Mid-February Review

I have had a rough and tumble, but successful start of the month.

Summary:

A. I experienced the worst tilt I've had in years. 5 BIs in no time flat out of nothing but frustration.

Problems:

1. Poor preflop hand selection in general.
2. Poor hand reading when frustrated.
3. Overwhelmed by number of tables occasionally.
4. Unable to make the correct decision due to general frustration and aforementioned issues.
5. Loss of desire to play and win, due to oversensitivity to the losses.

My solution:

1. I'm working on committing a tighter preflop range to muscle memory by playing fewer tables and devoting more active attention to preflop action. I've made a preflop table.
2. I'm working through Jared Tendler's stuff on these issues. I've made two reminder cards, one for PLO8 and one for NLH.
3. I'm comparing how I play in sit n gos to cash games. I almost never let frustrations do a number on me in sit n gos. Overall, it is my comfort level with each decision in the time I've alotted myself due to multitabling. I just don't find myself in unmanageable spots that often.
4. I took two days off from grinding to think seriously about it. I think this was a mistake. In the future, I hope to be more dilligent about recognizing where and when I make errors due to frustration, ending my session and analyzing my mistakes so that in the future I am eager to go outand play well again.

B. I am a Sit n Go Champion.

Seriously, I murder this game. The solution is to play sit n gos and think about them more often. Every day.

C. I love PLO8.

The game is fun, it's less volatile and I kill the bad players. Unfortunately, I am still an easy mark for the good, thinking (albeit too passive and not aggressive enough) regulars in the low stakes.

D. I hate PLO.

No, I don't. But I'll be damned if I understand it. I really need to get in there and watch some videos. I have no clue what ranges I face in a big pot on the flop, nor do I understand equity in thin preflop spots.

E. I'm really nervous about moving up to 50NL.

Despite the spews, my bankroll has grown to my self-mandated 40 buy-in minimum for the next game up. I feel it's just not going to work until I get a handle on my frustrations.

For the next week, my goals are the following.

a) Commit my new preflop chart to memory (especially the UTG/EP and Hijack info. Verify that I can 4+ table with it through videos of my own play.
b) Play sit n gos once per day. Make money.
c) Get a grip on preflop play in PLO. Try it out a little. Make a video and review it.
d) Try to play more during peak hours and normalize my sleep schedule to it.

January in Review.

1. I played some no limit hold 'em. Rush poker was invented.
2. I learned how to play PLO8 at minor costs to myself.
3. I played some 180 and 90 man tourneys.
4. I didn't play any sit n gos.

A few things I learned.

I am still a bit of a stubborn jerk when it comes to bankroll management.
The right time to decide how much you are willing to risk trying a new game is right before you take a spot at the table. I definitely learned that the hard way with rush limit hold 'em. I took it for granted that I could still beat the game down. Nope. I did correctly assess this problem with tournaments. But, I need to be more consistent.

My "poker sense" needs a little warm-up time.
Lately I've noticed that I am too loose and passive when I first sit down. I make bad decisions and read hands poorly. It's not good poker.

PLO8 is an awesome game.
It's superbly fun, and the whole game runs on postflop equity.

Putting in volume is a lot of fun.
I've played >25k hands since mid-January and I reckon I'll get in another 140k by the end of February.