The WSOP bracelet is obviously a long-term goal, so I need some shorter-term steps along the way that will keep me focused and making progress.
1. Build my bankroll to $10K - This has really been a goal for a while now and I think that the only thing really keeping me from it is volume. If I'm going to be a tournament player and mix in cash games and sngs here and there, I need to ensure that I'm playing enough poker where volume makes up for variance. I can't expect to build a bankroll within a reasonable time period by only playing 1-2 tournaments a week. I'm going to have to play 3-5 tournaments each session and try to have 3-4 sessions a week. I'm not too far away from this really, so it's just a matter of grinding it out. I don't expect to reach this with one big cash. I'll keep playing the 20/180s and smaller buy-in tournaments with an occasional $150 when I feel like I'm playing my "A" game. I don't want to put a ton of pressure on myself to reach this goal by a certain time period because I think this can lead to forcing results. But getting here sooner than later will help me acheive my other goals.
2. A 5 figure tournament cash online by July 1 - Again, I think this will come with both volume and playing tournaments where this payout is possible. For the times I play, there are only a couple of tournaments that can make this happen - the nightly $150, the $20 rebuy and the $10 rebuy. Ideally, however, I want to reach my $10K goal before playing the $150 on a regular basis. I might need to evaluate the timing of this goal based on how I'm doing bankroll wise. I think if I play the $150 every night I play, I'll certainly get here faster, but I need to make sure I have the bankroll for it. I also will look into other sites like Full Tilt to see if they have tournaments around 8-9pm that could produce a 5 figure cash.
3. Build my bankroll to $20K - Once I acheiving #2 I will be a lot closer to reaching this goal and it will just be a matter of leveraging my increasing roll to keep playing events that ensure further progression. Reaching this goal will enable me to regularly play circuit events and a few WSOP events during the next couple of years.
4. Cash in a WSOP or WPT Event in 2007 - This doesn't even need to be a main event for now. It can be a $500 event or whatever. But this will help me break the seal and just be a nice stepping stone. I've been to a couple of WSOP Circuit events and have only played in about 5-6 events so far and I bubbled a $200 second chance tournament last time. I'm confident that I can final table, if not win one of these events, but it's not like I have the opportunity to let variance play itself out, so let's just start with a goal of cashing for now.
I think it's important to note that some of these monetary goals are simply benchmarks to chart my progress and keep me focused on moving forward. They are not magical numbers that open some new door to poker greatness and they won't be imaginary sticking points that prevent me from acheiving other goals. The worst thing I could do is get too caught up in acheiving these and let it affect my play. The money will come. It's just a matter of taking the steps to get there.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Saturday, March 24, 2007
A Little Results Oriented
For some reason, I've been a little anxious to have a big online score over the last few days and it's affecting my play. I'm not clear headed. I think since a friend shared with me their stats, I got a little jealous that they've won a few tournaments lately. His stats are comparable to mine, so its not that I'm jealous of him.
I'm jealous that he's been playing a lot more than I have lately and he's had the opportunity to win. Although I did take 2nd in a tournament for about $600 last month, for some reason it still feels like I haven't had the results that I feel I'm capable of. But it's really just about volume. I've been playing better than ever lately, so maybe I'm just anxious to reap the rewards of those skills by playing more and more tournaments. While playing more isn't a bad thing. The mindset of anxiousness is.
I forced myself to 3-table tonight and I haven't done that in a while now, so I wasn't used to it. I ended up building a nice stack in the $20 rebuy on Stars and then just pissed it away to a guy who obviously had a set to my TPTK. If I was shorter stacked, the outcome would have been the same, but I had about 20M and was in great shape. There was no need to go broke there with just one pair. But because I wasn't clear headed, my ego got involved a little and I convinced myself he was making an ego play against me because of a previous hand. But really, his play screamed set. I mean, check-mini raise from a tight player in the BB on a K97 board? The only hand I'm beating there is KQ. But I got myself emotionally committed to the hand.
Anyway, just had to vent a little. I'll come out of this stronger than ever. Just needed to recognize that I was chasing results. I'll take a couple of days off and then slowly increase my volume of play. Maybe 2 table a few days a week instead of just playing 1 day a week online.
EDIT: Man I'm hard on myself. It wasn't that big of a deal really. Unfortunate that I ran into a set. Had a good email conversation last night and a friend ran the hand by one of the top online pros that he's friends with and they felt they would have gone broke there too based on my agressive image. Anyway...on to more.
