Once I blew it all in 2 days...

So far this week I've played four 15min sessions, totaling by complete accident, 100 hands. My focus during it was to try and assess by showdown and action exactly how wide a range my opponents were playing. And I was flying blind, playing HUDless.

Even at 4nl, there is a wealth of information that my opponents are giving away , more so than I cared imagine when I was multitabling with my HUD. After reading numerous posts and articles about the micros (mostly from when I played on the rake heavy sites like Full Tilt and Pokerstars, and was stuggling to break even), I had developed the mindset that players were so weak and uneducated that hand reading becomes almost irrelevent. The easiest way to approach the game is to learn basic strategies against different player types (LAG, TAG, whale, maniac, etc) and value bet accordingly.

These last 100 hands it has become apparent that this approach to the game is fundamentaly flawed. How can you classify your opponents if you aren't accurately hand reading? Stats? If I'm sitting down against a player for the first time, and I only have half an hour to play, what use are stats?

The key thing for me to remember is that this game originated outside of the internet. There was a time when online pros didn't have access to poker tech, and had to use the transferable skills such as hand reading, focus and aggression. At the end of this 30 day period, I will use my HUD again, only this time it'll be stripped down. I'll decide how later. For now I need to focus on my HUDless talents.

Actually, right now, I'm going to go watch Dr Who