Trying to be a better poker player by implementing a plan.

I'm attempting to put into place a strategy that will help me play optimally. This will be something of a "dear diary" multi-posting endeavor where I will post the results of this implementation as I play and (hopefully) progress. Just a note before beginning, whatever the label is under my name due to the number of posts or whatever, I will always be aspiring as long as I am respiring.

How can I objectively assess how good I am quickly? Sharkscope, Google...other? These methods are not perfect and my expectation is that I won't be led (too far) astray.

Is there software that can emulate my playing style either by stating my playable hand ranges explicitly or by playing a neural net or AI based poker software?

One of the parameters I will be utilizing is the time and date when I play so that I can determine when my best results occur. This will tie into the "time value of money" concept where ROI relative to time will be a metric. Once I have established that then I can then begin analyzing the underlying reasons.

My proposed posts will be loosely based on the structure of the (non-poker) site, "Riemman for anti-dummies" (note the spelling).

The road to ruin is paved with good intentions but do not mind that get into a big game enjoy it and take it down do not gamble it all back after victory like I have done.
Can not stick to decent bankroll management plan note to self next time no more 25 in row 100 dollar spin n gos chasing that million dollar dream while living nightmare or ooh shiny tournament $215 I am registered bankroll at $400 before reg ect watching my AA all in preflop lose to miracle two outer right before the cash lol
One of these days I will crack it never lose hope
When you know you are good and are assessing it you will be sitting in Las vegas or somewhere similar with more money than sense dropping $10,000 in a game not even blinking win lose or draw good luck.

I like your post Hugh. And you are right about becoming a little dead inside when a big drop or rise in your variance no longer registers emotionally...if you are playing in the public area of the casino and this roller coaster happens the people around you make up for whatever you're not expressing. In the high roller area, there is no crowd [read distraction].
In both cases, the pit boss, dealers and players are almost always enjoyable company and the drinks are free. Win, lose or draw it's entertainment first.

Several things that I am working on:

Playing large games is too time consuming and not worth sacrificing the personal time required. With the varied short games available the upshot is that the larger buy-in and smaller field comes at the cost of a smaller hand selection to choose from, hence, this becomes much more risky which in my view is not an acceptable trade-off. This is not a happy path to follow.

Other stuff:
These posts are intended to bulk up my acceptability into the FC so here I am sprinkling them within the forum.

To improve my play, I am making notes on who, what game and site, time I played and observations. Although I am in the process of selecting and implementing some helpful poker software you cannot use those tools blindly so good player notes are important to confirm what the software has recorded. When I suspect there are players at the table using an HUD I can do some wild things to mess them up but if they are observant and have made notes then this is where it gets tricky.

I am also re-learning how to play RAZZ (nobody ever smiles playing razz) and the less popular games on PS and elsewhere just to be able to switch mental gears. When you are getting river-ed consistently with good cards the tendency is to lose your common sense and what I did was play the casino slots to engage in some actual lottery play...this is also not a very good path to tread. So, learning new skill-based games is a better way to go.

One thing that is a bit of a concern is when I sign up for game rosters I need to schedule my time around them...or when I play certain satellites I must play the scheduled game if I win or I lose the entry. In both cases, this is typical of the swirling vortices of doom that ensnare my personal time. At the moment, I am obligated to go through this process in order to obtain a particular threshold of poker activity after which I can be far more selective. In other words, I am aspiring to a level of play that is the least time intensive yet has a decent risk/reward payoff. I believe that there are some CardsChat members that have achieved this level of serenity based on some of the statistics I have viewed.

Here is a link to a thread that I found containing some hard-earned common sense.

How Much Money Can You Make Playing Poker?

This is one of the reasons why I am posting my approach in the initial stages so that anyone reading these posts in the future could see if I managed to succeed in my goal or if I went off the rails.

