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Rules and StrategyMy Fifth Rule Of Poker is:  As in my fourth rule of poker, this section concentrates on the all-important subject of record keeping.  1a) The only thing more important for online poker than keeping ‘book’ on your opponents, is recording the data from your own performances.
I found that my game went to a new level after I started to record my results. It forced me to see my loses and analyse where I was going wrong. This fifth rule of poker, 'recording the data' also stopped me from playing recreationally. I did not like seeing loses. I therefore made an extra effort to avoid irrational betting in cash games, and I seemed to hang on longer playing the tourneys, even if things were not going well. I seemed to just try harder. In fact I fought tooth and nail for every cent. This I believe is the root of my online poker success. recording your data keeps you honest. You simply cannot afford to just assume you are doing well, and it's too easy to forget your loses, especially after a good win. Stick to my fifth rule of poker, record the results to keep yourself honest.
1b) I simply formatted an excel spreadsheet to keep a daily record of every game that I played. a) I had seven Daily columns (yes I was playing every day:-) consisting of separate rows for the game types. b) Initially I used one row for stt’s, one for mtt’s, one for satellites and one for the cash games. I used a simple code to record my information.
c) I recorded the buy in amounts for tournaments and satellites, the size of the field, my finishing position and the net profit (blue for positive, red for negative).
d) For cash games I recorded my buy-in and the size of blinds, the length of time played in a session and my net profit (blue for positive, red for negative). You’ll’ be amazed at how this fifth rule of poker can focus your mind, just try the process for a couple of weeks. Your spreadsheet becomes a war, the blue army Vs the red army  2) It’s very important to be able to balance your spreadsheet, set this up in advance and try to balance it on a weekly basis. Make sure that you record the total hours played in a week. An interesting statistic is to devide the amount of hours by your profit, to find your hourly rate. When analysing my online poker results I try not to concentrate on my daily performance, or even the weekly results. For my fifth rule of poker I pay much more attention to monthly statistics. I try to spot trends and analyse my game. You must recognise were you are strong and winning, you can then capitalise on those strengths. If you find loosing trends, you must either avoid them or improve your game in these areas.
You can obtain software that will help you analyse your game and record your data at these links: Immediate Purchase and Downloadable Trial $ 19.95
Poker Tracker Immediate Purchase and Downloadable Trial $ 55
Online Holdem Inspector Immediate Purchase and Downloadable Trial $ 79
Holdem Spy Immediate Purchase and Downloadable Trial $ 29
Statking Immediate Purchase Windows. CD.$29.95
Holdem Helper 3)Finished my fifth rule of poker? Click on the link below and move on to the sixth
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