Hy,
great blog & hand analysis. I'm playing the 6 & 11 dollar Sngs over at partypoker, but i will be moving my BR to pokerstars in July. Maybe we could hook up for a sweat session then?
grtz
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Originally posted by rstohr
Hy,great blog & hand analysis. I'm playing the 6 & 11 dollar Sngs over at partypoker, but i will be moving my BR to pokerstars in July. Maybe we could hook up for a sweat session then?
grtz
Hey rstohr yeah we could try something. I'll send u a personal message (there's icons at the top slightly to the right from center where u can see an envelope) and maybe we can work something out. Thanks for the positive comments 
Been playing quite a bit this week, close to the 1k mark, but it's not been as awesome as last week. I've had a bit of a downer and am on a breakeven stretch atm. I kept facing better hands or ppl sucked out on me, sucked hardcore. Especially when ITM, I just hardly win any hands once the bubble breaks. Hope it ends soon and I start raking in the $$$$$$ again cause I'm itching for the 16$ turbos.
I've read the new gold article about the bubble factor (twice now, still not exaclty sure I can use the stuff there properly so gonna read it more) and noticed a certain book was recommended in it. I'm not gonna say which one just so I raise curiosity a bit 
But i did spend 2k FPPs and ordered it, hope it gets here soon. Maybe not the best rakeback but if I master the book and the skills in it I may never need rakeback again ♦ So here's to me using the book and it's knowledge to the max!!
I'm going to post a few fun hands today, no need to evaluate, these are just to brighten the blog up a bit and maybe give u an itch to go hunting for some more fish ♠_cool: So without further delay:
This one was a real thriller of a sorts lol:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $6.00+$0.50 Tournament, 100/200 Blinds 25 Ante (5 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Hero (SB) (t1765)
BB (t2955)
UTG (t3460)
MP (t1070)
Button (t4250)
Hero's M: 4.15
Preflop: Hero is SB with 7
, 6
3 folds, Hero bets t1740 (All-In), BB calls t1540
Flop: (t3605) 7
, Q
, 7
(2 players, 1 all-in)
Turn: (t3605) Q (2 players, 1 all-in)
River: (t3605) 7 (2 players, 1 all-in)
Total pot: t3605
Villain held AQo!
Talk about sucking out on the river 1 outers FTW hehe ♦
Just when u think u got it covered on the flop and there's gonna be some nice chips and money heading ur way ... (note I folded on the flop btw:P)
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $6.00+$0.50 Tournament, 100/200 Blinds 25 Ante (4 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Hero (BB) (t1925)
UTG (t5570)
Button (t2410)
SB (t3595)
Hero's M: 4.81
Preflop: Hero is BB with J, 9
UTG calls t200, Button calls t200, 1 fold, Hero checks
Flop: (t800) 8, 3, A (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG checks, Button bets t600, Hero folds, UTG raises to t1200, Button raises to t2185 (All-In), UTG calls t985
Turn: (t5170) J (2 players, 1 all-in)
River: (t5170) J (2 players, 1 all-in)
Total pot: t5170
CO held KT diamonds
BU held AJo !!!
The dealer goes and gives the other guy a full house! lawl I was so happy when they went all in and was counting my moniez ... too soon
Pot commited?! WTH is that?! There's always a fold button out there and this guy sure used it lol ♦
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $6.00+$0.50 Tournament, 10/20 Blinds (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
CO (t780)
Button (t2240)
SB (t1480)
BB (t1500)
UTG (t1500)
UTG+1 (t1500)
MP1 (t1500)
MP2 (t1500)
Hero (MP3) (t1500)
Hero's M: 50.00
Preflop: Hero is MP3 with 5, 5
2 folds, MP1 bets t80, 1 fold, Hero calls t80, 1 fold, Button calls t80, 1 fold, BB calls t60
Flop: (t330) 3, 9, 5 (4 players)
BB bets t220, 1 fold, Hero calls t220, 1 fold
Turn: (t770) 4 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t400, BB calls t400
River: (t1570) 6 (2 players)
BB bets t460, Hero raises to t800 (All-In), 1 fold
Total pot: t2490
How can u bet fold that river? Lol the only reason I mind is because he folded a worse hand and the xtra chips would look good. Why the push? Well I wouldn't have much of a stack left ... and a comeback would be possible but ... I knew I was good here ♦
OK this much for now Hope this put at least a bit of a smile if u were down and a big grin if u've just dealt beats like those around For my part here's my BR: 1443$ ROI dropped like a rock to 16% 
Gotta raise it back up again ... and with that in mind I wish u and me the best of luck Cya next time!