Hello.
Good ideas. I agree with you that a plan to achieve its goals and improve the game is necessary in any case. You can see your progress only over time. Good luck.

razz is a great game played a ton of it during fulltilt and pokerstars days,its great to have a plan,backed up with some practice and some book learning or some great u-toobe channels ,sometimes at least for me plans are not set in stone while working on one part of your game you,ll discover even more that needs work,no matter how long you played you,ll always be learning,i kinda stick to the basics I play way more live than online,so I work on that

in tournaments that I play most, I try to write down the players who play the most dirty, and I count for dates of losses and gains, I make a spreadsheet in Excel, I annotate observations that are very important. I'm having success.

if it works out your plan to share with us also want to improve myself

Recapping a bit, starting from scratch it's important to find the best value free rolls available and many of them a site specific. CardsChat provides free rolls AND is a great resource so I feel that it is important to become a FC member.

Playing free rolls, micro and low limit games I've managed a few wins (but many more losses) in the 3 person SNG. A 50 and 100 Euro win playing the 1 Euro game.

At 888, I was in a $1000 game with a $1 initial buy in (gif uploaded). During this game which had about 4 minutes to go and I was chip lead (I took out the player on the right) I made a big raise to the player in front and suddenly I lost my wireless internet connection. My connection icon still showed 100% but rather than dwell on this I ran and found my extra long ethernet cable and connected the router to my computer...this took a little over a minute and I was able to reconnect to the game. My hand was AQ and went all in. This was a Blast game and you are put all in..so the more chips the greater the chance of success. Unfortunately, the fellow had JJ and I was knocked out in 3rd place. I could have played it safe with a $600 chip lead but it would have been about a 1/3 chance. What would you have done?

Aside from this, I'm making player notes in the satellite games so that when I am up against whomever in the destination real game I'll have an idea of the kind of player they are. I had to leave the Great 8 tourney, one of the few satellites I've won, just before late registration ended due to an obligation. So if you're playing satellites, either make every effort to have a clear schedule or play one where you can bank the ticket or its value.

On a final note regarding playing and losing, if lost between 5 and 10 games sequentially in games I should be OK at then I stop regardless of the stakes involved and move into the games I'm learning to play where I can lose with confidence.

Tracking your results versus the actual time of day you play is good in that it will give you an idea of the types of players you are playing against at various times of the day. However, a more important thing to track would be how well you do on certain days of the week. The people who play on Fridays are may be more people who have deposited thanks to their paycheck rather than good players who earned their way up the levels. Also, someone playing on a Wednesday at noon probably doesn't have a job and plays poker all day every day. So yeah, track how well you do at certain times of the day, but cross reference that with how you do on certain days of the week.

I agree. Tracking what kind of people are playing at a certain time of the day, of the week...is important. I have improved my results in a certain game recently by watching for this. Today I also squandered resources and time because I played in games I shouldn't have entered. I lost some of my bankroll because I had to play a certain amount of qualifiers to enter a target game but I had several things I was taking care of at the time the games were on.

Presently I'm consolidating an overall bankroll strategy by retaining a sufficient amount of funds in the site (there is no interest earned as far as I'm aware) and banking the rest in several different currencies. I'm associating the actual value of the various points, coins and tickets I have with this and tracking the expiration dates of the tickets..like stock options.
Also associated is the potential value of the various free rolls I can play due to my player level, ticket entries acquired through play and free rolls offered by poker sites like CardsChat and Jackpot Free Rolls. Now, they may be free to enter but I have a particular hourly rate I expect to earn and if I obtain less than that then I have lost.

Clearly understanding the player point value system within the various sites is important. Some sites are better than others relative to my playing style, strengths and weaknesses. By constantly assessing the risk associated with the games I enter and the amount of points (read $$$ for rake) I need to generate within a certain time frame to retain or increase my player level is important in order to gain entry to 'invite only' games and larger free rolls. When I have some free time to play, I should be able to immediately assess where, what and how I should play to maximize my gain. Clearing your deposit bonuses and working through the various achievements, missions and so on is an important component of bankroll management...not by taking unacceptable risks but by having the patience and ability to recognize good value. For instance, what are the odds and of getting four of a kind AND a straight flush in a cash game? What kind of rake will you generate at the various stakes to earn $25 at Party Poker? You had better be good at cash games because to earn this bonus you are in it for the long haul.

