Administrative changes

I apologize again for not being a regular poster.  I'm working on a lot of things, and one of them is being more systematic in the things that I do, including posting to this blog at least every other day.

I've learned a lot over the past year.  I'm learning a lot about playing poker, and even though it's not showing in my results, I know that I'm getting better, and I see proof of that almost every day in my playing.  Just today, I picked up the blinds in a move that I never would have considered making as recently as a week ago.  By "never would have considered" I don't mean that I was too timid.  It just never occured to me before today that it was a good spot to try to pick up the blinds with little or no resistance.  It was one more thing falling into place, and I'll be looking for that situation in every tournament that I play.

I'm constantly tinkering, learning new things, and working on applying one or more of those things at the poker table.  This post, however, isn't about my playing.  It's about some administrative changes that I have made.

I've changed a lot of my paperwork and procedures, which is already making things run much more smoothly.  I've changed the format of my raw data worksheets, so that when I check my tournament results against my Holdem Manager database, the columns on both my paper and my monitor will be in the same order.

Another change has to do with me having Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).  It's been common for me to get ready to play poker and find out that I don't have a pen, haven't opened a program that I need, or that I've forgotten something else.  I fixed that with a checklist that I look at shortly after I get up, whatever time that might be.

Here is that checklist:

Open iTunes
Ruler
Pen
Pencil
Stopwatch
Beverage
Check my calendar
Check my wife's calendar
Armrest/notebook
A.M. Drugs
P. M Drugs
Check Facebook
Check E-mail
Open PokerStars
Open Holdem Manager
Open PokerStove
Open AOL
Open Open Office
Poker Hours spreadsheet
Poker to-do list
Top n% of hands
Blog entry
Study—2+2
Study—Flash Cards
Clean desk area (weekly)
Shovel snow and/or PT

In case you're looking at that list and wondering if I have OCD, the answer is no.  There is a method to my madness.  I'm not just a poker player, I'm self-employed and running a business, and I have to keep that in mind in everything that I do, from playing poker to filing my US income tax return.

Opening iTunes is at the top of the list so that I can listen to a Twoplustwo.com PokerCast while I get everything else ready.  Having ADD makes it almost impossible to divide my attention between the poker table(s) and the PokerCast, so I open the PokerCast first thing, and listen to it while I'm getting everything else ready.

Checking calendars isn't because I usually have somewhere to go.  There are all kinds of jokes about online poker players not getting out much.  There are true stories about players doing things like grinding for 12 hours a day, 7 days a week; or playing 100 tables at a time (that last was verified by someone from PokerStars who traveled from the Isle of Mann to the player's home in Germany to watch him play).  In a recent 2+2 Poker Forum thread, someone said, probably only half-joking, that the only time he went outside was to get groceries.  That got a quick, one-word response: Delivery.

I may not get out much, but I made my own custom calendar this year.  Most days I just look at the list of tournaments on PokerStars and decide what I will play next.  But I'm going to start using that calendar (actually a planner, but I made it myself with a loose-leaf notebook and saved $50) to start scheduling certain times and tournaments that I will play.

Some items on my checklist are to make sure that I have all of the office supplies that I need.  There are a few things on the list that are not poker related, like taking my drugs (all legal and perscribed) when I need to.  When I get involved in a long poker session, it can be an easy thing to forget.

The last item on the list is to make sure that I get my exercise almost every day.  That will often be by going out for a run, but vigorous snow shoveling for 30 minutes or more certainly counts as exercise in my book. We are in the process of getting a 3-4 inch snow dump, so I know what my exercise will be tomorrow.

Many of the programs or filesyhuuuuuuuuuuuuuuyhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh that I have to open are in themselves memory aids.  [Psalty The Amazing 20 Year Old Poker Cat, my faithful desk companion for several hours each day, edited that previous sentence].  I won't forget to post from my raw data papers to my online spreadsheets when those spreadsheets are open right in front of my face.

Some of the items, such as "Top n% of hands" are tables, charts or other information that I have not yet memorized.  "Top n% of hands" tells me which hands make up the top 10% of hands, or which hands are a favorite against 2, 3, or 4 random hands.  Once I start putting in regular time with my flashcards (another item on the list) I won't need to open some of those charts and tables.


Checking E-mail and Facebook is on the list so that I will get all of the non-poker online obligations out of the way first thing.  Then I can play poker whenever I want for the rest of the day, as soon as I sit down at my desk.

My checklist is working very well.  My set-up prior to playing is much faster, and once I've started, I don't have to make any changes until a cat wants to join me--then I might have to rearrange my desk space a bit.  And now that "Blog Entry" is part of that list, I will be doing this much more regularly.

Now I have to turn off the PokerCast so that I can proofread and post this entry.