Trying Too Hard to Win

So I tend to go through these periods where I'm trying so hard to focus on making smart plays that it inhibits my ability to loosen up and open my mind to all the information at hand. It also causes me err on the side of caution too much, preventing me from making the "well if you have me, you have me" type plays that are usually key hands in building a massive stack.

I alluded to this in the Fear of Being Wrong post and after taking a couple days off, I've realized that I've been trying too hard ever since I decided to go to Tunica again and am trying to build up my bankroll before the trip. I know that those periods in which I don't really care as much about the outcome, are the ones that I play my best. I think the key is to realize when you are being blinded by these emotional factors, take a few days off and come back and play simply for the fun of playing.

Alright, no more whiny posts about introspective psychological crap. Shake it off and get back in the game!

Time for a Hold'em Break

I love the game, but I feel like I'm out of sync for some reason. I'm questioning my plays and not trusting my instincts. My gut is right, but I'm being letting emotions dictate my decisions more than I should. I think this whole bankroll issue is making my losing streak worse. I don't think all of it is variance and I think I just need to shift gears a little and get my head on straight.

I really want to get better at Omaha PLO8 and some other games, so I'm going to focus my attention there.

Are You Playing or Practicing?

In almost all sports, there is a clear delineation between practicing and competing. In contrast, every time you play poker for money you are in a competition. Unfortunately there are many times when you are in a competition, but playing as if you were in practice mode.

Let's define what I mean by practicing. During a practice, you think through the intricate techniques involved in a move or a play. You break those down into individual steps and you perform it repetitively in order to perfect the technique and make it second nature. You may simulate competition, but there is always an interjection of analysis in order to optimize your skills.

In a competition, however, to perform optimally you should be on auto-pilot, letting instinct take over. Thinking through each step on a conscious level is actually counter-intuitive to the goal of winning. I could expand more here, but there are several sports psychology books written on this subject (one is Winning Ugly, by Andre Agassi's tennis coach Brad Gilbert). Another book you can check out that talks about the power of the human sub-conscious is Blink.

So how does this apply to poker?
What can often happen during a session is that instead of playing, you are actually practicing. You may be new to the game and refer back to what a book said was the "correct" way to play or if you are a student of the game, you may try new plays in order to take your game to a new level. You may also decide to play against a particular person in a different way than you are normally would or might just be in a tough situation that you haven't had enough experience with to know the best way to proceed. In these situations, your actions have not yet become second nature and you revert back to "practice mode".

Practicing while playing poker is not optimal because you are taking too much time and effort to analyze each step and not playing a hand through to completion. You might be thinking only one step at a time and not an entire line (i.e. pre-flop without a plan for the flop, flop without a plan for the turn or river, etc.). Additionally, you may be analyzing previous hands which can prevent you from optimally attacking current and future hands.

And while poker is a thinking game, there is a line that can easily get crossed when you start over-thinking a situation. As you gain experience and have "practiced" a situation enough times, you can perform a very brief analysis and let instinct take over allowing for a more confident and fluid game.

So if you are always in competition, how do you practice poker?
Obviously you can read books and articles or even get a mentor, but that isn't the practicing I'm talking about. In order to practice, it involves either breaking down and analyzing skills or simulating a competitive environment. Here are a few ways:

• Post-hand analysis - Just like a football coach would watch film, analyze your hand histories after a competition. This can be done from live play or online. Also consider signing up for PokerXFactor to use their hand replayer.
  
• Participate in poker strategy online forums - But don't just read. Make comments about hands and how you would play them. It switches your brain from passive reading to active engagement, which will help you learn better. 2+2 is probably the best forum for strategy.
  
• Watch online play - Pick a few tournaments to watch, or even players you know are good. But, as with the forums, actively engage your mind by putting players on hands and thinking through how you would play a situation (and in this case you can make decisions regardless of cards, since you can't see what they have).
  
• Harrington on Hold'em's quizzes - Again with this one, don't read the answers until you've actually thought through the hand and answered it yourself.
  
• Simulate live play - You can do this by dealing out your own cards and play every position as if you don't know what they other cards are. You can simulate a full table, 6 handed or short handed play. This is something that was very helpful to me early on. It helped me understand how strong hands in late position are compared with those of the blinds because you can see the types of trashy random hands that they likely hold.

Now obviously, when you play you are going to find yourself in situations that you haven't practiced before. When those occur, do your best to play on a sub-conscious level without thinking too much. This is how you hone your instincts. Leave the hand analysis for later and separate practicing from competition.

Losing Streaks Suck! Where'd My Bankroll Go?

I normally stay pretty positive about things and I completely understand variance. I have been through downswings before, but things have really sucked lately.

I was on a nice little run earlier this year and built my bankroll up to $8K. I originally started with $300 online and even have dished out a couple grand in private training. After I won my first significant tournament, I really started getting in the grove and was playing really well. Even if I had little downswings, I was still very confident in my decisions.

