TY! I would say this post is gold...but it's actually silver.

I download all my hand histories directly from Bovada server 24 hours after my sessions (ACCOUNT-->Hand History-->Game Transactions), and then use a hand converter before they then are uploaded into HM2. You only have a time period of 7 days to download hands, so I just have the routine to do this every 2nd day, whether I am playing or not, so I don't miss any hands.

Subbed. GL!. Starting to slowly move on from PTP

I am shooting for a similar goal, but currently play 25nl, with hopes to move up to 50nl in the near future.

Had a very mentally challenging couple of sessions this weekend. I felt like I was spending way too much time out of position to sticky fish and decent "reg" types. This was not from playing too wide a range from out of position by any means, I just continued to be in the middle or bottom of my range on all different sorts of board textures. One example of this is where I would open a mid pair from MP/CO, and get flatted in 2 spots, and the board would come pretty dry with 1 overcard. It just seemed like I was zigging when I should have been zagging in most of those types of pots when I decided to cbet/barrel or X/give up. Another example came from the fact that our defending ranges were flopping little or no equity.

After a few orbits of feeling this way, I would then pick up a big hand and get involved with a fish out of position to me, and not be able to pick up the pot either. This simply compounded the small amounts of accumulating frustration. I think it is fair to say that in times like this, as we mentally are approaching our C game, we allow these types of "entitlement pots" skew our thought process even further down the spiral. When we open AKdd against a 32/0 fish and flop QJ5dd, we just 'expect' we are going to win this pot, regardless of the line we end up taking. We have so much equity against their range, there is just no way we will lose THIS pot TOO. That is a dangerous thought process, of course, and that is an exaggerated example, but it is in fact a specific example from one of my sessions tonite.

Aside from those challenges, we also had many targets who were the 50/5 vpip/pfr types that we were (happily) playing against and variance and runouts were not kind to us. It was sort of comical how it was like every orbit was a wash/rinse/repeat of us opening LP going against the targets, and then being at the top of our ranges when they were passive and snap folding, and we were in the middle and bottom of our ranges when they were donking out or X/calling multiple streets. To me, these scenarios are much more frustrating then the standard big pair preflop coolers, set over set flops, or other unavoidable big pot losses.

The value of small balling these types of players to death is what generates so much of our win rate. When those pots aren't going my way, and then I face the negative side of variance in the big pot situations I just mentioned above, it all adds up to more mental frustration mid session. Dealing with the frustration in game can be difficult at times, but I am getting pretty good about not losing my focus on what I'm doing, and why I'm doing it in that particular session against those particular targets. My coaches having such a strong balance of how to fight through mental game challenges while staying technically sound in their approach to each hand has really helped me learn the importance of injecting logic into many of the situations I have discussed above, and actually not making too many or too big of a mistake in the moment. Of course, this is easier said than done at times, and making those mistakes are just going to be part of the growing pains for me.

I do feel that even the toughest mental gamers, and the anti-tilters of the world, will have their A game start to tail off if they experience a perfect storm of bad runouts, negative variance, and overall runbad for a long enough time period. I am mostly just talking about session by session, not big picture. Although accumulated tilt is also very real, and can rear its ugly head amidst any decent sized downswing.

Generally for me, it is relatively easy to end a session, do a cool down analysis of what just happened (good or bad), review or mark some hands for further review later, and then go about the rest of my day just fine. I think that coming from an MTT background, I have learned how to handle accumulated tilt quite well. Downswings for MTT players are huge and brutal at times. Knowing how many of those I have experienced and then pulled through, has a solid foundation to guard against the sort of accumulated tilt that would certainly be reasonable for anyone to realistically have to deal with.

If I am trying to play through a difficult session, like I was this weekend, and the time period lasts too long (generally more than 2 hours), it is probably just a good idea to not spend any more time playing in what is certainly to become my C game, if it's not already there. Planned 2 hour blocks are best for me, and then adjusting longer based on how good the games are and how focused and zoned in I am or adjusting shorter if I feel I have slipped into my C game for any various number of reasons.

