4.5K by May

[Robb]

I want to get rolled for 100nl before summer 'cuz I'll have to take a break in June, but will have tons of poker time in July. I'd like to take a serious shot at 100nl by mid-May and stabilize my game at that level before having to take nearly 3 weeks off.

I will do some math on needed hands and win rates later. Current bankroll is split between Carbon (where I'm slowly clearing a BIG bonus + rakeback) and Full Tilt (just rakeback). I play on both sites most weeks, but Carbon has too little traffic for some times of the day I find convenient. FT has enough tables 24/7.

Full Tilt: $2,057.36
Carbon: $710.66

Total: $2,768.02

So I only need 1.8k's in 3 months, and I'll be able to play a ton of hands in May. Just 36 BI. (Edit: fixed amounts remaining here.)

[OhBollocks]

Easypeasy dude.
Check Everest for wicked bonus and super-soft $50 NL.

GLGLGL

[XTR1000]

You already got enough of a roll to take 2BI shots at 100NL and theres no doubt you have the comprehension to do so.

[daven]

do it. isn't it cool that you can make good $$ from poker when you understand some basics and impose some discipline on your game...

I may come give you a visit at the 50nl tables, just fold every time I 3-bet

[TonyB73]

Good luck dude!

Getting to 45 buy-ins before moving up seems a touch nitty for me, but if thats your tolerance then do what works for you.

[Robb]

Easypeasy dude.
Check Everest for wicked bonus and super-soft $50 NL.

GLGLGL

Not for U. S. players.

You already got enough of a roll to take 2BI shots at 100NL and theres no doubt you have the comprehension to do so.

I hope that's true. But I'm a bankroll nit, I've found, and I play MUCH better when a couple BI's don't matter all that much to me.

do it. isn't it cool that you can make good $$ from poker when you understand some basics and impose some discipline on your game...

I may come give you a visit at the 50nl tables, just fold every time I 3-bet

Very cool - discipline is key. And I will 4bet the hell out of you if you try sittin' in :P

Good luck dude!

Getting to 45 buy-ins before moving up seems a touch nitty for me, but if thats your tolerance then do what works for you.

I find my game is seriously aggressive. Hell, I had to learn to flat preflop. Had to actually think about it and force myself to do it. Bet raise or fold, baby. Now, after some work, my game is no longer fraught with that mindless aggression, but still I tend to bet and raise a lot more than others around FTR. And I like my style, especially since the competition haven't forced me to balance my lines - yet. I'm working on the balancing, even though I don't need much at 50nl, so I'm ready for higher levels. But I like to be the most aggressive player at the table (though it's not a competition - I don't change my game when someone super-agro sits down, unless he's positioned so I can exploit it).

Anyway, given that hyper-agro element to my game, I just play a ton better with bunches of BI's behind me. I wanna have 10k before I try 200nl

[kingnat]

I wanna have 10k before I try 200nl

I support this fully. I might even be deeper when i shoot for 200nl.... Being deeply rolled has made an incredible difference in my ability to win money... because I can seriously swing 10-20 B.I's and it's like... "oh well... chill out and play well."

If I weren't so deep, it would be "oh my gawwd... I'm going to have to drop down AGAIN.. I HAVE to play better. MUST WIN MONEY!!!"

It may not be sexy or ballin'... but let's be serious... we're old. We couldn't be either if we tried.

[Robb]

It may not be sexy or ballin'... but let's be serious... we're old. We couldn't be either if we tried.

Hey! Speak for yourself

ahem...prolly true tho

[Robb]

Here are some goals and reasons for this op. I deposited on Carbon Poker and got a 150% sign-up bonus. At 25nl, that plus rakeback adds up to like 40% rakeback equivalent. I've got $700 and more than $900 in bonus left. I would like to grind 50nl 6m, but I will wait until I have 1.5k there to start 50nl exclusively. The reasons are:

1. The bonus clears at 25nl just as fast as it will at 50nl.
2. HEM/PT3 don't work, so I want to perfect my note-taking short hand and rating-icon categories.
3. For reason #2, I don't want to move up and down. When I move up, I want breathing space to develop the reads on the regs and then exploit them for profit.
4. 50nl 6m is the only place on the site I've encountered more than 1 decent player at a table (including FR). I would grind 50nl FR except there's only ever 1 to 2 tables going at a time.

The Carbon software is clunky junk. Play is slow. They have gimmicks like the ability to show only one card instead of mucking and the ability to deal it more than once when all-in (a la High Stakes Poker). You can't play at the table while typing a note. You have save your note and play, then open back up. Which explains #2 more. But the site is very loose passive flop (tons limp/folds and limp/call folds to cbet).

The site is so easy that it's worth it, imo. But grinding at 25nl may be more profitable than 50nl. It's certainly profitable enough for me to hang out there for a while.

So I want to grind out 1.8k, but only half my poker time will be 50nl for a while. I'd like to grind about 20k hands in February, about 8k at 25nl Carbon and about 12k hands at FT 50nl. I'm only winning at about 2.5 ptBB/100 at 50nl right now. So that would be $300 at FT and (hopefully) another $200 from the feesh at Carbon (with help from bonus/rb).

So $500 a month seems doable right now. I want to concentrate on only playing when I'm sure I can play my A game, and if I do and work hard, I think I can increase my 50nl win rate significantly.

So my goals are $500 each month in Feb / March. Then $800 in April when my win rate at 50nl improves to the 4 ptBB/100 level.

[givememyleg]

Awesome, it's great seeing your progress, GL GL!

[nice_aiau]

gl robb
pwn this shit!

[jyms]

Get'er done

[Robb]

3k hands this weekend, ~4ptBB/100 on FT, lost a BI in 300 hands on Carbon.

Full Tilt: $2,198.91
Carbon: $650.51

Total: $2.85k

Found that playing at Carbon when tired is -EV since everything is non-HUD reads, and note-taking is the first thing that suffers. May switch to 6m over there. Many 50nl 6m regs play 25nl too 'cuz there's so few tables, so the reads at 25nl will help with about a third of the regs at 50nl. But 6m is read-intensive, and I need to be at my best to really win like I should there.

[dranger7070]

Hey Robb, good luck dude. I've stalked your other thread for a while, but never had anything very interesting to say. You'll be at 5k before you know it.

[Robb]

thanks deranger - surprised you didn't say anything - nothing else there is all that interesting either :P

[Robb]

Logged a short session before work this morning. Playing at 4 AM EST is ++EV so far. Full Tilt seems to have juicier tables then more so than during my normal play time (evenings EST). Maybe all the drunk west coast types are logging in and donking off cash, then? IDK.

About 500 hands, up 2 BI at 50nl on Full Tilt.

