Are you only exclusively playing $7 ko games now?
QUESTION! If you had to choose one thing that you learned the most since you started again, what would it be?
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Originally posted by maythany
Are you only exclusively playing $7 ko games now?QUESTION! If you had to choose one thing that you learned the most since you started again, what would it be?
Yup - exclusively $7 KO Turbos for past few months. From a bankroll perspective I am close to being able to take a stab at the $15's.
Although I feel pretty confident in my game at the $7's (consistent and good results so far) I know that I still have plenty of room for improvement in many areas. From what I've read in the forums, it seems that the jump to the $15's requires a definite skill increase if you hope to stick around - and I'm not sure I'm there yet. I'd love to hear from some players that have made that jump and what they think of it.
The thing I learned the most? Excellent question and very hard to pick just one thing.
I would say the biggest thing I learned is the mental game - thanks to some articles/videos on here by Schnitzelfisch, Jared Tendler's book - The Mental Game of Poker, working with my coach Alex, and from just lots and lots of play and experiencing different ups and downs and seeing how that affected my game through session reviews. Being able to recognize your triggers very early on and to bring yourself back to your best game is an essential skill.
A close second is the realization that it takes a lot of time, effort and practice to get better at this game. For me I tried learning too much too quickly and failed whenever I tried to apply any of it. I had to relax my expectations, focus in on one or two areas for several weeks until I saw consistent improvement before moving on to another area of study.
Forgot to update you guys on this past weekends home poker game.
We played a $20 STT with $20 re-buys and there was a guy there that plays live poker semi-professionally (up to $10/$25 cash games) so he was bored and ultra-aggressive and just kept getting it in at least once an orbit - would bust and re-buy... this built up a nice pot pretty quick. The only problem was that I was absolutely card dead the whole game and busted out. My good buddy who has the least poker experience of everyone got pretty drunk and was playing a bit slow and so the other guys were getting frustrated and giving him tons of action to try to bust him out... and of course you know what happened - he took it down for a very nice payday!
We then switched to cash games and I was very pleased with my play overall - giving and getting lots of action and having lots of fun. After 8 hours of play though, I finally had to cash out and when I counted my chips I was EXACTLY break-even for the night!!! 
Tonight I was in a wing-eating / beer-drinking contest to raise money for prostate cancer. We were the last team to get our wings out of the kitchen so our wings were really hot - so hot that I have blisters on my thumbs - really!!! We did not win... not even close... there are some people that can scarf down chicken wings like it's their job... it's not mine. ♦
Had a coaching with Alex last night, first one in a long while as we were both extremely busy with life events the past couple of months. We had a great discussion and he shared a lot of his wisdom with me based on his poker experience and mindset over the years. Some of the things he said have really got me thinking.
For those that have been reading my blog, you know that I play poker because I enjoy it and love learning the game, improving my skills and challenging myself. I have no aspirations of ever playing professionally or even as an extra source of income. This has been a great strength of mine because it frees me to focus on improving my game by playing with different strategies and concepts. I'm not worried about how it affects my bankroll and so am not really results oriented (other than as evidence that a strategy or adjustment is working).
After our chat last night though, I think this has led to a blind-spot of mine. Where do I want to go with this? Up to now, if you asked me that question, I would give an honest but generic answer of "I just want to keep on improving my game". The problem is I never really gave much thought to what that means.
- Does it mean that I stick to 9-man SnG's and keep moving up stakes? Up to now that is what I guess my plan was. The competition will definitely get tougher soon enough if I do that - that sounds like a good challenge.
- Does it mean that I try a different format - 6-max maybe SnG's? This would widen my skill-set and provide a new challenge trying to adapt to those games and more post-flop action.
- Does it mean I try to anticipate which formats are going to rise in popularity and try to get in to those early on? The move seems to be towards faster & smaller tables, which on a personal level has some pros & cons for me.
- Does it mean that I look at cash, Omaha, or some other variant? The idea of becoming skilled in a variety of games has always appealed to me, but would be a huge undertaking.
I'm not sure what the answer is right now. I think in the short term I'm going to continue to work on my game with the plan to make a stab at the 15's in the near future. I want to see if I can make it there and hold my own. After talking to Alex, reading through the forums here, and taking a look at the direction SnG's are headed (at least in the medium term) - I am starting to think that learning 6-max games might be the next challenge I want to take.
