Sh3yk - Small Stakes

Hey there Padua!

How come that you're sometimes playing on auto-pilot? When does this usually happen and why do you think it happens? Is it because you're tired? Or perhaps bored? Are you playing very long sessions without taking any breaks? Are you focusing on improving a specific thing about your game each session, or are you usually just playing without any clear purpose apart from earning money?

Looking forward to hearing from you soon!

-Primož

Well, sometimes I just get distracted very easy, maybe because I'm playing a little tired, or playing without desire somedays, just because I have to achieve an amount of hands at the end of the month. Sometimes the session has little action and probably I get bored, and at the same time distracted.

I should police more myself about this. I'm not doing long sessions without breaks at all, just playing sessions of 2h~3h and take a break. I think that's fine.

I love poker, I have passion for this game, and definetly I'm not playing it just to earn money. I'm always trying to improve and add new things in my game each sessions, but I have to admit it's bem more than a month that I'm not trying to learn new things, or improve a specific thing about my game in the sessions, and this is very wrong I know. We should try to improve our game constantly, and focus on imrpoving our skills.

Here are my general stats at NL50 in the last 75k hands for a first look.

I have to improve a lot of things in my game, and right now I'm trying to do some changes in my game like:

- 3betting wide for value pf
- Defending wider against 3bets
- Bluff less river and better choose of who to bluff
- Playing more agressively pf and 3bet pots

Hey again,

I think you're definitely on the right track :). What you've written down is pretty much a part of your vision/mission already.

So what you can do is to put this into a written statement (what you want to achieve and what you need to be doing to achieve it), then make some weekly/daily goals which will keep you on the right track and review your vision/mission statement:

1. every morning (to remind yourself of what you want and how to get it, + motivate yourself)
2. every evening (to hold yourself accountable for doing/not doing things in line with your vision (i really recommend you to write a summary of the day somewhere, either in a journal or in this blog, to track your progress)
3. every time you feel demotivated (to re-motivate yourself)

I think this will help you transition from knowing what you have to do in your head to actually doing it consistently :).

What do you think?

-Primož

Regarding

You're playign way too tight from MP, your range should increase from each position, but your EP/MP ranges are too similar, you can start opening more suited connectors and broadways.

You 3bet a little bit too little from co/btn and think that in general you are just going a little bit passive/tightly, we need to try to win pots and put our self in position to play in position/with initiative vs weaker players.

Fold to steal in the big blind looks way too big too, what is your defending range vs a button min raise.

Originally posted by Schnitzelfisch
Hey again,

I think you're definitely on the right track :). What you've written down is pretty much a part of your vision/mission already.

So what you can do is to put this into a written statement (what you want to achieve and what you need to be doing to achieve it), then make some weekly/daily goals which will keep you on the right track and review your vision/mission statement:

1. every morning (to remind yourself of what you want and how to get it, + motivate yourself)
2. every evening (to hold yourself accountable for doing/not doing things in line with your vision (i really recommend you to write a summary of the day somewhere, either in a journal or in this blog, to track your progress)
3. every time you feel demotivated (to re-motivate yourself)

I think this will help you transition from knowing what you have to do in your head to actually doing it consistently :).

What do you think?

-Primož

I think that's a very good approach and I'll definetly try to do it!

Thx very much Primoz.

Originally posted by pleno1
Regarding

You're playign way too tight from MP, your range should increase from each position, but your EP/MP ranges are too similar, you can start opening more suited connectors and broadways.

You 3bet a little bit too little from co/btn and think that in general you are just going a little bit passive/tightly, we need to try to win pots and put our self in position to play in position/with initiative vs weaker players.

Fold to steal in the big blind looks way too big too, what is your defending range vs a button min raise.

Hey pleno1,

I use to open the same range from EP/MP. Is that a mistake? We should get looser from MP? But what hands we should add besides the regular EP range? Just SC and some broadways like JQo, JKo, JTo?

