The problem a lot of footballers have is that they think too big: They play a game thinking "Win here and we might win the league/cup." and that affects them on the pitch. They get a chance in front of goal and the pressure they've put on themselves and the nerves and anxiety about what the goal might mean causes them to make a mess of it. They miss an easy finish all because they're thinking about the significance of the moment in the context of things they have no control over.
In reality, all a footballer should be thinking about is how to make the next pass the best pass they can play; how to make the next run the best run they can make, etc. That's all they can affect. One player playing for Liverpool can't decide whether his teammates make a mistake or if Man City score a goal in another game. One player can't change anything other than his next pass/tackle/run. If they adopt that attitude, they won't get nervous or anxious when they're faced with an opportunity to score because it's just a matter of kicking the ball. If they aren't thinking of it as particularly significant, it's just doing something they've done a thousand times before.
That's a very long winded way of saying that you need to get back to basics. Stop thinking "Why can't I beat NL10?" and start thinking "Was that last decision a good decision?". As long as you're looking at your bankroll you're going to be chasing your losses. That will force you into making mistakes just as surely as it forced Gareth Southgate, Stuart Pearce, Chris Waddle and all the others into making a complete h*sh of their penalty kicks which LET THEIR COUNTRY DOWNAND MADE ME CRYWHEN I WAS JUST A LITTLE BOY!!!
Sorry, went off on one there...
Anyway, I think you should step right down to NL4 for a short while where the money is less likely to have an affect on you. At that level it's really quite easy to determine whether you're making good decisions, too, because there aren't that many players who ever really get out of line or "outplay" you. Alternatively - and this is the option I'd suggest - mix in a few regular SNG's into your play. They're low variance but confidence building. You'll win a fair few and winning, even if it's only a six player field, soon increases your enjoyment of the game. Your liability is also limited in these so you don't need to worry about accidentally losing half of your roll. Maybe start your sessions with an hour of sit and go's before moving to the cash tables.
Don't expect to win when you start a session, just go into it expecting to make good decisions or at least to be critical enough to know when you've made a bad decision and think about how to correct it. Expecting to win will leave you feeling pretty terrible when you don't and nobody wins all the time.
Last thing to say is that you are good at posting hands in the clinic but you're not so good at commenting on other hands. If you spend the next six months explaining, in detail, your thoughts on other peoples' play and then responding to any criticisms of your thoughts, you will become a better player. By defending your own ideas you will find that you strengthen your good habits and eradicate your bad ones. It's so much better than watching videos or just listening to the TV but it does take more effort and patience.
The only problem some people have with posting their thoughts is that they put their ego into their ideas and they don't like having their ego bruised. If you want to improve at the game you've got to get rid of that ego and accept that being told you're wrong isn't the same as being told you're stupid. If someone thinks you're wrong, vigorously defend your opinion but be willing to be convinced by their arguments.
The problem a lot of footballers have is that they think too big: They play a game thinking "Win here and we might win the league/cup." and that affects them on the pitch. They get a chance in front of goal and the pressure they've put on themselves and the nerves and anxiety about what the goal might mean causes them to make a mess of it. They miss an easy finish all because they're thinking about the significance of the moment in the context of things they have no control over. In reality, all a footballer should be thinking about is how to make the next pass the best pass they can play; how to make the next run the best run they can make, etc. That's all they can affect. One player playing for Liverpool can't decide whether his teammates make a mistake or if Man City score a goal in another game. One player can't change anything other than his next pass/tackle/run. If they adopt that attitude, they won't get nervous or anxious when they're faced with an opportunity to score because it's just a matter of kicking the ball. If they aren't thinking of it as particularly significant, it's just doing something they've done a thousand times before. That's a very long winded way of saying that you need to get back to basics. Stop thinking "Why can't I beat NL10?" and start thinking "Was that last decision a good decision?". As long as you're looking at your bankroll you're going to be chasing your losses. That will force you into making mistakes just as surely as it forced Gareth Southgate, Stuart Pearce, Chris Waddle and all the others into making a complete h*sh of their penalty kicks which LET THEIR COUNTRY DOWN