probably calling it a night a little shy of the goal. I just played for probably 6 hours straight with at least 9 tables going at all times. I would say at best I played my B game, which is disappointing, but the games were great and I ran pretty well so I had a nice session.
finally tally: 4,950 hands +10 buy-ins. The good news is most of my good running any playing game at the higher of the two stakes I played, so I came pretty close to my goal monetarily.
I definitely made some really really spewy stupid plays that probably cost me +5-6 buy-ins. Just awful play. Don't know why but sometimes I just try to take ridiculous lines when I think people aren't repping much and just try to blow them off the pot. Of course just because they aren't repping much doesn't mean they don't have the nuts a bunch. Plus I'll do ridiculous stuff like river the 4th nuts, c/r a villain saying to myself if he shoves I have to fold because he's never going to rebluff in this spot and is never going to shove worse, and then I call it off and of course villain has the 2nd nuts. Sometimes I just need to not try to get max value all of the time, especially considering the stakes I'm playing where players just aren't putting me on enough bluffs and aren't hero-calling often enough.
that was kind of an incoherent bit of rambling, but that's what 6 straight hours of poker will do to your mind.
later
jim
Friday, August 31, 2012
and now for something completely different
I'm going golfing at about 6:30AM tomorrow (tee time is around 8:10) so I'm going to try something a little different than usual. I'm going to start a session now, and my goal is to play until I've won 14 buy-ins (allowing for small breaks when needed) or until i go golfing. Yeah I might pull an all nighter.
I'd like to finish a really good month with a bang, and this could be fun.
I'll try to live blog results as I go. Probably just total hands and number of buy-ins won. I'll be working very hard to stick to my rules from the last few weeks. And I'm hoping that with a strong marathon push I can get close to a 100k hands for he month. I've set a personal goal of 125k hands for next month, so that would make for a crazy back to back grinding time period for me.
wish me luck. I'll probably need it.
Jim
I'd like to finish a really good month with a bang, and this could be fun.
I'll try to live blog results as I go. Probably just total hands and number of buy-ins won. I'll be working very hard to stick to my rules from the last few weeks. And I'm hoping that with a strong marathon push I can get close to a 100k hands for he month. I've set a personal goal of 125k hands for next month, so that would make for a crazy back to back grinding time period for me.
wish me luck. I'll probably need it.
Jim
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
sigh tilt
I just finished a session where for 2.5 hours I played really really solid poker. I took great notes, I focused, and I made smart plays against my opponents. I wasn't really getting hit by the deck, but I managed to get up 4 buy-ins and really felt good about my play. then I just start playing like shit and give 5 back. I starts with a reg rivering a 4 outer on me and then I know I shouldn't value bet, but i do because I have a boat, and so I bet tiny trying to get calls from trips and flushes. And of course he shoves, and I know he isn't capable of bluffing and all of the better boats are in his range for playing that way, but I just can't fold. so I throw away 60bb doing that shit.
Then I c/r a LAG with NFD+gutter on a paired board when he has trips, when I should have just c/c'd the flop because I know he doesn't value bet thin or barrel so I actually had SD value against his bet once and give up plan. So I throw away another 60bb when I c/r him and have to call it off. And he has a blocker to my gutshot so I only have 25% there. fuck.
Then I try a stupid play where I flat a LAGs 3bet in the BB with KQs even though I should cold 4bet or fold it. He has an extremely polarized 3bet range, and also just doesn't bluff much. I'm tilting and instead of just folding preflop like I know I should I make a stupid cold call trying to get all hoodrat and shit. Of course he has KK and we get a Khigh flop and I stack off for 120bb. so fucking stupid.
lastly some nit 3bets me and I know his 3bet range is like KK+ and the rest bluffs so I go for the 4bet because he folds his 3bet like 70% of the time. But he flats and then on a Q9x flop he checks back meaning he either has QQ, KK or AA and is trying to induce because he knows I can't resist. Instead of just giving up on the pot like I should I turn a gutter and bet like half pot hoping to fold out JJ or AK and he just jams in my face and I sigh and fold. there goes another 50bb. So fucking stupid.
after that I just quit the session because I was so disgusted with my awful play. Just totally weak minded and unfocused. If you're not going to give it your best effort for the entirety of your session you might as well set a time limit and just quit at that point. The fact that I couldn't remain focused for 3 fucking hours today is just so pitiful. Two and a half hours and I start dicking around. THE GAME IS NOT ABOUT RUNNING THE STREETS AND TRYING TO EMBARASS OTHER PROS!!!!! IT'S ABOUT MAKING MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thats all.
other than that it's been a very good month so far. hopefully I can get my head out of my ass and finish strong.
