More than just a Plan

I'm sure there is a lot more to being successful at poker than just being a good poker player. There are a lot of factors that influence a player's performance and, as with any activity, the performance can be affected by the surrounding environment. I'm always open to new ways of improving my game, even if not directly linked to the Poker game itself.

After a harsh day at the tables today (about 700 down in MTTs on my sponsored accounts and my laptop broken sigh - although about 100 up in cash on my own account is a bit of relief), I took some time out to review my playing environment and professional strategy. It is always a good idea to review the current situation after a bad spell (even if you have just had a mug off day or week) in case your missing something important, and on a personal level, it also re-inspires me to play poker.

So after various discussions with Baba, Kam and Iz, I decided to start by making a basic list of requirements for my preferred (and I think optimal) poker playing conditions:

Dual Displays:
Dual display is key when multi-tabling. It allows you to be able to see everything at the same time as well as (if required) have programmes such as MSN open without intefering or overlapping your games. If you can see all your games it is a lot easier to concentrate, more relaxing to play and hence easier make decisions - having games overlap and flash up on top of each other causes a disorganised and rushed environment which affects the amount of information you can process and the way your brain processes it.

Reliable and High Performance Hardware/Software:
A high quality specification computer and reliable internet provided, with a back up of both in case there are any technical difficulties. Poker is hard enough by itself; additional technical problems, internet delays and computer performance issues are an unnecessary burden that should not affect playing!

Quiet and Comfortable Environment:
A quiet and comfortable location to play is important, as it should be with any work that requires high levels of concentration. It is very easy to get distracted when playing poker - especially if there is not much action on the tables or a game is in the early stages. However it is imperative to stay focused in the games being played, otherwise valuable information is missed. Often when not focused, players revert to just playing the own hole cards without much regard for the surrounding factors such as blind sizes, stack sizes, oppenant playing styles, table dynamics, etc. etc. Poker players definately perform best when they are "in the zone" and are very aware of the table and it's players, it's easier to get "in the zone" in a quiet and comfortable environment.

Regular Intervals:
It's not possible to perform consistently at your highest performance level over long periods of time, regular breaks are required. This could be a break every 2 hours from the screen and also a day or two's break (e.g. every week) to empty the thoughts of playing Poker and give the player some time off to relax.

Well Nourished and Rested:
A good result almost always follows a good nights sleep and a good meal. As with any other activity, plenty of sleep and a decent diet is required to ensure top performance.

Nice simple list of requirements.

*When I stayed at my parents house last week, whilst they were on holiday, all of above were requirements were met and I finished the week nearly 4k up!

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Next I made a list of ideas that could improve the way I manage my Poker playing:

Organisation and Time Management:
Playing poker/studying poker/having time off / regularly update blog

Game Selection and Bankroll Management:
Additional bank account (just for poker) / playing stakes relative to amount of cash available / optimising the sponsorship accounts

Avoiding Negative Emotions:
It is easy to think the whole world is against you when playing poker - especially if you have had a few moments of bad luck, or are fustrated with a mistake. However what makes the Poker game interesting, potentially profitable and fun is the element of luck and if your on the wrong end of it...Suck it up soldier and move on! Cos your a pro and have seen it a million times. If you make a mistake, you review it, discuss it, analyse it, and move on knowing that next time in a similiar situation you will be better prepared and more confident. Try this for a day...don't tell anyone about any of your bad beats (in fact just pretend none of them ever happened)!

And finally, with the above in mind; I have made a list of objectives that are realistic and achievable with hard work and discipline:

Financial Objectives:
Short Term (3 months):
Payoff Credit Card: £4K

Long Term (6 months+):
Rent own pad (incl deposit & 3 months rent): £2K
Build own bankroll (low stakes): £1K
Buy new PC / Desk / Display: £1K
Payoff Sultan Mates: £3.5K (sorry guys bottom priority! however if any of you need the money back please let me know ASAP and I will make sure you get it, I have means to do so it won't be a problem for me!)

Although it seems to make more sense to invest in a professional set up and have my own bankroll available before paying of my debt so that I can make more money to pay of the debt (left my locker key in the locker/chicken or egg paradox...), after discussing with my mentor and friends I have decided that my primary objective should be to pay off the credit card debt.

Once the debt is payed I can play poker without this burden on my shoulders and have some means of funds available if required.

However, I do have a small bankroll of just over 400$ in my Full Tilt Poker account (which has another 100$ pending from rakeback), simply because I am addicted to plans and as soon as I got paid last month I put a 100 bucks in there lol - especially after having invested 80 nugs in Hold Em Manager and spending so much time researching into Cash games.

I was reading today online (and also in Letherass) that I should not play any higher stakes than 10:25c Cash games with this bankroll of 400$....which ironically is the limit I started at to get to $400 lol (I originally put 100$ in) and the advice also states that if I get to $1000 dollars then I will have enough bankroll to consider playing 25:50c Cash games.

However when I make it to $1000 I will re-review and decide at the time whether I want to move up to 25:50c, or cash out 600$ and keep playing 10:25c

Cash has been going quite well, you can use Hold Em manager to see your EV (basically how much profit or loss you would have if the element of "luck" was perfectly fair). I've been playing after hours once my parents have gone to bed (like 3am to 6am when my MTT's are all finished), so that I can use their monitor and play without distractions. With the second display I'm comfortable playing 8 games at the same time...I'd like to try more but that would require additional real estate (i.e. another monitor), although I doubt many more than 8 would be profitable as I would not be able to give each table enough attention.

Anyway thats the financial objectives, here are the (minimum) Poker objectives:

Poker Objectives:
5 MTT sessions per week, each MTT session usually lasts around 6 hours (on sponsored accounts)
2 Cash sessions per week (on own accounts)
30 Mins per session (before or after, or 15 min before, 15 min after) to review results - exit hands, big pots, etc.
5 Hours study a week, forums, articles, books, mentor sessions
1 Blog update a week

Personally I reckon I can do 1.5x the above [no sweat;)] but anyway that's a good baseline and something realistic and fair to work with. I've written these objectives down in my personal poker book so I will see them everytime it is opened (which is very regularly!)

So, looking forward to starting - I'll probably write my first (1 per week) blog post about the progress!

plans plans plans plans plans plans plans plans plans plans