Rufus “The Dufus” Swanson’s Blog

In this third part of the RufusLogic series we address your environment and what you should and shouldn’t be surrounding yourself with to maximize EV. From poker software to your living arrangements I’ll cover it all here.

Media
Choosing to watch TV or listen to music while you play is personal preference, however I find TV too distracting and it will only cost you money. Music is a lot better choice if you need something else going to keep you from being bored or burning out. I think music is a great tool for my game; I load my music player full of songs from every genre I can tolerate and put it on shuffle. To stay unpredictable I let my music decide how I’ll play for four minutes at a time. Huh? If some country song is on I am a total rock and will always have the goods if I am involved in a hand. Next maybe a techno song like “Sandstorm” comes on and I’m four and five betting like I’m a scarf loving Eyetalian. This will definitely keep things interesting for you during your session and your opponents will be completely lost and unable to get a read on your unpredictable play.

Surroundings
I feel it is very important to keep some form of plant in the room you will be playing in. Plants photosynthesize bad juju and turn it into “run good” vibes. Go to your local florist and give it a try for a 10k hand sample and I bet you will see at least an extra 1BB/100. I’m not talking about fresh roses every week because the florist will try setting you up with their son. Get a cactus, insanely low maintenance but it will give all the positive results as an arrangement of tulips would.

Poker is a skill game but obviously there is still a lot of luck involved. To get the leg up on luck it’s an easy thing to get a horseshoe and hang it above your door. (See mine below)
    

In case the poker gods are Asian I always play with my lucky cats watching over me.

Motivation
When grinding for hours month in and month out it’s imperative that you stay motivated to prevent burnout and keep you playing A level poker or at least close to it. One way is to make your own motivational poster. Think about something that will motivate you it could be an idol of yours, a too hot for you woman (I’ll discuss women in a future article so if you do get lucky don’t put a ring on it until you hear from me), or me! Go into Photoshop with your favorite Rufus picture and caption it with “WWRD?” It will help you to keep your nose to the grindstone when your poor friends are out getting drunk, high, and likely herpes. If you’re a little on the loose side my beautiful and criticizing face will keep you from making unprofitable calls you know you shouldn’t be making such as chasing that elusive flush draw with a pair on board.

I personally don’t really have a motivational poster in my work area but I do have something very close.

Stat Tracking
Some players swear by their tracking and HUD software. In my opinion HUD takes away feel based decisions and actually talks me out of making some great calls. Just stat tracking is better if you’re the type that is a stat freak but this only reminds you how much you’re losing and it’s harder to convince yourself you’re a winning player when you see big red numbers in your win column.

Don’t miss a hand
Missing hands during your session is just like giving your money away. To prevent losing value by leaving your computer to make food I have a very easy solution, live with your mom. Nothing is better than multi-tabling and having someone bring in multi-course meals without missing a single hand.

Comfort can also play a big part in how long you play, if it’s a hot summer night and you’re sweating just sitting at your computer you may want to quit sooner than you normally would. This is where I use some simple household items to keep me cool and in the game.

The first item is just a simple spray bottle, fill it with cool water before your session and sit back and spray it liberally above your head and let it fall on you or spray it on directly. If you go the directly route you should be in bathing trunks since things can get messy over a long session.

The next is a Rufus original, it’s my ice rosin bag. My hands can get hot and sweaty so to solve this I take a standard Ziploc bag put in at least 6 ice cubes and add some water. Your hands will stay cool and keep you comfortable, plus with the right water to air mixture it can feel like a breast after a bad boob job. For those extra hot nights this bag can be applied directly to the harblz. I would advise you not to keep it there for more than thirty seconds at a time.

Now my most controversial comfort item…

The Pee Jar! I have figured out how many hands I miss per bathroom break and knowing how much money I make per hand its simple math to figure out how much you lose every time you run to the can. For me it was $4.22. So if I only go once a day while I’m playing and I play roughly 260 days a year that’s $4.22*260 = $1,097. My pee costs me just under $1,100 a year! Screw that, I’ll live with the jar and an extra $1,100 in my pocket; it seems like a good deal to me.

RufusLogic…Dirty, Disgusting, and +EV.

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