I am already becoming quite annoyed and results orientated. The main cause of this results orientated mind is when I have been making these massive over folds against opponents who then flash their bluff at me
If you don't mind me saying so, you are better than most of the players in these small MTT's, so I think you have to work on this tendency to get annoyed when folks flash their cards, chuck those silly "throwables" at you, or the wifi falls over. There is NO POSITIVE BENEFIT to getting annoyed. None at all.
When we get annoyed, we play less well. We do.
You do all that work with your coach(es), spend countless hours "in the lab", review lots of hands, read up on GTO, blockers, unblockers & the like - but we are only as good as the weakest part of our game. So if we are getting annoyed when folks do these meaningless things we get cross & play less well, & all that other work is being undermined.
If you have not already done so, I strongly recommend reading The Mental Game of Poker by Jared Tendler & Barry Carter. It will be worth it's weight in gold if you can cure this little (& very easily solved) leak.
Most of us have or had unsolvable weaknesses & leaks, we could never be winners. Not so with you, you have all the technical nous & heart to win. But (imo) you have to cure this little problem. And it makes no sense at all for recreational players to play the game if we get annoyed, hobbies & recreations are supposed to be fun, not something that makes us cross.
We are now in week 4 of bankroll challange and I must admit thinks had took a U turn big style and if it were not for some super lucky wins in PLO I would be half the size of my starting bankroll.
An easy excuse for this U turn could be that I've had some super bad luck in the $12 MTTs I'm now playing but I know for sure their is more to it than just that. Having had a look into my database I begun raising questions over the WRs for my stack sizes
Looking back at this week alone I have noticed myself having good starts in MTTs and fail to pass the bubble despite playing very few hands, those WRs show clearly this issue comes from multiple issues I'm having as a more shallow stack. Their are a number of reasons for this, first up even when we have more shallow stacks the polarized ranges still use bet sizes of 75% and over bets on boards. The point of betting small is either your opponent has got a massive folding range such as A high and paired board or opponent has got enough nut equity to warrent him a raising range such well connected or monotone boards. I could show a whole host of hands but all it takes is a just a few hands for me to make it clear I need to get more aggressive with TP and OP as a shallow stack. One reason for being so slow could be I'm too afraid of stacking off vs the nutted hands butI can see from this hand I'm not gonna avoid stacking off worse.
You could then say but if I call IP I will be able to extract more from bluffs, again not really, take this spot I did bluff catch him but I only really won 8 chips because I'm gonna lose 2192 of those 5480 chips from the pot on flop since this hand has 40% equity vs my hand
Another arguement of course is you could have avoided losing your full stack when it did imrpove, if you look at this hand you can see clearly the answer is no, you could say why was I shoving turn, I was shoving turn because without a shove I'd allow him to control the size of pot ie block bet weak pairs and buy river cards with his draws and over cards.
I could post loads of other hands but who needs to do that when by just looking at my WR you can see when I have B/R TP my WR is 789.98 but when I B/C TP 191.66.
I remember doing a word doc a few months ago where I critized myself with how bad I was with some bluffs it's time now I did one on my bad play with these TP combos when I'm shallow stacked and faced a raise.
The first month of this bankroll challenge is almost over and although things started off really well it has ended really poor and in some ways I don't know where to start although I do admit my mental state in the last fortnight has been really poor and their could a lot of reasons for that.
The issue may have all begun when I got that extremely lucky win in PLO, that super lucky $320 I won that day on PLO has been my biggest profit so far and ever since winning that cash I have went on a pure downfall, where by I came out at a loss every other day apart on this one other day where I again got super lucky in PLO. I never played a single $12 MTT prior to this, I had 1 $10 MTT in my scedule prior to this but most of them were less than $6.
You could also say my overall schedule has been really messed up and I was putting too much pressure on myself, as we got closer to chrismas day I had more and more tasks on me and despite having all these extra tasks I was still putting lots of volume. As things started turning bad I would start chasing my game and when it come to play I was starting to find things harder and hard which is something I will do when I am in my C game which makes stuff you studying hard to impliment in game.
I did recently look back at the way I was reacting to loosing hands and looking back at those may have found the main source of this mental issue. I would say the core issue to the mental leak is how to play when you have larger chip stacks in KOs. each and every time I had the bigger chip stack and lost chips or an AI to a stack I cover I would talk in a calm way but when I lose value or an AI to a stack covering me I would talk in an angry way and it's only like this when I'm playing bounty hunters in freeze outs I will just bin the hand all the time.
