Day 88/365

So the past week I slowed things down. A lot. My VPP rate practically disappeared at parts and I've dropped behind pace, but my winrate has picked up again and I put in my second most profitable week of the year. I feel like that $7k downswing throughout the middle of the month could be the best thing that's ever happened to me because it was the kick in the pants I needed to refocus and think things through.

Someone asked me in the SNE thread on 2+2 a question that has really had me thinking lately. The question was what % of the time would I say I'm playing my A game. I feel like to answer that question I first need to define each thought level.

Here is what goes through my mind in each game =

A game: What does my opponent have, and how is he likely to react to various plays I make.
B game: What do I have, and what balanced approach do I need for my range in this situation.
C game: How tight/loose should I be playing, and without a nut hand, can I get to showdown here.
D game: How much am I up/down, and how well/badly am I running.
E game: Total autopilot play. Play strong hands fast, fold weak hands. Thinking about specific hands and the luck or lack of luck in them.

For the year so far, if I'm being completely honest I would say I've played maybe 5% A, 40% B, 40% C, 10% D and 5% E. The thing is, as an SNE grinder, it is just completely unrealistic to think you can always play your A game. If someone has the brain power to be totally on, all the time, then I commend them, but for most mortals its a virtual impossibility.

I believe as an SNE grinder your aim is to be on your A game as much as possible, such as when you start sessions, especially in the morning, and never drop below your B game. The key to this, as far as I know so far is:

-Work out and keep your mind as fresh as possible.
-Recognise when you are dropping in to your C game and end such sessions.

Random other thoughts: When I started this blog I wasn't entirely sure of it's purpose. I felt like it would quickly turn in to something everyone would forget about and that I would use basically just for myself to track my progress. I think I know now the aim I have in mind for this blog. I want to be able to build something that future SNEs and serious grinders can use to learn the skills to make it (Note that this isn't quite as arrogant as it sounds, because even if I fail to make it I still think lessons can be taken from my failure).

Football season has started and I have begun tracking today! It will probably be at least a couple of weeks before anything decent is reported on this front, but I'm certainly happy that footy is back!

Finally, on to the numbers. There is still a day and a half left in March so I'll do a month and quarterly review next week. I've added a week by week profits here though as it just seems kind of interesting:

VPP/Pace = 239,198 / 239,726
$Poker = $9672 ($20,167)