Focus At The Tables

One aspect of my online game that I'm making it my mission to work on over the next month or so is my focus while playing.  Since I stopped mass multitabling (which I did to give me more time to think about my plays) I find myself making decisions in the same amount of time as before, then clicking over to 2p2 or watching TV, making the whole exercise pointless.

To combat this every time I fire up a session for the next month I'm going to close everything else, turn my phone off and just play.  I think at the start my attention will wander so sessions will probably only be 30 minutes or so but hopefully they will be more intense and productive.  I want to take better notes and to learn from action that I'm not involved in.

This comes directly from my reading of Treat Your Poker Like a Business where Dusty and Jared talk about focus at the table, having read most of this book there are many aspects of my game that I realise I need to work on.  This is the first!


In other news I should probably fill you in on how the mixed game challenge is going, more specifically at the moment 2-7 Triple Draw:
As you can see, less than stellar results at the moment but I'm going to turn it round.  I've been playing more since these numbers but I'll update here less frequently than my PGC thread.

2-7 TD --- 1972 Hands --- $23.69 Profit --- Currently Playing .1/.2
2-7 TD --- 750 Hands --- $8.83 Loss --- Currently Playing .25/.5
Razz --- 16 Hands --- $0.55 Loss --- Currently Playing .04/.08
Stud Hi --- 80 Hands --- $1.62 Loss --- Currently Playing .04/.08
Stud 8 --- 0 Hands --- $0 Profit --- Currently Playing .04/.08
FLHE --- 952 Hands --- $2.95 Loss --- Currently Playing .1/.2

Total Cash Mixed Game --- c. 3770 Hands --- $9.74 profit

As you can see, less than stellar results at the moment but I'm going to turn it round.  I've been playing more since these numbers but I'll update here less frequently than my PGC thread.  Back to the tables, hopefully with more focus!

A Honest Reflection

I started this blog a bit over a year ago and I wanted to have a look at the last 12 months and look forward to the coming year.  I haven't worked nearly as hard as I've wanted to at poker, I put my hands up to that right now, I don't deserve to be any better than I am now.  In other ways I think I've had a good 12 months; I'm on for a 2:1 at university, my skiing has improved and I guess most importantly of all, I spent 2 months on a very competitive work placement in London and have been offered that chance to go back when I graduate.

I try to keep this blog mainly about poker but as everything in life tends to affect everything else, going forward more structure and a better handle on the rest of my life will certainly help with poker.  Since I've finished this work placement and had the feedback I did, its given me a fresh drive to be the very best at everything I do, including poker.  Over the next 12 months I have three goals and they are going to be the be all and end all of every waking moment of my life, I have one year left of university which is really the last chance I have to set my life in the direction I want it to go in.

1) Graduate with a 2:1 degree or better

This should be for obvious reasons, the better I do here, the better things are in the future.  I feel this is well within my grasp and I will be incredibly disappointed if I fail.

2) Get into the best shape I've been in since leaving school

I intend on competing at the UK Ski-cross championships next April, in order to have a chance of even making it I'm going to have to get back into that shape I was when I was training every day.  This is something I've wanted for the last year or so.  I'll probably outline my plans in a separate blog post.

3) Poker

My desire to be the best possible poker player is at an all time high.  I still don't want to be a professional, but that doesn't mean I can't aspire to be good enough to be one.  While I've been working in London I've started learning mixed games, I've had a PGC thread where I update my progress daily:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/174/poker-goals-challenges/loldonakmentzs-mixed-game-min-bet-mission-1227664/

Its been going pretty good so far, I've bought a DC subscription and am making my way through learning 2-7 TD.  The aim at the moment is to be a competent mixed game cash player,  from what I've heard the edges are bigger at micro mixed cash than NLHE so hopefully I can build a bankroll there and then work on my NLHE game without having to worry about depleting my BR.  I realistically see myself having 12 months to sort out my poker game, once I get into a full time job my time that I'm going to be able to put in will go right down.

These next 12 months I have to focus and work hard; I will succeed.

Back on the felt!

Well, I'm back from France, last trip over there this winter and the end of a great season!  Snow has been awesome even if the weather at times was a bit below par.  Anyway, this has meant I haven't played a hand of poker yet this month so volume isn't going to be too impressive but I'm going to try do the best I can.

