Day 4 - 233 hands $524Monthly goal $12.000 @ $808

Again I confirm my theory that all I need to make my monthly goal, is to avoid playing when not focused.

When I sit at a table I have a hard time judging just how good or bad my play is. I have an idea of where it is at, but I never think I play much worse than my normal game. After a session, before I write my blog, I look through the big hands of a session in pokertracker. There I am amazed of how much my play differs from an "A" game session to an unfocused one.

KJo in the Cut Off: Here is a perfect example of my game when I am concentrated. In my standard game I would not have played any street of this hand the same way. But in this hand I am confident in my reads and use them to make what I think are the right plays throughout the hand.

Day 3 - 260 hands $487Monthly goal $12.000 @ $283

I played few hands yesterday, but I kept them easy and simple. If I want to reach $12.000, I need to average about $400 a day. Yesterday through simple solid play I got $487 in less than an hours work.

I have to remember that I do this to earn money and nothing else. Whatever path gets me the most money in the end is the right one.

ATs Under the Gun: I usually try to keep the pot small in hands like this. But I was so confident about both our holdings in this hand, that I went for a check/raise on the turn.

Both yesterday and today I have made plans with friends, so the number of hands I am able to play will suffer. It doesn't bother me though, as it seems to be the quality of play rather then the quantity that is hampering my winrate at the moment.

Day 2 - 1.077 hands - $233Monthly goal $12.000 @ - $204

I started today with a good session on $5/$10, I was focused and ended about $400 up.

Later I sat down again, this time at $3/$6.
I played way too long a session, loosing focus after about an hour. I started doing other things while playing, browsing and chatting. After a while I noticed I had lost any feel for the tables I was sitting at and all reads I had on players were gone. Still I kept playing and managed to throw away what profit I had grinded for the day plus some.

This is my second day in a row where I have not logged out when I have known it to be the smart move. Without any hard work I could easily be on track with my monthly goal, but instead I put my money in jepordy at the tables playing unfocused and tireing mylsef of poker at the same time.

I think I'll install a good computer game, so that when my mind starts to wander after a long session I have an easy alternative to poker. Hopefully it won't come back to haunt me, taking too much time away from work.

KK in the Small Blind: This is a perfect spot to push on the flop after he raises. I thought about it when in the hand but decided to call instead. I soon saw that I was lost in the hand, and wished I had pushed on the flop.

Day 1 - 822 hands $28Monthly goal $12.000 @ $28

I didn't play well in my first session of the day. There were a couple of really juicy $3/$6 tables at Full Tilt Poker, so I made the mistake of opening 4 right of the bat and sitting in with a full stack. The players were really aggressive and I was put to some tough decisions early on, without any reads on my opponents. I lost about a buy-in ($600) before I saw I needed to shape up.

Second session of the day started with a suckout, so I had a hard climb back up to even. Not that I usually try to make even again each loosing day. When I did the math I just noticed I had ended back just above zero.

A7s in the Small Blind: I am a bit lost in this hand. The game got three handed and I picked this hand to punish the Button who had been raising liberally. I still am unsure how I should have played, if indeed the hand shall be played at all.
Perhaps it is better to re-raise with something like all pocket pairs instead pre-flop. That way post-flop decisions are easier.

It does feel good playing online poker again. I just need to remember, when my concentration isn't at it's peak, to limit the number of tables I play.

Monthly Goal: $4.000 - I only made $2.253

If you havn't been following my blog, most of this month has been spent in Malta and Denmark vacationing. That is why I set myself a modest goal for the month. The sad part is I came in short.

I'd like to blame bad beats or cold cards for my shortcommings, but I can't. The only reason I didn't make it, is because I didn't play enough poker.

With this in mind I'd like to set my monthly goal for October at a reachable level. Offcourse I plan on making some non monetary goals, such as playing more $5/10, but I feel a totally materialistic goal is a sweet thing to aim for aswell. I think $12.000 seems reachable and will be a challenge aswell.

I have learned a couple of things this month.
Firstly I don't loos much training by taking a vacation. I don't forget what I know in two weeks of inactivity. But my bad beat/tilt tolerance gets somewhat out of practice.
Secondly I believe that a player can greatly reduce the effects of variance through training. Some good players have bad runs that last months, others seem never to even have a negative day. This offcourse has to do with the style each player has and the skill he has of avoiding variance.

I sometimes sit at a table with a superior player than me, but after the session I am ahead in winnings. I have played worse but more profitable poker.
The superior player concentrates on outplaying me by mixing up his game and studying my betting patterns and at the end of the day perhaps he has won $50 from me. Meanwhile I have been trying to steer clear of him and instead focusing my energy on the 4 bad players at the table winning $200 from them.