Playing 4-5 days a week, sessions last 8 hour or so but the last 1-2 hours aren't that mentally taxing as the table count as dropped considerably by that point.

Had the table count at 24-28 when I started playing peak, but I found 16-22 to be far more comfortable. Gives me a few extra seconds for the tougher decisions, I'm better at picking up reads, and less autopilot-y overall. EV BB went up too.

This is outstanding. Let me know your SN on Stars and I'll send the $25 right away. Well earned, IMO.
Agreed that

1) Thinking is bad
2) Science is good
3) Going > Not going
4) Gym is good



Didn't think I needed y'all to kick me in the ass, but hey, I directly asked for it a few posts earlier and I appreciate the responses. Woke up late a bit this morning and perhaps I was inspired by them, as I went to the gym first and spent extra time there to 'punish' myself for missing out on the previous Saturday.

Yesterday started off terribly, I was in line for the worst Sunday I've ever had. Just couldn't seem to get anything going, best score I had through 5-6 hours was a mincash and I had bricked all the bigger stuff. Stuck with it, ran deep in a few things, and nearly had some huge scores (6th with $17k up top, 18th with $30k ut, 7th with $11k ut) but at least I managed to win back the losses.

well done

a flock of ducks ride together, hoping to make a return one day before the end of time , but anyone looking for a staking group this is the one to go for, it was more like "family" then a group.

nice 1 on your biggest bink, bittersweet tho, same feeling i had when i came 4th in the double deuce to clean the MU up.

what coaching methods are you guys using now? any pio? or just the same system still.

congrats on the year so far

Thanks! Hopefully Australia comes around and you can get back in the flock.

June Recap:

Total profit is a shade under $10k, but given the lack of volume I'm alright with that outcome. Only played 15 days in June (More on that in a second) and many of those weren't even "full" days.



My GF and I vacationed through Europe last year to celebrate her birthday. When I first brought up the idea of doing another trip this year, she said she was fine with a chill dinner here or perhaps a long weekend somewhere on the west coast. But after some digging, she admitted she had always wanted to go to Paris and if money was no object, that's where she'd prefer to spend her birthday. So that's what we did.

We flew into London first, spent a few days there before jettisoning off to Mallorca, and then finished our trip with four days in Paris.

London, England:

Stayed in a more central location (Piccadilly Circus) and that made for a far better experience compared to last time. Food scene in London is unreal, the British get a bad rap for having terrible food and it couldn't be more inaccurate. London just has an incredible mixture of cultures and backgrounds and that's reflected in the cuisine. Had a great Thai meal at Kiln, authentic Taiwanese buns at Bao, rich aromatic Indian curries at Dishoom, and the best fish and chips at Poppies. GF has all the food pics and a ton of other stuff, I'll do a 2nd post soon with those.

Mallorca, Spain:

Rented a car and drove around the island, allowing us to see a lot more of the area. GF had wistfully talked about her favorite "look-out" spot in Mallorca but she couldn't remember where it was or what it was called. So we're just cruising around and bam, there it was.





Paris, France:

Okay, so let me start by saying that Paris isn't my favorite city. For starters, it's crazy expensive/overpriced. I don't mind paying for quality or convenience, but I hate the feeling of punting money for no reason whatsoever. And Paris is one of the most punty places I've ever been in my life. Example: We went to Angelina, a cafe/restaurant known for having the best hot chocolate. And it was delicious -- less like a beverage and more like a warm melted chocolate bar. But the price of one hot chocolate, one bottle of water, and a small slice of strawberry cake was 35 Euros.

That being said, I'd definitely go back to Angelina for another hot chocolate. Food in Paris was also superb; at Bistro Paul Bert, both my GF and I had two different cuts of steak with two different sauces -- When I bit into mine, I told her it might just be the best steak of my life. And when she tried hers, she felt the same. We also made sure to eat a lot of bread, cheese, charcuterie, and croissants. Top notch stuff, for sure.

When we weren't eating, we did some touristy stuff -- such as visiting the Eiffel Tower, Triumph Arch, and to the Louvre.




More pics to come, will hunt down my GF's camera and find them/post them in the next update.

You probably have been to more places in Europe than me. Looks good.

Also good to not have you on my tables for a while since I can't win pots against you like in the good old days.

