Well the first half of this month sucked my balls poker wise but thankfully after my new found dedication and schedule formation I've been simply kicking ass. Here's my graph since the 14th, all hands at 1/2 NL or PL HU




The red line curve is a major victory for me. Non showdown winnings have always seemed to be a problem with me, even when I played 6 max. I think it stems from a lack of nerve in alot of spots to pull the trigger on 2nd or 3rd barrells, or not bluffing enough in general on the rivers. Lately I have made a concerted effort to find as many spots as I can to keep firing / semi bluff / bluff and the results so far have been great!

A couple of my favorites hands from today.

www.pokerhand.org Villain here was ultra spewey and I put alot of over cards in his range along with alot of unpaired Aces on the flop. He'd also shown he was willing to pot pretty much his entire range when I checked to him previously but I'm wondering if b/c so many scare cards come on the turn for my weakish pair maybe I should just ship the flop. Then again I thougt there was value in letting him bluff off his stack. The Ten is a pretty dirty card for me but I went with it anyway. Lucky? I'll take it.

www.pokerhand.org/ This guy had donked a ton against me and my raise was value. On the turn there was a ton of worse J's or T's with gutters or OESD's that I figured could be in his range along with plenty of Kx hands and of course any Qx hands he decided not to ship on the flop. Assuming I'm ahead of his range on the flop the turn is an easy shove. GG sir, tx for playing with your T9o.

Anyways, hopefully the good luck and play continues.

~Cheers

Recently I've been watching the Jared Tendler series and thinking more about how I prepare to play poker and the methods I use for continual improvement. What I've discovered, essentially, is that I'm a lazy bastard. Or, at the very least, I'm terribly unfocused in how I approach my poker player and my skill improvement.

Starting last Monday I devised a daily schedule of literally everything (and I mean everything) that I want to accomplish for a given day. From waking up, to eating breakfast, to playing a session, to session review to calling my girlfriend at night before I go to sleep, it literally has everything that I do in a day.

At first this seemed kind of OCD to me but I've tried methods like this before in a less structured form and it always seems to lead to a collosal failure. By nature I'm a pretty unfocused person who gets easily distracted and tends to drift from one task to another without the drive to finish what I started. It doesn't seem to matter if it's reading a book or article or playing a poker session but I often find myself bored or losing interest very quickly. Whether I actually havey ADHD is debatable (probably not) but I obviously needed some structure to keep myself in line and productive. Well, the good news is that so far by sticking to the schedule I seem to be getting alot more done, and playing alot more focused and efficient poker.

Right off the bat one thing I noticed is that a set sleep / meal / workout cycle that stays constant throughout the week has increased my energy level quite a bit. This increased energy seems to be translating itself to the poker table whether I've been playing basically two long sessions each day, both at the same times each day, and both with consistent skill and efficiency.

At the same, time I've been more goal oriented at the table, always trying to be mindful of my general goal (of playing each hand to max EV) while also looking to improve my skill level, both in practice during live play and away from the games when I review my sessions.

The combination of the goal orientation, the consistent schedule and the thrust towards improvement already seem to be paying off. I've gone on a heater since I started the new schedule and in particular my nonshowdown winnings have leveled off so that that the red line is pretty much flat. I even shipped a 2k day at 1/2 HU NL last week!

Anyways, hoping this continues.

~Cheers

It's been forever since I last blogged. I guess I could bore you with the relative mundanity of my life these past few months, my conversion from 6 max to HU full time or maybe some details about why my girlfriend moved out (and it wasn't because we broke up!) but instead I will just offer this random thought about online poker screennames.

In one of Taylor's recent vids (either his the series with E-Cart or his Phil Ivey one) he talks about discerning information from an unknown villain's screenname. Taylor's contention is that we can actually learn quite a bit about an opponent just by looking at the letters he used to compose his handle. For example, a player name like "LooseFish" is probably anything put whereas a player like "AlwaysFold" or "CrazyManiac" probably also play the opposite of their namesakes, or at the very least they are conscious enough of their screenname appearance that they are intentionally trying to be deceptive (albeit transparently).