I just about hurled at the end of the session. Power failure caused me to disconnect. I just flopped AJJ while holding AJ. I raised OTB behind an EP limper. The BB and limper came along. 12bb's in the pot, checked to me, I bet smallish. I had a good read on BB who was agro, and I was hoping he'd raise. He did not disappoint. So my mouse is hovering over the call button. I'm thinking about reraising 'cuz the limper's gone, probably just gonna call and see a turn card, when everything in the house goes dark. F*********K!!!

Three seconds later, all the power's back on, and I'm trying to reboot and grabbing my laptop - maybe I can get logged in there quicker. I make it back to the table to find my money gone (at least I hadn't called, yet). So I email support and ask for an all-in protection or some money back. We'll see what happens.

I went for a run which cooled me off (literally since it was 8 deg F this morning).

I'm thinking that I'd like to withdraw $500 before I move up to 100nl. I have this weird view of "winnings" that includes being able to spend them.

So the real goal here is to get past the 4.5k mark, withdraw, and still have 4k plus for my assault on the 100nl donkrolls at FT. :P

I'm at ~ 2.9k and grinding.

[daven]

Lwhen everything in the house goes dark. F*********K!!!

that sucks dude

I'm thinking that I'd like to withdraw $500 before I move up to 100nl. I have this weird view of "winnings" that includes being able to spend them.

people don't withdraw enough. i like spending poker earnings too. Car, new surfboard, loads of flights, new laptop, monitor, etc over the last year = cases in point...

by the way, what about some fitness prop bet...

[dev]

I'm thinking that I'd like to withdraw $500 before I move up to 100nl. I have this weird view of "winnings" that includes being able to spend them.

people don't withdraw enough. i like spending poker earnings too. Car, new surfboard, loads of flights, new laptop, monitor, etc over the last year = cases in point...

Does rent count? Oh the hell with rent, new computer it is.

GL Robb, whenever I think I'm becoming a bankroll nit you're always there to show me what that really means. :P

[Robb]

Like the new sig, Dev. BTW, I have this habit of not QUITE getting to my BR goals before starting to dabble with the next level up. But I always get within about 2-3 current BI's. So don't really believe all my bankroll hype. I have discipline issues. Actually, now that I think of it, that's not true. I have lack of discipline issues

Daven, I turn 39 in 5 hours. I was gonna post the prop bet in the commune on my birthday. How about 5 to 2 payoff odds? If I max it, you pay me $20. If you max yours, I pay you $20. And then $50 for each to pay if they miss (like we said before)? As long as we both nail it, no money changes hands. Good incentive?? It would be for me.

[Robb]

I just about hurled at the end of the session. Power failure caused me to disconnect. I just flopped AJJ while holding AJ. I raised OTB behind an EP limper. The BB and limper came along. 12bb's in the pot, checked to me, I bet smallish. I had a good read on BB who was agro, and I was hoping he'd raise. He did not disappoint. So my mouse is hovering over the call button. I'm thinking about reraising 'cuz the limper's gone, probably just gonna call and see a turn card, when everything in the house goes dark. F*********K!!!

Got a note from FT:

Hello Robb,

Thank you for contacting Full Tilt Poker Support, and for your patience while we researched your issue.

We've reviewed hand # 10426039545 and see that you were disconnected with AJ on a JJA flop. As poker players ourselves, we can certainly understand your frustration.

As a courtesy, we've credited your account with the amount you invested in the hand, $8.75. Regrettably, we can not credit you based on the possible outcome of the hand, or the strength of your hand at the time of disconnection.

Please keep in mind this is a good will credit. While we understand that losing connection while playing at the tables can be frustrating, there are potential risks with playing in an online poker room. We cannot be responsible for conditions on the Internet and connectivity problems beyond our control.

Better than nothin'

[Robb]

Graph of the past two weeks. WTF?? My red line has never been positive before. I've been working hard on small/medium pots, not value towning myself. Not calling extra streets. Picking up some pots with theft, but not trying for EVERY one that might have a 0.002% chance of orphan-hood.

I'm feeling good. Rakeback adds another $100.



The 4 BI downswing (which made me wanna hurl) was an amazing 15 minutes of poker with about a dozen top pair hands on dry boards, sets and two pair and backdoor FD's coming in left and right. LAGG's showing down the top 1% of their range. Nits picking up the miracle 2nd pair. But I was playin' wobbly, so it was some spew. Maybe 1.5 BI spew, rest variance. Lots of big pots that I didn't play horrible, but I was tired so I quit.

[kmind]

I definitely think you'll get this done no problem!

What's your FTP sn? PM if private please

[daven]

nice work - i'll show you my last 12 week graph sometime as contrast. Multiple 10+ buyin downswings and recoveries kinda fun!

I should also note that this

I didn't play horrible, but I was tired so I quit.

makes this more likely!

I'm feeling good.

speaking of which, i'm up a couple of buyins in this 45minute session so far, and I'm tired. So even though the tables are good, I'm outa here!

[swiggidy]

Had no idea you moved to 6max and vaulted past 25NL. Congrats.

[dranger7070]

Keep it up robb. Seems like you'll reach ur goal in no time.

[Robb]

Interesting weekend. Played well Saturday. Up nearly 3 BI's. And I played even better yesterday but was down 1.5 BI's. I think I read hands and put villains on ranges better yesterday than I ever have.

I nearly titled, tho', and not my typical "I'm exhausted but I'm gonna play an hour oh wtf I'm all-in" kinda tilt. I tied for 5 pots in a half an hour, 4 of them for stacks. Three times with AK TPTK hands, once with an A8o steal that got called and flopped top two pair (yes, flatted from the BB w/ A8o). The one that really tilted me was another steal, this time with QJ (flatted by BB). The flop is Q98, so I value bet two streets. The river is a T, and KJ has me beat, so I bet small and call a small raise. Villain shows AJ. He called two streets of value w/ a GUTSHOT DAMMIT OMG THIS IS THE 5TH TIME IN 20 FREAKIN' MINUTES I'VE TIED FOR A POT AND I'M TILTING!!!!

To help unhinge me further, I stack off AA < 42s and KK < AA, so I'm down 3 BI's and closing in on wrist slitting. Interesting to have "real" tilt. Not normal for me to experience real anger - frustration, yes, but not "see red" anger.

Took a break, finished down only 1.5 BI (with two more tied pots, AK and AQ, each for half a stack).

And seriously, I played as well as I've played lately. I was putting people on ranges (correctly), bet-sizing properly, and just reading the game and hands extremely well. Even the 42s didn't shock me - I had 4x in his range. I just didn't really guess x = deuce.

That was the fun part, I think, was never being surprised by a showdown. By the river, I had 3 - 5 combos in my mind and nearly always was right. I'd be thinking "TT, 99 or KQs that just missed the FD," call with a JJ, and villain would muck the 99.