Is the book you are talking about Kill Everyone? Also planning on getting it, buth i heared its more usefull for 45man Sngs.
Running at 16% isn't bad at all, my winrate has gone downwards the last days, can't really put my finger on the reason
Originally posted by rstohr
Is the book you are talking about Kill Everyone? Also planning on getting it, buth i heared its more usefull for 45man Sngs.Running at 16% isn't bad at all, my winrate has gone downwards the last days, can't really put my finger on the reason
Yeah that's the book I hope to find it in the mailbox in the coming week and can't wait to get into it. I've been told it's one of the best books for tournament style play out there. Since I eventually want to move to MTTs exclusively I won't mind if it's focused on MTTs mostly. Either way I intend to study it thoroughly.
The last few days have seen me make a steady if rather unsatisfactory income to my BR. Seems I got a bit spoiled by the NL SH rise of tens and even hundreds of dollars per day (tho I have to admit I don't miss the negative income of NL SH at all 
). I've also had a couple of nights where I didn't sleep as well and this especially affected my game yesterday. While I wanted to play a lot more then I actually did play yesterday I decided to stay away and just complete my dailly quota of 50 SnGs. Remember, a good nights sleep and feeling good in general is also key to playing good poker! Try to avoid playing any kind of poker if ur not feeling 100%.
I'm starting to look at the 16$ turbos with anticipation, I hope to be a regular on that level when July comes around. I'm not really sure what to expect when moving from 6.50$ to 16$ so if anyone has made this move before, please share ur experience on what the move was like for u
I've played 22$ SnGs before so the 16$s won't be the biggest I've ever played. With this in mind I hope to avoid the nerves I usually had when I moved up a limit. It is also likely I will start tracking my progress a lot more once I move up. There's little point in doing so now because the 6.50s are so easily beatable by a solid SnG player. Anyway I hope not to be overly challanged when I move up and that I can continue to have a very good winrate.
So all in all I'm very happy to have increased my bankroll this week (I know it's not really over yet but I only plan to go up from here ♠_cool: ). I'm not too happy with my play tho. There's still a lot of room for improvement and I hope to improve by a lot very soon. I mostly find myself having issues with calling ranges when the blinds are so big that nobody has more then 10bBs and average stack is 3-5BBs. I try to follow the pot odds in those scenarios but I'm not entirely sure that is the right way to go, so any advice on this issue would greatly help as well So in conclusion, my BR is at 1556$.
GL to everyone and cya next time
Hey folx another update I've spent a few days with my GF and took a short break for poker as I normally do every week. I find that it's often a good idea to just turn the part of the brain poker resides in off every 5-6 days or so. Just to keep the hunger going, the desire to do good strong and the curiostiy to learn new stuff on a high. Motivation, dedication and discipline are absolutely key, but if one doesn't take time to relax and spend time with those that care about them poker very soon starts to over-saturate ur brain which in a way may make u tilt. Not to mention other possible problems that might start to occur if u don't regulate ur poker intake.
One of the things we've done is explored wether or not I have gambling issues. I thought about doing this alone at first but to be honest I was worried I wouldn't do everything properly alone. It's often easy to recognize the trap questions and simply give the right answer even if it's not the truth. I'm happy to report that everything seems to be in order with my attitude toward poker and this provided another boost for me to try improve and do even better in the future I thought about looking into this in greater detail for some time now (ever since I went over the psychology and didactics articles a few months back) but only collected the courage to do this now. Basic rule of poker: Reason over impulse! Never ignore this!