What I intend to do differently from now on is just play some nl10 or nl20 rush & cash with what ever cash game money I win from those AI MTTs I enter when bubbling an MTT. I am also not gonna play as many of the morning sessions as I have because too many of these will leave you feeling really burnt out towards the end of week and you will be making more mistakes. I am gonna also ensure I am fitting in more exercise which is something else I haven't been doing much of since I begun playing all the long sessions
Finally I am gonna make myself more well prepared for any tasks I have that month and ensure I make time for those tasks to be complete.
I am down for MTT prizes overall but my overall bankroll is still sitting break even. I am having a few days off this bankroll challeng whilst I play UKOPS and will be returning to bankroll challenge when it's over.
Now that the UKOPS is over I will be going back to the bankroll challenge I had set, My overall run in the UKOPS has been a good one. I have managed to FT in yet another HR and not only that I also have cashed out in the UKOPS main event for the first time I can remember.
When I look back at my overall performance in this UKOPs one thing sticks to my mind again and that thing is I feel much better about my game in freezeouts than I do in KO. you could say I have say this stuff long enough and when I return to my bankroll challenge I am gonna put more time into freeze outs than bounty hunters. you could in many ways say I should take a break from BH MTTS all together for a week and play just freeze out MTTS and that is my plan to have a break from bounty hunter MTTS and play freezeouts for a week or so.
I have finished the first week of 2022 as far as BR challenge goes and it's been a mixed one. I have been really well mentally and it would appear having freeze outs are proving great especially on poker stars. the thing I like the best about freezeouts is I am getting into far more HU spots than I would in the PKOs. Being such a small sample you could argue I am just running super lucky but I have never fealt so relax playing the PKos compared to when I play the freezeouts on stars. PKOs/BH haven't been ingored all together, making it to a FT of one on I poker may have given me a confidence boost and I was playing quite a few of them on GG poker and ran quite well in a number of them.
1 confidence issue I do certainly have ATM is playing in the later stages of MTTs in general and risking my stack against weaker opponents. Don't get me wrong weaker opponents are the ones which will make you the most money, the trickiest part about it when your shallow stacked is knowing how to prevent your chip stack becoming too shallow with you getting too loose against loose opponents. This issue is most clearly shown in sattellite MTTs where you just know winning chip near the bubble is worth nothing but losing you full chip stack can cost you a tournament entry. I am just too tight going into the later stages of these MTTS and when I do OR I am just too passive post flop, alot of it seems to be that fear I have with losing my full stack via a sick hero call or sick bluff. a simple solution to this problem would be to do far more block bets, you could also say I should do far more 33% bets IP as bluffs, fire more 75%+ bet sizings with strong but vunerable parts of my range. what I mean is just play that fully face up game where I will have multiple ranges which are pure value or pure bluffs because I know for a face my opponents will not put me on a range. If I did need to mix it up in any way just mixing the bet sizing based on board texture is enough,ie bet big on draw heavy boards tiny on super dry boards.
This week has been a great but at the same time disappointing one.It was a super positive one to begin when I made 4 FT, 3 of them coming on Monday alone. This is where things will start getting disappointing because despite making it onto 4 FT my bankroll itself has risen by just $8.
When I look at the two sites seperately the story is totally different. I was able to make it onto 2 FT of both stars and GG but when it comes it actual bankroll GG poker is $55 lower than it was yet poker stars bankroll is $73 higher than it was. What could it be that has caused me to be lower than I was the previous week on GG yet greater than I was the preveious week on stars?
I could go into so much detail about this but if I were to put it simple it's because on GG I am putting myself under so much more ICM pressure due to the amount of sats I play. I do also have alot of fear in me when playing bounty hunters which is mostly getting played on GG. Whenever I play freezeouts I am taking forward the game I've learned and just making small ajustments against my opponents based on their weakness. With BH and sats it's not as simple as this because when you playing bounty hunters you have got to play more looser in general otherwise you will not win any bounties and in sats winning chips becomes worthless as we approach the bubble, all you really need to do is prevent your chipstack draining down.
I am also disappointed in my overall performance on the FT especially that one where I went in as a decent chip leader but made an horricly bad call and went on to fish 5th place overall. I am gonna have a look at those FTs with luckyfish to discuss the pressure I have with ICM spots and how I was on these FTs because although FTs are rare it's FTs which have all the cash and I should do what I can to take them down rather than continue finishing 5th.
