Mind Games

Originally posted by Raknyo
I'm also reading MGP but only read the first couple chapters so far.

From the little I've read of MGP, I think the key to having a successful mental strategy is to be as logical as possible. I find this quite easy because I see myself as typically a logical person but I'm sure with enough work, anyone can be logical if they let themselves.

Thanks for stopping by...

Logic works to overcome emotion. It is actually pretty much the subject of chapter 4.

"Injecting logic is the short term strategy that contains mental game problems while playing and also takes a small step toward resolving them."

I think that the biggest difference for me though is actually recognizing when I DO have a mental problem developing that needs an injection of logic.

Thanks for the mnemonic, and good luck in your quest

Update
I was feeling energetic after work -- I mean, why not?
It's Friday, I have a ticket on the $50 million LottoMax and supper's in the oven.

The discussions about recognition and logic had me review Ch 4 in MGP.

I skipped the Canada Freeroll today (maybe that's why I didn't tilt later).

I then played 237 H of 5-Card Draw.
I had read an article on the math of 5-Card Draw which made me realize just how badly I had been sucked out on before. 5-Card Draw is *supposed* to be a low-variance game, but SO many times I lost flushes to full houses, full houses to quads and quads to straight flushes.

So with logic behind me, I felt a bit bolder, and didn't fold so many buttons as I normally would. I got some good hands, too, which helps.
I think that when you show down several nice hands, people just think "Fk that, I'll fold, since it's his turn in the luck box tonight". Fine by me. Fold away.

I did get pwned pretty neatly by one of the better regs.
We played this hand early on -- perhaps even my 2nd hand.
I don't like this guy being on my left, because he three-bets quite a bit.
Feral Cow Poker
PokerStars Limit 5 Card Draw $0.10/$0.20 - 6 players

SB: $3.64 (Hero)
BB: $21.53
UTG: $3.99
UTG+1: $3.17
CO: $0.89
Button: $4.32

Dealing Hands: ($0.15) 5:club: A:spade: 2:heart: K:heart: K:club: (6 players)
4 folds, Hero raises to $0.20, BB raises to $0.30, Hero calls $0.10
Like I said, he 3Bets quite a bit.
I would raise here quite widely myself -- and he knows it, so I could even be good here

First Draw: ($0.60) (2 players)
Hero discards 2, BB discards 1,
A:spade: K:heart: K:club: || 7:diamond: 2:diamond:
Hero checks, BB bets $0.20, Hero calls $0.20
I don't normally keep a kicker, but did here just because I normally don't, and it makes only a slight difference to the outcome.
I checked intending to call any bet, since a)He could be snowing -- ie drawing 1 w/ his mediocre pair
b)he could have a busted flush draw.

Hero showed 7:diamond: A:spade: 2:diamond: K:heart: K:club:, a pair of Kings
BB showed 8:heart: 7:heart: 9:heart: K:spade: Q:heart:, high card King
Hero won $0.96
(Rake: $0.04)

OK Fine...
He played fairly sedately for quite a while, folding to my steals and respecting my raises etc.
Then this, maybe 100 hands in
Feral Cow Poker Hand Converter
PokerStars Limit 5 Card Draw $0.10/$0.20 - 6 players

SB: $3.63 (Hero)
BB: $21.47
UTG: $4.64
UTG+1: $2.94
CO: $0.23
Button: $9.70

Dealing Hands: ($0.15) T:diamond: 5:club: J:diamond: J:heart: A:club: (6 players)
4 folds, Hero raises to $0.20, BB raises to $0.30, Hero calls $0.10

First Draw: ($0.60) (2 players)
Hero discards 2, BB discards 3,
J:diamond: J:heart: A:club: || 8:diamond: 7:diamond:
Hero bets $0.20, BB raises to $0.40, Hero calls $0.20

Hero mucked
BB showed K:spade: K:club: A:heart: 3:spade: A:diamond:, two pair, Aces and Kings
BB won $1.34
(Rake: $0.06)
So he had me beat from the outset.

I don't know for sure that he used the previous experience to alter his play on this hand, but I'll give him credit for doing just that.

