Progress report: Part 1

Now that I've played my first 10,000 hands at 10NL Rush, I figure this would be a good time for a progress report. I've been focused solely on Rush while I clear my new Full Tilt bonus, so I'm putting aside my 45-turbo goals for the time being. This progress report will occur in two parts: in part 1 I'm going to review the goals I set in my earlier post and give myself a report card based on my performance. In step 2 I'm going to examine my Poker Tracker stats more closely to identify leaks and areas for improvement. I'll use this information to set my goals for the next stage of my studies.

Goal 1: 3-bet more from the Button and Blinds
When I made the goals post on Feb. 21 I was a very nitty 3-bettor. My 3-bet stats preflop were 1.28 overall, 2.63 from the Button, 1.26 from the BB and 1.72 from the SB (through 3600+ hands). In the period since that post (~6700 hands) I've increased my 3-betting frequency quite a bit, to 3.04 overall, 4.17 from the Button, 4.55 from the BB and 2.89 from the SB. Of course an important question is whether that actually makes a positive difference in my results. If I filter my stats by preflop 3-betting, I earned 227 BB/100 in a very small sample of only 15 hands in the earlier period, while I earned 282.5 BB/100 in 64 hands during the later period. The sample size is obviously way too small to draw any real conclusions about the success of my 3-betting, but I have at least accomplished my goal of increasing my 3-betting frequency (overall and on the Button and in the Blinds) without hurting my results. Since this is in Rush where I'm 3-betting without reads, I'll have to learn to become more selective about my 3-betting when I move back to regular cash NLHE (which doesn't mean 3-bet less, only tailor my 3-betting based on my reads).
GRADE: A+

Goal 2: Stop getting involved in big pots with marginal holdings
This is a tough goal to evaluate, both because it would require some deep digging into my stats to see what kinds of hands I've been playing in big pots but also because the more I learn from my fellow NLHE players in discussion fora the more I have come to appreciate that the important skill to develop is not how to avoid big pots with marginal holdings, but how to effectively and successfully play marginal spots. It is, after all, impossible to completely avoid big pots with marginal hands. That being said, I do feel that I am becoming a bit more comfortable in marginal spots, learning when to check-call, check-fold, or bet, and when to make big calls. My postflop play with marginal holdings is probably the one area of my game I need the most work on going forward.
GRADE: B

Goal 3: Tighten up considerably in early and middle positions
Here is a comparison of my VPIP stats from various early/middle positions, pre- and post-Feb. 21:
SB - 17.12/13.79
UTG - 12.24/7.22
UTG+1 - 9.4/6.78
MP1 - 13.77/9.72
MP2 - 18.14/14.23
The change is pretty significant, having reduced my VPIP by 3-5% in all positions. I think I still have some work to do in the SB, however.
GRADE: A

Goal 4: Stop raising in late position purely to steal or set up a continuation bet - focus more on raising with hands that have good potential to hit big and are easy to play postflop
This is another goal that might require a bit of digging in my PT stats but I do know that I have made a concerted effort to be a bit more selective about my steals. I might be able to tell something from the changes in PFR stats and BB/hand winnings. Below is a comparison of my PFR and BB/hand stats, with the pre-Feb.21 stats and analysis posted first followed by the post-Feb.21 period.

Button: 9.42/0.15
CO: 10.30/-0.02
HJ: 11.64/0.01
The PFR stats are a bit odd as they indicate a wider stealing range from HJ, getting a bit tighter toward the Button. It should really be the other way around. This may be a result of compensating for the fact that most players identify Button steals as raises more than raises from other positions, so I was already being a bit more selective about my Button steals. The BB/hand numbers indicate that my raises from Button were profitable but I was running into trouble in CO and HJ. Now for the post-Feb.21 stats:

Button: 12.75/-0.01
CO: 12.31/0.26
HJ: 16.20/0.31
Well this is interesting. My LP raising game has opened up considerably, most notably on the Button and in the HJ. This isn't exactly consistent with the goal of being more selective with my steals. The $ results show that my performance on the Button has diminished considerably, so there is clearly a problem there. However, I've become quite profitable on my LP raises in the CO and HJ positions. Without looking deeper into the stats it's hard to tell whether the profitability is due to taking down more pots preflop with the higher steal rate, or improved postflop play. Clearly there is some more analysis needed with respect to my LP raises, especially the Button issue.
GRADE: C+ (though this one is hard to judge)

In Part 2 of my progress report I'm going to delve deeper into some of my stats to further understand some of the above issues and to identify other leaks as well.