Sp(r)in(ts) & Go(als) - SmartSpinning

Another update, i took yesterday off, as usual did 15min meditation session and later went for a run. Tried to avoid poker as much as possible to get some rest from it a bit.

Today started my session with a fresh mind, but i did notice that i start to concentrate on my mistakes too much, that interrupts my thought process about how i should play, but once i realized it i just let those thoughts go and i was able to play solid poker afterwards. This is exactly what my meditation exercises have been about. Nice to see that i am able to use it outside of just practice.

In the afternoon did study session, focused on that HU BB, seems like i did clarify the factors when i should iso my opp limps and how their ranges should be.

Notably i did manage to win 10x multiplier today, have been a while since i have got one.

Short update, not that interesting day poker wise, dropped the ball at the beginning, because i skipped my warm up routine, later on fixed it. Looking at graphs i did really great in HU BB. Plan for tomorrow is to do the usual warm up routine before my grind, so i can get it going from the start.

Weekly Report

:club:Volume: 294
:club:CEV: 33
:club:Weakest part of the game this week: HU SB
:club:Strongest part of the game: According to PT its HU BB (I'm excluding 3handed BTN as its hard to be bad at it)
Only 4/6 warm ups before sessions this week
:club:3 runs + workouts this week
5 meditation sessions

Overall graph

Next weeks goals

:diamond:Target volume: 400 games
:diamond:Target cev: 50
Do warm up before each session
:diamond:Meditate 5 times a week
:diamond:Go for 3 runs this week
Do at least 5 sessions 3 tabling
:diamond:Read and make notes about 2 psychology articles
:diamond:Wake up 1h earlier than currently.

Crazy day, Day started off with great news that one of my friends is now a father of 3 healthy baby boys, really happy about them, crazy challenge a head of them.
Pokerwise i did woke up 1h earlier than usual, just as i was intended to, did get 20 games before noon, thats the time i usually only start my grind. After that i did ~90min study session, covered different topics, at the start we went through whole hh, later switched to 3handed BB as i noticed that i am probably defending too tight.

Later on i saw this tweet that got me thinking a lot and threw me off my game for most of my day afterwards.

It has been like that for a while for me, that i see the progress in my game but its very slow overall, pretty much - two steps forward, one step backwards. Before i started this blog again, i wasn't able to see my own weaknesses and the issues i have. Now they are definitely clearer.

I did watch this Mastering the Mental Game of Poker - Jared Tendler Nice to see how my mental game have developed in past 2 years since i watched it first time. Main things i recognized small versions of fear (doubt, worry and anxiety), the fact that i am not always present while playing, i am not paying enough attention- getting and analyzing all the available information. Noticed that currently all the new stuff that i learn i cant get past Conscious Competence. I think i should be able to fix it if i work on previous two issues a lot more.

I wasn't sure if i should make my last session after all this, but i was behind my volume goal for today, so i decided to at least give it a try, and it went really good, probably best session this year. Also at the end this was my best day profit wise +600$, i did great in all the big multipliers won 2 10x, 3 6x and 7 4x.

Mondays graph

Goal update

Volume: 72/400
Cev: 89/50
Warm up (done)
Meditation 1/5
Wake up earlier (done)

Hey.
Yesterday was my day off. I did my meditation session and went for a run, after that i did listen to 2 interesting podcasts. Joe Rogans interview with Lance Armstrong, i had heard about that scandal, but never had raised an eyebrow about it. Interesting to hear how far passion and competitiveness for something you do can go. Next one was Midstakes Living with Adam “Coffeeyay” Sobolewski. Interesting to hear how he is approaching the game and how mathematical it can be for HU hypers and Spins.

Today, i did start with nice warm up, where i started out with equilab EQ training and it didn't went as well as i expected, but it def helped in todays sessions. I think i will try to do at least 100 situations every day. First 2 sessions went really well. Finally got my new glasses, its quite hard to get use to them, so i was a bit distracted in my 3rd session. 4th session went okey.