MGP says we need to learn to recognize good play, and distinguish it from pure luck. He did have luck here, but he played it well.
In general he is one of the better players at this game & limit.
His winrate over nearly 1K hands is about 5 BB/100 -- over 4x what mine is.

I felt quite proud of my mental performance on this hand.
I had no upset feelings, and actually chuckled at my own folly.

Yay me!

I finished the session up, even after that...

Score
Mental Game: B
Poker Game: C+

Yeah, I know it isn't NLHE, but hey, it's poker.

Instead of poker tonight, I'm going to do the mental profile exercise from MGP

Have a great weekend.

Update
Tough 350 Hand Session
Playing NL 4 I opened with a string of good solid raising hands, which all hit flops and most lost. 100 hands in I was down 5 BI.
I will review them later, but I am pretty sure all were legitimate plays.

I kept my focus, and played solid for another 250 hands, and made 3 BI back.

I think I kept my mental focus for the most part.
I was seeing a lot more 3Betting than I usually do, so I tightened up.

Caught myself flatting a few times -- this is a fear move.
3Bet or fold, dammit!

My WTSD was once again high -- this is my big poker leak, so I'll say I flunked this exercise.
My W$SD though was 50% -- I just wish the ones I won == the ones I lost.
Because of the opponents reaction, I stole less, than usual --
My steal % was only 27, w/ a success rate of 50.
My avg is 34 w/ success 59.

Score
Mental:  C+ I think I could have done better with the river calls -- but I didn't even come close to tilting.
Poker:  D I'll know better when I review, but I'm pretty sure I could have saved some of the BIs with a discreet fold or two.

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
Session Preparation

To combat this I have come up with two mnemonics to help me focus on the poker principles rather than my emotions while playing:

Pre-Flop
PHASER
Position
Hand
Action before me
Stats / Stack sizes / Steal
Ego
Risk

Post-Flop
O SHIT
Odds
Strength / Stack-to-Pot / Size of Bet
Hand
Implieds
Texture

Awesome! (or should I say stunning?)

Subscribed.

PHASER SHOT even better!

I watched Schnitzelfisch's video on staying focussed today.
At least I tried to. I just kept getting distracted...

The video talks about things you focus on while playing a hand.
The PHASER SHOT mnemonics were meant to serve a similar purpose.

Yesterday, my brother came into town from Edmonton, and we took the highway to Squamish. They made us put it back, though.

On the way back, I was describing this blog to Mrs Vorpal, and mentioned that one of the big mental problems I was working on was Patience.

She replied, "YOU!!! You are the single most patient person I know!"*
"Well, you're patient about big problems, but you have no tolerance for little ones".

She then described several instances where I either a) handled a major crisis coolly and calmly, or b) blew my top at something trivially stupid.

So I wonder how I would handle losing a stack at NL 1000 ?
(I won't be finding out soon).

So today, I was scheduled to play in a couple of big freerolls.
You know the kind...
First there is the Drama Queen round, where 4 (or more) people at each table shove on the first hand. After that, 6 people at each table limp each hand.

So I decided to use these as an exercise in pure patience.
The rules were, I had to use PHASER SHOT on every decision.
If I was going to raise over limpers, it had to be a solid hand -- not bottom-of-the-range for that position.

It was excruciatingly painful, since for over 4 orbits I did not get a SINGLE playable hand. I finally got uncorked, and built up to just over average stack, and then had my KK busted, and was down to 1/4 average, then worked my way back up, then ended up losing two flips in a row.

The other two were no better.
In the 2nd freeroll, there was one of these guys who open-shoves every 2nd or 3rd hand. He had build up a stack nearly triple mine when I got AK on the button and called him. He had K6 of clubs. Two clubs on the flop, and I thought, "Oh, yeah, here it comes..."
I was wrong though. No more clubs.
It was the 6 on the turn that ended my day.

Next I decided to play 200 hands of 5-Card Draw.
Nice session, 201 hands at over 7 BB/100 (14 bb/100) winrate.

I *think* that I am folding better, and stealing better.
Of course, I could just be getting lucky...

Until next time...

*Note:
We've been married 32 years. She knows what to say to me...

Update
Played 100 hands of 5-Card Draw, and the Canada Freeroll.