We can also gain info based on what might appear to be dates of birth at the ends of names. Joker1956 is probably some 50 year old dude and, on the whole, 50 year old dudes just aren't that good at online poker. On the other hand, KiddyPrn1989 is likely some pimple faced kid playing in his parents basement, and it's more probable he's aggressive and competent. and someone who could give us trouble.

Beyond this Talyor also asserts that if he were picking a new screenname to start out with from scratch he would choose an absolutely random assortment of letters and numbers. Jibberish for lack of a better word, a name like hlkfdhnldf or 48i34t4, something so random that we can't possibly gain any info from it. Except I think this is where he gets it wrong.

99% of the poker population doesn't have a name like this. Yes, in one sense your handle is so random that we can't really gain any info from the content of it, but clearly we can infer something about the likely intent behind choosing that type of name. Afterall, how many people choose a name like that? Practically no one. So perhaps this is a guy who calculates, even in something as arbitrary as his name. Maybe this is a guy I should be watchng out for because he's actively trying to hide info from me. I guess it's the difference between conspicuous and inconspicious ambiguity.

For my money I think the best screename is common word or phrase, possibly with number attached to it or not . Something that is so common that it could mean anything. We could try to break it down, try to infer info about our opponent, but in the end it's just a guessing game. Afterall, it's a name that looks pretty much like all the others. Perhaps Islands20 or PepInMyStep or maybe even... scarecrow2020.

But I digress on this mostly useless topic.

Hopefully I'll get back into the blogging.
~Cheers

When you dig yourself a big hole to start a month the prospect of climbing back out of it and reaching the summit of breakeven territory can be a daunting task. Part of the psychology of it is that we enter a month (a by the way random, irrelevant marker of our poker timeline) with certain expectations. When it appears our hopes for those expectations are dashed almost from the word go then it naturally has some negative effects on our pysche.

I can't say I'm not affected by such conditions because it's obvious from the way this month started that it definitely had an impact on me. But I tried to soldier forward and low and behold a week or so later and I've scrtached my way back to even. It's a good feeling. Here's the graph:




In other news I've been screwing around playing some HU at 200NL. I don't frequently use the word flabbergasted but quite franly I'm flabbergasted how bad the players are I've faced so far in my brief 1k or so hands I've played this week. Some examples:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4092762
Guy was shoving like every third hand.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4092764
Standard stack off with over pair.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4092765
call down against a maniac

http://www.pokerhand.org/?4092771
just really bad on his part


In any case, looking forward to playing some more HU and just focusing on getting in hands at my A game level. Extremely confident going forward. GL to all.

~Cheers

Downswings suck. They are an inevitable but frustrating part of poker and I'm not sure I will ever fully master the psychology necessary to prevent a big one from stressing me out.

Case in point, I started April off with optimism but quickly found myself in a 5k hole, which was about a 10 buying downswing between 3/6 and 2/4 for the month and a total of an 8k downswing dating back to mid March. I don't believe my play was significantly worse during this period though I did notice on April fools day I did make a fool of myself with several needless high variance plays that were likely -ev. However the truth is, this type of thing simply comes with the territory, so I will cease bitching and moaning about it. I will save that for my friends on IM : )

In any case, there seems to be only one logical remedy for the situation. That is, play smarter, play better, study more, think about the game more, focus more, table select more and hopefully .... profit more. Clearly running goot would be nice as well but that is the one thing that is utterly beyond my control. I will just do more of the good things that I know have a positive affect on my expectation.

On an unrelated note, I have about 1k over on Stars and I think I would to conduct a challenge for myself. Kind of just for the hell of it, and as a way to build a bankroll, I'm going to play 10k hands at 25NL, 10k hands at 50NL, 10k hands at 100NL then 10k hands at 200NL.

