Back on track

After being variance's redheaded step child for a a couple of weeks, I again had a very good weekend. Trying to remain analytical about everything, here are the reasons I believe I have started winning again:

1. I dropped down to one table play. Smaller payouts, but fewer people to beat as well, and since I like the style from a book that was specifically designed for single table tournaments, it makes a frightening amount of sense that actually playing that style at a single table might show results.

2. Taking breaks. I have to force myself to do it (I can be a touch obsessive), but I think it has been helping to have cooling off and re-energizing periods. My play can get a touch sloppy when I've taken a bad beat at times, but with breaks those loses don't "accumulate" past a certain level.

Whatever the reason, I cashed in just over half of the tournaments I played this weekend (20/39), and most of those cashes were 1st and 2nd places (only two 3rds and a min-cash in my weekly donkament). I also had a couple of bubble busts that statistically "should" have gone my way (KK vs. JJ & AA vs. 33), but I think these were mediated by the standard "bad beats" I dealt out myself (sucking out against a low pair with AK, one massive triple up when I made a questionable decision to chase the NFD and got paid off by both villains on the river when I hit).

April is almost over, and my dreams of grinding up quickly have been squashed (as they should), so I thought I'd set more realistic goals for May:

1. Post a gain of $400 for the month. This may be either wildly high or low; I've made as much as $250 in a single weekend, but my results have been pretty variant lately and I'm not sure how much ROI to expect long term yet; I'll also be playing more starting the middle of May - potentially a couple of hours daily - so maybe I'll consider using May/June as baseline months to see how much I could reasonable expect to generate at my current skill level.
2. Read strategy book on head's-up play (to change some of those 2nd place finishes to 1st)
3. Incorporate a workout schedule along with a poker schedule to stick to now that internship is finishing and I'll have a ton more free time.

I was pretty encouraged by this past weekend's results, but I'm going to do my best to keep look looking at things analytically, finding the holes in my game, and steadily improving.

Best of luck to one and all, and I'll see you at the tables.
SGT RJ

Live play, donks, and musings

I spent four days in Vegas a few weeks ago, and of course the vast majority of that time was spent at the poker tables. I finished slightly ahead in tournament play (coming in 2nd in a small rebuy tournament, and 3rd in a sit and go), and a little down in cash play. Since I lost the vast majority of the money I did lose in a couple of hands when I had great (but not quite good enough) hand, I feel pretty good about this. When you get all-in with AA and KK sucks out, I don't feel that's a reflection of my play. It's just variance. I did make a new resolution to never slowplay anything weaker than a strong flush after I picked up trip aces while holding AK on an AAx flop and checked it, allowing someone holding a pair of eights to pick up the full house on the turn. I also learned that the computerized poker tables at the Ex Caliber are an absolute fish tank - once I got over the annoyance of playing on a computer, which is what I do when I'm NOT in Vegas, the perks of not having a dealer to tip (still a rake, though) and being able to feast on complete noobs who would stack off with just about ATC made it the place my boyfriend and I decided to play most frequently. We'll probably play there again next time we go back, and I'll definitely play the Venetian $150 noon tourney again. I outlasted half the field both times, and both times I made it to ante play with a nice stack, so if nothing else I feel like my ability to collect some chips in the early stages of a tournament has improved significantly. I have a problem switching gears in the middle stages, but hopefully by the next time I go back I'll have made some progress there as well. Just a great tourney, though, deep stacked and slow enough to allow for some play other than fold or shove.

Since I've been back home, it's online on the weekends again. I've been finding it difficult at times to not get really wound up when I take a horrible beat from some donk who had no real business being in the hand. For example, I make a standard 3BB raise from UTG +2 and get called by one player on my immediate left. Flop is AJ4 rainbow, so I've picked up TPTK and bet about 3/4 of the pot, which he calls. Turn is another blank, another lead out by me and another call. At this point I'm starting to get a little concerned - did he pick up trips and is letting me just bet into him? Still, the river is a 7, another blank as far as I can tell, so another bet. He calls, and shows down 47o. Wow, just...wow.

But really, aren't these the players you want to play against? The donks who will call with ATC and call down largish bets with bottom pair, weak kicker? It's just so infuriating when they suck out on the river that I get wound up, and I'm sure it affects my play, although my new habit of taking breaks has cut down on that, I think. I'm just not sure what, if anything, I should do differently here. Bet smaller to control pot size against an opponent I know won't fold if he hit any piece (including a gut shot straight draw) of the flop? Maybe a way I could reframe it so that I don't get riled up?

Anyway, I just feel like I don't know where I'm at right now. My results have been steadily off since I hit my peak about 5 weeks ago. I can't tell if it's variance, bad play, or a combination of the two (I'm leaning towards the third option here). I find myself making better, smarter plays sometimes (I was more attuned to weak looking donk bets this weekend thanks to some 2+2 forum discussion, and successfully snapped off several of them), and I don't think I'm making the same bad plays as often, but my results are off and I don't know what to do to fix that. I think part of it has to be patience - I've only been playing seriously for about 6 months now, and to expect to be posting gains every weekend isn't realistic. But how can I find more of my weak spots to improve?

Well, that's all from me for now. Good luck to one and all, and I'll see you at the tables.

SGT RJ