Shoot the glass!!

Date: Fri, Dec 12, 2008

Quitting
Was hoping to put in a big session tonight but ended up quitting after just 270 hands. I made a poor river call in a soft 5/10 game and light calldowns against a reg in a 2/4 game, noticed I was playing poorly and quit right away. I'm pretty good at quitting when I feel like I'm not playing my A game. I've came down with some shitty cold or something at the moment which isn't helping!

FPS
I seem to be making a bunch of bad adjustments to some of the good regs games. The worst is convincing myself that they're double and triple barrelling in spots where it's really not that likely. I'm trying too hard to make big hero calls when it's really not necessary, I'm forcing things. It's something I'm working on fixing though.

Done with 5/10 for now
I still don't know exactly how much I'm up/down for the month so far but I feel like I'm getting crushed. Running really badly, especially at 5/10 despite feeling very profitable in the games I'm putting myself in. I'm going to quit taking 5/10 shots for the month as I think it's probably getting a bit tight bankroll wise.

Stopping results affecting your mood
I often feel really tempted to look at results at the end of each session, particularly if it was a big win or loss. But I've trained myself now just to step away from the laptop and chill out for a bit, then go back and look over the hands instead. After I've spent 30mins looking over the hands I've got a much better feeling of whether I've played badly or not, and I can improve in the spots where I've made mistakes. I think this is SUCH a great improvement over quitting a session up/down a bunch of buyins and letting that affect my mood. Basing your mood on short term luck is dumb. It irritates me to see people blog on it, it's just re-enforcing results-orientation. If I ever do the same thing I fully expect you guys to flame me :)

If I look over my hands and I've played well, I'm happy regardless of the result. If I look over my hands and I've played badly then I work on whatever mistakes I've made so that I'll be less likely to make them in future. So even at worst if I play very badly in a session, which really doesn't happen too often, I leave the session review feeling significantly happier due to the steps I've taken towards improving myself.

Die Hard
Rewatched this tonight. Last time I'd seen it was when I was finishing high school like 7 years ago, we used to watch it all the time. It's still SO DAMN GOOD, if not even better than I remember. The 120" screen size probably helps with that :) Alan Rickman. SO good.

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Click it back ftw :)

Date: Wed, Dec 10, 2008

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Deepstacked hand discussion

Date: Wed, Dec 3, 2008

1 fold, Hero raises to $0.35, 1 fold, SB raises to $1.20, 1 fold, Hero raises to $3.70, SB calls $2.50


So when this type of player 3bets us OOP deep I'd expect his range to be fairly strong. TT+/AQ+ pretty much, maybe KQs/99 at a push. When we're deep we actually respond to 3bets a lot different than 100BB. If we're 100BB here we 4bet and get it in, but being so deep if we 4bet here then he's going to slow down with the portion of his range that we have beat and raise with the portion which beats us... which sucks. So in this spot I'd really only 4bet as a bluff or with AA/KK. We're calling with 99-QQ/AK. This also gains us the advantage of villain perceiving our range to be a LOT weaker than it is, and we can play accordingly.

Anyways, we 4bet which isn't a terrible or anything. He flats, so now his range is very very polarised. Mostly AQ/AK/TT/JJ, a small amount of the time he'll flat AA, but it doesn't have enough weight against the rest of his range to worry about.


Flop: ($7.50, 2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $4.50, SB calls $4.50



Flop is fantastic for us and we bet out a nice amount. He calls. Now his range is heavily weighted towards AsKs/TT/JJ (he can't have AsQs/KsQs as we have the Qs).

Turn: ($16.50, 2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks


Turn isn't great, but isn't terrible either. Only AsKs really gets there, but note that a larger portion of his range is TT/JJ with a spade which he's playing for stacks now. Hell even TT/JJ isn't folding here yet imo, so we're playing for stacks. We have $19 effective and a $16.50 pot.

So given that we're never folding regardless of what happens we don't need to be worried about giving him good odds to draw any more, we can bet whatever we like. I'd bet an amount that he can't really fold to with TT/JJ and that commits him to calling a river shove. Installment plan time :) So $8 or $9 on the turn looks good. On the river we're betting the rest of our stack.


River: ($16.50, 2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $9, SB calls $9


As played river is a fantastic card for us and we have to bet. Thinking about his range again, he's folding overs and calling with the TT/JJ type hands. Given that we checked turn our range now looks a lot lighter to him so he's never folding river with TT/JJ. I'd betsize bigger, something like $14.50 as if he's calling $9 he's calling that too. He'll just never fold an OP there, he'll convince himself that because you checked turn you're bluffing big with AK as his line was passive.


Final Pot: $34.50
SB shows:
Hero shows:

Hero wins $33.50 ( won +$16.30 )
SB lost -$17.20


Interesting hand. It's a spot where villain's range was so tightly defined that we can play our hand SUPER OPTIMALLY. I think this is where a lot of the money is in todays games as people tend to play really spewy in 3bet/4bet pots rather than hand-reading.