After Jenni and I had our third child I toned down the frequency of playing and I balanced my time between work, family and poker a little better. I was really tired at work and poker was the culprit, so I started playing less of the big tournaments that would keep me up until 2am.

I did, however, start playing in some of the local $1/$2 cash games and found myself not adjusting. I wasn't adjusting to a cash game style and I wasn't adjusting to the players as much as I normally do in a tournment. The result of this and playing some cash games online was losing about $2.5K. 1/2 was certainly in my bankroll, but when every hand had a live straddle, I might as well have been playing 2/4.

Speaking of bankroll, during this time I also had a moment of reflection with regards to why I'm playing poker in the first place. I blogged about this on Pokermentors and I'll probably move that post over here. But the result of this epiphany was that I loosened my bankroll management rules. It took me a while to get used to it and I'm not sure I fully have. I think if I had made a significant cash, it wouldn't be a cause for concern, but now I'm down to about $3,500.

I've started playing more poker after I set my WSOP goal. Since then I haven't been able to get things going again. I've had a few minor cashes in some local live tournaments, but nothing significant. Online, I haven't cashed in my last 20 tournaments. I've bubbled a couple, but I'm really on a bad run of late. I'm trying not to let it affect my confidence, because I really do believe I'm a better player now than I was earlier in the year.

I think what is going on right now is a period of transition. I'm moving away from textbook plays and I'm trying to find my own style. I've always had certain tactics that work for me, but I've been experimenting with a few things lately. I think I have to go through this stage in order to take things to a new level, but it's not helping my bankroll. Technically, yes, I could replenish my bankroll with outside means. But it is very important for me to separate my poker money from my life money. I never want poker to create financial issues for my family.

So, right now I've got a trip to Tunica coming up for the World Poker Open and the WSOP Circuit event. Last time I allocated about $2,500 to the trip and came away down $1K. I'm confident that I can come away ahead on the trip, I'm just getting awfully close to wiping out the bankroll it took me almost 2 years to build.

I know. I shouldn't worry so much about money. But I really don't want to have the talk with Jenni about taking out a few grand so I can re-build my bankroll. We have the means and it probably isn't that big of a deal, but its still an uncomfortable conversation. At the same time, I also don't want to grind out $5 sit-n-gos online. My only other option is to not play in Tunica unless I can build up enough money before then. But it's only a month away.

The thing is, this is why I'm playing poker. To be able to go to these events and compete, so I can gain the necessary experience in order to reach my goal. Yes, the money is great and its how you keep score, but I'm not playing for a living.

So the plan for now is to stay focused and not let the downswing affect my play. I'm going to grind out as many small to mid-sized online tournaments and sit-n-gos as I can. If I keep on this streak, I won't make too big of a dent in my bankroll, but it will put me in a position to hopefully win a few grand in the next month. I'm also not going to worry too much about this bankroll thing. I'm going to make some adjustments and not play in big buy-in tournaments right now, but if I worry about going bust it's just going to negatively affect my play. If it's something that happens, it's not the end of the world. All the great players have gone bust multiple times. I'll just cross that bridge if I come to it.

Oooh Hot Stuff! Playing the Player

Not your typical DP hand here, but it was played to perfection.

UTG = very loose donk - will pay off most hands
Button = passive - has folded to resistance pre and post flop multiple times

I came into this pot for two very specific reasons. If I hit, I could take UTG's stack. I also knew that I could outplay the button if he missed the flop.

My position in this hand was set up perfect b/c I could see how UTG acted before making my play and I knew that if the button made a bet that smelled like a continuation bet I could take it away from him.


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t30 (9 handed)

SB (t1260)
BB (t915)
UTG (t1620)
UTG+1 (t1230)
MP1 (t2345)
MP2 (t2620)
Hero (t1015)
CO (t700)
Button (t1355)

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with 7d, 8d.

UTG calls t30, 3 folds, Hero calls t30, 1 fold, Button raises to t90, 2 folds, UTG calls t60, Hero calls t60.

Flop: (t315) 4d, 9h, Th (3 players)

UTG checks, Hero checks, Button bets t210, UTG folds, Hero raises to t925, Button folds.

:-)

The Fear of Being Wrong

If I had to pick the number one obstacle I've had to overcome during my short poker career, it would be playing with fear.

I'm somewhat of a Type A personality and, for those things I care about, I'm a perfectionist. While trying to be perfect pushes you to be succesful, it also comes with some strings attached. Two negative side effects of perfectionism is overthinking and the fear of failure. Both of these really go hand in hand. It's "crap...that's a strong bet...what the hell do they have? Maybe X, no maybe Y, oh I know...it's Z. But wait, if it was Z wouldn't they have...hmmm...damn...if I'm wrong I lose half my stack. Better play it safe. I fold."

Why am I afraid of being wrong? I guess part of it could be not wanting to look bad in front of other people. But mostly, I think it's just me being anal and not wanting to make mistakes. A mistake would mean I didn't play perfectly. I'm sure there's something deeper going on there, but I'm sure I'll figure that out eventually.