I'm jealous that he's been playing a lot more than I have lately and he's had the opportunity to win. Although I did take 2nd in a tournament for about $600 last month, for some reason it still feels like I haven't had the results that I feel I'm capable of. But it's really just about volume. I've been playing better than ever lately, so maybe I'm just anxious to reap the rewards of those skills by playing more and more tournaments. While playing more isn't a bad thing. The mindset of anxiousness is.
I forced myself to 3-table tonight and I haven't done that in a while now, so I wasn't used to it. I ended up building a nice stack in the $20 rebuy on Stars and then just pissed it away to a guy who obviously had a set to my TPTK. If I was shorter stacked, the outcome would have been the same, but I had about 20M and was in great shape. There was no need to go broke there with just one pair. But because I wasn't clear headed, my ego got involved a little and I convinced myself he was making an ego play against me because of a previous hand. But really, his play screamed set. I mean, check-mini raise from a tight player in the BB on a K97 board? The only hand I'm beating there is KQ. But I got myself emotionally committed to the hand.
Anyway, just had to vent a little. I'll come out of this stronger than ever. Just needed to recognize that I was chasing results. I'll take a couple of days off and then slowly increase my volume of play. Maybe 2 table a few days a week instead of just playing 1 day a week online.
EDIT: Man I'm hard on myself. It wasn't that big of a deal really. Unfortunate that I ran into a set. Had a good email conversation last night and a friend ran the hand by one of the top online pros that he's friends with and they felt they would have gone broke there too based on my agressive image. Anyway...on to more.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Hope Has No Place In Poker
What is hope?
In the context of poker, hope is wishing for an event to occur that is beyond your power. It means that you are not in control of your own destiny.
While it's true that in the short-run you are subject to the luck of the cards, we know that to play poker optimally the cards are only one factor of the decision making process. By hoping, it is limiting your focus on the cards, making it difficult to process all the information on the table. What this means is that if you are busy hoping, your state of mind is not proactive, it is reactive. You are subjecting yourself to simply dealing with what the poker gods are dishing out instead of making things happen for yourself.
If you find yourself hoping for something to happen at the poker table, it should be a sign that you are not playing your best. In fact, if you are hoping, you are probably bleeding chips away. Since hope is reactive in nature, it usually manifests itself into speculative or passive play. Here are a few examples of hoping you may have done at the table.
Speculations:
In the context of poker, hope is wishing for an event to occur that is beyond your power. It means that you are not in control of your own destiny.
While it's true that in the short-run you are subject to the luck of the cards, we know that to play poker optimally the cards are only one factor of the decision making process. By hoping, it is limiting your focus on the cards, making it difficult to process all the information on the table. What this means is that if you are busy hoping, your state of mind is not proactive, it is reactive. You are subjecting yourself to simply dealing with what the poker gods are dishing out instead of making things happen for yourself.
If you find yourself hoping for something to happen at the poker table, it should be a sign that you are not playing your best. In fact, if you are hoping, you are probably bleeding chips away. Since hope is reactive in nature, it usually manifests itself into speculative or passive play. Here are a few examples of hoping you may have done at the table.
Speculations:
- I hope I hit this flop with my suited connectors
- I hope he doesn't bet the turn
- I hope I make my draw
- I hope I hit a monster by completing the small blind
Passive or Scared Play:
- I hope I get good cards
- I hope he doesn't have Aces (or a set or whatever monster is under the bed)
- I hope he didn't just make his flush
- I hope the big blind doesn't go all in if I raise the button
- I hope I cash in this tournament
So what should we do about hope? Vanquish it from our minds. Instead of waiting for things to happen at the table, make them happen. Take in all the information you can and use it to your advantage. If the button is raising every orbit, don't hope for AA to re-pop him. J5os will do just fine.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
"A Ha" Moment - The Decision Making Process
I listened to the PocketFives.com podcast today with Barry Greenstien and after processing some of the things he was saying, I had one of those "a ha" moments where something clicked.
I won't go into too much detail, but one of the things he was talking about was the difference between online and live play and how online poker trains you to pay attention to your cards more. This is somewhat obvious, in that you don't have the benefit of table feel and live reads, and the fact that you see your cards first. But what this means is that online poker can create bad habits that are counterintuitive to successful play. Online poker, more so than live poker, gives the cards you hold a higher weight in your decision making process than they should since you don't have some of the other information you might otherwise have.
