I almost expected it, but 8tabling experiment went pretty bad, i'm not gonna post graphs right now, but I'm down like 10bi or so in 10k hands. Small sample, running bad, look at the main picture bla bla bla, main theme is - that's not poker, that's a fked up regular job and I don't want such.

Most likely I need confirmation all the time that when I start doing something I just should keep doing it and not change it. I went back to play just like at the start of the year - 4 tables, no f'd up programs like table ninja, no autofolding and suddenly I begin enjoying poker again. The thing about all the tables clicking on your head and all the stuff that just forces you to make decisions just turns poker into the next random game that you play on your PC just for time to pass. At least this is for me. I could never do my best decisions and improve if I play too much tables and almost every time I do a robotic decision it just turns my poker brain off and leads to autopiloting. I like poker, I like winning and I like taking pots and boosting my eggo from outplaying people, I just can't do this properly when I have no time to make decisions. I just hope another weird idea doesn't come in my head next month.

March was another month of random stuff going on, I started with 50nl trying to get back into holdem mindset then went to 100nl but was pretty disappointed at the current state of the games (shortstackers, too much reg tables), so I went back into 50plo where I was initially 4tabling but it's kinda frustrating to grind back to where you were and I wasn't very focused. Finally, I decided to 8table 50plo and get into the good swing of things and it went pretty well, so here's my stats.



I feel pretty comfortable right now at plo, 8tabling has been going well, given I begin a session seriously. Playing somewhat tighter and neglecting some important metagame factors is ok given how bad players are at this level. I still think 4tabling is king for developing one's game, just that 8tabling is usually more monies as long as you win. Volume is also important and given that poker probably affects me a bit more than I thought it's cool to actually grind more and look at the bigger picture.

If I can give a piece of advice to anyone in this blog it is DON'T BUY MINI CHIPS FROM POKERSTARS, they are f*cking 21mm in diameter and I'm too cheap.

Have fun,
BigCheesy

So far it's been a weird month and I randomly decided I need to post something in my blog because it seems like every time I write something it actually stays in my head rather than flows away at every possible moment I doubt it. And when I write it's just because I WANT to, which is really key thing. I've come to realize that things in life happen because we WANT them to happen, be it consciously or subconsciously. If you want any kind of success, it always boils to how bad you want it and despite it being a cliche, it's so so true, but it becomes true when you believe it and not just repeat it like a broken record

While still in the state of revelations, I will just mention how I feel about poker and how my ramblings relate to it. My last month was a disaster and I decided that I should play NLHE again but obviously ran bad there and stars games are awful with either shorties all over the place or 4-5 regs at the 50bbmin tables. Thus, my plan is to just continue with PLO as it is: a) way more profitable currently b) more interesting. I will just make a small change in my goals, which is to just play and don't have a hand volume goal, because it forces me to play when I shouldn't and it also drives me to my starting point, about wanting/liking and not being forced to do anything, which is actually the thing I like about poker and separates it from the 9-5 job, besides all the fun and teh monies.

I would've liked to have at least one more entry for this month but apparently it was so sh!tty month that I don't want to even post a summary, but I gotta be honest with myself so there it is.



I don't want to post EV, but it's obv fking with me, still this is not what I hate about this month

THE GOODS
- Had fun times celebrating previous month
- I am back in the gym with full power/motivation
- played the 240+16 FTOPS 6m, which I would've never thought before and felt good despite busting on the bubble
- I cleared my bonus at stars doh
- this hand, villain is E-Cart7 from CR:

Party, $0.50/$1 PL Omaha Cash Game, 4 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
SB: $486.35
BB: $254.10
UTG: $126.50
Hero (BTN): $332.70
Pre-Flop: A 3 A J dealt to Hero (BTN)
UTG folds, Hero raises to $4, SB raises to $13.80, BB folds, Hero calls $9.80
Flop: ($28.60) 3 J 5 (2 Players)
SB bets $20, Hero calls $20
Turn: ($68.60) T (2 Players)
SB bets $69.40, Hero raises to $277.60, SB raises to $452.35, Hero calls $21.10
River: ($666) T (2 Players)
Results: $666 Pot
SB showed Q 7 8 J and WON $153.65 (-$178.35 NET)
Hero showed A 3 A J and WON $664.80 (+$332.30 NET)

THE BADS
- was way behind on volume AGAIN
- I almost never played a session good in my terms of understanding this month
- had lots of side problems
- definitely not with my head most of the time I was playing
- I am way more prone to tilt when I am not in mood, could count 3-4 super lite stackoffs/bad bluffs
- I can't play more than 4 tables profitably, probably need to write this with big letters on my wall
- I wasted ~750 playing 50pl HU because I couldn't use my PC
- I wasted monies on FT deep ante tables

THOUGHTS, CONCLUSIONS, RANDOM STUFF
- I want to just say that mental state/attitude when playing is a HUGE factor in whether you win or lose. Everything that drives you out of the zone of being calm and into the game makes you play suboptimal and I'm not just talking A- game, it goes to B-C-D game without you even noticing. For me every time I hit my mouse to the table, pull up skype or start autofolding means that I'm already out of this zone, but it had been hard for me to get me off the table when I had to this month.

