I was reading Hagbard's latest article this morning and I had to chuckle to myself a little. He described something that happened on Sunday to him that I hit last night and I think that our responses to it were similiar and something warrenting repeated sharing. So last night I sat down to log another 1k hand session at 10nl and see if I could capitalize on the continued success I have been having at the stake. I was exhausted from work and kind of out of it with my mind not being 100% but I knew I needed to log some time for the FTP Take2 Promotion so I can get my full bonus (accumulate 5FTP points for 9 out of 10 days in the promotion and get $25 and Double the Points accumulated during the promotion). I sat down and started playing and immediately started to make some mistakes. I knew my brain wasn't into it and I had brought my C or D game here rather than my A game. So what did I do. Well i adjusted my goal for sure. I knew that a full session at this mental framework was going to be an epic disaster. I don't need to sacrifice my BR because I need to do something with my time. I logged the necessary amount of hands to accumulate the points I needed for the promotion and ended up shutting down the session. I lost $5 across 4 tables which didn't really affect me as I have $5 from the first part of the Take2 Promotion, so the session was a wipe. That being said, there is a lot of power and wisdom in recognizing when you are not playing up to par and knowing that shutting it down will be the best bet. I know for me, I have had a lot of trouble with this in the past and will continue to register through the pain thinking that it will get better or that my A game will pop out of the mud and muck of my C game like a radiant flower. Guess what, when your game is trudging through a field of shit, all you do is get nasty boots. Moral of the story here is pretty simple to read and very hard to execute on: "When your C-Game comes to party, call off the party". Take the time to get away from the game period. I evolved to think that when I wasn't playing or thinking about the game optimally that it was a good time to watch vids or review HH's. If you aren't thinking objectively and on top of your game the only thing worse than playing you can do is analyze your play and make adjustments. As I think back on it, I think this is a large part of what derailed me at the end of 2010. I was tired and burned out from the grind of September through November which was incredibly strong and profitable for me and I was pushing hard. The game lost some luster and by the time December came I was going through the motions. I started studying, looking for things to fix and things just got worse. If you mind isn't into what it is doing, engage it somewhere else. Overall I am glad that I sort of realized it, I know that it isn't revolutionary or earth shattering in any way shape or form, but it is important. Knowning when to shut it down is a crucial skill and will not only save you money during the session it can keep you from doing something really disasterous to yourself.
Well Gl to everyone playing today. I'm off tonight (other than my 5 FTP points for the Take2 challenge 🙂 ) and probably doing a little studying, but what I am really looking forward too is watching the first part of the PLO game on Poker After Dark. I have a huge amount of respect for Phil Galfond and his game and I love to watch him play when I see him online so this should be interesting to see him, Durrrrrrr and Ivey go at it with a game they are all excel at. Can't wait! Oh and if you haven't seen, Vanessa Selbst crushed the NAPT Mohegan again this year. I have been following it and seems she played fantastically again. Another player that I have a lot of respect for on the felt. Congrats to her. Gl to everyone else in their adventures and I'll talk to everyone tomorrow! This is the Gman signing out!