Time to Practise What I Preach

If truth be told I haven't been playing all that much of late and that's why the blog hasnt had much in it. So that's the apologies out of the way.

If I'm totally honest its been because of a few reasons. First is because i have blown a shit load on cash games trying to develop a decent game, a game i know needs alot of direction, and the second reason with playing so badly at the cash games i play tournaments like a cunt. Its as though I take i use the tournaments for tilting after playing like a twat in cash.

So rather than carry on feeding the sharks i decided to take all the poker software off my pc and stop playing altogether until my frame of mind was right and do what i find as a great help, look at what I'm doing that's costing me my bankroll. Turn to the pro's for the answers.

Now this probably sounds very straight forward you might say to yourself but i find that opening up the poker pages that Ive learnt the game from start to go over the fundamentals and gives me a chance to analyse what the differences are between my game at the minute and the game I made money from.


My successful game =

1. Playing lots of tournaments but single tabling


2. Playing sit and gos around the $20 stake and not roaming the levels


3. Playing no more than 2 sit n go's at once


4. Playing tight solid sit n gos early and loose aggressive late on


5. Tournament play being playing tight solid first couple of levels then lots of small ball afterwards


6. Over all game is successful by being very observant at the tables I play, paying attention to what poker office is telling me about opponents. My discipline in tournaments and willingness to learn and change my game where i find necessary. Following the fundamentals and applying correct betting strategy's where necessary allowing me never to get tied to a hand. Stealing and probing my way around a field and not getting involved in to many coin flips.

My unsuccessful game=

1. Playing lot of cash at levels where i think my bankroll can withstand but constantly losing
2. Playing tournaments to try and recoup my loses in cash
3. Multi tabling in sit n gos
4. Raising too much pre flop in most situations
5. Getting involved to early in sit n go's and tournaments before finding out what my opponents are up too
6. Having no chip management at stages when others are venerable and i have an advantage just because of the size of my stack
7. Roaming levels in sit n go's
8. Roaming levels in multi's
9. Not playing a fundamentally sound game

So its obvious the areas Ive been going wrong of late so what are the problems

1. Get the books out and start reading
2. Stop playing cash games
3. Stop multi tabling in sit n go's
4. Stop multi tabling in mtt's
5. Correcting the fundamentals
6. Don't roam the levels
7. Start paying attention to poker office statistics
8. Be more observant at the tables
9. Make time to play poker instead of just when i get a chance
10. Controlling my chip management in tournaments
11. Don't go on tilt by playing another game/ switch off pc

These are all the things Ive come up with on analysing my game at the present and the game of past. The difference in results of these two games are very different.

Success game equals making a steady income and enjoying the benefits off milking fish online. Recent game equals feeding the sharks on a cash and not giving myself a chance to in mtt's by playing like a cock.

Conclusion=

Q. why is my cash game crap

A. on doing this analysis digging through the pro's books and sites and reading up on fundamentals I noticed a very important thing. Everything I enjoy reading about is in regards to tournament play. Things like making moves, spotting weakness, chip management, changing gears, the importance of your blinds etc etc. None of the study I'm doing has anything to do with cash games what so ever. Its so fucking simple and its there staring me in the face day in day out and i couldt see it, because i wasn't looking.

I've been reading Harrington on holdem this last week vol. 3 and its a cracking book. Its a must for anyone who has never read it. The book deals with the fear of flopping and such scenarios and problem based.

Well thats been my agenda for the last few weeks and just started to play again with a minimal bankroll. So if you spot me on a cash table over the next month do me a favour instead of taking all my money, give me a bit of stick about being crap and try shame me into leaving the table..... Honest you will be doing me a favour , a big favour...

Since doing my home work I have loaded back on the pc with immediate success. Sit n go's i,m probably level with perhaps just up a little and in mtt's I have cashed second in the $17.5 on Blue Square and gone deep very regularly in other big multi,s....

As far as dealing with the TILT factor. What i do is keep Harrington close to me and when i get a bad beat that seems hard to deal with the pc goes off and the book gets lifted for him to reassure that things where played correctly.....

Just keep telling myself that when I go out on some unlucky scenario it just means the bastards have to get lucky to beat you ..........

until next Skipper................................