I also thought a lot about 3betting and nutshino's essay contest, and here are some things I learned this weekend and while playing:

1. We don't have pot odds to 3bet nits light - EVER. Even if a 10% PFR folds 75% to 3bets, 3betting him with a weak hand is still barely +EV. Since most nits won't fold anywhere near that amount, we need to look for other places to 3bet.

2. Based on #1, I turned it around: villains aren't ++EV 3betting light into me, either, even if I fold a lot. I hate folding to a 3bet, but I do it a lot. Looking at the numbers made me feel better.

3. Flatting in position can really disguise the strength of your hand.

4. If you're playing a nit, and quit 3betting them so much, and if they really are weak-tight postflop, you can raise them off their missed hands on the turn. The "cost" is less than 3betting, and the payoff is more likely to +EV.

5. I used not to like flatting in LP, and folded what were some playable hands. But when you can accurately put villains on ranges, it's not tricky at all to start the hand passively and then get some big value out of big hands.

[dev]

About the tilt...

Laugh at yourself.

Seriously, try it.

[Robb]

Yeah, it is pretty funny. Thanks, Dev. I don't think I'll earn frequent flier miles with this type of tilt. But I'll try laughing next time. Seems like it would work.

[Robb]

So, I've had this really cool break through in hand reading and ranges. I think I was eliminating the worst 25% to 30% of villains' ranges by the turn and thereby folding/checking too often. Some HH analyses I did left some surprisingly wide ranges. When I started consciously counting and tracking the "worst" combos in a villain's range, I realized I had more value and playability than I would have thought last week.

But that realization is a double-edged sword. When I'm playing well, when I'm fit and alert, I am now reading the game a whole order-of-magnitude better than I did just a few weeks ago. But when I'm tired or just not "grooved in" yet during a session, I can spew hard chasing thin value and/or playability.

My new goal is play my conservative ABC poker for the first 50 or so hands as I get tables up and so forth. Just leave the thin value out there early in a session. I know it's spew, but I think it's less spewy than trying to exploit a few dimes worth of value in a $20 pot.

I also have developed a new "chunking" method for ranges and combos. I've tried several, and posted one in the BC. I got laughed at for the effort. I'll post that bit later. I need a shower, and I'm taking the kids to the observatory when it gets really dark.

[bjsaust]

I actually just had a chat to Spenda about how we allow for really weird crap in villains ranges. Didnt help a lot, just bare it in mind I guess. Nice breakthrough though, I posted some hands in Spendas exploitation #1 thread where I go for some thin value with big bets.

[Robb]

An lulz hand: the donk actually chased the good hand out, probably, but oh well.

$0.25/$0.5 Deep No Limit Holdem
8 players
Converted at weaktight.com

Stacks:
UTG ($100.90)
UTG 1 ($37.95)
MP1 ($61.05)
MP2 ($90.85)
MP3 ($76.65)
Hero (CO) ($50.00)
BTN ($40.00)
BB ($21.60)

Pre-flop: ($0.50, 8 players) Hero is CO
UTG raises to $1.50, UTG 1 calls $1.50, 3 folds, Hero raises to $6, 2 folds, UTG calls $4.50, UTG 1 calls $4.50

Flop: ($18.50, 3 players)
UTG checks, UTG 1 goes all-in $31.95, Hero calls $31.95, UTG folds

Turn: ($82.40, 2 players)

River: ($82.40, 2 players)

Final Pot: $82.40
UTG 1 shows:
Hero shows:



Hand 2: Villain is 14/7/3 over 200 hands.

$0.25/$0.5 Deep No Limit Holdem
9 players
Converted at weaktight.com

Stacks:
Hero (UTG) ($50.00)
UTG 1 ($107.00)
MP1 ($34.55)
MP2 ($53.00)
MP3 ($79.30)
CO ($80.85)
BTN ($61.85)
SB ($56.75)
BB ($50.00)

Pre-flop: ($0.75, 9 players) Hero is UTG
Hero raises to $1.50, 7 folds, BB calls $1

Flop: ($3.25, 2 players)
BB bets $2.50, Hero calls $2.50

Turn: ($8.25, 2 players)
BB bets $5, Hero raises to $18, BB calls $13

River: ($44.25, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero ($28)?


Value bet the river? or check it down?

[Robb]

Beginning was:

Full Tilt: $2,057.36
Carbon: $710.66

Total: $2,768.02

Current:

Full Tilt: $2,422.36
Carbon: $548.45

Total: $2,970.81 (~ +202)

I quit playing on Carbon for a while, and I haven't played great in last 3 or 4 short sessions. Just gotta remember I don't have win it all in an hour.

[Robb]

Beginning was:

Full Tilt: $2,057.36
Carbon: $710.66

Total: $2,768.02

Current:

Full Tilt: $2,644.50
Carbon: $548.45

Total: $3,193 (~ +425)

Rakeback for the week plus a nice session helping out. On target.

[Fnord]

I was sooo excited when I saw this thread....

...then I noticed that it was full ring.

[Robb]

I was sooo excited when I saw this thread....

...then I noticed that it was full ring.

LoL, fnord. If the profit's in FR without the variance, why not? I like 6m and will be back there when this op's over, I assure you. Just going with what works right now.

[Fnord]

If the profit's in FR without the variance, why not?

Variance is mostly a function of edge minus rake.

Once I figure out what the regs are doing, I do just fine and swing a comperable number of buy-ins.

[Robb]

Haven't played much this week. Work, sick family, blah, blah. Had a big downswing over the weekend. Biggest profit in last 6 days was NOT playing and collecting $100 rakeback for the week. I may get a session tonight, but I'm traveling with the university's basketball teams tomorrow. I'm gonna take a calculator, legal pad and do some work on ranges and my postflop lines, trying to fix some leaks.

After the downswing started, I worked hard. Analyzed HH's, looked at several different things in HEM, etc. Didn't halt the skid, exactly. I've learned a ton in the last two weeks, but I think I'm making too many changes at once. I'm gonna take the time tomorrow to think about the changes I need to make and to prioritize how I go about working on things so I don't get too many new things disrupting my game.

When I look at my "standard" lines postflop, I'm exploitable in several areas. I doubt my "cards face up" approach is terrible since not many are paying attention, but I can add a bit of balance into my game without any trouble that should be overall +EV. And thinking about what lines will maximize value in standard situations will be helpful.

[dranger7070]

Ok, you say you are going to take a legal pad and calc and work on ranges, but I'm just curious about how exactly you go about it? Like do you have HH's with you? I would really like some insight into how to study my own/others game, and you seem to know something about it.

Good luck getting outta the downswong!

[Robb]

No, I won't have HH's. I do "range practice" by tossing out some common villain stats I see like 14/10 or 12/5. Then I either put him on a range for a preflop raise or a cold call. Then I will think about how I would narrow that down based on some different flops, dry vs. drawy.

