Diamond from Italy

Hi coaches, first of all thanks for your interest.

In this period I'm a little bit confused because of a badrun, but in these days I'll play and write all my problems in order to be more specific about the things to work on. Btw I'll try to answer to your questions.

I think I know the things on which I should focus, but I have yet to find the right balance with the game, I usually start playing 4x with the highest concentration possible, and after (it can be 30 mins, 60mins, or sometimes 15min) my concentration drops:
- because I have the impression of winning too slowly (or losing), and I go in search of a greater number of tables (and then I step to automatic mode because I can't play my A-game with more than 5 tables)
- simply because the mind is distracted by the thought of previous hands or by external factors.
Perhaps the problem is that until now I did profit easily without having to focus 100% on the poker game and while I was wont hurt the outset (eg chatting or reading 3d on strategy while I'm grinding), and now that I play with greater responsibility and I would always play at 100% I become nervous when I don't do it.

Generally when I start a session I do a sort of mental commentary in which I observe and comment in the third person, but after a short time the mind tends to wander, I do not think out of boredom, but to an unconscious mechanism that makes me think: "Ok, I'm losing, needless to be there 100% focused, hopefully in a few profitable spots" or "Okay, I'm winning, I can keep winning even without being 100% focused."
Of course there are times when this doesn't happen, usually when I can optimize my days and realize all the goals; on the contrary happens to me more often on days where I can not arrange perfectly due to unforeseen external circumstances or lack of willpower.

If I had to choose 2 issues from my mental diary, in this moment I'd say:

1) I have to improve my will power in order to be constant.
I'm the typical man that says: "Ok, I'll do it later" for all the things that I don't love to do, and I have to write strong duties and rules in order to respect them. It works well, but once that I don't respect a rule, I begin not to respect the others until the end of the day.
2) I have to play my A-game in every moment of the game. Often I don't do it because of lazyness or arrogance.

I close this long confused post with two examples:
My mind while I'm playing with a well-known reg:
"ok, he made a 3bet, but I know he 3bets a lot of bluff, I can 4bet my A5s. I should open the popup and see how much he fold to 4bet when he is SB, but now I don't want, he will fold."

"Ok, I'm going to call his 3bet because his shove/range is QQ+. Standard cbet, I call with TP, I don't want to raise him, I want to potcontrol against this nitty (Oh God, my girlfiend wants me to be there at 10, later I have to choose a movie) (turn automatically called). Oh he is pushing me on the river, well ok, he represents AA, then.. maybe...he could have..(time-bank activated)..Ok ,I call, let's see.
P.S. Obviously he makes 3barrels only with nuts. :facepalm:

Hey again!

winning too slowly

Regarding this problem.. it might be a problem that you're focusing on winning/losing instead of playing correctly ♦. I do understand that sometimes there's very little action on the tables. And then you open more tables and you immediately get more action on all of the tables, and then... :).

How about focusing on fixing a leak/applying a new concept during each session? Or if there's no action, you can take a look at the notes on your opponents in case you've forgot something, maybe go through their popups to make some additional notes, or even watch the hands that you're not involved in to get some additional reads?

thinking about the past hands

In this situation, it makes sense to take a short break, go to the bathroom, think about the hand and analyze it if you need to, write down your thoughts on a piece of paper or make a note, then once you're done resume the session. What do you think about that?

random thoughts invading your brain

Here, the problem is most likely that you have too many things in your head/too many open loops (things that you know you should do, and then they haunt you, or you've remembered them because you forgot them before, etc...).

You can deal with this by writing as many things down as possible. You remember something during the session? Pause it and/or write it on a piece of paper. Move on with your poker game.

Of course, it's even better to clear your head before the poker session. So you could take a couple of minutes before you begin the session, think about the things that you might need to do later on and write them down :). This way, your head will be way clearer during the session.

Does this make sense? Do you have any thoughts/questions?

Let me know :)!

-Primož

Originally posted by Schnitzelfisch
Hey again!

winning too slowly

Regarding this problem.. it might be a problem that you're focusing on winning/losing instead of playing correctly ♦. I do understand that sometimes there's very little action on the tables. And then you open more tables and you immediately get more action on all of the tables, and then... :).

How about focusing on fixing a leak/applying a new concept during each session? Or if there's no action, you can take a look at the notes on your opponents in case you've forgot something, maybe go through their popups to make some additional notes, or even watch the hands that you're not involved in to get some additional reads?

