Poker is not just Poker

Originally posted by zachrina
I have played a fair bit this month already.

I have been practising playing 10 tables in cascade mode. Anyone have any thoughts on table display options?? I noticed a few guys do stacked tables but I'm a bit frightened of making a wrong play when the tables pop up!!

I quite like the cascade mode TBH and it feels comfortable. I can just watch each table disappear as my aces and kings are inevitably cracked.

I have dropped down to the $3.50's whilst doing this but it appears that no sooner I hit a decent run (which lasted 2 days at best) I am of course on another horrible downswing. I refuse to let it take over my blog and start posting hands this time. Maybe this is a breakthrough????

I am still suspended from work on full pay. I am not happy about the way this has all gone TBH and will be looking for another job if I keep this one. Back to poker.

Graph for this month so far:

As we can see it appears I have been unlucky!!!! If that's what all in ev really means??

It has been really horrible and yet again left me thinking it is not possible beat these SNGs. Of course, I do know it is possible as many good players do beat em!!

HEY!!

I actually stack 15 tables and when I lose 5 games I just tile 10 between 2 screens so I can focus on bubble or 3 way play.

What can make stacking easier is if you have bet slider options and hot keys along with "popup table whenver user action is required" under advanced multi-table options.

About the wrong play when tables pop up... yeah that happened to me a few times when I started stacking, but eventually I got used to it. I still fold TT-AA every now and then ♠_cool: ♠_cool: ♠_cool: ♠_cool: ♠_cool:

If cascade is your thing then apply whatever is comfortable for you because it'll be +EV for your game ♠_grin: ♠_grin: ♠_grin:

Merry Christmas all,

So it's been an interesting year.

I kicked off 2013 with some decent online MTT scores which rolled me for the year. After realising they were due to a fishy little heater I decided to seek out some advice and found this site. Thank you PS I have now managed to lose most of my roll. Mostly due to my stupidity and terrible mindset. I do feel I am now a far better player and am looking forward to 2014.

I also had a big live score and also some other decent cashes along the way. My record live is pretty good and only wish I could play more. One more live tourney this year between Christmas and New year which I am really looking forward to. I still have over 5K of the big win so now I'm unemployed will use this to see me through January.

I also just lost my job which to be honest is probably a good thing long term. I hate fixing trucks but never thought I would get sacked!!! We move on and look forward. I plan to never have to fix trucks again so in the new year will be weighing up my options for a new career. Poker is not a realistic possibility at this time, I'm simply not good enough. My mind is also not ready.

So for 2014 I aim to Have a plan set out in the first 2 weeks of January. Feel pretty anxious and daunted about the whole situation but also pretty excited about the next chapter.

December results:

Happy that the red line is going in the right direction for once. I mixed in some MTSNGs too, and dropped down to $3.50s. I will probably keep at this level and will possibly keep some MTSNGs in there too but not decided yet.

Have a great Christmas/Holiday period people. And all the best for 2014 x

Wow, I made day 2 of the Christmas cracker tournament here in Manchester.
I played the last flight of 4 which attracted a massive 200+ entries. Overall there were over 600 entries for a prizepool of over £60k for a £110 BI.

I am sitting right about avg on 100,200 going back today at 2000/4000/500.
115 players return with probably around 60 odd getting paid.

The day started pretty good but had a decent player to my left who saw through my every move. RR my iso's etc. He fortunately bust after level 6 or so but I became card dead and was grinding 10 bigs for sooooo long! I sat patient and picked some good resteal spots. Then decided to squeeze shove 76o after 4 limpers for around 15 bigs. An aggro nutter decided to call with J5s and I flopped a 7 and built my stack from there. In the last level I lost a 60k pot with my AK being rivered by a 7 to the A7 of a shorty. All in all I can't complain and proved yet again that the patient nitty approach can get you a long way in live poker. (not including the 76o of course!!).

So now I'm unemployed I could really do with going deep in this one.

Not sure if there will be a live blog as yet but updates and details can be found here:

http://www.aworldofpoker.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=37426

Good luck man! Keep us updated

Thanks Tino,

Plan is to keep it ABC but the demon inside me may surface!!!!!!

Think the field will thin pretty quickly as there are so many short stacks. With 10k in the middle to steal in the first level I may get over excited.

There are some shocking players but also a fair few good ones so table draw will be key.

Ah, well let's hope for the best then! Hopefully it'll be a good draw allowing you to completely pwn everyone at your table

Home already, bust in around 95th, 33 off the money.

My AQ could not beat them 9's.

Unlucky

Best of luck for 2014 - self control is the key. You know what to do; now you just have to do it.

Chees Tim, you hit the nail on the head.

2014

Okay, so it's the start of a new year and we all look forward with optimism at what we are going to achieve!!

My goals are simple (and not regarded as SMART):

Focus and concentration

This is my main leak by a mile. I have realised that in everything I do I am not focussed. I have not really grasped the importance of "Living in the now". My mind is constantly going over and over things which means I don't do anything to my full potential. I need to give my mind a chance to rest.

