12:57am: Today was very long. First off, it’s a lot easier to put in my volume quota when my GF isn’t home to distract me. She is out of town visiting her uncle in Dallas. That being said, I miss her and I wish she was here because I consider myself lucky that I have someone to take my mind off poker every now and then.

On the poker side of things, today was a little bit of everything. I was on both sides of the coin today, as I got both lucky and unlucky a number of times. I started out the session a little rougher than I would have liked (down 3 games at one point), but eventually I pulled it together. I was feeling really good heading into the seventh set. It was starting to look like a $500-$600 day, but one of my opponents in the seventh set got rather lucky a number of times. See those hands below.

PokerStars Game #19578666173: Tournament #101835758, $100+$5 Hold’em No Limit - Match Round I, Level III (25/50) - 2008/08/13 - 01:26:38 (ET)
Table ‘101835758 1′ 2-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: trujm (2295 in chips)
Seat 2: tonyk007 (705 in chips)
trujm: posts small blind 25
tonyk007: posts big blind 50
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to trujm [Qs As]
trujm: raises 100 to 150
tonyk007: raises 100 to 250
trujm: raises 2045 to 2295 and is all-in
tonyk007: calls 455 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (1590) returned to trujm
*** FLOP *** [5c 9h 3s]
*** TURN *** [5c 9h 3s] [Td]
*** RIVER *** [5c 9h 3s Td] [7s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
tonyk007: shows [Ah 7d] (a pair of Sevens)
trujm: shows [Qs As] (high card Ace)
tonyk007 collected 1410 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1410 | Rake 0
Board [5c 9h 3s Td 7s]
Seat 1: trujm (button) (small blind) showed [Qs As] and lost with high card Ace
Seat 2: tonyk007 (big blind) showed [Ah 7d] and won (1410) with a pair of Sevens

and

PokerStars Game #19578684812: Tournament #101835758, $100+$5 Hold’em No Limit - Match Round I, Level IV (50/100) - 2008/08/13 - 01:28:01 (ET)
Table ‘101835758 1′ 2-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: trujm (1340 in chips)
Seat 2: tonyk007 (1660 in chips)
tonyk007: posts small blind 50
trujm: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to trujm [Ts Td]
tonyk007: raises 100 to 200
trujm: raises 1140 to 1340 and is all-in
tonyk007: calls 1140
*** FLOP *** [3s Kc 2d]
*** TURN *** [3s Kc 2d] [3h]
*** RIVER *** [3s Kc 2d 3h] [7s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
trujm: shows [Ts Td] (two pair, Tens and Threes)
tonyk007: shows [8s Kh] (two pair, Kings and Threes)
tonyk007 collected 2680 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2680 | Rake 0
Board [3s Kc 2d 3h 7s]
Seat 1: trujm (big blind) showed [Ts Td] and lost with two pair, Tens and Threes
Seat 2: tonyk007 (button) (small blind) showed [8s Kh] and won (2680) with two pair, Kings and Threes

This match turned out to be crucial. That is, what I call a “hinge game”. I will write more about hinge games in my next article. Thankfully, I was able to close out my final set 2-1 to hold serve on the same four game lead that I had been carrying around since the fifth set. Here are the final results, set by set:

1. 2-1
2. 1-2
3. 1-2
4. 2-1
5. 3-0
6. 2-1
7. 1-2
8. 2-1

Good luck to everyone playing a late night/early morning session. More later..

Start a Clean Slate at a New Room, a New Sharkscope, and Keep HFL Free in the Process

1:49am: Throwing literally every single edge in your favor is key in maximizing both hourly wage and profit when it comes to poker. We have already talked about how important note taking and data mining are, but surely there’s a couple of stones we left unturned, right?

