Some significant developments in the last week, during which I’ve averaged over 12 hours of poker per day:

-I’m getting much better at multitabling online poker.  Actually paying attention, i.e., not surfing the net or IMing with five different people, helps.  Who knew?

-I’ve been profitable.  I’ve made several final tables in the past week, but the big score has eluded me.  I do feel my tournament game is as sharp as it’s ever been, as my stats attest, and that something very large is inevitable.  Also, I’ve been kicking ass in sit n’ gos:  for some reason, I currently can do no wrong in one table tourneys.  Not sure if that’s due to positive variance or if something has clicked.  Probably just running good. 

-I am consistently getting my ass kicked in cash games.  I decided to mix in some 6-max NL cash games, and I’ve had maybe one or two winning sessions out of perhaps 15.  The freakin’ cash games are the only thing that has kept this week from being a huge step forward.  There is definitely something wrong with the way I play 6-max NLHE.  My current theory is that I’m too aggressive, both preflop and postflop.  I’m going to try a more conservative approach.  If that doesn’t work, I’ll either have to take it all the way back to the drawing board or say goodbye to online cash games.

-Poker Ace HUD rules.  I have no idea why it took me so long to add it to my repertoire, but I finally have, and it’s great.  For those who have no idea what i’m talking about, Poker Ace HUD is a PokerTracker companion program that puts your opponents’ statistics on the screen while you play.  While PokerTracker (a very standard poker databasing program that I’ve used for a long time) continually compiles statistics, Poker Ace HUD goes a step farther and prints your opponent’s tendencies (for instance, how often he/she raises preflop and how often he/she fires a continuation bet) right there on the screen next to their name.  Is it unfair to have this information?  I’m not sure, and I don’t care.  It’s available and I’m using it.  I’ve found that Poker Ace HUD is a non-factor for about 98% of the hands dealt, but that around 2% of the time, it has helped me make some very close decisions easier.  And that very slim edge makes it totally worth having.

-I’m tired.  Working hard is working hard, whether you’re digging ditches, drafting a brief or playing poker.  Anything for 12 hours per day is tough.  So I’m beat.  But for the most part, it’s a good feeling.  Nobody is asking me to work so hard, I’m self-motivated.  I think they call it being driven.  The bottom line is that I’m dedicated to being the best poker player I can be and that this is another stage in my development.  I’ve rarely been fully committed to much of anything, so it’s actually refreshing to be working so hard (although I still get pretty upset when some schmuckhole sucks out on me in the sixth hour of a hard-fought tournament).  Despite playing 12+ hours per day, I find myself thinking about the game during my non-playing waking hours (poor Janeen, hehe), which is proof of my passion. 

-I’m aware of how physically out of shape I am.  Despite doing a decent job of not eating junk, I am still a schlub.  I’ve never been an exerciser, but at my old desk jobs, I’d at least walk to court, walk to lunch, walk to the subway, etc.  Now I don’t even do that.  When I’m putting in long days playing online poker, my daily exercise is a one-block walk to get coffee in the morning (note:  “morning” here is defined very loosely), and occasional walks to the bathroom (I haven’t resorted to the deskside bedpan just yet!).  My body does absolutely nothing all day.  I’m a sloth.  It’s a little bit depressing.  I hereby vow to start off half my days by going for a jog in the park once the weather permits. 

Okay, that’s all for now.  I think I’ll play some online poker.