bpmst2's blog

Lock Poker rescinds previous restrictions; open Worlwide to players

2011-10-13T09:23:00.003-05:00

News from last night that any previous restrictions Lock Poker had implemented from July, are now over. So, what does this mean exactly? In short it means more players, more deposits, and hopefully faster withdrawal times. Lock Poker closed its doors to certain players (mainly Americans) until it had beefed up personal to an adequate level to handle customer support and efficient withdrawal times. Lock Poker is now serving a worldwide player pool.

This news comes as a huge relief to players. The player pool on Lock had begun to shrink as players moved abroad to continue their poker career or simply decided to take a break. This news is the next best thing to regulation for the American player. Reliable software, live chat/quick customer support response times, dedicated VIP and sponsored support in the forums (Rizen on 2p2 does so much to work for the players at Lock Poker), and now a more diverse player pool. I've tried a few of the remaining sites, and there really is no comparison; Lock Poker off the Merge network is your best bet. You can Download the software HERE: Lock Poker instant Download or feel free to contact me with any questions.

Narrowing Options

2011-09-26T22:01:00.002-05:00

In my previous post, I talked about my potential move locations. I'm narrowing the field down to places in Mexico at the moment. Obv things can change with this (drug violence explodes and/or US govt regulates poker in the USA... ok jokes aside, sorry.) But my destinations are as of now between:

1. Playa Del Carmen and
2. Cozumel

I'm trying to piece together some more information about destinations. I've been stalking the 2p2 forum the last week reading every shred of information I can find out about poker players that have moved. Both these choices seem to be safe and away from Juarez and the trouble spots that the drug cartels are wreaking havoc on. I'd love to hear more stories about guys that have moved, positive or negative.

I'm probably looking at 2-4 bedroom place. I'm in discussion with a few people and it looks like my brother will be filling one spot. Beyond that, we might be looking for one or possibly two poker players to join us. I'm still in the initial planning and research phase, but I expect things to heat up within the next 2-3 weeks and eventually nailing something down. I'm just kinda burnt out on the "job" stuff and find myself never working it. Couple that with being pretty excited about doing this, and you can tell where my interests lie.

I'm wondering if January is going to seem so far off once I do finalize my plans. I do stand by my decision to wait until then, however.

Here's some teasers of the pics:

PDC:
Cozumel:

Possible Destinations..

2011-09-22T08:19:00.003-05:00

The past week I had a epiphany that I should move for a few months and just enjoy the experience. Do it 100% all the way and have a cool life experience. When I last tried to move, I only committed to it half-heartily. I attempted to move to Windsor, Canada (across from Detroit, Mich). It is about 2 1/2 -3 hour drive for me. My plan was to pop in for a few days at a time in Canada and then come back, so basically commute for the week.

We ran into some trouble with PokerStars not acknowledging the move as permanent despite the previous correspondence we shared with them about this plan. I kind of said whatever, swallowed the rent I pre-paid for a little under 2 months, and never went back to Canada. My Candaian bank account is still in tact should I choose to go back.

Now to where I'm at here.. I no longer have obligations holding me back to my area. My soccer coaching gig is ending soon, and will be done no later than mid November. I'm thinking of staying Stateside til after December for a few reasons.

1. Holidays - I'll want to be around my family for Thanksgiving, and more importantly Christmas. New years would probably be safer to be in familiar surroundings then be blacked out in some foreign country.

2. Stars will grant you your old level whenever you reinstate your account. So this means if you were SNE you'd probably want to wait til January to reinstate your account so it wouldn't expire on Jan 1. Now I'm not 100% sure on if they would reset your account on Jan 1 (could you imagine going from SNE to gold star?!), but it just seems easier to wait til the new calender year and start with everyone else who never missed a beat.

3. Time to get things in order. Doing this move in January allows me 3 + months to get my ducks in order. Any vaccines I need, paperwork filed, find a good realtor or relocation service like the one pocketfives.com offers can all be taken care of with ample time. The last thing I'd want to do would be to rush a move and make a poor decision on location and end up not happy, have unreliable internet, or simply just overpay.

Now the possible destinations:

Mexico - Cancun or Cozumel (island looks pretty sick and Americanized)
Canada - Toronto, Windsor, St. Catherine's, or Niagra
Malta - no information on this, but in Europe and off the coast of Italy. Island, seems nice

I'm curious to hear feedback on any of these places, but I do plan to follow up here with an in depth look at each place.

5 months past BF..

2011-09-18T15:33:00.003-05:00

Strange to even think, but its been 5 months post Black Friday and the loss of Pokerstars. I've spent some of the past week re-reading some news stories that came out in the aftermath of BF and possible scenarios as to when we will have a regulated poker setup within the USA. A lot of these articles pointed towards 1 year, 3 year, or 5 years + haul. Let's hope for the former.

An even more recent article I came across was mentioning the importance of a September 9th Congress date (not sure if anything positive was pushed through on that date or not) and a lot of talk about the end of the 2011 as being crucial to the efforts to push a bill through.

I for one am hopeful by January of 2012 there will be something in place. Now, all I am referring to is that the structure is setup. Maybe it'll take another 6 months, even a year to get people hired, software designed, and security and tax situations taken care of. I for one truly hope that they do hire some poker people or employ forums like twoplustwo.com for ideas and feedback.

Few fun ideas of my own:

- American only field, but taxed in a fair fashion. Let's say its "Ceasars Online", the fpp store would be replaced by hotel comps, trips to vegas, club suits, hotel memorabilia, or bonuses which are paid out in Casino chips once in Vegas.

- Worldwide field (similar to stars old days), but the cash out option would require a % of each cash out to be docked into a category for taxes. Regulation and money all in one place for Uncle Sam. Now he's happy.

- NO SUPER TURBOS! one time!

- Other Ideas? Leave some comments.

... back to reality for now though.

I still can' t leave the USA for a bit. I have some obligations here that are expiring around November. I'm entertaining thoughts again of checking out Canada for a few months in December or January (I know, Canada in January!?). I'm pretty close to the border and I just miss the old days of games running all the time.

What I've decided to do now in the mean time is really try to strengthen my game - husng's and ST. I'm going to improve my foundational skills and knowledge in both games. I've definitely let my game slip at these other sights, as I don't feel like its real and tilt far too easily. The short term I gotta get back to improving daily and weekly, and reading myself if I decide to move until we have a new golden age - regulation.

Still waiting on Merge to reopen to USA

2011-08-29T10:27:00.003-05:00

Despite the publicity that Lock Poker was going to reopen to the US market, there has been no such announcement yet. It still is expected to happen in the coming weeks, however. Once it does, I can get interested players all setup. Just be sure to check back here and to message me for details.

I've been playing a number of games vs. a lot of different players lately. I've even stepped up my super turbo game some and have had some mixed results. There's a pool of regs that seem solid, but once in awhile a fish will join and its pretty ridic how bad they play. It's still super swingy, but it helps to get some games in. I'm thinking about investing in a bit of coaching for this type of game. I think I have an adaptive approach to husng in general now, and an overall idea of how to play and adjust game by game (even in Super Turbos), but my theory is still pretty low with these.

Non poker stuff is actually going great right now too. A big storm came in not too far from where I'm setup and did some serious damage to the homes in that area. I got my first roof sold and it turned out to be a pretty decent size too. Its about an $18,000 job with me getting a %15 commission on the job. I know some of these jobs can be a pain in the ass and its not always as smooth as this was, but making a few grand a month from only a couple hours a week is a pretty decent side job to keep things going in today's climate.

Revival once again

2011-08-13T11:45:00.002-05:00

So I've decided to reopen the blog and continue writing some again.

I took a couple months off from playing after my initial flurry on Lock poker. I organized and ran some camps in my area which I was able to make some decent money from. I've got a bit saved up from my stars roll, but I've tucked a lot of it away in savings and investments. I view those finances as money that is not available for me to spend recklessly. I'm in the process of securing some foreclosed homes for refurbishments to rent out or a rent to own property.

I even took a sales job that is super flexible and I'm able to still maintain whatever lifestyle I like, meaning I can still play poker and coach. Making my own hours is something I'll always appreciate and seek. I decided to take that opportunity with a local company to build a resume, have some different experiences, improve my foundation in a business aspect, and have a different financial avenue so I'm not 100% dependent on poker. After all, I don't plan playing poker forever and wouldn't want to be solely relying on it for my income down the road.

Then with poker, I've started to get back to doing the things it takes for me to be successful. The obvious downside in today's current climate is that the player pool is extremely small on the US serving sites. Don't get me wrong, games are almost always running, but it can definitely get bogged down and be disheartening if you let it. The biggest obstacle for me is the mental element. Its easy to tilt and its easy to let poker become a detriment to your overall life. It's easy to let yourself focus on how shitty things can be, but if you maintain a good life balance, find the opportunities instead of the weaknesses and threats it can be a positive thing for you. That's why winning isn't easy, and not everyone can do it.

I'll update this every couple days or so. Leave me some feedback on what you want to read about or whatever.

The USA serving poker sites

2011-04-30T11:23:00.005-05:00

There are still several sites servicing American players. On the right notice a few banners I installed to help direct some "lost" players to possible homes. Anyone who wishes to sign up I can walk through the process, as it is all a bit different than what we've been used to. I will add some more information here later on about each site and the pros/cons of each. Check back later..

1. Merge
2. Cake
3. Bodog

These reviews are in no way complete. They are simply my views and impressions. I have spent a serious amount of time reviewing the software, player pool, and traffic at various times of the days. I would not be up front and completely honest if I did not say there are still some question marks over all the sites cashout policies, and their timeliness in processing such requests. With the uncertainness of Black Friday, cashouts are still questionable, but there is some details below about the sites. Again, these are my views and impressions.

Cake
Cakes traffic is slow and the software is poor, rather laggy. Games do run there, but it is mainly of the superturbo format. When I've searched for current games on Cake HUSNG, only 6 were running and many were below $35. The superturbos requires you to put in a lot of volume to reach your EV so with a lack of serious volume this may mean trouble for some new depositors with short rolls. You are allowed one free check per calender month. A good friend of mine who has been apart of the Cake network for some time now, has said their cashout processing has "gotten real slow". The cashouts processing used to be a lot more professional, but this year has started to fall into the 3-4 week time period. To me, this is borderline unacceptable, despite whatever external circumstances we as players face with the current climate. Cake does offer a casino feature, as do all these sites.

Bodog
Bodog I hear has a weak player pool, but my multiple attempts to download the software and contact support lead to nothing. The downloads kept turning up corrupt and failing. This was a major turn off to me. If a site can not even have a successful download, that is a clear warning sign to me about their software and their overall business practice. A good husng friend of mine that plays there since Black Friday has told me the software is severely outdated. He noted the requirement of having to close and reopen the site every 15-20minutes to keep it from crashing and running at a serious lag. He also mentioned for those using a HUD that this severely lags the system. Multi-tabling is near impossible here, and they do have a 4 table maximum (this is for any game, not just husng play). Their highest buy-in husng is $110. This is not ideal, as this shifts the hierarchy of players in a negative fashion and discourages action. Cashout processing I cannot comment on. They are linked with the Bodog Sportsbook, which is good and bad, depending on your level of seriousness. Fun to wager sports, but may also take money away from the poker pool. You always want a strong supply of money floating in the poker community. Having a sportsbook or casino joined with the poker room is another potential leak of funds from the poker room. They do not offer Rakeback. Their bonus is 110% up to $1,100.

Merge / (Lock Poker skin)
Depending on what game you want to play, the sites may vary in rank. For me, and for avid husng players, the Merge network seems to be the clear #1 choice. It is simply the best, smoothest software out there to American players. The software is as close to pokerstars / ftp as you'll find. While some of the software may seem unnecessary with several sizing buttons - 2x 4x 8x, 1/2 pot, 2/3 pot, 3/4 pot, pot, and all-in buttons - it does do a lot right. They do offer a live rep support, email response times are by far faster than Bodog. They have the best promotions I have found (a %200 bonus up to $1,200, free IPad2 once you rake $1,000 - IPad promo ends June 1st so hurry and join Lock Poker to earn your free IPad2 or $499 cash equivalent) and has good traffic; by far the best of the three sites.

Action is pretty steady from the low buy-ins to $220/$332. They have lobbies up to $5,000, and I have seen some $1,000's run as well as a lot of $550. The wait times are obviously higher at these levels, but as more and more players find their way over it surely is increasing the action and decreasing the wait times. They have lower rake compared to the standard $110+5, instead operating at $110+4.50, etc. Rakeback is paid daily and is equivalent to being a supernova on pokerstars. While doing the deposit bonus, it is closer to Supernova Elite or slightly under at around %50 RB. Since I joined the network last week, they have updated some features which is a positive sign to me that they are in this for the long haul and want to be the big player in the USA market. The have added lobbies, and have a poker room manager active on twoplustwo.com answering questions, concerns, as well as hosting an improvement thread. All good things. Cashouts again I cannot say with 100% confidence a definitive yes or no on simply because I have not yet tried. There is a verification process which does take 72 hours to process, but this can be done as soon as you join so that when you want to cashout, you can immediately. The easiest depositing method for USA players is Western Union. Despite my inhibitions sending money to an unknown person, it worked instantly and within 10 minutes I was online and playing poker. My HUD works just as it should with no issues or hitches or glitches in the software. I am very happy to have found a legitimate site that will allow me to continue to play poker while living in the USA for the time being.

If you wish to join lock poker, follow this link: LOCK POKER download the client and begin playing today. You can contact me at aim, skype, msn, email or comments and I will help walk you through the steps to guarantee you get setup with supernova equivalent rakeback if you unsure of the process.

The fear of the great unknown

2011-04-17T10:32:00.001-05:00

I thought about drawing comparisons to some of the national tragedy's that have happened in the history of USA, but have decided against. I felt that would just be another disrespectful act that has happened in the wake of this calamity.

What has happened is a severe and utter tragedy to so many people, me included. There are thousands upon thousands of people who over the course of a second were "fired by the government." I used to think how great it is to, "be my own boss" and "make my own hours." This is true in a lot of regards, but Big Brother is and will always be our boss. I never truly grasped that before. I do now.

