December Results
Cash game net profit = $385.92 (36.70 hours played)
Tournament net profit = -$46.71
Total net profit = $339.21
Back in the black this month, and considering the generally poor quality of cards that I saw, I definitely believe that it has everything to do with finally being truly focused on process rather than results. There really isn't much more to it than that.
Current character assessment (Scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best):
Present-mindedness: 8 (+2)
I hardly notice the bad beats anymore, I have no problem folding hour after hour if the right circumstances fail to unfold, and playing well but losing $200 in a session feels much better than playing poorly and winning $200.
Awareness: 6 (+2)
Doing a better job of analyzing the entire situation at hand rather than just the cards that I hold.
Physical fitness: 4 (+1)
Still have a lot of work to do just to get back to where I was this past summer, but at least I'm taking steps in the right direction.
2008 Year in Review
Cash game net profit = $1,488.67 (625.10 hours played)
Tournament net profit = $723.75
Total net profit = $2,212.42
Well, in looking back on my 2007 Year in Review, I had some very high hopes for 2008, which I clearly fell well short of. However, I think there's a good chance that the lessons I learned along the way could prove to be invaluable. The main reason I didn't win any significant money in 2008 is that I simply didn't play as much as I should have (though I didn't always make the best decisions when I did play either). With my newfound focus on process-improvement, my prediction for 2009 is that I'll end up playing a much higher volume and that my net profit will increase substantially as a result. It's a fairly meaningless prediction (as are most), especially considering that I'll be happy no matter what as long as I make sound decisions throughout the year. But if 2009 plays out the way I think it will, I'd like to look back and remember November & December 2008 as a significant turning point in my endeavor to play poker professionally.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
September 2008 Recap
Cash game net profit = -$926.40 (19.60 hours played)
Tournament net profit = $30.00
Total net profit = -$896.40
Online tournament results:
Tournaments played = 0 (0 MTTs; 0 SnGs)
ROI = 0.00% (0.00% in MTTs; 0.00% in SnGs)
I knew going into September that my poker hours would continue to be down, but the biggest reason for my nasty hourly cash game rate of -$47.27 is that I spent most of my time in a $1/$3 cash game that rotates both NLHE and PLO8. At $1/$3 blinds, all it takes is 2 or 3 bad beats in PLO8 to eat through a grand, and despite playing practically nothing but AA23 double-suited in a loose-aggressive game, I just couldn't seem to win any all-in confrontations. This trend has also continued into October, but I'll save those numbers for the next update.
Fortunately, it looks like my old $1/$2 Thursday game might be picking up steam, and I've also finally been able to eliminate the distractions that were preventing me from logging any significant hours online. The last few months have been incredibly frustrating, so regardless of what kind of success I have for the remainder of the year, I'll be f**king elated just to be able to play as much as I've been wanting to for a change.
Current skills assessment (Scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best):
Play fearlessly: 5 (no change)
As was the case in July and August, I simply didn't play enough to really notice any significant progress in my game play, but I'll go ahead and review the list anyway...
Play my 'A' game each and every hand: 7 (no change)
Plan my bet sizes: 3 (no change)
Assign hand ranges to my opponents: 3 (no change)
Keep track of pot size: 1 (no change)
Keep constant track of my 'M': 4 (no change)
Maintain constant awareness of my table image: 4 (no change)
In this new $1/$3 game that I've been playing, there is absolutely zero value in trying to bluff. Since the only real strategy is to just wait for big hands and then bet the holy hell out of them, it doesn't take much awareness to understand that every player at the table either knows that I'm playing a tight game or is too much of a mule to even recognize that I probably only enter 1 pot every 3 hours. If I could just get a friggin' hand to hold up once in awhile...
Minimize my tells: 6 (no change)
Keep an eye out for other players' tells: 7 (+1)
Despite my shitty run of cards for the last few months, I've actually been able to make some pretty ballsy river calls, even in PLO8. Though most were based on plain old hand reading, there were multiple instances where I used physical tells as a tiebreaker of sorts.
Maximize mental acuity/endurance through physical fitness: 4 (+2)
Getting much better at sticking to my workout schedule, and making smarter dietary choices is starting to feel like second nature. Next goal is to continue to expand the schedule.
Tournament net profit = $30.00
Total net profit = -$896.40
Online tournament results:
Tournaments played = 0 (0 MTTs; 0 SnGs)
ROI = 0.00% (0.00% in MTTs; 0.00% in SnGs)
I knew going into September that my poker hours would continue to be down, but the biggest reason for my nasty hourly cash game rate of -$47.27 is that I spent most of my time in a $1/$3 cash game that rotates both NLHE and PLO8. At $1/$3 blinds, all it takes is 2 or 3 bad beats in PLO8 to eat through a grand, and despite playing practically nothing but AA23 double-suited in a loose-aggressive game, I just couldn't seem to win any all-in confrontations. This trend has also continued into October, but I'll save those numbers for the next update.
Fortunately, it looks like my old $1/$2 Thursday game might be picking up steam, and I've also finally been able to eliminate the distractions that were preventing me from logging any significant hours online. The last few months have been incredibly frustrating, so regardless of what kind of success I have for the remainder of the year, I'll be f**king elated just to be able to play as much as I've been wanting to for a change.
Current skills assessment (Scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best):
Play fearlessly: 5 (no change)
As was the case in July and August, I simply didn't play enough to really notice any significant progress in my game play, but I'll go ahead and review the list anyway...
Play my 'A' game each and every hand: 7 (no change)
Plan my bet sizes: 3 (no change)
Assign hand ranges to my opponents: 3 (no change)
Keep track of pot size: 1 (no change)
Keep constant track of my 'M': 4 (no change)
Maintain constant awareness of my table image: 4 (no change)
In this new $1/$3 game that I've been playing, there is absolutely zero value in trying to bluff. Since the only real strategy is to just wait for big hands and then bet the holy hell out of them, it doesn't take much awareness to understand that every player at the table either knows that I'm playing a tight game or is too much of a mule to even recognize that I probably only enter 1 pot every 3 hours. If I could just get a friggin' hand to hold up once in awhile...
Minimize my tells: 6 (no change)
Keep an eye out for other players' tells: 7 (+1)
Despite my shitty run of cards for the last few months, I've actually been able to make some pretty ballsy river calls, even in PLO8. Though most were based on plain old hand reading, there were multiple instances where I used physical tells as a tiebreaker of sorts.
Maximize mental acuity/endurance through physical fitness: 4 (+2)
Getting much better at sticking to my workout schedule, and making smarter dietary choices is starting to feel like second nature. Next goal is to continue to expand the schedule.
August 2008 Recap
Cash game net profit = $125.00 (30.95 hours played)
Tournament net profit = -$137.60
Total net profit = -$12.60
Online tournament results:
Tournaments played = 15 (7 MTTs; 8 SnGs)
ROI = -39.10% (-100.00% in MTTs; 24.62% in SnGs)
As expected, August was highly uneventful due to limited play.
I'll resume the skills assessment in September's update.
Tournament net profit = -$137.60
Total net profit = -$12.60
Online tournament results:
Tournaments played = 15 (7 MTTs; 8 SnGs)
ROI = -39.10% (-100.00% in MTTs; 24.62% in SnGs)
As expected, August was highly uneventful due to limited play.
I'll resume the skills assessment in September's update.
Friday, August 15, 2008
July 2008 Recap
Cash game net profit = $160.93 (45.30 table hours)
Tournament net profit = $1257.80
Total net profit = $1418.73
Online tournament results:
Tournaments played = 12 (4 MTTs; 8 SnGs)
ROI = 3.58% (-100.00% in MTTs; -79.59% in SnGs)
Due to some unexpected circumstances, my poker routines (both live and online) were interrupted early in the month, and I didn't really play much outside of a week that I spent in Atlantic City. And even in AC, I spent half of the week relegated to my hotel room due to a sudden and severe respiratory infection, which even further limited my play.
Fortunately, I played pretty well in the few tournaments that I did enter; well enough to even turn a profit for the month. So I don't have too many complaints about the quality of my play. But one thing that I have been going back and forth about is whether or not I've done enough to try to offset the aforementioned circumstances which have been limiting my play since early July and will continue to do so through early September.