Yeah, I notice I 3bet little from CO/BU and I'm trying to fix it. I agree with every thing u said about me playing passive/tighty, and I'm already trying to change this.

And plp don't mr a lot in NL50 from BU like in the other limits, but when they do, I defend with 3bet 88+ and broadways. I call with 77- and some SC or sometimes gappers connectors. Any suggestions about this defending range?

Thx a lot man! Very good seminar yesterday btw.

Ola Padua!

My name is Erik and I will be part of the coaching staff focusing on Tilt, A-Game, Mindset, and Lifecoaching. So if you have any questions you can just post them
here and let me know in my Q&A thread if I take too long to reply. I'll be trolling around the forums but just so I don't miss anything.

Take it easy!

Originally posted by ErikStenqvist
Ola Padua!

My name is Erik and I will be part of the coaching staff focusing on Tilt, A-Game, Mindset, and Lifecoaching. So if you have any questions you can just post them
here and let me know in my Q&A thread if I take too long to reply. I'll be trolling around the forums but just so I don't miss anything.

Take it easy!

Hey Erik, thx!

Now that you mentioned, I was thinking in what TILT me more while playing, and the answer is: playing badly/wrong one or more hands.

Sometimes when I clearly take the worng decision, I can't stop thinking about it, that I should have played different before, and it's so annoying. Usually when this happens I went on tilt or lose the focus on the game, letting go great spots cuz I'm still thinking about the past bad played hand.

Any tips on how to get around it?

Originally posted by Sh3yk
Sometimes when I clearly take the worng decision, I can't stop thinking about it, that I should have played different before, and it's so annoying.

When this happens is it because you for example feel like you should fold on the river and you go against your gut feeling?
Or is it any time you make a mistake?

Originally posted by ErikStenqvist

Originally posted by Sh3yk
Sometimes when I clearly take the worng decision, I can't stop thinking about it, that I should have played different before, and it's so annoying.

When this happens is it because you for example feel like you should fold on the river and you go against your gut feeling?
Or is it any time you make a mistake?

Both situations, but when the first one happens, I tilt harder.

Originally posted by Sh3yk

Originally posted by ErikStenqvist

Originally posted by Sh3yk
Sometimes when I clearly take the worng decision, I can't stop thinking about it, that I should have played different before, and it's so annoying.

When this happens is it because you for example feel like you should fold on the river and you go against your gut feeling?
Or is it any time you make a mistake?

Both situations, but when the first one happens, I tilt harder.

Ok so give me your thoughts on why you think that this happens? I just want to hear what you think the core issue might be.

Well, when I commit a mistake, I just can't stop thinking about the money I lost because a bad move, and thoughts like "aww, if I haven't make that bad move, I would have ended up the session more 2BIs up, blablablabla..." or when I'm in a bad session "sh1t, this was a bad session and I finish it 2 BIs down, but if I haven't played that hand badly I would have finished BE...".

During the session, when this happens I get a little more spewvy, in a feeling that "I need to recover the money I lost in that bad move", and that I study this game long time to not commit that kind of mistakes, and that I should be good enough to play all the hands in a "perfect way", and I keep punishing myself with this kind of thoughts till I forgot that specific hand. Sometimes this take a feel hands to happens, sometimes a few hours, and sometimes days... Depending on how much I lost in the hand, and how stupid was the way I played.

I think the core issue is that feeling of lose money that I must not have lost. When I lose money in a bad beat or cooler, it's fine, cuz I couldn't do anything different to avoid that, it's not my fault. But when I lose money because bad play, it's just the opposite. I could have avoided that situation, and it's all my fault I lost that money, and this really kills me with bad thoughts, and I need to discover a way to fix this. "It's like this lost money won't never come back, because it was a earned money, that I bursted in a stupid way".

I know that even pros probably do some mistakes while playing, because a lot of different reasons like not playing their A game, playing tired, or whatever, but they don't tilt with this. And it's excatly this I need to learn, one way to self control in this situation.

