Thanks as always to @mumsie for updating the spreadsheet.
So quite a few with great chances now although the mini was always going to be the tough one so it could still be a while before we have our first winner. Good luck to all.
Thanks @waller02 . As you and everyone else battling in this competition knows, a Mini is extremely tough to take down and that makes it all the more brutal getting HU knowing that it might be your only shot at it for a loooong time and not finishing the job ...although, to be completely honest, I don't look like getting anywhere close to a victory in one of the supposedly easier ones (£2.20 deep stack or Forum Triple Takedown) so I would have been far from a shoe-in if I had bagged that mini anyway ...s'all good fun
On a side note. A post by @Angmar2626 on @adsthepro7 thread had gotten me thinking about this subject and how it related to me and I just wondered if any of it relates to you too. This might be extremely nosey (and I am quite nosey tbh) but this comes from a place of genuine interest/concern as someone who can relate to a sustained downswing/was at a crossroads/almost started to not want to play/massively reduced my volume to the point of almost stopping completely - how are you doing waller? Do you still enjoy the game? I have noticed your downswing (like a number of us have experienced over the same period: you, myself, @adsthepro7@Angmar2626 to name a few) but I also noticed that around Christmas time you were asking about getting help with your game and seemed keen - did anything come of that/have you taken any steps/is it ongoing? You seem to not be playing much at all these days - I may be completely off the mark (and I hope I'm not being intrusive) maybe you still do enjoy the game but don't have the time to play these days (or a million other reasons/better things to do... it's ok for single people, like myself, who have nothing better/more important to do with their evenings to play a lot I suppose). Maybe the downswing is irrelevant (if it's even correct to call it that, maybe it wasn't correct to call mine a downswing either, it was at least an extended period of breakeven) but those blips feel like significant downswings anyway (in my opinion, don't know if you share this opinion) and they are annoying/frustrating/confusing... or at least, they are for me.
Anyway, just ignore this if it comes across as the late night ramblings of a lunatic (they probably are)... I won't be offended
Thanks @waller02 . As you and everyone else battling in this competition knows, a Mini is extremely tough to take down and that makes it all the more brutal getting HU knowing that it might be your only shot at it for a loooong time and not finishing the job ...although, to be completely honest, I don't look like getting anywhere close to a victory in one of the supposedly easier ones (£2.20 deep stack or Forum Triple Takedown) so I would have been far from a shoe-in if I had bagged that mini anyway ...s'all good fun
On a side note. A post by @Angmar2626 on @adsthepro7 thread had gotten me thinking about this subject and how it related to me and I just wondered if any of it relates to you too. This might be extremely nosey (and I am quite nosey tbh) but this comes from a place of genuine interest/concern as someone who can relate to a sustained downswing/was at a crossroads/almost started to not want to play/massively reduced my volume to the point of almost stopping completely - how are you doing waller? Do you still enjoy the game? I have noticed your downswing (like a number of us have experienced over the same period: you, myself, @adsthepro7@Angmar2626 to name a few) but I also noticed that around Christmas time you were asking about getting help with your game and seemed keen - did anything come of that/have you taken any steps/is it ongoing? You seem to not be playing much at all these days - I may be completely off the mark (and I hope I'm not being intrusive) maybe you still do enjoy the game but don't have the time to play these days (or a million other reasons/better things to do... it's ok for single people, like myself, who have nothing better/more important to do with their evenings to play a lot I suppose). Maybe the downswing is irrelevant (if it's even correct to call it that, maybe it wasn't correct to call mine a downswing either, it was at least an extended period of breakeven) but those blips feel like significant downswings anyway (in my opinion, don't know if you share this opinion) and they are annoying/frustrating/confusing... or at least, they are for me.
Anyway, just ignore this if it comes across as the late night ramblings of a lunatic (they probably are)... I won't be offended
Haha. No I don't mind you asking at all mate it's fine.
You're right when you mention me not playing for a while. I can't remember the last time that I did play to be honest and there are a number of reasons for this, the downswing doesn't help but I've had far worse although I would be lying if I said it wasn't part of the reason for my break. The main reason though is due to work. I was promoted last year, taking on a role with a lot more responsibility on a designate basis for the first 12 months. This involves me putting in extra work at home completing a portfolio which is required in order for me to move into the role on a permanent basis.
I do have a bit of spare time but it's hard to enjoy what little of it I have sitting in front of my laptop losing at poker. In the past I would have just played on through a downswing but at the moment I have other priorities. I will have more spare time, at least I hope I will, when I've got myself sorted with work.
As for the help with my game, there was somebody helping me via Skype sessions etc. for a few weeks. I was set exercises to carry out whilst playing and he would watch me play for a while too. It kinda just fizzled out so I can only assume that he was either too busy or he thought I was a lost cause haha. He was doing it all for free and gave me a good few hours of his time though and for that I was extremely thankful.
How are you doing? I see you are giving cash a whirl, how is that going for you?
Haha. No I don't mind you asking at all mate it's fine.