Made it to the 2nd break in the freeroll -- but since only 27 places cash, it would take a bunch more than that.

So now that I've been playing logically for a week or more, I have to ask myself:

Am I running good because my tilt is subsiding?

There is no question that I've been a bit luckier of late.
There is also no question that without the defeatist attitude, I am playing scary, but +EV hands. I'm winning some, and losing some, but winning more than I'm losing -- both in pot size and # of pots won & lost.

I'll ponder the answer to the question for a while.
It has only been as week, after all.

Discovery
Success can only be found if you are in position to find it.

Pleno1 says, "You can't win if you fold".
It is also true that "Villain cannot fold if you don't raise".

Session Report
Busted out of the Canada Freeroll on the 3rd hand KK < 87s Hit a king on the flop, but he hit a str8 on the turn. <sigh>
Played 300 hands or so of 5-Card Draw.
Took a break for supper, then 285 hands of NL 10 6-Max

Current Focus
Mental Game leaks I focus on at the moment:
♦  Patience -- or rather lack of it...
♦  Holding on to hands too long

Poker Leaks:
♦  Taking too many hands to showdown.
♦  Bluffing too much

Results

5-Card Draw
The 5-Card Draw session was quite trying.
I sat down to a pat str8, and got a few good hands in the first hundred, so I was comfortably up about 5BB.

I then lost 3 big pots:
Made flush lost to made FH -- drawing 3 no less. Nice hand, dude!
Made str8 lost to made flush
Made trips lost to higher trips.
<sigh>

I could feel the urge come over me to "get my money back", by raise-bluffing etc. But I told myself: "Vorpal *, you are going to play 300 hands. You will play each one sensibly. You will be patient, and wait for your turn in the luckbox. When sensible, you will steal, and bluff-raise, but only when sensible".

So I calmed myself down, played sensibly, and not only avoided spewing more and not only did I not quit in a snit, I played out the 300 hands and finished up 6BB. Yay me.

NL 10
If you've been following along, you'll remember that when I started this I had just recognized that a) I was on a rather chronic tilt. and b) I had just dropped down to NL 4.

This, then is my first real NL 10 session since I've started this.

I resolved to play 1 hour or 300 hands, whichever took longer, with no more than 4 tables of NL 10 6-Max

I was surprised at the difference in feel between the NL 10 and the NL 4 I had been used to. During this session, on any table, hardly and orbit went by without a 3Bet.

I therefore had to back away from my usual steal rate of 35% -- or at least I thought I did. I ended up with a steal rate of 32%, but instead of my usual steal success rate of 59%, I was only at 46%.

I also had to toss a LOT of hands post flop.
No Hand, No Draw, No Play.
Even hands w/ decent pairs and decent draws I had to toss them because the odds weren't right. Now I'm certain that some of these were bluffs, but which ones?

But my WTSD was nicely down, and my W$SD nicely up.

Overall, I had a tanking red line, and a soaring blue line that combined to equal w/ a $0.38 loss on the 285 hand session.

Score
Mental Game: B+
I kept calm, I did not get frustrated at the bad beats, I remained calm, I did not get impatient and start playing poor or marginal hands chasing losses.
I SAID I REMAINED CALM. OK? CALM!!! *
*attendant's note: Mr Vorpal will be out of restraints shortly to complete this blog entry. Thank you for your patience.

Seriously, though, the only downside was the gloating I did when I stacked a player when I had JJ > AK on an AJJxx board.

Gloating is a form of tilt. Well, not tilt really, merely a slight list to starboard.

Poker Game: C+
I think I took waaay too long to adjust to the higher aggression on the NL 10 tables.

I'm not back to work until the 10th, so I will try to do a long session of at least NL 10 before than. Long for me is >500 hands.

I will also try to do at least enough to get the "Advent Calendar" promo prize each day on Party.

Love the reviews

I've always wanted to get into 5CD and have dabbled in it from time to time that and Stud Hi and 2-7SD/TD

If only we could have another 8 hours in the day or we didn't require sleep

Hope the tilt issues are resolved now.
I found I was calling down too much with 'backdoor this and backdoor that', too many videos watching coaches with much more talent than me.