For the standard "lines," I'm just gonna think about TPTK against nits, or an overpair against a TAGG. I will think about what percentage of the time it would be appropriate to cbet w/ AK and air, for example, factoring in different opponents and scenarios and preflop ranges.

[Robb]

Short 300 hand session, +2BI. I'm gonna cash out of Carbon, I think, take the $550 there and spend it. (Carbon's software mega-tilts me.) I will just have to grind the FT roll to 4.5k which will make this operation a bit harder, but even more rewarding if I manage it. After tonight's little heater, I'm plus 2.5 BI's this month not counting rakeback.

Full Tilt: $2,422.34

[kb coolman]

Awesome thread, Robb. I was thinking about Carbon, too, but I'll avoid it based on your frustrations.

I'm approaching $1k on my BR, and will start taking shots at $50 at $1500, I think, and get my roll off of bodog. To that regard, I send an email to Full Tilt tonight asking them to allow rakeback on my account if I agree to make a $1000 deposit on their site. I just can't see going back over to Full Tilt without rakeback, playing at $50NL. I also asked them to allow me to earn the remaining $550 of the initial $600 bonus I squandered by not knowing anything about bonus whoring when I started online so long ago. It's a ballzy request, I know, but I think it has some merit. I'll have a couple of months before I'll be ready to move up, I think, so hopefully they'll have a positive response to my requests.

So, if Full Tilt doesn't come through, where should I go? Just grind out on Stars? Any thoughts on UB? They have a good bonus, but I've heard it's crazy hard to clear.

[Robb]

KB, about Carbon, it's a fishy site, but it tilts me. Here's why.

1. Multitabling sucks, even just 4 - 5 tables. There is no HUD that works there right now, so you have to take notes. AND THE NOTE TAKING INTERFACED SUCKS DONKEY DICKS!!!! When the note is active, you can't play on that table or any other. So you have to pop open the note, type quickly, and get back to the game play FAST. There's also not a very long clock. So you have to take notes to have reads, but note-taking just tilts me as I time out of 3 tables trying to get the note right.

2. The bonus clears REALLY slow. They just doubled the hands needed to clear each $10 of bonus as I signed up. I read the website, then signed up and it was different. That really tilted me. You have to play 400 hands of 25nl or 50nl to clear $10.

3. Number 2 wouldn't be so bad if their tables didn't move so slow. If you can play even 250 hands an hour there, you're a mouse-clicking, note-taking god. I play on FT w/ 10 FR tables with less effort and strain than 5 tables of FR causes on Carbon. Plus I take just as many notes at FT 'cuz I can type/play/type/play until I'm done.

4. They have some decent programmers. For example, you can show just one of your hole cards, and you can "run it twice" when you get all-in on the flop, pretend like you're on high stakes poker. But they've wasted their time with gizmos and gadgets and don't have a decent note-taking interface, or layout "memory," or autoreload options like Stars or FT.

I know they'll have to imitate the big sites eventually, but I just can't play there right now. I tilt over the software and slow games, so I'm a donator there, not a shark. And the bonus doesn't clear fast enough. So I'm gonna withdraw, move on. I'll move up to where I wanna be faster just winning the nitfest regwars on FT (plus rakeback). Hope that helps, KB. Not saying no one else should go there to grind, just saying I can't deal with it.

[Robb]

All right, it's official. I just couldn't stand the thought of going back to play at Carbon, so I withdrew and ditched the bonus. My FT br is ~ 2.6k, so I'm going to continue the thread gunning for 4.5k by the end of May. I'm not redepositing the $550 from Carbon, I'm spending it :P

There's only so many hours in the poker playing day for me, and I'm not gonna play less-than-max-profitable poker. And certainly not if it's painful besides.

[Robb]

Played an amazing session last night. About 25 loose-passives were on Full Tilt's 50nl full nit tables, livening things up. And these weren't TAGG's that hit 40% of playable hands over a small sample. They were showing down T9o in pots that 3bet preflop. I clocked in finally at +1.5 BI after being down 2BI's early. Keep 'em coming. Whatever promotion is getting the feesh to deposit, double it please.

Another +1 BI in 700 hands tonight.

For the month, I'm +$400 on FT w/ about $270 in rakeback. If I hadn't donked off $200 at Carbon, it's a pretty awesome month. It's still a nice month, and I have this weekend plus another $45 or so for this week's rakeback coming tomorrow. In a month where I didn't get to play regularly, was near exhaustion for the first week-and-a-half and where I had a 6 BI downswing, I'm about $500 to the good all told.

[LuckySlevin]

Nice one Robb, seems like you're well on your way to hitting that BR target on time, just keep it up, good luck!

[Robb]

Nice one Robb, seems like you're well on your way to hitting that BR target on time, just keep it up, good luck!

Slev, where you been? I've seen you around FTR this week, and I've been meaning to ask. Nice to see you back here. GL on your operation.

[LuckySlevin]

Robb was it in one of your threads that I read you play 1600 hands in 90 minutes? If not, ignore me! If so, how many tables do you play?

Also I've been about but just couldn't access the forums, my ISP's IP block got blocked from the site for some reason - but it's all fixed now, hence me being back! =)

[Robb]

Robb was it in one of your threads that I read you play 1600 hands in 90 minutes?

No way. LoL 1.6k hands would take me 3+ hours. Estimating about 60 hands / hour on standard FR tables and 75 on 6m, that's 20-tabling FR to get 1200 hands / hour or 16-tabling 6m. Even in my most manic over-multitabling days, I never played more than 15 FR games at once. It was a bad idea then, and it's still a bad idea (for me) and most guys at the micros, imo.

[Robb]

Brag: +6 BI night. This is the biggest single day of winning cash game poker for me EVER. I won $625 in an MTT, but this is a bit different. Needed a little boost, though, to turn it from a +4 to a +6 BI day.

Got 33, CC, caught my set on a Q63 FD board. We get it all in on the flop (neither of the villains were nits, so I wasn't concerned), but the PFR had QQ. I flip to another table and come back a few seconds later to see 125bb stack. There's only one thing that could've happened. I click the HH and sure enough - I turned the quads for the sickest one-outer bad beat I've ever given someone.

Sorry, dude, it was MY night. I checked, and I'm running about EV for the last 5 weeks, so this makes up for some of that bad variance that plagued me in the middle of February.

[Robb]

I was sooo excited when I saw this thread....

...then I noticed that it was full ring.

