No problem dude, I'm here to help. Glad you found it beneficial.

Picking up my phone is one of my first warning signs of losing focus. I've gone back and forth on whether I should keep it at the desk or in the other room.

I think this is good. You could maybe also play 2 shorter sessions to maximize table time. Like if you have 4 hours, playing 2x 1.5hr sessions with a 30-60 minute break in the middle is certainly better than one 3 hour session, and likely better than one 2.5hr session.

Good points.

I use my phone timer for 15 minute alarm bell, but I have been putting the phone in airplane mode and signing out of Skype while I grind for the most part and I think it helps me stay present.

Good and bad day yesterday.

Early in the day I made a marginal river call again, and in this case I don't think it was tilty. I thought it through and wanted to fold but the guy just seemed too spazzy to click fold there in my estimation. Still, the way it played out I'm not sure if he actually has much spaz there. Got frustrated and took a break, and this time I did a better job of regrouping and returning to play good quality hours. Was fairly zoned in for a good portion of my grind after that.

I hit a stretch of positive variance, and went from slight loser to healthy winner on the day. Towards the end of session, though, I checked my cashier and was up 3800 and I've never had a 5k day and kind of started thinking about that. I ended up overplaying a hand at 5/10 shortly after that cost me a stack, and finished the day +2500. Still a nice win, but I was quite frustrated by the way session ended.

Two things to work on there:

MENTAL: Once I start looking at my cashier and thinking of a number that I "want" to win that day/session/month, I'm not in a good mindset and need to address the issue more seriously right away. Also, if I'm up on session and potentially looking at a big win, I need to be very cautious of winner's tilt and not get reckless because I'm up or because I want to hit some certain threshold.

TECHNICAL: When I'm not on my A-game (like winner's tilt last night), one thing I seem to do is have a tendency to overplay pair+flushdraw hands in spots where a more passive action really would more appropriate. It's something that I have learned to the point of conscious competence, but creeps up on me at times and is not yet in my unconscious competence.

I was mad at myself, and was tempted to sit and try to grind back that stack I had lost at the end. Instead I made the smart choice to wrap up session as planned, and I'm trying to actively learn from the mistake. That's all I can do. There is a lot of 2015 still ahead of me, and if I can use this as a chance to improve my winner's tilt for the next time I'm facing a potential big win, it will serve me well to do so in the long run.

48/1000 hours
4.8% complete

Just keep plugging away.

58/1000 hours
5.8% complete

what else can you do? you got this!

plus you'll be a better player and man for having to go through this month.

nice turnaround!

Thanks guys.

Looking back the downswing doesn't seem much of a big deal, but that's how it is with short term variance. It all seems very meaningful in the moment and not so much when you are a bit removed from the results.

On the whole, I feel like I did a good job of keeping an even keel and balanced approach on the way down and also on the way back up, so I'm happy in that regard. I learned a bit from it, and that will serve me well in the future.

Yep, it is the "in the moment" that challenges us mentally...much more than it should in reality.

I just saw that 'largest picture ever taken of the Andromeda Galaxy' photo that NASA released, and it kind of reminds me of that.

NASA PHOTO

The significance of a tiny spec of that photo is HUGE when you blow it up and look at it up close, but when you step back and look at the photo as a whole, it is as insignificant as any other little spec in the photo.

Nice turnaround boss! Had no doubt about it tho.

That run from 13.8 to 14.2.

Subbed! Glgl

good analogy, cool photo

thanks

ya that was quite the lucky run of cards

thanks!

Took the day off yesterday from the online grind to do some afternoon coaching and play in a low stakes home game for fun in the evening (O8 and a variety of made up games lol).

Ran pretty well again in the last session I played. I've been in a good groove lately, but running well always helps grease the wheels and makes it easier to stay on top of my game. On the whole I'm happy with my volume and approach and the quality and quantity of the hours I'm putting in.

64/1000 hours
6.4% complete

A few months ago, skraper shared with me something he read regarding procrastination (probably from The Now Habit but I'm not sure). He said, don't think about it like "I should play some poker today", as if according to some outside expectation I'm supposed to do something that I don't want to do. I WANT to grind a certain amount of hours, because I want the benefits. So, I can shift my mindset and make the CHOICE that I WANT to play.

That has helped me get over the hurdle of initial motivation to start up a session a few times, and then I can follow it up with the growth mindset approach of using that session as an opportunity to inchworm my C-game for the times I "wasn't in the mood" to play.

Tough day at the tables today. I ran kind of marginally throughout the day, and towards the end of session took a few bad beats and ended the day -$2500. On the bright side, I feel like I did a good job of sticking to good grinding processes, and made good decisions throughout the day, and quit right away when frustration mounted after losing that final stack.

I found a few spots to apply some minor things I'm working on in my technical game today, and it is good to see that even in the face of some negative variance I'm able to still go about my business and approach things the right way and keep growing. I never felt completely zoned in today, though, but I don't think I've ever felt totally zoned in while getting beat up. My A+ game tends to come mostly when I'm experiencing positive variance, or at worst some slightly negative overall variance. However, the quality of my B game and C game has come a long way and continues to improve.

The 15 minute timer thing is helping me. I find that by actively taking stock of my mental state, and then reminding myself of a couple very brief learning focuses, that it really helps me stay focused and on track and more interested in doing my best than getting a result. I have spent so much time grinding a certain way, that in order to make any actual changes to what I'm doing I need to do something actionable like this to keep the concepts in the forefront of my mind.