Here are March's results anyway:

Cash:

Tournaments:

Overall: +$53 before bonuses

Crappy month and now really keen to make amends in the second half of April.  I've decided to make very different goals to my ones before.

1) No bitching, constructive criticism of my own play only.

2) No checking of overall monthly results until the end!

3) Participate daily in the uNL forums

Measurable results aren't too important at the moment as I have a lot of revision to do for exams etc so working on this kind of stuff is achievable a the moment. 

Mid March Update

Hey guys, I'm sorry I've been quite for a long time but I've had a lot going on recently that has kept me pretty busy from blogging so I'll fill you in.  First I better review how poker has been for me this year.  I am making a big push in 2012 to make 50nl by the end of the year, not just being rolled for it but being a competent winning player at that level and being ready to make a run for Supernova in 2013.  I'll be honest and say I haven't had a great start to the year and am running pretty badly which I'm sure is affecting my play.  I'm not saying if I was running good I'd be crushing but it has affected my confidence a lot and I'm sure that has a subconscious effect on my play.  I've also been breaking my rules on game selection and been playing far too many mtts, including the MicroMillions.  These are not my main game and although I'd love to play them once I reach 50nl and am happily making profit, for now I think I should really be focusing on cash games and using my poker time for that, this unfortunately includes my homegames that I've been playing.  These tournaments are small buyin but they do have a negative effect on my play as when I run bad in mtts, I feel it affects my cash play.  I've decided to take a couple of days off from playing altogether and have withdrawn a little bit of money from my account and have bought some video games to keep me occupied and am combining that with some studying to get my drive to play back.

Year to date cash:

Year to date mtts:

I've started a 6max skype group with players from 2p2 and am now more driven than ever to achieve my year end goal, I feel 2013 is going to be a good year so I want to be prepared for it.  With all these cut backs I've been making I've given myself a new reward, I'm going to save my fpps that I earn from grinding and use them to take shots at the Sunday Million whenever I have enough, around 13k.  I should be able to play ever 2 or 3 months by my calculations so that should give me my tournament hit in one big go!

One thing happening away form the tables right now is a bit of a health worry, I won't go into details as it could well end up as nothing but I'm being referred around circuits of specialists who are trying to figure out what is wrong with me and what they can do about it.  I'll update on this when I know more as I don't want to go into it without knowing much myself but if I'm honest, I'm so -ev in poker right now I'm sure I'm going to be +ev life.  I might even use my one time....

All the best on the tables

Jake

February Review, March Goals

Well February has certainly been an interesting month for me!  I did not have a great start on the cash tables and it got steadily worse, however, I really feel I worked on my game well and have come along a lot this month.  However, the main problem with this month is I spilt a pint of water over my laptop like a pro and therefore have had to reimport all of my hands form this year so far!  I managed to get January to how it was supposed to be but February looks a bit funny.  I've decided not to wate too much time on trying to fix it and get on with the year but here are the results from February!

Cash: -$118

 MTTs: $162

Bonuses: $20

Total: $64

Pretty poor month to be honest but I've plugged a lot of bad leaks in my cash game that I hope will make a big difference.  Secondly, and I appreciate that this gets said a lot, but I ran horrifically on the cash tables this month.  AIEV only tells part of the story, there were a lot of coolers it felt this month and they just caused me to play sub par poker which resulted in more losses.  I want to stop relying on mtts to bring me into the positive every month.

The problems with my laptop at the end of the month lead to me failing almost all of my goals but I'm back up and running now so despite having missed the first few days I'm ready to take on this month head on!

March Goals:

• 30k hands with profit at 16nl 6max
• Top 10 in homegame leaderboard
• At least 1 $100+ figure mtt score

I'm not going to add too many more this month as I have 3 essays due in over March and I don't think I'll get much else done but here we go!

Good luck on the tables!

Refocus

At times in our lives we lose focus and try too hard to achieve our goals.  In my rush to build my bankroll and move up both my skill level and stake I've been trying to do too much and therefore have been losing money.  To remedy this I've cut my number of tables I play to 4 and am making a concerted effort to improve my game.  Instead of reading "Treat Your Poker Like a Business" I've gone back to watching poker videos from Leggo Poker and rebuilding my game, going back to basics and not trying anything too fancy, I'm just gonna build my roll and work on my fundamentals.  I don't think I need to be getting too creative at these stakes and I've been trying too hard to win every pot and play a style that I think is good, but in reality, my skill level cannot back up.

