Started keeping a Poker journal

[klickitat]

Update for the last week... I took a first, a third and was 8th out in one game.

Really pleased with the 3rd place and the first was nice but it was only a 7 player game.

The 8th person out sucked, but it is typical for me. I started adding a new move to my game and each time I do this it takes me a while to get used to to it or should I say learn how to use it properly. I think the reason for it is that I get too focussed on one part of it or I do not understand how and when to use it properly. It can set my game back for a few weeks some times. If I can not figure out how to use a new move with in 4 or 5 games, I will usually put it away for a while and go back to it later.

Right now I have been try to figure out EV and how to use it. It is a tough concept for me to play at this point in time. I have burned through a few chips trying to speculate with the concept in my head, but not having much success with it lately. I really feel more like a calling fish when my plan does not work the way I would like it too.

 

[klickitat]

Something has clicked.

I have been playing good poker lately but something has changed in the last week. It seems that all the things that I have been adding have finally gelled into one cohesive game.

This week I played 22 - 45 person tournaments online and was in the money 18 times with 4 being first place wins. These of course were all play money tourneys on pokerstars.. However I went and played my regular Friday night tourney at the Eagles last night and took a first place out of 24 people. The best part was that when I made it to the final table only had 6 big blinds, improved to 8 big blinds and waited out everyone till I was heads up. At this point I was a 20:1 underdog in chips and I just flat out played my opponent. There was only one showdown at the end with my 3/3 holding up to win. I kept my foot on the gas with a few good laydowns and a couple strategic folds to make it look like I wasn't catching cards all the time, which I wasn't catching cards at all.

It is crazy that at each level of play I feel like I have advanced I look back and realize what a guppy I was and after a string of these successes, I am finally realizing that I am still a guppy and do not know what I do not know. I have a long ways to go.

On another note, I found a group locally who play every week and it is quite the organized group with the majority of them heading to vegas every year to play in the wsop events and a few of them have cashed. I play with 3 of their members on friday nights but did not know about their group until last night. I have become buddies with a couple of the guys and am going to try and work my way into the group hoping to find play that will challenge me further to improve my game. I figure if I donate $50 a week to a game with top notch players it will only help me in the long run. I really believe that I would make up any losses in my weaker games that I play in now.

In conclusion it was a great week with things really coming together.

 

[rule72]

Something has clicked.

I have been playing good poker lately but something has changed in the last week. It seems that all the things that I have been adding have finally gelled into one cohesive game....

In conclusion it was a great week with things really coming together.

Congratulations on the improvements.

I looked back at your first post and you started the journal the last week of April. I know you've been playing longer, but this journal only reps about 2-1/2 months and I've been on a heater and I've been repeatedly crushed while playing well for longer spells than what you've been tracking in the journal.

So be sure and keep up with the journal and you'll do well and keep improving.

 

[BlackJesus]

I would prefer to keep track on lessons learned, not the overall experience. Experience in casinos/tournaments as such may serve a purpose, keeping track of observations/lessons learned could serve another purpose. Personally I split them, I do not mix them together. It is important distinction!

 

[klickitat]

I would prefer to keep track on lessons learned, not the overall experience. Experience in casinos/tournaments as such may serve a purpose, keeping track of observations/lessons learned could serve another purpose. Personally I split them, I do not mix them together. It is important distinction!

good point. I just have been keeping everything in one journal and only have been putting highlights on here. I usually talk about lessons learned on here, but I had an exceptional week where everything just seemed to gel.

With that said I took a bad setback tonight and played a horrible game.

I have made mention before that I am retired but what I have not mentioned it is due to medical reasons and tonight I was not in good physical health. I can tell you that it is hard to pay attention and keep your mind in the game when you are in a lot of pain. This was only a league game and no money was invested, but I did figure out that if I am not in good condition it is far better to stay home.

 

[klickitat]

Sorry for not keeping up on my posts on this thread. I have been keeping up with my journal, but not on here so I thought would update a little.

First I would like to say that I am getting ready to start a new journal this week as I reached a goal and my old journal had some data missing and reads more like a book than I would prefer now. It was good at first but now is getting to the point and not so easy to go back and get the data I am looking for. Also it was good for me to reread some of the stuff in the early days but I seem to be past that now and it almost seam childish. It is amazing to see the growth in just a few months.