79.5 hours
7.95% complete

A good habit I've picked up is making sure I reset my posture every 10-20 minutes, especially making sure my shoulders aren't tensed up, breathing and all that.

reading your thread you seem to have a very good approach to the games, I will definately follow, good luck with you goals in 2015!

Ya same idea, I think a periodic reminder to ourselves to "do it right" is helpful, whatever it may be that we are working on

Thanks!

Way back when Dan and I were in the 6g1p study group dan did a presentation about "The Other Stuff" which covered a lot of things that would help everyone make more money at poker without actually getting better at poker. One of the many things covered was the posture check. I remember making a bit of a joke about it in study group sessions after that like in mid sentence would just say "posture check!" Heh. good times.

Ouch, took another rough one on the chin this afternoon. Played about 1.5 hours and lost about 1.5k, encountering a variety of bad beats and tough spots. I misplayed a few small pots. I hung in there trying to use the session as an opportunity to inchworm, and it took me quite a while to get back to a solid mental/emotional state, but I did get there eventually. I think it was hard to recover today because I was hoping to "erase" yesterday's result with a good start today. I do think my decision making on the whole remained sound. I looked over some hands after the session to try to keep mindful of improving and staying sharp. I'm going to take a break and regroup and play some more a bit later.

Another losing session, I'm down about 3k on the day now. I think I will take a break and try to play one more short session for practice at getting in quality volume in the fact of adversity. I played OK, not my best but pretty good I feel. I stuck to good processes, and at the end when I made a clearly poor river bluffcatch for $100 out of spite I quickly ended session.

I had gotten out of the hole and was up to 4 or 5k winner on the month, and now I'm back down to even or slight loser. Oh well, still a week of play left. I have faltered at times while dealing with negative variance this month, but that is inevitable. On the whole, the frequency of being off my A game due to runbad tilt is lowering, and the quality of my C game when I am tilted is increasing.

I really do need to keep focused on the process of putting in quality hours, and avoid worrying about short term results. I know sometimes I probably sound pretty repetitive with this stuff, but that repetition is important. To train new habits and untrain old habits requires a lot of effort and attention and self reminding and awareness.

So, I think I will look at is at a challenge to come back and play 2 good hours after a break. After getting beat up my last several sessions and misplaying a few pots due to frustration, I know I will be prone to try to force action in some close but -EV spots in hopes of getting back. I know I will be prone to over react to any bit of adversity. I know if I lose a few big pots my mind will want to focus on my lack of results this month and the mistakes I've made and run wild with exaggerated negative implications of these failures. I know all this going in, so this is a good chance to be a professional and do some work and continue to improve how I handle my grinding process in the face of both good and bad variance.

82 hours
8.2% complete

I put in that session. I played 2 hours and felt pretty zoned in for most of the session and played well. As I was wrapping up a breakeven session I got coolered at 5/10 for a stack, and felt pretty frustrated by the situation. I'm trying my best and not getting the results I'm looking for. I feel like I'm improving, but sometimes that feels like an illusion when looking at "reality" of the cashier balance.

Study group tomorrow, which will be a good chance for me to review some hands. I have some coachings to do tomorrow, so I may not end up getting in any play, or possibly an evening session. I can't play Thursday, and I may or may not be able to play on Wednesday either. So, not a lot of grinding opportunities left for me in the month, but I'm looking to finish strong!

84 hours
8.4% complete

Enjoy reading this Dan, results will turn around. KUTGW.

Thanks!

Put in some good grinding yesterday. I was on top of my game in both sessions, and that felt good after a tough couple of days. I got some positive variance, and that always helps grease the wheels of good performance for me. Someday I'd ideally like to be able to play equally as good and feel just as zoned in no matter how I'm running, and sometimes I can be losing and feel zoned in, but usually running good makes the whole thing a lot easier.

I got some Gunnar Glasses a week or two ago, and have been using them. They can get a bit uncomfortable after extended wear, but I do feel like they are helping reduce eye strain and fatigue. I don't feel the need to rub my eyes quite as strongly after a session for the most part. Seems like they were worth the $50 off Amazon. If I end up sticking with them I'll probably invest in a bit nicer, more comfortable pair eventually.

One other thing that helps me feel zoned and fresh is going to the gym. That one is pretty obvious, and I've talked about it in the past, but it bears repeating to myself. I usually go a few days a week, and other days I tend to take my dog to the park. On dog walking days, I think I should do work in some brief vigorous exercise if I'm planning on playing, just to get my heart really going. I think that little bit helps me shake off the fog and stay focused longing at the tables. Also, it may be total placebo, but I feel like taking my daily vitamin and fish oil also helps me. (I don't want to get into a debate on nutrition, I know everyone has strong opinions). I think I need to shift my thinking a bit and not look at exercise as something kind of unrelated to poker that I want to do for general health reasons, and moreso think of it as something that is part of my grinding process and helps me get and stay in the zone/A game.

90/1000 hours
9.0% complete

Which version did you get? Intercept? I got the wi-five version 6 - 9 months ago and love them. I wear them all day and forget they are there most of the time. I much prefer them over running f.lux on my desktop or laptop. I do run f.lux on my Dell Venue Pro 8 but that mostly only gets used late at night when laying in bed watching a tv show or two before I drift off to sleep.