Pre-Game
Mental Prep- The number one, over-arching poker goal for 2011 is to play better poker. Uh, of course. Sounds pretty obvious, doesn't it? Well, not really. Way too often in 2010, I simply sat down and played when I had time. Sometimes this worked well, and other times not so well. Looking back through my notes and this blog for 2010, it's clear that I absolutely, positively played my best poker whenever I scheduled it in advance and mentally prepped to play. Perfect Poker is not achieved willy-nilly; it is started with a combination of mental preparation and maximizing edge before I ever see the first card dealt. Ergo, my resolution is to try and plan for sessions, and, failing that, to simply take five minutes before playing to review a mental check-list for the session and warm-up the brain.
Game & Stakes Selection - A few rules for myself: Don't play at known hours when the competition is tough (e.g., mid-morning on weekends). Don't play at stakes bigger than my bankroll can support (i.e., don't just pay lip service to the 40xBI rule). In addition to Rush games, take the time to scout and play "real" cash games (I'm even seriously considering trying out one of the "table scanner" programs available; a lot of pro's say that this is a significant $-adder to their own games).
Game
RED-M - For every single hand of poker I play, I resolve to: Read, Estimate, Decide, Maximize. There are no short-cuts to this. Read the table and situation. Estimate my equity and odds. Decide on a course of action, including whether I'm committed to the hand or not. Maximize my EV. Sounds simple, doesn't it? Well, it is. The hard part is actually making myself do it on every single hand I play.
Numbers - This sounds odd, but I think something that helps my game during play is to focus on my statistics. I find that by continually asking myself questions like "Am I playing too many hands?" and/or "Am I playing too loose OOP?" and/or "Am I being Aggressive Enough" and/or "Am I cold-calling too much" and/or "Am I using the gap concept?" etcetera helps me stay on track. Just knowing that I'm going to be doing a post-mortem after the game (see below) and one of the things I'm going to focus on are stats like PFR/VPIP ratio, ATS, etc. helps me toe the line and play better poker. The resolution therefore is to simply continue doing this practice.
Results - This one should say Results Don't Matter. It's really easy to berate oneself after a big loss, or, conversely, pat oneself on the back after a big win. The truth is that, in poker, the results of a single hand just don't matter in the long run. What matters most is whether you played that particular hand correctly or not. Ergo, I hereby resolve to not focus on results, only actions. Play solid poker, and the beats will be negated by statistics. It's all about getting your money in with the best of it. The truth is that this is all you have control over at the table. You have little control over your opponents, and zero control over the cards that will be dealt. The only thing you can control completely are your own actions. The rest is just chance and the short-term nature of luck. Poker is a game of skill-- but only if you think of it in the long term.
Post-Game
Post-Mortems - The best poker players in the world spend time doing hand-reviews after every session. No, scratch that. They MAKE time to do this after every session. The name of the game is plugging small leaks before they turn into big ones. If I have an hour to play, I resolve to carve out 10 minutes at the end to review key hands and try to learn something from both the winners and the losers.
Off-Table
Training Videos 1 - I remain convinced that watching Deuces Cracked, Grinder School, and (lately) CardRunners poker videos has elevated my game this past year. My 30-minute morning cardio/card-io approach works well for me, so I intend to continue this practice in 2011. If you want to get better at the game, I STRONGLY urge you to find an hour or two per week to watch some quality videos. Heck, just trade in one hour per week of boob-tube watching of High Stakes Poker, Poker After Dark, or replays of WSOP sessions for one hour of proper video instruction. Your bankroll will thank me later.
Training Videos 2 - I also remain convinced that the best way to learn something is to teach it to someone else. With that in mind, I'm starting to put together a set of beginning poker training videos that hopefully will a) help get newbies off on the right foot to learning the game; and b) improve my own game fundamentals. I've mapped out a number of these vids that I want to do. I also actually purchased the software (camtasia) to start doing this, and am about halfway through my first trial video (topic: position). It's early, but so far this has been both very fun and very instructive to me. My resolution is to put together a couple of these every month.
Blogging - Just taking the time to write down some key hands and/or generic poker thoughts has improved my game. The plan is to continue posting here to PokerBug at least 1x per week on average.
Tilt Proofing - There are lots of things that one can do to help out in this area, but for me the biggest factor that needs work has to be my overall physical shape. Frankly, I've simply gotten lazy and out of shape this past year. Time to re-energize and renew both the body and mind. Diet, exercise, mental exercises... we all know what we have to do here, it's just a matter of doing it. For me, the key to success has to be Habits. Get in the right habit, stick with it, and the results will take care of themselves. Being less susceptible to tilt starts with a healthy mind, and that in turn starts with a healthy body. 'Nuff said.
Well, that's all the time for this morning's blog. It's also plenty of resolutions to focus on. As usual, I will report back here on how successful I am at keeping them. In the meantime, I hope you all had a great New Years celebration, and that your coming year will be successful, both on and off the felt.
All-in for now...
-Bug
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