The simple answer to that is undoubtedly 'no'. I don't have to think about it too long to realize that there are some very simple steps that I could take to increase my table time. The fact of the matter is that I just haven't been motivated enough to take those steps.
Admitting that to myself was tough at first; all I could think about was the idea that maybe poker isn't as much of a passion for me as it used to be. But now I think that it's actually taught me a pretty important lesson: no matter how much I consider poker to be a lifestyle, I should never feel like I have to play.
Playing when you feel like you have to is not only a recipe for burnout, but also a distraction that can only serve to hinder your judgment. I think it falls in the same category as playing with scared money. In both cases, you make it difficult to focus on making correct decisions because you're too worried about something else (either losing money that you can't afford to or simply not playing long enough to meet your minimum requirements). It's probably why my live results have always been so much better than my online results; unlike when I'm playing online, playing live just never seems like work to me, mainly because I enjoy the 'complete' atmosphere (people, chips, cards, etc.) so much more.
Since I estimate that 1/4 of my annual income will come from poker this year, there's no doubt that I should play as often as I can. However, knowing that I should is usually more than enough to make me want to play as well. So going forward, while I will continue to set some goals, I'm going to try to be more aware of my frame of mind before sitting down to play poker. The moment "should" turns into "must", I'll need to have the wherewithal to simply walk away.
Current skills assessment (Scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best):
Play fearlessly: 5 (+1)
There probably won't be many changes to my self-assessment ratings since I played so little poker in July, but I'm certain that this was an area of improvement. Whenever I detected weakness, I didn't hesitate to fire at it. In general, I just played with great confidence in my reads.
Play my 'A' game each and every hand: 7 (no change)
Plan my bet sizes: 3 (no change)
Assign hand ranges to my opponents: 3 (no change)
Keep track of pot size: 1 (no change)
Keep constant track of my 'M': 4 (no change)
Maintain constant awareness of my table image: 4 (+1)
In particular, I can recall multiple spots when I used overbets with an aggressive image to induce calls.
Minimize my tells: 6 (+1)
I may have mentioned this before, but concealing tells is a lot easier when you're not concerned with the results. If you put your opponent to a decision and he counters by trying to make you sweat it out a little, what concern could it possibly be to you if you don't care what he does either way? It's not always easy to remain process-oriented, but I'm convinced that the benefits are substantial...
Keep an eye out for other players' tells: 6 (+2)
It's taking some very conscious effort, but I'm finally realizing how much information you can get from many people's natural reactions.
Maximize mental acuity/endurance through physical fitness: 2 (+1)
Workouts are still too infrequent, but I'm at least doing better with food choices and spending a little more time at the beach.
Target numbers for August:
- Cash Games: 10 hours
I'm effectively shutting down any real goals for this month. We'll reevaluate things once my situation returns to normal in September.
- SnGs: 10 tournaments
- MTTs: 0 tournaments
Tournament net profit = $1257.80
Total net profit = $1418.73
Online tournament results:
Tournaments played = 12 (4 MTTs; 8 SnGs)
ROI = 3.58% (-100.00% in MTTs; -79.59% in SnGs)
Due to some unexpected circumstances, my poker routines (both live and online) were interrupted early in the month, and I didn't really play much outside of a week that I spent in Atlantic City. And even in AC, I spent half of the week relegated to my hotel room due to a sudden and severe respiratory infection, which even further limited my play.
Fortunately, I played pretty well in the few tournaments that I did enter; well enough to even turn a profit for the month. So I don't have too many complaints about the quality of my play. But one thing that I have been going back and forth about is whether or not I've done enough to try to offset the aforementioned circumstances which have been limiting my play since early July and will continue to do so through early September.
The simple answer to that is undoubtedly 'no'. I don't have to think about it too long to realize that there are some very simple steps that I could take to increase my table time. The fact of the matter is that I just haven't been motivated enough to take those steps.
Admitting that to myself was tough at first; all I could think about was the idea that maybe poker isn't as much of a passion for me as it used to be. But now I think that it's actually taught me a pretty important lesson: no matter how much I consider poker to be a lifestyle, I should never feel like I have to play.
Playing when you feel like you have to is not only a recipe for burnout, but also a distraction that can only serve to hinder your judgment. I think it falls in the same category as playing with scared money. In both cases, you make it difficult to focus on making correct decisions because you're too worried about something else (either losing money that you can't afford to or simply not playing long enough to meet your minimum requirements). It's probably why my live results have always been so much better than my online results; unlike when I'm playing online, playing live just never seems like work to me, mainly because I enjoy the 'complete' atmosphere (people, chips, cards, etc.) so much more.
Since I estimate that 1/4 of my annual income will come from poker this year, there's no doubt that I should play as often as I can. However, knowing that I should is usually more than enough to make me want to play as well. So going forward, while I will continue to set some goals, I'm going to try to be more aware of my frame of mind before sitting down to play poker. The moment "should" turns into "must", I'll need to have the wherewithal to simply walk away.
Current skills assessment (Scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best):
Play fearlessly: 5 (+1)
There probably won't be many changes to my self-assessment ratings since I played so little poker in July, but I'm certain that this was an area of improvement. Whenever I detected weakness, I didn't hesitate to fire at it. In general, I just played with great confidence in my reads.
Play my 'A' game each and every hand: 7 (no change)
Plan my bet sizes: 3 (no change)
Assign hand ranges to my opponents: 3 (no change)
Keep track of pot size: 1 (no change)
Keep constant track of my 'M': 4 (no change)
Maintain constant awareness of my table image: 4 (+1)
In particular, I can recall multiple spots when I used overbets with an aggressive image to induce calls.
Minimize my tells: 6 (+1)
I may have mentioned this before, but concealing tells is a lot easier when you're not concerned with the results. If you put your opponent to a decision and he counters by trying to make you sweat it out a little, what concern could it possibly be to you if you don't care what he does either way? It's not always easy to remain process-oriented, but I'm convinced that the benefits are substantial...
Keep an eye out for other players' tells: 6 (+2)
It's taking some very conscious effort, but I'm finally realizing how much information you can get from many people's natural reactions.
Maximize mental acuity/endurance through physical fitness: 2 (+1)
Workouts are still too infrequent, but I'm at least doing better with food choices and spending a little more time at the beach.
Target numbers for August:
- Cash Games: 10 hours
I'm effectively shutting down any real goals for this month. We'll reevaluate things once my situation returns to normal in September.
- SnGs: 10 tournaments
- MTTs: 0 tournaments
Thursday, July 3, 2008
June 2008 Recap
Cash game net profit = $557.30 (35.50 table hours)
Tournament net profit = $65.75
Total net profit = $623.05
Online tournament results:
Tournaments played = 364 (14 MTTs; 350 SnGs)
ROI = 3.58% (116.47% in MTTs; -0.28% in SnGs)
I only managed to reach 50% of my 700 SnG goal for the month. Despite the fact that my online hours were limited in part due to events beyond my control, I'm still somewhat disappointed to have fallen short. However, I do believe that I took some steps in the right direction considering that I finished in the money 38.00% of the time that I played. That said, my negative ROI in SnG play suggests that my 3-handed and heads-up play needs a lot of work.
Current skills assessment (Scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best):
Play fearlessly: 4 (+1)
I feel like I'm making more confident decisions, and it's probably partially due to my conscious effort to be more process-oriented and less results-oriented. However, there was a point earlier on when I first started playing poker that I actually kind of enjoyed getting caught in a bluff; though it might not be wise to enjoy it too much, becoming indifferent to getting caught would probably be a good thing.
Play my 'A' game each and every hand: 7 (+1)
'Rounders' has been one of my favorite movies since long before I got into poker. Its message is just so transcendent; had the story revolved around a couple of circus clowns, I think I still would've found it every bit as inspiring. That said, it's somewhat ironic that I had probably only seen it once in the 3 years that I've been studying poker seriously. So when I did finally get a chance to watch it again just a few weeks ago, it came as no surprise when I picked up on several things that I simply couldn't have appreciated before getting into poker.
