Measure twice.. Cut once...

Title pretty much says it all, we should rehearse what we're doing, get it right, and THEN go after it... ill never understand the endless cycle of rinse/repeat mistake after mistake, to no end. People breaking even monotonously grind day in and day out, to no avail, and they wonder why? Well, its simple and I'll be nice enough to tell you, its because you're making fucking mistakes! Almost all of the solid winning players I know spend a considerable amount of time studying and reviewing there play, looking for places they could have done something differently, something that could potentially save them future money, and THEN executing it; in addition, there was a point where most of those players spent considerably more time studying than they do now... speaking from experience, I used to study every day while I played (only 5-6 tabled) then I'd study before I went to sleep, and I'd study when I'd wake up before work.... I only played a little bit... Its not the action of doing that promotes learning, that more or less reinforces habits, either good or bad... it's review and analysis that stimulate higher level play in the future, so measure twice and cut once... or waste time grinding life in a horizontal line, up to you...

Updates...
VPP's : 13,300/25,000
Profit: $13,800/13,500
Coaching: 42/115 Hours
Tournaments: 886
Investing: On top of it!

Bink!

Well, my last post briefly touched on mental toughness, and after picking myself up and getting my shit together.. I final tabled 5 MTT's in a two day period... shipped two of them, taking 2nd in another, and finishing in the top 5 in the final 2. Focus is crucial to obtaining a positive expectation, and when you expect to lose you shouldn't be shocked when that's what happens, but it goes both ways.. Winning is just as much a function of attitude as losing is. Of the MTT's I final tabled, the 109 2x had the biggest prize pool, and I shipped it for 10k... I'm still not thrilled with the volume I've put in this month, as it hasn't changed since my last post, but I have been putting in some MTT volume with my SnG's so less volume is to be expected... (I'm always easier on myself when I'm winning!) I'll probably spend the next week or two trying to clear out another 4k bonus and trying to improve my volume... Hopefully I don't run into a doom switch anywhere and the money keeps coming!

Goal Summary:
VPP's : 11,000/25,000
Profit: $11,500/13,500
Coaching: 20/115 Hours
Tournaments: 728
Investing: On top of it!

As you can see.. I'm falling short everywhere, going to need to really up the volume during the final week to satisfy the VPP/Tournament Goal, as well as step it up w/ my sweat sessions...

Mental toughness...

Ehh... I dont wanna complain, so I'll just say I could be running better :) I really only have myself to blame this month, and I am way way way behind on my goals... I dont even wanna post my progress I'm so far behind... It looks like I'll spend the next little while trying to play catchup... good luck me :)

Time is a commodity..

Got some staking coaching today from MHflush, definitely a +ev investment/good guy to work with, so I recommend him highly to anyone looking to take a more in depth look @ how they stake... He brought to my attention how much I squander my time, and how important it is not to do so, as my hourly rate will likely decrease as every day goes by, carpe diem is never more relevant than it is in poker, w/ the progression of weaker players' games the strength of our own is called into question, and so I need to be maximizing the value I have much more than I am currently... I have some really strong examples of how to do this to my benefit, Reasons14/MattGeer being the two who really stand out in this regard... Both guys' maximize the time in there day so much more efficiently than I do, and than most people do, (although they would likely disagree) and I have a lot to learn w/ respect to this... I think I've mentioned this before, but its so easy to get caught up in our own hype, how well or how poor were doing w/ an aspect of our lives, and dismiss a lot of others as less relevant or completely trivial, when focusing on those aspects brings not only more balance to the complicated equation of life, but also often impacts the thing we were so wildly focused on...

Another exceptionally relevant weakness that was brought to my attention was how often I see something positive, and hit it in full stride/swing without really analyzing the situation fully... E.g. I know staking (done properly) is +ev, therefore staking a LOT of solid horses will make me money... real conclusion, ehh... sort of... I have over 67 BAP's, 30 private horses, and coach for a site with a PF-stable setup... so all in all I have some amount of money invested in over 100 players other than myself... this number is overwhelming and too much, I bit off more than I could chew and have likely lost some amount of money in the process, oooooops...

This post was super random, and likely incoherent... w/ the next one I'll try to make more sense, but good luck at the tables, and if I'm not coaching you already... table select not only around me, but those I coach, cause there gonna eat your bankroll :)

*** I've received several PM's from horses who misunderstood my message, my private coaching is going to continue growing, the area I'm overextended most is PTP/BAP's.. so if you want coaching def. get in touch*** Thanks!

Makin some changes...

I've been evaluating some of my life leaks with a buddy of mine, and there is one glaring leak that stands out more than the rest... My sleep schedule couldn't be worse, I go to bed more or less when I feel like it, and wake up right around the same time... :) I wouldn't have a problem w/ this normally, but I'm encountering a huge challenge to my overall productivity, the woman's schedule... Angela gets home @ around 6 30 every day, which usually disrupts the coaching/playing/staking in some way, as it should... This wouldn't be a problem if I was getting up at around 7am every day... as I would have had plenty of opportunity to wrk and accomplish the things I need to, but when I wake up @ 2 or 3, and she disrupts everything at 6 30, my day is pretty much a fail... I don't know why I haven't approached this problem with a solution earlier, but the one I intend to implement is waking up early on a daily basis, and going to bed early... I don't do the alarm thing, the stress of forcing myself to get up for really no reason is unnecessary (Idc if I'm spoiled), so I'll sleep as long as I want, but if I'm up around 8 or 9 I think I'll be able to accomplish a lot more with my day...

SnG's are still a joke, everyone plays terribly so its easy money... I don't really understand how people can do so something every day, and do it so badly, but lets just say most SnG regs make a decent amount of money with no clue about how to play poker.. I know because I was one of them until fairly recently, but now that I'm in the know there's a lot that stands out as awful...

bigbluffzinc 122 $15 $30 27% $1,778 Hot N/A PokerStars 10/1/2010 10/6/2010 SNG Only x

Most people tell me its run good, and obviously that sample is just that.. but I've been "running good" for three months, and they've been running bad for there lifetime graph.. sooooooo, I think they're just bad :), we're both entitled to our opinions! :)

September Summary, October Goals

Here's how I did...

VPP's: 22395/20,000 - Success
Game Profit: $7000 (RB Included) + Coaching/Staking : $5200 = $12,200/12000 - Success
Coaching: Around 100 hours
Tournaments : 1410, Bleh need to up the volume still
Investing: Have about $35,000 invested, I've discontinued a couple investments

Goals for October...

VPP's : 25,000
Profit: $13,500
Coaching: 115 Hours
Tournaments: 2100
Investing: Just keep chuggin...

Feels good to have two 10k + months back to back, the staking side of things should only continue to improve as my personal horses are getting better, I'm extremely impressed with how far some of them have come. Beyond that, the shit going down in Washington is trash, people should be able to make the personal choice as to where they invest or spend there money, taking jobs away from some grinders and forcing them to leave there homes in pursuit of an income they've become accustomed to is just ridiculous...

To get in touch with me regarding coaching, I can be reached @ Bigbluffzinc on Skype or post a comment here and I'll get back to you!