6 +3 = 9

Raising Pots

Following on from last week I have been surfing down a fairly slippery downswing this week which has affected every part of game. Poker is a game that requires many different skill sets, and a huge one is the mental side of the game. Now, I'm not referring here to getting your aces cracked by some donkey then going tilt monkey and spewing buy-ins all over the place, I'm talking about playing your 'A' game but just having the worst of it. Hitting a set and losing to a higher one or a concealed straight, those kind of hands. It just seems when on a downswing there isn't much you can do right except grind through it and take as small a loss as possible. I was able to improve my mental frame of mind by watching some of Blackrain79's videos on dragthebar.com and realising that I am playing well I'm just getting unlucky. So, that said, I did implement some changes this week which I hope will have a positive impact in my game. Firstly I realised I was not isolating limpers nearly enough when I have position. In the words of Blackrain79 himself 'isolating limpers is winning poker'. Secondly, hence the blog post title, I have moved up from 6 tables to 9 nine tables. The affect here I hope is that my hourly rate will increase and therefore my profits. Thirdly, and I love this one, I have added a new note taking system whereby I don't actually take individual notes on players I just colour code them as fish, regs and nits so I can immediately see when table selecting those that I want to be on.

So the tale of the week:

Hands: 11,507
Hours: 23.00
BB/100: -0.79
$/hour: -$0.39
Total winnings: -$9.04
Total rakeback: $13.20

Total for the week: $4.16

So, as expected a slight losing week on the tables made profitable by rakeback. You'll also see I've added in a new stat ($/hour) as this is an important winrate indicator I have been missing out. I'm going to go back through previous posts and add this in.

Lifting Weights

Emotionally my heart hasn't been on the ball with the gym lately. I have been a couple of times this week and have had some good sessions. Have reduced the cardio I'm doing a little bit to ensure that I have the maximum energy for the weights. I find all too often I'm losing steam on the weights following an all too vigourous warm up. So, of course the cardio is needed and I will do it but will cut down on the warm-ups and maybe implement a cardio only workout once a week to keep the CV work up.

Have really noticed the lack of regular gym work in my overall wellbeing. My sholuder injury, which following some extensive physio and training, reall improved 100%. This past few weeks I have really struggled with the pain here so, my body is now talking to me and it's saying come on Pokerlifter, don't forget about me...I won't.

Dazed and Confused

Raising Pots

Devastating. Truly no other way to describe this week on the virtual felt. Just when you are riding high and thinking you're doing well, variance comes and reminds you that poker is never a solved game. Riding out a downswing with minimal loss is the key to being a winning player. I'm almost embarrassed to write up this week but here goes:

Hands: 8,083
Hours: 20.62
BB/100: -6.10
Total winnings: -$49.32
Total rakeback: $6.73

Total for the week: -$42.59

Yes, you're not misreading that. I lost a staggering 10 buyins this week. Never have I suffered such a loss and it makes me sick to the bottom of my stomach. I played bad on occasions and ran terribly. Flushes lost to full houses, sets to straights, full house to higher full houses, I was also slow rolled by some donkey with quads which really tilted me. I've forgotten my own mantra this week which is poker is about small edges. I'm confident that I am a winning player and that I will get out out of this rut. It's painful, it's deep but I have the heart and commitment to do it. I'm essentially a grinder. I can and will grind out my 4BB/100 over a month. I will because I can. This blog is important, getting this down on 'paper' helps to clear those demons.

Lifting Weights

After a really positive start to the week I got sick on Wednesday and Thursday and once again lost rhythm and motivation. I have a lot of odd working hours over the next month so am confident I can get in the gym and start to get some rhythm.

Two apologies this week, firstly that this blog is so short and rushed and secondly I still owe an October review. It's on its way dear reader complete with graphs and all sorts...