The one thing that really seems to have stuck is the idea that you should never give anything away. I don't think I ever truly realized how prone I was to altering my game based on how much I had been winning or losing, but the truth is that in either case, I had a real tendency to play wrecklessly, especially when I was up big. More and more often, when faced with a tough decision, I make sure to remind myself not to give anything away. It's okay if another player takes my chips, but I have a hard time forgiving myself if I made it easy for him/her to do so.
Plan my bet sizes: 3 (no change)
While I'm paying better attention to my opponents' stack sizes, I still occasionally find myself on the river with just enough chips left to make a pot-sized bet. This isn't a situation that I necessarily mind, but I really should see this coming long before the river.
Take down orphan pots: 2 (+1)
I can't recall many opportunities from this month, but I took advantage of the few that I remember.
See more flops when deep-stacked: 6 (+1)
I think I'm doing a better job of using position, particularly in MTTs.
Assign hand ranges to my opponents: 3 (+1)
I've been relying pretty heavily on PAHUD statistics to get an idea of each player's general playing styles, and it seems to be helping. However, I need to develop a better understanding of the appropriate range of hands with which to counter. Hand equities have always been one of my biggest weaknesses, and that's an especially dangerous thing considering how many SnGs I'm trying to play.
Keep track of pot size: 1 (no change)
I still find myself eyeballing the pot to do rough estimates on the fly, and even then, I only think to do it when it's my turn to act. While doing so, there's a high probability that I'm giving off all sorts of tells.
Keep constant track of my 'M': 4 (+1)
Still need to improve my ability to maintain a running 'count', but I'm definitely much more aware of the adjustments I need to be making as my stack size fluctuates.
Maintain constant awareness of my table image: 3 (+1)
More and more frequently, I'm able to accurately predict my opponents' reactions to my bets and raises based on what I think their perception of me is. Now I need to use these predictions to try to manipulate their moves up front.
Minimize my tells: 5 (+1)
I've always been fairly conscious of other players' probing questions, but in the past, I've also felt compelled to offer some sort of response. I'm much more comfortable now with just sitting quietly while they talk away. Now if I could just get better at keeping track of pot size...
Keep an eye out for other players' tells: 4 (-1)
I still spend way too much time watching the flop/upcards as they're rolled out.
Maximize mental acuity/endurance through physical fitness: 1 (-1)
It sucks knowing that I've actually regressed in this area, but I have to be honest with myself. Workouts are still too infrequent, and even my food choices have slipped. I've had my plan pretty well mapped out for the last few months; I just need to work it all into my routine until it becomes habit.
Target numbers for July:
- Cash Games: 60 table hours
My regular live game has gone from weekly to biweekly, so I'll have to ramp up my online cash game hours to offset. It's something I need to be doing anyway.
- SnGs: 200 tournaments
I'm going to spread my play around a bit more going forward, but 200 SnGs still appears to be attainable by my calculations. I'm hoping for a lot more, but since I'm only dedicating 1 day each week to SnGs, I'll start with 200 and reevaluate next month.
- MTTs: 20 tournaments
Unlike with cash games and SnGs, I won't be dedicating any particular day to MTT play, so I'll have to squeeze them into the few nights each week that I'm not busy with something else. I just want to make sure that I don't stop playing them altogether.
Tournament net profit = $65.75
Total net profit = $623.05
Online tournament results:
Tournaments played = 364 (14 MTTs; 350 SnGs)
ROI = 3.58% (116.47% in MTTs; -0.28% in SnGs)
I only managed to reach 50% of my 700 SnG goal for the month. Despite the fact that my online hours were limited in part due to events beyond my control, I'm still somewhat disappointed to have fallen short. However, I do believe that I took some steps in the right direction considering that I finished in the money 38.00% of the time that I played. That said, my negative ROI in SnG play suggests that my 3-handed and heads-up play needs a lot of work.
Current skills assessment (Scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best):
Play fearlessly: 4 (+1)
I feel like I'm making more confident decisions, and it's probably partially due to my conscious effort to be more process-oriented and less results-oriented. However, there was a point earlier on when I first started playing poker that I actually kind of enjoyed getting caught in a bluff; though it might not be wise to enjoy it too much, becoming indifferent to getting caught would probably be a good thing.
Play my 'A' game each and every hand: 7 (+1)
'Rounders' has been one of my favorite movies since long before I got into poker. Its message is just so transcendent; had the story revolved around a couple of circus clowns, I think I still would've found it every bit as inspiring. That said, it's somewhat ironic that I had probably only seen it once in the 3 years that I've been studying poker seriously. So when I did finally get a chance to watch it again just a few weeks ago, it came as no surprise when I picked up on several things that I simply couldn't have appreciated before getting into poker.
The one thing that really seems to have stuck is the idea that you should never give anything away. I don't think I ever truly realized how prone I was to altering my game based on how much I had been winning or losing, but the truth is that in either case, I had a real tendency to play wrecklessly, especially when I was up big. More and more often, when faced with a tough decision, I make sure to remind myself not to give anything away. It's okay if another player takes my chips, but I have a hard time forgiving myself if I made it easy for him/her to do so.
Plan my bet sizes: 3 (no change)
While I'm paying better attention to my opponents' stack sizes, I still occasionally find myself on the river with just enough chips left to make a pot-sized bet. This isn't a situation that I necessarily mind, but I really should see this coming long before the river.
Take down orphan pots: 2 (+1)
I can't recall many opportunities from this month, but I took advantage of the few that I remember.
See more flops when deep-stacked: 6 (+1)
I think I'm doing a better job of using position, particularly in MTTs.
Assign hand ranges to my opponents: 3 (+1)
I've been relying pretty heavily on PAHUD statistics to get an idea of each player's general playing styles, and it seems to be helping. However, I need to develop a better understanding of the appropriate range of hands with which to counter. Hand equities have always been one of my biggest weaknesses, and that's an especially dangerous thing considering how many SnGs I'm trying to play.
Keep track of pot size: 1 (no change)
I still find myself eyeballing the pot to do rough estimates on the fly, and even then, I only think to do it when it's my turn to act. While doing so, there's a high probability that I'm giving off all sorts of tells.
Keep constant track of my 'M': 4 (+1)
Still need to improve my ability to maintain a running 'count', but I'm definitely much more aware of the adjustments I need to be making as my stack size fluctuates.
Maintain constant awareness of my table image: 3 (+1)
More and more frequently, I'm able to accurately predict my opponents' reactions to my bets and raises based on what I think their perception of me is. Now I need to use these predictions to try to manipulate their moves up front.
Minimize my tells: 5 (+1)
I've always been fairly conscious of other players' probing questions, but in the past, I've also felt compelled to offer some sort of response. I'm much more comfortable now with just sitting quietly while they talk away. Now if I could just get better at keeping track of pot size...
Keep an eye out for other players' tells: 4 (-1)
I still spend way too much time watching the flop/upcards as they're rolled out.
Maximize mental acuity/endurance through physical fitness: 1 (-1)
It sucks knowing that I've actually regressed in this area, but I have to be honest with myself. Workouts are still too infrequent, and even my food choices have slipped. I've had my plan pretty well mapped out for the last few months; I just need to work it all into my routine until it becomes habit.
Target numbers for July:
- Cash Games: 60 table hours
My regular live game has gone from weekly to biweekly, so I'll have to ramp up my online cash game hours to offset. It's something I need to be doing anyway.
- SnGs: 200 tournaments
I'm going to spread my play around a bit more going forward, but 200 SnGs still appears to be attainable by my calculations. I'm hoping for a lot more, but since I'm only dedicating 1 day each week to SnGs, I'll start with 200 and reevaluate next month.