I came home today and put in a session and something cool happened. I've increased my BR to over 1600$ ♦ This is a milestone because it means I have 100 buyins to play the 16$ sngs now. I've mentioned in the previous post that I wanted to become a regular before july so here's my chance. This also means I have to start following my game more closely now. Any advice on programs that track SnGs and MTTs in a simple way is very welcome!
This much for now, I'm off to take a shot at the 16$s. I'll stay on them until I reach 2700$ or decrease to under 1600$. Wish me luck ♦ Actual BR atm: 1615$
Originally posted by Atoks
This much for now, I'm off to take a shot at the 16$s. I'll stay on them until I reach 2700$ or decrease to under 1600$. Wish me luck ♦ Actual BR atm: 1615$
Hey Atoks
GL with the $16s... IMO you shouldn't move down if you drop under $1600, but do set a mark... I would say if you drop more than 25-30BI then drop down and grind back up... it's too much pressure to insist on an upswing as you move... give yourself some room and allow for the natural variance... otherwise, nice progress 
Originally posted by NickParkes
Originally posted by Atoks
This much for now, I'm off to take a shot at the 16$s. I'll stay on them until I reach 2700$ or decrease to under 1600$. Wish me luck ♦ Actual BR atm: 1615$
Hey Atoks
GL with the $16s... IMO you shouldn't move down if you drop under $1600, but do set a mark... I would say if you drop more than 25-30BI then drop down and grind back up... it's too much pressure to insist on an upswing as you move... give yourself some room and allow for the natural variance... otherwise, nice progress
Yeah I understand what u mean. But if I play 16$s with less then 1600$ I'll owe Flows 1k$ lol. He's kind of strict when it comes to BRM and I have to admit I can see why. So with 1600$ limit in mind I ventured into the exciting unknown of the next level. It didn't go so hawt... out of the 12 I managed to play I got two 2nd places and one 3rd place... and dropped back down to the 6.50$s. I'm thinking I might build up a slightly bigger bankroll say 1750$ and then move up. Not that I don't want to see Flows get his K but not this way
All in all I felt kind of cramped ... I wanted to do well and didn't. I played OK but I made one huge mistake and a few minor ones. I r not happy! But I think if I take shots like this sooner or later I'll keep myself on the limit and be moving on to the next. Right well I r off to bed. BR stands at: 1546$ Tomorrow... owning 6.50$s again ... gl folx
♦ ♦ ♦
imo 25-30 BI is not enough! I prefer to have 100BI because of psycologic reasons. It's of course no problem if you change this border to 1500, 1400 or even 1300 once you have reached the 1600! Everyone has to decide that for himself! The reason for the 1k$ joke was to motivate you to play 16s and to not let you play more 6,50s! IMO you have the skills to beat the 16s with a ROI of at least 10%!
GL
I think looking at the psychological reasons behind your BRM is a good thing... If you don't like going below 100BI for a limit then build your roll up to about 130BI before switching... I completely understand the hesitation 
For me I am gonna switch to around 150BI rule so that I can handle the swings psychologically... there are a couple ways to progress up a limit... I personally like to set myself landmarks... I will add tables of a new limit at each point, so in your example I may say: I play 12-16 tables, so at $1600 I'll play 25% $16s... and then each $100 up I''ll add 2 until I am "weened" off them...
If I manage to move a big enough roll across to stars at first I may try something different in that I may just tray a new limit with 100BI and move down if I lose 30BI+...
I look forward to seeing how your step up goes! GL
I understand what ur trying to say about the move-down limits Flows. And that's exactly the reason I'm being so strict on myself. I've had experiences at the beggining of my poker career that are slightly traumatic just when thinking about them lol. I'll never forget moving to NL100 with 12BI ... I rode my luck but I fell back down hard. And there is NO WAY IN HELL! that I will ever allow that to happen again. I'm often tempted to make a step up, hell make two steps up! Just to see the money roll in faster. But that's contrary to what makes me feel comfortable when I play. Therefore I'm going to be applying strict BRM! If for no other reason simply because it sucks so hard to build the BR back up again lol.
