PSYCH QUEST: 60K Tilt-Free, A-Game Hands at 10/20 6-max

[JohnnyHumongous]

I am making this post because I have struggled with tilted play off and on many times in my poker career. I have the potential to have a high earn but I repeatedly kill it by playing a C-game and not my A-game. I don't really care what my winrate is, because sometimes I know I'm only going to be playing a mediocre game but I justify it by saying that even if my earn is only 50% at that time of what it should be, it's still a large number and more hours is more money.

But recently I have started to get quite stressed out, between my demanding career, social obligations and poker. I have come to realize that I would be better off putting in a lot fewer hours playing poker during the week, but make sure that all these hours are at my A-game level so that my earn stays high.

This isn't a "60K in 60 days" type of post, with a set monetary goal over a set amount of time. The target, rather, will be this: a winrate of 18BB per hour at 10/20 6-max over the next 60K hands I play. By playing between 6-8 tables, I should be able to play approx. 600 hands per hour. At 3BB/100 this translates to 18BB per hour. I believe that through maintaining a balanced life and effective scheduling and planning, I can play approx. 15 hours per week of this A-game poker.

If I average more than 600 hands per hour, then the winrate can go down a bit, and of course if my average is lower than 600, my winrate would need to be higher. But all in all I expect the numbers to be approx. 600 hands/hour and 3BB/100. I have shown repeatedly over the last 300K hands that, by playing my A-game, this target, while of course not easy, is readily achievable. The only obstacle is my propensity to tilt.

For me, tilt is generated by pretty much only one thing: playing when my mental state is less than 100%. That means if I'm tired, sleepy, or chemically altered in any way, my game goes straight from A to C. I don't get upset over beats; I don't get bothered by trash talk; it's only when my mind is "off" that I play badly. So my quest is to play only A-game hours, get the proper amount of sleep, and live a wholly balanced life. Making this quest public helps me keep it tangible in my mind, and perhaps it can generate some discussion or feedback.

Wish me luck!