Boredom at the micros

Hello pop and thanks for sharing this here. There is a lot of conflict in what you are sharing. To help understand what is going on I have (a lot of) questions. You don't have to answer them all, nor do you have to answer them here, but they can reveal what is happening and might bring you some clarity.

The why
What drew you to poker in the first place and why is reaching mid stakes and playing live so important to you?
What would your life look like then, and what would it give you?

You
How do you see yourself as a poker player?
What's the difference between you studying and playing? (Emotionally, cognitively...)
What does success really mean for you? (Go deeper than just the stakes)

Boredom
What exactly are you feeling with boredom, can you describe it?
What would need to change in the experience of playing poker to make it feel more meaningful?

I see that you're possibly caught in frame of thinking where studying is valuable but playing is a burden. Action is the lifeblood of growth and progress so I would suggest you zoom out and use these questions to better understand what you are in this for and what you stand to get out of it.

Hello pop and thanks for sharing this here. There is a lot of conflict in what you are sharing. To help understand what is going on I have (a lot of) questions. You don't have to answer them all, nor do you have to answer them here, but they can reveal what is happening and might bring you some clarity.

The why
What drew you to poker in the first place and why is reaching mid stakes and playing live so important to you?
- I became instantly attached to the game when I played a home game for the first time, long story short, as I learned and fell further into the game I gradually became more and more serious about it until I decided that I wanted to be one of the best and play professionally.

What would your life look like then, and what would it give you?
- I think my life would look the same as it does now, primarily, studying and playing poker and pursuing my goals in life.

You
How do you see yourself as a poker player?
-What do you mean here specifically?
What's the difference between you studying and playing? (Emotionally, cognitively...)
- I find studying rewarding and enjoyable, I feel that it has a direct impact on my goals. It just feels so natural no matter how difficult it gets, time goes by without me thinking about it. Whereas when I play, I find myself looking at how long ive been playing for, thinking about when I'm going to stop, it just doesn't feel fun to me and I have to use my will to continue to a degree, although only barely. It seems quite counterintuitive. I also know that really no matter what I do at 0.02/0.05, no matter how perfect I play, It doesn't mean anything and I will have to play for months just to get to a stake where I can win a tangible amount.
What does success really mean for you? (Go deeper than just the stakes)
This is also quite open ended but I would answer generally that success in poker means being as good as I can, beating almost everybody and competing with the best in mid-high stakes cash games, as ambitious of a goal that is.

Boredom
What exactly are you feeling with boredom, can you describe it?
- ^above
What would need to change in the experience of playing poker to make it feel more meaningful?
- I really don't know for sure, but maybe it is as simple as playing at a higher stake. At the risk of sounding arrogant which I don't at all want to be, I can see the mistakes my opponents make clear as day, they limp into pots, almost all of my opponents are weak recreational players or beginners. I can analyze any spot to death to determine what action is generally optimal, construct ranges, identify bluffs in my range and my continuing range range against bets, I can adjust my play to exploit the mistakes they make etc etc. It just seems like all of that is for nothing, for a couple cents, and that I would have to do that thousands of times, for hundreds if not potentially thousands of hours just to climb out of the micros and start earning money.

Appreciate the help and I hope that my answers were sufficient in providing at least some context.

Limiting belief.

Also, it seems that winning money is important to you. Is this what is creating boredom? You are framing the process in a way that it is a really big inconvenience and effort to move up the stakes.

Poker has challenges all the way to the top that are outside of making good single decisions and understanding theory. If you can't have your eyes set on the prize at the top of the mountain and work through the process and challenges now, how can you expect to be up to the challenge when you break through to the next level?

One of the biggest and recurring challenges from players I coach is learning to deal with the process without the reward. How does one soldier on when they are bored, dealing with a break even stretch for a year, with boredom. Many top winning professionals have to deal with break even stretches of a year or two, it's brutal! We have to zoom out and understand the why and look at the bigger picture. Hope that helps.

Right thankyou,

I wasn't sure if it was a suck it up type thing or whether I was doing something wrong so its good to get an outside opinion.