I know there are many others who have been affected a lot worse and harsher than I have. But for me, I was just finally starting to arrive at a successful, professional approach to the game. I was finally getting it. This month I was making $165/hour (before rakeback). I know that's low compared to a lot of the bosses in the head's up world, but for someone who surged from a previous mean of $55/hour to $165/hr that's a sizable raise. The thought of working early mornings, long hours, for a shitty job, for a dick boss is well... depressing.

The toughest thing right now is not knowing what to do. Is poker dead for US residents? Does this mean the money tied up online is gone or will be tied up similar to net teller? I had a check from stars in March recently get taken from my bank account and returned - will I ever see those funds again? The email I recieved in response from Stars was less than convincing. I did hear, however, that PokerStars has been calling several of the higher buy-in players (rumor that all supernova's + will be called). As I said, the scariest thing is not knowing. Its the fear of the great unknown.

Where does this leave me?
Currently I'm surveying my options. I have coached poker players successfully in the past and recently started doing this again, earlier this month. I am weighing the legitimacy of other smaller poker sites open to US players. The short term answer that appeals to my needs, lifestyle, and overall skillset are these venue's of coaching aspiring players, and finding a site or two to call home for now. There is still a lot of confusion and its such a gray area, but I would hate to sulk, feeling bad for myself and in 6 months realize I missed out on a golden opportunity that was staring me in the face because I was too stubborn to notice it.

A Whole New Ball Game, A New Climate
This may mean some people move on from the game. This may mean the games are going to get harder. Well, that's what they said post UIEGA, right? You have to evolve with the times / the games. If you're good enough, you can survive. There's a gold mine for non-American players right now. Even if you were previously a $22 or $33 player you can make some serious money in this new climate. It's a whole new ball game. There will of course be some setbacks and some learning experiences. However, if you're mentally tough enough you can outlast anything. Instead of viewing this setback as a disaster, try to view it as an opportunity. Below find my contact information regarding coaching. And lastly I'll leave you with this quote for inspiration.

"You see, even challenges are beautiful opportunities in disguise."

aim - bpmst2
MSN - bpmst2@hotmail.com
Skype - bpmst2
Facebook - Brian Murphy
Email - bpmst2@mail.francis.edu

Or just leave me a comment here and I'll find a way to get in contact with you.

Goodluck to us all,

Brian

Update

2011-04-14T23:30:00.004-05:00

Since my last post there's been some progress / learning experiences. I actually ended up stretching my 13 game winstreak to 23 games before losing. Sorta sux to lose only being 3 games off the SS Leaderboard. Those guys all play the deep NBI too, which is crazy to think those sort of streaks are the norm for them. I've played for a long time and this was by far my longest streak (I know, I know.. how bad am I).

I'm up a little over 6k this month at the midway point or thereabouts. This means I'm ahead of pace for my goal(~$4,200 is pace vs. ~$6,400 actual) I've played a sparsely amount of 55's so far this month, just when the lobbies are dead and I want to squeeze one or 2 games out I'll drop down and surprisingly care more in those than I do at $110. I know I have a good ROI there so I have pride to maintain it. I find my focus slacks in $110s the most. $220 I care a lot, $55 I care bc of my ROI / $/hr I want to keep high. $110 can be meh. Don't always play my best, just pump volume sometimes. Its definitely a leak I need to work on. It's something I'm trying to do more of and identify to help make me more profitable.. at whatever stakes I'm playing.

I've been sick this weak just feeling drained and tired which has hurt my ability to grind, maintain my personal habits, and focus for longer periods of time. My gym has slacked this week which is something I'm starting to enjoy a lot again. I missed my Tuesday study, but plan to get back into it next week. I feel like I'm rambling. I'm tired and goin' get to bed.

Later,

Brian

WWWWWWWWWWWWW

2011-04-06T20:40:00.005-05:00

Tear today. 13-0, playing well, obv running well. April's shaping up to be a good month so far. I'm up a little over $3.8k at this point. I plan to keep things in perspective and not get carried away and finish with a $3.8k month from either a) not playing enough, or b) playing too high of stakes / reg warring or anything stupid.

I had a mini revelation yesterday / today. Studying is so ++++ EV. Again, I know. Such a basic thought line, but just reviewing some fundamental stuff has helped me so much. My confidence, my hand reading, my adjustments. Everything is better. Everything is sharper. I was talking to my brother yesterday about how I wanted to study more yesterday, but after about 20-25 minutes I was eager to play. So I put the information aside and began to play. I had a successful session where I felt in control the entire time.

It got me to thinking how this could be such a useful warmup before playing. So, I'm going to spend 5-10 minutes before a session the next 3 days and rate my sharpness during the sessions on a 1-5 scale. Evaluate and move forward with some feedback.

Gl guys,

Brian

Strong start to the month

2011-04-04T18:10:00.003-05:00

I'm off to a pretty strong start to April, which I sorta expected after putting together some detailed goals. Whenever I have a sharp plan that I feel exited about, I gain confidence and play pretty well from it. I'm +$1,700 a few days in and < 100 games. So I know that there's some variance to play and I'm overall running into good spots, but I've just been murdering a lot of one dimensional fish I've been finding. I have a lot of confidence right now and it feels good pretty much every time I sit down for a session. I'm going to put in some study time tomorrow (Tuesday) and hope to stay sharp with things.

The only real negative I've noticed so far is some complacency in a couple sessions. It's mainly been due to some general fatigue and poor diet that day. It's a good thing I'm able to notice a correlation between poor food choices and my mood, and energy though. I gave up alcohol for lent (with 2 cheat days, st. partys day and when I go visit my old school for a night), which has actually helped my ability to play better poker for a number of reasons:

- able to play some nights I'd be out drinking when games and lobbies are ridic good
- not hungover so more productive the following day / better diet; I'm eating less junk food while I would be drinking at nights + the greasy food I would be eating the next day to help my recovery

I've been hitting the gym with some regularity again the last few weeks and I'm happy that I'm keeping a honest account of my workouts. Once I get into something, I tend to go pretty far with it so its a matter of getting past that uncomfortable first couple weeks that can suck.

Think that's all I got so far. I'll probably post some graphs sometime soon.

Later,

Brian

April goals

2011-04-01T10:00:00.002-05:00

After having evaluated my progress thus far in 2011, I'm finding a lot of shades of 2010. I'm at about the same progression in my cashouts as I was in 2010 (slightly ahead of pace, and I do mean slightly). Instead of feeling the drudgery about "another wasted year", I'm going to use the 1/4 point of the year as a chance to start anew, with a clean vantage point.

My main goal for April is to profit $9,000. I'm going to really focus in smaller terms. The daily. While focusing on smaller gains each session and day, but also not losing sight of the big picture I hope to arrive at a pretty good month. I'm going to stick to my regiment of playing $55-$220, but being savvier about lobbies at what times.

April 2011 goals:

$9,000 USD

- Note take during sessions. Play while in a positive state of mind.

- Study / review once a week (do this in the morning / early afternoon when lobbies can be bad at $55)

§ Study should include reading of books.

§ Mark Journal review sessions every Tuesday in yellow. Missed in grey.

- Phone put away in drawer or turned off while playing. Eliminate triggers.

- Eat 45 minutes before a session. Have water available to you while playing.

- Warm up for 10 minutes before you play * try it for twice a week (the first week to see if it’s helping).

- Work out 5 days a week. Begin cardiovascular training 4 times a week. Mark daily in calendar

Check back in here for updates and graph posts a few times per week.

GL!

Zone

2011-03-26T16:53:00.003-05:00

Well I can't complain lately. Been doin' super well lately. After some turbulent times in recent weeks, it feels good to just be in the zone and crushin' ... and running ok :). Some small adjustments / things I've noticed is my focus is at an all time high. When I play I'm engaged in what I'm doing 100%, figuring out there thought process. I'm game selecting well and more relaxed, balanced.

It's such a difference from playing for the sake of playing - that's going to lead to higher variance, relying on coinflips or coolers to win you a majority of your games - but to be actively thinking, "what's going to yield me the greatest amount of money in this game, or in this spot." That may mean making a laydown you almost never do, calling off your stack because you feel somethings up when its so hard to be right a large %, but you think it is here in this spot.

I find my game slips from the A that I'm talking about to a B- / C when I'm talking to people, surfing the web, watching tv, on the phone or texting. These are just my triggers which hurt my game. Some people may play great or even better talking to a friend keeping things relaxed, but I've learned I don't. Find your triggers and eliminate them.

A few things I decided to share from my own writings from late December. It's nothing profoundly groundbreaking, but here it is.

How do I apply more focus to poker?

- Ask yourself every time you are doing something – why are you doing it?

- Think about what will yield you the most money in/vs. that particular game, spot, and opponent.

Focus:

- Aim, skype, MSN, facebook, websites, tv, phone, texting = all distractions

- “You can do anything, but you can’t do everything at once.”

las

Graph: Last 10 days

Back on my A game, treating things more professionally

2011-03-22T14:21:00.003-05:00

I've been on a nice run lately. Things make sense again, and decisions are much easier. I'm thinking through lines. Weighing reasons for c-beting vs. checking back, sizing, etc. Overall things are good. I'm identifying player types quicker and diagnosing my opponents leaks, but I still need to identify them faster in some games.

I'm having my best month in 2011 in regards to cash outs. It's forcing me to not play regs, take easy opponents, and manage my account better. I'm at $5k in cash outs so far in March, hoping to hit $7k, but I'd settle for $6k with my 10 day vacation I took this month (+ St. Pattys day).

I did some studying in the early part of the month, by reading a few poker E-books I have. The one greatly improved my understanding of the game, while the other is allowing me to be more professional and understand my hourly rate better and my bankroll as inventory (helping eliminate tilt). The first book broke down the game into simple segments which made me realize how simple decisions can be when there is a rational behind each move. The 2nd was more about off table poker / game management which was something I greatly needed.

I looked at my graphs per buy-in levels and I crush at <$99. 14% ROI and about $55/hour. My ROI is much lower at higher stakes so as I've referenced in the last post, I'm trying to put more volume in here and it is working with my game management philosophy between $55-$220 buy-ins. (Some buy ins are the Euro, reg speed and turbos; buy-in levels range from $55, $75, $105, $110, $135, $200, $220)

Getting closer to back

2011-03-18T15:33:00.002-05:00

I've started to play a lot better again. I mainly was running really bad, getting into a ton of cooler situations, and losing a lot of flips lately. Either way, it probably was more than just that. It always is. Anyways, I've put together a few solid winning days and have started to get back into the routine of some good volume.

I was up nearly 3k today, before getting absolutely solecrushed/murdered/raped violently in 5 straight 220s vs stevesbets (lol, I know). He plays so retarded that his game probably relies on momentum so much, so maybe I should have quit after 2 like I told myself before I started playing, but the edge vs. him is decent I believe. He obviously knows the game as he's been around for a while, but I'm still not sold. Its high variance for sure, but just so lol. I checked my HEM just for kicks after. He ran at 105% above EV, albeit it was only 5 games but I've never seen that before lol.

Other interesting tidbits I've looked at in HEM recently are my stats. My <$100 is 11% ROI, while I'm only 2% above that (running about 5% below EV there). That's a fairly significant difference, so I'm going to make a conscious effort try to play more volume at these levels and just focus on some smaller gains. My skill level I know is solid, but my game management/life management is still something I'm learning with. Up $3.5k this month with cashouts, going to hit at least get $5,000 this month and hopefully up to $7,000.

Self-check and finding the answers

2011-03-14T23:19:00.005-05:00

“When you begin your training, focusing on your best efforts, without attachment to outcomes, you will understand the peaceful warrior’s way.”

I'm not quite sure what to say. I feel pretty disheartened with my poker and the year thus far. January went overall well, before a mini-collapse right at the end of the month (obv at $220's). February I lost my old computer and a lot of important self-check tools I developed in December in preparation of the year. This alone wasn't the biggest issue, but more a symptom. The issue was a loss of self-discipline. I started to get off track with my goals, my focus. My perspective shifted from playing well - to - making money. I've said it before and I'll say it again:

If your goal is to make money, you won't. Not in poker. If your goal is to play well, money is a side effect of playing well. And you will.

At this point I'm a bit unsure what I should do. What course of action I should take. I've learned when I play high volume days I tend to lose. When I play a few games and live a healthy lifestyle with balance I do play well and usually win. I'd like to know more than just poker. Poker gives me great freedoms and the opportunity for good financial standing. But its not the be-all-end-all. I need to breathe more and remember this when I'm struggling or titled.

I see some players at $55s who are marginal (imo) with sick 10% roi's. Maybe I'm too hung up on trying to make $6-8k months (I haven't yet this year fwiw). Maybe I should lower my sights and get back to consistency, happiness. I just read over some writings of mine and it's amazing how much value there is in those. I'll share some here in the coming weeks, but they're mainly for my benefit so they might just strike a chord with me.

On a side note I played Primo in some 220's tonight (he sat me). Its kinda of what started my self-analysis here. He's a very respected person in the poker community and thus I didn't want to just show him my ass, tank the games and play horrible. I wasn't going to be going through the motions and just not caring about every individual decision, but making a good effort to *PLAY WELL*. I know its so elementary and basic to think, "Oh just play better", but when you're downswinging, in a rut, or have something else effecting you its not always your first instinct and its not always so easy.

Vacation

2011-03-02T22:13:00.002-05:00

Leaving tomorrow for vacation to Florida. Should be pretty awesome, overall relaxing time especially with Cleveland's weather right now. We'll be on the Gulf coast and plan to experience and try as many things as possible. Just have to pack now. Ugh. As I've said, I'm cool to meet up with anyone in the area, so drop me a line if theres any interest... or if anyone's reading =)

BONUS! = BONER!

2011-02-27T19:24:00.004-05:00

OK, so the title might be a bit over the top, but whatever. Yesterday I achieved enough fpps to unlock the $4,000 bonus. Feels so good too! I really love pokerstars new VIP structure with 1 fpp per VIP milestone and not having to clear bonuses anymore. It makes planning and saving up fpps so much more valuable and feasible than the old system, especially so for midstake grinders like myself. I'm very excited because I feel like I'm getting back to the plan - deep bankroll management, good game selection, mental strength - which will allow me to crush the remaining 10 months this year.

Having a plan is so important for success. Its good to take account of where you are in the process and where you want to go. As the old saying goes: "If you don't know where you are and you don't know where your going, how are you going to get there?" I'm happy I was able to stick to my plan of saving up the fpps for the best conversation rate of rakeback.

