February really sucked money wise. I made a huge adjustment in my game (for the better, imo) halfway through the month but still managed to drop a BI every session I played. I do know that I played much better, though, and have decided that Aejones is right, you have to worry about the things you can control in poker. I went over a lot of hands in the last week of Feb and didn't play nearly as much. My biggest leak, I think, was playing every draw aggressively and indiscriminately of who I was in the hand with. I probably could have saved a lot of money and avoided some variance swing. Also, and this seems very evident, but I lost the most money playing in sessions that were longer than I had wanted to play and playing hands that were weaker than I had wanted to play when I first sat down at the table. What is never so evident at the time is how I found myself in those situations (can you guess? It starts with a "t"). I was also just playing too loose. I don't have HEM on the computer I am using right now, but I would have to guess that I went from playing 27/22 to 22/18. I will also spare everyone the graph because I haven't brought myself to look at it for fear of tilting off BIs unnecessarily.

Work has been very stressful as well the last week or so. Some serious BS going on and just outright betrayal of trust. I don't really want to get into specifics because I never think that is a good idea with a blog that is open to the public (though I am reasonably sure no one from work even knows about this blog), but I will say that we are headed for a lot of changes in our staffing behind the bar, and it will probably end up better in the long run for me since I will probably be working an extra shift per week, maybe two, and I can always use the extra money. I will have some new bartenders to break in though, and that will most likely be some extra stress even though I want them to be very successful.

I feel a little beaten by poker this month as I really diverged from my goals and objectives I set for myself in terms of study habits and the things I know I need to do to play optimally before and during a session. I will have to be a lot tougher mentally if this is really going to work out for me. I will have losing months or weeks in the future, too, and if it takes me completely out of my work habits, then I am letting the game get the better of me. And mostly it is due to my preconceived notions about what my results should be getting in the way of me paying attention to my opponents while I am playing or my play during my review sessions. I know that was a mouthful and didn't make a lot of sense, but it is late and I am tired.

March is a new month, though, and I feel very confident.

Play well. Do good work. Keep in touch.

PFJ