Something that I think is incredibly important is evolving your game and style to match where you want to play and the evolve to stay ahead of the current high pace learning curve. That being said, over the last couple of months I have been working very hard on growing my game and ensuring that my fundamentals and ABC skills are strong. That the concepts of position and range, board texture and betting (sizing and targeting) are solid and I understand why I do what I do. Now it is time to evolve further. To grow beyond the ABC and start to really escalate to the next level. How am I doing this you might ask. First, coaching and a lot of it. If you ever talk to me in chat or through a PM you will find I am always recommending it. I spend a lot of time and money on coaching and I think that this has been something that is pivitol to growing my game. Second to that is look at players and trying to understand why they are effective and how to grow your game to achieve a similar effectivity. The second part is where I would like to talk a little more. Something that I have done a lot lately is watch Ryanbluf play. Not just in videos, but live out on the tables when I have a chance. I have seen something in his game that I really want to emulate. It stemmed primarily from people reactions to him, which makes me think he is on to something. If you aren't familiar with Ryanbluf and his style I'll give you a quick summary…Re-raise Machine. If you watch some of Bigdog's Live Sweats where they are at the same table you will see what I mean. What I like the most from his play and style is the incredible pressure he puts on opponents and the ability he has to tighten a table up and improve his stealing percentage through fear of his re-raising. I think that this is a really interesting aspect of play and I think it is highly profitable. It does heavily rely on understanding who you are picking on and being able to find the fold button when the play back is most credibly the nuts (or the nuts compared to your own holding). So the summary of where I want to go is this:
— I want to evolve my game to increase the 3bet/isolation percentages such that I am able to effectively tighten a table up and move them into a mode where they are more concerned with tightening up and attempting to trap me than to play through me normally because of the fear of what I will do. —
Okay, that is the mission statement. The vision of how I want to play and what I want out of my game. Now, how do I get there. I have been reading Let there be Range and The Poker Blueprint lately trying to understand and improve my isolation and 3bet play. I am not there yet, that is for sure, but I am getting better and picking spots and understanding who to pick on and how to do it. What are the tangible results, I am firing a lot more. My gun has more bullets and they are magnums to boot. Something that I am struggling with now is recognizing the trap/better hands and knowing how to fold it, rather than getting caught up in the aggression (a difficult task to say the least). So what does that mean in a practical sense, right now I am a bit of a spewtard, but I am rapidly closing that down. This change in my game has caused a really interesting change in my learning, it is forcing me to focus more, pay more attention to individual tables, understand opponents and how they are playing and understanding their actions. I think this is a really productive opportunity for my game to launch to a new level. I am excitied to grow as a player. Frustrated to brick tourney's left and right while I learn, but excited for when it pays off. Lets see where it goes and take the journey together. This is the Gman signing out. May all your flushes be royal!