AND MADE ME CRY WHEN I WAS JUST A LITTLE BOY!!! Sorry, went off on one there... Anyway, I think you should step right down to NL4 for a short while where the money is less likely to have an affect on you. At that level it's really quite easy to determine whether you're making good decisions, too, because there aren't that many players who ever really get out of line or "outplay" you. Alternatively - and this is the option I'd suggest - mix in a few regular SNG's into your play. They're low variance but confidence building. You'll win a fair few and winning, even if it's only a six player field, soon increases your enjoyment of the game. Your liability is also limited in these so you don't need to worry about accidentally losing half of your roll. Maybe start your sessions with an hour of sit and go's before moving to the cash tables. Don't expect to win when you start a session, just go into it expecting to make good decisions or at least to be critical enough to know when you've made a bad decision and think about how to correct it. Expecting to win will leave you feeling pretty terrible when you don't and nobody wins all the time. Last thing to say is that you are good at posting hands in the clinic but you're not so good at commenting on other hands. If you spend the next six months explaining, in detail , your thoughts on other peoples' play and then responding to any criticisms of your thoughts , you will become a better player. By defending your own ideas you will find that you strengthen your good habits and eradicate your bad ones. It's so much better than watching videos or just listening to the TV but it does take more effort and patience. The only problem some people have with posting their thoughts is that they put their ego into their ideas and they don't like having their ego bruised. If you want to improve at the game you've got to get rid of that ego and accept that being told you're wrong isn't the same as being told you're stupid. If someone thinks you're wrong, vigorously defend your opinion but be willing to be convinced by their arguments . Those are the only things I can think to suggest. Posted by BorinLoner
Brilliant reply as always.
haha yeah but didnt he get a pizza hut advert out of that.... got to stick a bag over his head in the advert. classy fella. least u got to see a penalty shoot out that gets you excitied, all i seen is england lose in every quarter final, thats the futhest iv see them get, and i support tottenham so havnt had a heap of joy there either lol least we got gareth bale....he makes everything better.....
anyway i might try the sng thing, i really dont wanna give up but i dont wanna be stupid and continue playing when im a losing player atm. dropping to 10 nl has helped but i still dont feel good somtimeswith my overally play, i struggle to get the response i want when i act. Also trust me my ego isnt big i post hands to take on advice from others, i do listen to them otherwise i wouldnt bother posting and reply. I dont post on oters because im no confident in my skills atm i do look at theres though. How long should my sessions be to fully get into it because if i loose 2 byins or somthing early on i think session is over cant mke profit not wasting my time, this is wrong isnt it as i dont see long term how im playing. how long would u say?
Also whats your thoughts on this hand? possiably have 15 outs if he has a set, so around 56% to hit? and im getting even money so its slightly +ev to call?
also played for 45 mins and come out with a whole £14 proft!! although i was playing 2 tables of masers cash with full £20 stack and 1 table of 10 nl. I was more up but wanted to bank the win for confidence. still down on the day but at least iv had a winning session.
Calling with JTs on the button is fine pre-flop. Checking the flop with second pair is also fine.
On the turn, we should be raising. We have the second nuts on the wettest board you're ever likely to see and there's only 15BB in the pot when we're facing this action. We should be thinking that there are lots of two-pair or top pairs that our opponent can call a raise with and also lots of draws that i) our opponent can be holding which we can get value from and ii) our opponent can put us on, so he can pay us off.
If our opponent wants to get it in on the turn he's probably doing it with a wider range than on the river for those reasons: he can have a draw himself or he can think that we're on the draw. By the river, neither of us can be on the draw so if the money goes in, we both must have a made hand. If he just calls a raise on the turn, our river value bet is larger too.
The JJ v 45 hand: I'd probably play the same way. No worries here, in my opinion. Just take a note about his check on the turn after making the nuts.
The AQ v KK hand: I think you need to explain why you're check-raising the flop. What were your thoughts there?
The QJ v A8 hand: I think you should just give up after your c-bet on the flop. It's not that wet a flop but it is Ace-high in a 3-bet pot. If he's in the hand with a small pocket pair he doesn't call the flop unless that pair was 55 or 66 and if he's called a pre-flop 3-bet with an Ace, he's unlikely to fold at any stage. Save the 420 chips by not betting the turn. (Just realised this wasn't a 3-bet pot. The ideas are still the same, I think.)
