I took off playing today because I wanted to work on some things in my game by reading some poker forums and poker articles written by great players.  I haven't been completely satisfied with my game as of late.  I've been playing ok, not amazing but not bad by any means.  I really want to focus on getting my game to the next level  and get way better then I am now.  I  never want to get into a rut that most poker players get into when they are winning and stop trying to learn more and get better.  A lot of guys who are winning don't give a shit about studying the game further in depth because they think they can do what they are doing forever and win all time.  I really notice when I move up limits that you run into more stronger players which you will have to play big pots with on occasion.  And if you aren't learning new concepts and understanding how these guys are playing, they will eat you alive.  I still always focus on game selection and looking to play with as many fish as possible, but like I said, sometimes to inevitable to run into strong players so its good to be prepared when you do.

I found two awesome articles/forum posts today when I was surfing around.  One that I've read in the past and the other I haven't.  The first one is by an online phenom Phil Galfond aka OMGCLAYAIKEN. Yesterday he actually won a bracelet in the $5000 Pot Limit Omaha rebuy tournament which is awesome.  I read this article about a year back and I'll be honest it pretty much went right over my head.  But as I continue to get better everything he talks about makes much more sense and makes me realize how in depth you have to look into the game if you want to be a top notch player.  When playing small stakes no limit you can pretty much play standard ABC poker and probably be a winning player.  I pretty much did that as I cruised through the 50nl and 100nl stakes.  But now as I'm getting to higher limits, learning and understanding the concepts Phil talks about in his article are a must.  I won't lie though, his theories can get a bit complicated at times and took a couple re-reads, but I really look forward to incorporating his 'G-bucks' concept into my game.  I'll post the link below for those who want to take a glance at it, for beginners this article will be extremely advanced but its still good to give it a read and as you continue to play it will make much more sense.

"G-Bucks" by Phil Galfond

The second thing I read today was a 'well' post on the 2+2 forums by Cole South aka CTS.  A 'well' post is basically when a top player opens a thread and answers all questions asked by other players.  I've mentioned CTS in some of my old blogs and said how I think this guy is probably the best online cash game player in the world.  Anyways this well post is actually pretty old, 2006 I think, when he was still playing mid-high stakes.. 10/20nl and 25/50nl.  Now you can see him playing anywhere up to 300/600nl heads up against Phil Ivey.  This thread is a much easier read then the G bucks article so I definitely recommend giving it a read if you have some time.

"The Well" by CTS


I'm going to open up my poker tracker and go over all my losing hands during the last few weeks and look for any big leaks and mistakes and look to improve them.  If I find anything interesting and I'll post them in my next blog.

Jay