Very well said. Your knowledge and use of MGOP is badass! Mtt background is a huge help with all kinds of tilt. I'm a sicko and still love my mtts, but I always supplement with a little cash. Your post is inspiring, good luck! Let's keep each other motivated this year! I have a lot of good feelings.

Subbed!

Gl with your goals. Whats with the title? Did you have a corporate job before?

Fellow NL100 grinder. GL.

Thanks man. Feels like I'm learning and relearning MGOP all the time.

I am definitely not knocking MTTs completely just because I have put them on the back burner for now. In fact, even tho I didn't post much about them in my plans for 2015, they definitely are still going to be a part of my year, they just are not the focus right now, as my volume priority is in cash game play. As my year unfolds a bit more, and I start road mapping out where I will be in the coming months, I will add in my plans for WSOP and beyond.

Looking forward to our usual path crossing this summer, and for sure stay motivated and best of luck in 2015 to you as well!

Thanks!

Thank you and yes, spent many years in the Corporate World. I literally worked for a clown, and I think I was a clown, so felt like a fitting title.

TY, and best of luck in your grind as well

Just a little behind online volume pace through the first weekend (5 days) of the month, but really not too alarming. I'm actually carrying over a bit of a downswing from the tail end of my December, so I am trying to stay very conscious of my focus and mental state and play every hand as best I can. Doing this, really can be taxing on the brain and I am just keeping my sessions shorter, and doing good warm up and cool down routines.

I played 2 LIVE MTTs this past weekend here in Scottsdale, which I also will continue to play as part of my weekly/monthly schedule goes, but I am not including any aspect of them in my goals portion of this thread for now. Even tho my priority and the majority of my time is spent studying and playing cash, I think it is important to stay sharp and keep some amount of volume in so my tournament game doesn't suffer too much. At the end of the day, it will be an MTT bink that will let me buy that house in the Caribbean.

I also was able to get in 6 of my 8 weekly hours of live 2-3 SL cash at Talking Stick.

I have two coaching sessions scheduled this week so that will also get a good part of the way through my goals for the month. Next step is to get the graph moving back up in a positive direction.

nice post #28 very thoughtful

Thanks. TBH, it only took me 4 months of lurking your MGOP self analysis posts to finally make one of my own, so ty for that

Had my first 'coaching session' of 2015 today and it went really good. It was all NON poker strategy stuff, which, imo, is so underrated and often overlooked! We covered my goals for 2015 as an update to when they were written over a month ago. Although only a short time has passed in the actuality of 2015, the processes started in December, and I think it is very important to follow along and honestly evaluate your process goals to make sure that you are set up to succeed with your results goals. I will be doing this monthly to both evaluate how the previous month went, and to adjust any process or results goals as needed. No major adjustments have been made as I continue on in January at this time.

Having a backer and stable coaches alike who take an interest in this aspect of their horses' poker grind and life balance on and off the tables (virtual or otherwise) is only going to raise the bar for the horse to want to meet/exceed his/her goals. Kudos guys, and thanks for keeping the standards so high!

AGREE! No regrets getting involved with this stable. Top Notch.

non poker stuff def more important for you at 100nl and 2/3live

It's been a mixed bag first half of the month so far. My off the felt goals and mental game preparations have been going well, and ahead of pace. I have completed another coaching session and was able to work on some more HH analysis that helped me with some big picture concepts in regards to playing against different types of players. Understanding the importance of which type of 'fish' I am against can really help me with my own default ranges for opening and isolate raising in pots. Being able to key into some more specific things about my opponents is going to greatly reduce the number of times I am in a really low EV hand range against them.

My volume is still a little off pace for the month online, but I have played a little more live than my expected pace, and with playoff football in full swing, my weekend grinding has suffered. This isn't too concerning to me really tho, as I really feel pretty strongly about my poker and life balance. I don't want to give in to the social and fun aspect too much or all the time, but to stay flexible in my schedule and know that I don't need to force the volume over any of these other things is always nice. At the end of the day, however, I need to keep my work ethic strong and be certain that I don't fall too far the other way either. Grinding 24/7 just isn't my priority this year, but finding that proper balance to attain my 1000 hours on the year is very much a priority. I will continue to work at this week to week. Of course, some weeks/months will be much easier than others.

