Back at it : Focusing On Focus
10-22-2017
, 08:00 AM
Ok here goes.
Allow me to quickly introduce myself. I am 41 years old and back in '08 an '09 I got quite heavily into poker. Got all the books, spent a lot of time studying, was in study groups, had a coach and a CardRunners subscription. The works.
Never got into live poker, it was all online and although I was actually beating 2NL and 5NL 6max cash I had a tilt problem, which proved my downfall. After a nasty downswing I would either uninstall all my poker clients and software vowing to NEVER play again in my life. Or I would destroy my entire bankroll to buy a tournament ticket. Stupid stuff like that. Got into trading and that proved a more stable thing to sink my time into. And then life happened : got married, 2 kids and just left the poker world behind me to focus on other stuff.
And this may sound strange, but this tilt problem I had also started manifesting itself outside poker. When things got too hard or too dicey I would bail. I realized that poker did a very good job of showing me my weaknesses and instead of digging in and overcoming them, I avoided the fight. But I couldn't , because in some way or form this problem reappeared outside poker. Did a lot of work around that, a lot of meditation, yoga and other stuff. So, the main reason I'm coming back to poker is to practice focus, mindfulness and grit at the tables. The money is secondary, and I want to use this game to conquer the flaws in my personality. And that is why I am creating this thread.
I lurked a bit and the consensus seems to be that the game has changed significantly since 09. I picked up "The Grinder's Manual" and read the Introduction Chapter. That's all I did.
Here's the Game Plan for now.
I am going to deposit 60$ on Stars and start playing 2NL Zoom. When and if I reach 150$ I'm moving up. I'm using the chart I was using back in the day. Here it is , but I'm not doing the cashouts until I'm a few steps on the ladder.
The plan:
1. Play 10.000 hands on 2NL Zoom. Let's just find out where I stand. I think 10K hands will give me a good idea where I stand. More would be ideal but at the moment I think that's reasonable. I'll post the results in here after 10K hands.
2. Do a deep study of Chapter 2 of the "Grinder's Manual"
3. Do a thorough HH analysis of the 10K hands. Post interesting spots in thread
4. Play another 10K Hands
5. Chapter 3 of "Grinder's Manual"
6. HH review of second 10k set.
...
You get the picture.
Once again, the focus is on the task at hand.
I'm 2-tabling at the moment, and I put my timer on 25 minutes. After 25 minutes of play, I finish up the hand at the tables and I walk away from my desk.
After a short break, I might do another 25 minutes. After 4 of these sessions I'm taking a mandatory 30 minute break. This schedule is based on the "pomodoro technique" for productivity and I use that stuff at work too. It's great for keeping you focused.
That's it for me. See you guys around and hope to post back here soon.
Allow me to quickly introduce myself. I am 41 years old and back in '08 an '09 I got quite heavily into poker. Got all the books, spent a lot of time studying, was in study groups, had a coach and a CardRunners subscription. The works.
Never got into live poker, it was all online and although I was actually beating 2NL and 5NL 6max cash I had a tilt problem, which proved my downfall. After a nasty downswing I would either uninstall all my poker clients and software vowing to NEVER play again in my life. Or I would destroy my entire bankroll to buy a tournament ticket. Stupid stuff like that. Got into trading and that proved a more stable thing to sink my time into. And then life happened : got married, 2 kids and just left the poker world behind me to focus on other stuff.
And this may sound strange, but this tilt problem I had also started manifesting itself outside poker. When things got too hard or too dicey I would bail. I realized that poker did a very good job of showing me my weaknesses and instead of digging in and overcoming them, I avoided the fight. But I couldn't , because in some way or form this problem reappeared outside poker. Did a lot of work around that, a lot of meditation, yoga and other stuff. So, the main reason I'm coming back to poker is to practice focus, mindfulness and grit at the tables. The money is secondary, and I want to use this game to conquer the flaws in my personality. And that is why I am creating this thread.
I lurked a bit and the consensus seems to be that the game has changed significantly since 09. I picked up "The Grinder's Manual" and read the Introduction Chapter. That's all I did.
Here's the Game Plan for now.
I am going to deposit 60$ on Stars and start playing 2NL Zoom. When and if I reach 150$ I'm moving up. I'm using the chart I was using back in the day. Here it is , but I'm not doing the cashouts until I'm a few steps on the ladder.
The plan:
1. Play 10.000 hands on 2NL Zoom. Let's just find out where I stand. I think 10K hands will give me a good idea where I stand. More would be ideal but at the moment I think that's reasonable. I'll post the results in here after 10K hands.
2. Do a deep study of Chapter 2 of the "Grinder's Manual"
3. Do a thorough HH analysis of the 10K hands. Post interesting spots in thread
4. Play another 10K Hands
5. Chapter 3 of "Grinder's Manual"
6. HH review of second 10k set.
...
You get the picture.
Once again, the focus is on the task at hand.
I'm 2-tabling at the moment, and I put my timer on 25 minutes. After 25 minutes of play, I finish up the hand at the tables and I walk away from my desk.
After a short break, I might do another 25 minutes. After 4 of these sessions I'm taking a mandatory 30 minute break. This schedule is based on the "pomodoro technique" for productivity and I use that stuff at work too. It's great for keeping you focused.
That's it for me. See you guys around and hope to post back here soon.
