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!

[gildwulf]

GL with that. If you are playing 10/20 6-max though you should know the ridiculous swings that go with that game...60k breakeven playing your A-game is not uncommon. So play your A-game but don't worry about the winrate if you don't make it all the way there.

[JohnnyHumongous]

[ QUOTE ]
GL with that. If you are playing 10/20 6-max though you should know the ridiculous swings that go with that game...60k breakeven playing your A-game is not uncommon. So play your A-game but don't worry about the winrate if you don't make it all the way there.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well this thread didn't get much response. But that's OK, I wanted to post this in the Psych forum because it really is a psychological issue I have to overcome for this quest to win and nothing else.

Oh I'm plenty familiar with the swings. But I feel that over 60K my winrate shouldn't be too far off from its long run average. Also, I've probably played 200-250K hands at 10/20 with consistent results so I feel that I am as prepped to achieve this winrate as anyone. We'll see if I end up with a 20K breakeven streak in the midst of this quest, though. It's obviously possible.

[teddyFBI]

How careful about table selection are you?
My regular game is the 30/60 full, although I've started to dabble in the 10/20SH, and I find that games break so quickly sometimes, that I'm frequently jumping around tables. (Personally, i'm fanatical about table selection...it seems as though you just will take any open seat...is that more or less right?)

[JohnnyHumongous]

[ QUOTE ]
How careful about table selection are you?
My regular game is the 30/60 full, although I've started to dabble in the 10/20SH, and I find that games break so quickly sometimes, that I'm frequently jumping around tables. (Personally, i'm fanatical about table selection...it seems as though you just will take any open seat...is that more or less right?)

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I stopped using table selection around May. I feel it's helped my game because I've "taken on all comers" as it were. Basically in a lot of ways a tough 10/20 table is a great thing because it's like playing higher SH but without the financial risk. You're basically forced to develop strategies to counter all types of opponents and tables...

Yeah the tables break from time to time. That's why playing 4 tables you never get 4.0 tables in PokerTracker I guess, you get like 3.65 or something. I like to keep 8 tables open and play the ones I like, trying to play as many as possible but sitting out of ones whenever they don't feel right. This way I figure I'll be able to average 600 hands.

[Subfallen]

I don't think 3BB/100 is quite as easily attainable as you imply. But gl anyhow.

Edit - especially 6-tabling.

[TwoNiner]

While I like to be results oriented more than some on the forum, I think shooting for that particular BB/hour could be tough either do to 6 tabling, game selection, or simple run of the cards. What you might want to do is keep track of mistakes you have made while playing rather than BB/hour which could lead to more tilt. A good starting point would be to go back through one of your recent sessions where you thought you tilted and try and get a decent idea of how many fairly clear mistakes you made. This will take a little while, but for your upcoming sessions (altough 6 tabling would make this tough), sit should be eaiser. Simply have a notepad and pen next to you and jot down your hole cards and maybe pot size on hands you aren't sure about. It will speed things up for checking your play in poker tracker and at the same time it will make you concentrate b/c you won't want to be writing down every other hand you called down when you knew you were beat. When you go back and look at your sessions it will be more beneficial b/c you won't get as down about not winning if you can see that you tightened up your play. On the same token it will also help you from becoming too lax when you have good results from mediocre play where you might be happy if concentrating on BB/hour. Each day/session/week just try and get your number of mistakes down and go from there.

The one key point I think you kinda hit on is playing when you feel good. If you have been beating a game but you are getting worn out, don't feel the need to grind things out to the point of misery simply because you are still +EV in the game. The donks will be there tomorrow, but your enjoyment for playing might not be if you make it too much of a grind. Think of it this way. If you forego a situation where you have dropped to say a 1 bb/hr winner due to fatigue or tilt (say 1 hour of play) and pick up half as much time the next day (3o minutes) playing your A game at say 2 bb/hr you will have the same expectation, you will be happier, and you will suffer less variance b/c your winrate is higher, which will lead you to less stress and tilt. Good luck man.

[JohnnyHumongous]

Great suggestions. I definitely want to focus on playing 100% of my A-Game during this 'quest' and to that end I will definitely focus on making as few mistakes as possible, playing when my mind is in its best state etc. etc. At the same time I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place with the results-orientation; I know anything can happen with variance and whatnot but I feel that by targetting a certain winrate it will force me to pay attention to my game all the time so that I can achieve it. It helps build a sense of urgency and purpose around playing my very best. Otherwise, nothing is really stopping me from just floating by and achieving a winrate lower than I know I am capable of. Telling myself "Play Good" is decent motivation but adding an achievable target is just greater incentive for me.

I want to make occasional posts over the next few weeks detailing how this is going, what obstacles I'm encountering and hopefully get a discussion going about this. 6-tabling is tough but it is definitely not as tough as it used to be (heck I used to think 3-tabling was a total ball-breaker). 8-tabling on the other hand... that's pretty tough.

And when it comes to tilt... it's just a matter of making right decisions based on the situation. That's it. I can only make those perfect decisions hundreds of times an hour when I'm in my 100% state of mind. That is the real goal of my quest... to play 60K hands in a perfect mental state. I know that if I can play 60K hands this way, the results (18BB/hour) will definitely be attainable. I was thinking about making the quest for 100K hands, but that draws it out too long I think.

But I'm really appreciating the feedback. Thanks to all.

[hellite]

"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."

I'm sorry, maybe you are a god, but multitabling this many shorthanded games with your expected win rate is rather ludicrous. It is one thing to just focus on playing your A game (very hard to do playing 6 tables). However, when you factor in your expected winrate it becomes almost unbelievable. I think this is a recipe for the tilts. Playing your A game in no way secures this kind of winrate. I think these numbers are simply way too high.

[LearnedfromTV]

I like it. I've had a somewhat frustrating past two months... one multi win and a bunch of break even otherwise. A lot of it is due to playing less than my A game. I was planning already on taking it easy for the rest of the year - now I'll take your idea and play a handful of tourneys, one or two a week at the most, from now until the end of the year, with the only goal being to play my A game. Refresh and start up new in 2006.