A lot has happened since I last updated my previous blog. Here is a graph...



This graph is of my database from January to early July. Clearly my results in this period are not something I'm proud of at all. I have spent a lot of time analysing what went wrong and I will share a few observations.

- Playing too many tables is obviously a leak, even when it maximises your $/hr.
- Focusing too much on learning through putting hands in
- Feeling sorry for myself
- Table selection is crucial
- Honest and thorough self-analysis is very important
- I am tilty

I could go on for ages talking about the mistakes I made in moving up to midstakes, and the way in which I reacted to failing by frankly playing on tilt for months in order to try and get back to the peak of my graph. What is important is that I learn from my mistakes...

After my latest 30 buy-in downer at the end of the graph, I decided that I needed to start afresh. I honestly felt that I had the ability to beat 200nl for a decent rate if I re-applied myself to learning the game and playing without the pressure of feeling desperate for a big win every session.

At the beginning of this summer I got the trial of Poker Copilot, which is a comparatively basic tracker with HUD but it runs on a mac which is nice. I also got a subscription to Cardrunners and renewed my Deuces Cracked subscription, as part of my plan to relearn the game. Since I was at home for the summer, I only had space to set up one monitor and I decided that going back to tiled tables was the way forward. 9-tabling full ring allows for so much more time to think about why I making certain decisions. For anyone going through problems in their game I highly recommend just dropping tables instead of dropping limits if your bankroll can take it.

Anyway, all this ranting has been leading up to the graph from my new database.....



This is since mid-July, almost exclusively at 200nl (I think there's one 100nl session in there). The sample size is small, and I think I am running hot to some extent (copilot has no EV calculator not that that is a fair reflection on how you're running anyway....) I am still far from playing my A-game every session; I have not played for a couple of days since I am so annoyed with how I ended my last session. But the early signs are promising that I have really improved my game. All this is 9-12 tabling, I'm currently playing 10 tables and I think I will continue to 10 table for a while since I have worked out a nice setup with 10 tiled default size tables that means I can lean back in my chair and play as stress-free as possible!

In other news...

I am still in college, despite being more and more disillusioned with the course and my future career in music, I managed to pass last year on retakes.... I need to make college a priority, I would love to actually get this degree and it would make my parents proud as well as opening more doors in the future. I may look into some DogIsHead-style free coaching for people who post in this thread when I miss a lecture, watch this space

The college has started a football team (I live in the UK, football = soccer) and I am in the first choice 11! Having never played 11-a-side football in my life I'm really pleased that I've made it into the team, and a lot of that has come down to my fitness. I am running 6miles twice a week and trying to eat as healthily as possible, although beer does damage this goal somewhat :S

TL;DR

Poker is hard - "dedicate yourself to a continuous cycle of analysis and improvement" is a great quote from "The Poker Mindset"

I failed at this during the first 6 months of the year. I wish I had read that book 1 year ago, I would be a lot richer!

Goals

Play well
Watch videos, learn, make notes
Maybe get into coaching/ video making at some point (if you can stand my English accent :P )
Reach 400k VPPs for $4k milestone by the end of the year
Do well at college: attend lectures and prepare for lessons
Run a half-marathon in under 1hr40 in March
Do everything I can to stay in the first 11 of the college football(soccer..) team

I'm gonna be updating this blog fairly frequently with interesting hands, strategy thoughts, life thoughts, book reviews, videos thoughts etc.etc. I know this entry has been far too long but I haven't written for ages and I couldn't stop typing. Hopefully I'll be able to keep it more interesting in the future!