Second reason for changing over to a new journal is that I want pure data in the new journal. I have made the transition to a mix of both cash 1/3 NL game and tourneys. I have been spending more time making notes on players than anything else. I also have been putting in notes on hourly rates and such. The cash game has only been part of my weekly for the last 3 weeks and trying to keep up with everything in my journal now is just getting messy.

So journal is changing for me and do not see any reason to keep up on posting it here. I will more than likely just ask questions as needed on the forum.

So end update. As of 7/31/2016
I stopped going to my tuesday game. Reason was the dealer rake was outrageous and I hated the hyper style game change. It was set up so that the dealer was making as much in the night as a winner of one of two games played in a 4 hour period. It was just ridiculous and favored the ATC players.

In the last 10 week series at the Eagles, I took two first place finishes, two second place finishes and three other money finishes along with a first out of tourney finish. I then took first in the championship game last Friday. After all expenses and buy ins, I cleared just a little over $1300. The championship game was more than 50% of that total.

The start of the cash game was shaky the first 5 games until I started to figure the difference between tourney play and cash game play. As of this last week I figured out the differences I believe and things have settled down a little. I turned the corner from red to black. What did I change? Well I basically went extreme in TAG mode. I tightened up more and went super aggressive. This was because there is just too many ATC and river lunkers at the casino where I started playing. This also allow me to steal some strategic hands after a good hour at the same tables. I really start picking on the weak players. I am also avoiding the really good aggressive players even with fair cards unless I am holding top 5. Before anyone jumps me on that move. The game might be a 1/3 NL game but 6-8 x bb is a typical bet pre flop for the regular sharks in this room. There about 4 or 5 guys that just chew the fish up. I found that if I just go Super TAG and stay out of the way I can pick and choose my spots where I can get my small piece of the feeder fish. It gets to the point where I make a sizable bet and the sharks will back off and let me have a bite or two. I really feel like a scavenger who is allow to clean up the left overs now and then. It is slow money but steady. I have found that position is the 100 times more important to me in this setting than in any tourney that I have played. People just seem to play so differently in tourneys because the whole game and any money is on the line, but with these skilled LAGs who are so aggressive they quickly build stacks far bigger than the $300 buy in off of the fish that they become a huge menace. Last Saturday, I seen "Bald Beats" get nail on a bad beat by a calling fish. He just calmly whips our a horse choker wad and rebuys. He then proceeded to relentlessly pick on that same fish running him out of the game in less than 30 minutes. Bad play was loved by some, but if you made a bad play and won, look out!

OK, getting a little off track here. So as of right now. I am starting a new journal. My PI (poker income) has exponentially improved, but it is throwing my averages off. I need to start over and keep track of my tourney winnings and my cash game winnings. I also need to keep hourly rates for my cash game along with notes on specific players,

I have a goal to become semi pro by the end of the year. To me that is a net gain of $300 per week. By net gain, I mean after all gas, food, drink, buy ins and any misc. expenses. As of the last 10 weeks , I am about half way to my goal. Now that I have settled into my cash game play, expect to make my goal. Now that is not to say that there is not going to be setbacks, but with good money management, those setbacks should not hurt too bad.

A couple more things before I let go of this long winded update.

I decided that 10% of all net winnings go into my investments. Period. If it is not in play, then I can not loose it. If I lost my bankroll today, well I am still net over from when I started, I can not loose.

I also decided that a small pretty and an occasional weekend for my wife is money well spent from my winnings. I need to keep my wife supporting my game and I believe it is money well spent.

Lastly. Education. I was once told that a man should spend 10% of all net earnings on books as an education will make and save you way more than you will spend. This was when I was working the antique shows. It was great advice then I still believe it today. The best part about today is Amazon. I can buy books for a fraction of the cost. I have also invested in a trainer program. If things keep going well and I make my goal by the end of the year, then I do plan on going to a school or two next year,

Last thing. Cardschat has been a huge help to my success. I have learned a lot on this forum and love this place. This is just the beginning for me and as I learn I realize every day how much more I still need to learn.

 

[rule72]

First I would like to say that I am getting ready to start a new journal this week as I reached a goal and my old journal had some data missing and reads more like a book than I would prefer now. It was good at first but now is getting to the point and not so easy to go back and get the data I am looking for. Also it was good for me to reread some of the stuff in the early days but I seem to be past that now and it almost seam childish. It is amazing to see the growth in just a few months...