Wednesday

Goal update

Volume: 148/400
Cev: 65/50
Warm up 2/2
Meditation 3/3
Wake up earlier 3/3
avg abs diff 5.2% after 100 hands

Rough start of the day, a lot of set ups that did put me off balance for a while and caused few spewy and rushed decisions. Later on i did change it around but was not able to finish in green - cev wise. First time in 15$ spins got 25x multiplier and i did manage to win it. Looking at graphs im loosing a lot in 3handed sb non showdown hands, and HU SB overall, will look at those spots again tomorrow. After the run and workout, my brain just don't want to work anymore.

Thursday

Goal update

Volume: 219/400
Cev: 38/50
Warm up 3/3
Meditation 4/4
Wake up earlier 4/4
avg abs diff 5.4% after 150 hands

Started pretty well yesterday, managed to win a lot of flips. I did take a look at 3handed SB play, and filtered different stats in my databases to compare things and how my opponents play. In the last session i was pushing myself to play a bit too much just to get that volume goal, so my ev line suffered from that a bit. I did win another 25x multiplier, 2/2 atm.

For next week i will try to focus a bit more goals on studying, a part from warm ups, i am not spending enough time studying, some 4h a week is a bit too little. Looking back at this week its hard to find a time when i should have put that study sessions in, because after the grind i am mentally exhausted and it doesn't seem very productive doing than. Solution could be to take 1 or 2 days that i play only 1/2 of this weeks volume and than for rest of the day i put in work studying.

Friday

Goal update

Volume: 296/400
Cev: 18/50
Warm up 4/4
Meditation 5/5
Wake up earlier 6/6
avg abs diff 5.3% after 200 hands

Week update

Yesterday i spent ~3h studying, did EQ training and than went and analyzed my biggest mistakes and did mistake correction from each session. Main thing that i underestimate the EQ i have in hands vs my opponents range, especially in HU SB limped pots, where BB check back very weak range. Today set the record - 104 games. In the beginning i thought that there is very little chance for me to complete my volume goal. Over time i slowly started to gain some confidence that allowed for longer sessions.

I did manage to complete almost all of my goals, failed only at CEV and i didn't try 3 tabling this week, no excuses i just wasn't at that level to maintain 50cev. Happy about my decision to wake up for 1h earlier. It feels way better and i can do more stuff in daytime. About 2 psychology articles, i switched them out vs 2 Jared Tendlers videos about mental game. Hard but valuable week that opened my eyes a bit wider onto my problems and leaks in my game.

Volume: 401/400
Cev: 17/50
Warm up 5/5
Meditation 6/6
Wake up earlier 7/7
Did all 3 runs this week

Next weeks goal list tomorrow

When you find yourself in front of the hole you have dug - fill it up and use it as a pool.

Basically it was what happened today, terrible start, bad play, bad luck + fatigue from yesterdays marathon session. Did 90 min study session with stable mate as usual, took closer look at HU sb. After that i went for a run, today tried it a bit differently, slower but a bit longer distance, so it was ~45 min run at the end. Cleared my mind and was ready to try again and it went really smooth up to be point.

Goals for this week 3

Volume goal: 350 games
CEV: 50
Meditation 6 times
Run at least 3 times
Warm up before each session
500 hands in EQ training
Analyze 50 mistakes from EQ training

Monday

nice blog and nice discipline.i used to run a lot in the summer to clear my mind.it's hard when you play poker full time.i played spin and goes up to 15$ but now i play the 7$ but not with a great volume.

anyway discipline and setting goals every week will bring you far so good luck and keep crushing.

Thanks alxpoker for kind words, atm only thing that is crushing is my EV line and its going down. Its been a rough road, but things that i do away from the tables - running and meditation, have def helped me to stay on track. Its winter atm for me, for last 2 months temp has been mostly under 0 degrees Celsius, so first few times it was a bit difficult to adjust to harsher conditions, but i just made my runs a bit shorter and slower until i did adjust. I suggest you give it a try no matter whats the weather outside for you.