- MTTs: 20 tournaments
Unlike with cash games and SnGs, I won't be dedicating any particular day to MTT play, so I'll have to squeeze them into the few nights each week that I'm not busy with something else. I just want to make sure that I don't stop playing them altogether.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
May 2008 Recap
Cash game net profit = $391.95 (61.90 table hours)
Tournament net profit = -$182.73
Total net profit = $209.22
Online tournament results for May:
Tournaments played = 67 (15 MTTs; 52 SnGs)
ROI = -67.39% (-98.63% in MTTs; -46.93% in SnGs)
Tournament numbers are way down, primarily due to the rough stretch I had when I moved up to the $16 SnGs early in the month. Playing 10 tables a time, I quickly burned through enough of my bankroll to have to drop all the way back down to the $3 level. While I did finally go back and review my hand histories after the fact, the idea of having to start all over was just discouraging enough to make me take the rest of the month off from SnGs. In hindsight, it was a break that I took for all the wrong reasons, but I'm starting to feel that the time I took to step back and reanalyze my entire perspective on playing poker will benefit me in the long run.
Here's an update of my poker 'vitals':
Play fearlessly: 3 (no change)
I'm still not doing a very good job of following through when I've demonstrated strength and/or detected weakness. In most cases, I think I have a pretty good sense of when to fire that second or third barrel, but I have trouble pulling the trigger as often as I should. I'm starting to believe that I should start firing a little more indiscriminately just to get used to the feeling; once it becomes a more natural part of my arsenal, then I'll worry about fine-tuning my 'aim'.
Play my 'A' game on each and every hand: 6 (no change)
While my focus still falters from time to time, my judgment remains the greater concern at this point.
Make better use of the resteal: 1 (no change)
In the few MTTs I've been playing, the opportunity to resteal just doesn't seem to present itself very often. It's as if my stack is either too large to be worth the risk or too small to induce a fold. I'm guessing that the faster structure of these low-limit tournaments has something to do with it, but even if I'm only missing 1 or 2 chances per tournament, I'm costing myself money.
Plan my bet sizes better: 3 (+1)
I'm doing a better job of beating my opponent to the punch when I know that he/she would push over the top of a smaller bet. What I'd really like to get better at is thinking 2 or 3 steps ahead so that I can make an effective bet yet still leave myself with multiple options for later streets as well.
Stop passing up on orphan pots: 1 (no change)
There are still way too many times when action is checked to me twice and I fail to take down the pot. While there is limited value in bluffing at these low stakes, there's really no excuse for me to be passing up on these 'gift wrapped' pots.
See more flops when deep-stacked: 5 (+3)
I've definitely loosened up my calling range when appropriate, and it's starting to show in my ability to build bigger stacks early in MTTs.
Assign hand ranges to my opponents: 2 (+1)
I'm at least starting to think about what range of hands my opponents might be on but still very inconsistently. The other concern is my accuracy.
Keep track of pot size: 1 (no change)
I'm thinking about training myself in the art of card dealing. If I can learn to become a decent dealer, keeping track of pot sizes should become second nature.
Keep constant track of my 'M': 3 (+1)
I'm certainly more conscious of what my M is roughly, but I need to research possible shortcuts that make it easier to calculate on the fly.
Maintain constant awareness of my table image: 2 (+1)
While I'm doing a better job of trying to figure out what my opponent is thinking during a hand, I'd like to develop a more natural habit of keeping constant track of the overall table dynamics, player image included.
Minimize my tells: 4 (no change)
Another area where a little research could come in handy.
Keep an eye out for other players' tells: 5 (+1)
Another matter of trying to turn something into a natural habit.
Maximize mental acuity/endurance through physical fitness: 2 (+1)
I've taken steps to eliminate most of the empty calories from my diet, but my workouts are still a little too infrequent. I believe that I've finally hashed out a decent workout schedule; now it's just a matter of sticking to it.
I mentioned above that I had taken some time to reanalyze my perspective on playing poker. Well, my biggest revelation was that I had still been allowing results to affect me more than they should. As such, I've decided to introduce some goals which are based solely on the amount of poker played, which I'm hoping will help me become more process-oriented rather than results-oriented. For June, my goal is to play 700 SnGs (regardless of buy-in) and 60 cash game hours. I haven't laid out a regular MTT schedule just yet, but I'd also like to have a target number for those by next month.
Tournament net profit = -$182.73
Total net profit = $209.22
Online tournament results for May:
Tournaments played = 67 (15 MTTs; 52 SnGs)
ROI = -67.39% (-98.63% in MTTs; -46.93% in SnGs)
Tournament numbers are way down, primarily due to the rough stretch I had when I moved up to the $16 SnGs early in the month. Playing 10 tables a time, I quickly burned through enough of my bankroll to have to drop all the way back down to the $3 level. While I did finally go back and review my hand histories after the fact, the idea of having to start all over was just discouraging enough to make me take the rest of the month off from SnGs. In hindsight, it was a break that I took for all the wrong reasons, but I'm starting to feel that the time I took to step back and reanalyze my entire perspective on playing poker will benefit me in the long run.
Here's an update of my poker 'vitals':
Play fearlessly: 3 (no change)
I'm still not doing a very good job of following through when I've demonstrated strength and/or detected weakness. In most cases, I think I have a pretty good sense of when to fire that second or third barrel, but I have trouble pulling the trigger as often as I should. I'm starting to believe that I should start firing a little more indiscriminately just to get used to the feeling; once it becomes a more natural part of my arsenal, then I'll worry about fine-tuning my 'aim'.
Play my 'A' game on each and every hand: 6 (no change)
While my focus still falters from time to time, my judgment remains the greater concern at this point.
Make better use of the resteal: 1 (no change)
In the few MTTs I've been playing, the opportunity to resteal just doesn't seem to present itself very often. It's as if my stack is either too large to be worth the risk or too small to induce a fold. I'm guessing that the faster structure of these low-limit tournaments has something to do with it, but even if I'm only missing 1 or 2 chances per tournament, I'm costing myself money.
Plan my bet sizes better: 3 (+1)
I'm doing a better job of beating my opponent to the punch when I know that he/she would push over the top of a smaller bet. What I'd really like to get better at is thinking 2 or 3 steps ahead so that I can make an effective bet yet still leave myself with multiple options for later streets as well.
Stop passing up on orphan pots: 1 (no change)
There are still way too many times when action is checked to me twice and I fail to take down the pot. While there is limited value in bluffing at these low stakes, there's really no excuse for me to be passing up on these 'gift wrapped' pots.
See more flops when deep-stacked: 5 (+3)
I've definitely loosened up my calling range when appropriate, and it's starting to show in my ability to build bigger stacks early in MTTs.
Assign hand ranges to my opponents: 2 (+1)
I'm at least starting to think about what range of hands my opponents might be on but still very inconsistently. The other concern is my accuracy.
Keep track of pot size: 1 (no change)
I'm thinking about training myself in the art of card dealing. If I can learn to become a decent dealer, keeping track of pot sizes should become second nature.
Keep constant track of my 'M': 3 (+1)
I'm certainly more conscious of what my M is roughly, but I need to research possible shortcuts that make it easier to calculate on the fly.
Maintain constant awareness of my table image: 2 (+1)
While I'm doing a better job of trying to figure out what my opponent is thinking during a hand, I'd like to develop a more natural habit of keeping constant track of the overall table dynamics, player image included.
Minimize my tells: 4 (no change)
Another area where a little research could come in handy.
Keep an eye out for other players' tells: 5 (+1)
Another matter of trying to turn something into a natural habit.
Maximize mental acuity/endurance through physical fitness: 2 (+1)
I've taken steps to eliminate most of the empty calories from my diet, but my workouts are still a little too infrequent. I believe that I've finally hashed out a decent workout schedule; now it's just a matter of sticking to it.
I mentioned above that I had taken some time to reanalyze my perspective on playing poker. Well, my biggest revelation was that I had still been allowing results to affect me more than they should. As such, I've decided to introduce some goals which are based solely on the amount of poker played, which I'm hoping will help me become more process-oriented rather than results-oriented. For June, my goal is to play 700 SnGs (regardless of buy-in) and 60 cash game hours. I haven't laid out a regular MTT schedule just yet, but I'd also like to have a target number for those by next month.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
April 2008 Recap
Cash game net profit = $430.78 (60.13 table hours)
Tournament net profit = $97.85
Total net profit = $528.63
Online tournament results for April:
Tournaments played = 395 (4 MTTs; 391 SnGs)
ROI = 4.76% (-100.00% in MTTs; 5.68% in SnGs)
Despite a modest net profit for the month, I really believe that I played pretty poorly in both cash game and tournaments. The good news is that I've been taking the time to really identify the things I've been doing wrong, and I'm hoping that the lessons I learn from these mistakes will propel me to better decision-making going forward.
