Ant,
over the last 3-4 days and 3 hours total I have read your diary, obv you're a top bloke and smart. i love the honesty just like with cambridgealex's diary.
Can I ask why you choose MTT over Cash games?
Why do you try and do 12 hour grinds and not less like 6-8?
With the hud, holdem manager thing niggling you for the last 6 months do you not know anyone who could set it all up for you?
It could only help improve your game and some would say essential part of being a winning player. If it was me with something i wanted/needed to do and i hadnt managed it, it would be a permanent tiltfactor which would effect my whole game without me even knowing because it had just become part of me. (prob not explaining to well) the same with diet, fitness, chairs etc. I don't know for sure but i would have thought the elite online players are the ones with an absolutely perfect set up in all aspects of life with no compromises.
I could be wrong but you sound quite a phasey person, once you achieve something u can get bored after a while as you need to achieve new goals , you like new challenges and need to be constantly stimulated. (these are all positive things in my mind) if i'm right with my analysis which i might not be as I dont know you and you want to play poker for a good living you need to find a system/routine that suits all your strengths. if im right then maybe getting the right blend of online cash, mtt, live poker & poker trips could suit you down to the ground. I think it must be really hard to do 12 hour grinds all the time, maybe time to time but to base a career on it must be very tough. Im going on one now but whats to stop you doing a few 6 hr grinds here and there? it must be a lot of pressure to just aim to do 12 hrs each time, maybe do it a couple of times a week, (your two most profitable nights from your mtt history) then add in shorter sesh's of mtt and online cash mixed in with live and the odd trip here and there, your single so make the most of it while you can.
sorry for the big spew but after reading the 45 odd pages & because you've been so honest it feels like i know you and i can feel your very close to where you want to be.
glgglglglgglgglgl as people on here say
The HUD thing is still a bit of a tilt factor, correct.
I need one for hand analysis after tournaments so i can do a hand by hand with a mate reviewing so he can try to spot where my weaknesses are or alternative moves that could have been right in the spot also. I probably am a little too tight post flop if i have missed with AK or summin, i often get the cbet out but then don't often do the double barrel.
I don't think i miss a HUD for in play in tourns because the stats they give out aren't too accurate to how players are going to play at different stages in the tourn. Ofc having more info than none is good but i think the impact would be pretty negligible because at certain stack sizes according to the blinds people may be shoving the same range. When i get the HUD sorted i will trial it though, be foolish to not give it a go.
With the long 12 hour grinds i honestly don't mind playing for that long. I just often get very stressed and play a lot worse when variance is hurting me than when i am winning. However on the rare occasion i have kept up a nice diet and exercise routine going, only for about a week, my ability to handle variance was awesome and i found myself making better plays.
So to your perfect grind setup point in that all pros need one to be consistently good, that is correct i would say and i haven't settled with mine.
Mainly because i can't really sit in a conventional chair for too long without my back seizing up and for sofa chairs and/or my bed that means i can't use a three monitor setup that i would like. But i am going to shortly get a custom built desk like at the hospitals that soft of comes in over the top of where you are sitting and can be moved up/down/left/right. Will have to be a big desk though and the counter weight will have to be quite hefty but hopefully after looking into it i can find something i like.
After that is sorted i need to exercise an hour a day and get rid of caffeine along with getting a healthy diet as playing for 12 hours is much like doing a daily marathon in terms of concentrating intently for such long periods so i have to treat it like one. Would imagine my profitability would increase a huge amount if i had a healthy lifestyle along with a comfy grind pad.
Next i need to settle on a bankroll management scheme. I have one at the moment of playing at around 200 buy ins at the most and a 300 buy ins average, but i am going to settle now for only wagering about 5 per cent every grind.
So i will need to anticipate how many games i would like to play, what 5 per cent of my br is and then split the money out across the tourns. Of course i will have to miss out on some juicy games in order to keep to the sensible scheme but with patience if i get more and more profit i can start registering into any game i want and will no longer have problems limitations on my game selection.
Also need to know how many tables i can comfortably play, but won't know until i get that desk in. Anticipate i will be able to 18 table at most from past efforts, 19 upwards really is what starts to make me play crazy. i can already do 16 tables on the laptop, but with two big external monitors i should be fine with 18.
Also need to change my attitude of putting loads of pressure on myself to win every game going and looking to make a profit nightly. I think it is this that leads me to taking shots because i feel like if i am committing so much of my time nightly i should be winning lots every night. Need to just get the basics right and make sure the prep is right and then let the results take care of themselves. Making goals is dangerous unless you know you are capable of doing them.
With choosing mtt's over other types of game i must admit i love mtt's. I can't play cash online or live because playing so deep all the time has me getting bored. I love the fact there is always a changing dynamic with mtt's and how you have the chance to come 1st in every tourn you play and that sense of competition i thrive on. Just never have connected with the cash game ideal and don't think i ever will, not to say i can't hold my own in a live cash game, because i can, i just find that too uneventful and slow as well tbh.
With the length of time i play as well, with you suggesting 6 hours instead of 12, i really love working hard and going for the profit on a daily basis like i said and a part of playing huge grinds is so that i can turn a profit daily. Also i like to make the most of the time i play and feel i might as well carry on with more good tournies waiting. I think 12 hour grinds won't be an issue as soon as i start living healthier.
Cheers for taking the time to read the whole blog btw and found the response you gave insightful.
Hopefully i can go on to finally have prepared properly every night and eventually start pwning tourns, feel like i am close to getting where i want to be but need that extra bit of discipline to get me there.
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