So here’s something you probably didn’t know about Sharkscope, and is GREAT, specifically for heads up sit n go players. Next time you’re logged in to Sharkscope, click “Options”, then click “Preferences”, and change your “form style” from “Hot/Tilt” to “WLLWLLPWLW” (see pictures below)

Now that you have that selected, instead of displaying “Hot” or “Tilt” in the “form” column on a Sharkscope query, it will tell you the outcome of the last eight sit n gos played by the person you’re inquiring about. (i.e WLWLWLWL)

What this does is gives you more exact information about your opponents mindset heading into your match with him/her. Before changing this setting, the only time anything was displayed under the “form” column on a Sharkscope database query is when the person in question has won or lost more than 3/4 games respectively in a row. This could be misleading because while it might say “tilt”, the person’s win/loss data for the last eight games might look something like this: LLLLWWWW, which might not necessarily qualify as “tilt”. It also leaves out information because your opponent might actually be on tilt, but has not lost four in a row yet  — i.e, LLLWLLLL. The picture below shows this preference in action:

I don’t know about you, but I like to know EXACTLY how my opponent has peformed in the preceeding hours before stepping into the ring with me. In the example above, some assumptions you might make going into the match is that your opponent:

- Might be in a bad mood/emotional because of recent results
- Might be in a period of questioning their own judgment
- Might try making moves early on to make up for recent losses
- Might be prone to calling you down too light
- Might draw without proper odds to do so

All of which we can totally agree are not optimal conditions to play poker in, and catching someone in a cluster of less-than-desirable results can throw the advantage in your favor, big time. Attention to detail is what separates break even players from winning players, and this is one detail I don’t think you should miss.

Start a Clean Slate at a New Room, a New Sharkscope, and Keep HFL Free in the Process

3:38am: It seems like just yesterday I was writing the post about hitting the 20k milestone, as I’m sure a lot of you remember. In fact, it was just two months ago. As of right now, my total profit stands at $29,385. At this rate, I should eclipse the 30k mark by Wednesday, or late Tuesday night. Or, possibly even tonight. I’m not all caught up in milestones and accolades, but I think rewarding yourself by recognizing your success keeps you motivated and humble - something totally lacking from a LOT of online pros now a days.

That being said, it’s time to report today’s sessions results:

Set 1: 1-2
Set 2: 2-1
Set 3: 2-1
Set 4: 2-1
Set 5: 2-1
Set 6: 2-1
Set 7: 1-0

Overall Record: 12-7

Net Profit: +$405.00

Since I’ve been only averaging 6 sets a day over the last 5 days or so, I will have to work on my off day and play 42 games in order to meet my weekly quota. Meeting my quota isn’t as important as making sure that I’m playing under optimal conditions:

- The best times
- The best days
- Against the weakest players
- When I’m at the top of my game

Making sure all of these factors are in place form the perfect storm that will allow you (and me) to maximize your profit and ROI. Right now, I definitely feel I’m meeting all four criteria.  Consequently, I’m not going to lose sleep if I fall short of my quota for the week.

7:57am: HFL is running a promotion, of sorts. If you’re interested in picking up $100 in cold hard cash (via Money Order, that is), all you have to do is be the first person to sign up for either Cake Poker, Full Tilt or Bodog and play 100 heads up sit n gos (any stake). Yes, that means even $5 husngs.

Of course, it’d be too easy if you were the only one who signed up, so there has to be a minimum of three participants in the promotion in order for the winner to be paid. That means basically that you can do your part by downloading Cake/Full Tilt and signing up through HFL. However, if you want to ensure that you’re not the only one who is motivated enough to pick up the hundred bucks you should tell three of your friends about the promotion as well.

So, to summarize, the promotion has stipulations:

1. Must sign up through poker room through HFL (Cake, Full Tilt or Bodog)

2. At least two other people must do the same (within the next 72 hours) for the offer to qualify

3. 100 heads up sit n gos (any stake) must be played

4. First one to complete the task, with conditions 1, 2 and 3 met will receive the $100.

And that’s it. The money will be sent to whatever address you specify (rush shipping), in the form of a money order. This is a good chance for many of you to pad your bankroll for doing nothing more than starting fresh somewhere else. $100 is a suitable bankroll for $5 heads up matches, and halfway a bankroll for $10 heads up matches. Will you take advantage of this sweet offer?

Taking the first step is easy. All three banners for all three sites mentioned are located at the bottom of the last three HFL front page posts.

