can fixing one leak make a major difference to your winrate?

over last 20,000 hands i've been cleaning up at PLO4. MY OM wasn't working, and i had this feeling i was just running hot.


but then i got it fxed and while i'm slightly EV + IT'S Negligible. over last 20,000 hands i've made 20bb/100, my EV IS 18.

now the main thing i've done is just to stop calling OTR.

i also stopped betting 1/2pot 3/4 pot OTR v CS's. just FP bets now.

but that aside i really think it's the willingness to let fish bluff me sometimes is the major reason my winrate has shot up. You'd be amazed at what they'll try if yu allow yourself to be bluffed occassionally.

i'm not a very advanced player but i can comfortable say that working hard to reduce your c-game mistakes will definitely give your winrate a nice little bump. i wouldn't worry about working on advanced moves, just try to work hard on removing the ******ed and silly stuff....like getting it in way too light, barreling too much, playing bad hands oop...

20k hands at plo4 is probably enough, try to move as fast as you can to plo25 where rake won't be a such a huge factor anymore. rake will still be big, but not that huge.

great post, i just think that caffeine doesn't help much, it tends to stop my brain from deep thinking, maybe it's just me?

also after food seems to not work for me, especially big meals. I think that hungrier i am better i play.

xmas time and all

anyone who'd like to share experiences with starting mediation?

things like is it more fruitful to do it in the evening/morning, how long is your "session", what kind of setting do you have for it (sitting on the floor/chair?)...

i have tried it now a couple of times but i have been very restless for the 10min sessions.

the best time to do it is first thing in the morning before your mind starts to get super active. you should be awake and semi-alert, not like 1 min after waking up. the evening is ok but you usually just have so much on your mind that it can be hard to concentrate. best thing about early morning is that it helps you stay a bit more mindful the rest of the day

when i'm practicing well, it will be like 5 minutes after i wake up. enough time to go to bathroom, take medicine, get some water, then i'll ask myself if i'm awake and ready. i often sit on a blanket or comforter on the floor next to my bed, and use the side of the bed to help keep the erect but comfortable, dignified posture. candles and other scent props are useful to help me get in the mood. my sessions are usually 10-20 minutes unless i feel really good and can go longer. the more u practice, the more comfortable it is to sit longer

very normal to have restless sessions, especially at the beginning. just do what u can, try to push yourself to sit thru some of the anxious/restless moments and really be observant to how your body feels and what exactly is going on in your mind. this is who you are. you'll have these from time to time or even often sometimes, just watch your thoughts and be the unbiased observer that your ego/mind doesn't want you to be

the biggest biggest biggest key is to make sure you do it everyday. sick, tired, hungry, w/e. very easy to get out of the habit if give yourself an excuse to take the day off. and really, the 10-30 minutes u spend observing your body, your mind, your breath, your surroundings, or something you wish to contemplate during the session are far more important than anything else. it's kinda like the saying "working to live vs. living to work", we should treasure "living to live"

QFT

the more you do it the easier it gets, even if you dont put a good session in, being in the mindset and routine will help you progress fast.

Someone taught me to do it laying down, which ive been mixing in(my usual posture seem similar to passing).
All i do is lay down and usually use a largish book to prop my head up, arms out to the side, knees up and touching, feet pigeon toed so the big toes are touching.

Best advice i can give is keep at it. Keep trying the different techniques and find the one that you feel the strongest sensation with and concentrate on that.
Another thing that made it easier for me is after a min or 2 of concentrating on your breathing make your body go limp and heavy.

very nice, thanks a lot. really helpful stuff , knew i could count on you guys

i have a small problem to do it in the morning because my gf is running around the house looking for her stuff. maybe i just gotta wake up 15min earlier, put the coffee machine running, meditate 10min, take a shower + coffee and get to work.

Session length isn't important, even five minutes is plenty in the beginning. The key is trying to make it a habit like passing said.

Restlessness is just the nature of the mind. It's there. Don't bother trying to fight or wish it away. At this point you're really just learning to observe the fact that restlessness exists.

you're right.

oh btw, when do you know to stop? i read somewhere that you should have a timer ringing after the desired lenght is over. seems somewhat silly to me, i'd imagine that you are running good with your session you might wanna carry on for some extra time but if it's not going so well, cut the losses and get out.

Timers are good if losing track of time while sitting is a bad thing (ie. you're busy), or if you later want to make your sessions longer without the disheartening "I'm SURE it's been half an hour already" peek at the clock after 8 minutes.

i like these ones a lot (from Tsajajajaja's link earlier itt)

I haven't meditated for years (for shame).

but here's a tip.

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE BREATH.

do not fight your thoughts.

do not try to NOT THINK.

simply every time you have a thought watch it and gently return to focusing on your breath.

keep doing this and the mind will give up.

it really is that simple Nap. (well it was for me anyway)

Meditating is great. I personally do it in the morning, and then try to always get in a session before I play any poker. I sit up against a couch as well, wearing something comfortable (boxers and a blanket in the morning). If you have an Iphone, download the naturespace app. Lots of relaxing sounds. I don't really set an amount of time to go for, I just go for as long as it feels right I guess. It becomes easier as you practice more as well, so don't get discouraged if you're having trouble focusing or feeling restless in the beginning. Making it a habit is very important.