The K9 v AA hand: Think about shoving over the limp pre-flop unless you've never seen this guy limp before. K9 is generally well ahead of the limpers range and there's a huge (relative to your stack) amount of chips in the middle in dead money.
Once you've checked, with your stack it's a cooler and you played it fine post-flop.
I don't very often look at anyone's diary but I hope some of this will help. Keep posting in the clinic.
Regarding the length of sessions I'm definitely not the best person to ask. I am very strict on not really caring how long I play or how much I lose. The one occasion recently when I did decide to play high volume was the Kings of Cash promotion which I was third or fourth in after two or three days. Six tabling, playing super-laggy for 6 hours a day nearly killed me. I had to give up after the third day feeling pretty exhausted. I am definitely not the person to be giving advice on that.
That hand's an interesting one. As it happens, against his hand we're a 43% underdog. That's because while we can hit our flush or straight, he can still hit his full house. You'd have to put his range into pokerstove to get an answer, I think. His overshove, while terrible, does make it really tricky because it makes your pot odds so bad.
also played for 45 mins and come out with a whole £14 proft!! although i was playing 2 tables of masers cash with full £20 stack and 1 table of 10 nl. I was more up but wanted to bank the win for confidence. still down on the day but at least iv had a winning session. current b/r: £267.93 on day: -£7 on initial deposit: -£132.08 Posted by robbie1992
Well played, nice profit for 45mins at 10nl. Banking the win can be a good idea when things havn't been going well/ confidence is low- i've done it myself before, but you really want to be trying to extend sessions where things are going well rather than cutting them short as in my experience 1 very good session can wipe out 4-5 horrible sessions in terms of profit/loss.
Also just a little tip i'd try to ignore the negative figures above about how much your down from initial deposit and avoid posting them , it's never nice looking at negative figures and you can't help but think about chasing losses- again just speaking from personal experience where i have had to look at negative figures. Just advice though as i can empathize with alot of your posts from when i started writing my diary- btw if your interested in june i don't mind doing a couple of sweat sessions- looking at h-hs just generally discussing stuff via messenger on fb- skype etc and also don't worry about the fact people don't reply often lots of people just lurk on the forums reading the diaries and not commenting.
The JT v KT hand: Calling with JTs on the button is fine pre-flop. Checking the flop with second pair is also fine. On the turn, we should be raising. We have the second nuts on the wettest board you're ever likely to see and there's only 15BB in the pot when we're facing this action. We should be thinking that there are lots of two-pair or top pairs that our opponent can call a raise with and also lots of draws that i) our opponent can be holding which we can get value from and ii) our opponent can put us on, so he can pay us off. If our opponent wants to get it in on the turn he's probably doing it with a wider range than on the river for those reasons: he can have a draw himself or he can think that we're on the draw. By the river, neither of us can be on the draw so if the money goes in, we both must have a made hand. If he just calls a raise on the turn, our river value bet is larger too. The JJ v 45 hand: I'd probably play the same way. No worries here, in my opinion. Just take a note about his check on the turn after making the nuts. The AQ v KK hand: I think you need to explain why you're check-raising the flop. What were your thoughts there? The QJ v A8 hand: I think you should just give up after your c-bet on the flop. It's not that wet a flop but it is Ace-high in a 3-bet pot. If he's in the hand with a small pocket pair he doesn't call the flop unless that pair was 55 or 66 and if he's called a pre-flop 3-bet with an Ace, he's unlikely to fold at any stage. Save the 420 chips by not betting the turn. (Just realised this wasn't a 3-bet pot. The ideas are still the same, I think.) The K9 v AA hand: Think about shoving over the limp pre-flop unless you've never seen this guy limp before. K9 is generally well ahead of the limpers range and there's a huge (relative to your stack) amount of chips in the middle in dead money. Once you've checked, with your stack it's a cooler and you played it fine post-flop. I don't very often look at anyone's diary but I hope some of this will help. Keep posting in the clinic. Posted by BorinLoner
Thanks boring ill take your comments on board, i agee with th j10 that i should of raised, dont think i did because opponent is laggy and i thought it would turn my hand face up......but if he has flush draw/sets then he would still proberly call to try and hit on the river, especially if his consider the implied odds if i have n fact already hit the straight.
