I am a robot

Pud's Poker Progress / Matthew Pitt / 07 August 2008 / 4

If you want to make some money at poker, come and find my tables and I will gladly donate to you! I am not talking about chip dumping or anything like that, but if you sit down with me, it will become apparent why you will leave with more chips than you started with!

I am honest in my posts and when I am running bad that is generally the case but I am not running bad right now, just playing horribly and that is what is annoying me. If I am not being dealt my fair share of cards then I can cope with it but when I am making mistake after mistake then it really gets on my nerves.

My problem has been the sheer number of tables I have been playing, up to 12 at once. For some reason I have become obsessed with logging a ton of volume and my game is suffering for it and suffering badly. I am playing so robotic that even a semi-trained chimp would be able to sit down and not lose any money to me!

I used to pride myself on being able to take pots away on the turn or river as I had been watching a villain's betting patterns, or making hero calls knowing I was ahead but over the past week I have been continuation betting far too much, getting married to overpairs and simply not paying any attention to my opponents. Everyone knows volume is the key to success as it helps overcome variance quicker but if you concentrate purely on quantity and not quality then you are going to be a loser at poker.

It was the late David 'Chip' Reese (more...) who once stated that his "A-game" was not much better than anybody else's but his B and C games were far superior. In other words, when he was playing his best poker he was no better than his opponents (or did not have a massive edge) but when he was playing poorly he lost less money that those around him in the same situation.

I have never had a massive losing session as I always somehow salvage things but something seems missing right now. I am losing too much money when I should be saving bets and not extracting enough value when I have hands, as I am not paying attention. Over the past week, I have played around 10,000 and broke even practically to the cent when if I had played this much usually, I would be in front by at least $100-$200 at NL10. I would not be retiring on $100 but at these stakes, that is a massive amount of money.

So what am I going to do to change? Well, I promised myself I will never set another challenge apart from not challenging myself so that is out of the question! I am going to play no more than four short-handed tables of NL10 so that I can concentrate on playing positional poker. I am also going to make sure I have decent notes on the tricky or fishy opponents I face. In addition, I am going to post on this blog at least three hands per week that gave me trouble or tested me so that I can see if my thought process was wrong and get you, the reader's point of view.

My databases have been reset and my notes wiped out so today is a fresh start to August. No goals based on number of hands or money won, just to bring my A-game to the table and lose less when I do not.

As always, thanks for reading and best of luck at the tables!

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Short-Stacked Shamus | 08 August 2008

Just about never fails for me -- shorter sessions (of 1 or 2 tables) almost always pay off better than the long ones and/or ones where I play more than two tables at once.

Luckily my reg. schedule usually only permits the briefer, less intense sessions. Otherwise -- i.e., when I'm not working & my days are more flexible -- it is hard to resist playing too much.
Ben | 09 August 2008

Over the past week, I have played around 10,000 and broke even practically to the cent

I am quite sure some players would give anything for that type of downswing.

I think your post a couple of days ago about HU makes a lot more sense. Surely learning the art of heads up is one of the most important things for a poker player and one of the quickest ways to build a bankroll.

I accept as you move up stakes for HU this becomes harder. One of these days I may get my act together!! I hope.

Finally Michael at "counting my outs" has posted after quite a long time. I have vague memories that you mentioned him on your blog. Interesting as hopefully he is going more onto NL

anyway enough of nonsense from me

Ben
Liverpool
Rossi | 09 August 2008

Definately the way forward Pud, you cant make quality decisions playing 10 tables, well i cant anyway.
apal | 10 August 2008

Ten tables is far too much as Rossis says. Never thought about moving up a level and concentrating on less tables?