Thanks for your compliment as well Flows. I know I have it in me to beat the 16$s big I just have to bring it out and let it do it's thing ... win money ♦
I like ur thinking Nick. So often people forget that more is in fact more. And not just more money but more comfort zone, more calmness, more security ... It's always nice to give urself a decent cushion and little to worry in terms of BR when u move up. Playing 16 tables tho is a huge challange for me. I've played 12 and had a reasonable winrate but nothing to be proud of. My ROI before rakeback was like 5%. I guess I'll consider playing 9 but not just yet. Out of curiosity what's ur ROI when playing 16 tables? I'll make sure to keep track of my progress as well ... gonna be time to post a few more interesting hands soon ... and hands that I need to pay special attention to in the future. Thankfully there haven't been many horribly miss-played hand recently
So I did in fact go back down to the 6.50$s and did in fact own them up. My BR atm stands at 1678$. I will play about 45 more 6.50s simply because I have a good block of 100 coming together and maybe I can win some more money in the battle of the planets which would be great. After these next 45 I'll review my bankroll and move up to 16s again. This should happen tomorrow. Also I've reached the goal of playing at least 1000 SnGs this month. In total I've thus far played 1099 SnGs wining 1040$ and got an extra 50$ from the signup bonus and an extra 300$ by coming in 2nd in the battle of the planets. All in all my ROI is about 20% which is rather awesome. So here's to me improving this ROI further and continuing to develop as an SnG player ♦
Thanks for your attention so far, I hope u keep coming back and leave useful advice GL to everyone and cya next update!
OK well I`m not sure of exactly My ROI since I started getting up to 16 tables... and I don`t always strictly 16 table... I generally play between 12 and 16 tables and have done over the last 1000 games where I have had an overall ROI of around 12% playing $11s and $22s... personally I have become less concerned with what my ROI is and more concerned with the quality of my decision making... my 1000 tourney breakeven stretch made sure of that... from some of the stuff I have seen ROI will fluctuate over time so it is never acurate and sample sizes always need to be bigger... And although I do make mistakes from time to time due to playing so many tables, I feel that they become less significant due to the increased volume...
My focus is simple... make good decisions... if I am confident there then I wanna churn as many games as I can... If I question my decisions, I analyse and adjust... I feel that this will help me take the next step up as well
Hey folx, been a while I was having a really good weekend, spent a lot of time out with friends and family. There was food and alcohol involved so the last few days were quite exhausting for me But it was good fun and I really do wish for more days like that ... care free, good company and awesome food. Anyway I didn't have much time to poker.
I did move to the 16$ turbos tho. I moved on the day I posted the last update. My plan to achieve a good score for the battle of the planets failed sadly so I decided to move up. My BR was over 1650$ (forgot to note the exact number) so I opened up 6 tables and away I went. I reached the peak of my moving up just today when I made it past 2000$! But then I had two awful sets where nothing went my way and dropped down to under 1750$. That made me look back down a bit but I decided to turn focus back on and finished the last two tables at 1856$. I'm not exactly sure how many I've played but I am looking into obtaining some sort of a program that would help me keep track of these things. I have PT3 but u have to manualy input the places u've finished each SnG and I'd rather consider hiring a secretary for this work then do it myself Suggestions are most welcome!