Then I c/r a LAG with NFD+gutter on a paired board when he has trips, when I should have just c/c'd the flop because I know he doesn't value bet thin or barrel so I actually had SD value against his bet once and give up plan. So I throw away another 60bb when I c/r him and have to call it off. And he has a blocker to my gutshot so I only have 25% there. fuck.
Then I try a stupid play where I flat a LAGs 3bet in the BB with KQs even though I should cold 4bet or fold it. He has an extremely polarized 3bet range, and also just doesn't bluff much. I'm tilting and instead of just folding preflop like I know I should I make a stupid cold call trying to get all hoodrat and shit. Of course he has KK and we get a Khigh flop and I stack off for 120bb. so fucking stupid.
lastly some nit 3bets me and I know his 3bet range is like KK+ and the rest bluffs so I go for the 4bet because he folds his 3bet like 70% of the time. But he flats and then on a Q9x flop he checks back meaning he either has QQ, KK or AA and is trying to induce because he knows I can't resist. Instead of just giving up on the pot like I should I turn a gutter and bet like half pot hoping to fold out JJ or AK and he just jams in my face and I sigh and fold. there goes another 50bb. So fucking stupid.
after that I just quit the session because I was so disgusted with my awful play. Just totally weak minded and unfocused. If you're not going to give it your best effort for the entirety of your session you might as well set a time limit and just quit at that point. The fact that I couldn't remain focused for 3 fucking hours today is just so pitiful. Two and a half hours and I start dicking around. THE GAME IS NOT ABOUT RUNNING THE STREETS AND TRYING TO EMBARASS OTHER PROS!!!!! IT'S ABOUT MAKING MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thats all.
other than that it's been a very good month so far. hopefully I can get my head out of my ass and finish strong.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
day 7, week 1 recap
first the stats:
When it comes to my rules I think I did very well at not playing more than 12 tables and making sure I was taking notes and not auto-piloting. I did a very poor job of session reviews in that I only sporadically looked at a few hands. I did watch several videos, and read a lot of strat threads. (I often type out very detailed responses to strat threads on 2p2 and then just before hitting post I delete everything I've written. It's mostly information protection. I just don't think pros are going to feel comfortable sharing info the way they used to until things change in terms of global legislation and economy and the games get better.) I also avoided playing too many cash tables when playing tournaments, but I primarily succeeded there by only one tabling a sunday tournament today. I normally play 4-6 tournaments on sunday but I only played one today so I typically had 10-11 cash tables up while I was in it.
I also avoided reg filled tables unless there was an open seat, although I started lots of games by playing HU. Lastly I worked hard on bet sizing. I've tried several different things with bet sizing and sizing for future streets with different parts of my range and based on my preflop range. My mind is constantly changing about what is the most effective way to size vs regs. I'm not going to type up all of my thoughts in here, but in general I think it's important to try different things against different regs and see how they respond. If you don't get to showdown you can't no for sure whether or not their reaction was honest or a bluff, but if you notice that player doesn't seem to change frequencies as you change bet sizes then you should respond in a way to exploit that lack of adjustment. I think I was making some bad default sizes against regs earlier this year and it was causing me to leave money on the table.
overall I think the week was a huge success, and now the challenge is to keep it going for 7 more days. I'd really really like to hit 28,000 hands for this week, so I'd best get a good start on it tomorrow. I think the key is that everyday that I feel fresh and focused I need to shoot for 5k hands and not 4k.
hope everyone else is having a great August. gl at the tables.