My plan is to just probably play one session a day, maybe 500 hands or thereabouts so it will be a long term process. However, I do see several positive benefits, including becoming more familiar with the micro / low stakes games if I plan on getting into coaching in the near term, as well as perhaps making a few videos at these stakes with Camtasia along the way.

WIth any luck I will get a site with some of my sessions as vids and post results of my progress. Should provide a nice distraction from my woes at 2/4 anyhow!

Well, that's all for now.

~Cheers and GL to all

PS
Managed to go on a mini upswing the last couple days and pull myself about 1.5k from being even on the month. I continue to have full confidence in my game and know good things are just around the corner.

Its been a choppy second half to March. After coming out blistering my first 13k hands or so I've been experiencing inevitable variance and my graph looks a bit schitzophrenic the past 15 days but overall it's only a 3.5k downswing over about 19k hands. A few of those buyins I donked off messing around at 2/4 HU on stars and some I lost in cooler type spots, although, I must say that part of the reason the downswing hasn't been too bad is because I've won a few flips at 3/6 which has helped to even out some of the poor luck at 2/4. No worries though. I'm going to try to come back in April with my nose to the grindstone.

When I began March I told myself I was going to get my most hands in out of any month so far this year but it turned out I've gotten in the fewest. No one to blame but myself there.

In any case, I will try to put in solid hours tommorrow then kick start April with some rigorous play the rest of the week. I'm still feeling super confident in my game and I know that my edge is such that if I apply myself, the results are going to come at this level.

Hopefully will post a monthly wrap up graph tommorrow after I finish my sessions. Good luck to all.

~Cheers

Moving up in stakes is sort of like shooting hard liquor for the first time in one's life. It's best to temper your enthusiasm at first and not go overboard taking shots with something you have relatively little experience dealing with. Otherwise, you'll end up with your chin hanging over lip of the toilet as you pray to the porcelain god for an end to the upchuck marathon. That, or you bankroll will take a massive life tilting swing downward.

Fortunately I've avoided (for the time being) the misery as described above by taking my shots at 3/6 and 5/10 wisely, looking for juicy tables and bad players and making early exits from my sessions when things aren't going my way. So far the results are mixed but I'm not blown away by anyone's ability or play in particular. As it turns out, poker is poker. Of course that doesn't mean that I don't have to table select like a mother to keep my win rate high and my variance low.

Overall since my return from the Santa Barbara trip I'm down a few K but I suppose I was due after the way I burned through the first half of March. I'm still super confident and I know that if I play like I'm capable of that this month will have a very favorable ending. In any case, monthly results are pretty arbitrary stopping points when it comes to examining one's poker winnings. So screw it.

Just going to do my best.

~Cheers

So yesterday I completed my 3 session coaching package with Nutedawg. If results have anything to say about it, the experience was an unqualified success. However, beyond the immediate dividends it would seem to have paid, the tutelage I received from Tim will continue to pay for itself far into the future.

Our first session was a 2 hour video review where basically he just critiqued my play, looked for leaks and offered alternative lines. Although it felt very "standard" in retrospect taking up some of his basic advice is what motivated me to study even harder, think things through at all times and always consider every option at my disposal when at the table.

In our subsequent two sessions we delved into more hand analysis in replayer, going over spots I had gotten into or some object lessons where he showed me for a few specific plays he likes to make. Sounds simple enough, but the theme that rang true throughout all of our discussions was how careful he was to always consider every line available to take and never discard an option just because doesn't fit into the standard playbook. Indeed, often making the nonstandard play in appropriate situations is what will allow a player to maximize their profits. Time and again Tim broke down his reasoning for these plays and hand after hand he was opening my eyes to a whole different way of thinking about poker. These discussions are where I feel that Nute really shines. Breaking complex thoughts into relatable arguments is an art unto itself. Nute is a master of this.