Many people do this anyway but I have realised for some time that I have trouble relaxing. I will be working on focussing fully (or the best I can) on whatever I am doing at any one time and try not to worry about everything else that has gone on in the past and may happen in the future. I have been reading an awesome book (well listening to an audio book as I can't concentrate on reading ) called The power of now by Eckhart Tolle. This book is so eye opening and I would recommend it to anyone and everyone.

I genuinely believe that when I fix my focus issues I will be a much happier person.

Plan

I aim to plan ahead and structure my poker learning and will be also implementing this in everyday life. I will know what is to be done each day/week focus on each event then move onto the next. Obviously life isn't this simple and things are always subject to change.

Exercise

I have always been a bit of an all or nothing kind of guy. When I go to the gym I go obsessively, same with diet etc. I aim to do some form of exercise each day even if it means doing 50 push ups or a 10 minute jog. I also have a gym membership but need to decide whether I am going to keep it as yet. I am taking part in an event called Tough Mudder this year which is a 12 mile assault course of epic proportions and will require a lot of training. Thought this would give me something to focus on regarding my fitness.

Job

I am currently unemployed due to a falling out at my new place of work. I have not enjoyed fixing trucks for, well, ever really. I worked abroad for many years which helped kill the boredom and also brought in loads of cash and of course I enjoyed the travelling. I an lucky enough to have a wife who earns a decent wage so can focus (there's that word again) on gaining employment in what I have a greater interest in. I have been volunteering as a mentor and also helping young offenders for around 5 years and this is something I wish to pursue for a job. I have already applied for a few positions and plan to even look at doing further education. I have already gained some qualifications in this field which I did part time at my local Uni and also through The Open Uni. So, to carry on with my voluntary roles and gain employment in this area of work preferably by end of February would be ideal. I am now using my live poker winnings to BR life!!

Poker

Poker wise, I will stay playing the $3.50 6 max SNGs until I am beating them. Focus on reviewing at least one game and any questionable hands after each session. Focus on warming up before each session by either watching a short video, reading an article or reviewing stats. Focus fully when I am playing.

I have been working with Tim64 and look to be doing so for the foreseeable future. Tim's a great guy as I've said before and I am happy to have someone of his experience show an interest in my game. Hopefully I can repay the time he has invested. There are some good people here on PS and I'm so glad to be a part of the community.

So basically it's focus focus focus all the way for 2014!!!

"The more you focus on time, the past and the future, the more you miss of the now. The most precious thing there is. " (Eckhart Tolle, The power of now.)

Okay so I don't want to come across as some spiritual fruit cake but I do believe this is so important. Check out the book you will not be disappointed.

Good luck this year guys

^^
Great post, great goals. Well done on finding such a diamond of a wife

Originally posted by Tim64
^^
Great post, great goals. Well done on finding such a diamond of a wife

Thanks Tim, she is a diamond. I'm virtually the "housewife" anyway so no real biggy me being unemployed. She's not quite grasped the fact that all people involved in poker are not gambling degen's (just some of us)

How did I miss this?

I agree with Tim, great post! Hope you'll be able to keep your focus

And yeah, I try not to talk poker too much with people that don't have a clue about it. They usually also just think I'm a degen

I thought you'd deserted me!

It is so difficult convincing people about the good people in poker. The image people have is of sweaty con men in cowboy hats.

I think poker should change its name to some thing like Bescrablio (I just made that up BTW). Bescrabliostrategy.com, mmmmmmm!

Nice blog, nice goals, I'll be following you sir!

Thanks for stopping by. I will read through yours soon.

Your schedule looks great and Schnitzelfisch has some great stuff out there eh.

Originally posted by zachrina
I thought you'd deserted me!

Never!

I have no idea how you came up with the name Bescrablio, but I love it

It kind of describes the state of my brain, Bescrablio'd

Week 1

Okay so first week over since starting a coaching arrangement with Tim64.

I agreed to play 125 games a week which I thought would be easy.

It proved to be right on the line in terms of getting it done without playing too many tables. This will become easier but my personal life requires lots of attention what with the job search and upcoming holiday and my wife's 40th birthday party to arrange.

I have stuck to my plan of watching a video to warm up and also reviewing after sessions, at least 1 game. I have found that watching material that is relevant to the game I'm playing is definitely a good move. I used to try and cram in anything and everything which just served to confuse me mostly.

127 games
4 tabling $3.50's
ROI 10.3%
EV ROI 16%
Profit $45.97

Graph for the week:

Really happy with my play. Still plenty of spots to work on but I am running below EV which is also nice. I feel that have not ran particularly good or bad so shall look forward to the twists and turns that the coming weeks have to offer. My mental game has been tested but nothing too bad as yet.
I am working on focussing and DO NOT involve myself in any other activity whilst playing. I have even cut out the music.

FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS (No pressure )