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More on Short-term Results Orientation

Date: Mon, Dec 1, 2008

I noticed a lot of bad habits and negativity creeping into my game and routine towards the end of last month, so I've done some thinking and it's time for a change.

Bad things I do
Towards the end of the month I'll adjust my poker schedule based on how I'm doing. If I'm down I'll try to play a lot and get even, if I'm up a lot I'll miss out playing sessions when the games are good to maintain my winrate.

Despite not having a handcount goal for each month rather than a $ goal, I still have a $ goal in the back of my mind, and if I'm below it I tend to push harder to try to make it.

If I've had a good win I'm tempted to quit playing (or sometimes just tighten up) to increase the chance of leaving feeling on a high.

I look at my Holdem Manager graphs and balances too much, and I look at EV too much. Not so much during sessions, but after sessions I'll look at my winrate, my EV, my graph, etc. It's kind of a waste of time, and also affects my mood.

How to fix it
I've been trying to figure out how to fix all of these issues for the past few days now. But the solution is a lot simpler and much more effective than I expected. I was reading Brian/Ian's blogs last night and noticed that they're both experimenting with removing all of the money related stats from Holdem Manager. So $$$, BB/100, EV, graphs... all gone. Also not looking at the Cashier window at all, not until the last hand of the month has been played, then everything can be reviewed.

At first I thought this was a bit extreme. I used to like looking at my $$$ figures and stuff at the end of sessions, particularly if I've crushed. But really there is no positive reason for it, there are way way more negative affects than positive.

I tried it tonight for my first session of the month and the result was instantly fantastic. My mind was unable to be distracted by thinking about $$$ as I didn't know how much I was up or down. It became much easier to stay calm and evaluate situations, when to take breaks, and when to end the session. I don't know why I didn't try this earlier, it works so well. It really doesn't bother me that much not knowing how much I made/lost in a session or how much I'm up for the month either. In fact I'm happier not knowing as in enforces my non results orientation.

Also, this is my first month playing all 2/4 and 3/6. Played my first session tonight 6-7 tabling put in 2k hands, went well, I feel confident. The games are tougher but there are still fish and bad regs. Very beatable, but I'm still trying to game select as much as possible. Won't be playing much over the next couple of days, going to see Amy LaVere tomorrow night in Glasgow and Steve Coogan the following night... again in Glasgow. Shakaboom.

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November Review

Date: Sun, Nov 30, 2008

• 30-40k hands
• Do a few coaching sessions
• Improve affiliate deals
  
• Sort VISA and book Thailand flights

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Thailand

Date: Fri, Nov 28, 2008

For the past week or so I've been sorting things out to move over to Thailand early January. There are a bunch of players from 2p2 heading across and we're planning on renting a few nice houses and living like kings for a few months. Seems like a no brainer to me... hot weather, beaches, nightlife, tourist stuff and thai girls!

However with all of the current BS going on over there it's making me a bit anxious about booking flights across. I mean for starters right now you can't even fly into Bangkok! Anti-government protesters have taken over the 2 main airports and are vowing not to leave until the Thai Prime Minister resigns which is unlikely. Looks like the Thai police will have to remove them by force over the next few days which will probably be violent and messy.

Possibly not the best time to be planning an extended stay across there but most of the trouble seems to be in Bangkok, which I'll only be flying through and visiting.

Oh, almost forgot this guy... what a legend... "A maverick Thai general who has threatened to bomb anti-government protesters and drop snakes on them from helicopters has been reassigned as an aerobics teacher, the Bangkok Post said on Friday." Ahhh :D Linky

BBC Thai protesters braced for battle
BBC Bangkok Protesters fire upon rivals
SSNL goes to Thailand

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Tonight... you

Date: Wed, Nov 19, 2008

Awesome cartoon my bro sent me. Awesomely sick humour... :) I'm sure some people will hate this :D

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=BhPw2adDcVo


Shipped my new biggest pot tonight, deep tables rule!

$2/$4 No Limit Holdem
Converted at weaktight.com

Stacks:

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Sunday night postage

Date: Sun, Nov 16, 2008

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UIGEA passed

Date: Wed, Nov 12, 2008

So the act preventing Internet gambling in the USA got passed today and will be in place 1 day before Obama steps into office. If you're an american player this basically means that you're fucked, if you're from elsewhere it means the games are about to get tougher again.

The act
The Act prohibits gambling businesses from knowingly accepting payments in connection with unlawful Internet gambling, including payments made through credit cards, electronic funds transfers, and checks. In addition to this US banks will have to put steps in place to prevent customers making payments to internet gambling sites. The banks will have until December 2009 to comply although it's be expected that most banks will have steps in place way before then.

What will happen?
It kind of remains to be seen really, bit early to tell. There's a lot of work to be done to put this in place, which won't happen overnight. A lot of strong American players will probably relocate to Canada or elsewhere to continue playing. With a combination of this and American fish no longer being able to deposit online this will lead to the games getting tougher (again). Stars/FTP should release statements on their stances pretty soon but it's unlikely they'll pull out of the US market.

