[edit] I just put a link to this page in my signature and am now calling this Operation "Third Times the Charm" for the account of this being my third time getting into poker seriously. I plan to stick with it this time.

Hello everyone,
Welcome to my "Attempt to Become a Thinking Player" Blog. You probably don't know me. My name is Will and I have played winning poker before. The highest my roll has been was $1200 before I cashed some out and stopped playing. That was probably a year ago. Playing winning poker is a milestone for beginners who have plentiful leaks, but looking back it doesn't seem like I know much.

In effect I was a multitable nit and I felt like a robot playing each hand similarly, not really thinking much about my opponents. I bought PT and PAHUD but I didn't fully understand how to use it to my advantage. Thanks to some FTR videos I see some things that are missing from my game. They are:

1.) Making reads when not involved in a hand.
I've heard this is a good thing to do, but with 4 tables up it was hard to pay attention to any one hand long enough to develop my "range finding", if you will

2.) Putting opponents on a range of hands.
A revelation was when I realized that an opponents range has to be consistant with their play throughout the entire hand. More specifically, I need to put the opponent on a wide range of hands PreFlop, and then proceed to narrow down that range as the hand goes on. I should not add hands into that range later in the hand, because there was a reason I didn't put that hand in his range to begin with.

3.) I need to have a plan on how I am going to play the hand.
Far too often I just play the hand by feel; I don't think about what I would do it various situations BEFORE they happen. When something surprises me, I am not ready for it, I get anxious by the beeping of my inaction, and I just make an uneducated decision. (Mike Caro's rule of irrational players)

4.) These are some littler things I would like to fix.
a.) After each session, have a review of my play.
b.) Don't check my winrate, mid session.
[edit]more leaks I plan on fixing:
c.) Dark Tunnel bluffs (betting when I don't know what is happening or when I don't think it will be +ev)
d.) Discipline - Sticking with my reads. Knowing I should play one way yet acting differently


There are some other things that I may edit and add/remove to this list, as my journey goes on.

I have some reviewing of my very first session to do and then I will post again.