competition that complement poker.
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Learning to battle hard without making it personal.
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Creative and skill-building hobbies:
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Learning an instrument or language.
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Art, design, crafts, fishing, photography, etc.
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Social or live-poker-adjacent skills:
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Improv or communication classes.
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Activities that improve table presence, reading people, and social comfort.
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Benefits:
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Forces detachment from poker by demanding attention.
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Builds confidence and resilience.
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Adds complementary skills to your overall “skill stack.”
5. Control: Feeling in Charge of Your Life
Control is less about a specific activity and more about the context of your life and recovery.
Roe highlights three main areas:
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Relationships and home life
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Stable, supportive relationships make recovery easier.
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Constant drama or volatility at home drains mental energy and blocks true rest.
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Surround yourself with people who genuinely want you to succeed and respect your time.
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Financial stability
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Unstable finances make recovery very difficult:
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Pressure to play when you shouldn’t.
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Constant worry about bills or debt.
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Good bankroll and liferoll management reduce that background stress.
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Choosing your own leisure
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At least some free time should be:
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Yours to schedule.
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Filled with activities you genuinely want, not only obligations.
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If every “off” moment is dictated by others, recovery suffers.
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Bottom line:
A sense of control across life domains boosts well-being and helps counteract the chaos inherent in poker variance.
6. Anti-Focus: Letting the Mind Wander
Roe’s unique addition is Anti-Focus—deliberate time where you don’t direct your attention.
Why anti-focus matters
High achievers often:
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Fill all downtime with:
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Podcasts
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Audiobooks
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Training videos
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Constant input and “self-improvement”
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Feel guilty when they’re not consuming or grinding.
Problems with that:
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Your brain never gets quiet time to:
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Digest information.
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Form new connections.
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Generate creative insights.
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Many “A-ha” moments (like solving a tricky hand) show up:
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In the shower
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On a walk
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When you’re spacing out
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Anti-focus is:
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Highly restorative.
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A powerful driver of creativity and problem-solving.
How to practice anti-focus
Good anti-focus spaces include:
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Relaxation activities that don’t require directed thinking (walks, easy chores, etc.).
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Unstructured journaling:
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Writing whatever comes to mind.
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Free-flowing thoughts, not fixed prompts only.
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Scheduled “thinking time”:
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30–60 minutes where you sit, walk, or do a simple task and just think.
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Focus on a specific big problem, or let your mind roam.
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Use a notebook or voice notes to capture ideas.
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The 30-Minute Brain Dump:
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Go somewhere quiet.
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Set a 30-minute timer.
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Write everything that comes to mind:
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Tasks, worries, ideas, problems.
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Keep going even when you think you’re “done.”
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Result:
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Overwhelm drops sharply.
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You get a clear picture of your real priorities and blocks.
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You can throw the paper away and still feel relief—but keeping it gives you a roadmap for action.
Advanced anti-focus: Float tanks
Roe also mentions sensory deprivation / float tanks as a powerful anti-focus tool:
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Dark, quiet pods with body-temperature salt water that makes you float.
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Minimal external stimulation, just you and your thoughts/breath.
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Can be deeply relaxing and creatively fertile for those who enjoy them.
Not for everyone, but potentially a high-leverage option.
7. Long-Term Breaks: Macro-Level Recovery
So far, recovery has been:
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Intra-session breaks.
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Daily/weekly routines.
Roe zooms out further:
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Conventional jobs come with built-in vacations.
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Poker doesn’t—unless you schedule them.
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Most players only take long breaks when forced by burnout.
A-Game approach:
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Plan extended recovery periods in advance:
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Monthly, quarterly, or yearly.
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Examples:
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Travel purely for rest and enjoyment (not just poker trips).
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Taking 2–3 weeks off after a brutal stretch like the WSOP.
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Poker gives you flexibility—use it to:
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Gain perspective.
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Reset deeply.
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Come back sharper.
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Key idea:
Don’t wait until you’re broken to take time off. Build long breaks into your calendar proactively.
8. A-Game Exercise: Implementing Recovery Strategies
Roe’s homework for you:
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Daily / Baseline:
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You should now have ~8 hours of daily recovery via your sleep system.
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Weekly:
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Decide what you’ll do weekly for recovery:
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Activities you’ll do every day (e.g., walks, short relax blocks).
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Activities a few times a week (sports, mastery hobbies).
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Activities once a week (longer anti-focus or social time).
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Strong recommendation:
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At least two full days without playing.
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At least one day entirely off poker—no play, no study.
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Schedule it:
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Take the schedule template you built earlier.
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Plug in:
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Days off
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Recovery blocks
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Mastery activities
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Anti-focus time
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Non-professionals:
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If poker is your hobby, it might be your main mastery outlet.
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Still ensure you have:
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Time that isn’t work or poker.
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Space for relaxation and anti-focus.
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Underlying message:
Skipping deliberate recovery means you’re playing far below your true ceiling and limiting your ability to become a genuine A-Game Player.