Some video thoughts

Couple of interesting tid bits to talk about before discussing boring results. First of all videos. In general I bet I can't think of much I've ever learned from videos. That doesn't mean I haven't learned anything, it's more that I'm not giving myself the best chance to learn I don't think. I sit and listen to a video, agree with a concept and move on. I think just the act of writing down interesting points is a real addition to watching a video. I know Leatherass said he would constantly watch Stox videos and write down on a notepad everthing interesting. So I'm going to do the same, and put those notes in this blog. I hope to:
1. Learn a little more
2. Learn to question why more often
3. Learn to thrash out ideas away from the video.

The last is especially useful. Like someone says this is a good spot to raise, I can write it down, and start to see why that is.

I'm also going to do a little more outside of the tables. Like if I see a datamined history, without many notes, I will write down the username and research them outside the game. It's likely I'll bump into them again, so may as well get prepared, and may even find out some interesting things when doing this.

So a few notes on two videos I saw. First was VitalMyth 3 Exploitation series. Magician of a poker player, and I'm pretty sure this video was a little too high stakes for me, but this is my previous blog to a tee. He is able to read players like crazy, and this is poker. I want to aim to be like this guy, I'll be watching and rewatching every video he does. That said my note taking was awful here, but here we go:
Limping pre flop - as a way to stop a very aggro player on your left from taking away good isolating spots. Like a fish limps and we want to play a pot, but then the aggro player 3 bets after we isolate. Now we face a 3 bet pot against a reg, and lost the fish anyway. By limping along, the aggro player might still isolate, but with the fish in the hand, and us having position with plenty of stack to play with, we now have a more profitable situation. I like it, but fairly specific and not very NL25/NL50 friendly.
Minbetting - against the same aggro players, you'll get a lot of action with this move, so do it for value. It also helps confuse players who might see you as a regular rather than a fish. Anything to confuse someone has to be good. Some examples showed a really small turn bet after a bet/cbet. Personally I faced this yesterday with 2nd pair. I think the guy thought I was holding something that would call with hands he beat (he had 3rd pair), or get raised by hands that beat him. I just called, and checked behind on the river, but it was a good way for him to get a free card, or get to showdown cheap, but very exploitable for next time I see it (as I pay attention now).
Donk leading - again aggro players love to raise donk leads, so do it for value against these guys. Other players will fold too much, so pick out those guys and use it to win pots with no equity. You can also start to see where people call it very light. I like the idea behind donk leads, but really don't feel I'm ready to experiment just yet.

2nd video was Jared Tendler on how to learn more effectively. Very important right now. I think I'll watch all of Jared's video pretty soon, because this is sort of the ABC to learning anything, and any info to help do that will only help in the long run. So some things he has as important is to write down what splits apart the A game, B game and C game. So here it is for me (this will change over time):
A game - paying full attention to all players. Things like "he has the queen, and will fold if I call here and bet the river" enter your mind. Can quit bad situations. Making decisions that show everything I've learned, maybe even adding a new learning while playing. Making solid notes on players, and writing down interesting things. Maintaining focus throughout a session. Not tilting when a rough hand comes up or I get my money in bad. Losing a small pot when I could have easily lost a bigger one. Getting good value for my good hands.
B game - All of above, except some of the following may be happening. Not reading players that well. Making vague notes or noting unimportant things. Tilting, but not continuing on with that tilt. Moving into auto pilot. Not making notes outside the tables. Getting distracted by TV or other things. Getting frustrated by situations a little easy. Feeling tired.
C game - Not worth mentioning the above, because they mostly aren't happening. Making moves without reads or reasons to. Playing tilted. Folding the best hand because I'm playing scared. Getting my money in too light. Playing way too tired. Not preparing for hands. Not quitting bad situations, like getting 3 bet a lot from the blinds or playing a table without any weak players.

Other parts of this video:
Apparently thinking through things or writing down situations helps take emotion out of the situation, where emotion clouds judgement of course. So you get into a cooler situation, and write it down. Instantly, the tilt becomes less, as what you write down is more about what you did rather than what happened. I have really just noticed this before hearing Jared say it, but I agree 100%.