Most everyone has read somewhere that the actual cards you hold should only be one small factor to consider. And while I think people fundamentally agree with this concept, hearing him say it in this way made me realize that most people are not implementing this correctly in the process they take when deciding their actions at the table. I know that I try to a certain extent, but repetition through playing online has caused me to think backwards at times.
By the decision making process, I specifically mean the steps you go through in your mind before deciding how to act on every hand. Here is a typical order of events (assuming you are looking at your cards last):
1. Observe the action thus far
2. Think about situational factors and the past play and tendencies of other players
3. Put each person on a range of hands based on #2
4. Hope you pick up a hand that is conducive to the action and the factors
5. Look at hand and then decide if it is the right hand to play
6. Narrow down possible actions to take and how the players would react
7. Act
This is faulty thinking and isn't the right process in order to capitalize on each situation. I've felt like I've done a much better job at playing the players lately and when I think about the thought process I've used, and how to continue to improve it, this is what I think is closer to optimal.
1. Observe the action thus far
2. Think about situational factors and the past play and tendencies of other players
3. Put each person on a range of hands based on #2
4. Narrow down possible actions to take and how the players would react
5. Think about what they think I would have based on those actions
6. If my actual hand has to be a factor, consider the results based on a show down
7. Act
The key here is simply moving #6 from the first list up to #4. I also think that #5 in the second list is something that most good players usually do, but it is harder to perform this 3rd level thinking AFTER you've already decided to play a particular hand. Keep in mind that EV is always part of this decision making process and comes into play when narrowing down all the alternative choices of how to act. But the essence of this line of thinking is that we should be thinking about our cards AFTER we have considered possible courses of action. For pre-flop play, this means not even looking at our cards until we've done this. But this decision making process isn't just about pre-flop hold'em. It's all poker on all streets.
Now with this line of thinking, it doesn't mean that the action itself is a bluff or a "move", it just means that we are considering our actual hand last in the process and not somewhere in the middle.
This type of decision making process is something that I think separates the great players from the good ones. They key now is to get into a new habit of performing these steps on a subconscious level.
And while I had felt like I'd understood "playing the player" for a while now, I realize it was more on the conceptual level than anything else with glimpses of applying it at certain times of focus. Unfortunately, it is easy to drift back into just playing cards (maybe this is safer and requires less effort?).
The difference now is that I can see how to "operationalize" my thought process accordingly in order to make it habitual. Any good skill development involves understanding the basics steps and then practicing them over and over until they are second nature. The difference with this is that the decision making process is a mental skill that most would not recognize as something you would need to practice.
I won't go into too much detail, but one of the things he was talking about was the difference between online and live play and how online poker trains you to pay attention to your cards more. This is somewhat obvious, in that you don't have the benefit of table feel and live reads, and the fact that you see your cards first. But what this means is that online poker can create bad habits that are counterintuitive to successful play. Online poker, more so than live poker, gives the cards you hold a higher weight in your decision making process than they should since you don't have some of the other information you might otherwise have.
Most everyone has read somewhere that the actual cards you hold should only be one small factor to consider. And while I think people fundamentally agree with this concept, hearing him say it in this way made me realize that most people are not implementing this correctly in the process they take when deciding their actions at the table. I know that I try to a certain extent, but repetition through playing online has caused me to think backwards at times.
By the decision making process, I specifically mean the steps you go through in your mind before deciding how to act on every hand. Here is a typical order of events (assuming you are looking at your cards last):
1. Observe the action thus far
2. Think about situational factors and the past play and tendencies of other players
3. Put each person on a range of hands based on #2
4. Hope you pick up a hand that is conducive to the action and the factors
5. Look at hand and then decide if it is the right hand to play
6. Narrow down possible actions to take and how the players would react
7. Act
This is faulty thinking and isn't the right process in order to capitalize on each situation. I've felt like I've done a much better job at playing the players lately and when I think about the thought process I've used, and how to continue to improve it, this is what I think is closer to optimal.
1. Observe the action thus far
2. Think about situational factors and the past play and tendencies of other players
3. Put each person on a range of hands based on #2
4. Narrow down possible actions to take and how the players would react
5. Think about what they think I would have based on those actions
6. If my actual hand has to be a factor, consider the results based on a show down
7. Act
The key here is simply moving #6 from the first list up to #4. I also think that #5 in the second list is something that most good players usually do, but it is harder to perform this 3rd level thinking AFTER you've already decided to play a particular hand. Keep in mind that EV is always part of this decision making process and comes into play when narrowing down all the alternative choices of how to act. But the essence of this line of thinking is that we should be thinking about our cards AFTER we have considered possible courses of action. For pre-flop play, this means not even looking at our cards until we've done this. But this decision making process isn't just about pre-flop hold'em. It's all poker on all streets.