I also started 5cd but couldn't find a game at micros on microgaming. Shame.

Originally posted by gadget51
Hope the tilt issues are resolved now.

I also started 5cd but couldn't find a game at micros on microgaming. Shame.

Tilt issues are far from fixed.
The goal is "stable confidence".

At this time, my emotional state is neither stable nor confident.

However, I am able to RECOGNIZE early when I am starting to lean over.
That is the critical first step.

I'm using the techniques described in "The Mental Game of Poker".
So far, I've managed to avoid "insane monkey tilt" since I've been applying them.
I still get disappointed / elated when I lose / win though.

Only 5-Card draw I know of is on stars.
It is a great game for learning to read people, rather than cards.
You get several pieces of information from bet sizes and draw amounts that can either tell you something or mislead you.

I enjoy it quite a bit.

Session Report
Played 300 hands of 5-Card Draw early on.
Skipped the freerolls.
Played 250 hands of NL 10 after supper.

Results
5-Card Draw
Fairly straightforward game. Won a few, lost a few,
I did bluff 3Bet from the BB vs a button raise and showed it down.
This was intended only to help fix my super-tight image.
It worked a little too well, as I suffered several suckouts from people who probably would have folded before.

I'll have to look closely to see if it helped overall.
Ended down 3bb -- no big deal.

5-Card Draw
I only had a scant hour to play after supper, but managed to get in 260 hands or so.

I was playing 4 tables, but built up to 4 gradually, since I had to wait for all tables after the first. Waiting lists make table selection difficult.

I played each hand logically, which meant I folded several hand.

I did get a lot of logically raisable hands early on. At one time, I would tighten up after a run of 3 or 4 raises, because I knew that the inevitable 4Bet was coming.

Now, however, I realized that I WANT to be 4Bet with hands that can take it.
So I was pleased at this hand, which came near the end of a string of raises.
Party, $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players

CO: $10.15 (101.5 bb)
BTN: $14.55 (145.5 bb)
Hero (UTG): $11.57 (115.7 bb)
MP: $10 (100 bb)
SB: $18.90 (189 bb)
BB: $9.91 (99.1 bb)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with K:d K:c
Hero raises to $0.30, 2 folds, BTN calls $0.30, SB raises to $1, BB folds, Hero raises to $11.57 and is all-in, BTN folds, SB calls $10.57

Flop: ($23.54) J:h 4:c T:s (2 players, 1 is all-in)
Turn: ($23.54) 7:c (2 players, 1 is all-in)
River: ($23.54) 6:d (2 players, 1 is all-in)

SB showed A:d K:s and lost (-$11.57 net)

I'll post this hand in the HE forum -- not for the hand, but for the thought processes that I went through.

Overall, the session looked like this:

At one point I thought:
Now there is a session that would erase tilt in a flash.

However, the goal is "Stable Confidence", which means that:
♦  We aren't on tilt in the first place
♦  A but of run-good does not change our demeanour either.

The red line is mostly due to my steal success being 62%

Score
5-Card Draw
Mental Game: B+
    I played a solid logical game, without any anxiety or emotion influencing decisions.
Poker: B
    Other than the questionable bluff 3Bet, I played a conservative game.

NL 10
Mental Game:  B
    Played logically throughout. I think I'm allowed a fist-pump or two now and again without it being "winner's tilt"
Poker: B
    Stayed with the game plan, and adjusted well to the player on my left on two tables who defended aggressively. 3Bet 4x on several occasions. I've noted him, and even called a 4Bet, but that might have been a mistake. I steal over 30% so once they catch on I need to 4Bet or fold.

#2K

As usual, she finds out there is a party when the party is finished. Hopefully here I got there quite early

I will catch up during the weekend, subscribed

Update
Freerolls.
Tough games, high variance, huge pools of people playing shove-em bingo.
It is difficult to apply good poker logic to them.

On the other hand, it is free cash, and no matter how little you have won over the years, your ROI is infinite.

Please don't calculate your $/hr, though. <sigh>

I had picked up an entry to one of Party's "Advent Calendar" $2000 freerolls, and registered this morning.

