I'm no longer a tank, but more of a pistol. |
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Posted Sun Jul 30, 2006 8:38 am GMT by jimmer
Just thought I'd keep you guys up to date with my poker development.
Just to recap from my last post, I'd built a bank-roll of $23,100 from playing cash games, but really wanted to develop my tournament strategy. Therefore I decided to take myself out of my comfort zone, so I removed $22,900 from my account and booked a holiday to Egypt. (I leave on Friday!) That left me with $200 to conquer the torny's. I decided to start with the $2, 10 seater SnG’s.
I had three key objectives.
1. record my game play, as previously I only recorded specific hand analysis. (usually the ones I lost)
2. develop my bankroll.
3. to play consistent poker.
Things started off quite well. After 21 $2 SnG’s torny’s, I’d won 5, finished 2nd 5 times, finished 3rd 3 times and hadn’t been in the money 8 times. However that soon changed. I went onto a $0.25-$0.50 cash game and watched this really weak player loose loads. I decided I wanted a piece of the action and joined the table. After around two hours I’d lost $40. I’d let myself down so badly, I felt physically sick. I prided myself on my discipline and something had clearly gone wrong. Previously $40 would have meant nothing. Now it was a large chunk of my bank roll and i played out of my limits.
Because of this, I decided to take 1 week off. I really wanted to learn why I acted the way I did. After 7 days, I hadn’t really answered any questions, but I did introduce a new objective within my poker play. This objective is; always take 10 minutes away from the poker table to clearly focus on my goals before I play. Therefore if I decide to have a game of poker as soon as I finish this thread, I have to walk away from my computer and assess my key objectives for the following game. This basically means I’m “opening up-and focusing in”. (it’s a boring business strategy term!)
Since making this decision my poker has gone down hill. Having said this, I don’t think I’ve given it long enough. I’ve played 7 SnG’s, won one and haven’t finished in the money in the other six.
My other objectives are working though, I’m looking at the ‘big picture’ more and assessing my overall game. Anything I’m unsure about I am asking on this forum and getting pretty good answers. Also apart from “that” cash game, my poker is consistent.
I am going to Egypt on Friday and have bought Harrington on Hold’em to read. It’s 444 pages which means I need to read 31pages a day.
I’m finding it hard to realise I am no longer able to loose $100+ in one session as this represents a large percentage of my bankroll. I don’t want to be in this predicament for long and am determined to progress. I am definitely missing an edge, but am not a quitter. I will become a winner, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but it will happen.
Watch this space!
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Posted Mon Jul 31, 2006 3:39 am GMT by LeafsFan1122
Jimmer, it's great how much you analyize your game and the lengths you go to do it. Keep at it, and let us know how Egypt is.
Posted Mon Jul 31, 2006 3:50 am GMT by Poto
It sounds like it wouldn't be a problem to fund your account again if you go broke. You can't spend $22k+ on a holiday to Egypt, can you? If you feel more comfortable with more cash in your account you should think about depositing some more becuase it's never a good idea to play scared.
Posted Mon Jul 31, 2006 2:17 pm GMT by jimmer
| Poto wrote: | | It sounds like it wouldn't be a problem to fund your account again if you go broke. |
Thats not the point. Yes i can easily make money playing cash games, but I want to progress in tornys. At the mo i'm rubbish at tornys
| Poto wrote: | | You can't spend $22k+ on a holiday to Egypt, can you? |
Both my wife and myself have our own businesses-someone has to run them when we are away-this cover those costs.
| Poto wrote: | | It's never a good idea to play scared. |
This comment has hit a nerve with me! I'm unsure weather i play scared, react well underpressure, like a challange or am just kidding myself.
I'm going to think about this one long and hard.
Thanks
Posted Mon Jul 31, 2006 2:35 pm GMT by MrDarling
I agree. This is one of the main reason playing S&G or tourney is easier to me. I already 'lost' the entry fee, and now I'm not playing with real money, just chips.
I also did much better on PS micro levels (talking about pennies here) since, well, lets face it, its only pennies.
Once a bet starts to look big to you , you are in problems.
Posted Mon Jul 31, 2006 7:57 pm GMT by cooler 32
i wouldn't worry too much Jimmer. If you 've won 23K playing poker already, you obviously have what it takes to win. Harrington will show you how to adjust your play to tournaments and you'll be on your way in no time. There's alot more fishy players in tournaments and sit and go's than are playing cash games from what I've seen.