BTW although this is besides the point, when i say i can analyze a spot to death etc etc, I dont mean to say im very skilled or anything, its just an exaggeration to make the point that it doesn't even matter if I can't actually put the hours and volume in.

I really appreciate the help, and I will do my best to employ what you have said.

Should I just focus on treating the stakes im at now as if they were any other stake, taking a long term approach, trying to both continue to get better and put the volume in? Or should I switch up my strategy playing multiple tables etc and focusing just on getting out of the micros? Im guessing the former but Id like to hear what you have to say.

Is there any particular mindset I can employ to enjoy the process/grind a little more or does this go against what you said?

Thanks!

If the goal is to play mid stakes live, and to get there as quickly as possible with minimal burnout, I would spend most your time studying, some amount of time playing by micros for practice, while you save up $10K to play 1/3.

If saving that isn’t an option I would focus on getting really, really good. Studying way more than playing until you’re extremely confident you can beat up to 100NL. Then just grind it out. $400 -> $8K in the micros with a 10bb/100 win rate should take 180K hands, say 200K for round numbers sake. 4 tabling that would be 500 hours, 20 hours a week for a year and you’re there.

If both those options sound like a long time or overly challenging it’s because they are. What you’re trying to do is remarkably difficult. Well over 90% of people who play poker regularly or semi regularly aren’t winning period. You’re attempting to create the opportunity to make life changing money in a game where the vast majority make no money. It’s not a get rich quick scheme, it’s a great way to make good money if you put in tons and tons of time and effort, just have to decide if that’s worth it to you

appreciate the reply, I have a couple questions if thats ok:

- I have thought about the first statement you make before, there seems to be a dilemma, if one was to work part time or something to save up 10k, surely this is retracting serious time from time spent either studying or practicing / playing, is this true? Also, some may say that the micros are the test to see if you have what it takes to win at higher stakes, is that true?

- is 4 tabling with that win rate achievable? I feel I can't perform my strategy anywhere near as effectively when introducing more tables, is it simple a matter of practice?

- Were you planning on spending all of your time playing and studying poker? I would guess that working a job and saving the money while spending 2-3 hours a day studying, 1 hour playing is going to get you to live 1/3 a lot faster and with less stress than grinding the micros.

- The micros are harder to beat than live 1/3. Micros are a great way to get reps in, and if you can beat them you can crush live 1/3, but you can also probably beat up to live 5/10 and still not be good enough to beat 100NL.

- If you want to beat online you need to multi-table. Practice helps make it easier, as does getting good at poker. The less you have to think about decisions the easier it is to make more of them in less time

I am a pretty big winner playing one table, its just, my strategy requires me to perform a lot of analysis in order to make good decisions. When I stop analyzing in order to play at multiple tables, my strategy kind of falls through because it is based on the analysis of any given spot, and I basically stop winning.

What can I do to learn this style of play where I don't think just perform? Should I even, or is multi-tabling not for me?

Thanks for all your help I really needed it.

The part of our brain that makes fresh calculations is very demanding and requires conscious effort (just like creating a new habit). The part of our brain that recalls memory is second nature (just like brushing our teeth before bed). When you expose yourself to lots of familiar situations then you will require less effort to come to a decision- it will become second nature.

Slowly expose yourself to increased input and look out for patterns when learning the game of poker. More tables, longer sessions. You can't rush this though- moving forward too quickly will mean that the decisions that you have ingrained are inaccurate but they will feel normal to you which means it will cost you in the long run. When we learn something new this is the easiest time to do so, because relearning means going against the grain of what is natural to you and is very demanding. Think of unhealthy habits and thoughts processes that we learned as a child and how much energy and effort they require to change once we are an adult.

One learns the technique up to whatever it takes to play some limit without losing. There one plays the technique in, and learns practical things.

If it gets boring, one either needs to move up or play less.

I don't think grinding the roll up at micros is the right focus - that's better to be on learning, and then make shots higher when one is ready.