You're right (obviously ♦ ), in fact I'm not seeing the profit but it's easy to know how the sessione is going, when playing 4-5x and sometimes this problem appears. I like your idea, even if it is part of my A-game, the problem is when it changes in a B-game. However, I'll try to focus on a skill to improve, study and play in the same time, and I'll write the moments when I fail with this purpose and what my mind thinks.

thinking about the past hands

In this situation, it makes sense to take a short break, go to the bathroom, think about the hand and analyze it if you need to, write down your thoughts on a piece of paper or make a note, then once you're done resume the session. What do you think about that?

Ok, I agree, I will execute it!

random thoughts invading your brain

Here, the problem is most likely that you have too many things in your head/too many open loops (things that you know you should do, and then they haunt you, or you've remembered them because you forgot them before, etc...).

You can deal with this by writing as many things down as possible. You remember something during the session? Pause it and/or write it on a piece of paper. Move on with your poker game.

Of course, it's even better to clear your head before the poker session. So you could take a couple of minutes before you begin the session, think about the things that you might need to do later on and write them down :). This way, your head will be way clearer during the session.

Does this make sense? Do you have any thoughts/questions?

Let me know :)!

-Primož

In reality, I'm already used to write all the things in the middle of the session, but it's a great idea to write them before the session, spending 5 minutes to clean my mind. Tonight I'll try, tomorrow I'll leave a feedback for all these advices. TY coach. ♦

Originally posted by katewalker1
1. and after (it can be 30 mins, 60mins, or sometimes 15min) my concentration

2. "Okay, I'm winning, I can keep winning even without being 100% focused."

3.I have to play my A-game in every moment of the game. Often I don't do it because of lazyness or arrogance.

1. Have you tried setting alarms every 15 min that is a wake up call to see how present you are in the session? How much you are in the now.

2. What about talking the mental commentary out loud? This has the added benefit to be a more active approach. You also get to hear yourself when the logic isn't there. It's harder to justify making a bad play when you so obviuously know its wrong. his also helps keeping the "mental noise" out.

3. Try to make the game fun so you have something you are working on 3b/4b defence etc. then you can fall back on that and make that the priority of the session. Or rather dedicate the session to focus on these spots (combine this with talking those spots out loud). Are you doing something like his already?

Hi Ennio, hope you are doing well?

Just a nudge for you to try to keep your thread current by updating your progress or thoughts etc. I do realise you might be busy and/or may have posted elsewhere, it's just a reminder.

Oh and your English isn't terrible at all.

Have fun with Bootcamp,

Mal.

Ty for the reminder, gadget51, it's time to update. I don't know how to judge this phrase about my English, but I want to be optimistic

It is the 16 of March, it's time to participate actively to this bootcamp, and prove that I'm a soldier ready to do sacrifices in order to improve day by day.

Why did not I done it so far? Because I've badly organized my time, I had got a lot of commitments and I haven't prepared daily and weekly lists. Probably because in February I wasn't been able to complete the objectives of the lists, because I was demanding too much from myself,and in the mid-month came that downswing that had discouraged me, making me think, "OK, this month has gone, in March things will change."
My great problem is this: "procrastination". I'm good to organize the things to do and then tell: "OK, I will start Monday (or in March, or after the 16 of March ). At the beginning of this year I finally started preparing lists weekly, daily, monthly, and writing down on paper my goals and try to see what are the most important goals and the most important things to realize that goal, and I noticed great improvements, but as soon as something goes wrong I let the other things go; I know I'm just starting this journey and I know that is normal, I just have to work on it.

I want to thank the two coaches who have provided me with interesting ideas, thanks to which now I can play more often my A-game . For now I'm using the idea to write all my thoughts on a paper before the session, to talk out loud when playing (great for me because I can better control my 1000k thoughts), to set an alarm each 15 min to do a check of my condition and my eventual A-game deviations,writing this stuff on a paper (and after the session on my mental diary).
I've also read the other threads and I've stolen other advices: surely I need to improve the organization of my days and I think the motivation and mindfulness exercises can help a lot to keep me in the present.; I started 2 days ago, but first impressions are good.
From now on, I'm going to follow the suggestion to apply myself on a topic of strategy in particular, I'll share it with a friend and then we will make post-session together, perhaps it could take off a bit of time but I am sure it will help a lot to stay focused and meet the commitments.
From today I will do everything with a purpose, from April i will decide an argument for each week and focus on it, with video, articles and discussion. Until the end of the month, the goal will be to focus on all the points highlighted by the videos, coaching and 3d of this bootcamp and participate actively to the most important discussions.