Also he said tilting shouldn't happen if you made a big mistake. You've either made it for one of two reasons. 1, you didn't better, or 2 you didn't implement what you knew. Now 1 is fine. As long as you are actively seeking out what you did wrong, it's fine to make a mistake. Now go and learn that thing, and you won't make the mistake again (perhaps). The second is also OK. You thought you'd learned something, but by proving you hadn't learned it, you can try to understand why, which most likely means you won't make that mistake next time.

A couple of smaller things. Don't over analyse pots at the tables, leave that until you are finished the session and have a clearer mind. What felt like a terrible move maybe was correct, and what felt great maybe was horrible, but leave that until the end to decide. Just take out of that, what your opponent did, and try to analyse that at the tables. Also some good points about breathing. Making a deep long breath to relax, and a quicker more intense breath to get focused. So when you have a big decision to make, start by putting in a real focus breath, to really make sure you are giving yourself the best chance.

OK, just a couple more concepts from podcasts I heard on the weekend (OMFG this is long). Firstly Jared Tendler again. He discussed his training and videos on 2+2 podcast and one thing really caught my attention. He said you don't need confidence to drive your game. Confidence when you don't have the skills is just dillusional. Skill should be driving the confidence, so that when you have the skill, you know you have the skill and you therefore have the confidence. Of course other factors can crush confidence even if you have skill, but that's a different issue. The main thing is to not try to convince yourself of being confident, try to get your skill level to such a point you don't have to convince yourself. Also he mentioned that heightened emotions actually forces the brain to think less, as does being too relaxed. So trying to avoid tilt by thinking things through is actually not going to work if the tilt is stopping you thinking :)

Far from this was the Bart Hansen show about what to look for at the tables. His podcast again is purely about what I am right in the middle of learning. He pointed out some things I'm thinking about right now. I mean it's OK to watch every move someone makes, but realistically going through 40 notes on every move someone made is not helping. He has pointed out some key things to analyse, like what they bet the river with. Do they bet as a bluff a lot, thinly value bet one pair hands, or only bet monsters? Very much what I've been focusing on. If they check raise a flop, is it likely they have 2 pair or a bluff always, or do they do this with sets/draws. Are they cbetting too much, do they always cbet then shut down on dry boards OOP, etc etc. I'll have to listen to the end of this, but so far, it's a very good episode about exactly what I've been talking about, which is watching what goes on rather than autopiloting based on your cards. All good.

OK, so that's chapters 2, 3 and 4 of my novel :) Incidentally I played poker last night. It was far less exciting than the Friday session, grinding NL25 one table on Full Tilt. MY bankroll is still marginal, but has improved over the last couple of weeks, and I do feel like my edge at 6 max is growing bigger and bigger with my new ideas and focus. I should have doubled up reasonably early against a very aggro player when I got it in with TT vs 55 pre flop, but he spiked (Fuck you full tilt). I then made a player bluff off half a stack versus my AA (where I wouldn't have been happy to get it in), and doubled up on a deep stacked table when I flopped a set versus a very weak hand going way too aggro at everything. I also had to lay down some fairly big hands, but figure them all to be good laydowns. I finished up just a little, but definitley felt like I lost focus 3/4 through the session, and was happy that I'd realised this. I couldn't however overcome this totally fo rsome reason, and quit at an appropriate time. Maybe I was a little tired, needed a break, but as it was, it was a good time for sleep, so I quit the session, didn't really warm down, and went to bed. A goal for my next session will be to finish off a session properly by reviewing hands and going over my game notes I've made. Other than that I was happy with my play, and thought fairly solidly throughout.

So back to the drawing board, my 6 max inspiration was resparked and now I'm looking at grinding these stakes once again, starting with 1 table, but aiming for 2 tables reasonably soon. No real money goals or rakeback goals in the short term, but I would like to grind up to at least the $1K mark and move up to NL50 at some point in the future.