Originally posted by Sh3yk
Well, when I commit a mistake, I just can't stop thinking about the money I lost because a bad move, and thoughts like "aww, if I haven't make that bad move, I would have ended up the session more 2BIs up, blablablabla..." or when I'm in a bad session "sh1t, this was a bad session and I finish it 2 BIs down, but if I haven't played that hand badly I would have finished BE...".

During the session, when this happens I get a little more spewvy, in a feeling that "I need to recover the money I lost in that bad move", and that I study this game long time to not commit that kind of mistakes, and that I should be good enough to play all the hands in a "perfect way", and I keep punishing myself with this kind of thoughts till I forgot that specific hand. Sometimes this take a feel hands to happens, sometimes a few hours, and sometimes days... Depending on how much I lost in the hand, and how stupid was the way I played.

I think the core issue is that feeling of lose money that I must not have lost. When I lose money in a bad beat or cooler, it's fine, cuz I couldn't do anything different to avoid that, it's not my fault. But when I lose money because bad play, it's just the opposite. I could have avoided that situation, and it's all my fault I lost that money, and this really kills me with bad thoughts, and I need to discover a way to fix this. "It's like this lost money won't never come back, because it was a earned money, that I bursted in a stupid way".

I know that even pros probably do some mistakes while playing, because a lot of different reasons like not playing their A game, playing tired, or whatever, but they don't tilt with this. And it's excatly this I need to learn, one way to self control in this situation.

I know how this feels. Instead of look at the bad part (the money lost), try thinking that you'll use that hand as an experience for not losing in similar spots in the future. You lost money now, but gained a knowledgement that will improve your winrate in the long range. Think that way

Originally posted by Padiz0

Originally posted by Sh3yk
Well, when I commit a mistake, I just can't stop thinking about the money I lost because a bad move, and thoughts like "aww, if I haven't make that bad move, I would have ended up the session more 2BIs up, blablablabla..." or when I'm in a bad session "sh1t, this was a bad session and I finish it 2 BIs down, but if I haven't played that hand badly I would have finished BE...".

During the session, when this happens I get a little more spewvy, in a feeling that "I need to recover the money I lost in that bad move", and that I study this game long time to not commit that kind of mistakes, and that I should be good enough to play all the hands in a "perfect way", and I keep punishing myself with this kind of thoughts till I forgot that specific hand. Sometimes this take a feel hands to happens, sometimes a few hours, and sometimes days... Depending on how much I lost in the hand, and how stupid was the way I played.

I think the core issue is that feeling of lose money that I must not have lost. When I lose money in a bad beat or cooler, it's fine, cuz I couldn't do anything different to avoid that, it's not my fault. But when I lose money because bad play, it's just the opposite. I could have avoided that situation, and it's all my fault I lost that money, and this really kills me with bad thoughts, and I need to discover a way to fix this. "It's like this lost money won't never come back, because it was a earned money, that I bursted in a stupid way".

I know that even pros probably do some mistakes while playing, because a lot of different reasons like not playing their A game, playing tired, or whatever, but they don't tilt with this. And it's excatly this I need to learn, one way to self control in this situation.

I know how this feels. Instead of look at the bad part (the money lost), try thinking that you'll use that hand as an experience for not losing in similar spots in the future. You lost money now, but gained a knowledgement that will improve your winrate in the long range. Think that way

It's a good approach Padiz0, I'll try to do that, but I'm afraid that maybe this isn't going to be enough.

Thx anyway!

Yea, I know it's frustrating to play wrong, but don't make it look bigger than it is. Making mistakes is normal, mainly for a NL50-200 player, dont martyrize yourself for it =P

Originally posted by Sh3yk
Well, when I commit a mistake, I just can't stop thinking about the money I lost because a bad move, and thoughts like "aww, if I haven't make that bad move, I would have ended up the session more 2BIs up, blablablabla..." or when I'm in a bad session "sh1t, this was a bad session and I finish it 2 BIs down, but if I haven't played that hand badly I would have finished BE...".

