Quick Update

Thanks for the comments on my last post. I'll take them on board

I've not played too much of late for a number of reasons mainly due to losing a lot of my enthusiasm and focus which hasn't happened for a while. I've played alot this year up until the last week or so and am going to take a break for a few days probably call it a month and start again next weekend with renewed determination and focus all being well.

I'll spend the next few days doing alot of analysis of my game and also my opponents in particular concentrating on putting people on hand ranges etc. Also posting a lot of hands on the forums because I haven't done much of that of late either.

I also plan on catching up on the Group blogs and video's etc which I've not been too good at of late and I apologise for but also spending a few days not even thinking about the game at all.

Will this Ever Stop!!!!

WARNING SERIOUS MOANING POST

For the most part this month had been going ok I was down slightly which was not a big issue as my stats were pretty reasonable and had a sweat session with Vili the other day when we went through my Poker Tracker and that looked ok. However, the last two says have been horrible and I am so fed up that I really am starting to seriously think that I'm not cut out for this.

I've only played 700 hands yet managed to lose nearly 5 buy ins. I know this is being results orientated but I am totally fed up with putting the hours in studying the game and not seeing any returns. This has been going on for too long now and I really don't know what to do. May be I need to change the way I study I don't know. What's even more annoying is that I could probably have got away with these losses but me being me decided to carry on with hands when I was probably behind. Any way here's the carnage in more detail: -

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2094046

The other player in this hand was playing 81/4/1.18 his Agression Factor increased from the flop to the River, which is not really the issue here, my concern is with my Turn Play. Why the hell did I not just fold to his bet. People keep telling me that I want to be playing against player's with these kinds of stats and I am looking for player's playing like this but most of my losing hands are with this type of player because I never give them any credit.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2094069

On this hand why did I decide to push the flop the board is too dangerous. I should either have just called or folded. He's playing 33.89/13.27.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2094116

This is against the same player as hand 1 and the worrying thing here is that I never even saw the flush coming I thought we may be splitting the pot.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?2094097

This is just standard and I'd do the same here every time.

OK moan over for know no doubt it will continue soon but hopefully not.

If any one sees me at a table tonight please give me as much abuse as you like because I don't plan on going any where near a poker site for a couple of days.

Sorry for the negativity.

January Report Card & February Goals

Here's my graph for January, and as you can see, I had a horrible start and end to the month which I have posted about previously but the rest of the month I was reasonably happy with what I did. Unfortunately, the bad finish to the month has made it a losing month from my play but with Rake back and Bonuses, and a bit of profit from the few tournaments I've played, I'm in profit overall.



The bulk of the losses came over a couple of sessions last weekend at Sun Poker but on Full Tilt where I've been playing most of this month, I am in profit overall although 50NL has taken a bit of a hit lately there.



My VPIP is a bit tighter than I would have liked whilst adjusting to 50NL but I've opened up a bit at the new level lately and should see that over 18 this month although I am going to have to be careful at 50NL and if I take too much of a hit (3/4 buy ins) which I don't plan on happening then I will move back down again.

There are a couple of things that I think I need to look at which are: -

Am I too tight out of the blinds when someone is attempting to steal from me?

My won $ at Showdown stats are good, but I don't got to Showdown that often, is this a consequence of my playing style?

I've alluded to this in a previous post, but Agression Factor is an area I want to look at this month, I think my Flop Agression in comparison to the other streets is way to high. I want to get these closer together which I think is a consequence of c-betting and shutting down if I meet with resistance. Maybe I should be double barrelling a bit more or delaying the c-bet until the Turn on occasions. Obviously this will be situational.

Position Stats



The reducing VPIP from the Button downwards is ok although I think I need to increase by a couple of percent on the Button, C/Off and UTG+1. I also need to sort out what is happening on the Cut Off as that has been a bit of a disaster.

February Goals

• Start out the month playing exclusively 50NL but with a strict stop loss limit of 4 buy ins before moving down
• Continue the ongoing Studying I am doing there's so many resources available to me I need to utilise them more than I am doing.
  
• Participate in a t least 1 Sweat/group session a week
• Try and watch and learn from 3 video's a week
• Focus when playing i.e. don't get distracted by the Internet etc.
• Read Elements of Poker & The Poker MindSet
  

Area's of The Game To Work On

• Table selection and analysis of tables when playing
• Post Flop Play in particular improve my Turn Play because half the time I don't know what to do if c-bet doesn't go through
• Have a plan for each hand not just react to what is happening on the time
• Hand Reading
  
• Stop making stupid calls when I know I'm behind
• Take my Time

Ok that will do it for now, good luck every one for February