To update on my actual mental game while playing, I am still in a downswing left over from the end of December. Of course, because my volume pace is a little low, that will not be doing any favors to getting out of my downswing, and I know this all too well. My focus and goal as I move to the middle of the month is to get some very good quality hours in and stay focused and play my A game each and every login. The downswing admittedly has played into some of my thoughts when I hit a rough patch during a session. In yesterdays first session, we were well on our way to booking a solid 2 buy in win, when within about a 5 minute time period, we lost 2 full buy ins in 2 cooler spots. A few small ball pots that didn't go our way later, and we actually closed out the session down. This was very frustrating to note in our spreadsheet, but as I did my cool down and made sure I had any hands I wanted to look at later noted in my notes, I realized how easy it would have been to have been on the other side of both of those pots, and thought to myself: "how would that change the rest of my month?" Realizing almost immediately that the big picture of my month, and the year in general, those pots mean next to nothing made me more at ease with them, and more at peace with the fact that the winning or losing aspect of my decision making processes are not the most important part to the puzzle.

ABSOLUTE GOLDEN NUGGET OF WISDOM RIGHT THERE! Could have used that a couple days ago...

Solid post.

Had a really difficult time getting through a scheduled 2 hour block today, but I was able to battle, and finish up the allotted time.

That being said, we had 2 sets flopped on us today when we were at the top of our range (overpairs both times) and the first was against an agro fish who just donked out 3 streets on us. The river spot was questionable vs some player types for sure, and probably a fold to the passive groupings. But this style of player it really felt like folding the river was just a hero fold, and I definitely don't think finding hero folds against this type of villain is optimal.

The 2nd time the hand was HU against a reg who had been battling with me in several spots as we were both anxiously trying to isolate the table fish running 80/10/0 in 100 hands. The board came very dry, and the reg X/r'd 2.25x. The turn was another middling card, and actually completed a gutter type range, which I felt would be in this reg's range based on the board texture. I assume if he is going to be playing back at me light on this board, its mostly going to consist of gutterballs and some backdoor suited overcard type hands. Top pair (Jx) was possible, but highly unlikely he would take this line if he is indeed as capable as he had appeared to be when we were battling in earlier pots with a fish. We were holding KK. He checked pretty fast, so we obliged him and checked behind. I feel this is going to be the best play since the really airy part of his range that got to the turn this way is shutting down most of the time anyway, with perhaps finding some courage to fire into the river on checked back pots on some specific rivers. Although I don't think he is checking if he binks his straight, that also needs to be considered as part of his check range here as well at least a nonzero percent of the time. The river was in fact a total brick (2x) and he fired out 1/2 pot bet.

This bet sizing is a mix between a thin value bet in most situations, with some small amount of bluffs mixed in and the fact that we are extremely under rep'd (which doesn't change the fact that he is thin value betting in his mind, even tho he is just value owning himself) its an easy click of the call button.

So after these two hands plagued me as I was nearing the end of the session, I had a spot come up against another Bovada specialty player who was running 73/0/0 in 45 hands who limped the button (for literally the 3rd straight orbit). He would bet the pot every single time this spot had come up previously. This time we had bottom pair and a gutterball, but on a flushing board which we held no blocker too, but that part didn't really matter. We put in the X/raise to 3x and without hesitation the player snap called. The turn brought an overcard J which completed nothing, and we decided to check again. I will preface my next decision with, trying to go for 2 or 3 X/raises against most villains is pretty much bluff suicide, but that is exactly what I did. We sized a pretty solid 2.75x X/r as we were still very deep and definitely had plenty of fold equity. Before I could even start to smile that my 'oh so wise' decision and play was going to work, the villain clicked it back 3! me right then and there.

Sigh. So, I really think that I allowed some bit of terrible thinking creep into my head based on how I feel I have been running against so many of these 'target' types. I decided that I deserved this pot, because this fish is so bad and doing the same bad tendencies over and over and getting away with it, that there is just no way I am going to let it happen again on my watch. I allowed pot entitlement to show up, once again for all the wrong reasons. Of course I was able to click fold and at that point realized that I was not going to be playing my A game any longer if I continued past my 2 hours, so we clicked 'sit out BB' and calmly ended the session.