Next comes scheduling of the games I have the free time to play and their entry fees, payouts and their level of difficulty in winning relative to the field and quality of the players. My probability of 'being in the money' in any of these games is directly related to who I am playing with. The more player specific notes I make the better my chances are of choosing weaker tables...conversely, following the sharks will also lead me to good hunting grounds. This is where I need to be sharp and selective. Poker tracking and reporting software will help in self assessment and assessing opportunities and although not perfect (there are countermeasures) they will be assets and not liabilities.

Two small additions for keeping a micro-stakes bankroll alive:

1. Before wagering money within sports betting or the casino, look over all the promotions first. You may qualify for reimbursement or get extra games by entering a bonus code with your first deposit. Red Kings has these offers which I missed.

2. Here is an email from Poker Stars regarding 'The Deal':
"Dear Polytarp,

Congratulations! You have won a share of The Deal's progressive jackpot – as a result, we have credited your Stars Account with USD 3.89."

By playing this game once every 12 hours (7 coins = 7 cents) you will qualify for a piece of the jackpot if it hits. Taking this win as a benchmark, my break-even point to play this game 55X. If a jackpot is won beforehand then I am ahead. If it takes more than 55 wagers (about 3 weeks) then this will be a losing proposition. If I had access to the frequency of jackpot wins and the jackpot amounts I would be able to fine-tune this wager.

Regarding poker software, here are several 'nibble' links that indicate what's out there:

https://www.pokerstars.com/poker/room/prohibited/
https://www.pokerstrategy.com/poker-software-tools/
http://www.rakeback.com/online-poker-tools/


I'm playing practice games without looking at my hole cards. My hole focus (pun intended) is on the other players and how they bet relative to the board and one another. If I can't figure out how to beat everyone regardless of what their cards are then I will never be good enough.

Weak players win only with strong cards (or dumb luck) but strong players can win with anything. Knowing how, what and when to bet is relative to whether I choose to play for the pot or lose that hand in a specific way playing to a deeper strategy..all the while totally focused on maximizing my potential winnings over the expected time frame of the game.

Regarding software use, the best indicated choice may not be my most likely choice of action because I will see how my software judges me (as other equally equipped players will) I will decide on the best counter play relative to my displayed statistics.

Finally, nearly all my present recorded games are free rolls or micro-stakes. My proposed hunting grounds are leaderboard leader infested waters. Years ago, player data-bases were bought, sold and traded and I expect the same situation today. Unless expressly prohibited, I will be prepared and practiced with the best possible tools I can get. As with chess or GO, it's not enough to play and master an error free game.

This is a one stop shop for all of your poker software needs:
http://www.pokersoftware.com/categories

I`m still working through the poker software thread in CC and noting what is available and what is prohibited. Regarding prohibited software, I still need to look at the FAQ area of the all the sites I`m interested in or contact support for a listing.

Basically, I`m looking at the design principles of the software and how they were implemented and if I can do the same thing without loading software onto a machine. I would like to play well online but I would also like to play well live.

Choosing your poker software wisely is important...just think, you could lose all your money AND be banned!
Here are two more sites that add grist to the mill:

http://www.thepokerbank.com/tools/
https://www.yourhandsucks.com/poker-tools/

Two plus two was one of my "go to" sites as well as bjmath years ago.
I'm still researching software and listing certain links I think others may find useful:
https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/45/software/

For anyone who may have used Wilson software (I did and I still have it.) they are out of business.
http://www.wilsonsw.com/

Good luck on your training, the more you put into it the more you will get out.

Thanks TeUnit.

As I'm exploring and assessing the software I would like to use during and after a game I've also been keeping tabs on how some stats reporting sites have recorded my play. Sharkscope has shown all the games I play including all of the lottery games (ie. 888 Club free all-in and Titan's Predictor). I've been playing a lot of free rolls and my style would be like the "Old Macdonald had a farm nursery rhyme.. "with a fold-fold here and an all-in there ..e i e i o."" The games were free and I could only play 1/3 hands on average but I would eke out a few pennies here and there. So, at this bottom rung relative to this kind of reporting, you can manipulate your statistics with the above style of play.

I'm transitioning now from a micro to a medium level stake with the attendant reporting. I still need to determine what high level players are using as software aids...if any. I don't wish to re-invent the wheel and I assume there must be some quick and easy way of doing this...watching twitch poker?