Now with this line of thinking, it doesn't mean that the action itself is a bluff or a "move", it just means that we are considering our actual hand last in the process and not somewhere in the middle.
This type of decision making process is something that I think separates the great players from the good ones. They key now is to get into a new habit of performing these steps on a subconscious level.
And while I had felt like I'd understood "playing the player" for a while now, I realize it was more on the conceptual level than anything else with glimpses of applying it at certain times of focus. Unfortunately, it is easy to drift back into just playing cards (maybe this is safer and requires less effort?).
The difference now is that I can see how to "operationalize" my thought process accordingly in order to make it habitual. Any good skill development involves understanding the basics steps and then practicing them over and over until they are second nature. The difference with this is that the decision making process is a mental skill that most would not recognize as something you would need to practice.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Playing Cash Games Again (and playing well)
I finally started playing cash games again, approaching them with the same discipline and principles of my tournament play. The only exception being that I'm adapting my play to the cash format of course. I'm playing $1/$2 on PokerStars right now.
I've felt really good about my play, and not just because of results (although doubling my buy-in the last two sessions was nice too). Here's a quick list of what I'm doing right:
1. I'm playing third and fourth level poker, but only with players that are thinking 2nd and 3rd level. I feel like I'm one step ahead of their plays and their emotions based on the way I've been playing. BUT, I also feel I'm adapting to those who are only playing their cards at the same time.
2. I'm playing position well.
3. I'm controling the pot size and not overbetting hands.
4. I'm not afraid to bet, raise or call when it makes sense to do so against the right players at the right time.
5. I'm mixing up my play - both betting patterns and hand selection.
6. Well timed bluffs against the right players based on their past patterns. Example was a nice squeeze play into a habitual button raiser who was re-popped a few times by another player and had shown the tendency to fold. The SB was a habitual caller. Button raises $6, SB calls, I make it $30 with J9os...both fold. It worked better for me because it was the first time I made that play into him.
7. I'm not afraid to fold AA on a scary flop against a tight player, but at the same time, I'm not afraid to call with middle pair against a different player.
8. I'm not limping and hoping with connectors. I used to never do that, but then during a string of bad local cash game losses, I found that was a major leak. I was essentially chasing all night because everyone else was and I was trying to force a big pot. It's funny because that is the complete opposite of how I play. If I'm going to play connectors, you should never really now how I'm going to play them...fold, raise, random limp on button only to mix it up, raise into limpers, call a raise, fold again to a different person's raise, limp behind others....who knows (mostly fold though :-))
9. I'm observing and capitalizing on changing table conditions based on recent hands and emotions between other players. I can feel who's frustrated, playing with ego, getting passive, etc.
10. I'm aggressive
11. I'm patient
I'm really enjoying the cash game play. I feel like I'm able to exercise my ability to fully trust my reads without that worry of busting out. Don't get me wrong...I LOVE tournaments and tournament strategy. But the cash game play is allowing me to flex some different muscles that I normally would only get to do very deep stacked and I think the repetition of it will help me continue to both trust my reads, but also bet accordingly. Ultimately, it will help my tournament play and get me closer to my goal.
I've felt really good about my play, and not just because of results (although doubling my buy-in the last two sessions was nice too). Here's a quick list of what I'm doing right:
1. I'm playing third and fourth level poker, but only with players that are thinking 2nd and 3rd level. I feel like I'm one step ahead of their plays and their emotions based on the way I've been playing. BUT, I also feel I'm adapting to those who are only playing their cards at the same time.
2. I'm playing position well.
3. I'm controling the pot size and not overbetting hands.
4. I'm not afraid to bet, raise or call when it makes sense to do so against the right players at the right time.
5. I'm mixing up my play - both betting patterns and hand selection.
6. Well timed bluffs against the right players based on their past patterns. Example was a nice squeeze play into a habitual button raiser who was re-popped a few times by another player and had shown the tendency to fold. The SB was a habitual caller. Button raises $6, SB calls, I make it $30 with J9os...both fold. It worked better for me because it was the first time I made that play into him.
7. I'm not afraid to fold AA on a scary flop against a tight player, but at the same time, I'm not afraid to call with middle pair against a different player.