So with the cut down of tables and change of studying I guess I should reevaluate my goals.  My goal for the number of hands is being cut from 30k to 25k and I want to finish the video series I am watching now by the end of the month instead of getting the book read.

When you're down, you gotta get back up!

Bit over dramatic for poker, but this was how I felt with competitive sport and that went ok, now I need to apply myself to poker just as hard!

Moving on..... down?

As I mentioned in an earlier post, this month has been somewhat disappointing on the cash tables.  There are of course elements of bad play, everyone in the micros is making mistakes and trying to learn from them!  However, when combined with a period where you aren't running so well your bankroll can take a bit of a hit.  While I'm still rolled very comfortably for 16NL I am considering moving down to rebuild my confidence a bit and really plug any leaks I find.  I know that you shouldn't be concerned with your ev line too much, they aren't the only measure of how you're running, to illustrate the point, here are a few hands today that were just really frustrating with how the board ran out:

1) PokerStars - $0.16 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3: http://www.pokertracker.com

Hero (SB): $18.85
BB: $16.24
UTG: $18.08
MP: $18.11
CO: $18.49
BTN: $19.84

Hero posts SB $0.08, BB posts BB $0.16

Pre Flop: ($0.24) Hero has 9s 9d

fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to $0.64, BB calls $0.48

Flop: ($1.28, 2 players) 2s Jd 9c
Hero bets $0.93, BB raises to $2.40, Hero calls $1.47

Turn: ($6.08, 2 players) Jh
Hero bets $4.20, BB calls $4.20

River: ($14.48, 2 players) 2h (The worst card in the deck)

2) PokerStars - $0.16 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3: http://www.pokertracker.com

SB: $16.08
BB: $45.01
Hero (UTG): $16.00
CO: $9.98
BTN: $17.95

SB posts SB $0.08, BB posts BB $0.16

Pre Flop: ($0.24) Hero has Jc Jh

Hero raises to $0.48, fold, fold, fold, BB calls $0.32

Flop: ($1.04, 2 players) 8c Tc 5d
BB bets $0.49, Hero calls $0.49

Turn: ($2.02, 2 players) 6h
BB bets $0.96, Hero calls $0.96

River: ($3.94, 2 players) 4d
BB bets $1.88, Hero calls $1.88

BB shows 7d Td (Straight, Eight High) (Pre 19%, Flop 24%, Turn 30%)
Hero mucks Jc Jh (One Pair, Jacks) (Pre 81%, Flop 76%, Turn 70%)
BB wins $7.35

3) PokerStars - $0.16 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3: http://www.pokertracker.com

Hero (SB): $17.43
BB: $13.18
UTG: $12.24
MP: $18.47
CO: $16.00
BTN: $16.36

Hero posts SB $0.08, BB posts BB $0.16

Pre Flop: ($0.24) Hero has Qc Kh

fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to $0.40, Hero raises to $1.55, BB calls $1.39, fold

Flop: ($3.50, 2 players) Kd Qs Tc
Hero bets $2.20, BB calls $2.20

Turn: ($7.90, 2 players) Jc (sigh)
Hero checks, BB bets $5.21, fold

BB wins $7.54

Coupling this with running over $100 below ev and I''m just having a shocker, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to pull this one back!  Still, better keep on practicing and studying, I'll get there eventually.

February So Far

Well, it has been a turbulent month so far for me on the tables!  I'm down a fair chunk in cash games and up a little in mtts and sngs so I need to rally in the second half of the month if I want to have a year with no losing months.  I need to up my volume in the second half of the month and this shuold help me grind my way out of the hole I'm in at the moment.  One thing I have considered is playing 5 cash tables and 1 tournament all the time, just to get some more tournament experience but I might put that on hold until later in the year, although I really need to up my cashes in the homegame I'm in if I want to make my goals there as well.

I just turned 22 yesterday, the same day as one of my good friends turned 21 and we had a big party with a lot of our friends coming out for a fantastic night, a fair few hangovers about this morning, along with some embarrassing photos that I expect to surface once people are capable of using their cameras/phones this afternoon.  I really needed a night out like last night as it hasn't been a great month so far on the tables and am unfortunately having some problems off the tables as well of a more personal nature.  Hopefully I'll be able to get some photos up from last night when the appear on facebook.