My bankroll ATM on GG and stars is 998.79 which is 15 greater than it was to begin.
I do admit my mental state in the last fortnight has been really poor and their could a lot of reasons for that.
Focus on getting this permanently fixed mate. Having poor mental health bleeds into all aspects of life, do not accept one more day of it.
Start tackling the small and build up while notice the changes, even write it down and form into a journal if you must. Small wins like being in a good mood often go unnoticed and are rarely celebrated, grab those moments fully!
Not been following your posts as such however having a good mental state is paramount. Life is so much easier when you focus on a fix for this, when in a foul mood or feeling down challenge it. Get some fresh air, go a walk or open the window and see if that makes any difference.
Not sure how relatable any of this is, just thought this part of your post stood out like a sore thumb.
I do admit my mental state in the last fortnight has been really poor and their could a lot of reasons for that.
Focus on getting this permanently fixed mate. Having poor mental health bleeds into all aspects of life, do not accept one more day of it.
Start tackling the small and build up while notice the changes, even write it down and form into a journal if you must. Small wins like being in a good mood often go unnoticed and are rarely celebrated, grab those moments fully!
Not been following your posts as such however having a good mental state is paramount. Life is so much easier when you focus on a fix for this, when in a foul mood or feeling down challenge it. Get some fresh air, go a walk or open the window and see if that makes any difference.
Not sure how relatable any of this is, just thought this part of your post stood out like a sore thumb.
Best of luck!
I have to be honest My mental state has been badly messed up in recent weeks ever since mid december. My routine needs cleaning up, back to doing exercise on a daily basis and clean myself up. Ever since mid december I have hardly done much exercise at all and been in a un healthy state I need to sort that out. Also I am reading about fear on the mental game of poker book. My main goal next week is to get my routine back the way it was at the beginning of december and sort out my fear.
Heard something from an friend a couple of months back when in a slump. He spoke about daily negotiable and non-negotiable(s).
His version of this was to have a minimum of 10 minutes fresh air and 10,000 steps a day which were non-negotiable.
I hadn't opened my blinds for weeks, barely went out and never had the windows open during this slump. That talk got me thinking again about daily routines and how important having these in place are. Needless to say after making these small changes things got brighter.
Hope and expect you to have a better time next week.
It has been a really nice week and my overall poker game is reaching new levels.
Their is only 1 place to start really and that is the sunday majorI took down last sunday. when you look back at what I was saying about my mental game last week taking down a sunday major feels like a shock but their was something different about my game. I begun that day with a decent exercise routine, every decision I made involved thinking about their range, every fold I made was done in close spots, each bluff I made revolved around the ranges. don't get me wrong their were spots were I may have over folded or over bluffed we will all make some mistakes. What matters most is you are feeling mentally fit, well organised and think about every decision you make.
As for my bankroll challenge on these other sites well that hasn't been going very well at all especially not on GG poker and the problem with this is I am clearly not very well organised, I'm not really sure which tournaments to play on GG I say repeatedly I have a bad time in bounty hunters but I am repeatedly joining bounty hunters, the way I like to look at it I'm just not sure which MTTs to play on GG and when I play hands I'm like an auto pilot. On poker stars I have a much better idea which MTTS to play the issue here is I'm creating too many obstables by tables over lapping too much and me streaming.
I could say loads mroe about this but no I want to move on and can comfirm I am gonna be far well organised especially on poker stars because I have used part of the money from that sunday major to purchase a decent monitor, web cam and wireless keyboard which will allow me to now has as many as 12 tables on the same screen without having to over lap them which will allow me to play the tournaments I like the most and play in some sattellites for more bigger stakes MTTs of similar stucture.
The takeaway this week is you have got to be very well organised and if you gonna take down an MTT you have got to take those thin value spots some of the time otherwise your tournament stack is just gonna drain away and you will look too much like a nit to get value when you have the strength
After a long thought I have decided once and for all that my bankroll challenge is gonna be getting binned in the sense that I am gonna combine my entire bankroll across sky, GG, I poker and stars into 1 big bankroll of 10K and play multiple MTTS of my intended stake across each site.