8. I'm not limping and hoping with connectors. I used to never do that, but then during a string of bad local cash game losses, I found that was a major leak. I was essentially chasing all night because everyone else was and I was trying to force a big pot. It's funny because that is the complete opposite of how I play. If I'm going to play connectors, you should never really now how I'm going to play them...fold, raise, random limp on button only to mix it up, raise into limpers, call a raise, fold again to a different person's raise, limp behind others....who knows (mostly fold though :-))
9. I'm observing and capitalizing on changing table conditions based on recent hands and emotions between other players. I can feel who's frustrated, playing with ego, getting passive, etc.
10. I'm aggressive
11. I'm patient
I'm really enjoying the cash game play. I feel like I'm able to exercise my ability to fully trust my reads without that worry of busting out. Don't get me wrong...I LOVE tournaments and tournament strategy. But the cash game play is allowing me to flex some different muscles that I normally would only get to do very deep stacked and I think the repetition of it will help me continue to both trust my reads, but also bet accordingly. Ultimately, it will help my tournament play and get me closer to my goal.
Monday, March 12, 2007
This Felt Good
This guy had been trying to outplay me the whole time and I recently bluffed him out of a pot. The turn bet had ego written all over it. I figured he had AK or AQ (eh, I guess I was close).
PokerStars Game #8876408923: Hold'em No Limit ($1/$2) - 2007/03/12 - 23:35:33 (ET)
Table 'Chaldaea IV' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: ova dawg ($293.95 in chips)
Seat 2: pickpok ($131.10 in chips)
Seat 4: -Ori-Prior- ($59.05 in chips)
Seat 5: cursed6466 ($103.40 in chips)
Seat 7: TheYeti ($195.70 in chips)
Seat 8: jpg7n16 ($309.40 in chips)
Seat 9: DP388 ($157.90 in chips)
jpg7n16: posts small blind $1
DP388: posts big blind $2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DP388 [8h 8c]
ova dawg: folds
pickpok: raises $6 to $8
-Ori-Prior-: folds
cursed6466: folds
TheYeti: folds
jpg7n16: folds
DP388: calls $6
*** FLOP *** [9s 3h 9d]
DP388: checks
pickpok: bets $12
DP388: calls $12
*** TURN *** [9s 3h 9d] [Jh]
DP388: checks
pickpok: bets $40
DP388: raises $97.90 to $137.90 and is all-in
pickpok: calls $71.10 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [9s 3h 9d Jh] [4h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DP388: shows [8h 8c] (two pair, Nines and Eights)
pickpok: mucks hand
DP388 collected $260.20 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $263.20 Rake $3
Board [9s 3h 9d Jh 4h]
Seat 1: ova dawg folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: pickpok mucked [6d Ah]
Seat 4: -Ori-Prior- folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: cursed6466 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: TheYeti (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: jpg7n16 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: DP388 (big blind) showed [8h 8c] and won ($260.20) with two pair, Nines and Eights
PokerStars Game #8876408923: Hold'em No Limit ($1/$2) - 2007/03/12 - 23:35:33 (ET)
Table 'Chaldaea IV' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: ova dawg ($293.95 in chips)
Seat 2: pickpok ($131.10 in chips)
Seat 4: -Ori-Prior- ($59.05 in chips)
Seat 5: cursed6466 ($103.40 in chips)
Seat 7: TheYeti ($195.70 in chips)
Seat 8: jpg7n16 ($309.40 in chips)
Seat 9: DP388 ($157.90 in chips)
jpg7n16: posts small blind $1
DP388: posts big blind $2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DP388 [8h 8c]
ova dawg: folds
pickpok: raises $6 to $8
-Ori-Prior-: folds
cursed6466: folds
TheYeti: folds
jpg7n16: folds
DP388: calls $6
*** FLOP *** [9s 3h 9d]
DP388: checks
pickpok: bets $12
DP388: calls $12
*** TURN *** [9s 3h 9d] [Jh]
DP388: checks
pickpok: bets $40
DP388: raises $97.90 to $137.90 and is all-in
pickpok: calls $71.10 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [9s 3h 9d Jh] [4h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DP388: shows [8h 8c] (two pair, Nines and Eights)
pickpok: mucks hand
DP388 collected $260.20 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $263.20 Rake $3
Board [9s 3h 9d Jh 4h]
Seat 1: ova dawg folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: pickpok mucked [6d Ah]
Seat 4: -Ori-Prior- folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: cursed6466 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: TheYeti (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: jpg7n16 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: DP388 (big blind) showed [8h 8c] and won ($260.20) with two pair, Nines and Eights
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