So, not a good weekend. Again. I was up a little Friday night, ran completely cold again Saturday (not a single cash), then did well Sunday morning but crashed again in the evening. The good news is I did not tilt nearly as badly, even when running poorly. The bad news is my plans to be able to double up by the end of the month are unlikely without some sort of miracle run.
I think some adjustments are in order. I'm going to try to make these adjustments because I am serious about improving my game. I think running hot even for a short period of time led me to think too far ahead instead of focusing on what I am doing in the present. I'm going to try to fix that by implementing some changes not only to my game, but to some of the things peripheral to it.
First, I've moved back down in stakes to the $5 tables. This was mostly a decision to slow the bleeding; I'm still up for the month (and for my poker "career"), so my original bankroll is intact and I could easily afford to stay at the $10 SNG level. There's not a whole lot of difference ability wise that I can tell, but until I gain (or regain?) a sense of mastery over the level, I'll stay with the $5 tables and start mixing the $10 tables back in when I'm feeling more confident.
Second, I need to tighten up just a little bit. I got my hands on a free trial of some poker software that will run on my Mac, and my line looks a little too loose - 24/15. I think I may have been trying to open up my starting hand requirements a little too indiscriminately, and this current slide in results may be the price. I know I can't wait for the big hands, but I need to do a better job picking my spots. So it's back to extra tight play in the early stages of tournaments; I will only get involved with more speculative hands when A) I'm getting a great price to do so or B) I can articulate a specific reason for my action other than "I'm bored" or "I need to try something".
Third, I will ask myself "What is the purpose of this bet?" before committing chips. I will also begin thinking ahead as to what I will do in the event of a call/raise on the part of my opponent before betting. Because I've been successful at adding c-betting to my arsenal (maybe too successful), I often fire without thinking it through all the way. I've got to think more as I play as opposed to act/react.
Fourth, I will not play poker on the weekends before I work out. This is because I am trying to increase my discipline overall, and since I want to play poker, but often don't really want to exercise, this seemed like a good way to instill some discipline in a way I know I will follow through on. Inspiration from this came from my boyfriend, who will not play until he has studied for an hour (he would like to take the actuary exam at some point). He procrastinates far more than I do, but he's faithful to this nonetheless. I am two for two on this point so far.
Fifth, I will drastically reduce the number of donkaments I play. I really enjoy donkaments, and of course the allure of a 4 or 5 figure payout for actually taking one down is tempting. However, at this point I am not cashing enough to make it a good bankroll investment. My ROI for SNGs is over 20%. That seems like the logical place to focus for now. I will therefore only play in one major donkament per weekend. This will probably be the 1 pm $5.50 (15K guaranteed) - I have a soft spot for that one, as it is the only donkament I have ever made final table at.
Sixth, I will take breaks. I can't set a specific time frame on how long I will play before breaks since my preferred poker medium, the SNG, does not have a start/end time. Instead, I will play no more than 8 consecutive tournaments before taking a break of at least an hour. I'm hoping this will not only help in maintaining disciple and balance, but will also help with a trend I've noticed that I tend to do much better at the start of the day than at the end. I'm still not sure yet if this is because the game are softer in the mornings on the site where I play or if I'm just more on my game then.
Anyway, these are the adjustments I'm going to make in order to get back to my consistently winning ways. I'll be in Vegas this next weekend, so it's four days of live play in the immediate future. I may also be able to fit in a couple of hours one night this week - it's spring break at my school, which means no back to back classes on Wednesday night. Bliss.
Good luck to everyone, and I'll see you at the tables.
SGT RJ
Monday, March 16, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Down to earth
It seems as though the down side of variance caught up with me this weekend. I ran pretty well again on Saturday, up around $100, with a couple of 1st place finishes in 2 and 3 table SNGs. I was so close to my goal of doubling my initial deposits I could almost smell it. I started imagining that I would actually triple up before I even cleared my bonus, and maybe start thinking about moving up in stakes.
And then Sunday happened.
Because of my school/work/internship schedule, I can really only play on weekends, which invariably means I play quite a lot on weekends to "make up" for the time I can't play during the week. This also means that if I start to either run cold or I'm not on my A game (and I'd like to state, for the record, that I am well aware that my A game is more like a true professionals C game, and that's being generous), I feel like I need to continue since I won't be able to play again any time soon.
In any event, I wasn't too shaken by the first couple of coolers and suckouts. I mean, aces get cracked, although having them cracked by queens isn't any fun. But they started to add up. In the course of several hours (two tabling $5 and $10 SNGs with the odd donkament mixed in), I ran into aces while holding kings (and I was unable to pull the suckout, of course), had a pair of cowboys cracked by A/T when two tens hit, the second on the river, had pushes with jacks called twice by overcards (and one or both of the overcards hit), had a pair of tens cracked by A/5 (when he flopped a wheel), and ran a nut flush into a full house. It may have been the worst run of cards/luck I've encountered in that short of a period of time, compounded by the fact that I got on tilt (which I'm normally pretty good at avoiding) and started playing either too nitty or too aggressive, depending on what phase of tilt emotions I was on (anger or despair).
All told, I ended up down about $180 and did not cash in a single tournament. Looks like it might take longer to double up than I thought.
And then Sunday happened.
Because of my school/work/internship schedule, I can really only play on weekends, which invariably means I play quite a lot on weekends to "make up" for the time I can't play during the week. This also means that if I start to either run cold or I'm not on my A game (and I'd like to state, for the record, that I am well aware that my A game is more like a true professionals C game, and that's being generous), I feel like I need to continue since I won't be able to play again any time soon.