My aim is to play on all 4 sites and select the best MTTS, I will be aiming to play more low field MTTS and less big field MTTS, I also intend to bin most microstakes MTTs, I might play the odd one at the beginning of a session or if I want to fill a space but I aim to play more £11-20 ABI across every site with some £22-33 ABI and the odd one 33+.
The trouble with playing stakes in all sizes from 2.20-100 is your game play is all over the place and you get into this complete mess, you could also say I have no motivation at all with playing micro stakes MTT. The only reason I was starting my bankroll challange as low as it is and playing micro stakes on these other sites was because of the gambling regulations but I've said it now the gambling regulations can just get lost. Lets make it clear I have never deposited onto sky poker in a very long time and all of this money I have on other sites is money I withdrew from sky poker itself. What I'm saying is as long as my bankstatements show the money I deposit is just cash which came out of a different site they cannot say I'm gambling my own money.
I have just had my greatest time ever a moment I will never forget. Just 2 days into this new mid stakes MTT gaming style I have made not 1 but 2 FT and in both of them I played at my very best and was just unfortunate to get unlucky with all ins, on GG I lost as AQ vs KK and on stars I lost with my AK vs A3 HU.
Anyhow I do not care one bit about that because what really matters is I was playing at my absolute best almost the whole session, I did begin on some micros just to fill in the gaps but those micro MTTs were few and far between once I got the bigger stakes going I just stuck with them all the way. I also opted to play no more than 4 MTTs at a time most the way and every single decision I made was thought about fully.
I must admit I almost broke down in tears at the end of the stream because honestly I would not have expected to make even 1 FT but the fact I made 2 and was close to taking one down is something I have to remember. The difference is clear when I was playing 2.20 MTTS I never knew where I was at when facing bets, I never knew when to cbet and when to X, I was getting into dozens of multiway pots. basically I didn't have a clue how to play middle or weaker parts of my range my chipstack would drain down rapidly. When I play a 33 MTT it's a different story altogether, each and every time my villian made a bet I could evaluate his range and and decide how to continue, I always have a decent idea how to cbet and best of all I would get into far more HU pots.
Really enjoyed the stream last night, it got a bit late/early so had to get to sleep. Watched the last 20 mins back just now. Vwp mate and its great to see you much happier than you were on Saturdays stream. You have definitely made the right decision.
What a Week this is proving to be, first up I make it to FT of $10 daily special come 6th, then I FT bih $33 and came 2nd now I FT $25 GG masters classic and this time I take the tournament down. I was having a really great run most the tournment, not from getting lucky but from taking down all the small pots. I was sitting 7/33 and managed to get AI AA vs KK sadly the K came and knocked me down to 23/33 but with 12bb I kept pushing myself and thanks to winning 4 bb from a short stack going AI and doubling it up with set over set I became the chip leader. When I reached FT I was 2nd in chips and in a stubborn spot with chip leader to my left but the FT overall was a really tight one and I used that massive chip lead to my advantage stealing whatever blinds I could and putting max pressure on my opponents, nowhere was is most clear than when we were down to final 3 I had a 4:1: chip stack lead and was attacking my opponents non stop knowing both wanted to avoid coming 3rd. I did make a deal at the end of the MTT, but I only did it knowing I'd be just 300 lower than the max and thought although I'm 4:1 ATM a flip could swing things and with most of what I would get anyway I took the deal, Also my alias has now gained it's very own bge having took down a GG masters MTT
It's been a few weeks since my last update but the fact it's been that long you'll probably have guessed rightly that those weeks have been bad ones.
In the first of those two weeks I was having multiple chaos over sorting our a new computer and I would let this get the better of me during the grinding on laptop, each and everytime I noticed a bit of lag on my laptop I was desperate to get myself that new PC but was just not sure which one to get myself even when I did suggest ones I was told differently.
Last week was another dis dtressing week but the main stress that week came from repeated losing AIs but despite the fact I was 11BB below the EV line over a 12K sample my BB/100 was -11. The main issue came on Sunday night when I realized my issues with in fact shallow stack play in general and that sunday evening I opted to quit my session early and went on to do lots of study work on shallow stack play.
I can now bring some great news, I have finally sorted out my new PC and my overall game play during Monday's grind was the best feeling I had since those great wins and I most certainly do put that down to having a much better idea of short stack poker play.
I must admit life is now so tough given that I grind myself out on a regular basis and stream on a regular basis but I most certainly do absolutely love the grinding and will keep on going.
