I play poker. I play paintball. (Do you think I might have a competitive streak in me? Nah!) I travel around the U.S. and Caribbean and play in ring (cash) games six or seven times a year and travel to the World Series of Poker to get into the no-limit cash games that orbit it. I am, by no means, a professional player or even great player. I enjoy it and win enough to pay for the trips plus some. I’ve spent some time studying about the game and it’s amazing how much of that can be translated into paintball…I think it was poker pro and author, Phil Gordon, (you know… Celebrity Poker Showdown host, not Helmuth!) who wrote that there are three levels of poker players. I have paraphrased him (my aplogies to the original author).

1. Basic - this is the guy who plays his own cards and decides what action to take based on what fate has handed him. He is playing good, solid, tight poker according to the math. Not a bad player, but will never be great until he breaks into the higher levels.
2. External - This is the player that plays the other guys cards - Doyle Brunson says “It’s not what you have in your hand that’s important, it’s what the OTHER guy has in his hand that is.” In other words, if I have crap cards in my hand, and I am reasonably sure he has a pair of 9’s or less and the board comes up with all overcards, the External player will act according to what he has put the other guy on, regardless of the cards he actually has in own hand.
   
3. Psychological - the third level of player, according to Gordon, is the guy that messes with his opponents’ heads. He puts them on tilt. He’s reading their body language. He’s reading their betting patterns. He gets them to make stupid, stupid moves. He’s actually controlling them into making dumb mistakes.

What’s this got to do with paintball? Good question, but you are probably already ahead of me.

Levels of Paintball Play

I have taken Mr. Gordon’s levels and expanded them and adapted this theory to paintball.

