Something just clicked...

I have been breaking even for close to 80k hands now at 100NL/200NL. I know it's due to poor play, and I kept thinking it's due to my inexperience, that I needed to study more, which is definitely true -- but I feel pretty confident that it's far from my biggest leak:

Playing while not in the right mental space.

For me this includes

-Playing on auto-pilot
-Playing while tired/drunk/stoned
-Playing on life or poker induced tilt
-Playing while trying to watch TV
-Playing while my mind isn't 100% into grinding

All of the above result in not having the mental focus to properly think through hands. It's like I had this attitude that the low stakes are so easy that I should be able to turn off my mind, 12 table, nuthunt and profit. When my mind is turned off from poker, I don't think things through postflop and end up making mistakes for my stack -- not to mention making loads of smaller mistakes.

I've read dozens of times, don't play when you're upset/tired/intoxicated etc...and for some reason I never took it to heart. Probably arrogance. What finally convinced me was watching my non-showdown profit graphs. When I play in a 'thinking' mode, this graph is near flat, slightly positive. When I play on auto-pilot, the graph is steeply negative. Over a couple of months I've noticed such a direct correlation with this graph and my mental state that I can't ignore the evidence anymore.

So now I'm taking a quality over quantity approach. I'm only grinding cash when I feel in a near-optimal mental state, which means I'm probably only going to get in 20k hands a month instead of 40k hands, but 20k hands of winning poker is infinitely better than 40k hands of breakeven poker. ...rakeback ain't that good y'know?

So wish me luck on my first solid winning month in a while -- it's started great so far (10ptbb over 5k hands with a winning non-showdown graph). And To anyone struggling with the game: think hard about how mentally focused you are during the average grind session. This just may be your biggest leak as well.

nice post dude and gl! (even though you emailed ftp to doomswitch me )

hah, all leaks i've identified and really never taken steps to mend :/

yup, all this, and put some good dub or lo-fi in the background, like Thievery Corporation or Augustus Pablo

Originally Posted by Jack Sawyer

yup, all this, and put some good dub or lo-fi in the background, like Thievery Corporation or Augustus Pablo

Excellent suggestions. dub is great to grind to

Just wait, once you play SOBER then you get to patch up ACTUAL leaks. That's when the money comes in ^_^

The best time I play is after I do all this: wake up early like at 4:45am, have a cup of coffee, and run for 10-15 minutes. I would play between 5:15 am and 8:00 am. I still haven't figured out if the early morning hours are profitable or evening hours. But my correct state of mind for poker is best early in the morning with the nice morning breeze!!

i actually enjoy shooting heroine while playing poker, it definantly adds to my results.

Originally Posted by Kid Style

The best time I play is after I do all this: wake up early like at 4:45am, have a cup of coffee, and run for 10-15 minutes. I would play between 5:15 am and 8:00 am. I still haven't figured out if the early morning hours are profitable or evening hours. But my correct state of mind for poker is best early in the morning with the nice morning breeze!!

you get up at 4.45am! Im not even in bed by then usually.

Originally Posted by d0zer

I have been breaking even for close to 80k hands now at 100NL/200NL.

Raise and bet a lot. EZ game.

Originally Posted by ATOTHEC101

Originally Posted by Kid Style

The best time I play is after I do all this: wake up early like at 4:45am, have a cup of coffee, and run for 10-15 minutes. I would play between 5:15 am and 8:00 am. I still haven't figured out if the early morning hours are profitable or evening hours. But my correct state of mind for poker is best early in the morning with the nice morning breeze!!

you get up at 4.45am! Im not even in bed by then usually.

LOL. That's why I wake up that early to play...

Originally Posted by Fnord

Originally Posted by d0zer

I have been breaking even for close to 80k hands now at 100NL/200NL.

Raise and bet a lot. EZ game.

You should take up coaching. It's clear from posts like this that you're a natural at presenting difficult information to beginners

Amazingly true... I've had sessions playing drunk (just gonna play a few hands before bed, I'm resonably clear in the head and I'll play safe, i swear) where everything's gone smooth and my inebriated state has even helped me as I called a couple of questionable hands I never would have called in a sober state, but actually caught some people bluffing. But most of these beerfueled latenight sessions has resulted in waking up the next morning thinking 'what the fuck did I do'? and seeing my bankroll dropped a couple of hundred.

I stopped watching TV when I moved to 200 NL and I can't have music on at all when playing. So now it's just one thing left to fix. But that beer is so good...

Interesting note on the non-showdown winnings graph. I just came to the same conclusion (not playing seriously for the last couple weeks) and hadnt considered the connection but I've noticed the same thing, my lifetime slightly positive non-showdown winnings have plummeted in that same timeframe.

Nice post.

This is probably a pretty common leak among a lot of 100nl/200nl regs. I remember noticing something similar a few months ago.