During the session, when this happens I get a little more spewvy, in a feeling that "I need to recover the money I lost in that bad move", and that I study this game long time to not commit that kind of mistakes, and that I should be good enough to play all the hands in a "perfect way", and I keep punishing myself with this kind of thoughts till I forgot that specific hand. Sometimes this take a feel hands to happens, sometimes a few hours, and sometimes days... Depending on how much I lost in the hand, and how stupid was the way I played.

I think the core issue is that feeling of lose money that I must not have lost. When I lose money in a bad beat or cooler, it's fine, cuz I couldn't do anything different to avoid that, it's not my fault. But when I lose money because bad play, it's just the opposite. I could have avoided that situation, and it's all my fault I lost that money, and this really kills me with bad thoughts, and I need to discover a way to fix this. "It's like this lost money won't never come back, because it was a earned money, that I bursted in a stupid way".

I know that even pros probably do some mistakes while playing, because a lot of different reasons like not playing their A game, playing tired, or whatever, but they don't tilt with this. And it's excatly this I need to learn, one way to self control in this situation.

We have to make mistakes to learn and improve. It's not failure. It's the natural way of learning and improving. The issue is you mental commentary about the issue itself. this is why people struggle so much with it. you need to start slowing you mind down and not let it run around finding negativity uncontrolled.

Practice off the table with meditations and mindfulness regularly every day. When this happens in a session begin talking the emotion and thoughts out loud. This slows time down and you express whats happening in that moment. Combine this with dedicating the session to working on one or two issues. Practice anticipating them and prepare being non reactive to the feelings that shows up.

This will take some practice. How does that sound so far?

Yah Padiz0, you're right. I will try to police more myself about these feelings.

Originally posted by ErikStenqvist

We have to make mistakes to learn and improve. It's not failure. It's the natural way of learning and improving. The issue is you mental commentary about the issue itself. this is why people struggle so much with it. you need to start slowing you mind down and not let it run around finding negativity uncontrolled.

Practice off the table with meditations and mindfulness regularly every day. When this happens in a session begin talking the emotion and thoughts out loud. This slows time down and you express whats happening in that moment. Combine this with dedicating the session to working on one or two issues. Practice anticipating them and prepare being non reactive to the feelings that shows up.

This will take some practice. How does that sound so far?

This Erik! I watched your video teaching how to meditate, and I've been doing some meditating before every session I play, and it's working great. I feel lighter while playing, with no negative thoughts, more peaceful, less worried about results, less anxious.

No doubt this improved the quality of my last sessions and made me play a better poker. It's like I'm better focus now to play my A game most of the time.

And this can help with tilt also. In my first session, after meditate, I played a hand really really bad, get into lvl with a boring reg, and lost 150BBs in a bad played hand. I get tilted in this moment. It was about hand 450 +-. But I could calm down my soul a few hands after this hand, and I keep playing fine, and did great. I ended up playing 1650 hands and finished my session positive. The only explanation I can find to justify my come back from the tilt was the meditation.

I've never had recovered myself from a tilt so fast, like I did in this session. Fantastic!

Originally posted by Sh3yk
I've never had recovered myself from a tilt so fast, like I did in this session. Fantastic!

Awesome to hear

Keep practicing as often as you like. If you want another mp3 to practice with just add me on Skype. And keep me posted on how it goes. If you find something you arent able to overcome or a hurdle. Ill do my best to help you overcome that.

Cheers!

Originally posted by ErikStenqvist

Originally posted by Sh3yk
I've never had recovered myself from a tilt so fast, like I did in this session. Fantastic!

Awesome to hear

Keep practicing as often as you like. If you want another mp3 to practice with just add me on Skype. And keep me posted on how it goes. If you find something you arent able to overcome or a hurdle. Ill do my best to help you overcome that.

Cheers!

All right Erik, I'm interested in your another mp3 to pratice and I will add you on Skype.

Thx!

Hey again,

did you try constantly using your vision & mission statement? How did it work for you? Did you run into any problems?

-Primož