Posted Mon Jul 31, 2006 11:25 pm GMT by greathuskie
heres an idea. leave the book at home, enjoy your trip with your wife in egypt, pick up poker when you get back.
Posted Mon Jul 31, 2006 11:34 pm GMT by weirdofreek
| greathuskie wrote: | | heres an idea. leave the book at home, enjoy your trip with your wife in egypt, pick up poker when you get back. |
Agreed. Poker will be there when you get back. Your spending 22k to for a vacation if you spend your time being preoccupied with poker then you just lost 22k to poker. Have fun and good luck rebuilding your roll.
Posted Mon Jul 31, 2006 11:37 pm GMT by LeafsFan1122
| jimmer wrote: | | I am going to Egypt on Friday and have bought Harrington on Hold’em to read. It’s 444 pages which means I need to read 31pages a day. |
31 pages per day is hardly making him "preoccupied with poker" while he goes on a 2 week vacation. Besides, how about the plan rides? He's much better taking the book IMO.
Posted Tue Aug 01, 2006 2:27 pm GMT by jimmer
| jimmer wrote: | | Poto wrote: | | It's never a good idea to play scared. |
This comment has hit a nerve with me! I'm unsure weather i play scared, react well underpressure, like a challange or am just kidding myself.
I'm going to think about this one long and hard.
Thanks |
Ok, first things first. I was thinking about this until 3.20am this morning. (then got up at 6am to go to work!)-i'm still not 100% on my answer, therefore unsure whether to post my results at all. In answer to the question of why I felt I needed to drop my bankroll, the answer is simply because i wanted to put myself under pressure. However, this got me thinking of 'why i wanted to put myself under pressure'. These are my thoughts;
I like a challange=15%
I'm results driven=80%
I react well under pressure=5%
I think the key factor is i can simply see my bankroll grow easier. Therefore this motivates me more than anything else.
| cooler 32 wrote: | | i wouldn't worry too much Jimmer. If you 've won 23K playing poker already, you obviously have what it takes to win |
Maybe I do, but i want to do succeed in torny's. I hate losing and have never quitted anything in my life. I have a 9 year-old half-sister and i can't lose to her at snap, alone a swimming or running race. My wife says "let her win". I say "why?"
I've never understood the reason in doing something half hearted. I guarantee you all, one day i'll play poker professionally, but it's not because of the lifestyle or money. It's because I hate losing and want to be the best. It's either all-or-nothing. I chose All.
| greathuskie wrote: | | heres an idea. leave the book at home, enjoy your trip with your wife in egypt, pick up poker when you get back |
Not an option. If i don't take a book on poker, it'll be on blackjack percentages, football statistics, loop-holes in business laws............ the list goes on. When i'm on holiday i have time to think. Therefore i always come off my hols motivated to succeed. This usually invloves new ways to make money, new strategies/business opportunities/ways to gain an edge of sports betting etc. On my last holiday i even read a book on "how to publish your own novel" I came home and spent two months writing every night until midnight.
I'm gonna develop an idea, when i return from my hols, so it might as well be poker.
Posted Tue Aug 01, 2006 4:45 pm GMT by greathuskie
you, like me, have a very addictive personality. its not good for gambling.
Posted Thu Aug 03, 2006 6:28 pm GMT by Johny
You're going on vacation for a month, forget about poker. A break would probably do you some good.
Posted Thu Aug 03, 2006 8:29 pm GMT by vyni
Oh man, mine must be missing something.... intro to conclusion 376 pages. I got screwed! lol I've speed read it before, but decided recently myself to take a closer look into it. It is a good book on tourney play, but a lot of stating the obvious. If you've played a lot of tourneys, you'll be thinking 'duh' to much of it. I have vol 2 waiting on my desk, and I'll order vol 3 when I start it.
Seriously though, it would be real good for you to take your mind off poker on your vacation. When even the strongest players step away for a bit, it takes them a few to shake the dust off when they return. In this case, that's exactly what you want. A step away from the cash mind.
My reasoning for this is fairly simple, and I apollogize for stating what is obvious here to our regs and more experienced players, but it needs to be said for those newer players that come across this conversation: cash games and tourneys are 2 totaly different worlds, illustrated very well by the issue here with jimmer.
