combined my pt2 database with my HEM database. came up with a pretty graph that i'd like to share.



get a new computer and my 30" monitor arrives next week so i might be motivated to play again. midterms are this week though, and i really hate multiple choice based exams. two of the answers always look so good, and sometimes they all look so good.

i have to figure out how to transfer my HEM database from current desktop to new one too. going to have to do a lot of computer stuff this week actually, with regards to making backups and saving music/movies/porn. ugh i really hate this part about computers. but its for the better.

even though i probably play the least amount of hours in comparison to the rest of the people who blog here and post to the forums. i do believe i actively think about improving my game as much as anyone who takes the game seriously. however for me, i tend to put more weight on things such as emotional control, when to shut down a session and how to improve my own game by studying others.

emotional control is what i struggled with while moving up the limits. being numb to suck outs and never getting into wars with regs made a huge difference in my winrate. even in my graph which is most of 2008, its pretty damn obvious where i tilt. looking at the graph from a yearly perspective though, all those sessions where things just went horribly, i wish i stopped about halfway thru the session instead of trying to talk myself into grinding it back. another thing that helps with this is realizing what type of poker player you are.

lets be honest, we all like to play this game. we all have a bit of gamble in us to force this mental torture upon ourselves. therefore we are all a little sick in our own way. but this doesnt mean we are all built to have 3000-10000 hand marathon sessions. not all of us we made to sit there and grind for 8 hours straight while pissing in a bottle cause going to the bathroom is -ev for us. i dont lie to myself, i hate working. the less work i can do in a day, the happier i am. if i could crawl out of bed, shower, and then turn into a vegetable some place warm and relaxing for the rest of the day. i'd totally do that. with that said, one of the things i discovered about myself as a poker player this year is that long sessions are not for me and under no circumstance should i ever force myself to play more than i should.

people can say oh, its better to keep the tables going when you are playing good and to shut down when things are going bad. i think thats a fair statement. but usually the opposite happens. we play longer when we are stuck, and we might leave a bit too early when we are running good. playing when we are stuck sucks. but who cares if you leave while playing good? while in LA with my friend who frequently plays high stakes, he said 'if you always quit a session when you are up, are you ever a losing player?' this mainly applies to 6 max players, if i was a HU player, i'd probably sit and give action as long as possible.

finally, on improving your own game. when you go over your sessions, what exactly are you doing? are you looking at all the big wins and losses? if you are, i think you could put your time elsewhere. look at the medium sized pots that didnt goto showdown. hell, these days i dont even look at the medium sized pots. i sort all my hands by position and look at my CO/BTN and SB hands only. sometimes i venture into my BB, but i'll filter and sort by hands i defend or 3 bet. one thing i do enjoy researching, is looking at other regs and checking out what they do in the SB and BB. i would like to think of myself as a smart player who always utilizes position. most regs are terrible out of position and making some notes on their tendencies is +ev for me.

for people who say the games are dying. i was at the casino the other night with a few friends and was forced to playing some NLHE live. after suffering 15 minutes of boredom, im fairly confident the games arent dying.

another thing i'd like to ramble about.

i notice a few things when i do sit down to play poker. and to my surprise, when i go through the forums on a daily basis, i dont see a mention of the things that catch my attention. therefore, am i going crazy? or has the poker community turned into one huge metagame levelling war. if you play in the party400/600 games and sorta have an idea of what im touching upon, feel free to drop me a line, cause its something i find truly interesting. i only see 2 players doing it right now, but in my opinion, it could be a sign of things to come. i'll even post their stats:



anyways, i should get back to studying, this turned out a lot longer than i expected. been meaning to do some free writing, this blog seemed neglected for sometime though. i should also make a conscious effort to make my red line go up.