My list is:

Spain
Italy
France
England
Croatia
Romania
Denmark
Sweden
Netherlands
Austria (Airport)

One of the best adjustments I made to the MTT schedule was cutting back on the overall number of grinding days. From 2010-2017 when I was in Spins/SNGs, I had little problem grinding 6+ days a week because of the short sessions, frequent breaks, somewhat lower variance, etc. But in MTTs, that's much harder to do and that same schedule has resulted in burnout, negativity, and an overall feeling that's best described as "withered."

Since coming back to Vancouver in April, I've been taking at least two days a week "off." Sometimes three. While taking more days off certainly hurts the volume, I can honestly say that I feel much fresher, happier, and *probably* am playing much better as well. Obviously it's a bit difficult to prove the last part, but results since finding a healthier life/work balance seem to support my claim.



Could also be positive variance. Or reflect changes in my schedule. Or improvements in game play. Honestly, it's probably a bit of everything. Still think I'm running ~bad but I won't allow that to stop me from working on my game and trying to get better.

Good to see you back printing money as usual. Would you say you are as happy grinding mtts as when you grinded spins/sngs with the new schedule?

Playing Spins always felt 'personal' and was more frustrating than other form of poker I've ever played, even more so once Stars got rid of RB. Without that safety net, could definitely "feel" the swings more. Had that RB safety net in SNGs as well and that helped my mindset quite a bit, knowing that as long as I put in my volume/hours, I'd be making x amount as a "floor" salary. Plus, the gameplay itself was far less stressful as I had more easy push/fold spots and fewer complicated post-flop scenarios to take up valuable brain space/energy.

If I had to rank them, I'd put them in this order (from most to least enjoyable)

1) Spins + RB: By far the best hourly and some guaranteed income
2) SNGs + RB: Easier decisions, less variance
3) MTTs
4) Spins w/out RB

MTTs are definitely more stressful because of the swings, and more specifically the time invested to get to high equity spots, but the hand-to-to hand decision making is far simpler than in Spins IMO.

Played short session today; was the first session in a while where everything seemed to go terribly. Did get one stack in the $44 Builder and by doing so, I KO'd a reg/lurker of this PG&C who proceeded to tell me how terrible I was, etc. I wasn't particularly in the mood for it and actually engaged him in the conversation, something that ends up being productive approximately 0% of the time.



And yet, I did that thing.

As promised...

I know it looks like I only wore three shirts, but that's because those were specified "photo shoot days" and my GF planned ahead by bringing several different outfits. Take a wild guess which of us had the joy of carrying around all of them?


Outside the Royal Palace in London


Biking near the Cathedral in Mallorca




Looking sophisticated in front of the Louvre



Looking less sophisticated inside the Louvre


Monet Exhibit (Waterlillies) at Musée de l'Orangerie


Resting at the Luxembourg Gardens



Eiffel Tower

a beast on and off the felt, great pics, looks like you two are having a great time. out of the countries you have visited what would be your top 5 in order?

Subbed. Great thread!

Thanks for the long explanation. The part about easy decisions is really important. Playing 3 spins drains my brain so much more than 8-10mtts.
The problem with having so many easy decisions in mtts is that its mostly really
boring :/

To visit or live there, semi permanently?

In terms of visiting/one week stay:

Spain (Mallorca)
Thailand (Chiang Mai)
Italy (Rome, Bologna, not Venice)
Croatia (Split, Dubrovnik)
England (London)



No problem.

As poker players, we're extremely familiar with EV but often ignore the 'easy decision equity' and it plays such a huge role in burnout, frustration, and overall enjoyment. Definitely something I think people should pay more attention to.

It's about time for a monthly recap post, but I'm going to delay that and instead write more on the burnout/frustration stuff as it's been plaguing me for a bit. It started a few Sundays back, on the 22nd. I can't point to any particular hand or tournament, but I felt ~annoyed with the session despite being up a small amount. Had plans to go to the US on Monday (Another Seattle/baseball trip), got back Thursday, and my GF's family was in town so I didn't play until the 29th.

Since then, each session has truly felt like a grind. Usually I enjoy the process, even during bouts of runbad I can find pleasure in little things like the 'puzzle aspect' of hand reading, replaying a spot where a recreational punts off, or the optimism that comes with having a stack deep in a tournament. But recently? It's not nearly enough.

And while I do think I'm running poorly in the past few sessions, I'm not even down that much. I shudder to think how frustrated I'd be if I had dropped ~$5k which wouldn't be insane given my ABI.