With the AQ i done it because i wanted to balance my range, i will want to do this with draws and somtimes even bluffs and i knew this hand was going to showdown because the stack of villian, so i wanted everyone to see i can do it with a made hand.....so in future i can do it with air against an aggresive constant cb.
With the 1010 hand, I was really suprised to see QQ, i was thnking maybe ak with a diamond. Think i got lucky to hit the 8 then unlucky to hit the 10 seeing as i have 2 off them lol iwould enjoy the kings of cash promo to keep going, obv i cant win it playing 3 tables but to aim for top 10 or somthing simular would be a good incentive to keep me playing for longer. What was ur end result in term of profit/loss for such a long input of play?
In Response to Re: ONE TIME!.....another diary. : Well played, nice profit for 45mins at 10nl. Banking the win can be a good idea when things havn't been going well/ confidence is low- i've done it myself before, but you really want to be trying to extend sessions where things are going well rather than cutting them short as in my experience 1 very good session can wipe out 4-5 horrible sessions in terms of profit/loss. Also just a little tip i'd try to ignore the negative figures above about how much your down from initial deposit and avoid posting them , it's never nice looking at negative figures and you can't help but think about chasing losses- again just speaking from personal experience where i have had to look at negative figures. Just advice though as i can empathize with alot of your posts from when i started writing my diary- btw if your interested in june i don't mind doing a couple of sweat sessions- looking at h-hs just generally discussing stuff via messenger on fb- skype etc and also don't worry about the fact people don't reply often lots of people just lurk on the forums reading the diaries and not commenting. Posted by benc
Yeah i know but just wanted to just get a winning session atm, was forgetting how it felt :P im still making mistakes aswell which is annoying so playing for longer atm im not fully confident in doing. Okay i try not to concentrate on it but thought it would be good to write for the people reading my diary to see, i dont set money targets etc, because what your in profit/loss doesnt always reflect how well you are playing. Thats sounds brilliant id definatly be interested in doing that, i have msn and skype so just give me a PM when your interested in doing it and were sort it. I was thinking to organise somthing like that on sky, it will be a massive help to look at each others hand historys
These diaries are all the same, completely revolves around how much is my BR and how much have I won or lost. This will totally undermine your confidence or impact as positive tilt when you win. You should not set your goals relating to your BR, because it will fluctuate in the short term. You need to ensure long term it will grow. The way you do this is by making the correct decisions at the table.
That means being highly critical of yourself and improving your game.
If you know you played 10 hands and you got the money in good but you still lost all 10 come showdown then this is still +EV. Even though in the short term you’re down 10 buy ins. The negative impact this would have on your game right now would be immense. Imagine losing 10 buy ins’s, well I got news for you – it don’t matter how good you think you are – it does happen!
Stop concentrating on the BR and have a long-term goal but focus on sustainable short-term goals.
Long-term goal: want to play nl10 regular and be a winner
Short-term goal: reduce tilt, improve positional hand selection
Poker is such a mental game, and this is the main reason why people fail.
Do not expect to win, because you will lose at least some of the time and when you lose more your setting yourself up for feeling like you have failed.
People that believe they are above nl4 for example and expect to win.
When they lose they feel they have failed!
“O no my BR has gone down!!!!! What am I going to do!!”?
STOP LOOKING AT YOUR BR AS A MEASURE OF COMPETANCE
Stop focusing on your BR and focus on every decision and emotion.
If you want to improve, and then do it bite size.
Where it is going wrong and let’s improve that.
Think of poker as a cake and take a slice and try and improve it until your happy.
Strip your game back and pretend you know nothing and start again.
You may have just developed bad habits.
