Preparing for a return

What with the terrible play last month and being very busy at work, I've taken a break from poker apart from reading the occaisional magazine article and listening to the two-plus-two podcast.

Have gone right off tournament play.

Had been reading "Gambling Theory and Other Topics" by Mason Malmuth on and off and quite liked his style though it's a bit heavy going. Recently I switched to reading "Small Stakes Hold'em" (Ed Miller, David Sklandsky and Mason Malmuth)  instead. I love this book!

It's the first time I've seen a whole chapter on pre-flop play concepts - e.g. what kind of thought processes go into deciding how much you can raise pre-flop with any particular hand and still be profitable. It goes into a lot more subjects than just plain old "Pot Odds".

This book is definitely opening my eyes wider. More of the stats in Holdem Manager make sense now - even after just reading the pre-flop play section. I was able to review my performance with particular hands against the advice in the book. For instance, I didn't know what "Cold Calling" meant until today!

I'm eager to try out what I've read so far so will be hopping back into cash games soon - probably tomorrow.

Holdem Manager is excellent. I think I'll start a new database for this attempt and really make an effort to analyze my play.