Before getting to the review of my goals for March, I need to acknowledge the fact that the kinds of goals I've been setting have been somewhat superficial and far too results-oriented. From here on out, I'm going to try to develop an analysis structure that focuses more on specific aspects of my gameplay rather than my achievements. So for the last time in this blog, here is a review of my goals for the previous month:
"1. I'm gonna keep it simple this month: my singular goal for April is to finish in the top 10 of one of the Battle of the Planets leaderboards."
Didn't pull this one off; the closest I got was a 14th place finish in the High Orbit of the Mars Division. I think the best thing I can take from this is that I played enough tournaments to qualify. But at the same time, it revealed some leaks in my game, particularly that I've been pushing too light and/or early in multiple spots.
Instead of setting specific goals for May, I'm going to keep a running tab of the skills/strategies that I feel are most important, and how I'm doing with each of them. This is definitely a work in progress, so things will likely change from month to month as I try to turn it into something that I can truly use. In any case:
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best (and in no particular order):
Take enough time to make good decisions: 1
This is especially true online, because I'm somewhat paranoid about slowing down gameplay. I need to just get over it and learn to take whatever I time I need to make the right decision.
Play fearlessly: 3
In my live home games especially, I seem to have developed a permanent 'semi-maniac' image among the regulars. As a result, I've become so worried about getting called down that I'm failing to follow through on my bluffs, even when I'm confident that my opponent will fold. I'm definitely more selective with my bluffs as a result of this image, but if I can't learn to fully commit to the bluffs that I do make, I'll just continue to throw money away.
Play my 'A' game on each and every hand: 6
I think I do an okay job of not taking any hands off; the bigger problem is that even my 'A' game is full of leaks right now.
Make better use of the resteal: 1
I've only recently begun to understand proper use of the resteal in tournament play; as far as I can tell, this is just a matter of getting more and more practice with it.
Plan my bet sizes better: 2
I seem to consistently find myself making flop bets that leave my opponents with just enough chips to make things difficult for me on the turn and/or river. I need to do a better job of setting myself up to be the last one to apply pressure.
Stop passing up on orphan pots: 1
This kind of goes hand-in-hand with playing fearlessly. I have to learn to force myself to take down the pots that the other players clearly have no interest in fighting for.
See more flops when deep-stacked: 2
Having learned tournament poker primarily from books which preach tight-aggressive play, my hand range for calling raises has always been very small, which limits my opportunity to accumulate chips. As long as I play well post-flop, widening my calling range should also help my cash game results.
Assign hand ranges to my opponents: 1
This is one of my biggest weaknesses, and is closely related to my need to take more time when making decisions. I need to make sure that I can rationalize every check, bet, fold, call, and raise that I make at a poker table.
Keep track of pot size: 1
It's kind of tough to make good decisions about bet sizes when you don't know how much is in the pot (this is obviously only a challenge in live game play).
Keep constant track of my 'M': 2
I've developed a bad habit of defining my stack size in terms of big blinds, which has really hurt my play in MTTs (I've been missing out on many opportunities to avoid becoming desperately short-stacked).
Maintain constant awareness of my table image: 1
I usually have a general idea of my level of looseness/aggression, but I seem to forget that my perceived image can still be different from one player to the next.
Minimize my tells: 4
This goes along with playing fearlessly. Once I decide upon the proper course of action in any situation, I need to learn to forget about the results. I think worrying too much about outcomes is what causes me to give off the most tells.
Keep an eye out for other players' tells: 4
I spend way too much time watching the community cards as they're rolled out. I should be much more interested in player reactions.
Maximize mental acuity and endurance through physical fitness: 1
I'm not exactly in the best shape of my life right now and it definitely affects my gameplay, particularly during longer sessions. Just need to get off my ass, basically.
Tournament net profit = $97.85
Total net profit = $528.63
Online tournament results for April:
Tournaments played = 395 (4 MTTs; 391 SnGs)
ROI = 4.76% (-100.00% in MTTs; 5.68% in SnGs)
Despite a modest net profit for the month, I really believe that I played pretty poorly in both cash game and tournaments. The good news is that I've been taking the time to really identify the things I've been doing wrong, and I'm hoping that the lessons I learn from these mistakes will propel me to better decision-making going forward.
Before getting to the review of my goals for March, I need to acknowledge the fact that the kinds of goals I've been setting have been somewhat superficial and far too results-oriented. From here on out, I'm going to try to develop an analysis structure that focuses more on specific aspects of my gameplay rather than my achievements. So for the last time in this blog, here is a review of my goals for the previous month:
"1. I'm gonna keep it simple this month: my singular goal for April is to finish in the top 10 of one of the Battle of the Planets leaderboards."
Didn't pull this one off; the closest I got was a 14th place finish in the High Orbit of the Mars Division. I think the best thing I can take from this is that I played enough tournaments to qualify. But at the same time, it revealed some leaks in my game, particularly that I've been pushing too light and/or early in multiple spots.
Instead of setting specific goals for May, I'm going to keep a running tab of the skills/strategies that I feel are most important, and how I'm doing with each of them. This is definitely a work in progress, so things will likely change from month to month as I try to turn it into something that I can truly use. In any case:
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best (and in no particular order):
Take enough time to make good decisions: 1
This is especially true online, because I'm somewhat paranoid about slowing down gameplay. I need to just get over it and learn to take whatever I time I need to make the right decision.
Play fearlessly: 3
In my live home games especially, I seem to have developed a permanent 'semi-maniac' image among the regulars. As a result, I've become so worried about getting called down that I'm failing to follow through on my bluffs, even when I'm confident that my opponent will fold. I'm definitely more selective with my bluffs as a result of this image, but if I can't learn to fully commit to the bluffs that I do make, I'll just continue to throw money away.
Play my 'A' game on each and every hand: 6
I think I do an okay job of not taking any hands off; the bigger problem is that even my 'A' game is full of leaks right now.
Make better use of the resteal: 1
I've only recently begun to understand proper use of the resteal in tournament play; as far as I can tell, this is just a matter of getting more and more practice with it.
Plan my bet sizes better: 2
I seem to consistently find myself making flop bets that leave my opponents with just enough chips to make things difficult for me on the turn and/or river. I need to do a better job of setting myself up to be the last one to apply pressure.
Stop passing up on orphan pots: 1
This kind of goes hand-in-hand with playing fearlessly. I have to learn to force myself to take down the pots that the other players clearly have no interest in fighting for.
See more flops when deep-stacked: 2
Having learned tournament poker primarily from books which preach tight-aggressive play, my hand range for calling raises has always been very small, which limits my opportunity to accumulate chips. As long as I play well post-flop, widening my calling range should also help my cash game results.
Assign hand ranges to my opponents: 1
This is one of my biggest weaknesses, and is closely related to my need to take more time when making decisions. I need to make sure that I can rationalize every check, bet, fold, call, and raise that I make at a poker table.
Keep track of pot size: 1
It's kind of tough to make good decisions about bet sizes when you don't know how much is in the pot (this is obviously only a challenge in live game play).
Keep constant track of my 'M': 2
I've developed a bad habit of defining my stack size in terms of big blinds, which has really hurt my play in MTTs (I've been missing out on many opportunities to avoid becoming desperately short-stacked).
Maintain constant awareness of my table image: 1
I usually have a general idea of my level of looseness/aggression, but I seem to forget that my perceived image can still be different from one player to the next.
Minimize my tells: 4
This goes along with playing fearlessly. Once I decide upon the proper course of action in any situation, I need to learn to forget about the results. I think worrying too much about outcomes is what causes me to give off the most tells.
Keep an eye out for other players' tells: 4
I spend way too much time watching the community cards as they're rolled out. I should be much more interested in player reactions.
