Moharith's blog :D ==[[ back after a long time ]]==

After some bad beats and bad play I got my bankroll back to $107+ dollar again (it was @ $96).

You would say everything is okay and we can continue the grind, but I can't at this moment. I noticed my focus was changing towards profit and I don't want that to happen, but even as my bankroll has more then doubled and I kept making profit, my mood changes after several bad beats and variance.

As my mood changes, also my play changes. I feel like i'm on scared money (even though I still do my shoves and bluff) , but it doensn't feels right. I know my pokerskills are good enough for my current limit, but I need to make sure I keep sticking with the MSS, and don't go fishing with bigger bait (like previous post). I wan't to have the feeling I own the limit, and want to do my shoves without any emotions involved.

So how will I fix this?

- I will not move up a limit if I can't prevent myself from widening play because of moodswings.

Let's be clear about 1 thing at first: I know I did not had a downswing, a part of the loss could be related to bad beats, another part on bad plays (my fault), and another part on getting not enough value off winning hands. (my fault)

I'm gonna sharpen my rules:

:diamond:1 table for now until I fix my game + replayer

How will I fix my game?
:club:I've read the psychology section again.., and will read it again. I haven't really tilted badly, but I did some sidesteps from my solid routines and that's wrong! Discipline is the most important thing, and I won't allow sidesteps anymore. I will place a post-it note on my screen where I remind myself to stay at my current game and if I want to change, quit the session.

More reviewing of my own and other people hands: I will put more time in reviewing my own hands and other players hands to do that I will decrease my table numbers to above (1)! This might seems hard, but that will allow me to review every hand I play and also allows me to create bigger notes. Now i'm working with short abbrivations and simple stuff and it's time to move on.

Improve notes on players. (Timestamp, board info, holecards, my cards, other read etc.)

Read more theory

:spade:Take non-poker related breaks.

I hope this post sums up my last days a bit, and shows the way I think a bit. (It's pretty late here, and I can image my typingskills have decreased a lot lol)

Anyone has other tips?

Hey mate, sounds like you've really taken the psychological aspect of the game seriously.. Kudos on that, should only help!

More reviewing of my own and other people hands

Hey you can always jump to my blog and give me your input on some of the hands I posted, would benefit both of us if we can see how one hand is played from multiple aspects/opinions..

I'll try to make an evaluation of some of your hands from my perspective, but just keep in mind I'm learning, so I might be mistaken about a thing or two, but hey this should only improve me and you, and can't do harm I guess.

About the QQ hand

Why didn't you go all-in after his re-raise? Just asking, because that move can create some pretty awkward spot on the flop, not on this particular because you have overpair on the flop, but in general + you're easily pot committed.

- JJ hand

I think having a limp/raise stats for this situation is great.. The thing is, his VPIP is 80. So if he limps 80% of the hands, by raising him you make him fold a great deal of his bluff hands (i guess) and only continues with good (okay, depending on him of course, but in general his "calling the raise" range is much narrower than open-limping range). I guess to make the most optimal EV in this spot is if you had known his limp/raise range, if that was some crazy high I can see JJ+ profitable to go AI pf..

- JJ @ the CO hand

I think you're being too hard to yourself. How could you possible know that he was having a set on the flop? He is a huge 80/21 fish you said, and if you don't have reads on him, as far as you can tell he might have played A9 hand by going all in on this flop.. I think you did good here, it was just a bad luck he was having a set there.

- TT hand

Okay, the SB sounds like an awful player! He calls the big re-raise with 55 and you're a mid-stack player, so even if he hit a set once in 9.5 times, he won't get paid all that much..

Plus if he's willing to do this with 55+, you're a long time winner against him I assume..

Board: 5♥7♠9♣
       Equity     Win     Tie
MP2    67.50%  66.73%   0.77% { ThTs }
MP3    32.50%  31.74%   0.77% { JJ-55, A9s, KTs+, QTs+, JTs, ATo, KTo+, QTo+, JTo }

Assuming he'll actually step out and make a raise himself with QQ+, AJ+, ATs+ etc..

All the best!

Great post on tilt and how you are going to over come this

I have had tilt issues in the past starting with a few bad beats and ended up spewing to the fish.