I was playing 50's and the odd non sky 100 MTT but having been on a down swing in the last couple of weeks I am gonna just stick with 25 MTTS when I return to the grind this week and probably next week as well. I do now feel like I'm starting to grind for a living I'm not their just yet but what's clear is my weekly routine is now permanently built around a poker schedule.
it's been a month since I last updated this which can only mean 1 thing I've had a dreadful month which is of course true. I have had an extremely chaotic month both on and off poker until it reached the point where enough was enough and I lost my anger. Forget about what happened off the tables, in poker itself a range of problems has built up. First and for more I dived too quickly into playing 50-100 buy ins on these other sites, I also dived too quickly into doing loads of streaming. Some issues like cancelling a poor internet provider and searching for a decent PC, getting all in ahead and losing are issues I cannot avoid but streaming more than I am capable of and playing too many stakes not great for my site bankroll are issues I most certainly could have avoided. Nothing can be done about all the damage done already however, I can most certainly prevent this sort of stuff happening again
Why not stick to sky poker? I understand sky poker is weaker, softer and more easier than these other sites but in this time period even on sky poker has had alot lost since taking down that GG masters MTT.
I also want to point out I took down the GG masters, came 2nd in the big 33, final tabled a $10 daily special all on the very same day. What I'm saying is I most certainly have the belief in myself, it's just a case of accepting more down swings and not letting fear of an exit push me to be too tight. I won't deny sky poker is my best hope of profit at this minute in time is gonna be on sky poker but the reason for playing these other sites is I want to keep on moving up moving up the stakes and get better at full ring antes MTTS.
I know for a fact I do enjoy playing MTTS on GG, stars and I poker, it's just a matter of ensuring I do not make life hard for myself which is has been the case over the last two months.
My goals this week is to get my happy and confident mood back I am playing sky poker and I poker but no GG or stars MTTS at all this week. This allows me to take a more tighter approach without the antes (sky poker) and minimise the amount of varience I need to get passed bubble and attempt to final table via less all in varience thanks to shorter fields.
On Friday I will be going to the sky poker tour in brighton where I will meet all my friends and this will get me back to being my most happy feeling. Together this will get my confidence back and I should be super happy and will be able to return to my stream and onto GG and stars but I do not intend to stream every day and will play more small field MTTS on I poker and sky to help keep me and reduce risk of downswing
Comments
Morning Craig.
That's a very comprehensive write-up, thank you.
With regards to this;
I am already becoming quite annoyed and results orientated. The main cause of this results orientated mind is when I have been making these massive over folds against opponents who then flash their bluff at me
If you don't mind me saying so, you are better than most of the players in these small MTT's, so I think you have to work on this tendency to get annoyed when folks flash their cards, chuck those silly "throwables" at you, or the wifi falls over. There is NO POSITIVE BENEFIT to getting annoyed. None at all.
When we get annoyed, we play less well. We do.
You do all that work with your coach(es), spend countless hours "in the lab", review lots of hands, read up on GTO, blockers, unblockers & the like - but we are only as good as the weakest part of our game. So if we are getting annoyed when folks do these meaningless things we get cross & play less well, & all that other work is being undermined.
If you have not already done so, I strongly recommend reading The Mental Game of Poker by Jared Tendler & Barry Carter. It will be worth it's weight in gold if you can cure this little (& very easily solved) leak.
Most of us have or had unsolvable weaknesses & leaks, we could never be winners. Not so with you, you have all the technical nous & heart to win. But (imo) you have to cure this little problem. And it makes no sense at all for recreational players to play the game if we get annoyed, hobbies & recreations are supposed to be fun, not something that makes us cross.
Good luck mate.
An easy excuse for this U turn could be that I've had some super bad luck in the $12 MTTs I'm now playing but I know for sure their is more to it than just that. Having had a look into my database I begun raising questions over the WRs for my stack sizes
Looking back at this week alone I have noticed myself having good starts in MTTs and fail to pass the bubble despite playing very few hands, those WRs show clearly this issue comes from multiple issues I'm having as a more shallow stack. Their are a number of reasons for this, first up even when we have more shallow stacks the polarized ranges still use bet sizes of 75% and over bets on boards. The point of betting small is either your opponent has got a massive folding range such as A high and paired board or opponent has got enough nut equity to warrent him a raising range such well connected or monotone boards. I could show a whole host of hands but all it takes is a just a few hands for me to make it clear I need to get more aggressive with TP and OP as a shallow stack.