5:04am: Originally, the topic of discussion for the eighth tutorial was supposed to be bluffing. However, I either misplaced or deleted my output video on my computer and will either have to find it, or re-do it. Being as such, I devised an on-the-fly solution to the problem, and decided to swap the ideas for the eighth and ninth tutorials. The ninth tutorial was originally supposed to cover “big pot poker”, however that will now be the eighth tutorial, and the ninth tutorial will feature commentary on bluffing and it’s effectiveness in heads up sngs.

On a side note, today I am 12-8 up until this point. I had to take an extensive break to re-record another tutorial and convert and upload it, so I will post the final results in the results thread when the session in complete. It should be noted that at one point, there was a game where if I lost I would be down four buy ins, but fortunately I took that match, and pretty much haven’t looked back since, as I am now up four buy ins.

Anyways, enjoy the tutorial everyone!

3:27am: Well, it’s been about 8 months in the making, but on Friday August 8th for the first time ever there is a star next to the screen name trujm on PokerStars. The particular stat that put me on the map was:

“Ranked #18 in Hold’em Heads Up $36-$100 Average Profit Leaderboard”

I will also likely add a second notch on my belt later this month, as I’m on pace to crack the top 20 in total profit for $36-$100 heads up matches.

The hardest part, however, will be maintaining it. There is some stiff competition at the top of the leaderboard, as I’m very familiar with many of those names. That being said, although achievements such as these are nice, at the end of the day this is still just about making a living, putting food on the table and clothes on my back.

Anyways, here’s to moving forward as a player, never looking back and wanting each and every match as if it were the last $100 to my name.

-trujm

6:52am: I decided to go against the grain in this discussion and do a little reverse-engerineering. Rather than talk about how to play a hand correctly, I decided to talk about how to play one incorrectly. My opponent overplays his hand big time, and it costs him the match.

Enjoy!

4:22pm: Yesterday went about as smooth as one could expect. Most hands held, but there were a few bad beats. That’s completely normal though, and I didn’t let it affect how I played the rest of my games (nor do I ever really, for that matter). After having played quite a few $100 heads up sit n gos now, here are some of the things I have noticed about the players:

- Players rarely fold preflop to a button raise, so if you’re going to raise the button, make sure you (a) have the ability to outplay them postflop or (b) have cards

- For the most part, everyone seems to be playing as if they’re playing with the last $100 in their account. There’s not as many snap-calls as there was in the $50s

- People are either big winners, or big losers. More and more, it seems like everyone I play either has a star on Sharkscope, or a fishbowl by their name. Fortunately, it’s been more of the latter.

- Players are not shoving draws like they used to. In the $50s I can’t tell you how many times I had to dodge flush draws with a made hand. However, in the $100s people seem to be waiting until they hit it to shove.

- People are a lot less trusting in the $100s than the $50s. You can sometimes confidently bet out with middle pair and get paid, and know you’re good the whole time.

- Regulars stay away from each other moreso than in the $50s. It’s almost like an unspoken law that regulars don’t play each other, and when they do they will often offer to chop in recognition that registering for the match was a mistake.

All of those factors have contributed to why my ROI is actually higher in the $100s than in the $50s at this point. However, there is a lot more poker to be played, and im sure that when it levels off, it will be at the same ROI, or slightly lower as the $50s. But I won’t complain if it doesn’t.

Full Tilt’s ninth edition of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) begins today with the first of 25 events, a $200+16 event hosted by Allen Cunningham which boast a million-dollar purse guarantee.

4:54am: I found this article on P5s, written by Jack Welch. I think sometimes in poker we have to think outside the box for the solutions to our problems. This includes examining things outside of the game itself. This article makes a suggestion ten books that would make you a better poker playing, having read them.

=================

I have a theory.  Maybe just a hunch.  Call it wishful thinking even.  But I believe better people make better poker players.  Certainly, a sociopath might have an advantage where aggression is concerned.  However, when we think about long-term success across a decades-long career, poker longevity can only truly be achieved by those individuals who have their acts together.

Every poker book written by every poker expert will archly discuss the importance of such personal attributes as patience, self-discipline, psychological control.  Yet, few, if any, teach you how to acquire those traits.

