September 2014

20.6k hands, 90.6hours, 227hands/hr

Less multi-tabling reg matches and generally stricter game selection (turning down 3+ tables in small EV spots). Didn't sit on Micro as much.

I'm actually surprised I did so well this month as for a week in the middle there I was very distracted by the Independence referendum, as well as attending a few gigs in Glasgow (Fat Whites- amazing again), Edinburgh (Mogwai, Franz Ferdinand, Frightened Rabbit and Stanley Odd - YES gig!) and Aberdeen (Twilight Sad). The result of the referendum was expected but was still totally gutting. I was higly emotional going to vote and then even for a few days afterwards thinking about what a great chance we had thrown away.

I ran a lot above EV especially at the start/middle of month and I also cleared a few bonuses and found some rakeback in my Boyle sportsbook account that has been piling up for a few months. So the end figure is higher than I expected. I have been playing well and sensibly all month though.

Been sitting a little higher on a few sites trying to get action at $1k+ but it's been dry for the most part. I think when I get off to a decent start it allows me to sit back a bit and not push myself constantly to get volume in. I'm actually at the moment in the middle of a long run of days (9) playing in a row and I don't feel fatigued at all. It's unusual for me to play even one day at the weekends but the weekend past there we weren't upto much so I put 4-5 hours in each day.

This last week I've finally starting using a computerized spreadsheet to track my results daily (lol about time). It is needed now more than before due to untracked hands on sites that don't track as well as hands played on my laptop.

Anyway. Next month I will continue the same as this, focusing on making $ and not just getting volume as well as not getting into ego wars with good regs. Saying that I did 1 table a few different regs throughout the month and it's def +EV vs many of them, it's the regs willing to multi-table where the edges are thin.

I wrote a song about the vote which sadly is no longer appropriate but here it is anyway.


And a substantially better song about the same topic


JANUARY = £7,300
FEBUARY = £2,250
MARCH = £5,100
APRIL = £3,440
MAY = +£3,220
JUNE = +£11,690
JULY = +£3,630
AUGUST = +£4,190
SEPTEMBER = +£10,980
 
TOTAL = £51,800

August 2014

31k hands, 100hours, 310hands/hr

Must have lost on SKY/laptop ad total profit for month was only +£4,190.

Not gonna write much as it's already 5th and I'm in a hurry to go out. Will sum up the last couple of months at the end of this. It's been frustrating for the most part.

JANUARY = £7,300
FEBUARY = £2,250
MARCH = £5,100
APRIL = £3,440
MAY = +£3,220
JUNE = +£11,690
JULY = +£3,630
AUGUST = +£4,190
 
TOTAL = £40,820

July 2014

27.6k hands, 100hours, 276hands/hr

Had trouble at the start of the month with losing vs fish and semi-fish at $5/10. I didn't tilt or make any terrible plays but it affected my focus, twice I had lost over £1k in the first hour of the day. I cut out the stake and focused and played well. Watched a lot more videos the last week or 2 also, actually focusing on them and trying to think of things to apply during play.

It seems to easy when things are going my way, although I've not had a great month £ wise, I'm happy with how I've been playing and feel more confident playing nearly any reg at 200nl... although I will still not be playing the best ones for any great length of time. My first goal is to make money now and keep improving without adding extra variance and distracting from more +EV spots. 7k hands this month were on Micro gaming, which show I've been battling a fair amount with regs, I'm up £1.5k there but running 2x over EV. Still holding my own.

We had a great 4 nights away my parents and Sean. Climbed another Monroe and did some Canoeing. Went to the Friday of T in The Park and had a great time (Vladamir, Maximo Park, Teen Canteen, Pixies). Fyffes wedding was brilliant too. Was at Celtic game vs Reykjavik game at Murryfeild when we won 4-0. After last nights terrible display in Warsaw we will need something like the same to go through after getting beat 4-1.


Next month I want to remain equally focused and keep playing well and incorporate more ideas from videos into my game.

JANUARY = £7,300
FEBUARY = £2,250
MARCH = £5,100
APRIL = £3,440
MAY = +£3,220
JUNE = +£11,690
JULY = +£3,630
 
TOTAL = £36,630

June 2014

23.9k hands, 108hrs, 221 hands/hr



Very focused and chose my battles very wisely. Much more relaxed and not forcing action is for sure the way to go for me to make money. Need to keep this up next month.