One reason for being so slow could be I'm too afraid of stacking off vs the nutted hands butI can see from this hand I'm not gonna avoid stacking off worse.
You could then say but if I call IP I will be able to extract more from bluffs, again not really, take this spot I did bluff catch him but I only really won 8 chips because I'm gonna lose 2192 of those 5480 chips from the pot on flop since this hand has 40% equity vs my hand
Another arguement of course is you could have avoided losing your full stack when it did imrpove, if you look at this hand you can see clearly the answer is no, you could say why was I shoving turn, I was shoving turn because without a shove I'd allow him to control the size of pot ie block bet weak pairs and buy river cards with his draws and over cards.
I could post loads of other hands but who needs to do that when by just looking at my WR you can see when I have B/R TP my WR is 789.98 but when I B/C TP 191.66.
I remember doing a word doc a few months ago where I critized myself with how bad I was with some bluffs it's time now I did one on my bad play with these TP combos when I'm shallow stacked and faced a raise.
The issue may have all begun when I got that extremely lucky win in PLO, that super lucky $320 I won that day on PLO has been my biggest profit so far and ever since winning that cash I have went on a pure downfall, where by I came out at a loss every other day apart on this one other day where I again got super lucky in PLO. I never played a single $12 MTT prior to this, I had 1 $10 MTT in my scedule prior to this but most of them were less than $6.
You could also say my overall schedule has been really messed up and I was putting too much pressure on myself, as we got closer to chrismas day I had more and more tasks on me and despite having all these extra tasks I was still putting lots of volume. As things started turning bad I would start chasing my game and when it come to play I was starting to find things harder and hard which is something I will do when I am in my C game which makes stuff you studying hard to impliment in game.
I did recently look back at the way I was reacting to loosing hands and looking back at those may have found the main source of this mental issue. I would say the core issue to the mental leak is how to play when you have larger chip stacks in KOs. each and every time I had the bigger chip stack and lost chips or an AI to a stack I cover I would talk in a calm way but when I lose value or an AI to a stack covering me I would talk in an angry way and it's only like this when I'm playing bounty hunters in freeze outs I will just bin the hand all the time.
What I intend to do differently from now on is just play some nl10 or nl20 rush & cash with what ever cash game money I win from those AI MTTs I enter when bubbling an MTT.
I am also not gonna play as many of the morning sessions as I have because too many of these will leave you feeling really burnt out towards the end of week and you will be making more mistakes. I am gonna also ensure I am fitting in more exercise which is something else I haven't been doing much of since I begun playing all the long sessions
Finally I am gonna make myself more well prepared for any tasks I have that month and ensure I make time for those tasks to be complete.
I am down for MTT prizes overall but my overall bankroll is still sitting break even.
I am having a few days off this bankroll challeng whilst I play UKOPS and will be returning to bankroll challenge when it's over.
When I look back at my overall performance in this UKOPs one thing sticks to my mind again and that thing is I feel much better about my game in freezeouts than I do in KO.
you could say I have say this stuff long enough and when I return to my bankroll challenge I am gonna put more time into freeze outs than bounty hunters. you could in many ways say I should take a break from BH MTTS all together for a week and play just freeze out MTTS and that is my plan to have a break from bounty hunter MTTS and play freezeouts for a week or so.
1 confidence issue I do certainly have ATM is playing in the later stages of MTTs in general and risking my stack against weaker opponents. Don't get me wrong weaker opponents are the ones which will make you the most money, the trickiest part about it when your shallow stacked is knowing how to prevent your chip stack becoming too shallow with you getting too loose against loose opponents. This issue is most clearly shown in sattellite MTTs where you just know winning chip near the bubble is worth nothing but losing you full chip stack can cost you a tournament entry.
I am just too tight going into the later stages of these MTTS and when I do OR I am just too passive post flop, alot of it seems to be that fear I have with losing my full stack via a sick hero call or sick bluff. a simple solution to this problem would be to do far more block bets, you could also say I should do far more 33% bets IP as bluffs, fire more 75%+ bet sizings with strong but vunerable parts of my range. what I mean is just play that fully face up game where I will have multiple ranges which are pure value or pure bluffs because I know for a face my opponents will not put me on a range. If I did need to mix it up in any way just mixing the bet sizing based on board texture is enough,ie bet big on draw heavy boards tiny on super dry boards.