It's obviously good that I've recognized a problem, but now what? How do I fix it?

I'm not sure. Based on my reading of Mental Game (Strongly recommend this for anyone who takes poker seriously), the frustration is almost surely a form of tilt -- likely, ego/entitlement tilt. Meaning that I feel "entitled" to winning more pots, I "deserve" to hold in the crucial spots, and it's "unfair" for a player like myself to get coolered by "inferior" players. None of that is particularly helpful to my success/improvement/happiness although recognizing it is at least a step in the right direction.

I've also become more aware of how negativity breeds more negativity. Players who share hands solely to complain to each other about unfortunate hands are not only stunting their growth, but creating a more negative environment. What's the point of sharing those hands? Do I want sympathy? Some players will contend that they're looking for confirmation of how they played the hand/if they could have done anything differently, but 99% of the time -- they're more interested in sympathy than improvement. As a human being, that makes sense. As a poker player? It doesn't.

Going forward, I'm going to try to focus on the positives both on and off the felt. It's far too easy to single out the negatives in any given hand -- even when you win -- so I'm doing my best to push past negativity, remember that this career is a marathon/not a sprint, and focus on the things I can control which don't include luck.

It's not a quick-fix and I'll have to put in work, but I'm confident in my ability to do so and will keep updating this progress as time goes on. Hopefully my next update has more binks and gifs, I imagine these self critical rants aren't the most popular posts to increase viewership.

Excellent update. Absolutely love getting notified that you've made a new post in your blog, because you give value in some form or another in almost every single one.

And what about the top places to live?

Great Post.
Negativity is certainly something most, if not all MTTers struggle with at times.
Variance and the casual infinite losing-stretch are Reasons for sure.
What makes it even tougher, is the loneliness of the Grind on one Side and the sheer length of MTT Sessions and the high level of exhaustion that comes with it. While 5 Minute breaks are sufficient to go to the Restrooms, brew a coffee and get a Snack , they def are not long enough to go for a walk through the Park, meditate, spend quality time with beloved ones etc . Hunger for Success is a great Motivation to grind, but Binks itself imo shouldnt ever be allowed to be sth that provide us happiness at all (for MTTers), because the duration/frequency of these euphoric Moments is just far too small, compared to the hours invested. So, we might have to deal with it and frequently get that fix elsewhere IRL.

Awesome thread, GL

I'm eager to read more aaron/rotisseur exchanges. On my side last few months were extremely hard but as well took advantage of them to focus on both study and mindset care. As MTT players is not really hard to burnout from time to time and also lose perspective of how good we're doing, but being able to read this kind of blogs/content makes some of those periods a bit easier. So, you know, tyvm

Personally, I put a high value on:

1) Ability to speak the language/communicate with locals
2) Cost of living
3) Proximity to family
4) Grind-able time zone
5) Food

Based on all of that, Mexico is #1. My Spanish is passable, the area is inexpensive, it's close enough to California, time zones are good, and Mexican food might be my favorite food.

I'd consider living almost anywhere as long as it was feasible, but my other top choices would be:

1) Spain
2) England
3) Italy
4) Canada
5) Australia

Thailand's not on the list, but living there provided me with such a fantastic opportunity to open my mind, learn about myself/other cultures, and grow as a person. Highly recommend visiting, but I can't see myself living there full-time.

Found myself nodding in agreement on each and every line.

We're all aware of the mental stress and exhaustion poker can cause, but we forget:

- It partially stems from the high level of concentration required
- We need to maintain that level of focus throughout the entire session, which can take a toll on the brain/psyche
- MTT grinder needs to commit to a substantial number of hours in order to be successful and additionally,
- A large percentage of those hours occur when the player isn't feeling fresh/focused

Because of all that, I'd contend that MTTs are one of the most mentally strenuous paths a paths a player can take and very few people can handle it.

Ask yourself, why was it difficult and what can you do to make it better?

If the variance is too frustrating, try to lower it by dropping down, studying harder, or playing fewer tables to improve concentration.

If the hours are too long, perhaps try shorter sessions or a format that allows for more breaks/less of a time commitment.

If the game itself is isn't fun, do your best to rekindle that spark. I know tons of guys who once crushed but grew more and more withered as time went on. Over the course of months/years, they lost their passion for the game and what might have started out as a 'dream job' became a nightmare. I've always promised myself that if I reached that point, I'd quit -- I'm only able to put in solid volume, month after month, because I continue to enjoy the game at its most basic level.

