Fabulous Fridays (longish, boring psycho wail)

[mosquito]

Okay, I'm not sure where I'm going with this.

For me, Fridays seem to suck. I play enough that
over the last year, I have enough hands in that the
numbers have some meaning.

Sunday thru Thursday are great days for me. Live,
Internet, it doen't matter. Solid numbers, solid WR,
"normal" swings.

Friday just sucks. I'm not crying my eyes out, the
WR hangs around break-even. Never moves too far either
way. Live, Net, whatever.

But oh.....the swings. It's driving me nuts. Half my
big losses come on Friday.

Yeah, it's a bit different game on the weekend. My
Saturday numbers are halfway between Friday, and the
rest of the week.

I suspect some of the difference is just variance.
Some is probably that I just don't play as well in
the "Friday" game.

Some of it may be that I'm getting conditioned to
not doing well on Friday, and that's scary.

So.....I'm thinking maybe I should just take Friday's
off. I don't know how many people schedule their
playtime. Maybe I need to schedule offtime, for Friday.

The other alternative is to work on whatever holes are
in my game that cause me to not do as well in these
great games.

The big thing though is whatever I do, the state of
mind I get into from lack of success on Friday is bad
for me the rest of the time.

Heck I don't know, just rambling. Anyone has a constructive
criticism, comment, or other thing of value (or not) then
lay it on me.

mosquito

[Aytumious]

I just made a post about not being able to get over the hump in my game and take some shots. Your post seems to be related in a way.

After typing up my post I realized what is obviously the key to playing great poker, after you have the technical skill down pat: theoretical winrate, or theoretical advantage in a given game. You know your theoretical winrate in those crazy weekend games is going to be higher than any other time of the week, but you've had some bad luck and that is affecting your judgement. I'm convinced that, for a winning player, the biggest epiphany we can have is to realize that theoretical advantage is all that matters. Coming to terms with that is probably the most difficult aspect of poker. Learning and applying a winning strategy that can net you a decent hourly sum only takes a few months of diligent study and application, but truly believing in yourself and your theoretical advantage is tough indeed, as you clearly know. For me personally, I think that the acceptance of my theoretical advantage needs to become an everyday experience, not just something that is out there floating around and pops up when people ask me how I'm doing in poker or when I look at my PT stats. I need to be reminded everyday that I have an edge and that, regardless of the ridiculous swings poker players can endure, I play the game well. If that is ingrained in your mind, you will happily sit down on Friday nights and deal with the increased variance and the crazy swings, because you know you are getting the best of it, which is the business we are in.

[bernie]

Until you get over this psychological block, leave the rabbit's foot at home on friday and do something else.

[ QUOTE ]
The other alternative is to work on whatever holes are
in my game that cause me to not do as well in these
great games.


[/ QUOTE ]

This couldn't be it, could it?

b

[sweetjazz]

I broke even the hard way tonight. I was playing Party 3/6 and dropped 75 BB in about 2 hours, only to win 85 BB in the next 2 hours.

And believe it or not, I think I was playing pretty well most of the time. I actually laid down reasonably strong hands when it was obvious I was beat early on. I am happy that, for the most part, I didn't let my frustration result in me making frustration calls or otherwise bad plays.

I learned something from GoT today and it worked when I used it.

For all that work, I was lucky to be up at all. Only a run of AA, KK, and QQ in 4 hands with all three holding up allowed me to be up for the session.

FWIW, I doubt your Friday results are due to much else besides variance, unless (1) you're playing differently on Fridays (subobtimally avoiding risks because you don't want another big Friday loss) or (2) you don't play well in loose aggressive games. I doubt its (1) and I think in the long run, you have to be able to play well in very loose aggressive games. However loose and aggressive the games are at your current stakes, they are going to be more aggressive at higher stakes, and you will want them to be loose.

Don't be afraid to take off a Friday or two if it's really bothering you, but keeping track of what days you have your best and worst sessions is probably counterproductive.

Let go of the information and try to play your A game without even knowing what day it is. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[coffeecrazy1]

Well...there is something also to be said for the psychological implications of your post, too. I would be concerned for you playing on Fridays simply because you've set yourself up in your mind to lose, or at least, not have as pleasurable and comfortable a session as other days.

If you can work through it and get back to where you want to be, great...but otherwise, just let Friday be your day off. Everyone needs a day off from work, and the fact that yours is Friday will make the ladies happier, anyway. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[vexvelour]

Don't play Friday. If you really really have a dire need to see some cards, play online for fake money.

Good luck, I hope your Friday Poker Fasts are good for your bankroll!

[mosquito]

I want to thank everybody for their posts, and
for putting some thought into it.

Any and all other contributions welcome.

mosquito

[steamboatin]

You need a day off anyway, it is just good business to pick a day that sucks. Tuesday afternoons and all day Friday is my slowest times in real estate so that is when I go play live poker.

Monday is my busiest day so I stay close to the phone on Mondays. If poker is supposed to be treated like a business, then pick a day that sucks to be closed. It is not an accident that many restaurants are closed on Mondays.

[DeezNuts]

Fridays are for drinking and getting action. If you ever have a office job, you will never curse Friday again.

DN

[ZenMusician]

[ QUOTE ]
Let go of the information and try to play your A game without even knowing what day it is. /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Very Zen and Very True...

-ZEN

[Orpheus]

This is going to sound crazy, but I have hit a Friday problem with each new game I learned, and this helped:

Try play money games before every Friday session. Sure, the games are crazy and seem to bear little resemblance to the Real Thing, but a good player can obviously beat them, especially with a little table selection for the most "sensible" games from the large available pool -- e.g. avoid huge average pots which suggest maniac play) The adjustments I made to win in play money (plus the boost and "winning outlook" from my play victories) carried over when I switched back to Real Money, and apparently this was exactly what I needed to turn the corner and beat the loose Friday games into a senseless pulp (though, frankly, they were pretty much senseless pulps when I got there.)

Obviously, it's just a special case of the common failure to adapt to game conditions, as others have said. Once I mastered adapting at a certain level, it didn't feel like I was doing anything at all: after all, it'll just be a matter of a few observations and decision before you sit down at each table--and vigilant monitoring of changing table conditions.

In fact, it occurs to me that though there are many other more obvious differences in the Friday/weekend games, I should figure out a way to test my database for the effects of table-hopping and busting out by casual/drunk Friday players. It may not be a big factor, because (when I was laid up with a medical problem), my Friday slumps started at 3-4pm (presumably due to avid Friday players "warming up" -- sharp college students, people who skipping out early from work on fridays, and weekday "regulars" changing gears for the weekend). A modest number of casual/bad/mini-stake table hoppers could be amplified as observant players switch tables in response to changing table conditions.

You might want to ignore that last idea. It's just a random thought that hit me. However, any suggestions on how to test it with an existing database would be welcome. I don't see a simple way to do it in (e.g.) PT/PTO, and I don't know of comparable programs in (e.g.) TD 2-7.

Adapting is the key. Perhaps that's why I haven't found moving to higher levels to be as traumatic as many 2+2ers have reported (Not that I've ever been a true high limits player. Thus far, I've preferred to learn other games after I was a comfortable winner at the low-mid limits, because I love working out the analysis as much as the actual play.)