Time to start the new year strong out of the gate!
Week 1 Goals
- Analyze 1 hand each morning before playing
- Close down internet browser while playing – no distractions!
- Close down AIM while playing (sorry poppy…) – no distractions!
- Play 15,000 hands
- Redesign and improve my office space / declutter – pics to come once finished
- Eat fruits / veggies with every meal, including breakfast
- Drink green tea instead of soda if I need a pick-me-up mid day
Here’s a peak into my approximate daily schedule:
- 7:30a, breakfast / hand analysis
- 8a-11:30a, play
- 11:30a, lunch / break
- 12p-2:30p, play
- 2:30p, break + snack
- 3-5p, play
- 5p, p90x?
- 6p, dinner
This works out to about 7 hours of playing time. Jen has two night classes per week, so I can squeeze in another 2-3 hour session those nights as well. I think overall, I should be able to average about 8 hours of playing time / day. (whatdoyaknow… just like a full time job!)
My average 2010 hand rate was 237 hands / hr (filtered for >2 players and limit hold’em). I feel confident that if I commit to cutting out distractions, I should be able to up that average to 300 hands / hr (26% increase) or more. If I average 300 hands / hr and want to reach 15,000 hands, this works out to a 50 hour week (oof). Well, this will continue to be my goal for the 1st week and we’ll see how it goes.
I talked in my last post about taking care of my mind, body, and spirit to avoid burnout…
Mind: I want to challenge myself to really take breaks, mental and physical, from poker during those breaks I have scheduled. I will chase the cats around the house (Nala could use the exercise!), play some drums, maybe take a walk outside… anything to get away from the computer screen and to refresh my mind.
Body: I am going pay more attention to what I put into my body. It’s important to eat nutritious foods to keep my brain sharp and to avoid fatigue. I also plan to exercise to feel good.
Spirit: I want to get out once per week snowboarding with Jen for some fun play time. ‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.’
Thanks again for reading, and good luck in 2011!
Way to go, hon! Keep us posted on how that is going. I love your blog!
Thanks MIL! The desk is working out great in my home office, thanks again. 😀
I also start my day fairly early(~8:00am EST), and I’m wondering what kind of things you do to stay busy and focused while you’re waiting for action. I’ve found that I have a really hard time staying motivated if nothing is happening at the tables. Thanks!
Hi kc,
It sounds like you might be referring to heads-up play, in terms of waiting for action… I am playing most 6max and full ring lately.
The strategy I’m using so far this year is to fire up a minimum quota of tables at the beginning of the day. If there are only two or three decent games running at my normal stakes, I open up a couple more tables at lower stakes than I’d normally play, as well as start a couple new tables in hopes of getting some juicy heads-up action.
Back when I was playing exclusively heads up a couple years ago, I would always have some projects in mind (usually poker strategy related or website related) that I could work on while waiting for action.
I’m primarily a 6max player, and I occasionally have a hard time finding good action during those early morning hours. 95% of my play is on FTP, so perhaps it’s time to make Stars my main site?
I like the idea of having some kind of project to work on during my down time. Any suggestions 🙂
Yeah.. there are usually a ton of games running on stars 5/10+ at all hours of the day…
Here are a few project ideas:
1) Make a website / blog – I’ve found that writing this blog has been really great for my mental game. It’s like, I’ve always known the things I should be doing to be on my A-game, but writing about it in blog form has forced me to think about it and rationalize it even more. Reading about these things is completely different than writing about them in your own words.
2) List a bunch of regulars you play against and pour through their games looking for leaks. This is kinda fun to do, and more often than not I’ve found things that guys are doing that I end up implementing in my own game.
3) Contemplate and try to spur creativity – sometimes I just try to let my mind wander while thinking about “stock 2p2 poker lines”, i.e. ‘what would happen if I took this completely unorthodox line vs this opponent type?’. There is still plenty of room for creativity in this game, imo.