I'd be really interested in hearing from other players who have climbed the stakes in the 9-man's or who have made the switch to 6-man's (or another format).
What is your opinion and what was your experience?
I think you should definitely explore other SNG variants.
I played 18 man sngs, 9 mans, 6 max and even 180 tournaments when I first started. I believe it allowed me to keep a keen interest in SNGs and motivated me to become a better sng player. Hence why I bought sng wizard, hem2 and subscribed to various poker training websites.
Maybe you can make a run for platinum star or even supernova? That'd be a great challenge?
oh.. and I made the mistake of telling my best friend who started playing poker to only play sngs. I think that was one of the main factors why he stopped playing. I believe that if I allowed him to pursue different variants, then maybe he still would have been playing 
Keep playing without pressure and try to move up to highest stakes available but only with knowledge following!
If you feel you need a change, work on other formats they will refresh your approaches that is for sure!
There is enough volume in KO games to play those only? How many tables are you playing? One negative change for those games were recent pokerstars change to increase rake to same as in normal 9man, if I remember right. Though fields in KO are still softer in general.
Games in 15$ probably takes bit bigger leap forward these days also as they are first one which are played more for profession. Well some pro players might also mix some 7$ if there are bad games or volume problems in 15$.
Personally I also started with 9max games and worked up into 15$/30$ games. Barely managed to withdraw my bankroll from Fulltilt before black friday. Withdraw asap as I heard situation and I think players doing that next day didn't all make it.
Anyway I think you need to ask what you want yourself. 6max format depends much more on active use of late positions and postflop in general. Also requires bit of ICM study as bubble factor is not as high. Another possibility could be 18mans and other mtt-sng formats where game stays in full table and are closer to your 9man knowledge.
Mtt-sng games are likely tougher field wise compared to some actual mtt games, but on other hand fields also stay smaller and by that also variance.
One good thing of having multiple formats in your arsenal is wider options to table select when moving up in stakes. Though I would recommend to focus on one format at a time. My error in latest addition (fifty50) has been partially this as I have never focused only to it.
Originally posted by ghaleon
There is enough volume in KO games to play those only? How many tables are you playing? One negative change for those games were recent pokerstars change to increase rake to same as in normal 9man, if I remember right. Though fields in KO are still softer in general.
I am 10-tabling right now and it is easy to keep 10 tables going steady, will probably start 12-tabling soon and don't expect any problems with that (might take 2-3 minutes for table to fill up). Of course that depends on the time of day. You are quite right about the rake changes to bring them in-line with normal 9-mans. They also reduced the bounties a bit.
Anyway I think you need to ask what you want yourself. 6max format depends much more on active use of late positions and postflop in general. Also requires bit of ICM study as bubble factor is not as high. Another possibility could be 18mans and other mtt-sng formats where game stays in full table and are closer to your 9man knowledge.
I like the 9-man KO's and 6-max sounds like an interesting option to explore if I hit my ceiling in the $15 games. MTT-SnG's also sound good, the issue with them is time... With my other commitments, my sessions are usually limited to an hour here and an hour there, very rarely do I get 2 hours or more.
Thanks for reading and posting. I enjoyed your video from a few months ago with the sharkystrator demo.
Had another coaching session last night, reviewed some marked hands and a whole tournament. Overall my play was pretty solid. A couple of mistakes highlighted in my post-flop play when dealing with certain textured boards and my betting/calling strategies. My reviewed tournament was fairly solid, with one hand that stuck out as a big mistake pre-flop, but played ok post-flop. (Maybe i'll post the hand tomorrow when i have access to hand history).
Had one of four Christmas parties tonight at this German restaurant way out in the middle of the woods, with excellent food and beer, and over a 100 people crammed into cafeteria-style long tables, but the entertainment was a weird mix of kareoke ranging from the Irish Rovers to the Beatles to some very old country music tunes to some classic rock tunes... Somehow it all fit though... Anyways, I'm drunk and off to bed... Night all.