All right, so this post from Fnord got me thinking. I have always loved 6m and tolerated FR. So after my 6 BI upswing was followed by a 4 BI loss, and 1BI win and a 2 BI loss, I just opened up some 50nl 6m tables just 'cuz I wanted to. And I realized ... I <3 6m. I seriously <3 this game where folks 3 barrel air and cr 2nd pair. And Fnord was right. I'm actually running LOWER variance at 6m than FR. I'm pretty sure I'm switching back to 6m and grinding the rest of this op short-handed.

I had trouble when my FT bankroll got near 2k. I kept grinding up, falling back, grinding up, falling back. I'm doing the same thing at 3k. I wish I could just play and not think about it. I don't think it's tilting me, but it is making me impatient to "play more hands" than I should when I'm tired.

I learned a ton at FR these past few months. Sure, it's a nit fest, but that meant I got really good at putting people on ranges, getting reads on the typical lines people take and exploiting them, learning to dodge set hunters who had me in their cross-hairs, learning to take scary lines with mediocre hands, learning to just lay down good-but-not-great hands against narrow strong ranges. You really learn to play TPTK well, since it's so rare that it's good when all the chips go in. You get your reads, play pot control and then take a chance of stacking off with it when the time is right. Learning to "get your money in good" most of the time in FR really hones the "selective" part of your aggression.

So now I'm playing 6m where I'm a TAGG exploiting the LAGGs and the loose passives. The regs will get some stats on me soon, and adjust. So the next step will be to learn to win the 6m reg wars. But it's fun to be playing where I quickly calculate accurate ranges and take down tons of pots I would never have had a chance at in FR.

Anyway, hope everyone else is doing well. Poker life is good. Just wish I could play more.

BTW, I'm 5-tabling 6m, so not playing too many tables. And I'm getting in enough hands to make my rakeback and bonuses like I want. So it's all good.

[Robb]

Oops, double-post.

[speedcake]

inspiring. gogogo!

[Robb]

I'm down to about 2.5k in FT bankroll now, after a bad run + repeated spew at 6m. I've found out two things. I am really good at 6m because the aggression appeals to me, and I'm willing to gamble. But I'm really vulnerable at 6m because I can't seem to put on the handbrake when I know I should.

I was sad to see that after my goodbye message in Slevin's op that he replied "nothing about Slevin the person needs fixing, thanks." OK. I know that things about me need fixing. I don't tend to lose at poker due to lack of knowledge. I lose at poker when I play exhausted and stressed. I lose at poker when I get too focused on logging hands and not about whether I'm coherent enough to play. I lose at poker when I play too many tables at once, usually a result of being tired and needing an "adrenaline fix" of hands flying at me and chips flying into the pot.

It's funny. A healthy, rested, focused Robb is a solid winner at 50nl (and maybe above?). I have been reflecting on last year. I went on a 6 month, 55k hand flatline of breakeven at 10nl, and totally lost my way with poker. I have been thinking about why because the reasons seem to have to do with work. I run a Summer Camp program every June, so every week between March 1st and May 1st gets more and more stressful until graduation and the end of the semester relieves the pressure. Then it ramps back up to fever pitch for June, then a coast through August.

I believe the major reason I backtracked so much with poker was because I totally lost my focus on improving. I started playing EVERY session tired and stressed instead of just going for a run and getting some rest. And then losing at poker made me even more stressed. Vicious circle.

I read Mike Caro a lot a year and a half ago. His major advice is to "play your best poker every hand." For me, playing my best poker every hand just means not playing when I'm tired and stressed. Which I've done this week. I did spew off about 4 BI's Sunday, 2 on one hand, and I quit. And I haven't been mentally ready to play since. I tried logging some hands Monday, but quit after 200 hands. And I haven't played since. Since Wednesday, I've gotten 2 real nights' sleep, run twice and caught a nap after work one day. So I'm in decent shape and thinkin' about playing tonight.

I don't wanna call Slev out too much, but his situation helps me think about mine. His problems have little to do with poker, imo. I'm at the point where I know it's not my poker skills that hold me back, it's my life management. It's my lack of patience. It's all about me personally and very little about the cards or the other players.

If there's ever a Robb poker theorem, it will read something like this:

Winning at life => winning at poker.

[Robb]

Yikes. I just dropped 5 BI in a painful 600 hand session of card deadness and coolers. I'm switching to FR for a few more hands. It's a cheaper game to be card dead at.

[LuckySlevin]

I'm pleased you can benefit from my journey so far that's nice. As always g'luck.

[Robb]

Jeez, what a night. Down 10 BI total. Had to be some spew. I'm so punch drunk from the beating I can't say how bad it was. I didn't stack off light. I just kept running into the nuts. Over and over. I'll check things out and report back tomorrow. I'm down to like 2k in bankroll.

I should have quit, but I rested up all week and ate right and worked out and got to a place where I felt good before I sat down to play. Then, whammo, every freakin' had they show the nuts. Ah, well, that's poker I suppose. Hope y'all are faring better.

[dev]

Post hands while they're fresh, imo.

Also, just my opinion, but I think you might be building up to playing a bit too much. How can you be indifferent about results when you

rested up all week and ate right and worked out and got to a place where I felt good before I sat down to play

?

[Robb]

Post hands while they're fresh, imo.

Haven't been able to face the HH's, yet.

Also, just my opinion, but I think you might be building up to playing a bit too much. How can you be indifferent about results when you

rested up all week and ate right and worked out and got to a place where I felt good before I sat down to play

?

Yeah, I think you hit on something, here. I played too long last night - just should have called it quits 5 BI into the carnage. I don't think playing earlier in the week was a good idea. Too stressed, too exhausted. But I did finally get to feelin' right and I wanted to play several hours. So I did. Maybe I learned something. Appreciate the advice. I'll get to some HH's tonight.

WTF with the operations manager? It marked my operation complete and then locked me out. I'll get in there and start it over again in a day or two.

Here's some other things I learned that I think are probably obvious, but I'll list them.

1. No mixing games. This operation is FR until May and 4.5k. Stick with a proven winner, even the reg wars can be tedious.
2. When I play 6m again, start one limit below to "warm up" for 10k hands or so before trying my regular stakes.
3. DON'T PLAY TOO MANY TABLES!! One of my biggest bad trends in poker is opening up an extra 3 - 4 tables when I'm on a downswing, trying to log more hands to "win it back." I lost it. I'm still WAY up lifetime. Now just patiently grind it up again. No big deal.

I played around for a few minutes earlier today, got on IRC and won half a BI to start the upswing.

[Robb]

These are my top 6 losers from yesterday. I can see some issues, but I'd be interested in any thoughts. I have another dozen where I made big lay downs (1/3 BI +). Every time I bet for value on the turn or raised for value on the flop, someone shoved over the top.


Hand 1. Villain is a 9/5 nit who will stack off with an overpair or TPTK like AK.