When I look at the two sites seperately the story is totally different. I was able to make it onto 2 FT of both stars and GG but when it comes it actual bankroll GG poker is $55 lower than it was yet poker stars bankroll is $73 higher than it was. What could it be that has caused me to be lower than I was the previous week on GG yet greater than I was the preveious week on stars?
I could go into so much detail about this but if I were to put it simple it's because on GG I am putting myself under so much more ICM pressure due to the amount of sats I play. I do also have alot of fear in me when playing bounty hunters which is mostly getting played on GG. Whenever I play freezeouts I am taking forward the game I've learned and just making small ajustments against my opponents based on their weakness. With BH and sats it's not as simple as this because when you playing bounty hunters you have got to play more looser in general otherwise you will not win any bounties and in sats winning chips becomes worthless as we approach the bubble, all you really need to do is prevent your chipstack draining down.
I am also disappointed in my overall performance on the FT especially that one where I went in as a decent chip leader but made an horricly bad call and went on to fish 5th place overall. I am gonna have a look at those FTs with luckyfish to discuss the pressure I have with ICM spots and how I was on these FTs because although FTs are rare it's FTs which have all the cash and I should do what I can to take them down rather than continue finishing 5th.
My bankroll ATM on GG and stars is 998.79 which is 15 greater than it was to begin.
Start tackling the small and build up while notice the changes, even write it down and form into a journal if you must. Small wins like being in a good mood often go unnoticed and are rarely celebrated, grab those moments fully!
Not been following your posts as such however having a good mental state is paramount. Life is so much easier when you focus on a fix for this, when in a foul mood or feeling down challenge it. Get some fresh air, go a walk or open the window and see if that makes any difference.
Not sure how relatable any of this is, just thought this part of your post stood out like a sore thumb.
Best of luck!
My routine needs cleaning up, back to doing exercise on a daily basis and clean myself up. Ever since mid december I have hardly done much exercise at all and been in a un healthy state I need to sort that out.
Also I am reading about fear on the mental game of poker book.
My main goal next week is to get my routine back the way it was at the beginning of december and sort out my fear.
His version of this was to have a minimum of 10 minutes fresh air and 10,000 steps a day which were non-negotiable.
I hadn't opened my blinds for weeks, barely went out and never had the windows open during this slump. That talk got me thinking again about daily routines and how important having these in place are. Needless to say after making these small changes things got brighter.
Hope and expect you to have a better time next week.
Their is only 1 place to start really and that is the sunday majorI took down last sunday. when you look back at what I was saying about my mental game last week taking down a sunday major feels like a shock but their was something different about my game. I begun that day with a decent exercise routine, every decision I made involved thinking about their range, every fold I made was done in close spots, each bluff I made revolved around the ranges. don't get me wrong their were spots were I may have over folded or over bluffed we will all make some mistakes. What matters most is you are feeling mentally fit, well organised and think about every decision you make.
As for my bankroll challenge on these other sites well that hasn't been going very well at all especially not on GG poker and the problem with this is I am clearly not very well organised, I'm not really sure which tournaments to play on GG I say repeatedly I have a bad time in bounty hunters but I am repeatedly joining bounty hunters, the way I like to look at it I'm just not sure which MTTs to play on GG and when I play hands I'm like an auto pilot. On poker stars I have a much better idea which MTTS to play the issue here is I'm creating too many obstables by tables over lapping too much and me streaming.
I could say loads mroe about this but no I want to move on and can comfirm I am gonna be far well organised especially on poker stars because I have used part of the money from that sunday major to purchase a decent monitor, web cam and wireless keyboard which will allow me to now has as many as 12 tables on the same screen without having to over lap them which will allow me to play the tournaments I like the most and play in some sattellites for more bigger stakes MTTs of similar stucture.
The takeaway this week is you have got to be very well organised and if you gonna take down an MTT you have got to take those thin value spots some of the time otherwise your tournament stack is just gonna drain away and you will look too much like a nit to get value when you have the strength
My aim is to play on all 4 sites and select the best MTTS, I will be aiming to play more low field MTTS and less big field MTTS, I also intend to bin most microstakes MTTs, I might play the odd one at the beginning of a session or if I want to fill a space but I aim to play more £11-20 ABI across every site with some £22-33 ABI and the odd one 33+.