OKey, so today started off with 50 hands @ EQ lab and 5 analyzed mistakes, avg. mistake was only 4.2% compared to previous sessions. Today i noticed that there might be a pattern, even after warm up my first session just isn't as good as my sessions later on. I feel kind of fine, can't get the right words, a bit inpatient, irritable if the things are not going my way. Will need to pay attention in my next session and i will try to make it only 30-40mins long, take a little break and go again soon after, will see how it goes.

I did lower my volume goal a bit because i almost got burnt out yesterday in result of that marathon session i did just to achieve my goal. As i am planning on doing more studying this week, so it makes sense to make achievable goals that do more good than bad.

Goal update

Volume 147/350 games
CEV: -5/50
Meditation : 1/6
Running : 1/3
Warm up before each session : 2/2
500 hands in EQ training: 50/500
Analyze 50 mistakes from EQ training : 5/50

Tuesday

Something relaxing after the day.

i run in the winter too i don't have problem but i don't do it so often now because now i am working full time and i am doing Crossfit at the gym so i run only when i want to clear my mind or so.

i am interested in studying spins because even with my volume i am planning to move to 15$ and then to 30$.if you want we can talk on skype and see maybe we can accomplish something more together.

Cool, doing any exercises regularly is awesome it def will help you in almost every aspect of your life. Yeah, why not, i don't think that my game is at the level where my advice is too beneficial for others but who knows maybe we can help each other a bit. Send me a PM.

Today is my day off, the plan is to do 100 or 150 EQ hands and analyze mistakes, later on running and meditation. Maybe some HH reviews in evening.

Impressive

Today was very productive day, got a lot of things done. Started off with HH review in the morning and than did my first session as i mentioned before i tried to make it shorter than usual and it went better than usual, still things to work out there. I am so motivated to play at the beginning that i make silly mistakes because of that and shorter first session could break that pattern. Later i did 50 hands in equilab and i did really bad 5.4% avg mistake, i was surprised about that. While i analyzed my mistakes i realized that i was rushing my decisions and not thinking them through. I made little exercise for myself i found online timer and for every hand i did 10s count down and made my decisions only after those 10s were up and in next 50 hands my avg mistake was only 3.1%. Same thing i was trying to do while i played my last 2 sessions and it felt really great.

Yesterday i did find awesome blog here on ps - Eatyourpeas blog still only on page 6 as there is so much great stuff that i dont want to skip it.

Goal update

Volume 245/350 games
CEV: 8/50
Meditation : 3/6
Running : 2/3
Warm up before each session : 3/3
500 hands in EQ training: 250/500
Analyze 50 mistakes from EQ training : 20/50

Thursday

Good vibes after long day

Friday in the beginning i was very focused and was on great start, later my focus slipped, just wasn't able to get back into the zone, even after watching hands from that session and not seeing anything too bad, but main mistake was not planning my day properly, that will be one of the goals for next week. Later went for a run and watched some IEM Katowice CS:GO play off to cool off from the day.

Today i am satisfied with my play, my head was in the game and i liked my thought process. A lot of setups, but they could't knock me out of the zone. Each day my understanding of the game seems to be cleared and better, quite a lot of aha moments. This week has shown that i can easily be more productive than before as i player 368 games, i think that making a real schedule will show where i can improve even more, atm it seems that i will be able to put in more study hours.

Goal update

Volume 368/350 games
CEV: -2/50
Meditation : 5/6
Running : 3/3
Warm up before each session : 5/5
500 hands in EQ training: 350/500
Analyze 50 mistakes from EQ training : 30/50

Friday and Saturday

Weekly Update

Interesting and challenging week this was. Lets start with volume, i did 368 games and i achieved my volume goal quite easily, if i had managed my time better i could have done 400 games as my understanding of the game got better i did free up a lot of mental energy so i was able to do longer sessions.

Cev wise this was bad week, better than previous one even if results are similar but i know that i did run quite poorly at least 2 days. My work in EQ lab training and analyzing my own hands is starting to pay off.