I created two new "Inject Logic" statements to cover the situations that usually tilt me in freerolls.
Don't Panic
This comes from "The HitchHikers Guide to the Galaxy".
I have this printed in 144pt type on a letter-sized sheet of paper posted on my office wall. Since I regularly get people all anxiety-ridden looking to me to solve all of the computer problems, it seems apt.

This phrase is used when I have a marginal hand hand I'm running low on chips -- say less than 3/4 average stack. Typically I get tempted into either shoving with too many people behind me, or calling a shove I really shouldn't.

Is this the hill you want to die on?
Another similar phrase, "Choose the hill you want to die on" is one we taught to parents who were struggling to acting out teens when Mrs Vorpal and I ran a group for beleaguered parents.

The idea is that if they fight this battle to its inevitable end, it means the breakup of their family.

In poker -- especially in tournaments -- once the blinds are a significant fraction of your stack, on every hand you must choose whether or not to commit your tournament life.

The purpose of injecting this phrase into the logic is twofold:
♦  It reminds you to evaluate this hand against position, blinds and stack size and thus make a logical decision on whether to go with it or not. The hand could be a premium hand, speculative hand or 3Bet bluff -- but you make a logical decision to go with it.
♦  It sets up the mental game defence against coolers and suckouts. For good or ill, You chose this action, in full awareness of the consequences, perfectly willing to take whatever comes.

So the freeroll progress, and I maintained a slightly less than average stack through to level 24, when I got this hand.

I did not panic.
I was quite prepared to die on this hill.

Party, 5,000/10,000 blinds, 1,000 ante No Limit Hold'em Tournament, 10 Players

Hero (MP2): 68,568 (6.9 bb)
SB: 9,228 (0.9 bb)
BTN: 29,240 (2.9 bb)
UTG+1: 158,516 (15.9 bb)
MP1: 53,004 (5.3 bb)
UTG: 53,087 (5.3 bb)
MP3: 20,692 (2.1 bb)
UTG+2: 12,689 (1.3 bb)
BB: 122,843 (12.3 bb)
CO: 108,198 (10.8 bb)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with K:d K:s
UTG folds, UTG+1 raises to 30,000, 2 folds, Hero raises to 67,568 and is all-in, MP3 calls 19,692 and is all-in, 4 folds, UTG+1 calls 37,568

Flop: (179,828) K:c 7:h 6:h (3 players, 2 are all-in)
Turn: (179,828) 9:c (3 players, 2 are all-in)
River: (179,828) A:h (3 players, 2 are all-in)

Results: 179,828 pot
Final Board: K:c 7:h 6:h 9:c A:h
Hero showed K:d K:s and won 179,828 (111,260 net)
UTG+1 showed A:d Q:c and lost (-68,568 net)
MP3 showed T:s T:c and lost (-20,692 net)

This was about 20 places before the bubble, so I had to include "bust out of the money" in the thought process.

I actually finished 170th out of the original 8600 participants.

Session Report
Played 500 hands of 5-Card Draw just for the fun of it.
Down 15 BB at the end.
I played good poker, but maybe tried a little too hard to exploit a couple of rather loose players. I succeeded for the most part, but the hardest part of being aggressive is knowing when to back down.

I then set out to play 500 hands of NL 10, but I could tell by the time I was 200 hands into the session that I was a bit too tired. I misread a couple of stats, and made a couple of rather dumb movers.

It's too bad really, because I was getting good cards, and was getting good action on them.

Finished overall up 2BI for a nice day.

The Score
Mental Game:   B+
    Nothing bothered me, nothing got me too excited. A few adrenaline rushes when the race was on, but nothing major.
Poker:  B
    I made a few out-of-character moves, but when other people do that they are "balancing their ranges" or other similar sounds-like-an-excuse-for-a-screw-up drivel.
    So, yeah, I was balancing my ranges.

Steal % was a whopping 50%, but steal success was only 40%.
Compared to the other day when it was 32% w/ a success of 60%, I still stole roughly the same absolute # of pots give or take a few.