Congratulations on the continued success!

You've laid out a very good plan so I only have a suggestion and minor comment/question.

I think you could continue to keep a journal more "like a book" and add more and different data as you grow. I've done this and like you the first journal seems childish compared to now. I have added data, but I maintain two different EXCEL spreadsheets for the data analysis. The first is mostly results oriented, the second is error analysis (blind to the results). These days I'm more focused on the errors. I look at In-Pos vs. o-o-p and multi-way vs. heads up and the various combinations.

How many tournaments have you played since you started the first journal? I don't think you've run into an extended period of poor results, like for a couple months. It will happen especially if you decide to move up the stakes. So all your work will help you confirm if you're running bad or playing bad, very difficult to know without the story in the journal and data in the spreadsheet.

GoodLuck

 

[vassiriki]

im starting to think this as a must. i don't look back how i played in the past meaning i don't learn from my mistakes. this sort of thing would've deffo helped me to improve my game

 

[klickitat]

I think I made way faster gains with it than without for sure. You tend to really tear apart everything you do and go over things again and again. Also when you write it down you tend to remember lessons learned much easier and faster.

 

[wagon596]

That seems to be a good idea. I don't play live but once every few months. But maybe keep one for my online play. Thanks for the idea.

 

[klickitat]

Congratulations on the continued success!

You've laid out a very good plan so I only have a suggestion and minor comment/question.

I think you could continue to keep a journal more "like a book" and add more and different data as you grow. I've done this and like you the first journal seems childish compared to now. I have added data, but I maintain two different EXCEL spreadsheets for the data analysis. The first is mostly results oriented, the second is error analysis (blind to the results). These days I'm more focused on the errors. I look at In-Pos vs. o-o-p and multi-way vs. heads up and the various combinations.

How many tournaments have you played since you started the first journal? I don't think you've run into an extended period of poor results, like for a couple months. It will happen especially if you decide to move up the stakes. So all your work will help you confirm if you're running bad or playing bad, very difficult to know without the story in the journal and data in the spreadsheet.

GoodLuck

I have played 32 tournaments since I started keeping a journal. With that said most of those have been played at a weekly soft game. I also play two others where play is a lot tougher and I poke my nose in those once a month and use them as a gauge. I have moderate success in those two games.

The biggest change for me is playing cash games. I have played in 12 games in the last month and actually find them to be a lot easier to win because it is not an all or none. I can play as slowly as I like with no pressure and just pick on the fish.

I like the idea of keeping the journal for loss reflection. This was the most useful part of the journal. The thing is that I analyze my hands almost instantly upon playing them and pick out my mistakes and go over them while sitting in the game. It has become second nature and I do it without thinking about doing it.

I used to build racing engines at one time and I always said you learn ten times more from blowing an engine up than you do building a good engine without blowing it up. When you destroyed an engine you know exactly where the weak link is and you know every part that is good up to that weak link's breaking point. I say this because I like criticism and learning where I am weak.

Speaking of which, I have a friend who has been going to one of the csinos up north with me. Two weeks ago I mentioned to him a tell I picked up on. He would rapidly tap his checks if he had a good hand. He is a trapper and so likes to slow play big hands. So in turn he pointed out that the pitch of my voice goes up when I make a bet if I have a good hand. Kind of nice to have a buddy who helps improve your game too.

 

[rule72]

The thing is that I analyze my hands almost instantly upon playing them and pick out my mistakes and go over them while sitting in the game. It has become second nature and I do it without thinking about doing it.

You should write down details of hands in the game, but save the analysis for later. Time at the table I want to focus on the action whether or not I'm in the hand. Also, away from the table, even a day or two later, I've found more factors that I wouldn't have considered while at the table.

I used to build racing engines at one time and I always said you learn ten times more from blowing an engine up than you do building a good engine without blowing it up.

I worked in helicopter design...every primary or critical part is broken multiple times before it flys.

Speaking of which, I have a friend who has been going to one of the csinos up north with me.

You really need to have a poker buddy that is also interested in improving his game to bounce ideas off of and be involved in your hand evaluation. I've been doing coffee 1-2 x's a week with someone and a great asset to say the least. By the way the pros talk with their buddies about hands and strategies as well.

 

[widron2s]

I started my journal of session hours at money count. I usually play 40 x4 tables at 1 hour sessions and have had some serious swings i need to look at.