The trouble with playing stakes in all sizes from 2.20-100 is your game play is all over the place and you get into this complete mess, you could also say I have no motivation at all with playing micro stakes MTT. The only reason I was starting my bankroll challange as low as it is and playing micro stakes on these other sites was because of the gambling regulations but I've said it now the gambling regulations can just get lost. Lets make it clear I have never deposited onto sky poker in a very long time and all of this money I have on other sites is money I withdrew from sky poker itself. What I'm saying is as long as my bankstatements show the money I deposit is just cash which came out of a different site they cannot say I'm gambling my own money.
Anyhow I do not care one bit about that because what really matters is I was playing at my absolute best almost the whole session, I did begin on some micros just to fill in the gaps but those micro MTTs were few and far between once I got the bigger stakes going I just stuck with them all the way. I also opted to play no more than 4 MTTs at a time most the way and every single decision I made was thought about fully.
I must admit I almost broke down in tears at the end of the stream because honestly I would not have expected to make even 1 FT but the fact I made 2 and was close to taking one down is something I have to remember. The difference is clear when I was playing 2.20 MTTS I never knew where I was at when facing bets, I never knew when to cbet and when to X, I was getting into dozens of multiway pots. basically I didn't have a clue how to play middle or weaker parts of my range my chipstack would drain down rapidly. When I play a 33 MTT it's a different story altogether, each and every time my villian made a bet I could evaluate his range and and decide how to continue, I always have a decent idea how to cbet and best of all I would get into far more HU pots.
Lovely job, well done @craigcu12
I did make a deal at the end of the MTT, but I only did it knowing I'd be just 300 lower than the max and thought although I'm 4:1 ATM a flip could swing things and with most of what I would get anyway I took the deal, Also my alias has now gained it's very own bge having took down a GG masters MTT
In the first of those two weeks I was having multiple chaos over sorting our a new computer and I would let this get the better of me during the grinding on laptop, each and everytime I noticed a bit of lag on my laptop I was desperate to get myself that new PC but was just not sure which one to get myself even when I did suggest ones I was told differently.
Last week was another dis dtressing week but the main stress that week came from repeated losing AIs but despite the fact I was 11BB below the EV line over a 12K sample my BB/100 was -11. The main issue came on Sunday night when I realized my issues with in fact shallow stack play in general and that sunday evening I opted to quit my session early and went on to do lots of study work on shallow stack play.
I can now bring some great news, I have finally sorted out my new PC and my overall game play during Monday's grind was the best feeling I had since those great wins and I most certainly do put that down to having a much better idea of short stack poker play.
I must admit life is now so tough given that I grind myself out on a regular basis and stream on a regular basis but I most certainly do absolutely love the grinding and will keep on going.
I was playing 50's and the odd non sky 100 MTT but having been on a down swing in the last couple of weeks I am gonna just stick with 25 MTTS when I return to the grind this week and probably next week as well. I do now feel like I'm starting to grind for a living I'm not their just yet but what's clear is my weekly routine is now permanently built around a poker schedule.
Why not stick to sky poker? I understand sky poker is weaker, softer and more easier than these other sites but in this time period even on sky poker has had alot lost since taking down that GG masters MTT.
I also want to point out I took down the GG masters, came 2nd in the big 33, final tabled a $10 daily special all on the very same day. What I'm saying is I most certainly have the belief in myself, it's just a case of accepting more down swings and not letting fear of an exit push me to be too tight. I won't deny sky poker is my best hope of profit at this minute in time is gonna be on sky poker but the reason for playing these other sites is I want to keep on moving up moving up the stakes and get better at full ring antes MTTS.
I know for a fact I do enjoy playing MTTS on GG, stars and I poker, it's just a matter of ensuring I do not make life hard for myself which is has been the case over the last two months.
My goals this week is to get my happy and confident mood back
I am playing sky poker and I poker but no GG or stars MTTS at all this week. This allows me to take a more tighter approach without the antes (sky poker) and minimise the amount of varience I need to get passed bubble and attempt to final table via less all in varience thanks to shorter fields.
On Friday I will be going to the sky poker tour in brighton where I will meet all my friends and this will get me back to being my most happy feeling.
Together this will get my confidence back and I should be super happy and will be able to return to my stream and onto GG and stars but I do not intend to stream every day and will play more small field MTTS on I poker and sky to help keep me and reduce risk of downswing