Jim
- 24,000 hands
- 34 hours of poker played
- winrate = 16bb/100 hands (EV adjusted 13.5bb/100 hands)
- won just shy of 40 buy ins based on average stake size
When it comes to my rules I think I did very well at not playing more than 12 tables and making sure I was taking notes and not auto-piloting. I did a very poor job of session reviews in that I only sporadically looked at a few hands. I did watch several videos, and read a lot of strat threads. (I often type out very detailed responses to strat threads on 2p2 and then just before hitting post I delete everything I've written. It's mostly information protection. I just don't think pros are going to feel comfortable sharing info the way they used to until things change in terms of global legislation and economy and the games get better.) I also avoided playing too many cash tables when playing tournaments, but I primarily succeeded there by only one tabling a sunday tournament today. I normally play 4-6 tournaments on sunday but I only played one today so I typically had 10-11 cash tables up while I was in it.
I also avoided reg filled tables unless there was an open seat, although I started lots of games by playing HU. Lastly I worked hard on bet sizing. I've tried several different things with bet sizing and sizing for future streets with different parts of my range and based on my preflop range. My mind is constantly changing about what is the most effective way to size vs regs. I'm not going to type up all of my thoughts in here, but in general I think it's important to try different things against different regs and see how they respond. If you don't get to showdown you can't no for sure whether or not their reaction was honest or a bluff, but if you notice that player doesn't seem to change frequencies as you change bet sizes then you should respond in a way to exploit that lack of adjustment. I think I was making some bad default sizes against regs earlier this year and it was causing me to leave money on the table.
overall I think the week was a huge success, and now the challenge is to keep it going for 7 more days. I'd really really like to hit 28,000 hands for this week, so I'd best get a good start on it tomorrow. I think the key is that everyday that I feel fresh and focused I need to shoot for 5k hands and not 4k.
hope everyone else is having a great August. gl at the tables.
Jim
Friday, August 17, 2012
day 5 quick update
4500 hands today, so still a little behind 4k hands per day pace. I've played 18700 for the week so I'm 1.3k hands behind the pace I wanted to set. Hopefully I can get in 5k each day over the weekend and stay on pace.
Heading out to meet some friends for dinner and drinks. should be fun. I need the break. My brain is fried from playing a nearly 7 hour session this afternoon. Until the last hour I think I was playing really well. Taking great notes, making great decisions. Late in the session I think I got a little laggy and flop happy. I wasn't playing bad, and still made some money, I just definitely left some on the table with my spewy play.
The goals and rules is still playing out very well though. Feel great about my play and have had consistently excellent results this week. A lot of that is obviously due to run good (thanks again poker gods), but playing your best and giving it your greatest attention never hurts.
hope everyone has a nice friday night.
jim
Heading out to meet some friends for dinner and drinks. should be fun. I need the break. My brain is fried from playing a nearly 7 hour session this afternoon. Until the last hour I think I was playing really well. Taking great notes, making great decisions. Late in the session I think I got a little laggy and flop happy. I wasn't playing bad, and still made some money, I just definitely left some on the table with my spewy play.
The goals and rules is still playing out very well though. Feel great about my play and have had consistently excellent results this week. A lot of that is obviously due to run good (thanks again poker gods), but playing your best and giving it your greatest attention never hurts.
hope everyone has a nice friday night.
jim
Thursday, August 16, 2012
day 4, running good, need to be playing a little more
Not going to do a full goal by goal breakdown, but I'll cover the big things. Only played more than 12 tables for a few minutes today, otherwise was almost exclusively 12 tabling. Took a lot of notes for the vast majority of my two sessions. Especially my first 3k hand session. The second 1k hands session I should have taken more, but I was at least taking some.
The new monitor is ridiculous. It's huge, and I can play 12 tables with no overlap which makes taking notes much easier. I did time out a few times at tables where I was getting a little used to scanning 27" worth of screen space for the action.
I played about 4.1k hands for the day, but I'm a little behind pace now. Goal was 4k hands per day average, and through 4 days I'm only at 14,377. So a 6k hand day tomorrow would get me back on pace. I think I can do that with an early session and an afternoon/evening session. I had to quit a little early tonight because I have to wake up early to do a favor for a friend in the morning.
