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#Post#: 308--------------------------------------------------
Performance Journal
By: xxHaZ Date: August 5, 2014, 4:34 pm
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I do this for emWave and it's pretty effective so I'd like to do
this for poker too. This will also keep me oriented such that
I'm continually trying to peak my in-game performance.
So far, I know my best performance comes from minimizing
distraction (no phone/music/outside distractions - a quiet room
and a fan are my best playing conditions), playing less tables,
and getting my nervous system to comply with my mental demands
thru training activities and repetition. These should all be
second nature things, but for whatever reason I regularly dip
into self-sabotage mode by playing more tables than I can handle
or blasting loud music which influences the fluidity and
responsiveness of my thoughts. I've discovered these things are
really just rejection to "boredom" -- or more or less from a
dependence on external stimulation. This is the root of all
suffering IMO. There is a depth of immersion I am missing
(purposefully?) by these distractions... this + tangible growth
brings me happiness... not by blind-siding myself, deliberately
or not.
Anyway, I'm going to do post-session reports after every session
and be completely honest with how everything went. These will
just be notes because I don't want to waste any time doing this,
just to build a strong foundation of references that supports me
playing my best.
#Post#: 309--------------------------------------------------
Re: Performance Journal
By: xxHaZ Date: August 5, 2014, 7:01 pm
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August 5th
Session 1 (approx 3 hours, 4 tabling Seals):
Gameplay: B/A
Conditions: Pretty minimal distractions - although I drafted up
the first post in this thread for the first 15 minutes while I
pulled up tables. Side-surfing is a pretty big distraction.
Overall felt good to remove any interruptions and I could feel
my "inspired" self become more engaged. This is simply accessing
state flow... more available in environments that help cultivate
this.
Notes: Possibly made one "snap" mental misstep at a higher BTC
game I was shooting at a very splashy table. SB 3b a fishy 75bb
UTG with 14% 3b... he plays pairs like 77-88+ this way, and he
seemed primed to call off poorly, so I just cold-jammed JJ from
the BB for 100bbs. Might be a bit too ambitious - got it in as a
flip so whatever.
#Post#: 310--------------------------------------------------
Re: Performance Journal
By: xxHaZ Date: August 6, 2014, 1:22 am
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August 5th
Session 2 (approx 1 hr, 4 tabling Bovada)
Gameplay: B
Conditions: Minimal distractions - post crossfit work out so
started off with a lot of energy and creativity then gradually
dwindled over the session... very sleepy now. As I became sleepy
I felt myself become more bored and prepared to side-surf... but
caught myself once or twice.
Notes: Had a para-spike near the end of the session (this is a
mental hi-jack when unsure of a decision -> body goes into
emotional mode) where I open UTG with QJss, MP calls, Flop =
453r. Seems like a good flop to bet with QJs. Turn is an Ax.
Check/check. River I felt a little fight/flight mode engage when
deciding whether to bluff or not. This comes from uncertainty or
self-doubt. I did bluff for 3/4 -- I think we play some
AJ/AT/maybe even AQ in this line, and he's discounted for Ax
after a turn check and we have removal on an optimal defense
range blocking both AQ/AJ so I like it. Interesting to note the
para-spike tho... just an indicator I need to keep studying and
mark these sort of hands (when I have more reliable software in
the future).
Really like this format. Definitely a mandatory tool for me in
order to "go pro" and treat every session accordingly.
#Post#: 312--------------------------------------------------
Re: Performance Journal
By: xxHaZ Date: August 6, 2014, 6:47 pm
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August 6th
Session 1 (approx 2 hours on Seals, 7-8 tabling)
Gameplay: B
Conditions: Minimal distraction which led to some more creative
thinking. Pretty pwned from a heavy Crossfit and early soccer
practice though, so grew progressively more tired over time.
Notes: I had an impulse earlier to start playing more tables
than I probably should which probably led to some erratic
choices... such as the turn/river pot hand I just posted in hand
review. If I slowed things down I should probably have known
that potting on such a polarizing turn is incongruent with any
of our value... it's a spot where I realized our bluffs can
start printing money by betting large but I can't balance this
with any plausible value after it's strengthened our range and
removes enough 1-A defense after a PSB - our value uses smaller
sizing otherwise we compromise his defending ranges too much
through removal. After one PSB which isn't congruent with our
value, a second PSB on a relatively harmless river just looks
face-up like a misplayed bluff pretty regularly (since it makes
not sense to be potting on a card that strengthens our range and
threatens his defense freqs). Anyway, again playing too many
tables seemed to impact winrate and decisions FTL... the purpose
of this thread is to cultivate a good playing environment and
I've laid out the criteria in the first post (6 tables max on
Seals seems optimal for the time being).
#Post#: 315--------------------------------------------------
Re: Performance Journal
By: xxHaZ Date: August 7, 2014, 7:06 pm
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August 7th
Session 1 (4 hours, 6 tabling on Seals)
Gameplay: A
Conditions: pretty minimal distractions... side-surfed a little
bit around 2/3 during the session. Around this same time I
listened to one track to help pump me back up ... which I
quickly turned off because I realized it cut into my thought
processes so drastically.