I made about $2,000 this past week with my attention focused on the 300 game challenge and unlocking the bonus. February overall was poor, but I've managed to salvage it and give me a nice springboard for March. I'm gonna own March. Me and the gf are going to florida for 10 days vacation which should be sweet. If any hu guys are trying to meet up, leave a comment and we'll see if we can set it up.

Not a whole lot say

2011-02-26T11:27:00.002-05:00

Made $250 from 41 games. Was up $500 after 15 games and thought about quitting for the day, but wanted to keep playing when I came back from the gym. Don't think I played particularly bad, but probably didn't play particularly well either. If I was more focused, I wouldn't have gone out to eat or drink the last couple nights and played instead. Nearly cleared the bonus, but decided I'm going to wait until next Wed to unlock so maybe I can acquire some fpps til then so its not like I have the demoralizing feeling of nothing in there =)

20 110 wins 19/ 36 (one chop I won): $ -5
Euro: 2/2 +$150
$55 turbo: 2/2 + 105

6 day total: 105/193 $1,826

Slow day

2011-02-25T09:16:00.002-05:00

Didn't play much today. Got 28 games in, but not a whole lot of hours. Felt my play slip in a few games at times, which can happen when things are going well. Complacency if you will. I did make a few really good plays, and started to run bad towards the end of my days play losing 3 games in a row that I my opponent was crippled early on and came back as well as losing a 4man final when my opponent rr min Q4s and I stuffed AJo for 28 bb. Flop Qxx-J-x. I didn't play late Thursday night though, as the roommates and my gf went out to dinner and drinks instead.

$110 2man: 10/21 (one losing chop): $-220
4 man 110s: 0/2 (one final chop with Plau): $-10
50 Euro: 2-2: $-12

Daily Total: 12/26 (one chop, one 4man chop): -242
5 day total: 81/152 $1,576

hand of the day:

Great river to c/shove.

Seat 1: lordacton (1810 in chips)
Seat 2: bpmst2 (1190 in chips)
lordacton: posts small blind 10
bpmst2: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bpmst2 [Jd 5d]
lordacton: calls 10
bpmst2: checks
*** FLOP *** [9s 8d Ad]
bpmst2: bets 30
lordacton: calls 30
*** TURN *** [9s 8d Ad] [Jh]
bpmst2: bets 60
lordacton: calls 60
*** RIVER *** [9s 8d Ad Jh] [Td]
bpmst2: checks
lordacton: bets 220
bpmst2: raises 860 to 1080 and is all-in
lordacton: calls 860
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bpmst2: shows [Jd 5d] (a flush, Ace high)
lordacton: shows [Qd Jc] (a straight, Eight to Queen)
bpmst2 collected 2380 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2380 | Rake 0
Board [9s 8d Ad Jh Td]
Seat 1: lordacton (button) (small blind) showed [Qd Jc] and lost with a straight, Eight to Queen
Seat 2: bpmst2 (big blind) showed [Jd 5d] and won (2380) with a flush, Ace high

Putting together some good days

2011-02-23T22:16:00.004-05:00

Put together another good day, even though it didn't seem like much work. +835 on the day today. I played a total of 34 games. I'll check the math tomorrow on the numbers below, but here's the cursory glance.

18/25 (+2 chops, one won/one lost) +1085
1/7 4 man 110's (with partners; he shipped one, I shipped one...na/na 1 4man with volcano [lost 1st round but he won so won buy-in back of $115 is offset] -250

Daily total: 19/31 (3 chops) +835
4 Day total: 69/124 1,818
Games to go: 176

Hand of the day:

An average $110 player who tilts really hard in the chat every time I play him that its just too funny not to play him.

Seat 1: bpmst2 (1565 in chips)
Seat 2: fredcvo (1435 in chips)
bpmst2: posts small blind 50
fredcvo: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bpmst2 [7c Ks]
bpmst2: raises 100 to 200
fredcvo said, "ABSOLUT UNREAL"
fredcvo: calls 100
*** FLOP *** [3d Kd Kc]
fredcvo: checks
bpmst2: bets 200
fredcvo: raises 200 to 400
bpmst2: calls 200
*** TURN *** [3d Kd Kc] [Th]
fredcvo: checks
bpmst2: bets 965 and is all-in
fredcvo: calls 835 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (130) returned to bpmst2
*** RIVER *** [3d Kd Kc Th] [6c]
bpmst2 said, ":D"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
fredcvo: shows [3h 4h] (two pair, Kings and Threes)
bpmst2: shows [7c Ks] (three of a kind, Kings)
bpmst2 said, "lmao"
bpmst2 collected 2870 from pot
fredcvo finished the tournament in 2nd place
bpmst2 wins the tournament and receives $220.00 - congratulations!

Profitable night

2011-02-22T23:15:00.004-05:00

Had a really profitable day today. In the end I made around $800. I couldn't fall asleep last night as I laid down around midnight, so I grinded deep into the night instead and was just crushing, running into good situations, thinking, playing well and of course running well. I always love when I am able to salvage a game or 2 a day after getting low and being persistent, waiting for +EV spots to get it in to double and not just throwing the towel in.

My HEM shows me as being +1180 in 110s and I lost two games at the 50 Euro ($~73 each). I don't think HEM is setup to filter different currency games with my current settings so I'll just assume $75 for each loss. Sharkscope shows me as +700. I think there was a discrepancy in the 4man I played solo and won on HEM as well as it says +545 in the one 4 man I played. Either way, in the end I played a total 31 games with one chop.

27 $110 games - 17/27 +625 (one chop)
1 $110 4 person - 1/1 +325
2 50 Euro - 0/2 -$150

Daily total: 18/31+$800
3 Day total: 50/90 +971
Games to go : 210 (1/3 way through)

Lot of games, no profit =)

2011-02-22T00:11:00.004-05:00

Today was a day where I just seemed to get into a lot of bad situations or faced a lot of annoying player types that made it hard to have a smooth day. I'm sure I wasn't at 100% zone crushing fish either, but these days happen after a relatively easy one on Sunday. I played a total of 45 games today with one 4 man chop with plauzee that he shipped. I lost another 4 man final that I had 3/4 the action in (me and vulcano will send the loser the buy-in back if we get paired first round) where villain over bet the Q high flop with KK, thus stacking me in the process (I had QT). You could make a case for flatting to get value from his air/save some when he has you beat, but Idk, seems weak. Started off the day 0/5 in 110's and it kinda set the mood for the day, finishing 21-22 there today. Less than 15,000 fpps to go though.

$115: -$325
21/43
$57.25 turbo +52.50
1/1
50 Euro +47.50 E ($73ish USD)
1/1

Daily Total: 23/45 $-199
2 day total: 32/59 +171
games to go: 261

hand of the day:

Seat 1: walchy18 (1530 in chips)
Seat 2: bpmst2 (1470 in chips)
walchy18: posts small blind 10
bpmst2: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bpmst2 [7s Qs]
walchy18: raises 40 to 60
bpmst2: calls 40
*** FLOP *** [9s 2d 2s]
bpmst2: checks
walchy18: checks
*** TURN *** [9s 2d 2s] [8s]
bpmst2: checks
walchy18: bets 60
bpmst2: raises 120 to 180
walchy18: calls 120
*** RIVER *** [9s 2d 2s 8s] [9h]
bpmst2: bets 420
walchy18: calls 420
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bpmst2: shows [7s Qs] (a flush, Queen high)
walchy18: mucks hand
bpmst2 collected 1320 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1320 | Rake 0
Board [9s 2d 2s 8s 9h]
Seat 1: walchy18 (button) (small blind) mucked [Td Ad]

Guys always fold to a donk turn lead, so I went for a deayled c/r and bluff sized river bet =)

300 game challenge

2011-02-20T15:13:00.007-05:00

I'm always motivated by short challenges as they seem to hold me attention and focus more than a long yearly challenge where my enthusiasm has peaks and valleys. In a previous post (power of one moment) I talk about the power of perspective - the power of one day, further breaking it down to one moment. Using this approach I am going to run a mini challenge in an effort to motivate and keep myself accountable on route to unlocking my $4,000.00 bonus. From there I can get my year back going the way I intend it, so instead of waiting til I achieve this, I'll look to get my year back on the path I established in January NOW.

I am about 300 $115 hu-sng's away from achieving the bonus. I will get a daily account of number of my daily statistics and post one interesting hand a day.

Today: 14 games played; 9-5 +$370
Games to go: 286

Losing Day

2011-02-19T00:07:00.006-05:00

Today had a tint of yesterday, but without the success of it. I was up early in the morning and feeling good, calm, relaxed and playing well. I had a bit of variance losing with AA and KK all in pre in 2 different matches. That's going to happen though. I can remember losing pocket pair to pocket pair in 2 other games at 25/50 level, but also remember winning with the lower end pocket in a same situation later in the day. Despite the negative variance I was back in the positive and was close to exceeding my daily goal tally when I was in the final of a 4man HU vs. a megafish. I quickly chipped him down only for him to comeback for the win.

For some reason this really tilted me bad. I think it was the possibility of hitting my target for the day and going out and enjoying the day. In the end I dropped a little under $800, but I did make a massive amount of fpps/vpps. It's important that when you lose, that you don't lose the lesson. So the biggest lessons I can take away from today are to not play so much. That and its OK to hit the pause button for a night, reset it, and wake up tomorrow with a clean slate. The games will be there tomorrow.

I'm going to start to keep more accurate statistics and post here. I will aim to post number of games played per day, buy-in levels, and profits/losses. I am close to unlocking my $4,000 bonus which will be a nice bankroll booster and give me a good online roll to launch a very successful month in March.

Frustrating Day but good in the end

2011-02-17T20:43:00.002-05:00

Today was a frustrating day. Between yesterday and today I was on a 12 or 13 game win streak and as soon as I realized this I lost haha. Seems about right. Anyways, I started off today continuing to play well as I'm trying to fix bad habits that developed the last 2 weeks. I started to lose some focus and lost a few in a row and before I knew it had dropped a few hundred today before grinding back for a long time this evening getting back the losses and then some making about $280 today.

I set my HUD statistics to filter just today's graph/stats with EV showing in the hope of trying to finish with a positive line and positive EV. Often times when people try to undertake a huge change they get disheartened because the big picture looks so daunting. Not true you say? How many of you have already gotten off track on your New Years Resolutions?

But if you can take control of one day it doesn't seem so overwhelming. Going one level deeper, if you can take control of one moment you will all of sudden take control of one day and before you know it you will take control of your life. That's true for anything - if your trying to quit smoking, lose weight, or improve your poker game. There's so much power in every moment.

2011 so far

2011-02-16T18:15:00.007-05:00

I've downswing a bit after a hugely impressive first 29 days of 2011. I've actually been on the downswing/breakeven/avg play since. Mentally its been difficult to comeback from and I have no doubt played too much poker at times and not been consistent enough with balancing my life. Balance leads me to be successful in poker. I lost about $900 in 30 minutes late Sunday January 30th, and had another mediocre day on 31st. I always seem to close months out terribly. I even promised myself I wouldn't play on the 31st due to my history of poor ends to months. Oh well. A lesson to be learned for the next 11 final days of the months for 2011.

February has been a struggle due to my poor end to January. In December 2010 I had to really analyze a lot of things which set me off to do well this year. One of those was this quote.

"Everything has a purpose, even this. It is up to you to find out what."

It's really an interesting perspective. Instead of focusing your attention on the negative, this instead focuses on searching for the positives, the lessons hidden within, and the meanings to help you grow and use the negative experience to become a better or stronger person, or in this case, poker player.

Today was a better overall day, though. I made about +640 due to some good game selection playing $55s, 55 Euro, and able to grab one or two $110 lobbies. I have a difficult time playing too little (sounds weird to say that), but I need to continue to have good focused volume instead of machine like volume.

Deciding to blog again

2011-02-15T13:22:00.002-05:00

I've decided to blog again. Since my last attempt at this lasted all of 2 posts, I'll see if I can do better this go around. I'm probably not going to talk a great deal of strategy here (as I prefer writing that kind of stuff just for myself), but I'm sure I'll mix it in here and there.

Instead I'll primarily focus on writing about the day-to-day grind, life stresses, interaction with other players (I'll try not to flame people I swear!), and my life away from the table. I'll share some of my goals for the year, things I do to keep me on track, and other helpful lessons I learn and practice (ahem, attempt to practice)so that others may do so also. I'll hopefully grow from my writings and continue to analyze and improve my mental side - confidence, relaxation, life balance, and composure.

Six keys to being excellent at anything

2010-11-05T12:48:00.002-05:00

I found an article which highlights six keys to being successful and excellent at anything. While it isn't specifically directed at poker, you can find connections and they all seem to make sense when applied. They are listed below:

1. Pursue what you love.
- Passion is an incredible motivator. It fuels focus, resilience, and perseverance.
2. Do the hardest work first.
- We all move instinctively toward pleasure and away from pain. Most great performers, Ericsson and others have found, delay gratification and take on the difficult work of practice in the mornings, before they do anything else. That's when most of us have the most energy and the fewest distractions.
3. Practice intensely, without interruption for short periods of no longer than 90 minutes and then take a break.
- Ninety minutes appears to be the maximum amount of time that we can bring the highest level of focus to any given activity. The evidence is equally strong that great performers practice no more than 4 ½ hours a day.
4. Seek expert feedback, in intermittent doses.
- The simpler and more precise the feedback, the more equipped you are to make adjustments. Too much feedback, too continuously, however, can create cognitive overload, increase anxiety, and interfere with learning.
5. Take regular renewal breaks.
- Relaxing after intense effort not only provides an opportunity to rejuvenate, but also to metabolize and embed learning. It's also during rest that the right hemisphere becomes more dominant, which can lead to creative breakthroughs.
6. Ritualized practice.
- Will and discipline are wildly overrated. As the researcher Roy Baumeister has found, none of us have very much of it. The best way to insure you'll take on difficult tasks is to ritualize them — build specific, inviolable times at which you do them, so that over time you do them without having to squander energy thinking about them.

Key six, ritualized practice, is very interesting. Researchers believe will and discipline are overrated as they are low in everyone. The key to combating negative factors on will and discipline are making things so structured and ritualized that you don't even expend energy questioning what your routine is. This can be applied to poker, your diet, anything.