The play is ... interesting to say the least ... ppl call with odd hands a lot ... which makes me look at SnGWiz a lot and figure out who's move was more correct. I have to work on my calling ranges a bit but I'd also like to collect a few more reads. I'm hardly restealing at all as well because it's difficult to tell what range is good for restealing in certain spots. But I'm sure this will all take care of itself once I get used to the limits and the players a bit more. A lot of regs here tho, some good some bad some awesome too! All in all a proper challange ♦
I'm not sure what kind of goals to set for myself for July tho. I've made plans to go away on vacation with my GF around the 15th and we'll be away for 10 days or so which will cut into poker time a lot as I won't be playing it at all obviously. Also I have plans to be away in August and likely September as well for a week or so. Considering all this I think I will only be moving up in October... and I think a good goal to set for myself is to keep my gold star VIP status meaning I'd have to play at least 600 SnGs each month which is plausible I think. Also I plan to have some poker literature with me when I go away just so I keep in touch so to speak
With all this in mind I guess a cashout or two will occur. Hopefully even more! I plan to use a BR of 3000$ for the 27$turbos. I'm sure I can keep my ROI if I continue to six table, stay focused and not be greedy! So that is also part of my goal. Then come October or late September I hope to make my move up. But if my RL plans change then my poker plans are subject to chage as well
OK well this much for today ... I'll be updating more in the next two weeks, I've been promising hands I know ... I'll get to it I still have some videos to watch tho ... gl everyone! cya
Today has been rather ... intriguing. The bad run of last night continued and at a low point after buyins I was at around 1650$. So I was looking back over my shoulders quite a bit ... wondering if I should switch down or not. I finally decided to switch down if my BR would go under 1550$. It was a poor excuse not to move down really but ... at least I didn't give myself a bigger discount. The next 3 sets of 6 SnGs went a lot better and my BR stands at 1915$. I've played over 40 SnGs so far today and I hope to add another 20 still.
It's likely I will begin to play 9 tables instead of 6. Due to the fact there are so many multi-tablers on this limit the play is considerably slower and I found myself annoyed by this. I've decided to use a BR of over 2100$ to 9 table and move back to 6 tabling at 1750$. I will move down to 6.50$s if my BR goes under 1550$ where I will play 9 SnGs at once. I feel confident about playing 9 tables, the slower tempo means I will have plenty of time to consider my decisions while this will also significantly increase my hourly winrate.
I have also changed my methods of analysis a bit more. I've began using the SnG Wizard a lot more recently in order to get a different view compared to the Nash calculator. I have thought about this for a while and after watching the Nose's last video I realized that the difference between ICM play and Nash equilibrium is significant. This only confirms that sometimes I need to wrap my head around even the most simple of concepts in order to understand them regardless of how often I speak with anyone about these things Oh well ... at least once I learn it this way it sticks with me lol.
This much for now ... book still isn't here but after reviewing my stars emails I realize that it won't be here for some 2 weeks still ... the mail said 4-6 weeks shipping time :\ I just hope it gets here before I go away on my vacations on the 15th ... GL folx, cya around
Originally posted by Atoks
Today has been rather ... intriguing. The bad run of last night continued and at a low point after buyins I was at around 1650$. So I was looking back over my shoulders quite a bit ... wondering if I should switch down or not. I finally decided to switch down if my BR would go under 1550$. It was a poor excuse not to move down really but ... at least I didn't give myself a bigger discount. The next 3 sets of 6 SnGs went a lot better and my BR stands at 1915$. I've played over 40 SnGs so far today and I hope to add another 20 still.
very nice!!
I have also changed my methods of analysis a bit more. I've began using the SnG Wizard a lot more recently in order to get a different view compared to the Nash calculator. I have thought about this for a while and after watching the Nose's last video I realized that the difference between ICM play and Nash equilibrium is significant.
this is even more valuable than moving up to the 16s!! I'm glad the hard work payed off! This is what I tried to tell you (even in this blog) a few weeks ago. So now you are able to use the tool that prints money longterm. ♠_cool:
now I would place bets on you!!!
PS: i have to become a gold-member again... people might not take me serious
♦ Flows! Well u know how it is with me ... I have to take the longest trips to reach the closest destinantions so to speak But still, saying that u'd place bets on me means a lot coming from you! Just do me a favour and start off smallish so I can adjust to the pressure ♦
So yeah as u see this is one of the biggest "secrets" of SnG play. The fact that the nash and ICM ranges are different is VERY exploitable. Master this concept and money will flow in rivers I've had a great problem adapting the correct line of thought from NL SH to SnGs. Simply because in NL SH u see the cards u have and have to decide according to the hands u get. SnGs however are different. U have to try to figure out what kind of a range other players that are still to act will give u. How much respect or more correctly Fold Equity (this is of course when u will want fold equity). In one of the books I've read a while back the term "level of thinking" was explained. Basically in poker there can be several levels of thinking but everything boils down to thinking what the other guy is holding (this is level zero). Level one is what he thinks I have. Level two is what I think he wants me to believe he has (players often try to represent scare cards in order to scare ppl off the pot). And then level three is what he thinks I'm holding but which of the board I'm trying to represent and which do I in fact have (level three becomes quite complicated tbh and I'm not entirely sure I've presented the concept properly but I hope u get the idea :P). Anyway this type of thought is not too different from what u should use at SnGs. Now I don't mean u should use the levels and head off straight to level five cause that will prolly mean u'll time out every time but going to level one in preflop ICM stage can often be very helpful. The latter stages are more useful for postflop play.