Originally posted by Ramble
Originally posted by ghaleon
There is enough volume in KO games to play those only? How many tables are you playing? One negative change for those games were recent pokerstars change to increase rake to same as in normal 9man, if I remember right. Though fields in KO are still softer in general.I am 10-tabling right now and it is easy to keep 10 tables going steady, will probably start 12-tabling soon and don't expect any problems with that (might take 2-3 minutes for table to fill up). Of course that depends on the time of day.
Well, I regret posting that... ever since, it seems that the tables are taking forever to fill up. Logged in this afternoon to find about 275,000 players but after 10+ minutes, I still only have 3 tables active, and there are only about 13-tables running total...
November Report / 400-Game Update
Games Played: 400
ROI: 9.2% (pre-RB)
ITM: 39.8 % (52.0% adjusted for bounties)
It's been a good month volume wise and results wise, despite a mentally challenging downswing at one point. I did a lot of hand reviews this month and got a couple of coachings in with Alex this past week, and am confident in my game overall - still a microscopic sample but my lifetime ROI at the $7's is 7.3% (pre-RB). I've given a lot of thought to my next steps in Poker and have decided that once I am rolled to take a stab at the $15's that I'm going to do so (hopefully by January/February). I'm really eager to test myself against the next level of competition and see what adjustments need to be made.
For December my goals are:
- Hit 400 games again
- Review my blind-defense and blind-steal strategies vs certain regs and adjust
- Make changes to HUD based on some ideas I've had the past month
- Beta-Test ICMizer 2.0
Hey ramble,
I just finished up reading your blog because.... Well.. My sleep pattern is all messed up from live 1 2 or nl200 as I guess people call it online. (I don't think I'm supposed to sound that old lol)
Great blog though. Seems like a good way to keep goals/thoughts organised and stay motivated by getting peoples feedback. Good to see you moving up and your time put in is paying off. If you ever want to do hand reviews/sweat sessions don't hesitate to ask I've been looking for something like that.
Also I have to say I understand it can be hard balancing poker and family so good to see you understand what poker is to you and make lots of time for them, I have a 2 year old son who I spend days with but then results in me being out til 4am all the time. I'm hoping once I'm better at online I can just play there.
And I have to mention the UFC pics u posted, I was there for that as well. I'm generally not a fan of ufc like getting ppvs and what not but I had a lot of fun at the live event too The fact I was getting to hear Bruce buffer yell IIITTSS TTIIIIMMMEEE in person made it impossible not to.
Sorry for the long post
Keep grinding! And don't be shy if you ever want someone to talk poker/hand history with!
Originally posted by sooley570
Hey ramble,I just finished up reading your blog because.... Well.. My sleep pattern is all messed up from live 1 2 or nl200 as I guess people call it online. (I don't think I'm supposed to sound that old lol)
Great blog though. Seems like a good way to keep goals/thoughts organised and stay motivated by getting peoples feedback. Good to see you moving up and your time put in is paying off. If you ever want to do hand reviews/sweat sessions don't hesitate to ask I've been looking for something like that.
Also I have to say I understand it can be hard balancing poker and family so good to see you understand what poker is to you and make lots of time for them, I have a 2 year old son who I spend days with but then results in me being out til 4am all the time. I'm hoping once I'm better at online I can just play there.
And I have to mention the UFC pics u posted, I was there for that as well. I'm generally not a fan of ufc like getting ppvs and what not but I had a lot of fun at the live event too The fact I was getting to hear Bruce buffer yell IIITTSS TTIIIIMMMEEE in person made it impossible not to.
Sorry for the long post
Keep grinding! And don't be shy if you ever want someone to talk poker/hand history with!
Hi sooley - I'm glad you've enjoyed the blog so far - Thanks for reading and posting.
I see you've been quite active in the forums the past few days and that's a great way to pick up tons of information and meet people that you can study with or discuss different situations. I've got a little guy the same age and it can be a struggle to find the balance between family-time and me-time, but I think it's important to be sure you get both in. I see you're playing cash games - I'm not that experienced in cash and they are completely different beasts than SnG's... Having said that though, I'd be happy to discuss some hands some time, but right now I'm focused on my coaching deal. You should start a blog, post some hands, etc... and I'll be sure to give it a read. I find a blog is a good motivator and way to hold yourself accountable.