So, roughly half way through the month and time to shape up really!  I've already missed far too many hours of lectures this term but my modules just aren't interesting me as much as they were last term, the work itself is ok and the tutorials are bringing up some good discussion but the actual lectures I feel are below par this term.  In addition to my university studies I've started studying some economics and finance stuff in my free time, I've picked up a few books recommended on 2p2 and hope to have them read by the end of my long summer break, I don't have much time for them now but I'm excited to get into them.

World Blogger Championship of Online Poker

As I’m sure many of you are aware the World Blogger Championship of Online Poker is fast approaching on Pokerstars and I intend on competing and hopefully winning some money!  The 31 event schedule is kicking off on the 23^rd of February and is running until March 4^th when the $5000 Main Event closes the series.  The best blogger of 2012 will win $5000 and we’re asked to write about what we would do if we were to win so here are my plans!

1. I would of course continue to play poker, at my current stakes but this would give me the chance to play more tournaments online at Pokerstars as my current bankroll is pretty important for my progression in cash games!
2. I love blogging and writing about poker, I would use some of the money to enrol in a creative writing class at my university on the side as this is something I’ve had zero training in (as you can probably tell) and it would give me a chance to improve my writing style.  This is something I’d love to keep doing for a long time in the future so investment now might be a good idea.
3. I would have to use some of the money to take my better half out for a meal and a show in London to say thank you for putting up with me for so long, need to keep her on my side!
4. I currently play on a 15” laptop so some of the money would go towards either a new external monitor or perhaps a new desktop to let me have a nicer environment to play poker in, especially given the time I give to the game, it would make it easier to play longer sessions and more tables.
5. Finally I would have to take a fair few of my friends out for a night to say thank you for putting up with me when I have to miss occasional nights out due to poker!

The WBCOOP is a great chance for many aspiring poker bloggers to get their name out there and win some great money at the same time, not to mention take part in a prestigious online poker tournament series that you can make your name in as a player, not just a blogger!  Previous winners such as Pokerstars Team Online player Daleroxxu have gone on to do great things, maybe you could be the next one in line. 

There are a huge range of events including all of your favourite games in various formats so there is no excuse not to get involved and get the competitive juices flowing, every tournament offers SCOOP tickets and everyone who cashes can get into the $5000 main event where serious money is up for grabs.  For those who really do well and cash in multiple events there is the WBCOOP leaderboard that is offering even more in prizes!

All the best to my fellow poker bloggers, see you on the tables!

January Results - February Goals

I know I made a review post earlier, but I hadn't really looked at the date and have got some play in since then, I won't bother with any lengthy review but here is my month in numbers:

Cash:

Tournaments:

Bonuses:
$10 Stellar

Overall:
+$191.85


Looking forward to February here are the goals!

1. 30k hands
2. 4pt3bb/100
3. 8 Homegame cashes
4. Top 5 Homegame league
5. Finish "Treat Your Poker Like a Business"
6. Don't miss more than 4 hours of lectures

I shouldn't be heading off skiing this month so I will have no excuses for not making them!

Pokerstars VIP/Rake Changes

I should start this by saying that I am a big fan of Pokerstars and the way they have handled themselves since Black Friday, however, at the tail end of last year I was very disappointed in the way they approached changing the VIP and rake system, severely affecting the plans of many of their high volume customers.  Issues such as the shift to weighted contribution rake system (WC) would take money out of the poker economy overall as the distribution of VPPs would be weighted to the lower VIP players, who being able to get less for their VPPs in the store resulted in money leaving the poker economy and into Pokerstars' pocket.  Additionally changes to the rake system meant an increase at some stakes that led to more money leaving the poker economy and going to Pokerstars.  In addition to these there were the perennial issues of some games just having too high a rake system to beat, such as micro stakes (relevant to me and to many others) as well as limit and CAP games.