Remeber a BR is money we play with as a buffer to handle varaince - does not guarentee we win
Hi, These diaries are all the same, completely revolves around how much is my BR and how much have I won or lost. This will totally undermine your confidence or impact as positive tilt when you win. You should not set your goals relating to your BR, because it will fluctuate in the short term. You need to ensure long term it will grow. The way you do this is by making the correct decisions at the table. That means being highly critical of yourself and improving your game. If you know you played 10 hands and you got the money in good but you still lost all 10 come showdown then this is still +EV. Even though in the short term you’re down 10 buy ins. The negative impact this would have on your game right now would be immense. Imagine losing 10 buy ins’s, well I got news for you – it don’t matter how good you think you are – it does happen! Stop concentrating on the BR and have a long-term goal but focus on sustainable short-term goals. Long-term goal: want to play nl10 regular and be a winner Short-term goal: reduce tilt, improve positional hand selection Poker is such a mental game, and this is the main reason why people fail. Do not expect to win , because you will lose at least some of the time and when you lose more your setting yourself up for feeling like you have failed. People that believe they are above nl4 for example and expect to win. When they lose they feel they have failed! “O no my BR has gone down!!!!! What am I going to do!!”? STOP LOOKING AT YOUR BR AS A MEASURE OF COMPETANCE Stop focusing on your BR and focus on every decision and emotion. If you want to improve, and then do it bite size. Where it is going wrong and let’s improve that. Think of poker as a cake and take a slice and try and improve it until your happy. Strip your game back and pretend you know nothing and start again. You may have just developed bad habits. Remeber a BR is money we play with as a buffer to handle varaince - does not guarentee we win Good poker decisions win GOOD LUCK Posted by rancid
Very good advice.
I suggest reading "the mental game of poker" this seems to back up and go into more detail of what rancid has just wrote and hopefully will help you.
Thanks Rancid, i dont think im better then what i am though i understand that im struggling with my poker decesions atm but im happy i havnt abandoned my BR and im working hard to improve it and my overall game. Not sure what short term targets i got, maybe o just put some proper hours into grinding i think. I just read the promo for bank holiday thread and its impressive the amount of effort those guys are putting in, its somthing i definatly want to improve on.
I have read the mental game of poker big hawk, it is good but i need to keep going over it constantly otherwise i got back to bad habbits, i need to improve when im losing tho, if i lose a byin i feel myself go down like when i see tottenham concede a goal lol and thats not good, i need stabe confidence....somthing they touch on in that book.
The best quote that helps me is ' think of the money youve lost as an investment in your edge long term, as long as you keep making good plays, the investment will be worth it'.
absoultely disgusting session AGAIN!!!! so annoyed that i cant hit anything, i cant hit one hand i actually want , why dont i ever hit anything??
cant even be bothered to go on with the nonsense poker talk, i listen to that rubbish everyday and still got crushed at 10 nl haha im so bad.
lost yesetdays profits...im not allowed to win for to long! and i won an all in today and stay ended up £20 done, i atually do so well to lose as much as i do really considering the stakes im playing.
blance is a whopping: £249
today : -20
keeping up a good average of losing about 2 byins a session and i didnt even play too long today so i had to work hard to do that, it was tough. Hoping to maybe lose 4 byins later just gotta hope i keep running bad, fingers crossed. Also punched a wall and hurt my hand so it might be extra tough to play.
i do think you need to take a break, you will not play your best when taking the sessions so personally
i've just had Aces full cracked by quads - next hand please - you have to be able to get into that frame of mind, and i'm not sure you can manage that at the moment without a break from the tables
absoultely disgusting session AGAIN!!!! so annoyed that i cant hit anything, i cant hit one hand i actually want , why dont i ever hit anything?? cant even be bothered to go on with the nonsense poker talk, i listen to that rubbish everyday and still got crushed at 10 nl haha im so bad. lost yesetdays profits...im not allowed to win for to long! and i won an all in today and stay ended up £20 done, i atually do so well to lose as much as i do really considering the stakes im playing. blance is a whopping: £249 today : -20 keeping up a good average of losing about 2 byins a session and i didnt even play too long today so i had to work hard to do that, it was tough. Hoping to maybe lose 4 byins later just gotta hope i keep running bad, fingers crossed. Also punched a wall and hurt my hand so it might be extra tough to play. Posted by robbie1992
punching walls over a game of poker = HAVE A BREAK
A break would make no difference at all for me, u can't take a break everytime u play rubbish, I have more breaks then I do playing time. Why should u care u no that ur a good player who will make the rite decisions. Posted by robbie1992
i care because i play on sky because of the community
as for being good - tyvm - i am an improving player - but i have to question my plays every day - it's not easy this game. i just needlessly called a big aipf by the don because two heads were on offer with my big chiplead and AK. he had AA and now i'm a small stack. not sure it was the right play but will need to think about it later.
