I actually really like the new look. It's way more FTP-ish which is a great thing, and I think easier for all types of players to navigate. Also, the Draw Games is easier to get to.
Check it out here:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/29/news-views-gossip/pokerstars-7-all-new-desktop-client-1253317/
So I played poker properly for the first time in about 2 months and it's been okay so far. I'm up a bit but it's already a bit temperamental. Back to poker means back to blogging so I just thought I'd jot down some thoughts I had.
- My absolute worst skill in the world is quitting. Throughout all the time I was crushing the game, I never really learned how to deal with downswings, because I wasn't having them. The fact is I'm bad at quitting. I'm bad at leaving a session down, I always want to keep playing and have things turn around.
- With discipline and game selection you will have much less variance. I had developed a mindset that I wanted to take on anyone who challenged me. Call it ego, because it probably is. This worked well when I was running well at TD and also at the top of my game. This has lead to problems when I faced someone who was possibly better than me, and certainly at HU PLO where I'm not as good.
Playing certain players can reduce variance hugely. LP fish and TP players, who you can basically predict and control, are the lowest variance because they never really you in tough spots, and this is hugely great for your mental variance too. If a big losing session can potentially screw you up right now then you should sit back, work on game selection and try to target these types of players.
- Patience is important. Do not search for an easy quick fix. I jumped back up stakes too quickly and it cost me. The truth was I wasn't prepared to go for the long haul, grind up at smaller stakes and do it properly. All because you were at the top and fell, it doesn't mean you should try to race back up: you will just fall again.
Ok some more tangible stuff. I'm testing out a few different things. 50/100 TD is going to be my regular stake for now and there have been a few weak players cropping up - I will play them when I can although it's not necessarily a reliable source.
1/2 and 2/4 PLO 6-max are nice stakes to take it easy, multi-table a bit and try and figure out the game better. There are some good games here and there with the kind of LP and TP players I described.
I'm also still trying out HU PLO at the same stake, but occasionally it can just turn into a monkey's game versus fairly aggressive players. I can sense this being the place I get a bit out of control if I don't control myself and become more disciplined, in playing better and in being able to quit.
I've been back 3 days and I'm up a bit over $10k. It feels nice but I've also already had swings that have been half that amount. I'll try to blog more as I keep playing.
I lost $110k playing 200/400 TD just now, which is a lot of my remaining bankroll. It was definitely bad bankroll management and definitely bad being unable to quit.
For some reason I believed that I had such an edge that I wouldn't suffer large swings, but obviously that isn't true. Now I'm at a stage where I'm not even sure I have an edge playing my default strategy which is a really bad thing for your game. I'm partially convinced I ran bad and just missed a lot of draws, or got overly coolered and outdrawn in a lot of spots but I'm not sure.
I have a weird mental block right now to be really annoyed about it, which is a bit odd and probably something that has come about from being accustomed to losing.
I realise that it happened and what it means, but what I'm feeling is a weird sense of futility about everything. There's no conceivable way of "recovering" it in the short term so I'm just kinda sitting here being meh.
I guess I need a real plan going forward, in terms of what to play. I've been in freefall since December and it needs to stop; I'm going to think long and hard about what to do next.
I busted what little I had left on my Stars account and decided, screw it, it's time for a deposit. It turns out you have to prove your source of funds to make a deposit beyond a certain size (thinly veiled brag etc.) that it took me a few weeks to actually get it online. It's funny because even though I got the money from Pokerstars I still had to prove it was the same money, which involved a lot of statements showing where it went over that period.
So now I'm back to playing 100/200 TD. There's this new reg on the scene who I started off having trouble beating, but it made me realise that I need to look at my game and change a few things. That's going to be my main focus going forward, because I've lost solidly to some players and I don't think it's just variance.
It's time to get to where I was six months ago, by which I mean being able to beat anyone.
An incredible final table field combined with the biggest tournament prize ever made tonight's stream of The Big One $1million buyin a really good watch. The selection of players was perfect: You had a mix of pros and businessmen, with some from online backgrounds while other being from the old guard - even Hellmuth was there. Of course, one of my favourite parts was that Guy Laliberte, who set the whole thing up, made it there.
I won't post the results here, not that it would be that hard to find the result out by accident, but it was really fun sweating it out.
I feel televised poker has really taken a nose dive recently, but something like this has the potential to be thrilling. Just make the next one a $10 million buy-in to recreate that effect.
Although true for many walks of life, this is particularly relevant in poker today. Poker may not be what it was five years ago, but that doesn't mean it's not beatable. The problem is people are so willing to give up when things get tough.
If you're smart, if you're competitive, if you try hard enough, you will win at poker. Many people made a lot of money off poker without needing to; I'm one of them. As a result, going the extra mile doesn't come naturally to me, and I will undoubtedly be punished for it until I adapt. The game has evolved, and it's important to evolve with it.
There are millions of things that poker players can do to better themselves and this extends from dieting and exercising properly to spending a lot of the time immersed in the game. I don't necessarily do those things, but don't do as I do, do as I say.
If you're struggling with poker, take a step back and ask yourself if you're trying hard enough. It's really important to look at it as a whole and see where your leaks are, and not just at the table. Evaluate your whole approach to poker.
Just take me as an example: I've got lazy.
I've got lazy in terms of playing, believing that it's okay to take several months off.
I've got lazy when I sit down at the table. I used to be completely driven, focussing on making the right plays at all times. Now, I just autopilot, throw money about like it means nothing.
I've got lazy in terms of studying. When was the last time I went set about fixing my leaks?
And why did I become so lazy? I believed that I could get away with being lazy. I believed that success could come as long as I sat down at the table and pushed some buttons, that free money could be printed.
Why are you lazy?
We do not act; we react. We react to impulses, to information, to incentives and disincentives, to everything around us. That is being part of a society.
I've decided to mostly stop 4-betting in PLO in a lot of spots, including when I have aces. Even though 4-betting with aces for value is definitely +EV, it's possible that it's better for your range if you flat aces in a lot of spots. It's worth thinking about.
Hey I just bet you
And my flush is baby
But it's a range merge
So call me maybe?
It's hard to look tight
When you're spewing
But I've got two jacks
So call me maybe?
Hey I just bet you
And my flush is baby
But it's a range merge
So call me maybe?
All the other regs
Try to chase me
But they don't have pot odds
So call me maybe?
After a month of playing mostly PLO, one thing is clear: I am nowhere near as good as I could be.
PLO is such a mentally tough game. Even knowing that certain plays are incorrect, you still frequently end up making mistakes for your whole stack for one reason or another. I'm doing alright overall, but I want to get to a point where I make as few mistakes as possible.
I'm mixing between zoom and HU right now. Variance can be gross but I'm trying to alleviate that by playing a larger sample size than I used to. I'm aiming for 20 hours a week minimum and this should help the variance even out quicker.
