However one week later I feel better able to cope with the ups and downs of the game and have reloaded my account to give an adequate bankroll for the levels I wish to play at for the next month.
Last time I went through a terrible run I made about $8k back in three weeks playing 2-4nl and 3-6nl with some good discipline. I know I can do it and will be attempting to rebuild at these stakes again. It is a level where I know I am a comfortable winning player and I'm not going to set any goals as to how much I'm looking to win. I'm just going to play well and let results take care of themselves. I'm pretty committed to playing at these stakes throughout february and see how things have gone at the end of the month.
Anyway I returned yesterday and played extremely solidly, I've found a couple of players who are very easy to steal from which helps when cards are not going my way. Anyway I won $900 during yesterday and it feels wonderful to be off to a good start.
Anyway things which will differentiate my play from previously will be apparant more away from the table than before.
- No individual sessions of longer than 2hrs and at least a 30min (preferably longer) break between sessions.
- Sensible sleeping patterns - up in the morning and in bed by 3am (exception next weekend for the superbowl though)
- Not feeling like I need to play at any point - no targets, no expectations just play when I want to within the above parameters
- Walking - Nat has started going for walks every evening and I need to join her or go during the day at least 5 times a week.
- Some live poker - I will be going this week, never played live in the UK before and it's quite exciting as a prospect. I'll probably play quite low first time and then move up to y online stakes once I'm comfortable with the surroundings etc.
Overall the strategy can be condensed to play less - win more as hopefully this will enable me to focus at all times and not get caught up in the game to the detrement of other things in my life.
I'm still not feeling great but I feel a huge amount better than I did a week ago and am satisfied that I am feeling strong enough to cope with whatever the game throws at me. Here's hoping for a better february.
Thanks to all who have commented on my blog during the last couple of weeks, the support and advice is much appreciated and hopefully we'll see evidence of me listening to some of it and improving my lifestyle accordingly.
Steve
2 comments:
Hi Steve, just started reading your blog as i have always been interested in stepping up my poker play to maybe one day play as a profession. Last year i played some cash games and started well with some $800 profit in first 2 weeks, however this was followed by a big dent the following month and that was me running scared! I did hoever win a $20 7.5k tournament at the start of the month and made a healthy $2k profit.
I was wondering whether you had any advice for me for cash games please? I'm struggling to make the transition from tournaments to cash games. Maybe this is telling me something but i do feel i have what it takes.
Good to hear you have come back refreshed, hope the profit continues for you.
Cash games generally require more patience than tournaments in my experience. Because you don;t have the pressure of increasing blinds your stack is always worth the same
amount regardless of how long you've been at the table.
When I play tournaments my style is a lot looser as befits the structure and I would suggest that more considered play is needed for cash games.
If you are not used to them I would recommend starting with one table at stakes you are comfortable with and observing every hand regardless of whether you were involved. - Look at the hand histories to see what people are betting and calling down with as this will give you a much better idea of what is likely to work for you as a strategy.
Part of the difference is that because there is not that big cash prize glittering at the end cash games can feel like it is a bit of a grind as you will never have that massive pay day like in a tournament. However cash is a lot steadier and rewards analysis and patience.
If you haven't already I would strongly recommend buying and using pokertracker as this can help identify what positions you struggle in, hands you lose more with and this can help to plug gaps. Even for experienced players it is a very useful tool as I found myself suddenly becoming a muppet with KQ which I hadn't realised until I went over my stats.
In essence patience and constant analysis are probably the two key areas to making the change as yu will have elongated periods where you get absolutely nowhere playing cash and avoiding tilt during these periods is vital to long term profitability.
Steve
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