I definitely ran well today which turned what would have been a 6 BI day into a nearly 10 BI day. All praise be to the poker gods for that stroke of good fortune.
that's all I've got for now. I know these blogs aren't really interesting, but they're definitely motivational for me as it keeps me focused and thinking about the game. I highly recommend anyone else that is struggling to step back, think about what factors could be causing their A game to leak into their B or C game and then make some rules. Stick to the rules and set playing time/hand goals to keep yourself working.
If you want to read more about improving tilt I highly recommend Tommy Angelo's Elements of Poker. The sections where he talks about thinking about and improving on tilt are some of the most valuable poker literature available to the competent and frequent player. And you don't have to be a pro to benefit from it.
hopefully I can get in 6k hands tomorrow. gl to everybody at the tables.
jim
The new monitor is ridiculous. It's huge, and I can play 12 tables with no overlap which makes taking notes much easier. I did time out a few times at tables where I was getting a little used to scanning 27" worth of screen space for the action.
I played about 4.1k hands for the day, but I'm a little behind pace now. Goal was 4k hands per day average, and through 4 days I'm only at 14,377. So a 6k hand day tomorrow would get me back on pace. I think I can do that with an early session and an afternoon/evening session. I had to quit a little early tonight because I have to wake up early to do a favor for a friend in the morning.
I definitely ran well today which turned what would have been a 6 BI day into a nearly 10 BI day. All praise be to the poker gods for that stroke of good fortune.
that's all I've got for now. I know these blogs aren't really interesting, but they're definitely motivational for me as it keeps me focused and thinking about the game. I highly recommend anyone else that is struggling to step back, think about what factors could be causing their A game to leak into their B or C game and then make some rules. Stick to the rules and set playing time/hand goals to keep yourself working.
If you want to read more about improving tilt I highly recommend Tommy Angelo's Elements of Poker. The sections where he talks about thinking about and improving on tilt are some of the most valuable poker literature available to the competent and frequent player. And you don't have to be a pro to benefit from it.
hopefully I can get in 6k hands tomorrow. gl to everybody at the tables.
jim
day 3
took the day off. was totally burned out when I woke up this morning, and needed a break. Had a bunch of errands to run and found a great deal on a 27" monitor so decided to take care of some other stuff. Had a nice dinner with the wife, went out for drinks with friends, and still managed to play about 1k hands. Overall a fine day off.
Will get back at it tomorrow with the new 27" and my 2560x1440 resolution in tow. I can now tile 12 tables pretty easily which is kind of cool and should help with note taking and paying attention to tables.
day 4 will be a more detailed update.
later
jim
Will get back at it tomorrow with the new 27" and my 2560x1440 resolution in tow. I can now tile 12 tables pretty easily which is kind of cool and should help with note taking and paying attention to tables.
day 4 will be a more detailed update.
later
jim
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
day 2
a review of the day:
First my rules for the session:
1. 12 tabling maximum.
2. Take notes on opponents throughout the session. Analyze and refer to notes so that I can develop a plan for the hand.
3. Think about bet-sizing with every decision and have a purpose behind my sizing. Take notes on opponents reactions to under or over betting.
4. Leave tables filled with other pro grinders if there is no empty seats.
5. Do not look at results until end of session.
6. Spend 1 hour doing post-session analysis accompanied with note taking.
7. When playing tournaments limit cash games to 6 tables.
How I did:
1. Successful until late in the day when I was up to 14 tables for awhile. bad habits die hard :(
2. Moderately successful. Session 1 I did a great job. Session two I took almost no notes. Early in the session I was rarely getting to showdown in interesting spots, nor was I seeing much related to my opponents ranges. But by a third of the way into my second session I should have had lots of notes and I had one. Total fail for session two.
3. This was great today. Results weren't as good as yesterday mostly because a lot of my bluffs weren't working out. But I think I focused and planned my sizing pretty well most of the time and it worked out well.
