It’s one thing to create a mountain of data about your play, it’s another to know what to do with it. Here we give you directions to improve your game through the use of data and explain why sticking at it is important.
First of all, it’s important to be consistent. There is no use recording your results only when you feel like it. It’s too easy to claim after the fact that ‘That session didn’t count’ or ‘I was only practising at the higher level to see what it was like.’
The other major lesson to remember is just how long ‘the long run’ is. Plenty of people complain when recording their results that they are actually getting worse, but this is usually only a random blip in the data, and they can last a long time in poker! It’ll take a while before you post enough results to have a decent sample size, so keep going.
There are certain key figures which will be easy to calculate if you record the data as we suggested in part II of this series. For example, your tournament ROI statistic is determined by dividing your total winnings in tournaments by your gross investment in them (the resulting figure should be expressed as a positive or negative percentage). Read up on how other players interpret their notes and do the same so you can you cross-compare.
Keep your perspective
Others lie about their results but you shouldn’t. Be consistent with yourself and don’t let your prejudices sway your perception of the figures. You may believe you’re better than break-even at low stakes SNGs, but if your records say otherwise (certainly over the long run), let them do the talking.
Last of all, don’t get obsessed! It’s easy to let recording the data become the end in itself; it isn’t. Never forget the reason you play poker is either to have fun or make money (hopefully both!). Upswings and downswings have a profound effect on your psychology (it’s those pesky instincts again), so don’t let them have a distracting effect on your game.
Statistics are a snapshot of the world and that’s how they should be treated – not as gospel, but as an aid to your increased understanding of the game.
Read part II