I can see why pleno1 opens 2.5bb from the CO & BTN -- I'll do that and see if it affects my steal %

One hand needs evaluating:
Party, $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players

MP: $16.92 (169.2 bb)30/27/13.6/28.0 v/p/3/af 143 hands
Hero (BTN): $10 (100 bb)
UTG: $10.69 (106.9 bb) 82/21/28.6/3.2 v/p/3/af 28 hands
BB: $2.85 (28.5 bb)
CO: $11.07 (110.7 bb)
SB: $13.83 (138.3 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BTN with Q:d A:h
UTG calls $0.10, MP raises to $0.40, CO calls $0.40, Hero raises to $2.10, 2 folds, UTG calls $2, MP calls $1.70, CO folds

Flop: ($6.85) K:h 9:d 3:s (3 players)
UTG checks, MP checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($6.85) J:s (3 players)
UTG bets $2.20, MP folds, Hero ???

I've really nothing but a gutshot left.

Hmmmm......

Session Report
5-Card Draw
500 Hands.
I had some bad beats, but I also caught myself calling CBets I should not have, and I also made some I should not have.

I did make some sensible bluffs, though -- most successful, some not.

So it goes.

NL 10
500 Hands.
Up to my old tricks again. I chased a couple of bad draws, and floated a few times I should not have.

i turned a couple into successful river bluffs, though.

I played several non-premium hands -- suuuuiiited connectors and the like.

Some success.

The big story though was in two massive crap-outs.
I held pocket 5s, and flopped JJ5.
Half-pot CBet was called.
Turn came another J.
I realized that my boat was now useless if villain paired up, so I shoved to force him to fold a higher card.
He called w/ 77.
Had I not shoved, I would have called his shove I think
Just one of those things.

The other I fire on 3 streets w/ TPTK, but villian already had trip 8s and rivered the case 8.

Score
5-Card Draw
Mental: B+
I think it is time to go looking for another mental game leak to work on.
Poker: C
I can still use improvement in 5-Card Draw recognizing when to bluff and when to 3Bet for value pre-draw.

NL 10
Mental: C+
I hung on to some hands I should have folded.
I can't really say if the full house over full house tilted me or not. I recognized at the time how the hand went down. It was the very last hand of the session though It will be interesting to see how I react next time I'm in that position.
Poker: C+
I think I played too passively the entire session. It is hard not to though, when the other players at the table are being aggro.

I did adjust, but maybe a little too late.

I'm posting the following hands for evaluation:
Hand #1: NL 10 TP turned into a bluff
Party, $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players

Hero (BB): $12.19 (121.9 bb)
MP: $10 (100 bb)
CO: $14.30 (143 bb)
BTN: $5.76 (57.6 bb) 41/26/13/6/1.8 107H (v/p/3/af) wtsd = 20 Steal 42% from BTN 60%
SB: $11.76 (117.6 bb)
UTG: $10.95 (109.5 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A:c 9:h
UTG raises to $0.20, 2 folds, BTN calls $0.20, SB folds, Hero calls $0.10

Flop: ($0.70) 9:c 5:d 2:h (3 players)
Hero bets $0.40, UTG folds, BTN calls $0.40

Turn: ($1.50) J:s (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $0.81, Hero calls $0.81

River: ($3.12) 5:s (2 players)
Hero bets $2.22, BTN folds
bluff based on pairing the 5

2nd Hand:
This came v early in the session.
The other players at this table had been quite aggro, so I was attempting to counter by being passive

NL 10 Flop set -- draw completes on river
Party, $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players

BTN: $9.18 (91.8 bb) 66/16/16.7/2.1 75H v/p/3/af steal=33% wtsd=18%
CO: $8.92 (89.2 bb)
Hero (SB): $13.90 (139 bb)
BB: $10 (100 bb)
UTG: $10.56 (105.6 bb)
MP: $9.35 (93.5 bb)

Preflop: Hero is SB with T:s T:c
UTG calls $0.10, 2 folds, BTN calls $0.10, Hero completes, BB checks

Flop: ($0.40) T:d 7:c A:d (4 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, UTG checks, BTN bets $0.40, Hero raises to $1.25, 2 folds, BTN calls $0.85

Turn: ($2.90) 8:c (2 players)
Hero bets $2, BTN calls $2

River: ($6.90) Q:d (2 players)
Hero bets $10.55 and is all-in, BTN folds

with the 3rd diamond on board, I think this is turning the hand into a bluff..
I think that this guy has anything at all here, and may even have a piece of this board. I think my bet sizing here is totally wrong though

I am not sure I would play it the same preflop, but won't bother about that. As play, my humble opinion goes:

hand 1: after he is floating you like that, I think you might even have the best hand there. That 5 on river is basically a blank, and your opponent showed some willingness to bluff if he is holding something weak. So I think you might make more money in that spot by check/calling river to a reasonable bet rather than leading. You might well have the best hand there so no need to think you are turn it into a bluff.