4. moderately successful. Really did this very well session 1. much less successful session 2 where I drifted into grind mode and didn't take my plan break to reevaluate the tables. The games were also not as good which makes this disappointing.
5. FAIL
6. Unsuccessful so far.
7. not relevant today.
Now for the goals related to volume:
- Play an average of 4000 hands/day from now until the end of september.
I played 5350 hands today. So far I've played 9600 hands over two days. So slightly above my goal.
- Keep a daily update of progress on this blog to keep myself focused on this goal.
CHECK!
This was an interesting day. I definitely ran very well in all-in EV, which turned what would have been a small winning day into a pretty decent day. For that I give thanks to the poker gods. And I also felt like I played some pretty bad poker at times during both sessions. It's amazing that I have played millions and millions of hands of hold'em and I still find myself constantly making mistakes. I guess that's a testament to the strength of my opponents on average, and the fallibility of the human mind. It's definitely humbling and frustrating, and can sometimes be motivating.
Time to take a break. Feel like I've been doing nothing but poker all day and need to get out of the house. Might go out for a beer or something.
later
Jim
First my rules for the session:
1. 12 tabling maximum.
2. Take notes on opponents throughout the session. Analyze and refer to notes so that I can develop a plan for the hand.
3. Think about bet-sizing with every decision and have a purpose behind my sizing. Take notes on opponents reactions to under or over betting.
4. Leave tables filled with other pro grinders if there is no empty seats.
5. Do not look at results until end of session.
6. Spend 1 hour doing post-session analysis accompanied with note taking.
7. When playing tournaments limit cash games to 6 tables.
How I did:
1. Successful until late in the day when I was up to 14 tables for awhile. bad habits die hard :(
2. Moderately successful. Session 1 I did a great job. Session two I took almost no notes. Early in the session I was rarely getting to showdown in interesting spots, nor was I seeing much related to my opponents ranges. But by a third of the way into my second session I should have had lots of notes and I had one. Total fail for session two.
3. This was great today. Results weren't as good as yesterday mostly because a lot of my bluffs weren't working out. But I think I focused and planned my sizing pretty well most of the time and it worked out well.
4. moderately successful. Really did this very well session 1. much less successful session 2 where I drifted into grind mode and didn't take my plan break to reevaluate the tables. The games were also not as good which makes this disappointing.
5. FAIL
6. Unsuccessful so far.
7. not relevant today.
Now for the goals related to volume:
- Play an average of 4000 hands/day from now until the end of september.
I played 5350 hands today. So far I've played 9600 hands over two days. So slightly above my goal.
- Keep a daily update of progress on this blog to keep myself focused on this goal.
CHECK!
This was an interesting day. I definitely ran very well in all-in EV, which turned what would have been a small winning day into a pretty decent day. For that I give thanks to the poker gods. And I also felt like I played some pretty bad poker at times during both sessions. It's amazing that I have played millions and millions of hands of hold'em and I still find myself constantly making mistakes. I guess that's a testament to the strength of my opponents on average, and the fallibility of the human mind. It's definitely humbling and frustrating, and can sometimes be motivating.
Time to take a break. Feel like I've been doing nothing but poker all day and need to get out of the house. Might go out for a beer or something.
later
Jim
a review of the day:
First my rules for the session:
1. 12 tabling maximum.
2. Take notes on opponents throughout the session. Analyze and refer to notes so that I can develop a plan for the hand.
3. Think about bet-sizing with every decision and have a purpose behind my sizing. Take notes on opponents reactions to under or over betting.
4. Leave tables filled with other pro grinders if there is no empty seats.
5. Do not look at results until end of session.
6. Spend 1 hour doing post-session analysis accompanied with note taking.
7. When playing tournaments limit cash games to 6 tables.
How I did:
1. Successful. I only found myself 13 tabling once for a short bit, but was mostly playing 10-12 tables.
2. Moderately successful. I was excellent at taking notes on opponents at the beginning of the session until about the first hour of play. I noticed a dramatic drop in note taking during the second hour, and several times had to remind myself to keep taking notes. I think not taking notes is a result of finding myself in a sort of grinding zone. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, when I focus hard on taking notes I make better plays and am more thoughtful about my decisions. This is something I really want to continue as I think it has a huge positive impact on my play.