Maximize mental acuity and endurance through physical fitness: 1
I'm not exactly in the best shape of my life right now and it definitely affects my gameplay, particularly during longer sessions. Just need to get off my ass, basically.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
March 2008 Recap
Cash game net profit = $954.93 (61.23 table hours)
Tournament net profit = -$3.80
Total net profit = $951.13
Online tournament results for March:
Tournaments played = 85 (5 MTTs; 80 SnGs)
ROI = -3.42% (-96.12% in MTTs; 1.14% in SnGs)
I'm fairly happy with my results for the month, but inconsistency in my tournament hours continues to plague me. Fortunately, PokerStars recently implemented a Sit 'N Go Leaderboard that they've dubbed the "Battle of the Planets", and it's really lit a fire under my ass. It's only been 2 days since I learned about it, but I've been playing SnGs like a madman trying to get my name on the top of the list. I think I'm nearing addiction as a result, but I can't say that I mind too much. And though I'm still taking things one tournament (or rather, one decision) at a time, I have to admit that I'm looking forward to seeing my online results for April.
Review of my goals for March:
"1. Play a more structured online poker schedule. This month, I think I'll try to save Wednesday nights for multitable tournaments, Thursday afternoons for cash game play, and Friday afternoons for SnGs."
I tried to stick to the schedule, but I encountered several conflicts, mainly in the form of doctors appointments. I probably did about as well as I could have considering the circumstances, but I really won't have any excuses going forward.
"2. A couple of players in my home game have mentioned the idea of forming our own poker 'Crew' for the purpose of discussing hands, strategies, etc. I need to do my part to see that this idea reaches fruition."
On a whim, I decided to form the "Hampton Roads Poker and Sushi Club" (I'll save that story for another time), and the first 2 meetings were a success in my book. If nothing else, our trips to Atlantic City and Las Vegas should be somewhat more organized from now on.
"3. Seal the deal on the sale of my rental property. I'm scheduled to close at the end of March (fingers securely crossed, of course)."
A big fat A+, baby. It's a hell of a relief to finally be rid of that property (and more importantly, the associated mortgage payment). I just really hope the reduced stress will be reflected in my poker results for April.
Goal for April:
1. I'm gonna keep it simple this month: my singular goal for April is to finish in the top 10 of one of the Battle of the Planets leaderboards.
Tournament net profit = -$3.80
Total net profit = $951.13
Online tournament results for March:
Tournaments played = 85 (5 MTTs; 80 SnGs)
ROI = -3.42% (-96.12% in MTTs; 1.14% in SnGs)
I'm fairly happy with my results for the month, but inconsistency in my tournament hours continues to plague me. Fortunately, PokerStars recently implemented a Sit 'N Go Leaderboard that they've dubbed the "Battle of the Planets", and it's really lit a fire under my ass. It's only been 2 days since I learned about it, but I've been playing SnGs like a madman trying to get my name on the top of the list. I think I'm nearing addiction as a result, but I can't say that I mind too much. And though I'm still taking things one tournament (or rather, one decision) at a time, I have to admit that I'm looking forward to seeing my online results for April.
Review of my goals for March:
"1. Play a more structured online poker schedule. This month, I think I'll try to save Wednesday nights for multitable tournaments, Thursday afternoons for cash game play, and Friday afternoons for SnGs."
I tried to stick to the schedule, but I encountered several conflicts, mainly in the form of doctors appointments. I probably did about as well as I could have considering the circumstances, but I really won't have any excuses going forward.
"2. A couple of players in my home game have mentioned the idea of forming our own poker 'Crew' for the purpose of discussing hands, strategies, etc. I need to do my part to see that this idea reaches fruition."
On a whim, I decided to form the "Hampton Roads Poker and Sushi Club" (I'll save that story for another time), and the first 2 meetings were a success in my book. If nothing else, our trips to Atlantic City and Las Vegas should be somewhat more organized from now on.
"3. Seal the deal on the sale of my rental property. I'm scheduled to close at the end of March (fingers securely crossed, of course)."
A big fat A+, baby. It's a hell of a relief to finally be rid of that property (and more importantly, the associated mortgage payment). I just really hope the reduced stress will be reflected in my poker results for April.
Goal for April:
1. I'm gonna keep it simple this month: my singular goal for April is to finish in the top 10 of one of the Battle of the Planets leaderboards.
Friday, March 14, 2008
February 2008 Recap
Cash game net profit = $717.73 (104.77 table hours)
Tournament net profit = $34.90
Total net profit = $752.63
Much better month than January. Of course, any profit at all would have made for a much better month.
Online tournament results for February:
Tournaments played = 135 (0 MTTs; 135 SnGs)
ROI = 20.53% (0% in MTTs; 20.53% in SnGs)
My online tournament count was way up for the month, which I'm very happy about. I'm also pleased with my 20.53% ROI in SnG play. What I'm not so sure about is the fact that I didn't play a single MTT. Even though I've been focusing more on cash games as of late, I should probably commit at least some time to multitable tournament play, even if only 1 day a week.
Looks like my conscious decision to remain patient in cash game play has paid off. By no means was this one of my best months, but at the very least, I do feel a little more confident that I don't have to make any major adjustments as far as my home game is concerned.
In somewhat loosely related news, I finally got an offer on the rental property that I've been trying to unload for some time. To be more specific, it's been vacant since October and on the market since January, so it's been sucking the life out of me for nearly half a year now. The effect that it's had on my poker game is that everything I win basically goes into making that mortgage payment. Once it's gone, I'll be able to reinvest my winnings into my poker bankroll rather than just living paycheck to paycheck. It's been a long time coming, but I think I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.
On to the review of February's goals:
"1. Do a better job of managing my money. No more stabs outside of my poker bankroll, no more spending outside of my general budget. I need to do my best to live like an absolute miser until I develop better fiscal discipline."
I'm gonna give myself a solid B here. I definitely played within my bankroll, and I think I did a pretty good job of keeping my discretionary expenses in check.
"2. Set aside specific time for general study and to review my play. A couple of hours each Friday should do it."
Eh. This is pretty much an 'incomplete'. I set aside the time for study, I just never actually used it.
"3. Play a more structured online poker schedule. Right now, my goal is to play every Tuesday and Thursday night as well as Sunday mornings."
Well, I definitely played more online in February, but it wasn't exactly a 'structured' schedule. Turns out that Tuesday nights aren't all that great for me (gotta catch "The Biggest Loser"), so I'll have to figure something else out.
Goals for March:
1. Play a more structured online poker schedule. This month, I think I'll try to save Wednesday nights for multitable tournaments, Thursday afternoons for cash game play, and Friday afternoons for SnGs.
2. A couple of players in my home game have mentioned the idea of forming our own poker 'Crew' for the purpose of discussing hands, strategies, etc. I need to do my part to see that this idea reaches fruition.
3. Seal the deal on the sale of my rental property. I'm scheduled to close at the end of March (fingers securely crossed, of course).
Tournament net profit = $34.90
Total net profit = $752.63
Much better month than January. Of course, any profit at all would have made for a much better month.
Online tournament results for February:
Tournaments played = 135 (0 MTTs; 135 SnGs)
ROI = 20.53% (0% in MTTs; 20.53% in SnGs)
My online tournament count was way up for the month, which I'm very happy about. I'm also pleased with my 20.53% ROI in SnG play. What I'm not so sure about is the fact that I didn't play a single MTT. Even though I've been focusing more on cash games as of late, I should probably commit at least some time to multitable tournament play, even if only 1 day a week.
Looks like my conscious decision to remain patient in cash game play has paid off. By no means was this one of my best months, but at the very least, I do feel a little more confident that I don't have to make any major adjustments as far as my home game is concerned.
In somewhat loosely related news, I finally got an offer on the rental property that I've been trying to unload for some time. To be more specific, it's been vacant since October and on the market since January, so it's been sucking the life out of me for nearly half a year now. The effect that it's had on my poker game is that everything I win basically goes into making that mortgage payment. Once it's gone, I'll be able to reinvest my winnings into my poker bankroll rather than just living paycheck to paycheck. It's been a long time coming, but I think I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.