Food
Haven't posted about food in awhile and although I don't have a picture, I made one of the most delicious sandwiches of my life today... In a bowl I mixed chunks of chicken, a bit of mayo and some finely chopped hot banana peppers, jalapenos, pickles and green peppers. I poured this onto a slice of whole-grain bread and topped with a slice of ham, some apple-wood smoked cheddar and scrambled eggs. Another slice of whole-grain bread to hold it all together and then lightly toasted in the frying pan... mmmm delicious!!!!
HUD
I started working on my HUD changes that I discussed yesterday... just on paper... need to put a bit more thought into it. The problem is I really hate cluttered displays (if it is too busy, I don't end up using any of it, which defeats the purpose). I'm trying to keep the info limited to 2 lines and use live-tracking to change the 2nd line info based on the street. Has anyone made use of the panels in HEM2? I'm thinking I might use a panel just to display Tot Hands and # of Blinds.
ICMizer 2.0
The Russian version of the ICMizer website has some teaser info on ICMizer 2.0, so I was on there last night using Google Translate to learn a bit about it. Q tells me that English version of website will be updated in a few days. Based on the Russian translation it seems that ICMizer 2.0 will have some built-in coaching to help players recognize different situations and how to consider the ICM implications in those spots. Sounds interesting, I'll let you know what I think when I get to test it out later this month.
I was off work today and so put a few small sessions in. Played about 60 games and finished the day with an ROI of 32%. 
I am extremely pleased with this since the tables were very reg infested all day with minimum 3 good regs, and in a few cases up to 5.
Played around with HUD panel for Hands and #BB's, but couldn't figure out how to make it position well. Will keep tinkering.
December goals:
- 59/400 games - Great start so far ~15% done on day 1!
- Review my blind-defense and blind-steal strategies vs certain Regs and adjust - to do this week
- Make changes to HUD based on some ideas I've had the past month - A bit today but not happy yet
- Beta-Test ICMizer 2.0 - looks like mid-December for this.
Tried to get a session in tonight after getting the kid to bed, but the tables were absolutely dead, never more than 6 games running at a time - normally it's in the 10-15 range this time of night... not sure what's up. The regs weren't even playing - not sure if they weren't playing because the tables were dead OR if the tables were dead because they weren't playing.
Looks like tonight is going to be about studying.
Tonight I did a review of hand histories against a certain reg looking at a very specific situation.
I noticed an interesting tendency (not sure I can call it a leak) that I think I can profitably exploit going forward in my play versus him. I'm going to expand this look at some other good regs over the next couple of days and see if same exploit is possible. If it is, I suspect it could be a very profitable line for me going forward if they do not adjust to it appropriately.
I saw your comments on Shark Cage and must agree..........it's not a good watch at all.
Probably because Mr Haxton helped dream it up:pcuser:
Painful 
December's 100-Game Update
After putting in 60 games the first day, it took me 4 more days to get the next 45 in... I find the tables are drying up a lot earlier in the evening when I usually play so it is getting harder... Another good news report.
Games Played: 104
ROI: 17.9% (Over the last 1000 games I've got an ROI of 9.8% pre-RB. )
ITM: 44.2% (54.8 adjusted for bounties)
I tried stacking tables today and found it worked really well. After a bit I went back to my 4 tiles x cascaded 3 deep set up and found it annoying so went back to stacked. Think I'm hooked on it now. Only frustrating thing is for some reason each new table doesn't come up in the stack and I have to keep hitting CTRL-8 to get it to stack... not sure why? I think this will let me get some extra tables in overall. It's hard not to see the outcome in certain hands though, but I think I'll get used to it.
Off to yet another Christmas party tonight - should be fun though.
Got a small session in today (12-tabling stacked going well) and managed to finish in the green of what I thought was going to be a losing or break-even session by making some cashes in the last 3 or 4 tables. I'm thinking about getting sharky-strator as I think it will help me with volume a bit (maybe increase it by as much as 20%) as I am sometimes slow to register for a table after one closes... I'm not sure I would use the filtering part of it though as I'm not table-selecting now, the tables almost always have 4-5 good regs, and I'm still making a decent profit AND if I did start filtering it would probably hurt my volume by 20% since I'd miss out on all the tables where there were say 5 regs...
Anyways I'm off to a friend's house tonight and depending on who else shows up, we might get a live game going. Wish me luck.