Today was my first day back (Spent the past week in the US, visiting family) and I tried incorporate all of the advice I posted above; cut out some of the higher buy-ins, played a shorter session, fewer tables, and overall it went well. I honestly have no idea how much I made or lost, when I said "it went well" I was only referring to my level of enjoyment.

GLHF

And then it was Sunday.

Despite the efforts to play lower/fewer games, I was well aware that once Sunday came around, I'd be back to my old tricks.

Made quite a few deeps over the past few days, but unfortunately nothing went deep enough. That continued for most of today, until I managed to spin up an average stack in the $44 Builder into 2nd place finish. Entered HU play 80 BBs deep vs a recreational, a dream spot IMO, and just couldn't close it out. $12k is a decent consolation prize tho.

Meh, 0-2 now. Both had that aggro/punty style and I wasn't able to make any hands. Boo.



Still a great day, +$15k or so. GF told me I could take tomorrow off if I won, and I didn't, so I'll be at the tables tomorrow.

I wouldn't bother it's sh*t

You're probably right.

I've only stayed in London (Soho) and only for a total of 6 days, so my sample size isn't even one week. Plus, it was sunny each and every day I was there. From what I've heard, that's some serious run good. I do imagine that if I lived there full-time, there'd be more "grey days" and I'd quickly get annoyed by the high costs, so perhaps I should re-eval my list.

Inclined to agree with Top Pig! Cool that you really like the idea of living in Mexico, and I have to say, Mexican food IS great (and I can say that after never being to Mexico ofc)

Really cool travelling pics mate your killing the grind too!

How is gym going?

Booked a place in Puerto Vallarta for the month of December, excited to go back and eat all Mexican foods. One of my favorite spots is a small burrito place called 'Figueroa's' and on many grind days I'd stop by there in the morning, pick up two burritos, and those would be my only meals for the day. Can't wait to do that again.





Gym stuff is just ~okay.

I'm definitely going less often in Van than in Thailand, because of the peak hour MTT grind + living with GF. Trying to make my workouts a bit longer so I can spend fewer days at the gym but get the same/similar results.

Recently I took a few days off because I was concerned about my heart. Had a viral infection I contracted in December/in Thailand that caused me some severe chest pain/pericarditis, but I recovered within a week and had been totally fine since then. Last few days tho I've felt a bit of 'pressure' in my chest and I thought it was best to not overexert myself; it's likely just a muscle strain of some sort (because I also have had the pressure on the right side of the chest) but I'm going to try to take it easy until it completely subsides.

Just busto'd the $530 Builder (8th place) for $2700 or so. Obv wish I could have finished higher but it's good practice for the upcoming COOPs, as I plan to play all of the $1050/$2100 PKOs. Not quite sure if I'll sell action yet, I don't even know what I'd sell it for and honestly, I'm so confident in my PKO game that I want 100% of myself. Of course, I say that on the heels of one of my better months -- We'll see how I feel if I brick the first one on this Sunday.

I briefly mentioned my plan for the WCOOP Series, but thought I'd expand a bit on that before it starts up tomorrow.

Took Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (today) off to prepare for the series. While that did include a bit of studying and stable work, I was sure to spend as much time away from the computer as possible. I know that the next week and a half will be intense, at this point I don't have any scheduled off days and the combination of playing more hours + higher stakes could cause some stress, so I'm doing my best to avoid that. In that same vein, I made time for exercise because IMO there's no better stress reliever than sweat. Should also help with mental clarity, fatigue, etc.

Unfortunately I'm going to miss the Main Event as I'm in Toronto from the 12th-15th, but there's still more than enough $2100s, $1050s, $530s, and $215s to be played. Undoubtedly my ABI will be higher than usual so I'll drop down in tables to help with focus.



Found it incredibly difficult to cut out games because with my SNG background I've always prioritized volume and each of the games I dropped are relatively soft, high value tournaments. But alas, I must make more room in my brain to concentrate on the high equity spots and so tomorrow I won't be playing more than 16 tables at a time and nothing under $22.

I'm a few hours late on the August recap post and more than a month late on July's, but instead of writing it here/now I'm going to spend my final few pre COOP hours offline. GL in COOPs, guys!