On the other hand don't start to go there too often! Observant players will notice u stealing a lot and will try to punish u with a wider call than usual. So please don't go using anytwo range all over the place now Looking back on all of this it looks so simple that I even feel a bit wierd posting it like this lol. One thing u should know about poker in general is that the really good players have completely mastered the basics of it not some advanced bluff lines u might see in TV shows. Master the basic concepts and truly get the grasp of such terms as Equity, Hand Value, Positional play, Aggression, Why folding is the biggest weapon of Poker, Outs and Odds, to name just a few of them. If u are able to understand and think correctly about the basics u will wipe the floor with ur oposition. And once u do, the advanced plays will also become clearer and u will apply them a lot better.
Poker is gambling. But I like to think it's tactical gambling. U pick the line u want to take almost as soon as u see ur hand, regardless if u are going to push it preflop or actively play it on later streets as well. Use this feature of poker to ur advantage! So what if u have to wait for a good hand and a good spot to put ur money in, that is exactly why u will be making money! It's so hard for new players to understand that and I was the same. If u want constant action and feeling of excitement then poker isn't for u.
OK enough rambling. Poker is a wierd and funny game sometimes. It sure was yesterday for me. I experienced a swing of 500$! And I'm only playing 6 tables of 16$ SnGs at once lol. Figure that out ... anyway today my bankroll is ready for 9 tabling. That's right, yesterday after playing only two more sets I've managed to put my bankroll to 2114$! I really need to find a good tournament management program so I can present some graphs ... otherwise I fear ppl might not believe me lol. Anyways cya folx and GL at the tables!
Yeah I tried the trial of the tourney manager and even with the restrictions (it says it will display only 50 of the earliest SnGs) it seemed to have a lot of errors on import so I'm not to sure about spending money on it right now. Looks like Hold'em Manager is the software to get ...
Weekend was ok. I actually went out on saturday evening and came back sunday evening after the Wimbeldon finals so I didn't put as much volume in as I would've wished. But ok, I spent time with my GF so that was really nice too She's an awesome cook among other things so I always like to eat at her place ♦ There's a saying that goes something like "love goes through the stomach" (sounds better in Slovenian lol) and even if I really enjoy playing poker lots and spending time with ppl I like and care for good food is prolly still the second nuts for me
The first awesome thing of the day was finding the long awaited book in the mailbox! Yay I actually did fear it wouldn't get here until I went on my break but thankfully it got here in time. I didn't get into it yet, I did however quickly fly over the end part of it and some of the tables there look really interesting! I wonder how long I'll be able to stay away lol. Really happy this got here and really going to get into this and study it throughly. This is now a goal for july!
On the actual playing front I had a rather dismal saturday where I played awful and had a mini downswing again. I am now actively 9tabling and in certain moments I did feel slightly overwhelmed so I think I will not experiment with more then 9 tables any time soon. Perhaps if I start using one of the action key softwares but I'm unsure if that is legal or not? Maybe someone can answer this for me All in all I've played some 300 SnGs on the 16$ level and my ROI is still holding at 15% over just under 1400SnGs (this includes the 6.50$s as well). This is really great and I feel I can build on this further and make it even bigger! Though Flows and I established I have not made any major progress recently in a session last night this only means that my game is solid and can only improve! I do however wonder, how sharkscope calculates ability of a player? If someone could explain that for me it would be awesome!