3. Successful. I think I did a great job of using betsizing to win a lot of pots I normally don't. For the first time in a long time I found myself frequently overbetting the pot and underbetting with a purpose. I also bet in several spots on the river where I previously might not have gotten thin value, and where I might have gone for a SD instead of turning my weak made hand into a bluff. I think playing 12 tables or less helps dramatically with this aspect of my game, and I think it in turn has a huge impact on winrate.
4. Successful. I only grinded a few pro-filled tables and they were mostly FR tables where I feel I have a significant edge on many of the other pros.
5. Unsuccessful. I did well during both of my sessions for the first 30-45 minutes. But within an hour of starting to play I was checking to see if I was up money. Once I checked for he first time it was difficult for me to stop checking to see how much I was up or down. I think this is a really bad habit as constantly checking the cashier removes me from thinking about decisions in the moment. It's symptomatic of a type of tilt that I think we all fight when trying to grind. I also find myself checking to see my all-in EV after a suckout. In that case I think I find that it prevents me from tilting as I remain calm and focused if I see that my EV line is solid indicating +EV play. However the ultimate goal would be to not focus on either of these things as ideally I would be able to make my decisions based purely on greatest value and not let emotions or recent history cloud my judgement.
6. Unsuccessful so far. I haven't had the time to review my session. I'm hoping to do it in the morning during breakfast.
7. not relevant today.
Now for the goals related to volume:
- Play an average of 4000 hands/day from now until the end of september.
I played 4300 hands today.
- Keep a daily update of progress on this blog to keep myself focused on this goal.
CHECK!
I'm not going to post a graph but I wanted to add that this was simply some of the best poker I've played all month. Forcing myself to take notes, focus on each decision, and not go into a mass-table robotic grind resulted in a really successful day. I feel like I won a lot of pots I would have lost on other days and saved money in quite a few spots. I'm sure part of my success was running good (although I ran a few BI under EV in all-in situations) but I also feel like I fixed a lot of the problems that I was experiencing yesterday during my long and very unsuccessful session. It was a very motivating day overall. Hopefully keeping a progress report on this blog will help maintain this level of focus and result in continued A game play for many hands to come.
First my rules for the session:
1. 12 tabling maximum.
2. Take notes on opponents throughout the session. Analyze and refer to notes so that I can develop a plan for the hand.
3. Think about bet-sizing with every decision and have a purpose behind my sizing. Take notes on opponents reactions to under or over betting.
4. Leave tables filled with other pro grinders if there is no empty seats.
5. Do not look at results until end of session.
6. Spend 1 hour doing post-session analysis accompanied with note taking.
7. When playing tournaments limit cash games to 6 tables.
How I did:
1. Successful. I only found myself 13 tabling once for a short bit, but was mostly playing 10-12 tables.
2. Moderately successful. I was excellent at taking notes on opponents at the beginning of the session until about the first hour of play. I noticed a dramatic drop in note taking during the second hour, and several times had to remind myself to keep taking notes. I think not taking notes is a result of finding myself in a sort of grinding zone. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, when I focus hard on taking notes I make better plays and am more thoughtful about my decisions. This is something I really want to continue as I think it has a huge positive impact on my play.
3. Successful. I think I did a great job of using betsizing to win a lot of pots I normally don't. For the first time in a long time I found myself frequently overbetting the pot and underbetting with a purpose. I also bet in several spots on the river where I previously might not have gotten thin value, and where I might have gone for a SD instead of turning my weak made hand into a bluff. I think playing 12 tables or less helps dramatically with this aspect of my game, and I think it in turn has a huge impact on winrate.
4. Successful. I only grinded a few pro-filled tables and they were mostly FR tables where I feel I have a significant edge on many of the other pros.