1. Level 1 - Run and Gun - This is the typical newbie, or even experienced player, that can’t wait to get to the front line and mix it up. This is about shooting volumes of paintballs and running from firefight to firefight as quickly as possible. This is about the Action. This is your lizard portion of your medulla oblongata taking control. You want the adrenaline and the rush of combat. Fight or flight like hell! This is just FIGHT! In our poker analogy, this person is playing their own cards, they have certain strengths in the paintball game and they are playing them without thought to anything else. They may be good shots, have great equipment, but their paintball mindset is self contained and limited to themselves. Not bad, but wil never rise above average as a woodsball player, but they will have a ton of fun, even if they lose a lot and get shot up a great deal.
2.  Level 2 - Reactive & Tactics - The Reactive player is thnking about his enemy and what they may do. How can he flank them? If they do This, what can I do to counter act That? He is bounding with his teammates, he is planning his approach and retreat, he is moving in a ready-fire position. He will have all the skills and equipment  of the Basic Player, but he is thinking about his enemy’s skills and strengths. According to our poker analogy, this player is playing his hand (game) based on what his opponents hand (strengths and tactics) most likely are. He is no longer concerned with his own strengths and weaknesses, he is reacting to his opponent. The Reactive Player is anticipating the enemy and planning on how to counter him effectively. This is good solid player. He is probably consciously working very hard on his game. This player’s mindset is on the How and When of an engagement. Given time this player could easily move past this level, but Level 2 must become second nature before that’s possible.
3.  Level 3 - Strategic & Psychological - The Strategic and Psychological Player is concerned about the Why of the game. The S&P player is playing in and as a team. He is using communication to coordinate with his fellow players and is thinking only of the Big Picture, not individual achievement. Most importantly, the Strategic and Psychological Player is messing with the enemies mind. He is talking trash when his concealment is blown. He is making them laugh. He is making them mad. He is scaring them.  I’ve seen guys (Jonathan, Jason, are you reading this?) just Jedi Mind Trick a guy into surrendering for NO Apparent Reason!   Literally, TOLD them to surrender from 30-40 feet away and they did. I laughed till I criedDeals & Alliances -The S&P Player is cutting deals with other armies in a multi-way battle. As seen recently, a well-cut deal can do more than a ten thousand rounds of paintballs fired. If you get an alliance with two thirds of the players on the field, you can crush the other third and then have a one-to-one shoot out with your former ally. But if you try to slug it out three ways, you will spend all day in a losing position. The Deal not only might win you the battle for you, but it may save you hundreds in real world dollars in paintballs.Your Own Team - The S&P Player will psych his own team up into getting them to play harder and doing things they thought impossible. He will manipulate them, gently, into expanding their game beyond their current level. He willl motivate them to practice and try new tactics. He will entertainment them with on-field antics. The more they enjoy his company, the more they will play and back him up. The Strategic and Psychological player will get them to expand their thinking from indivduals to working as a cohesive unit.Controllng the Enemy - The S&P player is always thinking Big Picture. This is more than just out-thinking the enemy , this level is about CONTROLLING  the enemy through chatter, through maneuvers, through deals cut, whatever it takes to get them to do what gives you the advantage. Anytime you can make an enemy make a bad decision, you are one step closer to a long run victory. Read Sun Tzu: The Art of War sometime. I dare you. There is a reason it is one of the most quoted books in history. Ole Sun knew his strategy.The S&P player is taking all of the strengths of the first two levels, good shooting and maneuvering skills, good equipment, sound tactical and reactive planning and adding to it the component of managing and manipulating the enemy and your team with the use of good psychology and big-picture strategic thinking and teamwork.
4.  Level 4 - The Zen Player - This the additional level I have added to the poker analogy. This is as much as state of being and situation as it is a level of paintball play.  The Zen Level is so rare that you may never experience it or see it in action in person, shy of a Rambo movie.This is when all of the above come so naturally you’re not even thinking about it. It just flows and happens. Every shot is hitting on the mark. That exposed piece of ankle may as well been an elephant with your laser-like accuracy that day. You are practically reading the minds of your opponents and have placed people every where they have a weak spot. They never get a decent shot off.  You are messing with them so much they are totally demoralized and scared into doing exactly what you want. Your team is psyched up and pumped up so much that they are performing feats of superhuman acrobatics and making physics-defying kill shots. This Zen level is as much Luck, Fate or the Universe as you want to give it credit for. When you are in The Zone, even shots you missed, will bounce off their gun and break in their goggles.Nirvana - The Zen level is not just having a good day though. Eastern philosophy leans toward… “if you do enough good deeds, every time you are reincarnated, you will come back as a more enlightened soul or creature. If you repeat this process, improving every time, you will eventually reach a state of Nirvana, or total enlightenment.” This is especially appropriate for paintball,  since you may get killed a dozen times in a given day. Before rushing back into “your next life”, reflect on what you could have done better in your previous life. Improve. If you were too tunnel-visioned, pay closer attention to your entire environment. If you were out-maneuvereed, think more strategically. Eventually, you may “re-incarnate up” enough to reach the Eastern state of Nirvana (which is neither a grunge band or a section of a country!), but the Zen-like zone were your whole game is a fluid collection of perfect circumstances and actions. This Zen Level is where all of the above levels are second nature and you don’t have to concentrate on what the other guy will do, you simply know the possibilities. You don’t have to think about bounding with your wingman, you simply do it. Your feet automatically find the quiet spots to step as to mot give off your position.

Parting Shots

 As I wish you luck in both your paintball and poker adventures, I have a few of parting thoughts about the Levels of Play.

First, as “players” of war, instead of actual soldiers, we have the luxury of reflecting and thinking about our “past lives” (five minutes ago) and how we can improve them. We have the extravagance of reading dumb articles, like this, in an effort to ’up’ our game in a sport that really has no real relevance to the real world. Real soldiers are under real fire and don’t have the time to be philosophical about it and yet their actions may impact the freedom and lives of thousands. They are just trying to survive and succeed. Be thankful you have the luxury to play a sport where you can have the fun and excitement and none of the responsibility of real soldiers.

Next, despite all the time, effort and money we put into this game called paintball (don’t ask me how long it took me to type this up!), it’s JUST A GAME! A hundred years from now, nobody will care if you capped ten guys in one round. Your wife probably doesn’t care now! Mine certainly doesn’t. No matter what the paintball magazines and the marker manufacturers may want you to think, IT’S PRETEND! and it just doesn’t matter. Have fun! Enjoy it. Quit upgrading your overpriced gun. Play and relish that you are healthy, wealthy (this game ain’t cheap)and free enough to play shoot ‘em up on the weekend.

And Finally, if you think that this article on the psychological levels, and Nirvana, and Eastern philosophy and everything was a bit Too Deep and heavy, you may be too mentally and spiritually closed down to ever reach that perfect state of Nirvana-like paintball called the The Zen Level. Open up to greater possibilities.

Or… you could be right.  This is way too serious of bullshit for a simple game!

TATA. See you on the field and have fun!