December Plan

I've decided to make a monthly plan from now on. I used to have monthly goals but they didn't seem to be worth much or seem to do any good. I believe that is mostly because some goals would be arbitrary monetary goals. These goals aren't worth much because you can't control how well you run or how much you make in a particular month. You can control some factors, such as playing well, but can't control other things... for example you can't control how well you run in all-ins.

So after a few months of having no goals or no specific plan, I decided to try and develop a monthly plan that could help me in many different ways. I think this will allow me to manage my time better, as well as allow me to focus on improving my play at the tables. I'm going to detail many different things that I want to work on and get better at, in this plan. It's going to be really long, so if you don't feel like reading all of it you can just skim through it and look at the main points (in bold).

1.) Play to the best of my ability.

• Minimize stupid mistakes
• Don't make huge bluffs vs fish
• Don't bluff solid regulars in situations where it isn't believable (bad board textures for bluffing)
• Avoid FPS (Fancy Play Syndrome)
• Pay closer attention to statistics, specifically, pre-flop stats. Don't ship in "contingent stackoff " hands pre-flop unless there is an aggressive dynamic between myself and my opponent or unless there is some other reason to.
• Take more time on big river decisions.

2.) Rock-solid session structure

• Only play 4 tables maximum. To ensure that I do this the entire month, I will not even open more than 4 tables at the beginning of my session like I normally do to table select. I will pick the four best tables I can find and just sit and play. This will allow me to start working on a dynamic or image right off the bat instead of auto-piloting 6-8 tables for 15-20 minutes until I drop tables and keep the best 4. Of course, If I'm playing at a table and realize that I'm playing with 5 other regulars, a bunch of nits, or a table with no fish, I will close the table and look for another one. I will 3-table until a 4th table is found. This process will be repeated, if necessary, until the session is completed. I will not search for even jucier tables while playing as long as all 4 of my tables are satisfactory and have a fish on them. Ideally, I will be able to play at the same 4 tables for the duration of the session.
• Session length will be 2 hours in duration, exactly. No more. No less. Upon completion of a 2 hour session, I will take at least a 30 minute, away-from-computer, break. Generally, I've found that watching a period of a hockey game on my TV works best as a break. Of course, I can use my break to get out of the house to go eat, run errands, play hockey, or do other stuff. It doesn't matter if a fish is throwing his money away or not, if the two hours are up then I'm done. This policy may change in the future, however, I want to strictly adhere to it this month so I can play my absolute best at all times. I will set an alarm on my Google calendar before I begin each session so I will be reminded when to quit playing.

• Turn off my phone completely or adjust settings to silent mode at the beginning of each session. Phone will remain disabled until completion of the session. This policy is in place to prevent me from getting distracted from playing. Talking to people on my cell phone or on AIM/Skype while playing has cost me thousands of dollars over my career. I just can't focus 100% on my games when talkin to someone else and I make big mistakes sometimes. Also, it feels like I'm being rude to whomever I'm talking to sometimes, as I may zone them out while in a hand. Already this month, I made a big mistake on the river when someone called me when I was playing poker. I have to remember to turn my damn phone off.

3.) Re-read the "Poker Mindset" book and follow its teachings.

• There are 7 different primary aspects of the poker mindset and there is something that I can work on for each of them.

1. Understand and Accept the Realities of Poker

• Realize that I'm going to lose 18% of the time when I get AA all in pre-flop vs KK and don't get frustrated when I lose.
  
• Focus my mental energy after big hands to determine whether or not I played the hand correctly.... not on putting the hand into pokerhand.org to see what % chance i had to win when the money got in and how unlikely it was that he sucked out on me on the river. Thinking about stuff like that is wasted mental energy.

2. Play for the Long Term

• Make the most +EV decisions possible.
• Continue to make plays that I intuitively know to be profitable in certain situations, even if the play hasn't worked out well the last few times I recently tried it.
• If I am having a rough streak or getting unlucky do NOT open up more tables to try and get even. This HURTS me in the long run and I must avoid it.

3. Emphasize Correct Decisions over Making Money

• Don't be disappointed if a play that I deem to be good and solid doesn't work out.
• Focus on making the correct decisions while playing. My attention and brain power needs to be focused solely on the hand I'm playing. This will give me the best chance to make the right play given the information that is available to me.
• If I get the money in good then I've done my job.

4. Desensitize Yourself to Money

• Don't worry about getting sucked out on, no matter how large the pot is. I have good bankroll management so I don't have to worry about things like that.
• Remove $ won and BB/100 stat from HEM for the ENTIRE month !!! Do not peek or check the cashier either. This will be very difficult for me to do, as I peeked a bunch of times last time I tried this. I must pull this off, however. I fell like constantly checking my account balances is one of the biggest obstacles that's holding me back from just absolutely destroying the games.

5. Leave Your Ego at the Door

• Normally, I don't have much of a problem with this one... but lately some regulars have done some really dumb shit that has worked out for them and resulted in them stacking me. This has caused me to talk shit in the chat to them. This does no good. I don't want to create enemies with them because many of those players I play with day in and day out. I don't want them focusing extra hard on hands they play vs. me just because they want to "get back" at me or whatever. Also, talking shit in the chat places my focus and attention on the wrong things while playing. I need to be nice in the chat box.

6. Remove All Emotion from Decisions

• Don't get upset when I get coolered or sucked out on.
• Don't swear at the top of my lungs.
• Don't smash my computer desk with my fist.
• Don't spam random letters rapidly in the chat box.
• Don't let previous hands adversly affect my decisions in future hands.
• Don't worry about if I'm up or down for the session. Don't let the fact that I may be ahead or behind in the session monetarily, affect any of my decision making.

7. Dedicate Yourself to a Continuous Cycle of Analysis and Improvement

• Perform at least 2 Reg CRUSHER sessions per week.
• Re-watch my lessons I took with Nutedawg. Watch two per week. Mondays and Thursdays.
• Watch Nutedawg's two newest CR vids.
• Post one hand on the CardRunners forum per day.
• Re-watch all of Raptor's CR vids. Watch 2 per week. Wednesdays and Fridays.
• Develop and follow a weekly schedule.

That concludes my strategic plan for December. I am going to follow it to the best of my ability and hopefully it proves to be effective.