Yesterday I watched the profit after 15 days, I thought I was above 9-10 stacks, instead I was breakeven, then I realized that they have lost 8 stack in a session. Any advice on how to avoid these things? Do not look at the profit is very good for my mindset, but if I looked I would have imposed a stop-loss limit of 3 stacks and I would not have lost all that money. The mental diary of that day said that I had tried a nuisance after a bad beat for the session that was going wrong, and I wrote that I had resumed playing B-game.

I will update soon for feedback and new problems of mental game that will come out in the next few days.

Let's come to the strategical part; I'll write only two lines for now, but Sunday I'll write another long and technical post with my troubles and doubts.
I want to begin posting my bigger hands all-time (the second one...few days later my level-up from nl20 to nl50, on a saturday night ):

IPoker, $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

CO: $51.75 (103.5 bb)
BTN: $115.83 (231.7 bb)
SB: $12.12 (24.2 bb)
BB: $55.36 (110.7 bb)
UTG: $53.75 (107.5 bb)
Hero (MP): $185.43 (370.9 bb)

Preflop: Hero is MP with 4 4
UTG folds, Hero raises to $1.50, CO folds, BTN raises to $2.50, SB calls $2.25, BB folds, Hero calls $1

Flop: ($8) T 2 4 (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $6, BTN raises to $12, SB folds, Hero raises to $33, BTN calls $21

Turn: ($74) 5 (2 players)
Hero bets $37, BTN calls $37

River: ($148) J (2 players)
Hero bets $74, BTN calls $43.33 and is all-in

Results:

IPoker, $0.25/$0.50, $0.10 ante No Limit Hold'em Cash, 4 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

BTN: $196.35 (392.7 bb)
SB: $40.40 (80.8 bb)
Hero (BB): $227.76 (455.5 bb)
CO: $116.33 (232.7 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A A
CO folds, BTN calls $0.50, SB completes, Hero raises to $2.50, BTN raises to $8.40, SB folds, Hero raises to $26.10, BTN raises to $196.25 and is all-in, Hero calls $170.15

Flop: ($393.40) J 9 7 (2 players, 1 is all-in)
Turn: ($393.40) K (2 players, 1 is all-in)
River: ($393.40) 8 (2 players, 1 is all-in)

Results:

In the last week I have been very concerned about the game against 3bet, from UTG I have received so little action that I could not see the effects of the strategy indicated by pleno in the first coaching of this bootcamp (I chose not-4bet strategy, I believe that in my field flatting the 3bet OOP is something that floors them a lot, especially including the monster hands).

See you next time...

Originally posted by katewalker1
Any advice on how to avoid these things? Do not look at the profit is very good for my mindset, but if I looked I would have imposed a stop-loss limit of 3 stacks and I would not have lost all that money.

Great to hear you are doing well

Well you might have lost 8 buyins anyway. How many of those 8 buyins were coolers and how much was bad play. Even if you are playing perfectly and never tilt, you will have long periods of losing session eventually. It's not the number of buyins that you lose that is the problem It's the mental commentary and judgment of that situation, if it effects you negatively emotionally, that will make you alter your game to get out of the negative emotion.

The loss of 3 buyins is neither good or bad, it just is. We have lost three buyins thats the fact. How we then label that experience and the mental chatter that comes up is the commentary. If you bring awareness of the same kind that you do when meditating into that situation there will be less negativity, less tilt.

If you want some more Mindfulness mp3s etc to work with just add me on Skype

You're totally right Erik, I'll add you as soon as possible, ty.

As promised, I thought about my strategical leaks, and the first one is that I'm playing without balancing my check/fold OOP when I'm aggressor; I've watched the Oblioo's video and it's fantastic, I'm gonna to apply all these theory and practice every day with a random flop trying to build a check/raise, check/call, check/fold and cbet range against a specific villain, I think it can help me a lot.