My responce to jimmers situation is based on several assumptions (mother of all what?): jimmers a very regular and experienced cash game player. When someone like him sits down in a cash game, he knows what hes doing and will make the right moves at the right time. He'll whoop some butt in a cash game. I'm assuming like most experienced players, he's not running numbers in his head on every hand, weighing in the pot odds. It's assumed his experience has made it very natural to him, and his actions (realized or not) are based on that experience: in any cash game situation he already knows how to react to conditions without extensive thought on his part. This is not a bad thing, this where you want to be. Once the cards and bet reactions are natural, he can better focus on other players patterns and reactions.
All of this is very important in tourneys too, in fact even more so. But the fast rising blinds bring a lot of pressure into it: you're going to make a stack or be busted out. You cant sit around waiting for the perfect hand. You have to read that table and start making moves sooner or later or those blinds will eat you up. I'm not saying jimmers doing this, I'm just stating what should be obvious again.
Jimmer, you'll be fine. Take that break, loose your feel just a little bit. Come back and dedicate yourself to tourneys. The confidence and comfort will come back to you, and your natural reactions will adjust for the altered play and conditions. I dont think you're scared as suggested above, I think you're just rattled deep in your head. Bet you're accustomed to being superior at the table, and getting respect for it. The expected results as you make the transition have subconsciencely screwed you for the moment. It will return as you build a new set of experiences to draw from. All will be second nature again in good time.
.. and I wouldnt call it an 'addictive' personality. I'm much the same, if you're going to do something, do it well and go all the way. Why settle for second rate? It's not a bad trait: I think its one of my strengths actually 
Bottom line, nothings happened here that should not have been predicted. You'll be fine. Dont spend too much time looking at yourself asking what is wrong: that in itself can do massive damage to your game. You know you're a good player, so try and relax into it. If your goal is to become one of the best however, I wouldnt recommend flopping back and forth between the tourneys and cash games. Would seem logical to pick one path and focus exclusively on it. You're a cash man moving to tourney play. Your feel for the game has to adjust, and it will do so on its own in little time.
Since I'm writing a book here apparently...
the fast paced blinds of online tourneys means lady luck has a hidden seat at your table, and she's going to take shots at you. Happens in cash games of course, but she can sting much worse in tourneys. Even the best tourney players can bust out early. You have to come to terms with this... in a cash game I can get my chips back from the kid who made the wrong call at the right time. In a tourney, if I busted from it, I have to wait and watch someone else recover my chips from them. That sucks and can drive you mad if you let it. lol
2 cents? That felt more like a quarter!
Posted Fri Aug 04, 2006 1:49 am GMT by MrDarling
excellent post from vyni ,
Don't forget, when you are going down in limits, the levels of the players change and sometimes you have to adjust. You simply can't play a 1000NL player like you play a 10NL player.
Also, like you your self said, all of a sudden losing 4 buyins is a big deal and might shake your confidence.
If you really look at your statics since starting this , you are still almost 50% ITM in all the S&G you played.
A good vacation will do you good. I see no real problem taking a poker book with you, if you are sure you can stay away from any poker rooms while on vacation
btw, where in Egypt do you go? I've only been in the north parts - Sinai. Hilton Dahab is a great resort and (at least was) extremely cheap when I was there.
Posted Fri Aug 04, 2006 3:31 pm GMT by Jefecaminador
jimmer, not to sound offensive, but do you have OCD? You seem unnaturally focused on the things you do.
I would tell you just to relax and take it slowly, just play your tournies and slowly learn from those experiences. But I don't think thats how you work so just remeber, cash games and tournies are a completely different monster. You have to have a great deal of luck to do well in any individual tourny. There are tons of different situations that will come up in tournys that just dont happen in cash games. Like someone calling your all in preflop with AQ vs KK. With deep stacks, this will almost never happen in a cash game. But in tournies it happens all the time.
Why does that matter? It matters because 30% of the time you WILL lose. Luck is unaviodable in tournies, you just have to live with it. So don't beat yourself up too much when you bust out, the best play isnt always the one that makes you the money, and the best player doesnt even come close to always winning.
Posted Fri Aug 04, 2006 3:50 pm GMT by Dave B
I would give yourself more money and start w/ $30-$50 SNGs. You might find that people start playing "poker" at these levels, and they gamble less.
I have always found my swings to me massive at lower buyin SNGs. I might win 2-3 out of 5 and finish in the money on 6-7 in a row, then drop 10 in a row w/ people sucking out on hands that wouldnt even get a call at bigger games.
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