False start

Well I finally got round to playing some small MTTs and to be honest it did not go well.

The first one was me blowing off some cobwebs as I hadn't played in a week therefore although I played like a chump I won't beat myself up.

The last tournament I played was a $5,000 prize fund.  I finally started to focus and play some solid poker.  I was playing selectively aggressive and it was working like a charm.

Average stack size was around 5k and the blinds at 100/200.  In the big blind Im dealt bullets.  Mid position raises 3x blinds it folds round to the button whom raises a small amount.  I re-raise to $2,000 which I strongly believed would be sufficient to thin the field however the person to my left calls and the original bettor goes all in.  I therefore raise all in.  4 way showdown with myself having AA the person to my right K9s, original bettor having suited A9 and the other with JJ.  The chips in the pot would have made me the new leader.  Flop comes all diamonds and gives K9s a flush.

I personally think I played this hand correctly with a 2k raise being enough to push K9s out of the hand.  However I guess he was in the mood to gamble and I can't fault that.  As long as I played the hand correctly I am happy.

In a former life this would have sent me ragging to a cash game I didn't have the bankroll to accommodate.  So i'm taking this as considerably progress from where I left off playing a year ago.  I hope that I continue to play with focus and selective aggression.

I'll give some more MTTs ago tomorrow but for now BR is at $20.

Creating a bankroll

I now have $25 in my account and have decided quite ambitiously to attempt to increase this to a decent enough bankroll to play micro 0.10/0.25 NL games.  I can have a maximum of $50 buy-in at these tables and I want to have a bankroll of 30 times the max buy-in before I can play comfortably.

That means I need to accumulate a bankroll of $1500.  The best way I know of turning that $25 into what's required is playing MTTs and Sit & Go tournaments.  That's the plan, tomorrow I'll start playing some $5 tourneys and see how it goes.  I'll post some feedback of my play and hand analysis after the first one.  

Problem fix wish list

Heres a list of problems I see myself with whilst playing poker;

1. I'm too impatient and try to force a hand.
2. I play out of position too much.
3. I don't analyse the plays enough.
4. I don't attempt a read on someone's hand.
5. I go all in way too much before analysing the hand and my opponents.
6. I get too emotionally if I feel someone is trying to bluff me.
7. Play too many marginal hands and expect to be winning in an un raised pot post flop.
8. I must play more aggressive.
9. I must try to steal more blinds.
10. I don't change gears enough.

Okay well that's enough for starters.  I will tick them off when I feel I've rid these issues from my game.

My current reading list

I have done a little research and Forked out for some books in order to take my level up a notch.

First on the list is Phil Gordon's Little Green Book (Amazon link) which I have now read once and it was really great, well written with humour and good examples.  I think about 20% went in and I shall definitely be studying each chapter to make sure it sticks.

Second on the list which I have now started is The Mental Game of Poker by Jared Tendler (Amazon link) which is to help my learning as well as obviously my mental game.  Something I have always struggled with and although I'm skeptical of how much this book will help I am definitely giving it a try in the hope something good will happen.  One chapter in and I'm enjoying the read.

I have two more books lined up however will focus on them a little later.  I don't want to overload on information after all I'm aiming for conscious competence (looks like I'm learning something from the second book already)

The reason why...

I gave up recreational poker in 2006 after playing online for about a year.  I really didn't take it that seriously and although I was playing micro 0.10/0.20 my swings were wild.  I would play badly and take things way too personally on the tables.  This would then compell me into playing at a higher stake to get my money back which of course would work for a while until people realised exactly what I was doing and bust me.

I think in the end I broke about even or at least this is what I've convinced myself over the past 6 years.  Back at the time I bought a lot of books but actually didn't read them much except a little of Doyle's super system.  I think mainly because I was too impatient and as soon as I started reading I would get the urge to play therefore never really finish.

Looking back I now realise what little info I did pick up was pretty dangerous to my poker as having not finished the book I didn't have the complete picture.

Anyway lesson learnt.  So now here I am and I've gotten a taste for poker again since my gaming PC is out of action (long story).  Well I jumped straight back in at the micros thinking I could pick up where I left off.  I created a poker stars account and put in $20 after a couple of days playing micro cash games I realised when my deposit more resembled $5 that I'm a fish and always have been.

If I want to play poker I need to play winning poker and at the minute that just ain't happening.  Hence the reason I have created this blog.  I am going back to basics and actually reading some books and I'm going to try and become a better poker player.  I will blog my experiences mainly so I can see if it's working and hopefully trace any problems with my game.  Well here goes, I'm all in!