Side note, anybody do yoga regularly? I've had trouble creating a habit out of it, probably because it kicks my ass every time I try. But it seems like doing it regularly would be really beneficial, especially if you're a poker player like me who spends way too much time in a computer chair. It also helps you focus on breath and awareness.

a few more Qs about meditation:
i did a 10min session this morning and went a bit like this...
*sit down, relax and the timer is already running (~8min left)
*try to focus on breathing, taking deep breaths
*hear neighbours talking right behind the window
--> get slightly annoyed by that
*try to focus on breathing again
*hear another neighbour opening the electronic garage door which sound annoys me
*try to focus on breathing
*it gets silent outside
--> feeling really good and in peace
*neighbours talk again
--> i start thinking "i need to ask 2p2 guys about these distractions"
*focus on breathing again
*nice silence for a while
--> start thinking "i wonder what the 2p2 guys will say about the distractions"
*getting slightly annoyed about the runnings thoughts
*focus on breathing again
*timer rings and i get up, get my coffee and go see the tired heat on the 1st Q vs nuggets..some terrible decisions by wade.

...sounds familiar when starting meditation?

i was at a yoga class before in a busy hotel. when we came to the meditation the teacher would advise us to focus on the noise for a little while.

she would also say that after a little while you'll realise that all it is unimportant noise and it'll melt away into the background. It did too after a ittle while.

I don't mean this to sound critical napsus but it sounds to me like you're trying too hard. I did it too. Fortunatley i had a good teacher when i began practising meditation . it helped a lot.

An idea that might help could be to do a yoga or meditation class to help you along. if you can't find a class maybe a cd that will help you along.

thanks for the tips, appreciate it.
that's exactly the problem, trying too hard and not being able to relax

@napsus: it may sound strange, but try to focus on your perception of the sounds or stuff that annoys you. Dont try to push it away and "forget" about it, but allow it to be there and watch your thoughts, make it a part of the meditation. Also dont even try to be peaceful or relaxed, be whatever it makes you, maybe even angry, but dont react, just observe your reaction and also how your body reacts. Maybe with tension in the neck or belly area or whatever. Just watch it. Imo its even best to forget about the relaxation as a main goal, just observe yourself for a couple of minutes. Hope that helps.

There is a cool speech by John Kabat-Zinn at a Google office about meditation, you may want to check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nwwKbM_vJc

I like these alot

Me too, particularly the first one.

very nice advice, thanks a lot. makes a lot of sense....can't remember how many days i've done the meditation now, probably 8 or 9, but everytime i've felt restless and annoyed. i think your advice helps me understand the process a bit better again. cheers!

i'll check the vid later on

This happens to everyone, and it's amazing! Because when you really think about it, it's pretty hilarious that the mind sees everything as annoying hindrances to "MY meditation time". The mind wants things to be a certain way, and when reality in its usual manner fails to comply to our wishes, we become angry, as if we genuinely expected things to go exactly as we desired.

This is at the root of all suffering, our wanting things to be different from the way they are. Meditation practice is basically learning to accept reality as it is, which tends to lead to peace, since you are no longer bothered by things you can't change, like your background noise. So if you keep at it, eventually some day you'll start to just let things be.

Neighbours being loud - okay, that's the way it is at this moment.
Some small pain arising in the leg - okay, let there be a little pain.
Mind is restless, or annoyed and judging - okay, that's the nature of the mind. It will pass.

In the beginning, a lot of this learning happens in hindsight. Noise occurs, followed by annoyance, followed by judgement when you realize you weren't able to accept the noise with a neutral mind, then you're annoyed at the judgement, and so on. It's okay, this happens. But after the process has finished, you can use hindsight briefly to observe what happened - oh, just the mind again with its usual reactions. Back to the breath.

Acceptance is basically a skill to learn, like any other. It will spread from meditation to everything. Bad weather today? Okay, that's the way it is, no point fighting it. Dress warm. Laptop/phone/car broke down? Okay, so it broke. That's simply what happens to possessions, they're impermanent just like everything else in the world. Downswing? It's how it is. Acceptance is the path to tiltlessness.

Good luck with the meditation. =)

^^^

+1.

wise words

the funny thing is that in normal life i accept things very well as they are; idiot colleagues, ****ed up weather on vacation, gf wanting to watch turkish soap operas every night, picking up thai food and noticing they made the wrong dish etc.

it's only with poker and meditation that i seem to have these issues of ego, like my time during meditation and my EV line where my real winnings should be! then funny thing with EV is that i feel like i am entitled to win and when i run over ev, i am more willing to give money to charities or homeless people begging for money because i don't "deserve" that money. i know, it's ****ing stupid, but that's how my mind works. i've been spending really a lot of mental energy in the past months to get over this, but little progress has happened.

anyway, i'm hoping that through meditation, self awereness and being more logical in my thinking, these things would change. i also read the jared tendler book through twice already but somehow can't bring myself to really learn from it and execute the things he suggest. great book, but super frustrating experience for me.

thanks a million for the awesome post