When I was in vegas for the WSOP last summer I struck up a conversation with a mental coach who was watching the HU event. He began to tell me about his business and what they do. He furthered discussed how he took a player who made $40,000 in in 2008 and worked with him concerning his mental game and he went on to win over $800,000 in 2009. The biggest thing he discussed was how his company works on opening and closing routines specifically. That is to say, doing the same thing every time before you play, and doing the same thing every time you close down a session. Sure it's extra work and maybe tedious at times, but how bad do you want to succeed?

I thought this was interesting and I began to share some stories of how whenever I showered before I played, I always felt better and won more. I think there's something to that. He agreed and advised reviewing a session when I was done playing. As I move forward in my poker development and closer to 2011, I'm going to start to think more about this and begin to develop my own routine before and after I play.

Where I've been, What I've been doing, Why I'm back!

2010-11-01T00:04:00.002-05:00

"Life is a process and while one stellar moment — be it a success or a failure — can make a difference, it's far more likely that the steady production of many adequate moments over a significant period of time will make a much bigger difference."

Where I've been?
Well, I've been around, really. I just finished up my first year coaching high school soccer and I'm able to draw a lot of great experiences from it. Some negative, but mostly positive stuff. I've always believed that life is a process of acquiring as many experiences as possible to give you the greatest perspective on as many things in life. Through anything you do, you will be presented with numerous experiences - it's up to you to find the meaning and lessons within them. To speak on a more literal "where I've been", the program was able to rescale some new heights. I kept challenging the team to "make history." I think that's a powerful idea and notion. We all can make history in our lives too. It will be fun to see where I can take this group the next few years.

What I've been doing?
Beyond coaching I've still been "poking." I've had some really nice highs and the correlated lows. My YTD$ isn't what I expected or demand of myself, but in reality it's about right for 2010. I've struggled for discipline with poker off and on. I've found some bliss away from poker so my energy isn't what it was say in November '09 or February of '10. That's fine though. I just need to work smarter, not harder going forward.

Why I'm back?
Well, my YTD $ isn't matching my expectations. I feel my skill is above what I've made this year, but a lot of mental leaks have gotten in the way. I know I have errors or leaks in my game at times. The operative words or phrase is at times, however.

YTD $: $40,000.00

At other times, I've been a very good player. It's a matter of fixing the mental mistakes which have held me back and derailed me a lot this year. Game selection is one. Tilt, his next door neighbor is another. Lastly, poor self-management/bankroll management. Beyond these three things I have a pretty good base to build a wider success than what I have to show for 2010. The basic tilt cycle of ... bad game selection, lower win-rate, higher variance = higher tilt.

Things to improve:
1. Bankroll management
2. Game selection
3. Tilt

All these mental mistakes are intertwined. One falls, the others tend to fall too. A bit of a domino theory. So, with two months left in 2010, I'm going to see what I can accomplish here. There's always something people love about revival's; at its purest form, it gives one hope. People love to take part in the first step of the journey. Join me the next two months in my journey.

Revival

2010-10-16T16:27:00.002-05:00

We will be blogging here again soon..

- bpmst2

Thanks for reading

2010-04-06T23:38:00.004-05:00

I'm not really sure who's reading this blog. At least you are so that's cool. As you probably know (or do now), I've decided to stop writing for the time being on the internet. I've really enjoyed writing here and the blogs been beneficial in helping aid my development as a poker player and also keep a chronological progress of my maturity in the process. I've enjoyed the interaction, both positive and negative, I've received as well as the interaction and community of linked blogs of which I've enjoyed reading/following.

I do have to say though that my big steps forward as a poker player weren't due to maintaining a blog, but I always got better with ranges and stoves the good old fashioned way: a pad of paper and a pen. If you do decide to look at old posts you'll see a switch occurred in September '09. It actually happened after reading a friend's blog who made a push and went for it at the $110's hu's after already having a way to beat lower stakes games with absolutely 0 variance. Before that I was trying, but not really putting the work in studying the game, watching vid's, reading books, asking questions of myself. Self discovery is the way to go if you want to truly get better. Find a mentor to help, but the onus is and always will be on you. That's true at just about anything in life.

While I’m no longer writing on the web I want to continue to write to analyze my game more. Hopefully since the writing is no longer public I’ll be able to self-check myself more now. There’s a habit with the internet community of bloggers to take some of the realism out of it and approach it like it’s a Tiger Woods press conference. Contrived and impersonal. This was true at least for me. I usually wouldn’t talk about how I felt like a fish on some days or how I spewed off buy-ins and how angry I'd get at myself swearing to never do it again only to find myself in the same place 2 weeks later. Instead I’d put a brave face on, write about my month, but truly not believe it. Writing for just myself I can be free of those chains. Just write. Be myself. Be a man. Analyze my mental. Analyze my game. Get better. Profit. Repeat.

That's really the secondary reason though. The primary reason is my future involvement with working within a school district coaching high school. I find some conflictions with my job as a poker player, and my life away from a laptop. Maybe it's because I'm not yet (in my definition) a legitimate top player at my levels. Maybe it's the negative persona surrounding gambling that makes me uneasy with handling questions about it. And maybe it's just that I don't want my players finding out about poker and having to deal with that bag of marbles. A big part of this poker blog shifted into a life blog too. I have to be more careful with my image as well.

And lastly, I just kind of find this blog to be a bit of failure. I dunno if that makes sense to you, but I want to be better. I want to improve in a lot of area's - my poker game, be more efficient, live a better life, be more balanced, gain knowledge, achieve my goals, etc, etc - and some of this blog just lacks what I'm aiming for. I know I haven't always achieved my goals (in fact I've failed countless times at so many things), but I always push and come back and find some level of success. Hopefully examining myself deeper for just myself I can find ways to achieve this.

I really can't say when I'll decide to start writing again publicly. I may find that I thoroughly miss it and come back sooner than planned but we'll see. The reasons for ending writing here may not make 100% sense to everyone, but that's OK. I hope that at some point in the course of this blog and in my writing's I've helped you or challenged you to be better. I know I haven't always achieved my goals, but I've always tried to find the positives in what I'm doing. Hopefully you can do the same.

I know its been a long post. So if you're still here, thanks for reading.

The purpose of life is not to be happy
It is to be useful
To be honorable; to be compassionate
To have it make some difference
That you have lived and have lived well.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Brian/bpmst2

Penultimate post, March recap

2010-03-31T18:23:00.002-05:00

My last post may have sounded depressing with the downswing, but I was able to come out of it OK as always. Here's a recap on the month and what I accomplished/didn't.

March goals:
[ ] 4.5 k ; [x] 22k vpps
[ ] Better br mgmnt practice
[x] Read 2 books - stay more even keeled in all facets of life, including poker
[x] Stay up on school - decide on commencement, finalize final 3 credits
[x] Determine the future of this blog
[x] HS coaching job - start preparing ideas for the team
[x] More coaching - soccer and poker
[x] Continue with rehab - 3 days week and gym 3 days a week
[x] Block ppl who send me bad beats or hh's soo tilting
[x] Girls - maybe a few dates even?
[x] No negativity (double negative there [:)

As you can see from the x's, March was very successful in terms of achieving my goals. Only two area's fell short: better bankroll management and total profit line. My total profit was $4.3k. My bankroll management has been OK, better than it has been, yet still not great. I employed a 30/20 rule in the beginning of the month which I used for most of the month, but not 100% consistently through. I was able to get in a decent amount of volume hitting 26k vpp's this month. I have exactly 70,000 vpps on the year which puts me dead on pace for the 300k vpp goal. I know it's pretty absurd to think I'll be able to keep a consistent pace, and to be honest... I don't care. I'm sure I'm going to go through spells where I crush volume and other times where I'm disillusioned with poker and don't want to play. Cranking volume is good and bad, and each has its own demon. But I was glad that I was able to accomplish the volume goal I set forth for March. I have decided to stop poker coaching as I don't want to truly invest the time in it. I'd prefer to play my limits then coach. And without a posting on 2p2 there is really no need to represent myself as a coach here.

Physically it was a good month. I've been hitting the gym a lot, rehabbing 3x a week and seeing improvements in both areas. I've been doing a lot of self-study in other areas, particular coaching and nutrition. A lot of work has already been put in getting things for the coaching job squared away. Had several meetings with the AD, certification courses, fingerprints, and then meetings with some of the team and other coaches to get ideas and plans put in place. It's been fun so far so I'm really excited to be at full go come summer.

I've been reading a decent amount each night before bed which I think is very important. I haven't had to block anyone sending me bad beat's, but a couple times I had to tell people to stop and not send me hh's anymore. Maybe people read the goal and it discouraged them :). Girls was decent on the month, few hook ups and all that. No really point goin into more detail. Check out thomasny's blog if you need an hour by hour break down of a night out :). I finished one of my two courses at the moment getting an A. Still haven't made any progress with the third course or with commencement, but not deciding kind of is deciding. Either way I'm not too bothered by what happens with it.

And lastly, the blog. Over the past several weeks I've been tossing around notions on whether to stop blogging or to keep it going. Alas, I've come to the decision to close the blog. While I truly enjoy writing and the interaction I've gotten on here, I've come to terms with closing this. I plan to continue writing, just not on the web. Down the road in 4-5 months I may decide to revive here, but that's for another day. I'm planning on writing one more post before I shut it down so check back in a couple of days.

-Brian

Big Downswing, reevaluating things

2010-03-21T22:09:00.002-05:00

This past week I suffered through one of my biggest downswings of recent memory. While bankroll management has always been a stumbling block for me, I felt I had finally turned a corner and was cruising at high limits hu's. The big winning days are often followed by big downswings. This was the case here as well. At my worst it was around a 30 bi downswing (although limits were mixed from 220-55s so I'm not 100% accurate on the number of bi's I dropped in actuality.) The downswing was pretty gradual as I'd lose a few bi's here, a few next session, etc etc. Most of the time the loses were versus bad players too that are the buy-in level fish.

When these things happen, one's confidence is often shaken or possibly even gone with poker and any poker related issues or questions. Leading me up to where I've been for a few days now and I'm trying to break out of. One of my goals this month was to not be negative, so I've been pushed to my limits some lately with this. I've definitely been reevaluating things with poker though trying to develop a more mature mindset and if I want to keep going through these nightmare periods that I keep putting myself through. Maybe my edge at the $110's + isn't what I thought it was since the swings keep going back and forth and its not consistent printing money. I feel I'm good enough with several parts of my game, but I still struggle for some reason.

I have a few ideas in store for what I might do and developing a better plan since I haven't followed the one I established in January. I guess in a way I feel a bit lost since I'm not at the point where I'd hope to be at when I established things at the beginning of the year. I still have about 10 days left this month to get back on track. My bonus should be in relatively soon (about 1k vpps), which might be the springboard I need. Over the next several days I'm going to be getting a plan together and strictly stick to it. Its that or stop playing because this is not a proficient way to continue.

Another big day, mini goal accomplished

2010-03-15T15:57:00.003-05:00

Had a really good Sunday for a change. Sunday's I usually always run like complete garbage and maybe its partially from not being rested and going out on the weekend, but yesterday for a change I pretty much crushed. Got a good workout in the am, picked up some steaks at whole foods (so so good), and watched the Cavs v. Celtics game. Grinding a bit during and after the game before taking a break to get some paperwork done regarding some coaching things. Then played a bit more running some 220s with plauzee and one or two 2 man's 220s.

Hit $1.9k before losing a few games to end the night and decided to call it there at like $1.4 or $1.5. Really pleased with how I'm playing this month, my mental seems great, I'm like never getting stressed out or tilted. I'm totally cool and confident with my game right now that I don't get mad at myself for mistakes much at all. Mistakes are more often than not what send people on massive tilt I believe.

I'm 1/2 way through the required vpps to clear the bonus and I've accomplished the 20 buy-in goal. I lost a few to start today off so I decided to cash off a bit to reward myself for the games yesterday, to force me to stick to a buy-in level and avoid shots, and to reignite my focus and drive to win. Complacency is so common after a nice session or big winning day.

Since setting the last goal worked out so well I'm gonna establish a new one. The new goal is to hit +10 before its up. I'm about +4 so far so this is obviously very achievable, but a short term focus are what leads to long term results as long as they are carried out consistently. There's nothing bigger than the little things.

"I had to kick myself in the ass and recommit to getting up early, staying up late and consuming everything I possibly could to get an edge. I had to commit to making the effort to be as productive as I possibly could. And finally, I had to make sure I wasn’t lying to myself about how hard I was working. It would have been easy to judge effort by how many hours a day passed by while I was at work. That’s the worst way to measure effort. Effort is measured by setting goals and getting results. What did I need to do to find an edge? Where does that edge come from and how was I going to get there?" - Mark Cuban

Mini goal

2010-03-13T14:58:00.005-05:00

Really feeling confident with my hu game the past week. Obviously having a huge winning day relatively to my buy-in level is gonna do that for you. Even still, I feel my game has evolved again and I'm really putting my opponents in tons of tricky spots where they just play so transparently bad versus. I'm always open to new ideas so I'm sure my game will continue to expand and change as it does.

Anyways, for my mini goal. I have a $1,500 bonus coming through as I'm about 1/3 of the way clearing it. Its been good motivation to grind a lot. Now I want to try to maximize my time playing with a little challenge/goal. I expect to clear the bonus within about 7-9 days so during this stretch my goal is to win 20 buy ins (110 level). Doesn't seem unreasonable and we'll see if I can use it for drive while grinding.

Goal
[ ] +20 buy in's before bonus is hit

I'll try to give some updates on this. My twitter will have daily updates as well. Overall I'm really happy with how I'm playing and not getting stressed at all from cards really anymore. Would like to win more, as we all do, but I think I have a really good system in place now that's easy to play and should yield some really positive results. I'm starting to become pretty optimistic about what I can achieve with poker this year.
GL

Big day

2010-03-10T20:46:00.000-05:00

Had one of my best days of my hu sng poker career yesterday. Ended up profiting just under $2k at $1.8 mostly at 110s and a few 220s to end the night. I think I had 2 days in the 3k range, but they were probably down to a lotta luck since it was several years ago and I don't think I really knew that much back then.