I should have stated that I was transitioning from freeroll/micro to low stakes and pushing the envelope towards the low/medium threshold. For instance, I bubbled on a PS Sunday Million SNG:
4rth from 26 players at $11 over 1.5 hrs. I noticed that the players reacted very quickly to what I won the pots with which made me wonder if there was a way to infer if anyone was using tracking software and what kind.

I am now ending my reporting in this thread. The baby-step generalities have been covered and if there are inexperienced players reading this then I hope what I have posted thus far has helped.

For the beginner's like myself here are a few more things that I feel deserve to be stated:

Look at this book: https://books.google.ca/books?id=QGSLeSIRl-QC&pg=PR1&lpg=PR1&dq=Varrone+online+poker&source=bl&ots=CuBdTWLaMG&sig=wRR3OtdcrxaT12OOCO9v5sZxphY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiQ95ThkPnbAhVpxYMKHZgTBj4Q6AEIODAD

Look at Figaroo2's "Poker Journey" and some of the other poker journey's posted in CC. I like Fig's the most because he is thorough!

Look at BlackRain79's site and posts/blogs. A very smart, shrewd and honest guy. His reporting consistently has the ring of truth. His hard-earned smarts are well worth the time to read and apply...but beware, he is in a special class of professional poker player.

To summarize, I believe I have chosen a good solid core of poker tools to invest in. A secondary toolkit is going to be run on another computer to analyse and report on the real games played. I sincerely hope that some of my intuitive plays will baffle and contradict the analytical side of things...these plays won't work in the long run and will be situational but I have seen enough to know that you must play on the wild side sometimes. Regarding poker information sites, free roll sites and forums...there is no such thing as a free lunch and as long as you are willing to trade some of your privacy and time for whatever benefit you feel is worthy then good luck to you. At least you are aware of your digital surroundings and are thinking about what you are doing rather than passively putting yourself at risk in more ways I can enumerate...your identity, your consumer preferences, your online signature (means and manner of communicating) and much more.

Some of my future posts in CC will report on how I have implemented in my poker research and you can check my progress on Shark Scope or the various leader boards.


Peace out for now

Thanks for the thread. looking forward to more as you move along your path in different threads.

GL

Here is another shared jackpot win from PS..2nd one.

"
Dear Polytarp,

Congratulations! You have won a share of The Deal's progressive jackpot – as a result, we have credited your Stars Account with USD 3.25.

Take another shot at The Deal and see what else you can win.

Good luck at the tables,

Stars Support
"

Not major but not bad and spaced about one month apart.

I have been playing these about (Canadian eh?) once every 4-6 days when I play the poker school scratch cards. My bankroll is between $2 and $20 on this site and this little bit helps.

Dear Polytarp,

Congratulations! You have won a share of The Deal's progressive jackpot – as a result, we have credited your Stars Account with USD 2.93.

Take another shot at The Deal and see what else you can win.

Good luck at the tables,

Stars Support


I have still not purchased PT4 or other software as I believe that I need to try some of the free (and legal) software available and work with it during games within the micro-level stakes that I am still playing in. Transitioning from micro to low stakes is much more difficult than I anticipated due to the small bankroll I have. I am trying to maintain sound bankroll management and play those free rolls I can, unfortunately, I have squandered many of these opportunities since I am multitasking with other things when these games are scheduled and am playing with 35% of my regular attention.


I have obtained level 100+ at 888 and am working towards the elite level, though much more slowly (thanks again Orsino12 for your great post regarding 888 levels..and good luck in the elite game today!). At Titan, their "Titan Treasures" is wonky - slot spins don't register properly and agents need to manually provide you with tickets purchased with gold coins which they state are provided automatically within 72 hours. The online support there is good (when available) but sometimes the requests need to be made in a very specific manner.


There are a few more things I would like to address but that is for another time. As I stated in a prior post, I am no longer "reporting" my progress in a step-by-step manner and instead will be posting "cherry-picked" noteworthy items here regarding what I have encountered at my level of play.