Away from Poker, we climbed up Ben Nevis this month and the stag weekend in Newcastle was good.

JANUARY = £7,300
FEBUARY = £2,250
MARCH = £5,100
APRIL = £3,440
MAY = +£3,220
June = +£11,690
 
TOTAL = £33,000

May 2014

14.78k hands, 66hrs, 224 hands/hr

Had a good holiday and since being back I have bumhunted a lot. I think I've been underestimating how difficult for me it is to play regs and fish at the same time. So going forward my plan is to keep doing what I've been doing for the last 3 weeks, which is avoiding regs, play one long session with small breaks away from PC when I get the chance, plus at least 30 min lunch break (hopefully outside).

Got a Stag weekend in Newcastle tomorrow which should be good. Looking forward to getting back on the grind and being as patient as I have been recently.

JANUARY = £7,300
FEBUARY = £2,250
MARCH = £5,100
APRIL = £3,440
MAY = +£3,220
 
TOTAL = £21,310

April 2014

Well I forgot to check ending balances for April today, so I'm taking the liberty of counting the 1st May towards Aprils totals.

25.6k hands, 96.5hrs, 265 hands/hr (higher than last month - playing MT matches on MG!) (I filtered out a couple of sessions of zoom from these numbers but not from the graph)

It's been a frustrating month. Longs spells of thinking I'm playing great with less than great results, as well as spell of losing confidence.

My grand plan from last month hardly got started, although I do feel I watched a decent amount of HU videos and got thinking about things a bit more. There has been a lack big reloading fish this month, a lot of my volume has been on MG vs regs.

I'm going to be playing one day tomorrow then I'm off on holiday with Claudia for a week in Gran Canaria. I will use this time to relax obviously, but also refocus and look back on my plans of weekly blogs and get that set up. I will actually read that mental game book on my iPad, as well as watch some practical videos.

JANUARY = £7,300
FEBUARY = £2,250
MARCH = £5,100
APRIL = £3,440
 
TOTAL = £18,090

March 2014

27k hands, 104.5hrs, 258 hands/hr (still to high - too much multi-tabling!)

Even on Boyle, up 250 on Laddys and 1.7k on SKY. Over profit £5.1k.

Play next to no PLO this month. I feel my NL game and overall mindset is in more need of work and this is not an ideal time for me to be learning PLO.

I feel like I have had spells this month of playing very well, which is encouraging. When focused and well rested I can cope with most players and can take losing OK. When tired or hungry though, I can't make good decisions at all and that has cost me a few times this month. I'm going to set a daily stoploss next month of probably £1200.

I had my friend Jordan up and had a long chat with him about improving my mental game and overall psychology (he is qualified sport psychologist now! we were at Uni together). He is interested in working more with me and when he saw the rates that one poker psychologist charges he want's to look into doing more!

He suggested I set myself more short term goals. This is something I know and feel stupid really having never outlined before. I am going to set myself 3 daily questions/goals.

These are:

1. Pay close attention to opponents and make as many useful notes as possible.

2. Have a time span set for each session and STICK TO IT (3hrs max). Stop immediately if tired or getting too emotional.

3. Take regular effective breaks (preferably with exercise included)

These are a work in progress and may change. I'm also going to start keeping a weekly log of results. With hrs/day targets as well as a checklist similar to the above but expanded a bit. I am reading Jared Tendler's "Mental Game of Poker 1" and speak to Jordan about it and incorporate that into my weekly logs/ overall mental approach.

On the actual playing side I bought "Barewire"'s Heads Up course for beginners. It's been pretty basic so far but I think it well defintly help my game in some way and after I've watched all 7 videos I will probably buy his advanced series. Good HU content is getting harder to find therse days, so hopefully this wiill help me out a lot.

In April I want to focus on improving day by day, my mental approach as well as honing my actual game through the video series and making more detailed reads in game, as well as some session reviews.

Aside from poker, we are looking into Wedding bands and are going to see a few next week. I want to exercise more and keep playing a lot of guitar and trying to write songs.

JANUARY = £7,300
FEBUARY = £2,250
MARCH = £5,100
 
TOTAL = £14,650