Also been engaging more at 2p2 with hand discussion. I still get my analysis torn apart at times by some of the regulars, but that's good since I'm not stubborn or shortsighted with my viewpoint and thinking everyone else is wrong in their analysis. Humbling and good for my improvement.
Until next time,

bpmst2

Marching on

2010-03-06T15:26:00.002-05:00

March goals:
[ ] 4.5 k ; 22k vpps
[ ] Better br mgmnt practice
[ ] Read 2 books - stay more even keeled in all facets of life, including poker
[ ] Stay up on school - decide on commencement, finalize final 3 credits
[ ] Determine the future of this blog
[ ] HS coaching job - start preparing ideas for the team
[ ] More coaching - soccer and poker
[ ] Continue with rehab - 3 days week and gym 3 days a week
[ ] Block ppl who send me bad beats or hh's soo tilting
[ ] Girls - maybe a few dates even?
[ ] No negativity (double negative there [:)

I'm not going to stress out on poker this month. I'll hope to hit my numbers and leave it at that. I'm still improving and tinkering my game every week so I have to be patient and understand the results will come in time. In regards to bankroll management, in Feb I would cash out more or less every other day through e-checks to reward myself for a days work. My goal this month is to start to build my online roll stronger to make things less stressful. I think I've matured enough to withstand the daily swings and going to use a 30-20 bi's; 30 to start - 20 at the move down period.

This blog might be reaching its summit. I've taken a varsity soccer coaching job at a high school. With the negative stereotype and perceptions of poker as gambling might lead to some unneeded attention. I have to guard my image very closely now working with younger people so my actions as a role model are very important to be conscious of. As my knee health improves I'm going to be working with local soccer clubs a few nights a week. This is something I'm excited about as it will be a good chance to continue to work on my coaching methods and ideas as well as the basic interaction.

I don't want to come across like thomas here (haha much love tho man keep macking!) but it was good going out meeting some new girls last month so hopefully this month I can build on it some more.

And lastly, if you send me a bad beat or a hand history with the sole purpose to vent - don't. I'll block you from every communication possible. Dead serious. I get them too and I don't send them bc I know you don't care. If you're someone I speak poker with and want an opinion or to discuss a hand that's cool, just don't send me hh's without a point. This is so important to me: Don't be negative, and don't be negative around me - I don't care and no one else does.
GL in March.

February Recap

2010-03-01T15:49:00.003-05:00

Feb Goals
[x] adapt to opponents quicker in my game & identify player types sooner
[x] learn how to beat fish - threw away too many buy-ins to terrible players
[ ] +$6k
[x] better balance - don't tilt, reoccuring theme here
[x] more study time
[ ] gym 6x week
[x] get caught up on school
[x] girls girls girls

I've been thinking about creative lines, and non standard stuff which has really helped me at the $110 level. I've been doing well there, still learning every session and trying to get better, but Feb was a good month for me. I've been taking the fish for more and more money which is what it comes down to for the most part. I've started to cut back some on the 4 man's towards the last week of the month for whatever reason, but still ran a lot of them in Feb. I really didn't go through many tilt episodes, 10 buy in downswings no longer affect me as I don't even think of it in terms of money as much anymore. Important steps on the progression I guess.

I finished right around 4k this month at $4.3, a ways off 6k, but my goals are always challenging and difficult for a reason. I could set up goals of 2k and easily achieve them, but that's never been my MO. The gym hasn't been consistent which is a result of the knee surgery, but I've been good with rehabbing pushing myself at a good pace without overdoing it. Girls weren't spectacular haha, but I at least got a few numbers. It's definitely different from being on campus where you don't have to try to pull 'em. I crushed my online classes the last week doing really well on both my midterms especially so considering I don't have the books for the classes.

I was planned to return my old school for a 7 week course to finish my last 3 credit requirement, but they canceled the class I need to graduate lol. Good timing that. So I dunno what I'll need to do now, something I'm sure just hopefully nothing in the summer. And I guess I need to decide if I want to go to commencement or not. Still need to get my life in order a bit as you can see, hah March goals to come.
GL

Confidence is high

2010-02-21T23:50:00.002-05:00

I've been getting bombarded with so much writing for my online courses that any time I have feel like writing it's pretty much devoted to taking care of that. I've knocked out a lot of the bulk of those though so hopefully I can have a bit less stress for a few weeks.

Some of my yearly goals were to discuss more with the other $115 reg's and this has been pretty huge to me taking off in my development the last few weeks. When I used to sit at this level I never truly had complete 100% confidence in myself there and was a bit timid or scared. Never a good scenario to play optimal poker. But since talking with other reg's comparing lines, dissecting hands, and just evolving my thought process I've been able to really grow a lot as a player again.

Running 4 man's lets you pick off a lot of bad players, but a noticeable trend seems to have developed within the last few weeks, maybe its been longer but it seems more noticeable now. The player pool at $100's is pretty much separated into two distinct groups:

1. regs, and
2. non-regs.

Makes sense right? Hardly now do I see reg warring. I'm sure it still happens and there is some gray area in between these 2 extremes where annoying, but not top players at this buy in sit vs 4 man teams. I've been teaming with pretty much anyone I feel has an edge at this level, pretty much about 10-12 different players. At times it can be mentally trying to run 4 man's but it definitely gives you a different perspective on theory talk. It's the equivalent of posting hands on 2p2, which is great, but cutting right to the chase and weeding out the nonsensical advice you get from complete random people at times on there.

If your asking yourself, "OK, so how does this help me?" Well I think its simple. 1. Use better game selection and
2. find other knowledgeable players at your buy-in level to help improve your game.

Overall, my confidence is really high right now. I seem to have finally figured out this buy-in level. I may fall short on some of my monthly goals, but if I do it's not the end of the world, they're simply motivating factors to shoot for.

GL finishing out Feb,
brian

Coaching Discount

2010-02-12T12:42:00.004-05:00

Since I have been having a very good month there will be a discount on the coaching rates for the remainder of February. Now through March 1, one hour live sweat rates/theory discussion rates will be reduced from $65/hour to $40/hour. There is no guarantee that this special promotion will be run again at this rate. Contact me at aim, email, or skype.
Good luck!

aim: bpmst2
skype: bpmst2
email: bpmst2hu@gmail.com
msn: bpmst2@hotmail.com

Game Make-up HUSNG

2010-02-11T06:38:00.002-05:00

I often get asked if games take a set pattern or flow and the obvious answer is it depends. But overall, this is the basic game flow I see more often than not. This was written several months ago and I decided it may be of benefit to some players so enjoy.

Game Make-up
Games take a very set path involving different stages where each is critical to make the best possible decisions at the current hand.

1. Introductory stages
Hands 1-10
- You should be able to put together some general and basic reads on your opponent
o (i.e. Tight, Passive, Loose, Aggro, Passive)
o Is he limping his buttons, making standard size raises, mining?
o How often is he calling from oop? Is there a 3betting dynamic to the match?
o How is he fundamentally? Over betting the pot?
o Is he leading out on flops? How often and for how much?
* It is important to note that any hands that go to showdown should be marked, notes made on, and evaluated

2. Applying reads/inter-middle stage
- Now, in your mind you should be developing a basic game plan of how to approach this opponent based off the first few hands
- Continue to play solid without giving away too much of yourself
- Look to start to exploit those tendencies from the first few hands
- Be conscious of the game flow and if control of the match; alter your opening size based on this to maintain control. Find what works best for you vs. this player

3. 30 BB play or less
- Stacks are getting shallower now (either through blinds or effective stacks)
- Continue to make smart decisions based off effect. Stacks
- Note his pre-flop habits
o (i.e. Is he 3xing every button, thus look to exploit this)

4. Shoving, folding, limping?
- Which is best?
o Dependent on opponent/their current state
o This may mean vs one type Shoving>limping>folding
o Also may mean limping>folding>shoving
o And of course may mean folding (more so than usual)>shoving>limping
o Very dependent on stack sizes
o What is he letting you do?
• Passive – lets you limp every button and if he check u min bet and scoop the pot
• Shoving on your limps / re-raising big whenever you limp
• Game dynamics will require different strategies
o Is he shoving a large % of his buttons?
o Does he seem over-the-top agro?
• Adjust calling ranges based off all the information you’ve collected throughout the match
• Don’t level yourself and start questioning your thought process and reads
*Trust your reads!

- Flop / Turn / River
o Meta-game factors
• What is your table image?
• Have you shown down 3 bluffs?
• Has he hero called you with mediocre holdings (i.e. calling station) and exposed your bluffs
o Each will require a different strategy
* Trust your reads!

Hopefully thinking about these stages of the game will help you exert more control and direction to your opponent. This game is all about the people, not so much the cards. Exploitation of your opponents tendencies and habits is success. Good luck!

1st Week of Feb

2010-02-07T08:32:00.002-05:00

I'm gonna try to update on a more regular basis here since I seem be slackin' on doing so. Figured I'd get my goals thread from 2p2 posted here as well for a little more accountability.

Feb Goals
[ ] adapt to opponents quicker in my game & identify player types sooner
[ ] learn how to beat fish - threw away too many buy-ins to terrible players
[ ] +$6k
[ ] better balance - don't tilt, reoccuring theme here
[ ] more study time
[ ] gym 6x week
[ ] get caught up on school
[ ] girls girls girls

Some of these I've already failed at some haha. Gym has been OK but lately I'm slacking again since the MRI results came back and I need to get surgery again with a torn patella tendon. Gotta love the school trainers telling me it was tendinitis all year, but its whatever. At least I'm getting it sorted now so hopefully by summer I can get back into a really good groove with running and working a lot since I seem to do best when I'm balanced with my physical health.

I've gone through mini spurts of tilt as usual. A look at my ss graph shows that I'm still conquering some demons there haha. I really only tilt when I'm playing higher buy in games or playing too much so theres an easy fix to it I think: play less and play one level consistently (55s).

I've already been studying quite a bit though. Using a hand replayer I've downloaded, I'm going through some of my old hands, some of other good players, and just examining interesting spots thinking how I would play it differently. If I find a spot where I made a dumb move for the wrong reasons or examining other players tendencies etc etc. I think just reviewing this way is sooo helpful. Obviously you have to know how to interpret the information correctly, but a good first step is at least thinking about it deeply. The next part is understanding the reasons for your critique. If you aren't sure if what your thinking is right, try to verbalize or put it into writing in a word document. Doing this makes you 10x more assured of your reasons and helps clear up any loose ends in the thought process which should lead you to the ultimate goal of improving as a player.

I need to work on beating up the fish more for sure. Usually thats what sends me on those tilt cycles when I lose games I know I shouldn't or when I make moves I know I shouldn't and get pain and punishment from it. This will be a big goal for the month. So far I've cashed off around 2k but only up a little over 1k in actual profit. The online rolls a little short so this will at least force some discipline to play lower stakes for a few weeks.

GL in Feb,
brian

Jan recap

2010-02-02T14:59:00.002-05:00

I of course doom switched myself with my last post being up around 4.5k hoping to have around a 5 or 6k month. I ended up at 3k. The last 9 days or so of the month were just so frustrating. I'd grind my opponent down only to lose several all-ins to completely reverse the dynamic of the game with being on the short stack. I also had some outside stress. I've had a nagging knee problem for the entire fall season and every school trainer and doctor told me it was tendinitis. So after about 6 months of no improvement I decided to see my surgeon who thinks I may have torn my patella tendon which from what I saw online looks like its 10-12 months of rehab. This really crushed me since I was finally into a good groove working out, even though I still can't run without pain. I'm awaiting the MRI results now, but it definitely affected my mental the last part of the month. I'll say it again, it's never a good idea to play poker with outside stress on you.

Some of you may have noticed I've been playing higher some in recent weeks, mainly 220s which probably isn't 100% smart yet. Whenever I sit tho, 9/10 I get a fishbowl or a losing 33-55 player that joins me. I think taking calculated shots and risks are beneficial to improve as a player which is my ultimate goal. And if I'm almost always getting bad fish playing out of their roll it seems to be good business right? I feel with almost 100% certainty I could beat 55's pretty easily now. At the 110s level I'm not as confident but I still feel pretty good there. I definitely haven't proven I can crush there like I have at 55's however.

I'm always caught between these two ideas where I could probably just make easy, low risk money every day or try to evolve as a player and push my limits and thresholds. As I'm writing this I'm starting to think maybe my logic is pretty dumb and that I should just crush until I know without certainty I'm a favorite. The outloud thinking continues..

Some of my friends have been talking about going up to Windsor sometime soon again. I remember when I was there last we all spent considerable amount of time in the pit just burning money more or less. I somehow came out the big winner playing an unorthodox blackjack style which left the table constantly cursing at me lol. Anyways, I found a pretty cool link which teaches some basic ideas about it. It might not be anything earth shattering to some experienced pit lurkers, but I was able to learn some from it. So I figured if anyone can benefit from it, I might as well throw up the link. Risk of Ruin

Hope everyone had a good start to 2010. I'll need to re-examine some things as I feel like I'm off my game some. I've definitely been doing some more review of sessions than normal, but I need to get back to a better balance of things. Whenever my sleep is off I just feel like a degen and don't feel I deserve to win, and probably sabotage myself in some regard.

Update

2010-01-25T21:30:00.002-05:00

Hey guys,

I've had some exciting things happen in the past few weeks here. Pokers been going really well, I'm getting a much better balance with my daily schedule - working out daily in a routine now, playing soccer again, training in the mornings - all in all I've been really happy, I even got offered a head coaching job at my former high school as well as coaching youth soccer in the area, and I'm finishing my degree. So its been an exciting past few days.

I'm in the last 9 credits of my undergraduate degree and I cannot wait to finish. While school is a lot of fun, I'm just so over doing busy work, or researching topics I have no desire to learn about. I'm a big believer in making daily improvement a habit and learning everyday, yet writing journal entries on Business Ethics makes me feel like a scene from Billy Madison. Funny in its own right, yet not something I want to do.

I decided to finish my degree from my former school St. Francis University. I looked into it a few weeks back and I'll be able to graduate at an accelerated pace compared to finishing my degree at Cleveland State. I have 2 online courses, the aforementioned business ethics, an MIS course which is starting in a few weeks, and then I'm returning for a 7 week course at the end of the semester for my final 3 credits of Speech. The last few weeks should be fun as the end of the semester up there was always a crazy time so it'll be one last hurah (sp?) of college and to move on with my life.

Poker I've been on a pretty good run lately. I'm up about $4.5k this month and I haven't been forcing a ton of volume lately. Really not much else to say as I'll talk more about this at the end of the month. I'm trying to post more helpful information on 2p2 to give back some to up-and-coming players trying to improve.