On to the review of February's goals:
"1. Do a better job of managing my money. No more stabs outside of my poker bankroll, no more spending outside of my general budget. I need to do my best to live like an absolute miser until I develop better fiscal discipline."
I'm gonna give myself a solid B here. I definitely played within my bankroll, and I think I did a pretty good job of keeping my discretionary expenses in check.
"2. Set aside specific time for general study and to review my play. A couple of hours each Friday should do it."
Eh. This is pretty much an 'incomplete'. I set aside the time for study, I just never actually used it.
"3. Play a more structured online poker schedule. Right now, my goal is to play every Tuesday and Thursday night as well as Sunday mornings."
Well, I definitely played more online in February, but it wasn't exactly a 'structured' schedule. Turns out that Tuesday nights aren't all that great for me (gotta catch "The Biggest Loser"), so I'll have to figure something else out.
Goals for March:
1. Play a more structured online poker schedule. This month, I think I'll try to save Wednesday nights for multitable tournaments, Thursday afternoons for cash game play, and Friday afternoons for SnGs.
2. A couple of players in my home game have mentioned the idea of forming our own poker 'Crew' for the purpose of discussing hands, strategies, etc. I need to do my part to see that this idea reaches fruition.
3. Seal the deal on the sale of my rental property. I'm scheduled to close at the end of March (fingers securely crossed, of course).
Monday, February 11, 2008
January 2008 Recap
Cash game net profit = -$168.56 (105.15 hours of play)
Tournament net profit = -$538.21
Total net profit = -$706.77
Well, Atlantic City definitely hurt my numbers for January, but we'll just have to hope that the lessons learned will end up being worth the cost.
I'll start with the usual online tournament results:
Tournaments played = 32 (7 MTTs; 25 SnGs)
ROI = -59.83% (-77.64% in MTTs; -36.01% in SnGs)
Online tournament count is up, but the sample size is still too small to provide much meaningful information. If anything, the poor ROI just reminds me that I need to be reviewing my hand histories to search for possible leaks.
The cash game numbers are a little surprising to me. I really thought that I had lost a lot more than I did, but I guess it's just human nature to dwell on the negative. Even the other players in my home game have pointed out my extended string of bad luck, but these numbers definitely make me feel more comfortable about playing my same old solid game until the storm passes.
Another thing that has probably made my bad luck streak seem even worse than it was is the fact that money has been very tight lately, especially after the hit I took in Atlantic City. The $560 I spent on the tournament was 'fun' money, but I definitely wasn't budgeted for the additional $600 that I lost in cash games, video poker, and craps. On top of that, I may have mentioned in a previous post that I have a rental property that I recently put up for sale. Well, it's cost me nearly $5K since December just to get it market-ready. This is a lot of money for a guy who only works 25 hours a week at his real job, and there are clearly some budget issues that need to be addressed (and bad habits that need to be broken).
But first, a review of January's goals:
"1. First and foremost, I have to stop letting my ego affect my decisions; this is very possibly the most important improvement in my game that I'll ever have to make."
I've definitely improved in this area. It's a conscious effort; I still occasionally have to talk myself out of trying too hard to catch a bluffer or take down every hand when I'm on the button. But for the most part, I've been able to focus on just making good decisions from hand to hand, which I believe is the primary reason that I was able to minimize my cash game losses for the month despite the terrible cards.
"2. Develop the discipline to stop playing as soon as I know that I'm too tired to play."
I'll give myself a B- on this one. Whenever it's been completely clear to me that I've been too tired to play, I've either stopped playing or refrained from starting in the first place. However, there were a few sessions in which I played a little longer than I probably should have; I think it's just a matter of being more cognizant of my level of fatigue.
"3. Play more online poker."
I've been saying this for months, yet I still seem to find reasons for not playing on a more consistent basis. Despite my online hours being up for the month, I really need to develop a more structured schedule.
Goals for February:
1. Do a better job of managing my money. No more stabs outside of my poker bankroll, no more spending outside of my general budget. I need to do my best to live like an absolute miser until I develop better fiscal discipline.
2. Set aside specific time for general study and to review my play. A couple of hours each Friday should do it.
3. Play a more structured online poker schedule. Right now, my goal is to play every Tuesday and Thursday night as well as Sunday mornings.
Tournament net profit = -$538.21
Total net profit = -$706.77
Well, Atlantic City definitely hurt my numbers for January, but we'll just have to hope that the lessons learned will end up being worth the cost.
I'll start with the usual online tournament results:
Tournaments played = 32 (7 MTTs; 25 SnGs)
ROI = -59.83% (-77.64% in MTTs; -36.01% in SnGs)
Online tournament count is up, but the sample size is still too small to provide much meaningful information. If anything, the poor ROI just reminds me that I need to be reviewing my hand histories to search for possible leaks.
The cash game numbers are a little surprising to me. I really thought that I had lost a lot more than I did, but I guess it's just human nature to dwell on the negative. Even the other players in my home game have pointed out my extended string of bad luck, but these numbers definitely make me feel more comfortable about playing my same old solid game until the storm passes.
Another thing that has probably made my bad luck streak seem even worse than it was is the fact that money has been very tight lately, especially after the hit I took in Atlantic City. The $560 I spent on the tournament was 'fun' money, but I definitely wasn't budgeted for the additional $600 that I lost in cash games, video poker, and craps. On top of that, I may have mentioned in a previous post that I have a rental property that I recently put up for sale. Well, it's cost me nearly $5K since December just to get it market-ready. This is a lot of money for a guy who only works 25 hours a week at his real job, and there are clearly some budget issues that need to be addressed (and bad habits that need to be broken).
But first, a review of January's goals:
"1. First and foremost, I have to stop letting my ego affect my decisions; this is very possibly the most important improvement in my game that I'll ever have to make."
I've definitely improved in this area. It's a conscious effort; I still occasionally have to talk myself out of trying too hard to catch a bluffer or take down every hand when I'm on the button. But for the most part, I've been able to focus on just making good decisions from hand to hand, which I believe is the primary reason that I was able to minimize my cash game losses for the month despite the terrible cards.
"2. Develop the discipline to stop playing as soon as I know that I'm too tired to play."
I'll give myself a B- on this one. Whenever it's been completely clear to me that I've been too tired to play, I've either stopped playing or refrained from starting in the first place. However, there were a few sessions in which I played a little longer than I probably should have; I think it's just a matter of being more cognizant of my level of fatigue.
"3. Play more online poker."
I've been saying this for months, yet I still seem to find reasons for not playing on a more consistent basis. Despite my online hours being up for the month, I really need to develop a more structured schedule.
Goals for February:
1. Do a better job of managing my money. No more stabs outside of my poker bankroll, no more spending outside of my general budget. I need to do my best to live like an absolute miser until I develop better fiscal discipline.
2. Set aside specific time for general study and to review my play. A couple of hours each Friday should do it.
3. Play a more structured online poker schedule. Right now, my goal is to play every Tuesday and Thursday night as well as Sunday mornings.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
New Online Plan of Attack
Due primarily to selling off much of my money to friends who are trying to get started in online poker, my total online bankroll is down to $126.13. After doing the math, had I not agreed to these transfers, my bankroll would be up to around $800. I certainly don't mind helping friends out, but I've got to keep myself from transferring so much that it inhibits my ability to move up in stakes. $20 here and there adds up pretty quickly.
In addition to becoming more disciplined about keeping my money in my accounts, I've also decided to include cash games in the mix, with emphasis on the 6-handed NLHE tables on Bodog. I haven't set up a precise schedule just yet, but I'll probably end up alternating cash game days with tournament days. Additionally, my tournament days will probably be focused on the $1 + $.20 SnGs on PokerStars. I've read that some of the best SnG players play thousands of SnGs at each level before moving up; I've decided to do the same, if for no other reason than to prove that I have the patience to move up slowly. For the time being, I think I'll take a little break from MTTs to try to grind out some consistent income from SnGs and cash games.
