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
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