$0.25/$0.5 Deep No Limit Holdem
9 players
Converted at weaktight.com

Stacks:
UTG ($55.35)
UTG 1 ($32.05)
Hero (MP1) ($55.70)
MP2 ($84.90)
MP3 ($74.45)
CO ($100.00)
BTN ($53.25)
SB ($50.00)
BB ($52.45)

Pre-flop: ($0.75, 9 players) Hero is MP1
UTG raises to $2, 1 fold, Hero calls $2, 1 fold, MP3 calls $2, 1 fold, BTN calls $2, 2 folds

Flop: ($8.75, 4 players)
UTG bets $7, Hero calls $7, 2 folds

Turn: ($22.75, 2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $11, UTG goes all-in $46.35, Hero calls $35.35

River: ($115.45, 2 players)

Final Pot: $115.45
UTG shows:
Hero shows:

UTG wins $112.45 ( won $57.10 )


Hand 2. Villain is 15/8 over 40 hands with 10% 3bet, mostly in SB/BB positions against me. He and I have some blind wars history, with him 3betting light (it seems). He's 3bet me twice before this, and I folded. His snap-3bet seemed like a timing tell. I read him for garbage playing meta game.

$0.25/$0.5 No Limit Holdem
8 players
Converted at weaktight.com

Stacks:
UTG ($21.35)
UTG 1 ($10.00)
MP1 ($46.35)
MP2 ($54.30)
Hero (CO) ($54.60)
BTN ($10.45)
SB ($59.65)
BB ($41.95)

Pre-flop: ($0.75, 8 players) Hero is CO
4 folds, Hero raises to $1.75, 1 fold, SB raises to $4, 1 fold, Hero raises to $10, SB calls $6

Flop: ($20.50, 2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $12, SB goes all-in $49.65, Hero goes all-in $32.60

Turn: ($114.75, 2 players)

River: ($114.75, 2 players)

Final Pot: $109.70
Hero shows:
SB shows:

SB wins $111.75 ( won $52.10 )



Hand 3. This is just total spew, i'm thinkin. Villain is a decent TAGG reg.

$0.25/$0.5 Deep No Limit Holdem
9 players
Converted at weaktight.com

Stacks:
UTG ($96.30)
UTG 1 ($50.25)
MP1 ($68.80)
MP2 ($86.80)
MP3 ($128.60)
CO ($72.55)
Hero (BTN) ($50.75)
SB ($31.00)
BB ($30.00)

Pre-flop: ($0.75, 9 players) Hero is BTN
UTG raises to $1.50, 1 fold, MP1 calls $1.50, 2 folds, CO calls $1.50, Hero calls $1.50, 2 folds

Flop: ($6.75, 4 players)
UTG checks, MP1 checks, CO checks, Hero bets $4, UTG folds, MP1 raises to $11.50, CO folds, Hero goes all-in $49.25, MP1 calls $37.75

Turn: ($105.25, 2 players)

River: ($105.25, 2 players)

Final Pot: $105.25
MP1 shows:
Hero shows:

MP1 wins $102.25 ( won $51.50 )


Hand 4. Villain is 18/15/5 with 80% cbet.

$0.25/$0.5 No Limit Holdem
6 players
Converted at weaktight.com

Stacks:
UTG ($175.05)
UTG 1 ($84.80)
CO ($100.00)
Hero (BTN) ($50.00)
SB ($117.75)
BB ($71.20)

Pre-flop: ($0.75, 6 players) Hero is BTN
1 fold, UTG 1 calls $0.50, CO raises to $3, Hero calls $3, 2 folds, UTG 1 folds

Flop: ($7.25, 2 players)
CO bets $4, Hero calls $4

Turn: ($15.25, 2 players)
CO bets $12, Hero goes all-in $43, CO calls $31

River: ($101.25, 2 players)

Final Pot: $101.25
CO shows:
Hero shows:

CO wins $98.25 ( won $48.25 )



Hand 5. Villain is 15/13/4 over 2k hands.

$0.25/$0.5 Deep No Limit Holdem
8 players
Converted at weaktight.com

Stacks:
UTG ($50.00)
Hero (UTG 1) ($50.00)
MP1 ($96.30)
MP2 ($50.00)
CO ($47.50)
BTN ($32.85)
SB ($50.25)
BB ($25.00)

Pre-flop: ($0.75, 8 players) Hero is UTG 1
1 fold, Hero raises to $1.75, 3 folds, BTN calls $1.75, SB calls $1.50, 1 fold

Flop: ($5.75, 3 players)
SB bets $3, Hero calls $3, BTN folds

Turn: ($11.75, 2 players)
SB bets $8, Hero calls $8

River: ($27.75, 2 players)
SB bets $23, Hero goes all-in $37.25, SB calls $14.25

Final Pot: $102.25
Hero shows:
SB shows:

SB wins $99.25 ( won $49.25 )



Hand 6. Villain is 16/13 over 1k hands, but open raises something like 17% on the button.

$0.25/$0.5 Cap No Limit Holdem
6 players
Converted at weaktight.com

Stacks:
UTG ($48.30)
UTG 1 ($61.65)
CO ($41.35)
BTN ($76.05)
SB ($74.20)
Hero (BB) ($50.00)

Pre-flop: ($0.75, 6 players) Hero is BB
2 folds, CO calls $0.50, BTN raises to $2, 1 fold, Hero calls $1.50, CO calls $1.50

Flop: ($6.25, 3 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $4, BTN raises to $12.50, Hero goes all-in $48, CO folds, BTN calls $35.50

Turn: ($106.25, 2 players)

River: ($106.25, 2 players)

Final Pot: $106.25
BTN shows:
Hero shows:

BTN wins $103.25 ( won $53.25 )

[jyms]

Are these all shoves for value? Were you hoping for calls, are you forming a calling range that is different than their betting ranges? I think some of these may be a little rough without getting into to much. Keep in mind some FD's require FE to be profitable.

[Muzzard]

1. Is a bit meh. I just don't think he spazzes out with AxKc enough to warrant this a call and I can't see hiim going nuclear on the turn with QQ or KK either. Vs anyone else I probably ship, but I'm not sure its a good call here vs this nit. He certainly doesn't have KQcc in his range.

2. loljust fold pre. You're taking too much emphasis on the 10% 3b over 40hands.

3. Fold pre, flop shove us pretty terrible

4. Fold pre, or 3bet. Althought saying that I notice its only 6 handed. I always leave games 7 handed.

5. Fold turn

6. Fold pre, flop is ok. Again 6handed so take that with a pinch of salt.

I don't know if all these hands are FR, but short handed in a few of them, or a mix of FR/6max. I play waaaaaay tighter than you in FR probably. But apart from hand 1 and 6 apart from prelop I think these are all pretty bad.

I woudl also offer you a race to 4.5k, but I'm pretty sure I'd get in alot more hands than you so it'd be unfair.

