Fish N Chips

Been ill for the last week, barely been able to get out of bed... So neither been able to play or write any posts. Will have a quiet weekend, in the sense of not doing anything dumb :), and getting back to grinding again.

Work Journal: Mar 03 – 2010 (Wed)

•  Satisfied with my play after I dropped down in tables. So for a change the last hours of the day were the best ones.
• My thought process gets more “blurry” when I play more than 4 tables at the moment. Also seem to keep a clearer focus when I’m “pushing the stakes” a bit. This is an overstatement of course, as pushing the stakes means to have 50+ instead of 100+ buy-ins in this case.
• Was very satisfied with most of my decisions on the 400nl tables. Had one brain fart in a 3 bet pot that probably cost me a decent amount of money though. Should watch more out for check raises on draw heavy boards in 3-bet pots, as it seem to be a very consistent trend among the regs.
• Good thing about today’s session was that I managed to keep a high focus the whole way through.
• Played a long session today too. As mentioned before, it went quite well. Number of tables seem to be a bigger problem than time played. Still need to keep an eye out for those last hours though.
• Handled though mental spots well yesterday.

Focus: I should drop down to four tables for now. I’m not going to push this for the next week, and see how it develops. To get in the amount of hands I would be satisfied with, I would rather have to work longer days. Will do a calculation on how much time I need to put in each week and adjust my schedule. Pushing the stakes also seem like a good idea, so will certainly look for higher action if the tables are good.

Work Journal: Mar 02 – 2010 (Tue)

• Played very well overall the first session, but not as well in the second one.
• Had a clear and good thought process for the first five hours. Lesser so for the next three.
• Had some horrible and premature decisions in the evening. Seem like I have a tendency to “just get it on” when I get tired.
• Lost quite a bit of focus after five hours. Influenced my decisions and emotional control. Also get more lazy about following game flow, taking notes, be aware of bet-sizing, timing tells and so on.
• Played close to my A-game for longer than yesterday, but still the second session was bad.
• Better at keeping focus than yesterday. Following closer attention to table dynamic, taking notes, etc. Still need to find a way to keep going for those last three hours though.

Focus: After a few losing days in a row I’m going to drop down for one day, just to get a small break, but still get in the hours. When going back up, I should drop down to four tables after the first five hours, especially if I feel a bit tired. Need to focus on keeping my attention and focus up during this period. Be aware of it beforehand and make sure to eat a lot of fruit and drink a lot of water during the session.

Once again this blog has been dead for a while, but I'm not quite ready to give up on it. Jan and Feb has been quite decent months for me, but I need more structure and better work ethics. As a start I will keep a work journal, posting daily an evaluation of my play and adjustments to make. This might not be the most interesting posts, but will give me a feeling of commitment. Here we go, my work journal for yesterday:

Work Journal: Mar 01 – 2010 (Mon)
• Not very satisfied with my play. Especially making a lot of premature moves against weaker players.
• My thought process got too superficial late in the session.
• Not making good decisions in unfamiliar spots.
• Lost focus after a few hours of play. Also made me more prone to mild tilt.
• Played close to my A-game only for the first few hours. Especially the second session was bad.
• Started to make bad and random plays after feeling like being played back at for a long time. Not giving meta-game and particular opponents enough attention.

Focus: Take more time when unfamiliar situations occur. Appreciate them as a possibility to learn. Pay much more attention to game flow and note taking. Table Ninja seem to hurt me more than help me at the moment. Set of time for mild physical training and reduce my smoking. Prepare some fruit and vegetables before playing to keep my focus up. Always have a big glass of water within reach.