August 2007 Recap

Cash game net profit = -$135.10 (46.45 hours of play)
Tournament net profit = -$694.73
Total net profit = -$829.83

August was a pretty bad month for me, and the bulk of my losses came from my trip to Atlantic City, where I really had no business being (at least from a bankroll management perspective). However, having a full-time job away from poker, I was fully aware going into the AC trip that the money I was spending was essentially 'fun' money that I could afford to lose.

Well, as of August 27th, I officially transitioned to a part-time employee at my 'regular' job, so with my paychecks being cut exactly in half from here on out, the concept of 'fun' money has pretty much gone out the window. I'll admit that I hadn't planned on making this kind of move until sometime next year, but circumstances affecting both myself and a few of my co-workers made it reasonable to expedite things. By no means do I consider myself a professional poker player, but if I hope to do anything more than just pay the bills going forward, I'm going to have to start acting like one.

Judging by my August results, the first order of business should undoubtedly be to address my poor bankroll management. Despite having picked up on certain PLO concepts such as the importance of redraws/chasing your own money/folding the nuts, I've experienced some pretty disgusting beats that have truly reinforced the concept of variance, and it's become very clear that I'm not even sufficiently bankrolled for the cash games that I host. I'm not about to cancel my home game, but I'm fully prepared to sit out, at least during the PLO rounds. Sitting out of my own home game; how ridiculous is that? But hey, as important as it is for me to become more disciplined with my money, the embarrassment of having to sit back and watch the others play should leave a fairly lasting impression.

In addition to bankroll management, I'm starting to understand how important (and difficult) time management must be for professional poker players. Now that I'm only working 3 days a week at my 'real' job, it's been somewhat of a challenge to develop a schedule that forces me to play enough poker yet doesn't allow me to neglect my other responsibilities. I'm starting to piece things together, but it's still very much a work in progress.

On a final note, I've been working really hard on understanding the Independent Chip Model/SnG bubble play, and I think my online results are starting to reflect that. My Sharkscope numbers aren't exactly on par with the likes of Albatross77, but I'm definitely starting to notice an upward trend. I'll admit that the sample size is practically negligible, but I think the most important thing is that I feel like it's finally starting to click (as evidenced in part by the fact that I've made the switch from regular SnGs to turbos). I've also been cashing fairly regularly in some of the guaranteed MTTs on PokerStars; with continued research, hopefully it won't be too long before I start making final tables on a more consistent basis.

Total online bankroll = $207.18