[Robb]

Wow, down 2 more BI today. Paid off quads w/ KK over, flush under flush and despite that was breakeven. Then I got money in good and got rivered twice to drop the BI's. I know I'm spewing some (see above). But I'm also running bad, somewhat.

Gotta fix it. I'm thinking about what my stop-loss move down to 25nl is, and that's not fun.

[TonyB73]

Are these all shoves for value? Were you hoping for calls, are you forming a calling range that is different than their betting ranges? I think some of these may be a little rough without getting into to much. Keep in mind some FD's require FE to be profitable.

This. I have made the same mistake recently too.

There's a fair bit of spew in there Robb. It looks to me like a mindset thing. Sometimes I find myself saying "fuck it" and raising or shoving even when I know I'm probably beat, hoping more than expecting that villain will fold or be at the very bottom of his range. Of course I usually get smashed when this happens, which is usually when I am running bad and tired, stressed or otherwise not on top of my game.

[Robb]

Yeah, I think that's true about spewing. I'm worried. This happened last Spring as my chance to play dwindled to VERY occasionally, and my game went off the rails. I've got to re-balance the studyHH-to-play poker ratio and make sure I'm alive to big leaks in my game.

The downswing is still part of it, though. I've gotten some bad beats that have really compounded the problems I've caused myself with spewing. Just gotta hold steady. I'll keep reporting as I go, let you know what's happening.

[dev]

I know some players find it helpful to err on the side of caution in a downswing.

The K4s hand is a profitable call preflop I think. Given some more room to maneuver after the flop you could be outplaying that guy a lot.

Did I just say you should slow down and then say calling a 3bet with K4 is profitable? I think they can be reconciled by the fact that if you're going a bit more conservative then you wont be raising K4s much and the odds he gives you with that 3bet are just too good.

[Erpel]

This happened last Spring as my chance to play dwindled to VERY occasionally, and my game went off the rails...

Stop there.

First you create a strong association between what happens now and what happened last year under similar circumstances.

Then you note that last year your game went off the rails.

Then you step back from near-revelation and talk about having to just review/study some more.

I'm catching whiffs of a type of tilt that I am personally very much prone to. Ask yourself this: Why do you play poker? Is it fun? Or is it about the money?

What about your monetary goals for poker? Is it important for you to reach them?

Consider how any monetary goals are impacted by variance when play time is limited.

Consider the symptom "spewing" in this context.

Is it possible that while playing you are looking forward not to making the right decision but to make some money? Are you pushing the action instead of patiently waiting for obvious +EV spots?

It's very easy to step into the trap of thinking that because I don't have much time to play I'd like just this one session to be a profitable one, so instead of waiting for prime opportunities I try to create opportunities. If these are your thoughts you've got DING DING DING major warning signs.

Just a theory.

[Robb]

Consider the symptom "spewing" in this context.

Is it possible that while playing you are looking forward not to making the right decision but to make some money? Are you pushing the action instead of patiently waiting for obvious +EV spots?

It's very easy to step into the trap of thinking that because I don't have much time to play I'd like just this one session to be a profitable one, so instead of waiting for prime opportunities I try to create opportunities. If these are your thoughts you've got DING DING DING major warning signs.

Just a very good theory.

fyp

Last year, I quit studying and doing session reviews as time dwindled. I just played poker whenever I had time. And spew jumped into my game in lots of areas. I was saying that it's vital to keep session review time built into my poker week, even if I only have 2 or 3 hours to play that week.

I have reviewed some HH's and stats and searched for leaks. I don't have tons of time right now, but I'll give more thoughts later. Some good things I've done through this downswing:

1. I haven't played while exhausted.
2. I haven't played too many tables.
3. I haven't played distracted by kiddos, etc.

Of course, I'm still spewing chips left and right, so those good things are a bit scary but at least I'm putting some of the old demons behind me.

[Erpel]

The thing oft repeated about variance is that with a greater number of hands variance is evened out somewhat. So with fewer hands the variance will seem greater. It's the same variance over 5k hands, but in one case it's a full month of running bad, in the other case it's just two days.

This distinction is important because of how we psychologically process the concept of running bad (i.e. we create it - it only exists in our heads).

Ok, so you don't play while exhausted, don't play too many tables and you make sure that external distractions are taken out of the equation... wait - did you just change the topic on me again? Do you play with PATIENCE?

Are you content to play an optimal game, fold a LOT and wait for situations to arise where you have a solid +EV strategy that you can employ? Or are you trying to make it happen? Are you deciding that this line is ok with a bit of fold equity ignoring that in this case you have none? It's likely not something that's clearly visible in hand histories - it's more whether you have the reads that make the play +EV in this specific situation - not in a vacuum.

I'm completely content to disregard session reviews entirely in this situation and ask instead - do you get reads? Do you take notes? Do you use those notes? Do you wait and think about the game flow, recent history and notes before you make your decisions? Do you consider your image at the table?

This is obviously not something I'm particularly strong on myself, so I may just be imagining you having the problems that I do.

[Robb]

Ok, so you don't play while exhausted, don't play too many tables and you make sure that external distractions are taken out of the equation... wait - did you just change the topic on me again? Do you play with PATIENCE?

LoL. I didn't change topics. I was trying to agree with you. I did not, to directly answer your question, play with patience.

But first things first. I've spewed a lot in my poker life, so when comprehensively reviewing my game to see where I'm at, I looked at old bad habits. Play 16 tables - gotta win it back. Play an extra hour even though I'm cooked - gotta win it back. I'm just saying that my lack of patience wasn't related to several of those spew-trends in my past.

And a second thing - this "downswing" is probably 75% spew, a just a bit of negative variance. I've gotta own up to my own bad play so I can correct it.

I'm completely content to disregard session reviews entirely in this situation and ask instead - do you get reads? Do you take notes? Do you use those notes? Do you wait and think about the game flow, recent history and notes before you make your decisions? Do you consider your image at the table?

Yes. I could do better with note-taking, but I do the rest. And I do take pretty decent notes.

To frame a bit of what I've been finding as I look back over a horrible two weeks, here's what I know.

1. I'm playing too many hands oop.
2. I'm playing too many hands in marginal spots.
3. I'm calling too much preflop, especially oop.
4. I'm cbetting air into 2+ opponents too much.
5. I'm raising the flop and turn too much as "semi-bluffs" with medium strength hands
6. I'm not willing to fold with half my stack in the pot, even it's abundantly clear I've got 2 outs or less.

I think that I was making a mistake in February by giving credit to villains too often, but that I over-corrected by never giving them any credit at all. They generally play their strong cards fast and their weak cards slow. They generally don't stack off with less than a set on a 3-flush board or with less than 2 pair on a dry board. If they're willing to play for stacks, they generally have a reason, and it's usually staring you in the face when you look at the board.

