A little but of click bait but also true. Did a small amount of looking into it and i think it costs me approximately 0.5bb/100. If it reduces the standard deviation from or example 100 to 80 then I can have a 10BI more aggressive BR strategy for the same risk of ruin. I haven't been able to find out how much it affects the SD because I assume card distribution has a significantly greater impact on variance. I'm not saying this is something that many people should be doing but if you are climbing the micros or shot taking in general the it should be a consideration. For me, I have been given a Stars rakeback challenge which requires me to play 50z which I am a little under rolled for. But the additional incentive and the use of cash out makes me a little more comfortable.

Anyway on to my journey. I have considered doing one for a while but keep putting it off. I have made the odd comment in others' journeys but mostly lurk in the background. However, I know journaling regularly will consolidate my thoughts a little and also act as a reminder to my other thoughts whilst I develop a studying routine and strategy for 50z and beyond.

I will mostly be documenting my study and mental game reflections but don't have a clear goal for it at the moment.

Mental Game:
My main issues I think are 1) a focus on short term results despite knowing (Primedope) the level of variance in poker. Probably down to the above BR management mistakes. BUt a pretty common issues form what I have read.
2) Lack of confidence in any particular strategy. Definately linked to 1) , I usually hit a bit of poor variance and then start looking for the next piece of information that will improve my game or make sweeping changes to my overall strategy. So this leads me onto the strategy plan.

Strategy:
From all the reading i have done on here and other places, it seems MDA combined with solver work is much more effective than simply trying to learn GTO. As a result i have bought a annual subscription to HEM3 Range wizard which acts like a cheaper (But less effective) version of H2N. The plan is to model the game plan of 6 villian types (NIT, TAG, Tpassive, LAG, Lpassive, Whale) over the main lines and textures using pool stats and GTO+. From there build a counter strategy in a way that is both robust and simplified enough to execute on clearly recognizable indicators. E.g. defending BB vs EP rfi on medium and coordinated flop.

It's early days but we'll see. I'll leave it there and hopefully post again when I've finished a spot worth discussing.

Thanks for reading.