Overall, I give Nutedawg extremely high marks as a coach. He is bright, articulate, a great poker theorist and a hell of a nice guy to boot. I think he is the perfect coach for players who are either tying to move up to the midstakes or are already there but aren't beating the level for the winrate they'd prefer.

I hope anyone considering a coach finds this helpful. I definitely plan on going back and getting another lesson or two as I move up to 3/6 and 5/10.

~Cheers

I think there's a secret voyeur aspect to reading poker blogs because people are innately interested in the successes and failures of others. Since I had a good start to March, I will happily oblige:




If I could keep this up for the rest of the month it would make me extremely pleased. I will, of course, let you know how that goes.

In other news I went with the g/f to see Watchmen last night. Very intense, very violent and very sexual. I think it was a little bloated with voice over (it also runs at over 160 minutes long) but that's primarily because there's so much back story and mythology that goes along with the characters that they felt a need to explain a lot of it to stay true to the graphic novel. If you're a fan of the novel you will love that but some people left the theater feeling a little discombobulated.

Overall, I would definitely recommend it but I wouldn't go as far as to say it's the greatest comic book movie I've ever seen. It is, however, an interesting study in the different facets of human nature and a bloody, visual feast for eyes.

Hopefully I stay lucky at least through St. Paddy's day!

~Cheers

The poker as a journey sentiment is among the most hackneyed metaphors ever constructed by bloggers, vid makers, authors and countless other would be poker experts. On that note, allow me to step up and add my name to that illustrious list as I beat this dead horse just one more time!

The way I visualize poker as a journey is as a set of train tracks, side by side, running infinitely in either direction. On the one side a rail car that runs in the "losing direction" and on the other is train carrying passengers towards profit. There is no end point for either rail line, just a nebulous destination somewhere far off into the future near the other side of forever. There are, however, pit stops along the way. Stations I will call them, the intermissions between when we're actually playing poker, or, as the metaphor goes, riding that train to profits or losses.

What's interesting about these stations, that is the the times we're not playing, is that there's a certain psychological dichotomy in how we react depending on which rail line we seem to be traveling at the moment. What I mean is this:

When you're on a winning streak you're riding that express to richville. Every stop if a place you've never been before as each winning session becomes a new high in bankroll, career profits or other noteworthy milestones. You are excited to be getting where you are going and can't wait to hit that next milestone, to reach the new plateau, to take a pitstop at a rail station you've never been to before.

On the flip side, when you're steamrolling in the other direction you're perspective changes drastically. Instead of the excitement of new highs, you're faced with locales you've probably already been to before. "Damn, my bankroll is down to 6k. How did I end up back in this place? I thought I'd left it behind for good..." Instead of being hopeful about what lies ahead you become fearful about never being able to leave, never getting beyond where you're at now. Or, perhaps even worse, you'll keep travelling in the losing direction and never be able to recover again.

The truth is that these intervals between session when we choose to count our bankroll or review our monthly earn in holdem manager, they are as arbitrary as a rail station pit stop on a train track headed towards infinity. What is not arbitrary however is the mindset with which we approach our game and the direction it is headed.

I hold fast to the idea that confidence, optimism and hard work will be the hallmarks of my success, whatever level I may acheive. It doesn't mean that enacting that philosophy is as easy as just saying it. There will be many obstacles in our way that might derail our progress, whether tilit, bad luck, tiredness, girl (or guy) issues or even just some annoying player from Italy who bad beats us by catching river quads when all the money goes in on turn then prompty says "Jus Wate, You sit still. I win all ur dollars". The trick is to look beyond the obstacles to see what direction you're going and figure out, if you're headed in the wrong one, how to turn things around.

Take your poker journey station by station. At each step along the way evaluate where you are, where you came from and how you can move forward in the direction of improvement and profit. It's an incremental approach but one I believe can make your game infinitely better.