You're right when you mention me not playing for a while. I can't remember the last time that I did play to be honest and there are a number of reasons for this, the downswing doesn't help but I've had far worse although I would be lying if I said it wasn't part of the reason for my break. The main reason though is due to work. I was promoted last year, taking on a role with a lot more responsibility on a designate basis for the first 12 months. This involves me putting in extra work at home completing a portfolio which is required in order for me to move into the role on a permanent basis.
I do have a bit of spare time but it's hard to enjoy what little of it I have sitting in front of my laptop losing at poker. In the past I would have just played on through a downswing but at the moment I have other priorities. I will have more spare time, at least I hope I will, when I've got myself sorted with work.
As for the help with my game, there was somebody helping me via Skype sessions etc. for a few weeks. I was set exercises to carry out whilst playing and he would watch me play for a while too. It kinda just fizzled out so I can only assume that he was either too busy or he thought I was a lost cause haha. He was doing it all for free and gave me a good few hours of his time though and for that I was extremely thankful.
How are you doing? I see you are giving cash a whirl, how is that going for you?
Phew!
Ah, that all makes sense, was probably always going to be some sort of combination of those things that has reduced your playing time - I hope you are able to move into the new work role on a permanent basis, good luck with that.
I began to feel the same way (sitting at my laptop losing at poker) but to make matters worse (having two part-time jobs, one of which sees me doing very few hours in the winter) I had almost started to rely on the extra money I was making from poker - it had effectively become my third part-time job and I was treating it as such. So rather than just playing for the pleasure of playing, my early (modest) consistent winnings from MTT had served to instil a degree of expectation in me on what I would be able add to my monthly pot from poker (naïve/silly/immature/lacking understanding of upswings, downswings, variance, EV etc etc and still not having a large enough sample to categorically state that I was a winning MTT player or whether I could continue to be if I was... the game is always changing of course and getting consistently harder to beat... which I am more aware of now) So when poker was no longer providing this consistent income I found it especially tough to deal with. So I was constantly faced with the dilemma of kind of wanting to play in the hopes of boosting the kitty but also really not wanting to lose money on something I was not really enjoying as much as I used to - I really am (to my detriment) one of those people who only sings when they're winning and that is true of all aspects of my life unfortunately, I even still get moody on Christmas day if I've lost at the family games... especially if one of my younger sisters beats me So, yea, I started to give cash a little whirl. It helped steady the ship and it was nice to have more winning sessions than losing ones but I really struggle to enjoy it if I'm being completely honest with myself - win a buy-in, lose a buy-in, win a buy-in... ...you just can't turn £10 into £300 in four hours playing 10nl and I still love MTT's for offering that possibility every time you sit down to play - another of my (many) flaws is constantly wanting/seeking instant gratification, so playing the long game (cash) is really never going to satiate that particular thirst... unless I was to move up to serious stakes but that is a frightening proposition and a serious project... again, more long game
Wow, I've done another great job of making this about me again... flaws upon flaws upon flaws, so very many flaws...
Good chat waller Any chance of seeing you at tonights FTT's?
Hats off to anyone who plays poker as a job. I couldn't do it. Dealing with swings and variance must be absolutely brutal, especially with MTTs.
What MTT stakes do you play by the way?
On the subject of downswings, as I mentioned previously mine was partly caused by battling in tough games and trying out new strategies, but I think the mental side of things is really important too. It reached a point where dropping down in stakes made sense but from being in a position of just yolo-ing any £110 or £55 I found it really tough to move down
Another big leak was trying to get unstuck with one big score rather than grind it out. So before each session I'd highlight which tournaments could get me out of the downswing if I binked them (usually just the Main and the Sheriff) and then lose focus on every other game. Really bad idea and not the way to go!
In the end, dropping down in stakes and stopping looking at sharkscope really helped to restore some confidence and book a few small winning sessions. Annoyingly (not complaining though hahaha) I'd just got into a rhythm of grinding out smaller wins towards working my way out of the downswing and was really focussed on the small/steady approach (going back to your point on long-term v instant gratification) when I sattied into the Avenger and got a score! I keep spreadsheet results and graphs and I've actually deleted the Avenger result from it so I keep focussed on the long-term small ball approach
Incidentally, I played a £2.20 the other night for the first time in months and I remember winning a flip late on and jumping up and fist-pumping! Realised then that the stakes don't matter, I just flippin' love poker tournaments!!
Good to see a certain @waller02 back playing again these past few nights... and making deep runs and final tables galore!
haha cheers @MynaFrett close but no cigar, but I've got the bug back. Probably weekends only for a while but enjoying playing again which is the main thing.
Comments
Welcome aboard @Glenelg and best of luck.
Thanks as always to @mumsie for updating the spreadsheet.
So quite a few with great chances now although the mini was always going to be the tough one so it could still be a while before we have our first winner. Good luck to all.
On a side note. A post by @Angmar2626 on @adsthepro7 thread had gotten me thinking about this subject and how it related to me and I just wondered if any of it relates to you too.
