6k Challenge Day 8/40
Total games on 3$ limit so far 1041/6000
Profit +105$
ITM 37.4%
ROI 3.36%
4 and 6 tabling
7$ limit
Profit +266$
Total 668 games, 15 hours 12 minutes
ITM 37%
ROI 5.69%
Combined 42 hours 11 minutes and 1709/6000
Great day!
Swings on 7$ limit but overcame them by winning 10x 6x and 4x multipliers which there were a lot of in the 1st and 2nd session of grinding. 2nd and 3rd session downswing was happening and I remember when I checked ITM after 3 sessions that it was 36% definitely less then 37%! Got home, ate diner and started grinding. Within 5 minutes of grinding noticed my focus was off and that I needed to de-screen so I finished 6-10 games and went to bed. Studied with elpsycho 1 hour and then took a 1 hour nap 10-11pm! Woke up, grinded another long session which consisted of 1 hour 45 minutes.
Total for the day is 241 games, 5 hours and 14 minutes.
Results were great for the day too but the most important thing is the control that I feel on this limit while 6 tabling. I now see and realize why my friend was suggesting me to get to 30$ limit as soon as possible. I thank him for his words of praising my skill knowledge and mindset but I will stay on 7$ limit until get enough money to power up my roll and connect some winning months.
Here is the graph for today:
Here is a graph for the challenge so far:
Finally, I want to talk about setting goals and challenges!
Based on my calculations I need 750 hours to get to SN and with 6 tabling and expected win rate that I have (without any review or improving my game) I can get to 13k or so $ post RB. Now, 750 hours is very attainable time by the end of the year, but I want to talk about 3 key things when setting up this goal and then some more.
1) Trigger
2) Actual habit (grinding)
3) Reward
Trigger is something used to set up and start the habit. For my mourning routine when I go to bathroom brush my teeth and get back towards living room and bed, I do 15 push ups in front of it and then I go for breakfast, coffee with best friend and do the rest of my day. For grinding, my trigger is connecting laptop to my monitor, connecting keyboard and external mouse, bringing the system up and as soon as system starts HM2 run as admin and Poker Stars client immediately follows. From then on I decide based on my energy level if I will play medium session 1 hour, short bellow 45 minutes or longer one 1.5 hour or more.
So trigger for grinding habit is set in place!
Actual habit is very important, in this case it is steady grind. Grinding is something that comes very naturally to me. Most people play poker to get rich fast, I understand the variance and that is all about putting massive volume to get the results wanted. So I accept grinding just like I accept water, sun , sky and the fact that I need to sleep eat etc. This is just something that is necessary if I want to achieve winning results in poker. With actual grinding I always try to reward myself and make things challenging by increasing number of tables 1st (started challenge with 2-3 tables, then went to 4, now playing 6 for several days without problem - by the end of challenge I will most likely do more then 6 tables!) and I also like to have Netflix playing something in the background. It actually helps me focus much better because I am used to high pressure situations naturally as a musician and performer - I am always excepted to play my best and perform my best. I approach poker the same way. Also, it is very fun when you have Netflix in the background, 6 tabling spins and knowing that game plan is profitable and making money. I feel powerful in a way like I just need to log in, clock my grinding hours and over time paycheck is coming. Very powerful feeling and knowing that 99% of the things I can actually have a huge affect on in poker when it comes to my hourly and money earned but that 1% is variance (when or how long it will last).
Reward is very, if not the most important part of goal setting, challenges and behavior change!
By setting up rewards you get to look forward to your actual habit because you know there will be something for you by the end of the challenge. When reward is not there, during times when you lack motivation to power through you are way more likely to give up the habit/goal/challenge/behavior change.
For me, reward comes in many forms. First and most important form is that my dad will be debt free, have an apartment paid in full and that he can without stress continue to live his retirement days here in Serbia where things are very much standing still, economy sucks but ongoing bills and cost of living is going up! So that is my major reward and this is the least I can do for the person that sacrificed his life to have a family, worked super hard to put them through schools and always is there for them. Other forms of rewards are different and they are as following for me: 1) When I have a profitable month with 1.5k+ post RB, I take 150$ and with that money I take a 10 buy in shot at 15$ limit! If I don't loose that money I continue grinding, if I loose it I drop down to 7$ and grind until next month with same approach. 2) When I complete my monthly goal I take a day to go to spa, get massage, swim in a pool , hang in jaccuzi and sauna and just regenerate my body 3) I take my family and friends to my favorite restaurant for treat to thank them for being there for me, providing me support of different sorts.
Other sorts of rewards may include things like buying something nice for myself (new jeans, shirt, pants , shoes etc) or simply taking a day off and just hooking up with a girl or two for that day.
Now, there is couple of more things to say about challenges, goals and setting things up properly.
In my case goal is 750 hours of grinding to get to 12k$ post RB. Instead of looking at just that, it is of vital importance to make a detail plan how to accomplish it. I did that yesterday and I showed that in 5 months of steady 150 hours grinding that is achievable. That means 5 hours steady grinding no excuses each day. The question is how realistic this is? What about days off to regenerate, days with family, friends, girls, for myself time? Those things also need to be accounted for! So 1 day per week off on average means that in 6 months that goal is very well within the reach!
Another crucial thing is to run a calendar with this blog and hold myself accountable for the goal that I set. That is how I use my blog. I set the goal and every day I update it to keep myself accountable. It is like running a journal where all the entries are happening and when I look into it, read it, I don't want to break the chain of habit and events! Now I see 8 days of grinding steady for the challenge, ahead of the pace - guess what, I will do my best not to brake the chain on day 9, day 10 and so on and so forth!
Final thing about habit forming, goals and challenges is tracking energy levels and listening to my body. If I feel tired and my head hurts, it is -EV to play. Best play is to regenerate, rest relax, take a power nap, take a walk, work out, drink water, eat fruits and vegetables etc. The solution is not to lie in bed and stare in the monitor or TV. It is usually everything but that! So when I feel that I have energy, on those days instead of doing 5 hours planed I will do more because that helps me get to my 750 hours grinding goal faster or 150 hours for month faster and with those days with motivation burst usually A game follows easier in the zone and flow!
OK, that is everything for now about setting up new habits, goals and challenges as well as behavior change. In couple of days when 1st of April comes, I will set up this 750 hours challenge into monthly chunks as well and do everything that I mentioned above as I am doing now!
Hope you enjoyed today's update and that it added value to your life in one way or the other!
After they left I grinded 1st session for the day and managed to put 47 games in. Following grind were 2 guitar and music lessons from which I spent about 1 hour discussing general strategy with elpsycho (studying) and put in 1 super long session 4 tabling with 107 games. Now the day is over and I am super excited to rest for tomorrow. 
