No Results to Zen

I've been thinking about this topic for a while, not looking at your results whether its the day, week, or month. It's no stranger to me that I have talked a little about this in my past blogs, but I really think as a poker player, you shouldn't ever be results oriented. Of course we make mistakes on the way, but at the same time, looking at our results can lead to bigger mistakes.

For example, all you live players out there, have you ever accumulated a big stack and have a pretty healthy amount of chips only to see it dwindled away when you start losing a few pots. Now i'm not sure if this is with a lot of people out there, have you ever accumulated a huge stack only to play different live? Maybe tighten up a bit, not play as many hands, play really weak/tight so you don't give your chips away. I use to be a live player, so I use to have that mentality a lot and be about results which led to me quiting sessions when I was winning and playing longer hours when I was losing.

Same goes for playing online for sure. Looking at your cashier while you are playing or looking at your holdem manager or poker tracker can almost lead you to not playing optimal. Not saying that there are people out there that can't do it, because I know a few who look at there results while they're playing and win. I think though, people who look and still win can make more money and play longer sessions. I use to look at my results while I was playing. Sometimes I would be winning and sometimes I would be losing. All those times I looked, ended up being -EV. You just have to detach yourself from the money because the money is just a number that is part of your poker bank roll. Yeah, it's cool when you are winning, but when you are losing, you feel a different feeling, something where if can really mess with yourself and your game.

That's why I have been working on not looking at my results. What I would really like to do is not look at my results the whole month. When I don't look, it really helps me put in the much needed volume for SNE. Starting to win the past few months has really decreased my volume and I know that is something that needs change. This past month, I have stopped looking at my results for at least the whole day and sometimes after a few days. Which is good because my volume is increasing again. As far as results go, they seem like they are getting a whole lot better not looking. I've been experimenting with this and noticed there are a few days I did really well and some days where they were decent none the less. When I use to put in volume though, I just keep breaking even or losing tons of money when I first started. Looking at my cashier and my hold em manager sometime during the session. It was pretty heart breaking and emotional for me. I'm not saying that I don't go through these things every now and again when I see my results, but not much if any really.

The biggest thing that I have to work with since I'm on my SNE pursuit, is that my poker bank roll has to keep building by December and I still have to put in the much needed volume to make my supernova bonuses to take care of the family. I'm also planning on moving to Florida in the next few weeks, so I'm going to really have to step up putting in more volume and mixing in more 100NL tables. No Results to Zen is what I need to make this happen for next year. If I can do this and continue to keep playing solid poker, I have a good chance for SNE.

I hope everyone is doing well at the tables!!

Jeff

A Review of Ronfar3 Coaching

I just finished up my last session with Ronfar3 and had about a good 3-4 hrs picking his brain, talking poker, and anything to help me along for SNE. Not only does he know a lot of concepts and theory behind poker, but he also can really help fine tune your game based on your poker playing style. I didn't really have a game plan going into our coaching session and didn't know what to expect. As soon as we talked, he was on time and ready to get started.

First thing we did was going over my holdem manager statistics so he can get a feel of my playing style and get an overall general guideline of my game over the last 300k hands I put in at Full Ring. Since he didn't know much about my game, he felt like I had overall strong stats. We went over things I need to fine tune a bit more and work on. Such as continuation betting and barreling a little more given my vpip/pfr. It's funny how things work by just doing little adjustments can really increase you earnings.

The second part of my session, we did a live sweat. I basically played my normal setup and played, not so much 24 tables, but a good healthy amount so I can get into some interesting spots. It was nice to have him watching over me but it wasn't anything he told me I should do or have to do, which is good. I mean, if you have someone telling you what to do or what you should do, I feel is not good, because you're not really learning and won't be able to fix your mistakes. I just played my normal game while just talking anything about poker and situations. When I did get into some interesting spots, I told him what my normal line is here and there. He listened and later, talked about different lines we can also be taking based on your image.

The third part was reviewing my session and going over any leaks he may have found and things he felt like I can work on. We also went back to holdem manager and did a hand history review and also a detail analysis of calling 3bets, suited connectors, etc. This is probably the most important part of the session where you can really learn a lot of things, not only about yourself and your play, but really going in depth with using holdem manager. For myself, I never really reviewed my sessions like I did with him. We went over quite a few hands as well and we talked about post flop concepts.

There wasn't a fourth part of the session, but I felt like there was and we just got talking more poker and SNE. We also talked about playing long sessions and putting in volume.

He has helped defined my game, improve my win-rate, and has given me the confidence to conquer the limits at my level. Whether you are a winning, break-even, or losing player, Ronfar3 will improve your game.

If you have any other questions or what not, just message, email me, or write anything else.

Keep up on the journey!!

Jeff

September 7th My Day of Redemption

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Yesterday, by far has been the most incredible day poker wise. Not only did I have my best day in poker since December 2009, I also received Come Back King on PTR. As some of you may have not known, I had this train wreck icon on PTR for quite some time and over the past 2 1/2 months, I finally got out it. On top of that, it was kind of a ironic day to be honest because I checked my total winnings for the month and it shows $777+. Some lucky numbers huh?

On a another note yesterday, I also had the opportunity to get a long session with Ronfar3. He is pretty well known in the poker community and plays a ton of full ring 100nl and 200nl and is one of the top winners at his limits. I think he also does a lot of things at 2+2. So given that, I really wanted to work with him and pick his brain. I'm going to post a little review tomorrow on my blog to think about the ideas and concepts we discussed yesterday. All I can say at the moment is he knows his stuff. He's also a card runner coach there as well. I'll be posting a review soon of his coaching.
Ronfar3's page:
http://www.pairtheboard.net/

09/07/2010 cliff notes:
$654 biggest winning day
$777 month winnings
From train wreck to COMEBACK KING on PTR
Ronfar3 Coaching

All in all, I guess its a little run good post. But I had to share my luck with all of you.

Hope all is well with everyone out there!!

Jeff

September to SNE next year!!!

September is here and I finally have decided that I'm going to be grinding a ton now, particularly 10k+ hands a day with a mix of 50NL and 100NL. I have to start now and get myself mentally and physically prepared for what's ahead of me next year or else I will never become SNE. I have to start now and get over my problem of not putting in enough volume, not looking at my results weather I'm winning or losing, and just grind. I'm never going to make it happen if I don't start now. Minimum 10k a day, 5 days a week, with a 6 day option to grind a few more thousand hands is my goal now till the end of the year.

As far as working on my game, I have my coach that is helping me on a weekly basis, and I have another coach that is pretty well know at the stakes I'm playing at which I start Tuesday with him and I'm really excited. I also been working with my B and he's helping me with a bunch of the math behind the math in poker and 3betting and 4betting which is pretty sweet if I can understand it. Also, I have quite a few people messaging me on skype about helping there game and doing my best to give them all the knowledge that I have gained the past year. As far as success goes, I've been doing a lot better from when I first started, so I'm going to help out as much as I can to everyone out there that wants my help. It's just tough grinding 10K hands, working part time, and spending some quality time with my family. So I'll do my best to anyone that has skyped me over the past 2 weeks.

If I can keep my goals up, I will be able to attain two more milestone bonuses while accumulating the $1500 supernova bonus twice in the month as well or at least be really close if I keep mixing both limits.

So goal recap:
Minimum 10K a day
Grind 5 days with a 6 day option
Continue to work on my game and study all the regs that are giving me trouble

Anyways, feel free to message me anytime hit me up...I always love feedback and support

Best of luck on the journey!!

Jeff