5. Unsuccessful. I did well during both of my sessions for the first 30-45 minutes. But within an hour of starting to play I was checking to see if I was up money. Once I checked for he first time it was difficult for me to stop checking to see how much I was up or down. I think this is a really bad habit as constantly checking the cashier removes me from thinking about decisions in the moment. It's symptomatic of a type of tilt that I think we all fight when trying to grind. I also find myself checking to see my all-in EV after a suckout. In that case I think I find that it prevents me from tilting as I remain calm and focused if I see that my EV line is solid indicating +EV play. However the ultimate goal would be to not focus on either of these things as ideally I would be able to make my decisions based purely on greatest value and not let emotions or recent history cloud my judgement.
6. Unsuccessful so far. I haven't had the time to review my session. I'm hoping to do it in the morning during breakfast.
7. not relevant today.
Now for the goals related to volume:
- Play an average of 4000 hands/day from now until the end of september.
I played 4300 hands today.
- Keep a daily update of progress on this blog to keep myself focused on this goal.
CHECK!
I'm not going to post a graph but I wanted to add that this was simply some of the best poker I've played all month. Forcing myself to take notes, focus on each decision, and not go into a mass-table robotic grind resulted in a really successful day. I feel like I won a lot of pots I would have lost on other days and saved money in quite a few spots. I'm sure part of my success was running good (although I ran a few BI under EV in all-in situations) but I also feel like I fixed a lot of the problems that I was experiencing yesterday during my long and very unsuccessful session. It was a very motivating day overall. Hopefully keeping a progress report on this blog will help maintain this level of focus and result in continued A game play for many hands to come.
Monday, August 13, 2012
an attempt at daily blogging...expect fail
going to try to blog daily to update on some personal goals. Hopefully it helps with motivation at the tables.
After killing it for two months at the tables, and being really happy with my game, I've had a very dissappointing start to August. It started with my Grandmother passing away which resulted in almost a 6 day stretch away from the tables. Just as I was getting back into the groove of playing I had a planned family vacation that took me out of the action for almost another week. The result on my game is that I've drifted into some bad habits, started auto-piloting a little bit, and definitely had some tilt creep in to my game. That being said, every downswing (or extended breakeven stretch) is a chance for self-evaluation and improvement.
Here are my new rules for sessions for the immediate future:
1. 12 tabling maximum.
2. Take notes on opponents throughout the session. Analyze and refer to notes so that I can develop a plan for the hand.
3. Think about bet-sizing with every decision and have a purpose behind my sizing. Take notes on opponents reactions to under or over betting.
4. Leave tables filled with other pro grinders if there is no empty seats.
3. Do not look at results until end of session.
5. Spend 1 hour doing post-session analysis accompanied with note taking.
6. When playing tournaments limit cash games to 6 tables.
Now for the goals related to volume:
- Play an average of 4000 hands/day from now until the end of september.
- Keep a daily update of progress on this blog to keep myself focused on this goal.
That's it for this post. Will update later today or tomorrow with the hands I got in today and my results.
cheers
Jim
After killing it for two months at the tables, and being really happy with my game, I've had a very dissappointing start to August. It started with my Grandmother passing away which resulted in almost a 6 day stretch away from the tables. Just as I was getting back into the groove of playing I had a planned family vacation that took me out of the action for almost another week. The result on my game is that I've drifted into some bad habits, started auto-piloting a little bit, and definitely had some tilt creep in to my game. That being said, every downswing (or extended breakeven stretch) is a chance for self-evaluation and improvement.
Here are my new rules for sessions for the immediate future:
1. 12 tabling maximum.
2. Take notes on opponents throughout the session. Analyze and refer to notes so that I can develop a plan for the hand.
3. Think about bet-sizing with every decision and have a purpose behind my sizing. Take notes on opponents reactions to under or over betting.
4. Leave tables filled with other pro grinders if there is no empty seats.
3. Do not look at results until end of session.
5. Spend 1 hour doing post-session analysis accompanied with note taking.
6. When playing tournaments limit cash games to 6 tables.
Now for the goals related to volume:
- Play an average of 4000 hands/day from now until the end of september.
- Keep a daily update of progress on this blog to keep myself focused on this goal.
That's it for this post. Will update later today or tomorrow with the hands I got in today and my results.
cheers
Jim
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)