With the month of November knocking on the door, I'd say that I've kick-started my business satisfactorily into action and that I'm limbering up nicely for Vegas on the 25th. October has been ok so far. I've not exactly smashed my monthly-nut but feel confident enough in taking things forward. This last week, I've been chugging along snugly and earnt £700 at the cash-game tables. This may only put my monthly earnings for October at little more than £1k (£2k for September and October combined) but I've put in enough volume to have learned some vital lessons; lessons which will stand me in good stead for Vegas and the new year.
The first, major lesson is to be extremely wary of card-dead phases that start creeping up and going beyond the three-hour mark. There definitely seems to be a point where receiving shitty cards for three hours or more activates a trigger whereby I'm hit with entitlement-tilt. This invariably involves "finally" looking down at premium hands (QQ, KK or AA) or hitting a good flop - and then refusing to believe that my opponent has it for the simple reason that I believe I'm due. This happened twice in quick succession last week: (1) QQ losing to trip 8s on an 8 8 x board and (2) hitting a set of 4s on the flop then failing to hand-read properly and refusing to believe my opponent hit his nut-flush on the river when the third heart came in. Result? Villains being handed over £800 which should really still be part of my bankroll.
What I tell myself is that if I can manage to keep my discipline (up and leave after a three hour card-dead session) then I should be able to protect myself from that particular variety of tilting. In effect, had I heeded the warnings that were ringing in my head during those two hands, I would be merrily writing about a £2k monthly-wage this month and not merely a £1k one. Let's face it: £2k can pay all the bills and enable me to live a comfy lifestyle, £1k cannot.
The other lesson is that as the games get tougher, I need to be raising more often and getting money into the pot early in the hand so that I get paid big rather than medium or small. As I review hands at the table, this seems to be a common theme and a mistake that I definitely intend to put right as we get to the new month.
Anyway, that's it for now. I'll write up a full October review as we get to Friday.
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