A Micro-Quest

[nothumb]

Ok, guys. This is tough for me.

I have been playing crappy poker lately. I think my discussion of poker has been better and my understanding of the game is getting good but I have been playing like ass. I've decided to do something that I constantly advise competent players against doing.

I'm going to drop back to the micro-micros and work my way up from a seed of 20 bucks or so.

I'm doing this because I haven't been patient, methodical or consistent in my play. I'm doing it because I have no discipline as a player. I'm doing it because I can't invest in a sufficient bankroll for my normal stakes and feel I should learn to have and maintain one.

I've gotten good at learning about poker, but I haven't actually learned enough of it. Seems weird? I've learned how to think about poker but haven't really drilled myself on many aspects of my play. I know how to approach poker problems but make mistakes on fundamental decisions during actual play. I think my flop and turn play is strong but my river and pre-flop play is mediocre at best. I'm going to work to change that.

I'll be investing in Poker Tracker and posting hands more consistently. I'll be grateful for any input I can get (starting with my name choice poll in the OOT forum...)

NT

[Jaran]

Hey Nothumb,
I wish you the best of luck with your quest. What site are you going to be starting on?

-Jaran

[Cosimo]

I think the standard line about preflop play is that being a little too tight or too loose is not going to seriously affect your win rate to any signifigant degree. It's just not that important. So, it's going to be flop, turn, and river play that will affect your winrate the most.

I'm still at the micros (after a year of casual, not-too-serious play) because I'm waiting until I can beat 25c-50c for 3BB/100h. Unless you're trying to feed yourself from your poker bankroll, there's no shame in stepping down in limits. Poker should never be about ego. (I was incredibly impressed by Fossilman's attitude and professionalism in the WSOP coverage, which I finally watched today.) So feel no loss of pride if you step down. I think of it like Sklansky Bucks: you should be proud of doing the right thing, win or lose.

One of the biggest changes that came in my game was when I started playing a ton of hands (3-tabling for 20+ hours a week, for a full month). I finally got to glimpse the long run, and small bad beats and cold cards stopped making an impact. Every time I make the right play, I congratulate myself inside. Whether I drag the pot or not becomes irrelevant, because I'm there not for the session but for the long run.

One other big change was an epiphany. The thing about sudden revelations is that they can't be predicted or forced. This one came after reviewing my hand histories, posting some, and getting about five people to say "omg take off the skirt you scared monkey." I read SSH, but it didn't sink in until I had a chance to apply it, practice it, reread it, study it, and discuss it. And that book has changed my play more than any other book so far.

I play at UB, so poker tracker isn't my thing. I save hand histories though; I always have. But what made a difference was spending several hours reviewing one day's session, every single pot that I was in. Saving the hands wasn't enough, nor was posting one or two, or skimming through the hands afterwards. I had to study those hand histories, look for patterns, and see what I was doing.

I think the #1 criteria for getting better at poker is discipline, and it sounds like you have it. Getting better is hard work, but it's very rewarding. Good luck, it sounds like you'll use this opportunity wisely.

[nothumb]

Hey Jaran,

Thanks. I've moved over to Paradise Poker for the time being, might start an account at Empire after a while too.

NT

[nothumb]

Thanks for the reply Cos. I definitely agree on a lot of your points about the learning curve in poker. There's an experiential moment where you learn to actually believe the mantra - "It's one long session." I am soooo far from believing this.


[ QUOTE ]
I think the #1 criteria for getting better at poker is discipline, and it sounds like you have it.

[/ QUOTE ]

So the part where I said I didn't have any didn't convince you, eh? /images/graemlins/grin.gif Thanks for the vote of confidence!

NT

[InchoateHand]

Good luck. I should do this, but honestly...I lack discipline.

[JoshuaD]

Do you use any software to make the hand histories more readable?

[nothumb]

Yeah, I think you might even be a worse gambler than me. I was thinking part of this quest might need to be banning myself from SNG's for the time being.

NT

[InchoateHand]

SnGs are a horrible BR destroyer if you are tilting.

They augment nicely if you are being patient and playing smart. I've cut them out unless I'm in the right frame of mind.


Everytime I do establish a dedicated poker BR, life happens and I withdraw. I then build painstakingly up through the limits until I get heavily inebriated and burn 100-200 bb. I've mostly cut this out, but happens from time to time.

I think most of my higher stake play will be limited to B&M for the time being--I'm much less volatile in person....

[InchoateHand]

P.S.

I strongly urge you to do some minimal bonus whoring coupled with your micro-mid quest. Homer posted a general thread a couple of weeks ago in the "Internet" forum that gets you to about 400-1k pretty quickly. I think doing this in tandem to beating each level makes a lot of logistical sense.

[Cosimo]

The only other software I use is WordPad. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif When reviewing a hand, I spend enough time thinking about what's going on that I usually quickly wind up memorizing the action, so viewing the hand only becomes a mental anchor.

I don't review hundreds of hands at a time; usually just a few. The days that I've done mega-reviews, I've focussed on five to seven hands, and spent a couple hours on just that handful.

So, uh, no, no additional tools. Having something like Poker Tracker would let me do a different kind of analysis, and it'd be great to be able to take a larger, longer, stochastic view of my play, but I'm really looking to make sure that I'm thinking the right thing at the right time. In battle, I have to not just know the right answer but be able to execute it.

[Cosimo]

[ QUOTE ]
So the part where I said I didn't have any didn't convince you, eh? /images/graemlins/grin.gif Thanks for the vote of confidence!

[/ QUOTE ]

GI Joe is so full of hsit. Knowing is 95% of the battle, not just half. Not admitting a problem is the single largest killer in the world today.

[bisonbison]

Good luck, thumb.

You might want to make a post in the Psych forum along the lines of "How do you bring your A game whenever you play?"

I have my own occasionally effective answers, but until you really learn the skill of being present for every decision, one of the best things you can do is only play when you're excited to play well, not just to waste a couple boring hours or prove something to yourself

[nothumb]

Thanks bison.

BTW your post about trying to respect the game a bit more was definitely in my mind as I was making this decision.

NT

[detruncate]

If you're playing somewhere that has hand histories PT can read, the replay function is great. I'm pretty good at visualizing things, but it's a lot less work when you can watch the hand playing out in front of you.

[detruncate]

I admire your resolve. Best of luck, and don't forget to enjoy yourself from time to time. In a disciplined way, of course.

[bisonbison]

Here's the thing: I am paying my bills with poker, so there came a certain crisis point at which I had to make the decision to treat the game differently than I had before. And that decision is just one step down a very long road.

Most recreational players never face that crisis point (nor should they. It is, after all, a game.). So if you're playing poker because it's challenging and entertaining and exciting, it can be hard to let go of some of the excitement and entertainment in order to treat your decisions and results with equinimity. But equinimity is the only path to long-term success.

There are times when I would love to complain about bad beats and bad runs and bad players and so on and so forth, but at some point, you have to make a commitment to yourself that your purpose at the poker table is to play the next hand as well as you are currently able.