In Response to Re: ONE TIME!.....another diary. : i care because i play on sky because of the community as for being good - tyvm - i am an improving player - but i have to question my plays every day - it's not easy this game. i just needlessly called a big aipf by the don because two heads were on offer with my big chiplead and AK. he had AA and now i'm a small stack. not sure it was the right play but will need to think about it later. Posted by GELDY
I'm going backwards and don't no how to stop it, maybe a day with duecescracked. It's so disheartens tho I want this so much but I just can't seem to crack it.
Hmmm tough but with 2 heads and u got ak so prob not a mistake. Ak isn't a nice hand all in pre tho IMO, Iv seen the odds against different styles ranges and they not impressive
In Response to Re: ONE TIME!.....another diary. : I'm going backwards and don't no how to stop it, maybe a day with duecescracked. It's so disheartens tho I want this so much but I just can't seem to crack it. Hmmm tough but with 2 heads and u got ak so prob not a mistake. Ak isn't a nice hand all in pre tho IMO, Iv seen the odds against different styles ranges and they not impressive Posted by robbie1992
want it so much - that I fear is what is undermining your potential and hence my suggestion to take time out to chill
AK - yeah I've seen your posts in the clinic - mathematically maybe right - but from a tourney perspective an unneccessary time to take a flip
you need to total break from the game for a sustained period to clear your head.
i think theres a lot of past occurences is weighing heavily on your mind, i know your eager to llearn and progress but maybe you just want it too much or too quickly and this combined with other things may be holding you back. you do sound as tho your on perma tilt atm as well which is never a good thing.
Comments
In reality, all a footballer should be thinking about is how to make the next pass the best pass they can play; how to make the next run the best run they can make, etc. That's all they can affect. One player playing for Liverpool can't decide whether his teammates make a mistake or if Man City score a goal in another game. One player can't change anything other than his next pass/tackle/run. If they adopt that attitude, they won't get nervous or anxious when they're faced with an opportunity to score because it's just a matter of kicking the ball. If they aren't thinking of it as particularly significant, it's just doing something they've done a thousand times before.
That's a very long winded way of saying that you need to get back to basics. Stop thinking "Why can't I beat NL10?" and start thinking "Was that last decision a good decision?". As long as you're looking at your bankroll you're going to be chasing your losses. That will force you into making mistakes just as surely as it forced Gareth Southgate, Stuart Pearce, Chris Waddle and all the others into making a complete h*sh of their penalty kicks which LET THEIR COUNTRY DOWN AND MADE ME CRY WHEN I WAS JUST A LITTLE BOY!!!
Sorry, went off on one there...
Anyway, I think you should step right down to NL4 for a short while where the money is less likely to have an affect on you. At that level it's really quite easy to determine whether you're making good decisions, too, because there aren't that many players who ever really get out of line or "outplay" you. Alternatively - and this is the option I'd suggest - mix in a few regular SNG's into your play. They're low variance but confidence building. You'll win a fair few and winning, even if it's only a six player field, soon increases your enjoyment of the game. Your liability is also limited in these so you don't need to worry about accidentally losing half of your roll. Maybe start your sessions with an hour of sit and go's before moving to the cash tables.
Don't expect to win when you start a session, just go into it expecting to make good decisions or at least to be critical enough to know when you've made a bad decision and think about how to correct it. Expecting to win will leave you feeling pretty terrible when you don't and nobody wins all the time.
Last thing to say is that you are good at posting hands in the clinic but you're not so good at commenting on other hands. If you spend the next six months explaining, in detail, your thoughts on other peoples' play and then responding to any criticisms of your thoughts, you will become a better player. By defending your own ideas you will find that you strengthen your good habits and eradicate your bad ones. It's so much better than watching videos or just listening to the TV but it does take more effort and patience.