I did only 350 hands in EQ lab and 30 mistakes but i dont feel that bad about not achieving it this week, poor time management did not allow me to do it properly as there is little or close to no use to just click buttons and do it as fast as possible, because the goal is to learn something new and correct my faulty thought process post flop. That's why quality over quantity.

Non poker stuff wise i like my daily routine. I did meditate 5 times last week and went for 4 runs instead of 3. It seems easier to stick with going for a run every other day than doing it some other way.

Volume 368/350 games
CEV: -2/50
Meditation : 5/6
Running : 3/3
Warm up before each session : 5/5
500 hands in EQ training: 350/500
Analyze 50 mistakes from EQ training : 30/50

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Week 4

Yesterday i decided to try and schedule all my day from waking up till the evening, when to study, grind, take a break, do study session, etc. The day ended up being quite productive as i was not able to procrastinate or wast too much time. It's very challenging task to do and i will try to stick with it for a week and see how it works out.

This was first time i was in the zone for 95% of my sessions across 9h workday. The day was quite packed with eq training, coaching and 4 sessions. At the end i felt a little fatigue setting in but i did finish my plan for the day and first time in a while it showed in the graph, there were very few pre flop set ups in my favor and most of the money went in post flop.

Goal list #4

Volume: 59/400
Cev: 101/50
Meditation 1/6
Running 0/3
500 hands in EQ lab: 100/500
Analyze 50 mistakes from EQ training : 10/50
Make schedules for each day 1/7

Monday

Today was quite okey. I did manage to stick with my schedule, did study session with @alxpoker91 for 90mins. I didnt sleep too well this night so was not able to have the same focus as yesterday but it clearly showed what is my B/c game and how it works. My current B/C game involves mr too much and cbeting too much, because my energy lvls are not high enough i am thinking about hands way simpler than i should as my current though processes are not yet at subconscious competence level. After i noticed this i took a break eat some chocolate and made myself a cup of tea. It's not ideal but if you need quick fix this can work well for a while.

After the session i did went for a run and it was quite a challenge. Today it did snow for most of the day so everything was covered with 5-6cm snow layer. Streets were not cleaned so i had to run on the road where everything was just in the water plus it started to rain just as i went out of the home. I did only ~1.5km distance, but at least i did it.

Goal list #4

Volume: 129/400
Cev: 57/50
Meditation 2/6
Running 1/3
500 hands in EQ lab: 200/500
Analyze 50 mistakes from EQ training : 20/50
Make schedules for each day 2/7

Tuesday

Today was my day off, definitely needed it, last few nights i have slept quite poorly, one of the reason i can see is that my body is not yet ready to play+ study poker 9-10h a day on constant basis with that schedule i have atm. Will take a look at how i can improve it maybe day off every 3 days and a bit shorter sessions, just to not burn out. Yesterday i did have solid 2 sessions, but the 3rd session didnt go too good, wasn't able to get my mind back into thinking about poker.

Regarding goal list i decided that it makes little sense to make schedule for my day offs.
Goal list #4

Volume: 173/400
Cev: 25/50
Meditation 4/6
Running 2/3
500 hands in EQ lab: 250/500
Analyze 50 mistakes from EQ training : 25/50
Make schedules for each day 4/7

Awesome announcement! Today i joined Smart Spin team. Crazy journey ahead of me, really exited at the moment.

So this means that i will cancel my current goals for this week. Now starts the studying process, a lot of new stuff to learn, hard to say what kind of goals i will set for myself for next week. Once i get back to grinding there will be more lists like i did till now and daily updates, but till that time i will just hop in once in a while to reflect to my time that i have spent studying.

Today i spent most of the day setting up all the software that is required. I feel like an expert now about everything in PT4
Still no playing as i need to study and learn the materials i have at my disposal now, already created a list of things that i want to do and how to do them for tomorrow.

I watched WC Biathlons Mass start, that was one of the craziest races i have ever seen, cool to see that there is someone who can beat Fourcade fair and square and stop his dominance. The legend Björndalen still have something left in him and can still fight shoulder by shoulder with guys that are almost 20 years younger than him in sport that is so physical.