Notes: Felt in control mostly the whole time -- and I think
that's what table management really comes down to (which is why
some days I can play plenty of tables and make very good
decisions and other days I can hardly manage 4-6). It actually
got to the point where I recognized in a HU match that checking
back some stronger made hands yields the higher EV against a
competent opponent. This takes a certain level of attentiveness
and concentration I often deny myself of. Had a couple
interesting spots that I think I played ok -- posted in the hand
review section.
Off to Chipotle for some energy food and to work on Tipton
before a Crossfit sesh... and later hopefully we can make some
headway on Bovada HS. Been BE after a pretty hefty DS there for
about a week now.
#Post#: 316--------------------------------------------------
Re: Performance Journal
By: A Date: August 7, 2014, 7:43 pm
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Edit: I know this post seems to come out of nowhere, but I
wrote it in here because the point is that The Time Is Now. I
see you post a lot of stuff about emotional issues with the game
and all of this stuff, but the reality is those problems are as
real as you make them. When you start realizing what is
happening, I think it will actually boost your performance
because you'll just automatically cut out everything that isn't
helping (including a lot of the limiting beliefs).
I don't know how to say this, but if I were you I would
seriously start putting some money away for when things get
really bad.
I don't just mean buy some silver and call that enough. I mean
do some really hard-core research and think about what America
might look like in two years when you get out of school.
Fortunately (for your situation), it looks like things are going
to get bad socially and economically (for people with pensions
and conventional jobs) for awhile before things get worse on the
domestic war front and on the economic front (i.e. the dollar
actually devalues). Hyper-inflation looks incredibly unlikely
(if not impossible) for awhile, at least, but prices will
continue to rise.
Eventually, though, California will not be a safe place to be.
It will be one of the worst areas to be if things unfold the way
that lots of credible people are predicting. Have an exit plan
and watch what's going on with the borders very closely. Do NOT
take for granted the fact that you can pick up and leave the
country today. That may not be the case in two years.
I guess I'm saying is two things:
1) Don't take my word for ANY of this and your own research,
but I think/fear that you have absolutely no idea what is
coming. The Federal Reserve is the tip of the ice-berg. Not
very many people understand that, and it takes a lot of time and
effort to understand the context and the implication of what's
been going on. The most helpful thing that you can do for
your-self and the people around you is understand that you're
(probably) in the dark. Start learning.
2) Think hard about whether or not you want to commit another
two years to shoveling money at people who read you books so you
can end up with a shiny piece of paper which is worth nothing.
All I'm trying to do here is urge you to consider all of your
options. At least do some preparation on where you would go if
you thought that you needed to leave.
Edit: I know that seems to come out of nowhere, but I wrote it
in here because the point is that The Time Is Now. I see you
post a lot of stuff about emotional issues with the game and all
of this stuff, but the reality is those problems are as real as
you make them. When you start realizing what is happening, I
think it will actually boost your performance because you'll
just automatically cut out everything that isn't helping
(including a lot of the limiting beliefs).
#Post#: 317--------------------------------------------------
Re: Performance Journal
By: xxHaZ Date: August 9, 2014, 2:00 am
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Yup - agree emotional pain is only as real as you allow it to
be... putting things into perspective definitely helps to
eliminate this. In fact I think by giving yourself room (or the
luxury) to create emotional pain then you're actually doing
something very wrong. So I appreciate the rando impending
doomsday post - 1st world problems eh?
August 8th
Session 1 (1 hour, 4 tabling Bovada)
Game play: B/A
Mental game: D/C
Conditions: Post kettlebell + light jog evening workout... felt
a little demotivated earlier, but firing on all cylinders
tonight after running the motions. Also, woke up with some
unease/anxiety which immediately dissipated post-early light
workout (soccer stuff) - in fact, this is now my cue to do an
early workout... and my standards to begin playing involve
eliminating this.
Notes: Been losing/BE on Bovada for a couple weeks now... the
longer the duration the more noticeable it's irritating. After a
particularly annoying hand (fish 3 outters for stacks AI OTT) I
sat out instead of pressing on and did some re-calibrating. This
is mostly in terms of hacking the nervous system - bioenergizer
and quick breathing exercises are good, and then hopping back
in.
Session 2 (1 hour, 4 tabling Bovada)
Game play: B+
Mental game: B
Conditions: No distractions. Caught myself getting tired but
that's simply b/c it's late... as tiredness slips in my mind
begins to wonder a little more than usual.
Notes: Solid sesh
#Post#: 318--------------------------------------------------
Re: Performance Journal
By: xxHaZ Date: August 10, 2014, 3:37 pm
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I'll include some stuff outside of poker too as they all
interconnect in the same mental web.
Each soccer game makes me hungrier to improve and is a good tool
to take note on what skills I need to work on during the week
and throughout practice.
One thing I recognize is the folding-under-pressure paradigm --
two instances today I dribbled past the line of defense and
fluffed easy shots because I got too in my head rather than
accessing state flow and letting muscle memory and rhythm guide
me towards scoring.
The limiting beliefs (scoring a goal) don't exist, just like all
the inadequacy complexes that appear to become illuminated
through poker only exist to the degree of power I give them
through self-doubt. Whatever you focus your consciousness on,
you embody this frequency. It's really as simple as thinking
positive thoughts, which gives you a corresponding state of
consciousness, and you will gain access to a higher reality or
degree of yourself as a consequence.
The difficulty is holding a conviction in this choice... which
is achieved thru the culmination of references reinforcing the
desired behavior.
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