Reflection

I was playing a micro MTT last night on Stars. It started at 2300 EST and I played until after 0400. Ended up 38th/3000+. But that's not the point of this post.

The last few hours of the tourney, everybody was in bed (where they should be). So I was sitting here with no contact with anybody and was somewhat bored. I took this opportunity to start really taking a look at my game in this tourney and over the past few months. I came to some realizations that I had overlooked previously.

My question is, does anybody really take the time to sit back and analyze their game on a regular basis?

We're all in it to improve. Even if our bankrolls are going up or down, that doesn't always indicate the shape or deterioration of our game.

I've been thinking about my play a lot lately. Mostly when I bust out sometime late at night, Im lying in my bed thinking if I could have made anything different or where I screwed up. It helps.

Today for example, I tried a $75 MTT. I found that I play a lot better and especially more patient, when I don't check out the tourney stats all the time (avg stack, players remaining, etc.). I apparently tend to play hands that I usually wouldn't, as soon as I fall below average.

I think I'm slowly digging myself out of that hell hole that I've been in for the last couple weeks.

Congrats to you for the results yesterday.

It's amazing how much reflection you can do without all of the normal distractions. My wife, daughter, and granddaughter are out of town. My son stays locked in his room playing XBox. So I had plenty of quiet and time to review hand histories. I also surfed a lot of various sites looking at articles and what-not. Think there will be some improvement if I do this periodically.

i try to do this with every hand i play. if i win it i try and figure out if i could have gotten more value from the hand. if i lose i obviously try and figure out if i made a bad read, why i made that read, if i should have bet the hand diffrerently, etc.

H, i find i play much better poker when i focus on just beating my table. if you think about tournaments in that way then the number of players remaining and the average stack dont really mean that much. i try to make sure i have enough to comfortably play against my table and that is all i really find necessary. after all you cant win chips from 1,000 players remaining, only the 8 at your table.

I had the same issue in cash games that I would check my BR to see how much I was up or down every 5 or 10 min. It destroyed my quality of play.

I review about 50% of the hands I play every night
I tend to play 400-500 cash table hands, and 5-6 tournaments a day

there is nothing more valuable to learning poker then reviewing your own mistakes and fortunes.
One can easily read a poker lesson on line,
and try to adapt that into their own game.....

but how do you know in that 10-15secs you have to act if your making that right play?
reviewing your hands played allows you that extra time bank, all the time.

...i use a re-player btw if your wondering

Assistanc3 wrote:

I review about 50% of the hands I play every night I tend to play 400-500 cash table hands, and 5-6 tournaments a day there is nothing more valuable to learning poker then reviewing your own mistakes and fortunes. One can easily read a poker lesson on line, and try to adapt that into their own game..... but how do you know in that 10-15secs you have to act if your making that right play? reviewing your hands played allows you that extra time bank, all the time. ...i use a re-player btw if your wondering

I really need to purchase the software to analyse all this stuff...I am just too cheap!

400-500 hands and 5-6 tourneys! When do you sleep 3? Actually this discussion is very interesting to me because I try to play each hand as if it were the only hand I was going to play that day. If I make a mistake I know immediately and just try to forget it and not let it affect my play. If I make pre-meditated move that nets me a big pot I also try to forget it and move on. Looking at a re-player later does sound like a good way to isolate mistakes that you repeat. What is the name of the software you are using?

you could use the free popopop's HH replayer.

I think you're right, reflection is a great thing and the only thing to give you any substance when defining your poker experience/s.
BTW - Your title banner got me thinking of a great song by Tool from LA. Fantastic progressive song about trying not to be a donk and using your brain so you dont 'pine away' your days.

Rockbottom87 wrote:

you could use the free popopop's HH replayer.

that is what I use, I found it to be the cheapest (free) and allows me to view a lot of different network hand history.

I don't get to much sleep, but I also try to avoid like the plague getting into games with more then 300 players.

davega mentioned his game had 3000 players , micro game.
personally I think that will hinder your game to get into those on big entrant tournaments and expect to analyze your stats from them.

not only does it make it harder to review so many hands
but how would you find the key sections for the tournament where you missed a step...lost out on chips... was it that K7 sooted in the SB? which time?

There are many things to look at when look at your HH, not just what hands your playing, where your playing... but who are you playing and what are you doing when you play against them...

Playing a smaller entrant tournament will show you more clearly where your mistakes are coming from and with what cards a lot easier. Then you can go into those bigger entrant tournaments and segregate the stages.

awry13 wrote:

this discussion is very interesting to me

me too, cause I have wondered if anyone was more anal about keeping stats and reviewing hands as much as I.

In the Dare2Dream Video program, we talk about implementing a Post Game Routine the 15 min after you finish a session. Dependant upon whether you are a full time or part time player, will determine how often you should go through a PGR. A PGR helps you go through your session directly after it so all aspects are clear, but more importantly, once you have gone through your PGR correctly, you can then switch off and move on with life or your next session without the last session running through your mind.
This has helped my clients that are full-time players improve their sleeping patterns which as we know is an issue with poker players all over the world and also overall focus for their next session.

Quote:

but more importantly, once you have gone through your PGR correctly, you can then switch off and move on with life or your next session without the last session running through your mind.

I dont have any PGR at this point but i can imagine it have great advantages. Would probably help you during downswings too, since you reduce the risk of dragging a tilted mindset from your last session into the next.

What does your PGR consist of? Is it just analyzing the hands from your session or have you implemented other elements?

I think that varies between players, RaSZi, for example, usually plays Guitar Hero

Horoeschio wrote:

I've been thinking about my play a lot lately. Mostly when I bust out sometime late at night, Im lying in my bed thinking if I could have made anything different or where I screwed up. It helps. Today for example, I tried a $75 MTT. I found that I play a lot better and especially more patient, when I don't check out the tourney stats all the time (avg stack, players remaining, etc.). I apparently tend to play hands that I usually wouldn't, as soon as I fall below average. I think I'm slowly digging myself out of that hell hole that I've been in for the last couple weeks. Congrats to you for the results yesterday.

My problem as well. I have also noticed that I gamble on trouble hands way more than maybe I should.

Rockbottom87 wrote:

you could use the free popopop's HH replayer.

I am going to have to try this out. I have noticed many times that I am making the same mistakes. I need to stop and review my hands more often than I do now.