Wednesday I cashed in 2 out of 20 MTTs and 2 out of 7 satellites. I made a few deep runs but had most of them cut short right before the money. I think the momentum of a few good days may have taken me out of the zone I was in. I have only been back grinding a little over two months and this last week was filled with my best results since coming back. It is so easy to book a few good scores and get a little over confident or possibly just lose a little focus that you had when you were hungrier for a score.
To be completely honest I think I may have encountered these two leaks but on a small scale. I think I was a little to willing to stray mildly outside my buy-in range. I think I also took a couple risks at the table that I am not very happy with and it could have come from having more buy-ins. I will say that I have still been giving almost a lesson a day, going over HHs daily, and talking over lots of single hands in poker chat. I have been thinking and playing very optimal. I feel good about how much I have grown over the last two weeks but believe I took a small step backwards the last two days and will be leaping back forward starting now.
I just noticed the last two days I was more comfortable than I want to be and I didn't even win very much. The only thing I did was increased my BR to a point where I can play the levels I was already playing with a comfortable roll instead of a risky roll. All I mean by that is with a 100 buy-in roll there is still some risk and the ability to adjust your buy-ins as your BR swings is very important. With a 200 buy-in roll you can stay at the level you are rolled for longer without having to adjust your buy-ins after a few day downswing. The bottom line is that a 200 buy-in roll is way better and less risk adverse but a 100 buy-in roll could work as long as a person could make great decisions as the roll goes up and down.
I think I let the small upswing get me a little to comfortable and I want to notice this, admit, and get past it as fast as possible. Basically just by admitting this to myself and sharing it with y'all I am getting past it. Tomorrow I will play a few less tables and increase my focus on every decision. I will also stick closer to the buy-in parameters I have set for myself. I think some of y'all would laugh if you knew the severity of the mistakes I had made. Honestly it's not like I played the DHR with a $215 buy-in. The mistakes were not huge and I was also able to still get some cashes and broke about even the last two days but I know I can do better. I was playing between $11-$22 and under and $3 rebuy and under with a 100 buy-ins then basically doubled my roll. I decided I would stay at $22 and under and $5 rebuy and under but actually be rolled for it with 200 buy-ins. The leaks I am talking about was me playing a few 33s and $11 rebuys. I also played a $60 MTT on Monday. To be honest some of these shots can even be justified as long as your average stays where you need. I just felt I was a little to lax when making the decision to buy-in to those MTTs, like all of the sudden I had all the money in the world. I can't let a couple small scores affect me in any way and I should be very hungry to keep reaching my goals.
Coming from a pool background where game selection and handicapping, also called giving some weight or taking weight, is so important you should be able to understand that truly knowing how you play would be very valuable. Imagine a guy coming into the pool hall with a giant ego and an idea that he plays way better than he does. This guy is liable to walk up to the best player in the room and get in a game way over his head. The guy with the ego is probably not ever thinking about the chance of him losing and even as it happens he is liable to find reasons to believe its a fluke. The only way to make money in a pool hall is to know exactly how you play and what you can expect of yourself. This also helps you improve along the way because you know what to work on. All the best gamblers I knew didn't even necessarily have to play good, they just needed to know how they played and match up accordingly.
I think this all relates to poker in so many ways. There are so many players that have no idea what their leaks are or what they could do about them. Several of them don't even know what the right plays are and these players are easy to spot. You know the guys that get real short and shove and then when someone calls them optimally they type in "how do you call with that". Another example is when a decent player that is following a shove chart gets his chips in optimally and is called by a better hand, then somehow gets there and then is berated with a "why are you getting it in with that hand". Obviously if the whiner in these examples knew anything about optimal play they would understand but I am sure these type guys truly believe they play well and that the optimal plays where awful. The point I am most trying to make is about being honest with yourself about your abilities and what you need to work on. I think being honest with yourself is the fastest way to improve. No ego, no emotion, just poker.
I think now I will make a steak and relax a bit before going over a few hands and doing a small review. I think I would like to end my evening by working on my game as a way to prepare for better things to come tomorrow. My mistakes over the last couple days were small but fixing them and adding more focus and desire can only help. I really am trying to communicate some of the ways I try and help myself and lead by example for all my students. This game is beatable if you can play optimally and more importantly control yourself. Hard work does pay off, so get to work.
If anyone is interested in getting poker lessons please contact me at variance101@gmail.com. My lessons are $50 an hour with a minimum of 3 hours. With the lessons I also place all my students in a poker chat on skype to help with the daily learning and improving between lessons. I also keep myself available daily for answering questions and for review of a single hands. If this sounds good to you please email me to book lessons or have any of your questions answered.
LONG LIVE ONLINE POKER!
#TEAMVARIANCE101
Love how you related poker to pool in that you must know your game and what youre capable of. The temptation of playing outside of your skill level and beyond your bank roll is something that must be controlled in order to be successful
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