The High School coaching opportunity is really exciting for me. Coaching is something I want to do long term so being a head coach at 22 would be a huge stepping stone to moving up the ladder into college and professional coaching. I've recently been training pretty hard again as well, and playing in various indoor leagues around the area. I've really redeveloped my passion for the game which is great because for a month or two I had lost it. I'm even considering working my health and strength back up and contemplating pursuing playing after the fall season. I've been plagued with a lot of injuries so taking a year or 6 months to just build up and move forward might be very beneficial. Especially when I'll be immersed in thinking about the game on a daily occurrence. Looking forward I'm seeing a lot of positives right now and its an exciting time.

Bahama's trip

2010-01-13T21:00:00.002-05:00

We touched down on the morning of the 9th and stayed 4 nights in the Beach Tower. We had a solid room with a good view on the ocean side. The weather was a bit eh and the internet was shaky for a majority of the trip. And the internet’s actually out as I’m writing this, but I guess there was a volcano eruption in Haiti so the Bahamas is on Tsunami watch right now. Baller. Hopefully we get out of here OK and catch our flight in the morning. The weather was pretty cold compared to what I was expecting (60s-70s but pretty windy). It was still good to get out of the snow of course. The only disappointment was that I wasn’t able to do some cool things because of the temperature and only went to the rapids/lazy river and water slides 2 of the days because of it.

My bro played the 1k HU event and played really well with a very tough route of opponents. The structure was a best of 3 with 5,000 chips and blinds at 25/50 with 15 minute levels. I got to the first game midway through, but from all accounts it was a really aggressive game vs. craigthedeac – a leggo poker coach. He has a summary of the game on his blog. One of the more interesting spots on the leveling war was when the effectives were getting short, craig limp blind with K4o. My brother open shoved his AQ for value and hoping craig would think he was jamming any two. In his next round bcm played a fish. I came over about 10 minutes in and he was already 1-0 up looking to go for his 2nd straight sweep. The guy clearly looked irritated and wanted to get out of the game as quick as possible. After that round he had a decently long break since he finished so quickly. Round 3 was the bubble where he faced up vs. mynamizgreg – another leggo poker guy. Bcm got KK cracked by a 14 out draw on the flop in game 1 for stacks before battling back and got greg all-in drawing dead in game 2. Game 3 was a slugfest with about 6 or 7 all-ins. Greg was getting chipped down before doubling 8cTc > Qc6c then 6d9d >Ad2d. The dealer was very unprofessional in my opinion slow rolling the flop. With chip counts at about 60/40% and like 11 effectives a cooler of AJ
Met a lot of fellow hu sng’ers in the poker room when I was railing games(pomp, tppr, ekko, and a few guys from leggo poker – craighthedeac and mynameizgreg - as well as seeing the live pro donks. Sad to say I didn’t play live here once, but I’m not really. Whenever I tried to talk myself into playing I would just think about how boring it is and how I’d rather go out or do something else besides sit around and play 15 hands an hour.

Also with the PS bank it works just like real money. Amazing how differently each game felt. It would be very interesting to see how well I would do on stars if I could instantly cash out and have it there in front of me; such a mind trick, but a huge one. I would usually go to the lobby and play in the morning just trying to win a buy in or 2. Regardless, it really devalued playing any $1/2 or $2/5 since I could snap up fishies online just as quickly and cash out the money on the spot. The cool thing was I nearly able to pay for my trip here just from my online play over the course of the week. I’m without question going home with more money than I first came with which again, I guess is another mind trick.

Funny quip of the trip was when I was out one night around 3:30am I wandered over to a roulette table after the bars and started talking to the group there before learning it was a guy I’ve played a number of times at the $57.50 hu’s: Milf Island. Lol such a random funny occurrence, but overall from the little I talked to him he seemed like a cool guy. And then while walking back to the room from the cashier window I bumped into former Man Utd player/legend Teddy Sheringham. I’ve always been of the opinion that I don’t want to bother famous people so I just said hello and left it at that.

All in all, it was a fun time. I went there with the mindset that I didn’t want to grind poker on this trip but to treat it like a vacation. I would have liked to done some more touristy things like the dolphin swim or the booze cruise, scuba, etc, but the weather just wasn’t there and the group was more of my two brothers friends. We did go to a comedy club one of the nights, which was alright, nothing spectacular. I was gonna upload some photos, but I lost my camera the last night there which was of course awesome. Overall, its a fun place though, I’m already planning on playing one of the HU events next year when I’m hopefully ballin’ a little more than where I was in ‘09.

Coaching informtion up and Bahama's tomorrow

2010-01-08T13:22:00.004-05:00

Hey guys,

You can find my coaching page on the right. I've had a few inquiries already so don't hesitate to contact me if you are looking to improve your game. There are a number of options available that should work for any number of players from micros to medium stake players.

I'll be escaping the snow and cold of Ohio, heading down to the Bahama's for about 5 days in the sun. I've heard the weather hasn't been that great, which is disappointing since last year I heard it was 80-90s. Hopefully it'll change though crossing my fingers there. I'm lookin forward to going down though and meeting up with some good hu players I've talked strategy with a decent amount online and attaching faces to the names. I'm hoping that I learn as much while I'm there and pick up ideas and improve as much as I have a good time and enjoy my vacation.

I've regained some confidence in my poker ability as well. Had a very good session late last night when I wasn't even planning on playing, but got drawn in. I'm about +1k on the month now. I was teaming 110 with BigPapaLind earlier in the night where we went 4-0, then we went out for a bit. Came back and continued finishing 6-1.

I'll try to give an update while I'm in Atlantis and if anyone that reads this is goin' to be down there and wants to meet up for a drink or whatever, leave me a comment and we'll try to arrange it.

Brian

Few days into 2010

2010-01-05T04:15:00.004-05:00

Few days into the new year and I've got a few updates, a goal addition, and information on my coaching page.

I'm not really that happy with how I've played at times this week. The good thing is I've spent a few hours the past few days reviewing some things. I've posted some hands on 2p2, talked with some good regs, discussed hands, read some strategy advice, and done a leak finder with a top hu snger. At the very least I'm starting to regain some confidence again in my play.

I started to watch some hands in the replayer from my sessions and examined spots where I went broke and examined spots where I didn't need to go broke. Most of the time it was due to me looking to play a big pot and be aggressive on the turn. Some of this is just me running into the top of their range (i.e. 2 pair or trips vs. turned flush, boat), but its also spots where its high risk/little reward I think. I started to analyze this further and I remember how controlled and slow I played in November and how fast I tried to play in December. I'm starting to connect the dots. I'm going to try to advocate more pot control on the turn.

I've played a lot of hu sng's so far this month. My stats are way off as in reality I'm down like 3 or 4 buy in's total. That's the nature of 4 man's. The new VIP bonus system is a good addition though. I've already cleared several of the $10 VIP stellar reward bonuses as well as the reload bonus for $150. Me and phmerc bet the cowboys game based off his research (rookie center ftw!!). Haha so far I'm 4-0 or 5-0 on sports bets lifetime. So between the bonuses and sports bets I'm just about even on the month, down 1 buy in. SO between the run bad, play avg, I'm just above even and I'm also acquiring a decent amount of fpps which I'm saving up. I guess I'll take it.

I want to add to my 2010 goals:
1.$60,000 before rakeback
2.Improve as a player/Increase my study time tenfold/discussion with other regs
3.Be legit
4.SS Leader board (if I hit my 1st goal, this should happen)

I also wanted to announce in the coming days I will have my coaching page (linked at the right) setup. I'm in the process of putting together the coaching options since the coaching forum on 2+2 was closed. Interested parties are encourage to get in touch with me through this blog, IM, skype, or email.

thanks,
bpmst2

Year in review, 2010 goals

2010-01-01T11:18:00.002-05:00

I didn’t accomplish everything I set out to do in December, but I still don’t consider it a failure either. My profit line was obviously way off, making only $1,000, but I went through a nasty variance cycle and lost hold of the things I’ve learned. It’s a good reminder that I still have a ways to go with sorting through my own tilt, even though I’ve worked very hard to overcome it. My lack of success I attribute a lot to non-poker things. First off, I never got in a groove or a good schedule for myself. My sleep pattern was pretty terrible and I aim to fix that in 2010. I volunteered 3 coaching hours, but it wasn’t my intent for it to be a poker venue volunteer. Because I don’t belong to any specific group, it was hard to find a place to volunteer. Maybe it’s a poor excuse, but I’m going to be active in seeking to get involved in the coming months. Christmas with the fam was good and new year’s eve last night was fun as a bunch of us headed downtown Cleveland.

All in all 2009 proved to be an important step in my development as a poker player. From September to December I profited a little over $9,000. I never told anyone this, but when I started to play seriously in September I said to myself that if I didn’t make $6,000 by the turn of the year I was going to walk away from cards. I’ve overcome this personal challenge to myself and look forward to a good year. Now onto the fun stuff... 2010.

I have several goals and plans for myself. Instead of talking about all of them since some of them are personal goals, I’m going to focus more on the poker side of things here.

Poker
1.$60,000 before rakeback
2.Improve as a player/Increase my study time tenfold/discussion with other regs
3.Be legit
- Studying
- Review any losing sessions hand-by-hand

- Spend 4 hours a day on poker, and not think about it besides that
- At least 1 hour a day studying M-T
- Use proper br mgmt at all times
- $60,000 before rake back
- Keep more detailed records (vpps, fpps earned/used, conversation rate of fpps
- Stop as soon as I lose 3 games
- Honestly assess my abilities and my feelings before I play (i.e. don’t tilt/play through tilt)
- Eliminate ego and find good spots

----------------------------------------------------------
The plan: 2010

January:
Starting bankroll: $1,600
Increase bankroll to: $5,000
Cash out anything over $5,000
Cash out: $2,000
-----------------------------------------------------------
February:
Starting bankroll: $5,000
Increase bankroll to: $6,000
Cash out: $4,000
------------------------------------------------------------
March:
Starting bankroll: $6,000
Cash out: $4,000

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T23:09:00.003-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone. This will be a rather short update, but I hope everyone has a nice holiday and enjoys themselves. I also wanted to announce that I will be giving away five 30 minute coaching sessions for any interested parties. This will be a on first come first serve basis, with one session allowed per player. OK that's it. Merry Christmas!

bpmst2

Tryin as a 110/105 reg

2009-12-16T07:04:00.002-05:00

I'm just finishing up a late night session. I've come to a few conclusions tonight about the past several weeks, which hopefully can serve as a lifeline for some struggling players. Downswings can be beneficial in the long run. Its so sick that I'm even saying this because the emotional and psychological distress can be so severe it makes you question a number of topics involving poker and about your ability to profit and perhaps more damaging, injuring your confidence on a number of levels changing you from a boss at the table where you're dictating the flow and pace of the match into a fish every time you sit down to play.

"When your confidence is running high it can feel like any game on earth is beatable, with a player able to consistently bully and read their opponents with an aggressive and confident style. When you lose your confidence the opposite is usually true - you feel like a fish at every table you sit down at, seem to lose part after pot when you lack the courage to fire that last bullet or make that key call, and generally just hemorrhage money in every direction."

I thought this quote from bryn kenney's website pretty much capture the mood. There are a few things you have to remember with these rough spells:

1. It is a part of the game. No is immune to them and every player will experience them. The truly great players can continue to play their top game, being a wall to the barrage of coolers, beats, and suck outs. Pretty basic stuff we all know, but its helpful for me to write it and try to come to terms with it.
2. Secondly what I've learned through the past several weeks is how critical it is to continue to improve. I've made an active effort to learn the past few days and my confidence is beginning to soar again. I feel in control, dictating every table I'm at. Even vs good opponents who sit me I continue to control the flow and be the aggressor keeping my opponents on the run. Despite all this I still am only breaking even, slowly getting back to even on the month.
3. Don't complain. This goes hand in hand with #1, but complaining will only let you believe things which aren't true. I've been changing my location name to sayings like "spooked", "rigged", "plz turn itoff" etc etc. All this is doing is giving my opponents information and more importantly, letting me find reasons which will not help me fix what is wrong. Let me say that again. Making excuses will not help you fix what is wrong. It only lets you play this mind game with yourself where you're absolving yourself of any wrongdoing and taking no responsibility for your actions.

Despite all this I expect to finish the month strong. I've made the jump to the $115's/$105's where I feel the adjustments I've made are helping me break out of the solid $57.50 reg/avg $115 mold and go beyond their thought process. Several high stake players I discuss strategy always talk about how the $110's are very one dimensional so I began to learn more and counter this 'basic' thought lines. Lastly, if any of you happen to be sweating my games at any time and see me berating or talking disrespectful in any regard in the chat, remind me to stop.
Thanks guys,
bpmst2

December so far

2009-12-12T16:35:00.005-05:00

Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it's not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won't. it's whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.
- Barack Obama

December has been rough. I had some really bad daily habits in the beginning days of the month which I attribute a lot of what's happened this month to. I had to take my dad in to get surgery on like 12/3 or 12/4 at 4am so I decided to just stay up all night. I played poker to keep me awake more or less, and the time goes by faster that way I figured. I had to go back and pick him up in 5-6 hours so I got a cappuccino and tried to continue to play once I got home. At this point I was down like 15 or so bi's and I was really going through a bad spell of variance at the 110's. Over the next several days I climbed back and got to even on the month before another bad run sent me down.

At this point I took a break for a day and 1/2 to help clear my thoughts since at this point I was probably playing poorly as a result of playing too much and running bad causing me to adjust my playing style which as we all know, results in more negative play. I decided to move back down to the $57.50's because I know I can beat that level and at the $110's I've been a marginal winner/break-even.

So this is where I'm at now. I've brought myself back, to only being down about $500 on the month. I've been partnering some with Colombo218 recently since Phmerc has been out of town the past few days. Overall, we've been crushing with a line of like 42-27. I've continued to run pretty bad so it's definitely been a smart move to partner during this stretch to help even this out. I'll have to reevalute some of my goals that I hope to achieve this month, but at this point if I can finish in the positive I'll consider it a major success.

I'm considering trying another site to play on as well with the majority of my play continuing to be on stars. I'll need to research the best rakeback deals before moving forward officially with this, but something I might look more into over the next few weeks.