Not the best news after quitting my job 2 weeks ago but hell at least I can still play. It really sucks for all of the US players who have to suffer because of their spastic government.


Federal Reserve press release
2p2 Poker Legislation folder thread
2p2 NVG thread
2p2 MidStakes panic and flee abroad thread

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UIGEA is back

Date: Wed, Nov 12, 2008

Bush's administration are lining up a bunch of "midnight rules" that they're going to sneak in just before they leave office. One of these is the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. Instead of waiting until Obama gets into office and spending the correct amount of time exploring the consequences of these new rules they're going to stuff them into the law at the 11th hour.

If it passes it will cripple poker in the states, having a huge effect on the poker industry and my livelihood as a poker player. If you're from the US and care at all about this I'd urge you to do the following immediately...

Please call the U.S. Federal Reserve and tell them not to approve the UIGEA regulations -- Consumer Complaints, 888-851-1920 or Public Affairs, 202-452-2955.

Tell them:

* The federal agencies responsible for our nation’s economy should not be focused on Internet poker regulations.
* Finalization of the UIGEA rules will add additional burdens on our already crippled financial systems.
* Internet poker is a game of skill and form of recreation for millions of Americans; it should be exempted from the UIGEA.
* Please do not finalize the UIGEA regulations until their impact on our banking systems and average Americans has been fully studied.

Your call will make a huge difference and will add the public’s voice to these last minute policy decisions our government is poised to make. We can’t stand idly by while they make decisions that will impact our right to play America’s card game. PLEASE CALL TODAY!


More info on 2p2 here. Also see the Poker Players Alliance.

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Chillaxing

Date: Thu, Nov 6, 2008

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S'update

Date: Thu, Oct 23, 2008

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It's go time

Date: Tue, Oct 14, 2008

I have handed in my notice as a videogames designer at Rockstar and from the 1st of November I'll be pursuing poker as my main source of income.

It's something I've been thinking about doing for the past year and over the last few months my situation has really become perfect to give it a shot. I've become unsure that I want to continue with my current career path long-term so now is a good time to get out there and experience other things before settling down.

I'd like to spend some time living a different type of lifestyle, with freedom to travel, more time to spend working on music and time to develop myself in other areas I'm interested in - mainly personal development, psychology and business. Realistically I don't think poker will work for me as a main source of income for more than 2-3 years. I think by that time the games will likely be considerably less beatable/profitable and I'll likely become bored of the game.

Career
At the moment I don't really know what I want to do career-wise long term, so I'm hoping to explore my options by meeting a lot of people, doing some courses on things I'm interested in and working on some business ideas. I could find that I miss the games industry and want to move back after a year or two, but I'd like to take the chance of finding something that could be potentially more fulfilling.

Poker
I'm very confident that poker can fund what I want to do for the next couple of years and has the potential to make me a lot more money than required. I have a ~100k hand sample at $200nl running at 3.5ptbb, so playing a modest 30k hands month (around 70-80hrs work) I'd make around $6k after rakeback. Seeing as poker is untaxed in the UK that's a pretty sweet monthly.

I'll be spending around 20 hours per month working on my game too, so over the next 5-6 months I'd hope to be clearing $10k/month average with a combination of getting better, moving up stakes and increasing the amount of tables I'm playing. There's always the option to put more volume in if say I want to go on a big holiday the next month, that sort of flexibility really appeals to me.

Attitude
I think over the next couple of months I'll see a lot of changes in my attitude towards things. I'll be focusing my poker time playing and working on my game, this could mean I'll be less likely to want to chat over hands on IM, etc, I don't really know yet. I strongly believe that balance is important in life, I'm not doing this to "be a pro", I'm doing this to improve my overall lifestyle, increase my earnings and give myself more free time to do things that are important to me. I think it's going to be pretty important to remind myself that every once in a while.

Blogging
So I've got kind of conflicting views on what I want to do with this blog. I really don't want it to become somewhere that I post too regularly, as it would detract too much from things that I'd be far better spending my time on. I certainly don't want to be posting after losing or winning X-buyins in a day as that kind of thing doesn't help me achieve the real mindset I'll need as a serious player. On a semi-tangent those sorts of "I had a bad day and need to vent hands and stats" posts on other peoples blogs really tilt the fuck out of me, I've just go no time for it and I wouldn't expect whoever is reading this to either.

That being said I do still really enjoy blogging, and I think my lifestyle and journey over the next few years could be pretty interesting, so I'd like to keep track of it. I'll probably get more personal in stuff I'm posting about and talk more about the lifestyle of playing poker for a living as that's what interests me when reading other players blogs.

I'm also really interested in (competitive) mindset stuff and will be looking to develop myself a lot in that area so I'll probably be writing a bunch of articles as I try things out to improve my mindset. Not decided yet if I'll post exact $$$ figures of how much I'm making per month, what my bankroll is, etc, I think that changes when it becomes your livelihood rather than a pastime! :)

So that's about it, wish me luck! :D

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Levelling

Date: Sun, Oct 5, 2008

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