Played another session today that went no where in terms of helping the monthly graph out. Early and often we found ourselves paying off river bets in spots where players were polarized, and again we were not able to win a single pot over 50bbs. It all came crashing to an end when I made an attempted 2 barrel bluff in a 3 bet pot vs an aggressive reg from the btn after floating his flop lead. The hand in itself seemed ok at the time, and my line was believable and the board texture was good for my attempt. The problem was, he was at the top of his range, and had one of the nutty hands we were repping. There were many hands in his river range that are conceivably check folding, so I don't hate my decision to take the spot vs a thinking player.

All of that said, it once again created a negative reaction in my brain where we found ourselves asking out loud "What was I thinking?" Before I tried to answer the question, I noted the hand so I could go back to it later. More importantly tho, it forced me to end my session as I felt I probably was going to be sliding further down the scale of B game and closer to C game should I continue without a cool down and analysis of my play.

In terms of downswings, I'm not in the midst of anything earthshattering or anything. But it doesn't take much to send us into a blur and wondering if we are really playing well, or if we are making obvious mistakes, and costing ourselves even more negative win rate than what we should be running at.

Going to set up another HH review in the next few days to get an outside opinion on some of my sessions, and to really take another look at some of my lines and decisions to be sure I am not leaking anywhere else, or overlooking something major that is being compounded over time.

I can often recall MTT downswings and how they could really get you down on your game. But at the end of the day, when you could recite all the times it simply just came down to losing a big flip deep, or getting your big hand cracked in an unfortunate situation, it was easy to bounce back and rebound knowing that just 1 pot could have, WOULD HAVE, changed your entire day.

Cash games its not that simple. It's never going to be about 1 pot, or 1 hand. Of course, one could argue that we may have such a negative reaction to 1 hand that it ripples through the rest of our entire session, and creates bigger losses for ourselves, but the fact remains that we aren't going to have that bounce back day where we get it all back in 1 pot like you can in MTTs.

This is actually a really good thing in my opinion, but can also be a difficult thing. As the losing pots start to add up, and amount to X BI down swings, we can easily and often find ourselves searching for that quick fix. That "play this hand fast" suboptimal line to try to do a fast recoup of those losses. I think this will always be a challenge for anyone, but it is especially challenging to me when I want to see immediate success.

As I have written in previous posts, staying calm and understanding and realizing the big picture is as important as ever. Whether its winners confidence, or bluffers remorse, whichever side we may find ourselves on in that particular session, on that particular day, keeping the head up and thinking clearly about the journey at hand will help us to enjoy it more than just grasping at reaching a destination.

I can relate to this. I'm down about 5 BI on the month. My last session I pushed two nut flush draws too fast on the flop. Bricked both. There goes another 2 BI...

Have to admit to myself I would have most likely played those slower had I not been in the hole.

Nice post. Venting it out all out paper like this makes it more real and cemented in your mind as well. Good stuff.

Just wanted to subscribe and say good luck. I've been staking mike for a while now live and he's been great to work with, both from a profitability standpoint as well as a trust standpoint. Its nice that he is able to put in sessions when I'm not around and I don't have to worry about him going on tilt, stealing money or lying about his results (all things I've dealt with with other people at time). Hopefully with a little bit of run good we can transition to 3-5 soon. Good luck.

Thanks Jon and appreciate the support you have given me (along with a chance to have a working bankroll needed to play the live games I have been playing) over the past few years. It definitely helps to have someone like Jon who is around a lot of the time while I am playing so that I can bounce hands and situations off of him, and it has been great to be able to play MTTs and cash games even when Jon can't be around. Appreciate the support, and thanks for coming along for my journey in 2015.

