Halfway through Jan

Above is my sharkscope graph for the first half of Jan(excluding FPP rakeback games, also it should be $230 lower being that it missed one of my $230 losses). Below are my #'s:

• Games Played: 313
• Avg Profit: $4.96
• Avg Stake: $136
• Avg ROI: 9%
• Profit: $1,551

• FPP Rakeback: $215
• Cash games: $166

• Total Profit: $1,932

What has really made this month frustrating is the fact that I have an Avg ROI of 9% but am only maintaining an Avg profit of around $5. This is basically because I've doing doing pretty well in the $115's but bad in the $230's. I have a 136-97 record which is good for a 12% roi and $13.41/game in the $115's. In the $230's I have a 34-39 record and am down about 1.8k. I am 1-1 in the $345's.

There have def been games where I've made bad decisions and not played well, I'm fully capable of admitting that but if I had to put a # out there I would say its been 90% because of bad luck. It's such a small portion of games that I shouldn't really get worked up over it but I can't really help it, it's just sooooo frustrating that every $230 I play this month I run into some shit luck. When I think about it though, last month I did incredibly good and ran far above expectation in the $230's, just evening out I guess.

I am constantly amazed by how swingy this came can be. One week you are on top of the poker world, and the next week the poker gods are using you as a toilet, lol. It's really amazing. It's the nature of the game that makes it profitable though, even the most horrific of players have prob had days where they have won 10+ buyins and it's those days that keep them coming back to donate their money. Sometimes the long term can be ridiculously long it seems, lol. I am starting to realize more and more as each month passes that a very large portion of this game is a mental battle. When 2 very highly skilled players are playing each other, but one of them is on a losing streak and tilting, he might as well be a -15% roi fish.

In Barry Greeinstein's book Ace on the River he lists 25 "Traits of Winning poker players" and I think it's no coincidence what he lists at #1. Here they are as he lists them in ascending order of importance:

• 25. The ones with a sense of humor
• 24. Prideful
• 23. Generous
• 22. Outgoing
• 21. Insensitive
• 20. Optimistic
• 19. Independent
• 18. Manipulative
• 17. Greedy
• 16. Persistent
• 15. Self-centered
• 14. Trustworthy
• 13. Aggressive
• 12. Competitive
• 11. Survivors
• 10. Empathic
• 9. Fearless
• 8. Able to think under pressure
• 7. Attentive to detail
• 6. Motivated
• 5. The ones with the best memories
• 4. In control of their emotions
• 3. Intelligent
• 2. Honest with themselves
• 1. Psychologically tough

#'s 1 and 2 are so important in my opinion but often overlooked. I think alot of the top players would consider themselves psychologically tough. Maybe after getting beat down at the table all day you felt a little psychologically fragile, but the best players always turn it around, and always get their A-game back. Maybe they let it affect them that day, but they never would allow it to go on for days or weeks or even months at let it destroy their bankroll.

I also think it is so true that the best players are prob honest with themselves. They are able to admit when they were running like shit, but more importantly when they were playing like shit. Bad beats are def the cause of losing in the short term, but will never cause a person to lose over the long run. I think you see this alot online with losing players, claiming the online poker rooms are rigged(apparently just against them) and not taking responsibility for their own mistakes at the table. It's far easier to blame something else then to really look at and dissect your own game from the inside out. It hurts too much to admit that you play badly or at least have been recently. It's also amazing to me how almost everybody wins in live cash games. Everybody thinks they are a pro, lol. In reality many of them prob don't keep accurate records and alot of them are heavy losers but trick themselves into believing what they want to believe.

I think another important trait many winning players possess is intensity. While scanning through a few of my poker books the other day I came across this little tidbit:

"Intensity is hard to measure, but critically important. In fact, if other things are equal, the more intense competitor will usually win. He will work harder, remain more focused, and do whatever it takes to win."

That tidbit is from "Your Worst Poker Enemy" by Alan Schoonmaker. I have read quite a few books on poker psychology because I believe it to be the weakest part of my game at times. I could not agree more with the quote. I have always been pretty intense while playing poker, maybe a little bit too intense sometimes(a few mouses have fallen casualty to this intensity when I am losing, lol). I believe my intensity is able to make up for the times when I play sub optimally because of tilt, and at the same time is probably the reason for my tilt sometimes. I do not believe that passive people can win at this game, and my intensity helps me keep my edge. I would be willing to guess that most winning players would consider themselves to be on the intense side while playing.

Ummmm, when I first started typing this entry I just wanted to type in my progess the first half of Jan, haha. Kinda went off on a bit of a seperate tangent there. Oh well, that happens. Time to rock n roll and have a good 2nd half of Jan!! Good luck grinders!

bartchalker