2nd hand:

If you are ready to risk that amount of money on river, wouldn't it be better to check/call again? He might bet missed draws among his nutty hands. Also river is not that great, not only completes a draw, but also brings the 2nd highest card to the board (if he was following with JT, he doesn't like that). So I don't think he likes what he sees in the river unless he has a hand that beats yours, which he won't fold. You have been showing lots of strength though, and he has a low wts...so I doubt he will try to bluff you there, but you might want to try. Q is such a bad river, so I find it hard to pin a bet size I would like. But may be something between 1/3-1/2 pot, if I think he is rather passive and he won't be bluff raising me (which he seems very unlikely to do). Having said that, again, he might not call anything...and it seems like a good spot to float you from his point of view...

Did you read the post about "Don't Panic"?
I think I forgot that in the second hand..

check/call is probably the better option against aggro players, but in these hands the villains were being passive, so maybe it makes sense for me to go all hairy aggro on 'em

Wish I knew what they had...

Update
The next mental game leak I will tackle is frustration.

It takes a reasonably long downswing to bring it out, but the feeling of futility is definitely still there.

I have now played over 2000 hands of 5-Card Draw since my last winning session.

I repeatedly get my straights beaten by flushes, my two pr hands by trips, and tonight I even had a boat beaten by another boat TTTxx < JJJxx .
Mine was a pat hand, he drew 1.

I don't get upset at all on each hand, but after a few days, it wears you down.

I'm certain that it affects play, I caught myself holding back on a perfectly valid steal attempt because of it.

Poker:
I've been playing "Fast Forward" NL 10 and NL 4 on Party.
LOTS of mid & short stackers there.

Results have been up & down, but overall I'm satisfied I'm playing well.
Same story though. Coolers and suckouts.

The benefit is it highlighted another mental game problem to tackle.

The downside is about 6 BI over 4 days -- and there were even some up sessions in there.

I think I'll put another poster up:

"One hand at a time"

Update

Frustration
I've been attempting to come up with some logic to inject when feeling frustrated.

I'm having a hard time finding one, and it's getting, well, frustrating.

So far, the best I have come up with is, "Embrace the inevitable".

Drivel.

But I had yet another losing day at 5-Card Draw.

The losing part was helped my misclicking on this hand:
Feral Cow Poker Hand Converter
PokerStars Limit 5 Card Draw $0.10/$0.20 - 6 players

CO: $3.13
Button: $6.57
SB: $2.35
BB: $1.56
UTG: $1.50
UTG+1: $4.67 (Hero)

Dealing Hands: ($0.15) 6:club: K:club: 6:diamond: K:heart: 6:spade: (6 players)
UTG folds, Hero folds, CO folds, Button raises to $0.20, SB raises to $0.30, 2 folds

I was playing 3 tables, which is just about my maximum, because when you are in a pot, it is really important to see how many cards your opponents draw.

I saw this hand, and clicked in a "blank spot" in the table just as the fold button popped up underneath it.

I laughed, which rather surprised me. But yay me for not tilting.
I have now picked a neutral part of the table, and will always, always, always click there and only there.

My 500-hand session was W shaped. The bottoms were both 20 BB deep, and I finished only 1.5 BB down. So I did have my turn in the luckbox.

It would be interesting to have a session where I start on the upswing though. I can't say I remember that happening.

Hmmmmm

At least it was a misclick, lol. I checked back the nut straight flush on the river because OBVIOUSLY he had a better flush. He had the A high flush
And I am sure you are very familiar (as I remember you mentioning it) with the fast fold aces in middle position ♦ Oh well. Hopefully our poker career success doesn't rely on only one hand...