I spent quite some time making myself stick to one table and have only recently started to play 4-6 tables again because of this, It has given me much more dicipline within my poker game. I also dropped down to nl2 which has meant I have given myself a longer climb than i have to but I think the dicipline of this will help me in the long run.

I know I still have along way to go as I still stack off with top pair type hands every now and then but my game has improved lots.

Thanks for the reviews and the reply. I know I made some mistakes at those hands =).

After spending a lot of time at reading articles and books (started a new one again) Texas Hold'em Secrets online (2004). I realize I need to change some things and improve my play even further.

:heart:Part 1. Psychological improvement

• Write down some logical thinking sentences, so that after a bad beat or suckout I can relativate it better and continue without negative (starting) feelings. This will also decrease the amount of sessions that need to be stopped under the setted time.
• Session time is 1 hour. If a session is going really good and play and profits is rising sky-high then I will continue the session until the first big beat or a mistake. This way I fully make usage of a good game.
• When negative feelings show up I will make a note of the feeling and the reason that caused the feeling. This way I can fix the tilt before actually happens.
• Pokermoney is no real money. It are just gamechips. And by good play i will increase them, and a downswing or variance is just part of the game. I will no longer look at the pokermoney with an ecomic perspective.
• HEM is closed until the session is finished. No more peeking at graphs within a session.
• I will use a countdown time instead of peeking at the active session graph. This will remove the chance of "accidently" looking at the graphs. (Normally I heald my hand in front of it).
• Table dynamics. I used the table selection criteria a bit too much. When the vpip of the table would go too low, i'd change it. But I need to accept it can be low for some time and then go up. So when I see the vpip of a table it getting low, I will mark it. If there is no change after 10 minutes I will change the table.
• I will make sure I don't play poker when I feel too tired. This will have a negative influence on my gameplay even if I don't really notice this.
• Losing a session is just part of the game and will just be a part of the variance.

:diamond:Part 2. Theoretical Improvement

• Watch a video everyday
• Review all hands that matter (Even the small loss hands, since a lot of small looses makes 1 big loss) This will also include the hands where I feel like I left some value behind.
• Continue reading pokerbooks (globally) -> Then read the parts I didn't fully understand -> Then write down important parts of the books / ask about difficult parts. -> re-read parts.
• Keep improving the HUD to my knowlegde and expand it further. Currently my HUD is showing 11 parts. All parts have their own popupscreen for position and street.
• Keep my database clean and try to find as much leaks as possible.
• Join the weekly coaching sessions.
• Keep posting on the hand forum and review other people's hands too help and improve my own hand judging quality.
• The tableselection criteria will be used when joining a table. In the right order this will mean: VPIP -> Fishes/Regs -> Position -> Potsizes/H ph.

:spade:Part 3: Gameplay Improvements

• 100% knowledge of the standard SHC. [Complete]
• Expand stealing and restealing ranges based on opponent. Tight: more Loose: Tighten.
• Tightening 3-bet range with 99/TT vs most opponents. / loosening up 3-bet range vs. loose opponents. (AQs, JJ)
• Folding when unsecure and minimal +ev.
• Create a solid table image, wich involves showing cards at certain opponents. Ex: (After several steals, showing I don't still with nothing). This will create room for bluffs to players that don't use Hud. Most regs respect my raises.
• Think about possibilities at every street: What will happen if I fold/check/raise/shove/bet? How much will I raise/bet?.
• Widen up second barrels vs. certain opponents.
• Flatten more against regulars.
• Use advanced vertongen sizes ie: calculate the required pot size if i want to shove next street.
• pre flop bet sizes based on position and opponent.

:club:Part 4. Administrative improvement

• The blog needs to be updated frequently, to mark my own process and reflect about my own action.
• Keep an excel file of all sessions played to keep a good overview and make short notes of global impression of the session.
• Upgrade the outs / pot odds calculator
• Make usage of the SSS EV calculator (excel).
• Look out for theme improvements (sober = better) Already in black and 4 color cards.
• Keep backups of database on a removable device.
• Improve the notes: [Timestamp] [Position] [Board] Gameplay (with correct abbrivations).