OK, yesterday went much better. On review there were 2 "bad" hands like above, one I lost a big pot, the other I won a medium pot. Overall, played good tight aggressive poker and ended up between 1-2 buyins. Then again if it hadnt been for those two bad hands it would have been close to 3. Goes to show just how much a couple of mistakes can hurt your ROI.

Some things I'm doing much better now which I really think is helping:

1. Session reviews. After each session I sort my hands by biggest winners and biggest losers and check all pots over about $2. This is really helping me keep focused and keep on top of issues.

2. I post about 6 hands per day for a mate to review. They're not necessarily all big pot hands (although most are), but they're hands I have questions over. The question might even be "is this standard?", because I think one pitfall a lot of players get into is they only review the hands they "know" they got wrong, whereas there could well be hands you think you played well which you really didnt.

Again, even number 2 makes me think about my game more, regardless of feedback, because I really have to think about why I played the way I did, what concerns I have over those hands, ways I could have played differently, etc.

This kind of self-review HAS to help more than just looking at your ptbb each session and deciding you had a good or bad day.

Thinking about the idea of expanding the reviewing myself and mate do, to a small group kind of situation. Basically help each other try to improve, talk poker with, move up somewhat together, etc. I know other groups have done it and its worked well for them. Got some ideas, need to flesh them out though, and of course find suitable peoples.