The books listed here will provide an excellent base to improve your life-roll management.

1. Blink - Malcolm Gladwell

Gladwell maintains that we “blink” when we think without thinking. We do that by “thin-slicing,” using limited information to come to a conclusion. In what Gladwell contends is an age of information overload, he finds experts often make better decisions with snap judgments than they do with reams of analysis.

Sometimes we over-think things. Sometimes you just have to go with your read.

2. A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose - Eckhart Tolle

“Be aware that what you think, to a large extent, creates the emotions that you feel.  See the link between your thinking and your emotions.  Rather than being your thoughts and emotions, be the awareness behind them.”

3. Zen In the Art of Archery - Eugen Herrigel

Through years of practice, an activity becomes effortless both mentally and physically. The body becomes capable of executing often complex, often difficult movements without conscious control by the mind.

“The archer ceases to be conscious of himself as the one who is engaged in hitting the bull’s-eye which confronts him. This state of unconscious is realized only when, completely empty and rid of the self, he becomes one with the perfecting of his technical skill, though there is in it something of a quite different order which cannot be attained by any progressive study of the art…”

4. If - Rudyard Kipling

The first few lines of the title poem say it all.

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting…

5. The Bible

The Main Event of literature as far as I am concerned.

Good for bankroll management.  “Covet not thy neighbor’s ass.”

The 23rd Psalm is always excellent to keep in mind when shoving all your chips into the middle of the table.

6. WOODEN: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off The Court
- John Wooden

ESPN’s show “Who’s Number 1?” ranked Mr. Wooden as the greatest coach of all time in any sport. “Intensity makes you stronger. Emotionalism makes you weaker.”

7. Personal Best - George Sheehan, M.D.

I knew George Sheehan.  He was either the most normal great man I have ever encountered or the greatest normal man.  I wish I had thought to tell him that.  He would have laughed.  Modestly, of course…

“The memorable thing is not to excel against others but to excel against yourself…The real trophy is within.  The real trophy is the self.”

8. The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch

“We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.”

Many professors give talks entitled “The Last Lecture.” Professors are asked to consider their demise and to reflect on what matters most to them. While they speak, each member of the audience can’t help but ponder the same question: What wisdom would I share with the world if I knew it was my last opportunity? If I dropped dead tomorrow, what would I want as my legacy?

Randy Pausch, a professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture. He didn’t have to imagine it as his last, as he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave—“Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”—wasn’t about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (“time is all you have…and you may find one day that you have less than you think”). The Last Lecture is a summation of everything Pausch had come to believe. It is about living.

9. The Secret - Rhonda Byrne

Laugh if you will.  Come to think about it, those chortling the loudest probably have the greatest need to study these concepts.

According to James Arthur Ray, there is scientific evidence to back up the spiritual practices and laws defined in The Secret. “Science tells us that everything is energy, and so your thoughts are energy. Your body, your cash, your car—everything you think is solid, if you put it under a high-powered microscope, it’s just a field of energy and a rate of vibration,” he says. “And so are we. So if you think you’re this meat suit running around, you have to think again.”

One way to describe this energy is by comparing it to radio waves, “The frequency you give out through your thoughts and your emotions is what you have a tendency to manifest in your life,” Re. Dr. Michael Beckwith adds. “Whether those thoughts and emotions are conscious or unconscious, it doesn’t matter.”

If you are sending out the same negative energy over and over—whether thoughts or feelings—you will attract similar energy back to you. Ray explains, when bad things happen people might ask, “Oh, God, why me?”

“Because it is you,” he says.

10. Collected Essays - Ralph Waldo Emerson

“What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder, because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it. It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.”

BONUS PICK!!!!

11. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People - Dr. Stephen Covey

Habit 7.  Sharpen the Saw.

This is the habit of self-renewal, says Covey.  Self-renewal necessarily surrounds all the other habits, enabling and encouraging them to happen and grow. Covey interprets the self into four parts: the spiritual, mental, physical and the social/emotional, which all need feeding and developing.

These books - any one of them - can provide the breakthrough to move you to the next level.  In poker and in life.

Sharpen your edge.