Tomorrow should be a fun day though. A few friends of mine are going to do our version of a lockdown from 1pm-1am tomorrow. BCM (hu), liloumikey (mtt), wildwill02 (6 max sng), and possibly a few others might stop by for the lockdown. Plannin' on getting up at a decent hour, getting a workout in, some good food before finally settling into watch the ncaa final and starting our lockdown. The motivation and discussion I hope will get me back on track as I am expecting a big day out of myself.

December goals

2009-12-03T01:49:00.004-05:00

Few days in to the new month here so I figured I'd better get my goals for the month up. My months been off to a stinker so far, which is really testing my resolve and mental toughness. I'm in the middle of a 500 game break-even stretch, which I've heard other players talk about, but haven't really experienced. It's been a mental challenge as much as anything. So far I've been doing well with not tilting. I'm trying to make sure I don't change how I'm playing. This is why poker's so sick. The internal dialogue can be crazy. Was I just on a heater last month luckboxing it? Do I change my game? So many mental gymnastics you play with yourself, but you have to trust the odds to even themselves out. I kinda took most of November for granted when I was reeling, so I've definitely matured in the sense that I won't get complacent with positive results again. I would do anything for a little bit of that right about now.

December Goals
[ ]5k Total Profit
[ ]Volunteer 5 hours (its Christmas season com'on now)
[ ]Join a gym - work out everyday and start to get back in shape again
[ ]Wake up before 10am every weekday
[ ]Start taking better care of myself again - less degeneracy
[ ]Start going to Church again - its basically just been a non-habit not going
[ ]Study through 2 poker books this month - gain new perspectives on range of topics
[ ]Read 1, hopefully 2 non-poker books this month - lot of good information in the right books about so many things
[ ]Review some hand histories of my games - I'm pretty terrible with doing this
[ ]Take care of my family with good, thoughtful presents
[ ]Give something back to people who won't be having as nice a holiday period (donations or some other idea, I need to think more about this)
[ ]Be nicer when playing poker, but more importantly in real life (remember the holiday's can be a very depressing time for a lot of people so I think its very important to give back if your able to)

Gl closing the year out everyone,

November wrap up

2009-12-01T15:59:00.004-05:00

What a month. In short, November proved to be my most successful month of my career so far finishing +5k (cashing out 4). I firmly believe its because I put some serious time and effort in during September and October playing $23 games, eventually $34.50's before moving up to $57.50s' full-time in November. I've had months in the past where I've probably rivaled the total profit line of Nov '09, but that was probably down to running insanely hot in 220's, 330's, but it was never long lived.

It really is strange to look back on the month, considering the first weekend of the month I tilted off 7 buy ins at 110's before I was really playing them with any regularity. From there I just went on a big surge in the 55s and 55 4man's crushing for the first 1/2 of the month with charlie (phmerc). I played hu cash for 3 sessions. The first night I won some; made some good plays, some bad ones, and in the end thought it was fun, but I wasn't really that comfortable. My 2nd session was short and I won like a bi or 2 so I thought I had another game to play when I wanted a break from sng's. With the deeper stack structure it plays different, being 100 blinds deep at a minimum and I think I was 300 blinds deep at one point. I would like to eventually get comfortable at cash, but I am still susceptible to tilt and hu cash is an easy way to spark this. My 3rd session as you can probably guess from this contrived lead in was a bit disastrous losing like 4-5 buy ins. I really just got outplayed/tilted some which is why I say disastrous. At least I was able to get up and just stop playing cash. So in summary, cash is something I'd like to revisit but probably not for awhile.

The last week and 1/2 of the month was a struggle then. Just started running kinda bad, and any win I got was a struggle. Something I'm a bit proud of was the fact that after this hu cash/run bad stretch I decided to drop down to the $34.50's and make myself net +10 buy ins there. I quickly rattled them off within a day and 1/2 and it helped regain my confidence. I figured I'd rather run bad at a lower stake where I'm more skilled than the opponents at that level so I can outmaneuver them easier and read thru their lines easier. It also forced me to stop playing fancy, and to just get back to some ABC's which I got away from for a bit.

24 33 games = $222
451 55 games = $3,438
351 110 games = $462
8 220 games = $360

supernova 50,000 vpp bonus = $800

bpmst2 841 $5 $79 8% $4,462

Thankful - Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T18:06:00.003-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving for all the American readers. For everyone else, I think today still is an important reminder of the all good things we have in our lives. Even though the original significance of this day in history doesn't bear much meaning to me, today's meaning I think is a message we can all interpret and appreciate.

How often do we stop to smell the flowers and appreciate where we are in life and all the blessings we have? It may sounds trite, but honestly, how often have we delved deep into examining our lives? Personally, I know I haven't done this self-examination of all the blessings I have to be thankful for in a long time. I think human nature is to too often adopt this attitude of not having enough, or not being able to do this or do that, and to dwell on the shortcomings that exist, the things we didn't achieve. I am the first to admit this type of guilt, but when you hear statistics that 1 out of 6 American's don't know where their next meal is going to come from, it really puts things into perspective. Times at my school (which is located in the heart of downtown) you see homeless begging for money, trapped in an environment and culture they will never escape. I can only imagine how terrible conditions must be in other places. So I think today serves as an important reminder for us to not get caught up in the run-around and stop every once-in-awhile and really think about the positives you have in your life. I hope that by reading this you might take a second and do the same.

2/3 Month Update

2009-11-20T01:38:00.006-05:00

Things have been progressing really smoothly. I can really only think of a handful of times where I've been playing dumb stlyes vs the wrong opponents, and one time early in the month where I tilted - but I like to think that was before my poker epiphany-like past 2 weeks. I'll save any totals for the end of the month, but its been very successful. My 4 man stats have been great. I've been playing with about 3-4 different players, but mainly Phmerc (hokie jr :0). I think our stat line is like 64-33 or something pretty unreal at the moment. 2 man stats have been good as well.

Still been coaching a bit here n' there. It's been useful in helping me improve my game and really understand rationals on a different level. I've also been hired on a free-lance basis to start making some vid's with commentary for a sight that I don't currently have the address for (deal through a friend type arrangement). Making video's was initially challenging since you have to clearly explain your thoughts right the first time without someone being able to stop you and ask questions or ask you to repeat your point. But I think I'm improving at them and hopefully making them very clear.

So burnt out with school at the moment. Since soccer ended with us losing in the conference semi to #17 Butler, I've got no real motivation with it. It sucks commuting downtown, so I've really gotten bad with missing class. I want the semester to end so badly. I'll have 9 credits to complete for my degree from my old school with some of this semester's transferring back. I can take most of them online for at my old school, but I'm actually thinking about returning for a 6 week course to knock out 3 credits that I would have to wait until summer to finish.

I played a little hu cash tonight at .50/1 for a bit then tried out 1/2 for about an hour or so. I played a really aggro guy with tons of 3 betting, 4betting dynamics to it. 2 Hands below. First one I was setting up a chance to have him bluff under card flops and maybe connect small.. didn't work out and then a really fun hand that I was pretty nervous about, but decided to pull the trigger on it for the only chance for me to win the hand.

Click here to view a larger version.

Click here to view a larger version.

Then one other hand from last night. I think its a pretty sick merge. Since I knew he was a thinking player I was able to pull off a pretty nice play. I start off just c-beting and with the A high flop which I think is totally standard. I decide to barrel the turn for FE if he has a 3 or 4 and I could sigh call if he jams with my gutshot, possible overs which may or may not be good, although I don't really love that. The river comes and when he checks to me I try to make it look like I'm 3 barreling air with his line of reasoning that I don't have an Ace here and as I said I put him on a 3 or 4 so I decide to make a scary lookin bet that just wreaks of a bluff... it's really thin, but it works out. And I know it could have came splat in my face pretty easily here.

Click here to view a larger version.

Poker in Nov..

2009-11-15T17:44:00.003-05:00

The month has been going extremely well so far with poker. My ss is off a pretty good amount due to the fact of 4 man's. Regardless I've more or less been in the zone every session, making some really good moves and really minimizing the times where I do something donkish. The only time I do something I'm annoyed with myself about is if I get too fancy against the wrong opponent that doesn't think on level 3 or 4, let alone level 2.

Coaching this month is going really well. Fapes is really looking good in the low stakes games. He has been considering moving up to the $11 games soon, yet I was able to talk him into another week at the $6's. His current stats are 20% ROI and avg profit of 1$ per game + $140 over about 115 games so far. I'm curious to see where his stat line looks like at about 500 games in.

About 1/2 way through the month and I'm looking forward to seeing how the next few weeks shape up. I've got a few irl business ideas I'm working towards as well as planning some trips for early January.

November ---> Supernova

2009-11-09T04:07:00.004-05:00

I haven't updated in a while I know. The first week of the month proved interesting. I went on a monkey tilt session vs a fish playing a style I could just not figure out and him winning every all in driving me crazy to the tune of like 1-6 or 1-7 vs him in the 110's. A fail in regards to maintaining my loss limit of 3, but a good reminder. I also awoke to the fact that I made solid money last month playing $33-55 games. I really don't need to play the $115 games at this stage.

I achieved supernova status last week which is a nice boost with the fpp multiplier. Early December I should be able to purchase a 50,000 fpp bonus for $800 which is something I'm working towards as I put in the volume.

Me and phmerc have been doing pretty well in the 4 man $55 lobbies. He keeps the overall stats but we've been doing really well and his game is definitely progressing every day/session. He's a good testament that if you put in the time away from the table studying, it can pay off for you on it.

I've been working with the player fapes on stars. He bought some coaching after seeing a thread of mine on 2+2 and he is progressing nicely. After purchasing coaching from a number of different players in the past his game seemed mixed up and confused trying to adapt to a limping every button style to various different techniques. He currently plays the $6 games and after being down a fairly decent amount reset his scope . Fapes is already having a pretty good turn around to the tune of a 15% ROI. It is very early in his progression and only a small sample size so far, but I have high hopes he can continue his form and maintain a high ROI at that level.

The thread on 2+2 is posted below. I am very flexible with options and tailoring coaching to what works best for you. I think you will find my rates are by far the most competitive and I am very accessible. Something I recommended to interested players is to look into purchasing the power-point presentation course. It is the basis for shaping good fundamentals which are critical to becoming a winning player.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/101/coaching-advice/low-mid-stakes-hu-sng-coaching-available-628380/

October goals recap

2009-11-01T13:19:00.002-05:00

Poker Goals
[ ] Beat the $34.50's @ 7-10% ROI
[x ] Game select a bit more
- I'm really happy with me putting aside any ego and just trying to make money by avoiding tough spots
[x ] Adapt quicker to my opponent (try to get the first hand to showdown)
- Again, I'm playing more adaptively and overall more intelligent.
[x ] 500+ games
- Played 959 games in October. Pretty ridiculous amount of games in reality. Volume's never been a problem for me, but I think months of me playing close 1k games are going to be very rare from here on out now that I don't have to play a ton of games at low stakes to make a profit
[/ ] No websites/ims when playing
- Been pretty good about not loggin on to sites when I'm playing. I have at times though and whenever I do I seem to lose control of the game and only regain it once I decide to minimize the websites again.
[ ] x Don't play late night sessions (book your win for the day)
- Been playing a lot of late night sessions in reality. As far as booking wins for the day whenever I do win a good amount I usually try to cash off a % of it to help keep my motivation high as well as to show some profit for the day instead of just letting a session drag on and playing until I'm even.
[/ ] Don't play when tilting/tired
- Late night sessions coincide with playing when I'm probably more tired than usual.
[ /] - recognize tilt and look to eliminate it quickly if in a game (few deep breaths, good posture)
[ x] Study other players games, learn from them
Really been a huge aspect for me in improving over the last half of the month.

Life goals
[ ] Better sleep habits
[x ] Get my shit together with school - stop missing so many classes
[x ] Take better care of myself
- don't get sick

Making strides

2009-10-29T01:48:00.002-05:00

I'm really pleased with my play the last few days. I've really been crushing, and I've been smart with game selection and avoiding regs. I've put aside any ego and offering chops vs winning players and not getting into reg wars. I achieved platinum star yesterday and I am about 2k vpps off supernova.

I've been playing mainly $57.50 range games and I feel so comfortable there. This reminds me to of where I was summer '08. I crushed the games for about a month before trying to move up to the $115's and never really recovered. I feel very confident I can make some good money at this level so I think this is my ceiling for a few months. I need to churn out some consistent profit and if I can do that at this stake. it's more than enough. I'm also aware that I'm probably running pretty good right now despite the fact that I'm playing well, so I'm totally prepared to move back to the $34.50's or lower to help whether a negative variance storm.

Lately I've been getting this feeling of boredom or apathy towards poker, which is kinda strange since I've struggled so long to finally start to feel confident in my game. I have been playing a lot of poker since the summer and have stepped it up even further since I started the process in the $23 games in early September. I think I'm going to really tone down the volume and come back recharged. Usually players get burnt out during a losing streak and it is kind of ironic that I'm at this stage after a big upsurge. I watched a collegiate game tonight with a bunch of guys I've played with in it and it really got me revved up towards soccer again. Maybe that's why I'm feeling this, but since I'm not 100% into playing a ton of right now I'm not gonna play and burn money or equity. Whichever is worse.

On a bit of a contrasting note, I'm starting to work with some players with their heads up games. If you're struggling or having difficulties in certain situations, continually running bad, and just can't seem to get over the hump, leave me a comment with your contact information (email, aim, skype).

Winding down in October

2009-10-26T10:35:00.003-05:00

October is coming to a close pretty soon. I've moved up to the $57.50 for the time being. I'm going to continue with this for about 50 more games and see where it lands me with ROI, profit, and total comfort. I finally have a workable bankroll online which makes it so much easier for me to play. Playing with a short-to-no roll is really just a demonstration of a lack of confidence in your abilities. While tilt can be an issue and you may fear jettisoning off several buy-ins for no reason, just establish and stick to strict loss limits per session and be fully honest with yourself about your feelings. Usually I can tell by my body temperature if I'm under control or not. I may feel hot and frustrated as I'm steaming from losing a few in a row.

On a different note, I've been working with several players recently and its been a great experience. I've been improving from sweating players games and then also discuss reasoning for why they made the moves they did and get them to ask themselves questions as they play to help guide them into making the best possible decision. Its good because it reaffirms the decisions I should be making and questions I should be asking myself while its good to have another opinion on how to play a hand, wheres you might struggle with <8 bb play and they might be better. Or whichever the situation. Overall I'm really happy with it and I'm hoping to be able to do more of this.

