This month didn't started how I wanted. The first day of the month I played 3 sessions, first one ended losing like $300 then I got it back, so I was break even for the day. However later that night I saw a decent spot at 5/10 so I decided to take a shot. Needless to say it wasn't my session and ended losing over $3,500 where I decided to quit ($4,000 below the EV Damn!). Ehh.... whatever the good thing is that yesterday and today I got everything back and I'm winning again for the month (+$150 or so whohooo).
Also I've been thinking about what Yorkshire said in my last blogpost (he asked how can I manage to disassociate from the money aspect of poker?)
I think this is a good question and part of the development of any poker player. Of course money affects me like everyone else, and I feel down and need a break after losing 10 buyins in one session. But I think its important that we don't think about the money while playing, If by any chance you would play differently because you are playing in higher limits, even thou you know is +EV to make that move then you shouldn't be playing on that level. This is something that you get used to with time, but will always be tough when moving up.
To make it easier, the first thing is to have a good bankroll management. The less buyins we have to play a level, the bigger % of our bankroll we lose when we get a bad beat and thus will affect us even more. If we play with only 20 buy ins and lose 5 in a session that's 25% of the money we have and will hurt like hell when you open the cashier. However if we have like 50 buy ins then its only 10% and its a lot easier to digest and keep playing your best.
Losing 3-5 buy ins in a session can happen quite frequently and once we understand that is just part of poker then we can take it better. Another thing I do before moving up on stakes is to start playing on the deep tables in my current limit. That way I'm getting used to make decisions on Bigger pots, like hero calling or bluff raising +200bb deep. It also helps if we look at things in terms of buy ins and big blind instead of the actual $ amount so if we lose $200 in a pot in 5/10 that's only 20bb.
Variance is a bitch and will test you through your poker career, everyone gets the doomswitch every once in a while, but the best players learn how to deal with it better.
First blog post
10 years ago
2 comments:
"everyone gets the doomswitch every once in a while, but the best players learn how to deal with it better" In terms of reciprocity, better players can get an edge by pushing through this faster than others.
Your fast improvement has really amazed me, Alex. I'd love it if you took some time to blog about what's gotten you so good so fast. What's your process for learning? What do you do that others do not? I want to improve and learn at the rate you are and would love to hear about some of these things.
Agree with you completely about the reciprocity comment. One of the things I'm working right now is maximizing my A game time and minimizing my C game sessions.
By doing a constant effort of identifying when you are not playing your best you can maximize your total EV and have a better winrate, even if its in less number of hands.
I'll make a post about it as soon as I can.
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