The only problem some people have with posting their thoughts is that they put their ego into their ideas and they don't like having their ego bruised. If you want to improve at the game you've got to get rid of that ego and accept that being told you're wrong isn't the same as being told you're stupid. If someone thinks you're wrong, vigorously defend your opinion but be willing to be convinced by their arguments.
Those are the only things I can think to suggest.
haha yeah but didnt he get a pizza hut advert out of that.... got to stick a bag over his head in the advert. classy fella. least u got to see a penalty shoot out that gets you excitied, all i seen is england lose in every quarter final, thats the futhest iv see them get, and i support tottenham so havnt had a heap of joy there either lol least we got gareth bale....he makes everything better.....
anyway i might try the sng thing, i really dont wanna give up but i dont wanna be stupid and continue playing when im a losing player atm. dropping to 10 nl has helped but i still dont feel good somtimeswith my overally play, i struggle to get the response i want when i act. Also trust me my ego isnt big i post hands to take on advice from others, i do listen to them otherwise i wouldnt bother posting and reply. I dont post on oters because im no confident in my skills atm i do look at theres though. How long should my sessions be to fully get into it because if i loose 2 byins or somthing early on i think session is over cant mke profit not wasting my time, this is wrong isnt it as i dont see long term how im playing. how long would u say?
current b/r: £267.93
on day: -£7
on initial deposit: -£132.08
The JT v KT hand:
Calling with JTs on the button is fine pre-flop. Checking the flop with second pair is also fine.
On the turn, we should be raising. We have the second nuts on the wettest board you're ever likely to see and there's only 15BB in the pot when we're facing this action. We should be thinking that there are lots of two-pair or top pairs that our opponent can call a raise with and also lots of draws that i) our opponent can be holding which we can get value from and ii) our opponent can put us on, so he can pay us off.
If our opponent wants to get it in on the turn he's probably doing it with a wider range than on the river for those reasons: he can have a draw himself or he can think that we're on the draw. By the river, neither of us can be on the draw so if the money goes in, we both must have a made hand. If he just calls a raise on the turn, our river value bet is larger too.
The JJ v 45 hand: I'd probably play the same way. No worries here, in my opinion. Just take a note about his check on the turn after making the nuts.
The AQ v KK hand: I think you need to explain why you're check-raising the flop. What were your thoughts there?
The QJ v A8 hand: I think you should just give up after your c-bet on the flop. It's not that wet a flop but it is Ace-high in a 3-bet pot. If he's in the hand with a small pocket pair he doesn't call the flop unless that pair was 55 or 66 and if he's called a pre-flop 3-bet with an Ace, he's unlikely to fold at any stage. Save the 420 chips by not betting the turn. (Just realised this wasn't a 3-bet pot. The ideas are still the same, I think.)
The K9 v AA hand: Think about shoving over the limp pre-flop unless you've never seen this guy limp before. K9 is generally well ahead of the limpers range and there's a huge (relative to your stack) amount of chips in the middle in dead money.
Once you've checked, with your stack it's a cooler and you played it fine post-flop.
I don't very often look at anyone's diary but I hope some of this will help. Keep posting in the clinic.
Regarding the length of sessions I'm definitely not the best person to ask. I am very strict on not really caring how long I play or how much I lose. The one occasion recently when I did decide to play high volume was the Kings of Cash promotion which I was third or fourth in after two or three days. Six tabling, playing super-laggy for 6 hours a day nearly killed me. I had to give up after the third day feeling pretty exhausted. I am definitely not the person to be giving advice on that.
That hand's an interesting one. As it happens, against his hand we're a 43% underdog. That's because while we can hit our flush or straight, he can still hit his full house. You'd have to put his range into pokerstove to get an answer, I think. His overshove, while terrible, does make it really tricky because it makes your pot odds so bad.