So, yes, it's a patience problem. You can take them off their cbets of air and even 2 barrel them off their medium strength hands...

ONCE IN A WHILE.

You can't do it every hand. Which is back to your point about patience, Erpel. I've spewed a lot of chips playing back a mediocre hands with my own mediocre hands, losing half stacks to a spiked overpair after continuing with 2nd pair - and being ahead on the flop and turn. Your bankroll can handle that a few times a night, but not 20 times an hour. At some point, you have to let the mediocre hands land in the muck and wait for something decent to play back.

[Erpel]

Sounds like we're getting somewhere. Bravo.

Now here's my problem. I more or less understand the problem and sit down with a few basic rules such as I must be patient, I must not bluff when I don't know for sure I have fold equity etc.

And then I sit down, play a bit (playing well) then get impatient and start pushing to create situations again.

Obviously we all have our own ways of dealing with things and I think patience is probably the thing that's causing you problems here which manifests in the 6 symptoms you list. Rather than try to fix each symptom seperately, is there a way you can think about and approach the game that doesn't just try to fix symptoms but which cut to the underlying reason and addresses that?

Personally, I find that playing fewer tables in a studying/practicing mode actually help me. And with other kinds of tilt it's the other way around and I need to increase my number of tables.

I think the real success will probably come from questioning assumptions and being better to listen to all manner of inner voices. As an example it's probably patently wrong to consider myself a one-tabler, 4-tabler or 12-tabler. Instead, I should open up a table, determine if I'm playing well and if I am open another - until I hit the equilibrium where I am working optimally - so I need to constantly self-assess if I'm playing well and make adjustments to not just my game but also the way I play the game (including such things as how many tables I play) to ensure that I am playing my A game. Anything that can take me off my A game I need to recognise when it happens and accept the consequence. Maybe I just need to take a break.

Imo think about how you can recognize in yourself when you have patience and when you don't.

I'm struggling with this manner of thing myself and it's the reason for me dumping 2/3 of my bankroll recently (half of which I've won back). But really, the trick is not to bandaid obvious symptoms but rather to develop strategies that prevent them from occurring and developing good (or in poker-speak profitable) habits.

[Keith]

Sounds like we're getting somewhere. Bravo.

Now here's my problem. I more or less understand the problem and sit down with a few basic rules such as I must be patient, I must not bluff when I don't know for sure I have fold equity etc.

And then I sit down, play a bit (playing well) then get impatient and start pushing to create situations again.

Obviously we all have our own ways of dealing with things and I think patience is probably the thing that's causing you problems here which manifests in the 6 symptoms you list. Rather than try to fix each symptom seperately, is there a way you can think about and approach the game that doesn't just try to fix symptoms but which cut to the underlying reason and addresses that?

Personally, I find that playing fewer tables in a studying/practicing mode actually help me. And with other kinds of tilt it's the other way around and I need to increase my number of tables.

I think the real success will probably come from questioning assumptions and being better to listen to all manner of inner voices. As an example it's probably patently wrong to consider myself a one-tabler, 4-tabler or 12-tabler. Instead, I should open up a table, determine if I'm playing well and if I am open another - until I hit the equilibrium where I am working optimally - so I need to constantly self-assess if I'm playing well and make adjustments to not just my game but also the way I play the game (including such things as how many tables I play) to ensure that I am playing my A game. Anything that can take me off my A game I need to recognise when it happens and accept the consequence. Maybe I just need to take a break.

Imo think about how you can recognize in yourself when you have patience and when you don't.

I'm struggling with this manner of thing myself and it's the reason for me dumping 2/3 of my bankroll recently (half of which I've won back). But really, the trick is not to bandaid obvious symptoms but rather to develop strategies that prevent them from occurring and developing good (or in poker-speak profitable) habits.

vey interesting analysis. From the sweat session that we did I never noticed that you seemed to get impatient and tried shoving where you shouldn't . Is that because you were analysing and discussing your plays and the reasons behind them so that you didn't get time to be bored , as well as not wanting to spew off too many chips with someone watching. As such could that be a solutiion for you . record each session and give a running commentary as you go. Any hands you want to review you can compare what you were thinking with what you should have been thinking now that you have the extra information. But thats not really the point , the point being that you keep yourself busy so that you don't get bored and impatient so there's no need to force it to gt action.

[Erpel]

Very valid observation, and tbh I was very aware of that effect at the time - I was talking so much about thought process that I didn't really have time to play too badly.

I'm thinking about doing something similar. Not sure I'll actually record, but thinking about ways to get myself into the presentation/discussion mindset while playing.

[Robb]

Haven't played since whenever. I played just now, though, and managed 1k hands up $10. I was pretty card dead but played OK for the first hour, but was down 1.5 BI. Decent fight back with some decent hands toward the end. No massive spew hands, though, which is the big victory.

[Erpel]

Haven't played since whenever. I played just now, though, and managed 1k hands up $10. I was pretty card dead but played OK for the first hour, but was down 1.5 BI. Decent fight back with some decent hands toward the end. No massive spew hands, though, which is the big victory.

Upon reflection, is this a results oriented post?

I know that when I take a break for a week or so for whatever reason (wife, work, whatever) and sit down for just one session it's much more important to me that this one session is a winning one.

Decent fight back...

Does this mean that you were pushing the action trying to create profitable situations and just lucked out that you hit the weaker part of the opponents ranges (they folded) or happened to luck out and have lucky cards seem to justify a playstyle focused on winning money now!?!?

Point of this post? Eh.. testing for the influence of ego when you play, reminder for myself what not to do when I play.

[Robb]

Haven't played since whenever. I played just now, though, and managed 1k hands up $10. I was pretty card dead but played OK for the first hour, but was down 1.5 BI. Decent fight back with some decent hands toward the end. [b]No massive spew hands, though, which is the big victory.[b]

Upon reflection, is this a results oriented post?

I don't think so. The "fight back" for me means staying focused on good solid poker and not worrying too much about the "up or down" levels of bankroll.

I just haven't played much (any) poker lately. I was at work every day this week before 7 AM, and twice stayed past 11 PM. I left this morning (Saturday) at 6 AM for a conference, returning around supper time. I'm just working so many hours that any time at home is for kids/family and sleep. I haven't run since Monday.

Poker is not even on my radar for the next few days. If I play, I probably need to drop back in stakes to 25nl. In fact, that's probably a good idea until I can string together a few decent sessions in a row.

My point in this post is that my "March Madness" is an annual thing, and my game went way, way, way of the rails last year about this time. I need to not play exhausted, stressed and/or tired. Final analysis, I have withdrawn > $1.1k and have $2k bankroll. That roll will still be there when life returns to a more normal state, as long as I don't spew in the next couple hectic weeks.