I managed to play (somewhat abysmally) all of the CC free rolls today with the exception of ACR which had a software issue that could not be resolved until the registration had passed. I enjoyed playing against some good poker players today, sorry for knocking you out Hugh at PP .. I managed to make it to 5th where my KK was taken out pre-flop vs Ax and the A hit. The PS regular free roll had more participants than the other sites and was harder to get into the money but I managed to put a few cents into my kit.

Nice thread man gave me idea to start planning better recording things so I can see why graph looks like it just jumped off a cliff lol.
shall keep documenting the disaster well done in pp game cashed there saturday was it so its all good.
least of worries pal.
The plan remains beast that sunday million and win 150k but reality is probably lose 150k first.
talking about losing with kk this one few hours ago couple of folds shy of the money should give giggle.
keep planning bud it is all good.
https://www.boomplayer.com/en/28559827_F84286AF18

Great thread Polytarp. I plan to read it continually.

Like any skill poker involves discipline, "if you don't use it, you lose it" as they say.

It is imperative to your success as a player to implement and maintain the changes necessary to overcome the mistakes you will inevitably make.

By making this thread you are keeping yourself accountable and things in perspective.

I absolutely admire you for being aware that you have limitations and that there is more to life than poker.

Am playing the PS CC free roll while writing this.

Sunday is the day when I try to enter the biggest games I can (via satellites) and play my best...but it was the opposite for me thus far. Many great opportunities were squandered due to impatience with a few minor placements here and there. This is where having a tuned piece of poker software to assist in the decision making process would have saved me from some of the bad decisions I made.

Though not a great day my tuition to poker school has been paid at the tables again to keep the online poker economy running smoothly.

Reflecting on yesterday's dismal performance I decided to list some of the basic checkpoints I touch on prior to playing the following day:

List the amount of currency (Euro, GBP, CDN, USD and bitcoin) held in each of the poker sites..including funds transiting in and out.
List the amount of currency held in each of the online wallets (Skrill, Ecopay...) as well as the destination bank accounts which earn interest. Awareness of timelines for funds to enter or exit as well knowing the processing fees incurred must always be included as a cost of playing online.

Site specific games where through my player level and the tickets (that won't expire before game day) I have I can decide which games to play. For example, Party Poker has a "Canadians only" daily free roll.
Forum specific games such as CC, Bankroll Mob, Jackpot free rolls and others where you need to sign up and which will help your bottom line without risking "outside" money.
Password sites which provide access to games you could not play otherwise.
Once you have reviewed what games you are eligible to play in and the associated timelines and associated prize pools and player fields you can decide what to play or scamp it all...the operative term is "opportunity cost." Is it worth it to invest your time to play these games or do something else.

Along with the above MTT's, it's almost imperative to play cash games and satellite qualifiers...especially at my penny ante level. Generating a certain amount of rake at cash games at certain sites is the ONLY way to gain access to free rolls (Red Kings for instance). At 888 and PP there are also other benefits.
The PS 3-handed SNG's are a great source for satellite tickets and though I have not been able to capitalize on them this is a good place to try to qualify for the bigger games. At Titan, ACR and PP and I'm assuming elsewhere, if you jump into a rebuy/add on game within the last 2-3 minutes and rebuy and add-on, you will have saved yourself at least one hour of playing time and have placed yourself in a great position to recoup your investment and then some. This does require pouncing at the right time though.

Final point, on 888 certain slot games seem to provide a positive ROI. Playing only the minimum 15 cent amount that qualifies for the big jackpot, I have found that a bonus game and/or a scatter occurs usually once (possibly more) every 75 spins. Because 888 uses this play to add to your player points I have increased my player level as well as making a small profit or losing minimally.

Subscribed, this is good content

I'm capping this thread and starting a new continuation thread. In the new thread I'm trying to set boundary conditions (minimum bankroll for each site and minimum online wallet contents) so that I can enter the games I need to. I'm trying to set up a global equilibrium relative to all the games available to me and what I should actually play. The 'critical path' to follow is by implementing some of the observations within this thread.

As always, it's OK to make big bets as long as you can take the big hits and still survive to play at the lowest stakes to work your way back up. It's not really OK to be stupid but as long as you and I are able to learn from our mistakes and improve and make different mistakes then there is still hope for us.