June 2008 Recap

Cash game net profit = $557.30 (35.50 table hours)
Tournament net profit = $65.75
Total net profit = $623.05

Online tournament results:

Tournaments played = 364 (14 MTTs; 350 SnGs)
ROI = 3.58% (116.47% in MTTs; -0.28% in SnGs)

I only managed to reach 50% of my 700 SnG goal for the month. Despite the fact that my online hours were limited in part due to events beyond my control, I'm still somewhat disappointed to have fallen short. However, I do believe that I took some steps in the right direction considering that I finished in the money 38.00% of the time that I played. That said, my negative ROI in SnG play suggests that my 3-handed and heads-up play needs a lot of work.

Current skills assessment (Scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best):

Play fearlessly: 4 (+1)
I feel like I'm making more confident decisions, and it's probably partially due to my conscious effort to be more process-oriented and less results-oriented. However, there was a point earlier on when I first started playing poker that I actually kind of enjoyed getting caught in a bluff; though it might not be wise to enjoy it too much, becoming indifferent to getting caught would probably be a good thing.

Play my 'A' game each and every hand: 7 (+1)
'Rounders' has been one of my favorite movies since long before I got into poker. Its message is just so transcendent; had the story revolved around a couple of circus clowns, I think I still would've found it every bit as inspiring. That said, it's somewhat ironic that I had probably only seen it once in the 3 years that I've been studying poker seriously. So when I did finally get a chance to watch it again just a few weeks ago, it came as no surprise when I picked up on several things that I simply couldn't have appreciated before getting into poker.

The one thing that really seems to have stuck is the idea that you should never give anything away. I don't think I ever truly realized how prone I was to altering my game based on how much I had been winning or losing, but the truth is that in either case, I had a real tendency to play wrecklessly, especially when I was up big. More and more often, when faced with a tough decision, I make sure to remind myself not to give anything away. It's okay if another player takes my chips, but I have a hard time forgiving myself if I made it easy for him/her to do so.

Plan my bet sizes: 3 (no change)
While I'm paying better attention to my opponents' stack sizes, I still occasionally find myself on the river with just enough chips left to make a pot-sized bet. This isn't a situation that I necessarily mind, but I really should see this coming long before the river.

Take down orphan pots: 2 (+1)
I can't recall many opportunities from this month, but I took advantage of the few that I remember.

See more flops when deep-stacked: 6 (+1)
I think I'm doing a better job of using position, particularly in MTTs.

Assign hand ranges to my opponents: 3 (+1)
I've been relying pretty heavily on PAHUD statistics to get an idea of each player's general playing styles, and it seems to be helping. However, I need to develop a better understanding of the appropriate range of hands with which to counter. Hand equities have always been one of my biggest weaknesses, and that's an especially dangerous thing considering how many SnGs I'm trying to play.

Keep track of pot size: 1 (no change)
I still find myself eyeballing the pot to do rough estimates on the fly, and even then, I only think to do it when it's my turn to act. While doing so, there's a high probability that I'm giving off all sorts of tells.

Keep constant track of my 'M': 4 (+1)
Still need to improve my ability to maintain a running 'count', but I'm definitely much more aware of the adjustments I need to be making as my stack size fluctuates.

Maintain constant awareness of my table image: 3 (+1)
More and more frequently, I'm able to accurately predict my opponents' reactions to my bets and raises based on what I think their perception of me is. Now I need to use these predictions to try to manipulate their moves up front.

Minimize my tells: 5 (+1)
I've always been fairly conscious of other players' probing questions, but in the past, I've also felt compelled to offer some sort of response. I'm much more comfortable now with just sitting quietly while they talk away. Now if I could just get better at keeping track of pot size...

Keep an eye out for other players' tells: 4 (-1)
I still spend way too much time watching the flop/upcards as they're rolled out.

Maximize mental acuity/endurance through physical fitness: 1 (-1)
It sucks knowing that I've actually regressed in this area, but I have to be honest with myself. Workouts are still too infrequent, and even my food choices have slipped. I've had my plan pretty well mapped out for the last few months; I just need to work it all into my routine until it becomes habit.

Target numbers for July:

- Cash Games: 60 table hours
My regular live game has gone from weekly to biweekly, so I'll have to ramp up my online cash game hours to offset. It's something I need to be doing anyway.
- SnGs: 200 tournaments
I'm going to spread my play around a bit more going forward, but 200 SnGs still appears to be attainable by my calculations. I'm hoping for a lot more, but since I'm only dedicating 1 day each week to SnGs, I'll start with 200 and reevaluate next month.
- MTTs: 20 tournaments
Unlike with cash games and SnGs, I won't be dedicating any particular day to MTT play, so I'll have to squeeze them into the few nights each week that I'm not busy with something else. I just want to make sure that I don't stop playing them altogether.