Slevins: One day at a time

Phase I - 2nl : Day 3 - Monday March 9th

___________________________________________
Opening BR: $87 | Closing BR: $86 | Profit/Loss: -$1
___________________________________________

Thought for the day:
"My bankroll is a tool not a bag of cash"

Track for the day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_zLBsRYD8w

Once again Omaha is helping the bankroll as is the odd SNG. At one point I was actually rolled for 5NL today as I hit the $100 BR.

Thanks to almost $10 in Omaha profit and a very small positive return on some SNGs before I started my main 2NL session my BR was at $97. So here I am at $97 odd bankroll playing 2NL stack a couple of people after about an hour and all of a sudden the BR is now ready for 5NL - $101.

This is where things started to decline, I decided to stay at 2NL for a little while and grind a few extra dollars to pad the BR out a little. Pretty much all the hands I posted above followed which gave me a losing session of about $4. I've just finished the second 2NL session, and I just can't believe how I'm running. I was set over setted (he raises pre, I call with IO - flop is A6x I have a set of 6's - we stack off on the flop after some re-raising and he has a set of Aces over my 6's). Then later in the session I virtually stack off on the flop with a made straight and nut flush draw. Turn pairs the board I'm getting like 4/1 on the call when he puts the rest of my stack in (it was a 3way pot by now) so of course I insta call, and he shows down a full house - his set of kings already improved to a full house by the turn.

In total I played 1300 hands today of 2NLH and am -$9.91 for the session.

Anyway I stopped the session it just wasn't going well and I was starting to feel it. It wasn't a nice feeling. I felt pretty crap to be honest. So I sat down and started thinking about why that was. 5BI downswings happen... I know that much from reading these forums. So I shouldn't let it bother me, but it was bothering me and I knew this would hinder future progress. I needed to find out why I was feeling like I was, I needed to figure a way of changing my thinking so I'm not feeling as bad when this happens again.

Attachment. I shouldn't attach myself to the profit of any one day, or to whatever value my bankroll is. My bankroll is a dynamic tool that I use to play poker with. Like a tennis player uses a tennis racquet or a cyclist uses a bike. It is not a bag of cash, it is not money that I own. It's $value may fluctuate greatly but this is insignificant. The key is that I have the tool in the first place and that it is functioning properly. Functioning properly in this context simply means it can support the minimum number of buyins for whatever stake I'm playing. That's all that matters. The money I 'made' today, wasn't money in my pocket, it was simply something that temporarily modified my bankroll. My bankroll is still there. It's still functioning fine, and it's still allowing me to play solid poker, that's all that matters.

The main thing is that through many combined sessions, month on month the bankroll grows. Individual sessions, days or weeks, are of little consequence.

By remembering this and changing my thinking I intend to avoid the feelings of loss that come with the inevitable occasional losing sessions in future. The value of my bankroll at any one time is not money I possess, so I should not feel feelings of loss and frustration when the bankroll decreases. It's natural bankrolls decrease and increase. The important thing and the thing that will earn significant money over a long sustained period of time, is not the size of my bankroll at any one moment of time, but the descisions I make at the table.

So the one thing I'm taking from todays session is the thought that my bankroll is a tool. It is not a bag of cash I'm carrying around with me. To feel loss because the bankroll declines is wrong. My focus for the rest of the week is to fix that faulty thinking by constantly reminding myself that my bankroll is something I use to play poker with and its value at any one moment in time is irrelevent. Here's to a good session tomorrow!

Slevins: One day at a time

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03-10-2009 01:40 AM #1
LuckySlevin View Profile View Forum Posts View Blog Entries Join Date Jul 2008 Posts 1,189 Location Live Poker Room	Phase I - 2nl : Day 3 - Monday March 9th ___________________________________________ Opening BR: $87 \| Closing BR: $86 \| Profit/Loss: -$1 ___________________________________________ Thought for the day: "My bankroll is a tool not a bag of cash" Track for the day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_zLBsRYD8w Once again Omaha is helping the bankroll as is the odd SNG. At one point I was actually rolled for 5NL today as I hit the $100 BR. Thanks to almost $10 in Omaha profit and a very small positive return on some SNGs before I started my main 2NL session my BR was at $97. So here I am at $97 odd bankroll playing 2NL stack a couple of people after about an hour and all of a sudden the BR is now ready for 5NL - $101. This is where things started to decline, I decided to stay at 2NL for a little while and grind a few extra dollars to pad the BR out a little. Pretty much all the hands I posted above followed which gave me a losing session of about $4. I've just finished the second 2NL session, and I just can't believe how I'm running. I was set over setted (he raises pre, I call with IO - flop is A6x I have a set of 6's - we stack off on the flop after some re-raising and he has a set of Aces over my 6's). Then later in the session I virtually stack off on the flop with a made straight and nut flush draw. Turn pairs the board I'm getting like 4/1 on the call when he puts the rest of my stack in (it was a 3way pot by now) so of course I insta call, and he shows down a full house - his set of kings already improved to a full house by the turn. In total I played 1300 hands today of 2NLH and am -$9.91 for the session. Anyway I stopped the session it just wasn't going well and I was starting to feel it. It wasn't a nice feeling. I felt pretty crap to be honest. So I sat down and started thinking about why that was. 5BI downswings happen... I know that much from reading these forums. So I shouldn't let it bother me, but it was bothering me and I knew this would hinder future progress. I needed to find out why I was feeling like I was, I needed to figure a way of changing my thinking so I'm not feeling as bad when this happens again. Attachment. I shouldn't attach myself to the profit of any one day, or to whatever value my bankroll is. My bankroll is a dynamic tool that I use to play poker with. Like a tennis player uses a tennis racquet or a cyclist uses a bike. It is not a bag of cash, it is not money that I own. It's $value may fluctuate greatly but this is insignificant. The key is that I have the tool in the first place and that it is functioning properly. Functioning properly in this context simply means it can support the minimum number of buyins for whatever stake I'm playing. That's all that matters. The money I 'made' today, wasn't money in my pocket, it was simply something that temporarily modified my bankroll. My bankroll is still there. It's still functioning fine, and it's still allowing me to play solid poker, that's all that matters. The main thing is that through many combined sessions, month on month the bankroll grows. Individual sessions, days or weeks, are of little consequence. By remembering this and changing my thinking I intend to avoid the feelings of loss that come with the inevitable occasional losing sessions in future. The value of my bankroll at any one time is not money I possess, so I should not feel feelings of loss and frustration when the bankroll decreases. It's natural bankrolls decrease and increase. The important thing and the thing that will earn significant money over a long sustained period of time, is not the size of my bankroll at any one moment of time, but the descisions I make at the table. So the one thing I'm taking from todays session is the thought that my bankroll is a tool. It is not a bag of cash I'm carrying around with me. To feel loss because the bankroll declines is wrong. My focus for the rest of the week is to fix that faulty thinking by constantly reminding myself that my bankroll is something I use to play poker with and its value at any one moment in time is irrelevent. Here's to a good session tomorrow!