In any event, I wasn't too shaken by the first couple of coolers and suckouts. I mean, aces get cracked, although having them cracked by queens isn't any fun. But they started to add up. In the course of several hours (two tabling $5 and $10 SNGs with the odd donkament mixed in), I ran into aces while holding kings (and I was unable to pull the suckout, of course), had a pair of cowboys cracked by A/T when two tens hit, the second on the river, had pushes with jacks called twice by overcards (and one or both of the overcards hit), had a pair of tens cracked by A/5 (when he flopped a wheel), and ran a nut flush into a full house. It may have been the worst run of cards/luck I've encountered in that short of a period of time, compounded by the fact that I got on tilt (which I'm normally pretty good at avoiding) and started playing either too nitty or too aggressive, depending on what phase of tilt emotions I was on (anger or despair).
All told, I ended up down about $180 and did not cash in a single tournament. Looks like it might take longer to double up than I thought.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Running hot
This weekend was far and away my best ever, results wise. I know I'm not supposed to be "results oriented", and I get that in regards to specific hands - you shouldn't fret about busting with aces when your opponent catches a two outer on the river, since you got your money in with the best hand and that's the result you want to see - but I have to think that overall, results do matter in the sense that, if I'm getting better, I should be seeing better results. Right?
I ran completely cold Friday night, not a single cash in any of the tournaments I entered, down about $70 on the evening. Then Saturday I started off in spectacular fashion, cashing in 6 of my first 12 tournaments, including three first places and a fifth place at a 20 table event. I ended on a relatively sour note (0-7, I think), but I was still up significantly on the day. That held over into Sunday, and while I didn't get any first place finishes, I did finish 2nd three times with a couple of other cashes and ended up pushing my total winnings on the weekend to about $260.
How do I think I played? Overall pretty well, especially on Sunday when I started to run a little card dead and was still able to push deep in some of the tourneys. I only made one or two bone headed plays - overvaluing top pair (again!) and donking for trips on the river against a pair of queens, and not respecting a tight opponents aggression and giving them credit for a much better hand than mine aces with a weakish kicker, allowing them to double up at my expense - but overall I thought I was making some good plays. I consciously adjusted my play for the first time against a player I correctly deduced was playing a weak-passive style, busting him when I flopped two pair and value bet him all in by the river.
I am a little concerned that, in my effort to become more aggressive, I may be crossing over that fine line occasionally into loose aggressive play. I'm certainly not raising/calling/betting with any two cards, and I'm still not really capable of making that huge river bluff, but I felt almost wild at one point, especially in the last tournament I played on Sunday when I went to final 9 with almost triple the stack of anyone else. Was my fourth place finish in that tournament (rather than the 1st or 2nd I had already mentally assigned myself when the table started) a warning? Other than my misread of my head to head in the blinds match-up against a tight player I should have given credit for a better hand, I thought that my relatively poor finish was the result of lucky breaks for my opponents (a short stack pushing with K/5 and catching his three outer five when I called with K/Qs, for instance), but maybe I loosened up too much. I'll keep an eye on this and see what I can learn.
I won't have as much time to play this weekend, but I'm hopeful I may be able to double my deposits by the end of the month and start preparing to play on nothing but money I've won. Ultimately, I think I'd like to at least be able to play well enough to make some extra money I can use to rebuild my retirement funds. I'd like to think maybe I can go even further than that, but I'm trying to be realistic in my goals.
Good luck to all, and I'll see you at the tables.
I ran completely cold Friday night, not a single cash in any of the tournaments I entered, down about $70 on the evening. Then Saturday I started off in spectacular fashion, cashing in 6 of my first 12 tournaments, including three first places and a fifth place at a 20 table event. I ended on a relatively sour note (0-7, I think), but I was still up significantly on the day. That held over into Sunday, and while I didn't get any first place finishes, I did finish 2nd three times with a couple of other cashes and ended up pushing my total winnings on the weekend to about $260.
How do I think I played? Overall pretty well, especially on Sunday when I started to run a little card dead and was still able to push deep in some of the tourneys. I only made one or two bone headed plays - overvaluing top pair (again!) and donking for trips on the river against a pair of queens, and not respecting a tight opponents aggression and giving them credit for a much better hand than mine aces with a weakish kicker, allowing them to double up at my expense - but overall I thought I was making some good plays. I consciously adjusted my play for the first time against a player I correctly deduced was playing a weak-passive style, busting him when I flopped two pair and value bet him all in by the river.
I am a little concerned that, in my effort to become more aggressive, I may be crossing over that fine line occasionally into loose aggressive play. I'm certainly not raising/calling/betting with any two cards, and I'm still not really capable of making that huge river bluff, but I felt almost wild at one point, especially in the last tournament I played on Sunday when I went to final 9 with almost triple the stack of anyone else. Was my fourth place finish in that tournament (rather than the 1st or 2nd I had already mentally assigned myself when the table started) a warning? Other than my misread of my head to head in the blinds match-up against a tight player I should have given credit for a better hand, I thought that my relatively poor finish was the result of lucky breaks for my opponents (a short stack pushing with K/5 and catching his three outer five when I called with K/Qs, for instance), but maybe I loosened up too much. I'll keep an eye on this and see what I can learn.
I won't have as much time to play this weekend, but I'm hopeful I may be able to double my deposits by the end of the month and start preparing to play on nothing but money I've won. Ultimately, I think I'd like to at least be able to play well enough to make some extra money I can use to rebuild my retirement funds. I'd like to think maybe I can go even further than that, but I'm trying to be realistic in my goals.
Good luck to all, and I'll see you at the tables.
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