Also just a little tip i'd try to ignore the negative figures above about how much your down from initial deposit and avoid posting them , it's never nice looking at negative figures and you can't help but think about chasing losses- again just speaking from personal experience where i have had to look at negative figures. Just advice though as i can empathize with alot of your posts from when i started writing my diary- btw if your interested in june i don't mind doing a couple of sweat sessions- looking at h-hs just generally discussing stuff via messenger on fb- skype etc and also don't worry about the fact people don't reply often lots of people just lurk on the forums reading the diaries and not commenting.
With the AQ i done it because i wanted to balance my range, i will want to do this with draws and somtimes even bluffs and i knew this hand was going to showdown because the stack of villian, so i wanted everyone to see i can do it with a made hand.....so in future i can do it with air against an aggresive constant cb.
With the 1010 hand, I was really suprised to see QQ, i was thnking maybe ak with a diamond. Think i got lucky to hit the 8 then unlucky to hit the 10 seeing as i have 2 off them lol iwould enjoy the kings of cash promo to keep going, obv i cant win it playing 3 tables but to aim for top 10 or somthing simular would be a good incentive to keep me playing for longer. What was ur end result in term of profit/loss for such a long input of play?
Hi,
These diaries are all the same, completely revolves around how much is my BR and how much have I won or lost. This will totally undermine your confidence or impact as positive tilt when you win. You should not set your goals relating to your BR, because it will fluctuate in the short term. You need to ensure long term it will grow. The way you do this is by making the correct decisions at the table.
That means being highly critical of yourself and improving your game.
If you know you played 10 hands and you got the money in good but you still lost all 10 come showdown then this is still +EV. Even though in the short term you’re down 10 buy ins. The negative impact this would have on your game right now would be immense. Imagine losing 10 buy ins’s, well I got news for you – it don’t matter how good you think you are – it does happen!
Stop concentrating on the BR and have a long-term goal but focus on sustainable short-term goals.
Long-term goal: want to play nl10 regular and be a winner
Short-term goal: reduce tilt, improve positional hand selection
Poker is such a mental game, and this is the main reason why people fail.
Do not expect to win, because you will lose at least some of the time and when you lose more your setting yourself up for feeling like you have failed.
People that believe they are above nl4 for example and expect to win.
When they lose they feel they have failed!
“O no my BR has gone down!!!!! What am I going to do!!”?
STOP LOOKING AT YOUR BR AS A MEASURE OF COMPETANCE
Stop focusing on your BR and focus on every decision and emotion.
If you want to improve, and then do it bite size.
Where it is going wrong and let’s improve that.
Think of poker as a cake and take a slice and try and improve it until your happy.
Strip your game back and pretend you know nothing and start again.
You may have just developed bad habits.
Remeber a BR is money we play with as a buffer to handle varaince - does not guarentee we win
Good poker decisions win
GOOD LUCK
I suggest reading "the mental game of poker" this seems to back up and go into more detail of what rancid has just wrote and hopefully will help you.
I have read the mental game of poker big hawk, it is good but i need to keep going over it constantly otherwise i got back to bad habbits, i need to improve when im losing tho, if i lose a byin i feel myself go down like when i see tottenham concede a goal lol and thats not good, i need stabe confidence....somthing they touch on in that book.
The best quote that helps me is ' think of the money youve lost as an investment in your edge long term, as long as you keep making good plays, the investment will be worth it'.
cant even be bothered to go on with the nonsense poker talk, i listen to that rubbish everyday and still got crushed at 10 nl haha im so bad.
lost yesetdays profits...im not allowed to win for to long! and i won an all in today and stay ended up £20 done, i atually do so well to lose as much as i do really considering the stakes im playing.
blance is a whopping: £249
today : -20
keeping up a good average of losing about 2 byins a session and i didnt even play too long today so i had to work hard to do that, it was tough. Hoping to maybe lose 4 byins later just gotta hope i keep running bad, fingers crossed. Also punched a wall and hurt my hand so it might be extra tough to play.
i think theres a lot of past occurences is weighing heavily on your mind, i know your eager to llearn and progress but maybe you just want it too much or too quickly and this combined with other things may be holding you back. you do sound as tho your on perma tilt atm as well which is never a good thing.
sometimes we need to step back to go forward.
good luck what ever you decide to do next