This might be extremely nosey (and I am quite nosey tbh) but this comes from a place of genuine interest/concern as someone who can relate to a sustained downswing/was at a crossroads/almost started to not want to play/massively reduced my volume to the point of almost stopping completely - how are you doing waller? Do you still enjoy the game? I have noticed your downswing (like a number of us have experienced over the same period: you, myself, @adsthepro7 @Angmar2626 to name a few) but I also noticed that around Christmas time you were asking about getting help with your game and seemed keen - did anything come of that/have you taken any steps/is it ongoing?
You seem to not be playing much at all these days - I may be completely off the mark (and I hope I'm not being intrusive) maybe you still do enjoy the game but don't have the time to play these days (or a million other reasons/better things to do... it's ok for single people, like myself, who have nothing better/more important to do with their evenings to play a lot I suppose). Maybe the downswing is irrelevant (if it's even correct to call it that, maybe it wasn't correct to call mine a downswing either, it was at least an extended period of breakeven) but those blips feel like significant downswings anyway (in my opinion, don't know if you share this opinion) and they are annoying/frustrating/confusing... or at least, they are for me.
Anyway, just ignore this if it comes across as the late night ramblings of a lunatic (they probably are)... I won't be offended
You're right when you mention me not playing for a while. I can't remember the last time that I did play to be honest and there are a number of reasons for this, the downswing doesn't help but I've had far worse although I would be lying if I said it wasn't part of the reason for my break. The main reason though is due to work. I was promoted last year, taking on a role with a lot more responsibility on a designate basis for the first 12 months. This involves me putting in extra work at home completing a portfolio which is required in order for me to move into the role on a permanent basis.
I do have a bit of spare time but it's hard to enjoy what little of it I have sitting in front of my laptop losing at poker. In the past I would have just played on through a downswing but at the moment I have other priorities. I will have more spare time, at least I hope I will, when I've got myself sorted with work.
As for the help with my game, there was somebody helping me via Skype sessions etc. for a few weeks. I was set exercises to carry out whilst playing and he would watch me play for a while too. It kinda just fizzled out so I can only assume that he was either too busy or he thought I was a lost cause haha. He was doing it all for free and gave me a good few hours of his time though and for that I was extremely thankful.
How are you doing? I see you are giving cash a whirl, how is that going for you?
Phew!
Ah, that all makes sense, was probably always going to be some sort of combination of those things that has reduced your playing time - I hope you are able to move into the new work role on a permanent basis, good luck with that.
I began to feel the same way (sitting at my laptop losing at poker) but to make matters worse (having two part-time jobs, one of which sees me doing very few hours in the winter) I had almost started to rely on the extra money I was making from poker - it had effectively become my third part-time job and I was treating it as such. So rather than just playing for the pleasure of playing, my early (modest) consistent winnings from MTT had served to instil a degree of expectation in me on what I would be able add to my monthly pot from poker (naïve/silly/immature/lacking understanding of upswings, downswings, variance, EV etc etc and still not having a large enough sample to categorically state that I was a winning MTT player or whether I could continue to be if I was... the game is always changing of course and getting consistently harder to beat... which I am more aware of now) So when poker was no longer providing this consistent income I found it especially tough to deal with. So I was constantly faced with the dilemma of kind of wanting to play in the hopes of boosting the kitty but also really not wanting to lose money on something I was not really enjoying as much as I used to - I really am (to my detriment) one of those people who only sings when they're winning and that is true of all aspects of my life unfortunately, I even still get moody on Christmas day if I've lost at the family games... especially if one of my younger sisters beats me
So, yea, I started to give cash a little whirl. It helped steady the ship and it was nice to have more winning sessions than losing ones but I really struggle to enjoy it if I'm being completely honest with myself - win a buy-in, lose a buy-in, win a buy-in...
Wow, I've done another great job of making this about me again... flaws upon flaws upon flaws, so very many flaws...
Good chat waller
What MTT stakes do you play by the way?
On the subject of downswings, as I mentioned previously mine was partly caused by battling in tough games and trying out new strategies, but I think the mental side of things is really important too. It reached a point where dropping down in stakes made sense but from being in a position of just yolo-ing any £110 or £55 I found it really tough to move down
Another big leak was trying to get unstuck with one big score rather than grind it out. So before each session I'd highlight which tournaments could get me out of the downswing if I binked them (usually just the Main and the Sheriff) and then lose focus on every other game. Really bad idea and not the way to go!
In the end, dropping down in stakes and stopping looking at sharkscope really helped to restore some confidence and book a few small winning sessions. Annoyingly (not complaining though hahaha) I'd just got into a rhythm of grinding out smaller wins towards working my way out of the downswing and was really focussed on the small/steady approach (going back to your point on long-term v instant gratification) when I sattied into the Avenger and got a score! I keep spreadsheet results and graphs and I've actually deleted the Avenger result from it so I keep focussed on the long-term small ball approach
Incidentally, I played a £2.20 the other night for the first time in months and I remember winning a flip late on and jumping up and fist-pumping! Realised then that the stakes don't matter, I just flippin' love poker tournaments!!
and making deep runs and final tables galore!
https://i.imgur.com/pLVjLm1.jpg
@MynaFrett also finished 2nd in the mini so has come SO close to being our first winner