The main point of contention in the high volume player base was not so much the transfers of VPPs to the recreational players but the fact that money was leaving the overall poker economy.  PS came back with an offer to host a number of representatives from the poker community and I believe to them we owe a great deal:

• xPeru
• Klairic
• Krmont22
• Hood
• Chisness

Here is a quick summary of what they managed to achieve through dialogue with Stars:

1.  2% rake reduction, resulting in a gain for the players and a net loss for Pokerstars.  Every microstakes level has seen a reduction in rake allowing newer players to hold onto their money longer and have time to develop a greater interest in the game and to hopefully bring more money into the economy over time
2. Increase in rake at the high stakes games that have comparatively paid a very low rate of rake, despite having high costs associated with them, including things like policing them, finding collusion etc.
3. Changes to the SN/SNE retention program and one off changes for 2012/2013, more of which can be found browsing the 2p2 SN and SNE threads.
4. New stakes will be introduced into the micro stakes, 3/6c and 8/16c with the possibility of 15/30c being introduced if this is a success.  I am hugely excited about this personally as it allows a more gentle progress up the stakes and will in theory ease the transition and help players move up and feel they are progressing more, turning them into regular players.
5. Regular discussion with players, this process will happen twice a year now to ensure that any changes are discussed and explained to the community to allow for a dialogue between the players and Pokerstars.

There are more points that have been discussed and other features but these I feel cover the main points that affect most players.  I think this sets a great precedent for future action and both Pokerstars and our representatives did a great job in discussing and developing new ideas to move forwards!

January Review

Hey guys, as it turns out I'm taking some time off from university and am back skiing in France!  As far as completing my goals for January:

1. 20k hands [x]
2. Win at 4bb/100 [ ]
3. Finish reading Treat Your Poker Like a Business [ ]
4. Nail my university exams - not had all results but maintaining the 2:1 standard I set myself
5. 5 cashes in my homegames tournaments - Considering I lost out on the last 10 days of the month I didn't manage this, but I got in 3 or 4 and was well on track to complete this so - [x]

Cash started off really well and I moved up to 10nl, I'm comfortable rolled for this but I need to improve my game as I encountered a bit of a downswing combined with bad play that actually saw me down for the month.  My volume on the other hand was good and I made my target number of hands despite only having a week and half to play, losing the rest of the month to skiing and exams.

I didn't get around to finishing the book but I got a big chunk of the reading done and hope to now finish it in February when I will definitely be in the country for the entire time!  I recommend this book hugely to people wanting to focus and improve their play, regardless of aspirations to become professional or to be an enthusiastic amateur like me!

My exams went well, one always feels more could have been done in preparation but I am maintaining the grade I want and I'm looking to push it further and get my marks up more.

Although I didn't mange 5 due to time constraints I did have a good month in mtts and sngs which countered my small loss on the cash tables,  Hopefully next month I can combine the two and have a good month overall!

I'll think about my February goals when I'm back in England but right now I'm going to enjoy my last few days here in France and keep looking for places like this!

Back in the UK - 2012/January Goals

Firstly, am back in the UK!  I had an amazing 3 weeks skiing, great times seeing old friends and making new ones.  I'll be very honest and admit that I slacked big time with regards to photos and videos so I can't put anything up here really but it was brilliant.  So brilliant in fact that after my exams finish on Wednesday I'm trying to head back out for another 10 days, the conditions are so good I haven't seen anything like it in my lifetime, the snow is really piling up and this isn't a season to be sitting in lecture halls!

Onto poker, this is copied out of my 2p2 PGC thread:

After a pretty dire year online coupled with a really good year live I'm back to set this years goals and challenges for myself. Going to keep it simple, there's enough about me and what I do in old PGC thread and others around here, happy to answer anything if anyone is interested though.

2012 Yearly Goals and Challenges:

1. Only play 6max NLHE cash games, my daily homegame tournaments, special promotion tournaments and anything I qualify for with fpps
2. 300000 hands of 6max cash
3. See a significant improvement in my play through studying videos and through coaching
4. Have a +ROI in my homegame tournaments
5. Become a respected poster in uNL in 2012 after moving from uNLfr where I made little contribution
6. Maintain my 2:1 at university and push for a 1st class degree

I've had real problems with game selection over the years and have wasted a lot of money on stupid tournaments, playing higher stakes game equivalent to my live play so the 1st goal is very important to me.

In addition to what I want to accomplish over the year I have a plan of monthly goals I want to achieve.

January Goals:

1. 20k hands
2. Win at 4bb/100 (whatever the one PT3 give me says)
3. Finish reading "Treat Your Poker Like a Business"
4. Nail my university exams!
5. 5 Cashes in my homegame tournaments

All the best to everyone in 2012
Jake"

So as you can see I'm going to be tougher on myself this year, less partying, more work, especially as I want to get more time on the slopes, the time I'm in England for needs to be productive!