I first realized I had this fear when I started playing poker online. My heart would race and my forehead would sweat anytime I was actively in a hand with even the slightest of action. And we were not talking about high stakes here. I started playing .05/.10 NL online, so I was basically freaking out over $4 pots.

So, knowing this was one of the biggest obstacles holding me back, I have consciously worked on this emotional/psychological aspect of my game. One of my favorite poker books is Zen and the Art of Poker. One of the best pieces of advice this book offers is to consciously practice trusting your instincts. "Playing by instinct is going to be wrong at times but doing it on a regular basis will purify the process. From practice, you will close the gap. Your instinct will improve, until what is in your mind will gradually become in alignment with the true nature of what is going on in the game."

I've come a long way in the last couple of years in defeating this demon. I'm proud of what I've accomplished but it still creeps up from time to time. Here's a great example from a tournament I played in last night:

At 100/200 blinds + 25 ante, we're 6 handed and I've been very active. I have about 4500 and get AT under the gun. Normally I'm raising there, mixed with a small percentage of folds, but I've been experimenting with a few things and I decide to limp, 2 others call behind and a very aggressive big blinds pushes all in for 2300. My gut says that she's pushing with almost any two here and most likely A-rag, but for some reason the fear of being wrong whispered in my ear and I folded...I found out later she had A2, which was what I figured. I was 70% to win.

Now of course if you simply look at the cards, AT isn't the type of hand you should normally call all-ins with. But I'm at the point in my game where I'm moving beyond what the books say and I'm evaluating the entire situation before even thinking of my cards. Moving forward I plan on trusting my instincts more and more in these situations, even if it makes me look like a donkey or busts me out. It's only through repetition and practice that I'll hone my skills solidify my confidence in difficult situations.

The Goal - WSOP Bracelet by 2011

The goal has been set. My challenge is on.

After a little over two years of playing poker, I've decided to set my sights on the most coveted prize in poker - a bracelet at the World Series of Poker.

I totally understand that this won't happen overnight, which is why I've set this as a five year goal. I believe that I have the foundation and raw talent to be a great player, but I also realize that developing skills and gaining experience takes time.

Why do I think I'm capable of reaching this goal?

1. I take a business like approach to things. Most people do not even take the first step of setting a goal. Of those, a very small percentage set a plan of attack to reach their goals.

2. I have the focus and determination to make it happen.

3. I believe that I have an edge over many players in that I'm always observing and taking in information. Because of that, I can read people well and I'm good at putting them on a hand. Empathy and the ability to put myself in other's shoes has always been a skill of mine and something I have utilized throughout my career. As this is already one of my edges, improving this skill will only make me stronger.

4. I take a logical and strategic approach to decision making and rarely make emotional decisions. This has been an aspect of my game that I've really worked on and feel it is very strong in relation to other players.

5. I rarely get star struck. The top pros are real people like anyone else. I've played with the best online and they don't intimidate me, so when I sit down at the table with Ivey or Helmuth I'll play them like I would anyone else.

6. I'm a student of the game and I am always looking for ways to take my skills to a new level.

Where am I in relation to my goal?

My statistics from online play are consistent with many of the pros, so I feel like I have a solid foundation of confidence from there. But I do feel like there are aspects of my game and elements specific to live play that I need to work on. In the entire world of poker players, I'd say I'm in the top 80-85% in terms of undersanding of the game.

The main thing I need is repetition acting on situations in order to continue to build my decision making confidence. In any given tournament there may be 3 or 4 complex situations that come up where there are a few different ways to play it based on the situation. I need to practice trusting my gut in these situations.

There are some tournament sitations like short stack play and playing sets that have become second nature. I want some of these more complex situations, especially ones where the opponent is playing back, to also become second nature.

Skills to improve to reach my goal:

• Continue to improve putting opponents on hands
• Don’t give away as much information about my hand and justification for my plays
• Turn play in NLHE
• Work on improving skills in PLO8 and PLO
• Increase the variety in my play/changing gears
• Become more comfortable recognizing and reading live tells
• Continue to work on picking who I want to be getting into pots with vs. those I don’t want to get into pots with
• Continue to focus on making smart decisions focused on long term EV
• Improve table talk to induce action
• For live play - getting better at quickly assessing odds and opponents' stack sizes
• Staying in the zone and reconizing situations during live play vs. just playing cards

Mental skills to enhance in order to reach the goal:

• Believe that it is possible
• Solidify my confidence by competing in WSOP/WPT & higher skilled online events
• Have fun every time I play and don’t take the game too seriously
• Develop a consistent “soft focus” at the table
• Don’t try too hard in any one tournament. Detach myself emotionally from the results.
• Detaching myself from the monetary value of money
• Work on understanding what level other players are thinking on so that I don't overthink situations

So there it is. The majority of my blog posts will be geared toward my progress in reaching my goal and the ups and downs on the way there. I'm confident that I will acheive my goal, it's just a matter of time.