Running for the red line

This week marks a transitional period for me. I am leaving my current employer and starting a new job on the other side of town. It's an interesting time, a time when I re-evaluate my skills and personality and get a chance to re-mold myself a little. Get the bugs out of the system so to speak.

I've felt a little closeted in my old job, running in a comfortable groove of my own creation and really lost the drive that got me into this position in the first place.

Of course when we start to re-assess our position in life, we re-assess many aspects of our lives.
My home life is possibly also in danger of being stuck in a rut. My wife seems happy but sometimes it feels like she's most happy being out with her friends.

My poker game however is definately not riding a groove right now. The changes at PokerStars have really rattled me. I've been beating Stars 5NL this year, and in addition to that I've been able to take advantage of a first deposit bonus in lieu of Rakeback.

But I moved to Stars because their rake system favoured me slightly at this limit.
They've changed that now and it's closer now to Full Tilts rake structure. I just cleared my silver star VIP bonus and got the reward for that (which is sort of their rakeback system). I get another shot at that bonus over the next 6 months, and I could probably clear it, but apart from that the only rakeback they are offering for a player of my volume is a monthly freeroll. And I really hate tournaments, especially shallow freerolls.

So now I'm contemplating withdrawing from stars and going back to Full Tilt. I have rakeback there, but I probably need to be going for the Iron Man bonus too, and I don't really put in that much volume.

I'm wondering now whether my 3BB/100 at Stars is a factor of the reduced rake, and if my breakeven graph at Tilt would continue. Whatever happens I need to continue to improve my game and get better. Which means a disciplined study regime.

I'm not studying properly at all. I browse the forums a lot, listen to the podcasts and episodes of microstakes videos on my iPhone on the drive into work. But this isn't active learning, or good practice. It's just a case of trying to learn theory by osmosis.

So I'm planning on studying more effectively. Pushing myself to expand my horizons a little, work on my game and also my understanding of the game. But most importantly - watching videos and reviewing hands with a view to understanding the concepts that apply to a decision:

Range, equity, reasons to bet. I'm going to try an identify the process for myself, re-evaluate it and attempt to express it in my own words for criticism / discussion amongst the good people of Deuces Cracked.