Plans for the week are to play more than 50SnGs every day. This should be easy to achieve by 9tabling and it amounts to some 5hrs playing time. That is usually my daily minimum but I quite often extend this time by an hour or two. Hopefully by the end of the week I will have played over 500SnGs this month which means I am well on track to reach the 600SnGs for July and 601+ is just a bonus for me this month Right now the BR stands at 2349$ OK this much today, GL to everyone and have a great time!
Just a short update: I've been going through my old blog a bit and I realized something rather amazing. U see on my last post in that blog I set some goals. Most of those goals I have met and some I have even surpased. The one goal I met only recently tho was to achieve a 15% ROI. One that I have surpased was that I wanted to buy a 22˝ monitor (I in fact bought a 24˝ one along with a whole computer system). I've also got a great person to help my play (Thanks again Flows!!) as I have set a goal to. This might seem insignificant to some but there is a moral to this short brag: keep FAITH, WORK hard, ALWAYS second guess urself after sessions, set urself high GOALS, STRIVE to improve, be PATIENT and remain DISCIPLINED. With TIME and EFFORT u WILL meet ur goals!
Now ... what's next for me ... is to continue to do what I have done so far, remain commited and focused on what I want to succeed at. In the next few days I will also come up with solid goals to try and meet for medium and long term future. I feel that this will help me improve and evolve in my poker career and that I need to seriously challange myself in order to achieve all I want to achieve. So ... with this in mind ... the next few goals will have to be a lot steeper then the previus ones were ... and I have to admit ... I have a grin on my face while I'm typing this thinking I can't wait to see what kind of goals I will come up with for myself ♦
I wish u all the best! Cya next time 
Oh it's been an eventful few days. Whoever said SnGs aren't swingy is a LIAR! Lol. Man sometimes I think I'm on the next big downswing to "byebye roll land" and the next I'm raking almost 200$ per set. I will tell u this: IT IS HARD TO KEEP FOCUS DURING THESE SWINGS!!!! LOL. I'm actually laughing here thinking about how the past few days went. I can't really recall the exact values of my BR but it's been a bumpy ride. I'm thinking about investing into Hold'em Manager more and more and at least getting the trial and posting a grap or two. It's likely this will happen once I come back after the 25th this month.
So what have I learned? Well first off I feel super-confident with my game on the 16$s. I also feel I can easily 9table and that playing sets is better then opening consecutive tables. I've almost completely eliminated bad decisions (read tilt) out of my game and I've discovered that I can focus incredibly better if I sit here talking out loud about what to do with a hand while playing poker. I think the sound of my voice actually blocks all those irrelevant thoughts that try to distract me while I play so I will continue to speak out loud about how to play out a hand.
Regarding what new goals to set I have decided to postpone this till after I come back from my ten day break. I feel I will be able to think about this more clearly away from my "office." I have some ideas but ... it's really hard to focus on them as most of the time I keep on playing out situations in my head and trying to figure out why that push was good and why another one bad.
So considering all this I jumped at the chance to go out with friends and have some fun yesterday. This resulted in playing less than 20 SnGs overall and a rather unpleasant headache this morning, but I've made up for this by playing over 100 of them today (not sure exactly how many I've played, was a lot tho lol). It was great and I feel really good about the effort I've put in today. Hopefully the future will bring more hard-working days like this! And since we are results oriented a bit, here's my BR value: 2690$. A rather nice number which I intend to make even bigger before next wednesday takes me away on a holliday
Right now I've nothing else useful to add ... so thanks for reading and cya around
Today I had one of those days that leave a big grin on ur face ♦ I played quality poker, reached my dailly goals, had LOADS of fun while playing and earned some $$$ as well ♦ but more on that later.
One of the things that made me happy today was the realization, that after almost three years of playing poker I still feel excitement when going all in and have lots of fun while playing the game. In the past I had problems motivating myself for doing important stuff (read school and jobs). I always felt I was being forced to do something I will not entirely enjoy and will certainly end up being someone's bitch after I completed my education and started any job. Add to this the rigid work time (7-3, 8-4, 9-5, take ur pick) monday till friday, weekends often also, the traffic jams when u go to and from work, annoying co-workers, and a myriad of other little details that just can't wait to piss u off and make u miserable, I pretty soon disklied those ideas a lot!
