Session Studies Review Group: Second time around

nomadtla · #1 11-05-2005, 02:13 AM

Most of this is just a copy of my original post in This thread But I changed things where the setup has changed a bit (the changes are bolded)for the leaders ease.

Do you have a session or will you play a session of poker in the next few days? Would you like that session reviewed? Are you willing to do your best to help your fellow poster by taking the time to review/discuss someone elses sessions?

If the answers to all these questions are YES then here's how it's done. There are 2 leaders, myself and Numeri. I will lead the full ring group and Numeri will head up the 6-max group. If you have a session or will have a session ready for review (that means just have a complete HH from any site of somewhere between 100 and 200 hands) then all you have to do is PM myself if it's a full ring session and PM Numeri if it's a 6-Max session by Monday at Noon EST. PM us with some sort of confirmation that you are in such as "count me in", or "I have a session ready" but please be clear about it, we will take all the 2+2 names we get, mix & match them with a complicated formula and a bit of witchcraft. We will reply (by midnight Monday) to your PM with the 2+2 name of some poor hapless soul who will subject their session to your reviews, and the 2+2 name of your reviewer. Then you PM the person you are reviewing with your E-mail adress and await them to Email their session to you. [note] The person who's session you review and the person who reviews your session will NOT be the same person [/note] if you don't hear from your reviewer in a day or so then PM them for their Email address.

Then you make your reviews and get back in contact with the person who's session it is and discuss the session as you like (be it AIM, Email, Lots of PM's, or any other way you can devise). Your reviewer should be doing the same thing and then getting in contact with you. Please get back in contact by the end of the week so that both parties have ample time to discuss the sessions.

In two weeks we will do it all again.

In the spirit of Pax's MLL original thread here are some questions I expect will be asked frequently so I'll answer them now.
What counts as a session? Between 100 and 200 micro-limit hold'em poker hands that were played in a block. Don't omit PreFlop folds or your bad plays. Just 100 or so consecutive hands.
How should sessions be sent? By Email duh, j/k send them in their original hand history format (the exact same file the poker site sends you). This way the reviewer can convert it, or put it in PT and watch it hand by hand, or read the plain hand histories.
How much review should I do? As much as you can, someone else is taking the time to review your session to the best of their ability you should do the same. Look for leaks, repeated bad behavior, repeatedly missed bets, reads on their opponents.
How should I review? Pick the method that is easiest for you to analyze the play. I plan on making a wordpad file of the hand histories, and as I watch it played back on PT taking notes right there on the wordpad file just bellow the hand they aply to, then sending that wordpad file with all my notes back to the sender.
How much should we discuss? At least take the time to explain why you made the notes you did, debate the hands you don't agree on, or discuss the reasoning why certain plays they made were good. This is not just about tearing appart eachothers play but complimenting the good moves too.
I don't have Poker Tracker, is this a problem? If you can read a hand history manually and understand the action then it doesn't matter.
I don't like other posters seeing how I play, is this a problem? This unfortunately is something we will have to get over if we want constructive criticsm, I've tried to find a way to be annonomous with this but for discussion to take place it's nearly imposible.
I don't bathe regularly, is this a problem? That's the beauty of the internet buddy.
I haven't played in the past few weeks but have an older session I'd like someone to look at? Go for it, time it was played doesn't matter.
I'm gonna be to busy the next two weeks does this mean I will miss out on this? For this round yes, but don't worry man in two weeks or whenever you have the time you can join.
I can do it this week but maybe not in two weeks, should I still do it? This is not a static thing, like the MLL you do it when you can and skip it when you're busy. We will do this once every 2 weeks. The times you see this post and can do it PM the leader of the group you want to be a part of, the times you can't don't PM and you will not be bugged about it.
I don't think I can take the jab to my ego of having someone analyze my play, is this a problem? Unless you are Miles, Shill, or Shadow (they are acctually as good as they think they are ) you probably have things you can work on, and as Alan Schoonmaker discusses in Psycology of Poker, if you can't be honest with yourself you will improve a little but never to the level that you'd like.
I'd like to take part in both groups? Sweet send a PM to both leaders if you have the time to do this.

If you have any further questions you can post them in this thread and myself, Numeri, Lau, or perhaps another poster who knows the answer will do so. If all else fails PM questions to me or Numeri. Or you can reach me on AIM at NomadTLA1.

Both myself and Numeri think this went pretty well the first time around (and I think we both got positive responses from all who participated) and think it will contiue to rock. The new way will take a little more work from you guys (the work being sending one or two more PM's to your reviewer or reviewee) but I don't think that will be a problem for those who are commited to this idea, and commited to improving their game.

numeri · #2 11-05-2005, 02:22 AM

I thought this was great last time. I got some really good comments and got to see some interesting hands. (I still have one I may post.)

The basic idea for next time is to skip the email addresses. Why do I need them? Just PM me with any sort of message indicating that you're interested. (This is for 6-max. PM nomadtla for full ring.) We'll then post here the pairs and PM you the details - no emails this time, though. You can work that out yourselves!

Cheers,
~Dan