Travels, Ramblings, and some good'ole Poker

I've started playing poker again and what a great start!  The time I took off from the tables to emotionally reset my brain has proven a success.  I attribute this to my mental game coach Jared Tendler.  We've only had two sessions so far, the second one I need to re-listen to again (lol), however my outlook on the game and my results has drastically changed again.  From here on out I will be working on all aspects of myself as a poker player.  Work ethic, mental approach, hand analysis~ These are all things I am once again going to work on.  I feel like a new player again and it is an exciting feeling.  I am going to forget what I can from the past and today I will start looking at poker as a whole new game.  Rather than cursing myself for being a shitty player, I will start putting more emphasis on learning from my mistakes, keeping a cool head, and always looking forward, never down.  Every step back will be two steps forward, this is my new mantra.

   

Bam! My session yesterday.  I got some action at 10/20, the majority against a newer reg.  I'd say my style matched up perfectly against his.  On the road to re-building confidence, there can be no better start than an uphill finish like this.  For the next two months, I plan on putting in volume like this.  Heh, I moved back to San Diego but aside from my closest friends, I have not advertised the fact that I am home.  I've had an extraordinary two years in terms of self-development and it's time I re-look at my game and push myself to another level.

What an exciting match this was.  10/20 is a limit that has plagued me in the past.  My first 3 attempts to break into 10/20 (1 being at 6m) have led to -20k sessions each, but you know what?  That shit was out the window today.  My only focus was to win and play the best poker game in my current capacity.  After this blog, I'm going to download FWF's vid series against Sauce123 and see what I can learn from them.  I met sauce a few months back when I was in Canada and every time I talked poker with him, I always left the conversation feeling enlightened in some way.  Just when I thought there wasn't much more to poker, he'd open his mouth and say something that I had never thought of, whether it be on how to play a hand or how to approach poker.

Oh lordy what a victory today :D  5/10 HUPLO.  I was getting sooooooo depressed on the downward swing @ the end.  This guy was playing just 50bb huplo and I had taken like 5k off him before he starting taking it all back + another 1.2k.  Trying to be consistent w/the coaching I've been getting, I kept looking at the bright side of things.  I'm already up 2k (lol) and poker is one long session.  Keep playing my A game and my green line will go up.  And what do you know, something so simple helped me stay in the game and fight my way back to victory.  

and so begins my month.  Great results, great volume.  I'm going to start doing my best to just completely ignore HEM results.  I don't want to look at my graphs anymore. I really want to do this right and build true confidence.  No more worrying about results.  It's time to focus on playing my A game every session.  It's time to push myself past my previous limits into a new and even better player.  I cannot have true confidence if I am worried about my graphs.  I'm a good enough player to know when I'm playing poorly, that's enough of an indicator.  Fuck money, that'll come with true progress.

Good luck at the tables!

Mike