The time has come to make a review of what's going on with me and to check if I'm moving in the right direction.

First, I'm gonna post my HEM graph


THE GOODS:
- it's my best month ever in terms of winning
- i was 2nd top winner at stars one week ago at 100plo this month
- i feel good with the way i play when i'm focused
- i played almost all of my hands 4tabling
- i had close to 3 weeks without having a bad session
- i have improved my postflop game for sure
- had a session with my coach and was very pleased
- just took the $650 bonus on stars at 20% discount
- i may appear in a leakfinder video and everybody will see my cool stars mods

THE BADS
- was way behind in terms of volume
- got overconfident last sessions, apparently hit some downswing at that time too
- didn't contact with my gym coach this month
- had problems fitting poker into my schedule which is pity because i don't have a (regular) job
- my shot at deep ante tables at FT was total fail

THOUGHTS, CONCLUSIONS AND RANDOM STUFF
- I will obviously get wasted sometimes next week because of this month. I finally feel like I can make money from something that makes me happy.
- I really admire grinder type of players that can play 4+hours every day of the month and be consistent with their results. It's pretty tough for me to keep the consistency
- Redline is VERY important factor to evaluate your game. I finally have a decent understanding what makes it go up and another thing is that when I play my best game it definitely either goes a bit up or if it's going down it's at snails pace compared to times when I don't
- Coaching session went very well, I got lots of material to learn from and some vids to give me better understanding. I'd feel like an ass if I don't take more lessons.
- Downswings are never accidental, mine definitely got into the right moment when I felt too confident and some bad luck here and there and some distraction here and there makes me play terrible
- Guys at PLO SUCK way more compared to holdem
- I feel motivated to go to the gym again after 6month hiatus
- my blog is dry, but I want to keep the least non-poker related info for now, I guess sometimes in the future I will write more life-related soul-opening stuff

Have fun at the tables and on top of them,
BigCheesy

I had a great week poker-wise, probably my best one since I'm playing poker seriously.


I obviously can't miss the fact that I've been running good, but the thing that makes me happy is that I don't remember a spot where I made some snap decision that I'd later hit my head in the wall about. I am MUCH more concentrated playing 4 tables and it actually makes me wanna play longer sessions. I am still a bit behind schedule on volume and exams are coming, but it was a good start and I've not missed a single day without playing.

I am not sure how non-showdown winnings work in PLO, but my redline is looking better than at NLHE and it makes me pretty satisfied. I can only hope some day they will be over 0 for a longer sample like the sickos at high stakes.

I'd probably have my first coaching session next week and I really look forward to it as there are a lot of spots that I feel lost, especially against aggro guys. I'm also about to contact with my gym coach, so hopefully I can make a better daily schedule.

Boywonder's vid/thread at 2+2/blog is pretty sick!!! He is really insightful and it's such a great coincidence for me that he comes at this moment. I'm sure he's an inspiration not just for me, BIG PROPS to Leggo for making him a coach!

This is song has stayed in my head the whole week, feel like I need to share
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfFnU0FUGno

Good luck guys, have fun at the tables!

Hi leggo members,

I'm starting a blog here because I think it will help me be more honest with myself. I'm going to try to keep it more poker-related, but I will most likely include different topics of interest that grab my attention, because I've realized that poker is not just a game, it reflects a lot of things in your life, as well as a lot of things in your life reflect to poker.

I'm 22 years old, live in Bulgaria, currently play NL100/PLO100 and have been a leggo member since march 2009. This coincides with the time I started to take poker more seriously. I've watched many videos since then and I think I have grown a lot as a poker player. Still, there's so much more work to do to reach the point where I'm satisfied with my achievements.

I've been watching many videos, read different articles, different books, played different formats and sometimes I feel my head is going to explode and I'm consistently swinging between different styles of play and different games and am not moving from A to B through the shortest path.

But there's time when you say "I'm gonna do it" and I feel this time has come!

I want to keep my goals pretty simple, so here they are:
- play 6m cash games as my main game
- play either PLO or NLHE for the whole month
- play at least 25k hands in PLO months and 30k hands in NLHE months
- stick to 4tables until I feel confortable at NL400/PL400
- play my A game when I'm playing, otherwise don't play
- play MTT's once in a while on weekends

Things that will help me achieve my goals:
- be in my proper condition for playing (includes no thinking about side problems/no distractions when playing)
- get a coach
- go to the gym as seriously as I used to
- talk more about poker (includes posting/chatting/sweating etc)
(there are a lot more specific things that I want to include, but I want to keep it short and to the point)

2010 has started and I wish everyone success at the tables and away from them.

Have fun,
BigCheesy