Another problem I've found is how to reduce my fold to raise cbet (I'm at 64%, absolutely too much!!), I know that I must reduce my cbet flop, but the two problems are obviously related, so maybe I can fix 2 problems simultaneously.
Next week will be for me the week of "action vs 3bet", during which I'm going to fucus my attention before, during and after every session in every single spot when I'm facing a 3bet; actually I think I have a good calling range (25%) but I'm folding too much (60%), I would 4bet/call more instead of folding. Tomorrow I'll begin to analyze & post some interesting spots.

Originally posted by katewalker1
You're totally right Erik, I'll add you as soon as possible, ty.

As promised, I thought about my strategical leaks, and the first one is that I'm playing without balancing my check/fold OOP when I'm aggressor; I've watched the Oblioo's video and it's fantastic, I'm gonna to apply all these theory and practice every day with a random flop trying to build a check/raise, check/call, check/fold and cbet range against a specific villain, I think it can help me a lot.

Another problem I've found is how to reduce my fold to raise cbet (I'm at 64%, absolutely too much!!), I know that I must reduce my cbet flop, but the two problems are obviously related, so maybe I can fix 2 problems simultaneously.
Next week will be for me the week of "action vs 3bet", during which I'm going to fucus my attention before, during and after every session in every single spot when I'm facing a 3bet; actually I think I have a good calling range (25%) but I'm folding too much (60%), I would 4bet/call more instead of folding. Tomorrow I'll begin to analyze & post some interesting spots.

Great! Whenever you want. + Friendly bump!

Originally posted by katewalker1
Tomorrow I'll begin to analyze & post some interesting spots.

Tomorrow in my personal english vocabulary means "maybe next week.. maybe"

So I have a lot of excuses with my self, the truth is that I'm trying to follow all the mental and strategical stuffs from this great bootcamp, so I spend the most part of my time learning more than analyzing my game. So I'm sure I will have a lot of questions when this bootcamp will end, and after analyzing all that things in a more specific way. ♦

For the mental part, I'm experimenting a lot of things but they need time I guess, but the improvements are evident.

For the strategy part, I'm still focusing on the game against 3bet, I think I have all the basis but I'm too readable, so I'm trying to bluff a little bit more, expecially when I'm deep, so my stats will have less explitable values.
Some examples when I don't have great informations and I don't have clear ideas:

CO: $92.01 (92 bb)
BTN: $104.20 (104.2 bb)
SB: $190 (190 bb)
BB: $130.43 (130.4 bb)
UTG: $100 (100 bb)
Hero (MP): $213.16 (213.2 bb)

Preflop: Hero is MP with K A
UTG folds, Hero raises to $3, 2 folds, SB raises to $11, BB folds, Hero calls $8

Flop: ($23) 7 6 9 (2 players)
SB bets $15, Hero raises to $32, SB raises to $89, Hero folds

Results:

Only 137 hands on SB, he is a 20/19 3bet=10, fold to 3bet=83, no information about the postflop (only wtsd=20). I think this is not a great spot to 4bet, but a great spot to call and try to bluff him later. With this flop, what is the best plan for the flop and eventually the turn? Maybe with a raise I'm not representing too much, better a call planning a float, a double float on a balnk or raise on a scary?
And in general, what has to be my calling range hands against his 3bet in this situation?

BB: $181.85 (181.9 bb)
UTG: $55.15 (55.2 bb)
MP: $112.30 (112.3 bb)
CO: $82.73 (82.7 bb)
Hero (BTN): $100 (100 bb)
SB: $74.72 (74.7 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BTN with A Q
3 folds, Hero raises to $3, SB folds, BB raises to $9, Hero calls $6

Flop: ($18.50) 9 2 8 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $9.25, BB calls $9.25

Turn: ($37) Q (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

River: ($37) 3 (2 players)
BB bets $26, Hero calls $26

Results:

Villain is a 20/17, 3bets only 4,5% (only 600 hands) but 11% against hero;
fold to steal from BB = 74%, resteal from BB 8%.

I think it's a standard call, but neither in this case I have a great plan for the postlop. He cbets 60% on the flop and when he skips it the is almost always check/folding, so I'm betting the 100% of times on his check. He's more aggressive on the later street and have a WTSD = 22. A solid player I guess.

This time he makes a check/call, so he can have a weak value hand or he's trapping me, so I make a check behind. On the river I just make a call. Standard? What kind of hands can I flat against his resteal? I need more specific informations before planning good bluffs against him?

Now I want to focus on my CO game trying to follow the advices of the third seminar; great job, coach