While I have experienced awful downswings at poker and even had a few short periods of being tired of the game I always thought about it and what I want to achieve in it. I love the fact that I can play whenever I want to play, get up any time of the day I want, go out any day of the week, pretty much enjoy the kind of freedom I would yearn for as a working man. Granted, a job offers a lot more security in life but personally (especially since I didn't creat a family yet) I will rather trade irregular income for freedom. I'm young enough to take such chances and I feel nothing can stop me at succeeding with poker. I have learned so much about this game in the past three years and I will continue to learn even more because I have the desire to study and improve my game further. I seriously doubt I would have such a desire or even a need to improve in a normal job. So u see, this is why I am a semi-pro poker player (still need to meet some hidden goals to classify myself as a pro).
Considering the alternatives I will be forever grateful to myself for taking this chance, this "life-gamble" if u will. I feel there are other bad sides to having a job. Think of how much debt one has to take on to create the kind of enviroment they want to live in. Be it a house or a flat, a flashy or family car, some people even take on debt to go on vacations every year! While there is nothing wrong with this I simply feel I should not buy myself something I can not pay for out of my own pocket. Going to the bank and taking out a loan or three would only make my life more miserable. One of my life's ambitions is to NEVEREVERNEVERNEVER have any sort of debts!
So the more I thought about this the more I realized I need to turn my financial projections upside dwon (I was working all of this out about two years ago). I realized that in a normal job I would have to work for ages to get all of the things that I wanted from life (a nice place to live in, to see the world, never really worry about money ...). And I realized that in order to make the kind of money that would give me the material things I want from life I would have to be in the top percent among all those people who would do the same thing as I did for a living. Considering that I realized the effort would be monumental. Add all the bad feelings I already had about having a job and debt(s) well ... my prospects for a happy life weren't all that good.
I wanted more then just a few happy memories, more then spending a part of my youth working day after day after day for the same kind of money month after month after month enjoying all the "perks" that I have listed above. This is where I started to consider poker seriously. I realized quite quickly that just as in my profession I would have to be in the top 1% (if not higher) at poker as well. I realized that the effort I would have to invest in poker would likely be comparable to that I would have to invest in my job. BUT! There were a few profound differences:
-I would have the opportunity to "work" whenever I would want to
-I could study and learn whenever I would want to
-I could make even more money with poker then a job
-I would have FREEDOM!
And that motivated me to have a serious go at poker. I made a few promises to myself tho:
-never play with the money that is essential to my existence
-never loan money for poker
-never jeopardize my life for pursuing my goals at poker
-always give everything I can and work hard and study hard
And a few other minor ones. Those are the most important tho. I was lucky that I managed to get enough support in the family that I could undertake my poker master plan, tho they were not all that impressed or enthusiastic. Especially after the first two years when the results were weak at best.
So u see, as I look back on all that and other things I won't write here right now (this post is mamuth as it is lol) I am incredibly happy and pleased with myself that after all of the effort I had to put in to become a wining poker player, after overcoming all of the difficult periods, after getting over so much doubt I STILL feel the thrill of pursuing a big career in poker. I STILL feel the desire to learn more about poker. I STILL enjoy playing poker (probably even more then before now that I'm actually good at it ). And I STILL enjoy the freedom I wanted to enjoy when I set out to do this. I have made a good foundation for my future life. This foundation is my biggest asset, my most prized possesion. And I promise right here, right now that I will continue to work hard, study more and strive to improve even further every day! This I will do to create a happy and comfortable life for myself and those who are or will become a part of it.
Tennyson once wrote:
...that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
I feel that those lines sum up best how I felt, feel and will feel about life. Poker is just a means to an end, a happy life. Seeing as I have already made a mountain of an update I will end here. There is more I could write and maybe will sometime in the future. I hope that those who read this now understand me better.
My bankroll, after six, weeks stands at 2998$. I am ready to continue ... I hope u are as well GL to everyone and cya next time!