Seems like a good time to do an update for January as we are at the half way point. I am still behind pace for my month volume wise online. There are a couple of reasons for this. Number 1, with the advancing of my cash game knowledge and experience, I have sought out and found that the live 2/3 games at TSR in Scottsdale are so incredibly soft, that my volume has actually picked up there and I'm well ahead of my goal pace of live hours per month. It is really hard to pass up on the opportunity to put in volume when its so convenient to me (I'm literally 5 minutes away from the casino), and the games are this good. Number 2, as I have been battling a downswing online since the tail end of December, my sessions have had to be shorter, and more spread out. I found myself in my C game far too quickly and too often at the start of the month.

I am currently at 33% of my monthly goal for online hours.

I am currently at 106% of my monthly goal for live hours.

I have exceeded my goal of 2 coaching sessions this month already, and had 3.

I have stayed current in all my PG&C threads, even adding in some new ones. Both of my coaches have great threads, along with many others that are on similar journeys as me.

I am staying pretty current and active in this thread.

Actual profitability results: Online, we are at a negative BB/100, and down 10 buy ins of 100NL. Viva la Downswing/negative variance! Viva la leakbusting tho, and adding in 2new current learning focuses to be discussed more later.

Live, we are at a 9bb/hr winrate at 2/3.

What does this mean for the rest of the month? Well, for starters, after I take the weekend off from the grind due to some other exciting things going on for me (more on that in a moment) I will really hit the online grind hard next week, and improve my pre game workouts to include some meditation and brain relaxing excercises so that I can be in a better mental focus for my online session. I will work to complete my 2 hour blocks as allotted every day of the week, and add in a second session as often as possible. I still feel like I can get pretty close to my online volume goal for the month, and of course, a little run good along the way will certainly make it easier to get the added volume, but again with some improved warm up and cool down routines, I think regardless of my results, I should be able to push through and get in the hands needed.

As for what is going to happen with my live volume? Well, this month and on into February is an incredible time to be playing live at Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale Az as we have so many great and high profile events along with incredible weather that brings so many to the area. Barret Jackson car auction is happening currently right up the street from the casino. The Waste Management Open (formerly Phoenix Open) PGA tour stop, which is arguably the biggest party on the PGA tour bringing in hundreds of thousands of spectators for 4+ days just 10 miles or so away from the casino will be here at the end of the month. And of course, the mother of all events, we are playing host to the super bowl this year. Although that is on the other side of town, Scottsdale is still the place to stay and visit for many who come to town for the event, so the casino is going to be rocking and rolling and in full swing for its peak attendance. So all that being said, I am pretty certain I am going to continue on a similar pace (perhaps down slightly) in order to take full advantage of this great time.

Now, onto my latest development in the life and grind of RockstarRossi. It's been a few years in the making, but for this reason or that, the gf and I have had to put off looking into an exciting and life changing move. Things have finally lined up and come together nicely for us, and it is time to go for it. We are spending this weekend with a realtor in the great state of Nevada. That's right, it is time to take the plunge and make a huge life change for us both. We are beyond excited with this opportunity, and the timing could not be any better. We have sold our house here in Arizona, we have paid off all of our debts, and have a savings and a dream! Although our actual plans are to be doing more traveling than actually settling down in a city like Las Vegas permanently, we are ready to take a trial run at it there, and see what happens.

This was the aspect I was talking about from my OP of how my "live cash game goals were going to evolve as the year rolls on". Now I have done a lot of research and sought out a lot of advice, and yes, of course, live cash game grinding has its ups and downs in Las Vegas. Sure, does Scottsdale have great action? Would LA be a better place for that goal? Yes, and yes. However, the bigger picture is, a big part of my grind is still going to remain online and I can do that from anywhere. The added bonus of game selecting and MTT series that roll into town in Las Vegas is going to be huge for me, and after weighing all of our options, between wanting a change in our lives, while keeping cost of living down, Vegas is the answer for us.

So as this big change happens, I will be tweaking my goals slightly to include more live volume, especially as we near the WSOP where I will also be playing some MTTs. I will work on exactly how I am going to set up some results and process goals for that endeavor as well. My goal of 1000 hours for the year online remains intact, and I plan to stay vigorous in my studying and staying ahead of the curve so that I am the player that my opponents don't like having at their tables, and not the other way around.

Good luck man and congratulations on your big life event!