Test run... epic fail

2009-10-22T07:43:00.004-05:00

Me and few other players tried something different that a few other players have done. We sat 3 ways in a 4 man $57.50 hu lobby chopping the winnings between us. It should lower the variance a lot as you have two tries to beat one villain. We pretty much got destroyed losing around $150 or so in the process of going 4-4. We ran kinda bad in some spots, but obviously played bad so it pretty much turned into a failed test run. This accounts for what looks like a steep drop again in my graph as chopping doesn't always lead to graphs yielding accurate results. Of course in one of these games where my KK > AK aipf i prematurely typed "gg" and ultimately jinxed myself as he won 5 all ins in the next proceeding hands to come back from around 100 chips and went on to win the final as well. Haha always seems to work that way whenever you do it.

I had a road trip for soccer to Pitt yesterday so I slept on the way there and the way back so when I got home I was feeling pretty good and I put in a late night grind session finishing up around $350. So I got my account back to where it was a few days ago. I just get so annoyed with myself when I fall into this dangerous habit where my profits/graph looks like a bungee jump adventurer. I need to be much more disciplined if I'm ever going to make the jump from marginal winner here in 09 to turning a consistent profit at the turn of the year.

One positive through this grind of a lot of games is the vpps/fpps I've been racking up. Every few weeks I've been turning fpps into tourney $ playing the 280 fpp 6man ~ $11 equivalent tourneys. I'm trying to save and hold off on doing this for a few weeks now as November or December may have another vip store fpp into instant cash. Also, I'm nearly at Supernova level for the first time. Only about 4,000 vpps away now so I expect to crack platinum star in a few days while achieving 'nova in early November. Exciting stuff I know.
Take care,
bpmst2

Upswing-aments

2009-10-20T02:22:00.005-05:00

It's been a crazy week to say the least (if you don't believe me look at my recent graph). I've decided to get back to proper br management habits. I shot my account on a downswing and I had to get a $500 loan to try to rebuild. However the downswing didn't end. I ran the loan down to around $100 before turning it around and I started to get my head above water. Slowly. The past few nights I put in a lot of time grinding scoped opponents in the $57.50's and I was able to bink off a good profit getting my account up over $1,100 before shipping back the $500 loan. I'm going back to playing some $23 games until I get my account around $800ish again where I'll play some $34.50's. I realize I need to practice good habits to succeed, otherwise there's far too much risk/chance/luck involved in my success.

Something I've put together during this downswing/upswing is:
"A plan becomes goals. Goals need dedication. Goals with dedication are accomplished through habits. Habits become standards. Maintaining a standard leads you to excellent standards. Excellent standards lead to your biggest possible success."

I hope to cash out once or twice more this month bringing my cash outs to around $1,750 before the month ends.

Comfort in the $34.50's

2009-10-14T18:43:00.002-05:00

I've primarily moved up to the $34.50's but I haven't been following my original plan 100%. I'm questioning the intelligence of what I have been doing since I'm not following an *online bankroll management philosophy, yet I am playing very well and making cash outs.

* I say an online bankroll since I have well over $5,000 within my roll, but I don't want to redeposit so its a bit murky in a sense.

This started when I went on a big run in the $34.50's winning close to $800 within 3 days. I got complacent and started to run bad/maybe a bit of tilt and lost a good portion of it back taking shots and just being undisciplined and not taking breaks. I made a small cash off of $100 on 10/12. I basically lost the rest of my online roll, built it back up from fpp tourneys and low stakes hu sng's and got me going again. +500 from nothing in a day. I cashed off $250 last night and left a few hundo online which leaves me with where I'm currently at.

Common sense would tell me to move back to the $23's, get my roll back up over at least $600-750ish and then test out the $34.50's again. I question if I play better at the $34.50's however since the $23's are the lowest form of poker (if any). Part of me likes what I'm currently doing since I'm making cash outs and thus making money. The long term picture is different. Since I know this isn't a sustainable way to play forever, especially if I want to eventually move in to $57.50's and beyond in a few months. I'm tempted to just continue with what I'm doing, moving forward, making cash outs and then reevaluate once I have cashed out between $750-1,000 more. If you find one way > than the other leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts.

$23 hu sng cash out
~ $1,000

$34.50 hu sng cash out
~$100 10/12
$250 10/14

As I mentioned above I took some shots at $57.50's. While I played only fish and scoped opponents I realize it isn't too smart. I'm going to establish that I am not allowed to play any $50 game until my scope has me >$2,000 (no filter, as I am over $2,000 in 2man's but have lost money in other tournaments - currently at 1.3k). I can play 2 $34.50's, have less variance, easier opponents in general, and less stress. I definitely notice (at least it is the case for me) that my intensity gets cranked up when I take shots so I will revisit this once I've reached that goal.

Great start to Oct

2009-10-10T16:30:00.002-05:00

I've moved up part-time to the $34.50's and the occasional $57.50 when feeling sharp/scoping opponents. I am willing to move back and forth between the $23 games if I need to or if I'm running some 4 man's, however. I'm having a great week after a mediocre start to the month before hitting my run a few days in. I'm running good, but I'm also allowing myself to run good. This is critical to become a winner. I'm being calm and not spewing where it's obvious I'm being valuetowned, with his flop, turn chase down for the flush to hit the river type-hands. I'm also not just sending any Ace in preflop with stacks under 15. If he's letting me limp and use position/is a weak passive opponent, I'm doin' it. More or less, I'm being smart, thinking, and calm.

I've mentioned before how taking 5 seconds per decision is a good starting point or as ryanjmosu (linked on right) mentions to let the avatar flash a few times before making a decision. "Wait two or three 'flashes' of my avatar before I act. This has helped me to think about why I am doing what I'm doing." Very true and it does help you feel more in control of the action, going through possible hand combination's, and determining what actually makes sense.

There's been a few instances where I was struggling to get things going or I felt overwhelmed at any particular moment and I was able to overcome it with taking a few deep breathes, getting rid of distractions, and getting back to focusing on my opponent while allowing a little time run off. I've also turned off the annoying and panic inducing attention noise and warning sounds.

Oct goals

2009-10-07T18:35:00.002-05:00

Poker Goals
[ ] Beat the $34.50's @ 7-10% ROI
[ ] Game select a bit more
[ ] Adapt quicker to my opponent (try to get the first hand to showdown)
[ ] 500+ games
[ ] No websites/ims when playing
[ ] Don't play late night sessions (book your win for the day)
[ ] Don't play when tilting/tired
[ ] - recognize tilt and look to eliminate it quickly if in a game (few deep breaths, good posture)
[ ] Study other players games, learn from them

Life goals
[ ] Better sleep habits
[ ] Get my shit together with school - stop missing so many classes
[ ] Take better care of myself
- don't get sick

Effective stack sizes in a hu sng @ pokerstars

2009-10-05T23:18:00.002-05:00

Below is the effective stack sizes for the various levels in a hu sng @ pokerstars. I didn't include 100/200 since it is pretty obvious what the effective stack size is (I only included 50/100 for continuity sake going into 75/150).

The left side of the tables are the lowest stack size (the effective size) and the right is the corresponding number of big blinds at that particular blind level.

10/20

1500	75
1300	65
1000	50
800	40
600	30
400	20
200	10

15/30

1500

1300

43.33

1000

33.33

800

26.67

600

400

13.33

200

6.67

25/50

1500	30
1300	26
1000	20
800	16
600	12
400	8
200	4

50/100

1500	15
1300	13
1000	10
800	8
600	6
400	4
200	2

75/150

1500	15
1300	13
1000	10
800	8
600	6
400	4
200	2

Effective stack sizes are used for preflop raising size. Preflop raising size should be adjusted at the various levels based on these numbers. Otherwise you are giving yourself a chance to be exploited (i.e. if you your opponent is opening every hand @ 25/50 for a 3x size raise to 150, you can shove wide on his raises and show a profit)

75-51

3x from the button

(60@ 10/20)

50-31

2.5x from the button

(50@ 10/20, 75 @ 15/30)

30-13

2x from the button

(40 @ 10/20, 60 @ 15/30, 100 @ 25/50)

12-1

Limp/Push/Fold

(Adjust off game dynamics)

So maybe next time your playing try not to think of it as, "He's got 1,300 chips." But maybe as, "Ok, he's got 26 big blinds and since he is the lower of the two stacks that is all that matters."

September wrap up

2009-10-01T11:02:00.002-05:00

It's always exciting on the first of the month for us poker players. Chance to recap, look back, look forward, and set some goals we aim to achieve in the coming weeks. Something about it actually being the first of the month, as opposed to a random day that gets us going and motivated to achieve success. First, however, I'm going to recap September.

I decided to cash off again this week, which brings me to a +$1,000 in cash outs for September. This means I'll need to grind a bit more $23 games, but it's fine. No rush to move up. I went through a very bad stretch early last week primarily because of the 6 man sng's. I bubbled like 5 in a row one night when I was playing late and decided it was time to get away from those for the time being. I was probably being a bit too aggressive on the button trying to get into heads up with a big lead and ultimately it probably cost me in some flips. I still plan to revisit these games sometime soon, but as of now I don't have a huge edge in those, just goin' to grind out some head's up games. During this down stretch I decided to re-read some of Colin Moshman's head's up book. The book is great and geared towards lower stakes head's up games. I started limping a bit more buttons, instead of bloating pots with marginal holdings and playing more 'small ball' tactics and it is definitely proving more successful.

I can look back and consider step 1 a success. I'm in the last stages of it now just improving my bankroll to begin playing at the $34.50's

I want to give some serious thought to my October goals before just posting away. Check back in a day or two for some more thoughts.

Rollin' along

2009-09-24T22:14:00.002-05:00

Nothing too major to report with, but figured since I haven't updated much this week I'd do so. I've been mixing in the occasional 6max game and I feel pretty confident in those. I think it is at least good to venture away from hu sng on occasions to expand my game a bit. It is strange how easy those games feel. There are hardly any marginal spots, whereas in head's up sng you can find quite a few along the way with some truly strange lines being taken.

Most of the 6max players aren't great at post flop play too, so having played so many hu sng's gives me an advantage that I've seen so many flops, turn, and rivers and have a pretty good grip on hand reading. I'm looking into a few training sites that specialize in 6 max and mtt's to continue to expand my knowledge base.

I've decided to implement a 3 buy in loss limit per session. It is something I haven't talked about, but I feel is very important. Doing this breaks up my play and lets me get up, and get away from the tables for however long I need to cool off. If I'm on the border of am I tilting or am not? I decide to go with the more conservative approach and get up for a bit. It can be as simple as going outside for a few minutes, taking a hot or cold shower to sort of "shock" myself awake, or any simple physical activity (throwing a football, baseball, going for a walk, etc.) I find this helps me a lot.

Cash off amounts to date:
9/10 :$250
9/17: $250
9/24: $250
------
9/24 total ----->$750 to date

I ideally wanted to finish step 1 by today, but if I can finish it off by Oct 1, I'll consider it a success. This leads me to a question of whether I should cash off again before the $34.50's. If I cash off again I'll be back down to $500 online and will have to increase my bankroll +$500 before I can attempt the $34.50's.

I'm leaning towards not cashing off again until part way through the $34.50's. Meaning that I will increase my bankroll playing $23's until I reach $1,000 online. Once this is established I will begin playing $34.50 games and then will make a small cash off after a few days. I don't know, as you can see I'm still undecided, but I am happy with the progress so far and excited to be moving up in limits, while maintaining my conservative approach.

Minor transition to 6max

2009-09-21T23:38:00.002-05:00

A friend of mine turned me on to trying out the 6max 1 table tourney's. I've always had a mild interest in playing these and decided to give it a try. I'm still playing the bulk of my games at hu sng's, but I think the 6 max 1 table have a positive in them as well, and can be a good change of pace for me at different times.

Obviously, being a primary head's up player I should have a pretty good edge vs most random 1 table opponents once it becomes a head's up match. Usually the blinds are pretty high compared to the effective stacks when this happens, yet you'll still see some bizarre plays I believe. These games are pretty straightforward ABC, don't require 100% focus 100% of the time which is nice in some light. Play position, stick to premium hands, etc. More or less casino cash game poker.

I know I still need to make major improvements on a lot intricacies of the 6 max games. Anyone who is interested in trading 6 max advice for some head's up advice feel free to leave me a message or send me a message on aim or 2+2.

I'm close to my 3rd cash off which could lead to an exciting day tomorrow, to see if I can finish off step 1.

Great Quote.. update

2009-09-20T01:24:00.003-05:00

"All of my good streaks and all of my bad streaks of every length and depth have had one thing in common. They did not exist in your mind. They only existed in my mind. And this is true for everyone’s winning and losing streaks. None of them actually exist. They are all mental fabrication, like past and future. Everything that ever happens happens in the present tense. But how can you have a “streak” in the present tense? You can’t. And therefore, if you are in the present tense, which, in fact, at this time, you are, then at this moment there is no streak in your life. There is no inherent existence to streaks. The streak is there when you think about it, and when you stop thinking about it, it goes away. It blossoms and withers, all in your mind. And when your mind invents a streak, you believe it exists, because you believe what your mind tells you. But the truth is there is only the hand you are playing."

Made my second cash off on 9/17, putting in a lot of volume lately. That gave me a $500 cash off week between 9/10-9/17. Not great results, however since. I made some shortsighted decisions in staking someone/loaning out a large portion of my online br. Luckly I was able to get it back a few days later, yet the stress of it was eating away at me. I have decided to not engage in such loans/staking agreements from here forward.

I hope to secure a good upcoming week and finish step 1 off relatively soon. I can't control how it plays out, but I need to focus 100% on every decision.

I think I may start to re-read some of colin moshman's head's up book again. I'm contemplating that I may be burnt out on poker in a sense and that I'm forcing volume. I'm excited to play, but maybe my ideas aren't fresh enough in my mind when I sit down to run a session and its leading to average results... as a result.

I do feel that I am running below expectation lately. But I think when you have the equation of running not hot + too many games + not enough sleep = average results.

Lastly, I am looking for other hu snger's in the 22-55$ range to discuss ideas with, exchange hh, post questions, etc. If you are motivated to improve, leave a comment on the blog.