More on Short-term Results Orientation

I noticed a lot of bad habits and negativity creeping into my game and routine towards the end of last month, so I've done some thinking and it's time for a change.

Bad things I do
Towards the end of the month I'll adjust my poker schedule based on how I'm doing. If I'm down I'll try to play a lot and get even, if I'm up a lot I'll miss out playing sessions when the games are good to maintain my winrate.

Despite not having a handcount goal for each month rather than a $ goal, I still have a $ goal in the back of my mind, and if I'm below it I tend to push harder to try to make it.

If I've had a good win I'm tempted to quit playing (or sometimes just tighten up) to increase the chance of leaving feeling on a high.

I look at my Holdem Manager graphs and balances too much, and I look at EV too much. Not so much during sessions, but after sessions I'll look at my winrate, my EV, my graph, etc. It's kind of a waste of time, and also affects my mood.

How to fix it
I've been trying to figure out how to fix all of these issues for the past few days now. But the solution is a lot simpler and much more effective than I expected. I was reading Brian/Ian's blogs last night and noticed that they're both experimenting with removing all of the money related stats from Holdem Manager. So $$$, BB/100, EV, graphs... all gone. Also not looking at the Cashier window at all, not until the last hand of the month has been played, then everything can be reviewed.

At first I thought this was a bit extreme. I used to like looking at my $$$ figures and stuff at the end of sessions, particularly if I've crushed. But really there is no positive reason for it, there are way way more negative affects than positive.

I tried it tonight for my first session of the month and the result was instantly fantastic. My mind was unable to be distracted by thinking about $$$ as I didn't know how much I was up or down. It became much easier to stay calm and evaluate situations, when to take breaks, and when to end the session. I don't know why I didn't try this earlier, it works so well. It really doesn't bother me that much not knowing how much I made/lost in a session or how much I'm up for the month either. In fact I'm happier not knowing as in enforces my non results orientation.

Also, this is my first month playing all 2/4 and 3/6. Played my first session tonight 6-7 tabling put in 2k hands, went well, I feel confident. The games are tougher but there are still fish and bad regs. Very beatable, but I'm still trying to game select as much as possible. Won't be playing much over the next couple of days, going to see Amy LaVere tomorrow night in Glasgow and Steve Coogan the following night... again in Glasgow. Shakaboom.