In addition to becoming more disciplined about keeping my money in my accounts, I've also decided to include cash games in the mix, with emphasis on the 6-handed NLHE tables on Bodog. I haven't set up a precise schedule just yet, but I'll probably end up alternating cash game days with tournament days. Additionally, my tournament days will probably be focused on the $1 + $.20 SnGs on PokerStars. I've read that some of the best SnG players play thousands of SnGs at each level before moving up; I've decided to do the same, if for no other reason than to prove that I have the patience to move up slowly. For the time being, I think I'll take a little break from MTTs to try to grind out some consistent income from SnGs and cash games.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Atlantic City Recap
Here’s a quick rundown of my trip to Atlantic City, followed by analysis:
Wednesday, January 23rd
5:30 PM – 10:30 PM: Played a 5 hour session of $1/$2 NLHE at the AC Hilton; net profit of $22
Thursday, January 24th
11:00 AM – 5:00 PM: Entered Event 11 of the Borgata Winter Open ($500 + $60 NLHE); finished approximately 220th out of 578.
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM: Played a 1.5 hour session of $1/$2 NLHE at the Borgata; net profit of $208
10:00 PM – 1:00 AM: Entered a $40 + $10 NLHE tournament at the AC Hilton with 18 entrants; chopped the pot 3 ways for a net profit of $190
Friday, January 25th
12:00 PM – 2:30 PM: Played a 2.5 hour session of $1/$2 NLHE at Caesars; net loss of $536
For the trip, I finished with a net poker loss of $676.
Despite the net loss, I’m actually quite happy with the way that I played, especially the way I responded to difficult situations. I was tested on the very first hand of poker that I was dealt when pocket jacks hit a runner-runner flush to beat my pocket queens for my entire stack. In case that isn’t clear, I didn’t just get stacked on the first hand that I played, I got stacked on the very first hand that I was dealt.
In the past, getting off to such a horrible start would have probably affected my play for the entire trip. However, I constantly reminded myself throughout the 3-day excursion of the 5 objectives that I had set out to accomplish (stay prepared, stay patient, stay composed, trust my instincts, and take things one step at a time), and doing so really helped me make pretty solid decisions even when things were going bad.
And boy did things ever go bad.
After fighting my way back into the black during the Wednesday night cash game at the Hilton, I entered Event 11 of the Borgata Winter Open the following morning, only to encounter one of the worst stretches of starting hands in tournament play that I’ve ever endured, either live or online. I waited patiently for hours before eventually deciding that I might just have to settle for the next unsuited single-gap connector that I saw. Hell, even 96 or 74 off suit would’ve looked like gold to me at that point. But even with a starting range that wide, I couldn’t seem to catch anything playable; it was basically just a never-ending streak of Q3 off suit. Given the cards that I was dealt, outlasting nearly two-thirds of the field is probably about all I could’ve hoped for. My fortunes did take a slight turn for the better when I rounded out the evening with back-to-back cash game and tournament wins, but it would only be a matter of hours before my composure was tested yet again.
Before heading back home Friday afternoon, my friend told me about some action-heavy $1/$2 tables that she had played at over at Caesars the night before, so we decided to play one last session before calling it quits. To make a long story short, I ended up dropping nearly 3 full buy-ins in less than 30 minutes on 3 big hands:
Hand 1: I open-raised to $10 in middle position with KQo. The player to my left, whom I had pegged as somewhat loose-passive, called, and the player in the small blind (a fairly conservative player) made it $35 to go. I made the call figuring that I had position on the raiser as well as 3-1 pot odds after the late position’s likely call. After the flop came out KQT rainbow, the SB lead out with a $50 bet. I pushed all-in for another $120, thinking that the SB might pay me off with a hand like AK or AA, and with KK being a little less likely considering my holding of KQ. Unfortunately, the late position player pushed all-in behind me having flopped the nut straight with AJ.
Hand 2: I limped behind 3 other limpers with pocket fours, which induced 3 more limpers behind for a total of 7 players who saw the flop of A64, all spades. Action was checked around to me when I bet $15 into the $14 pot. Everyone folded except for the big blind, who had been involved in practically every other hand, usually calling all the way to the end before folding to a bet on the river. The turn was a blank, and my opponent, who had started the hand with a little over $100, checked to me. I pushed all-in, figuring that he would likely call me with almost any spade in his hand. Unfortunately, after instantly making the call, he turned over AA for a very dangerously slow-played big pair/set, and I failed to catch the case 4 on the river.
Hand 3: I once again had KQ in middle position, and after action folded to me, I again raised, this time to $12. The loose-passive player to my left called, as did the big blind. The 3 of us saw a flop of K85 with 2 diamonds (I had 2 spades). The big blind (whom I didn’t have much of a read on) checked to me, and I bet $35 into the $37 pot. The player to my left (to no one’s surprise) made the call, but then the big blind pushed all-in for another $40. I had a hard time putting the big blind on a hand that beat me, given his check-raise with so few chips on a flushing board. Even if he did have me outkicked, I couldn’t fold to what was effectively a minraise. The decision I had to make was whether or not to raise in an effort to force out the player to my left, who (as usual) was probably on some sort of draw. I decided to push all-in for my last $197 in an attempt to isolate the big blind, though I only had enough chips to just barely price out a flush draw or open-ended straight draw. The player to my left ended up calling with his OESD (76 in the hole), and the big blind turned over the ace-high flush draw. As you’ve probably already guessed, I lost the $262 main pot when the turn brought a third diamond and the $314 side pot when a 9 came on the river.
I don’t recount these hands just to bemoan my bad luck, but more so to illustrate the obstacles that had the potential to affect my decision-making. In this past, I probably would have crumbled in the face of such misfortune, but I'm convinced that I've finally reached a point where short-term results truly mean very little to me. Losing $676 is still a big deal to me at this point in my life, but it was well worth it to have reached this new level of understanding.
Wednesday, January 23rd
5:30 PM – 10:30 PM: Played a 5 hour session of $1/$2 NLHE at the AC Hilton; net profit of $22
Thursday, January 24th
11:00 AM – 5:00 PM: Entered Event 11 of the Borgata Winter Open ($500 + $60 NLHE); finished approximately 220th out of 578.
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM: Played a 1.5 hour session of $1/$2 NLHE at the Borgata; net profit of $208
10:00 PM – 1:00 AM: Entered a $40 + $10 NLHE tournament at the AC Hilton with 18 entrants; chopped the pot 3 ways for a net profit of $190
Friday, January 25th
12:00 PM – 2:30 PM: Played a 2.5 hour session of $1/$2 NLHE at Caesars; net loss of $536
For the trip, I finished with a net poker loss of $676.
Despite the net loss, I’m actually quite happy with the way that I played, especially the way I responded to difficult situations. I was tested on the very first hand of poker that I was dealt when pocket jacks hit a runner-runner flush to beat my pocket queens for my entire stack. In case that isn’t clear, I didn’t just get stacked on the first hand that I played, I got stacked on the very first hand that I was dealt.
In the past, getting off to such a horrible start would have probably affected my play for the entire trip. However, I constantly reminded myself throughout the 3-day excursion of the 5 objectives that I had set out to accomplish (stay prepared, stay patient, stay composed, trust my instincts, and take things one step at a time), and doing so really helped me make pretty solid decisions even when things were going bad.
And boy did things ever go bad.
After fighting my way back into the black during the Wednesday night cash game at the Hilton, I entered Event 11 of the Borgata Winter Open the following morning, only to encounter one of the worst stretches of starting hands in tournament play that I’ve ever endured, either live or online. I waited patiently for hours before eventually deciding that I might just have to settle for the next unsuited single-gap connector that I saw. Hell, even 96 or 74 off suit would’ve looked like gold to me at that point. But even with a starting range that wide, I couldn’t seem to catch anything playable; it was basically just a never-ending streak of Q3 off suit. Given the cards that I was dealt, outlasting nearly two-thirds of the field is probably about all I could’ve hoped for. My fortunes did take a slight turn for the better when I rounded out the evening with back-to-back cash game and tournament wins, but it would only be a matter of hours before my composure was tested yet again.
Before heading back home Friday afternoon, my friend told me about some action-heavy $1/$2 tables that she had played at over at Caesars the night before, so we decided to play one last session before calling it quits. To make a long story short, I ended up dropping nearly 3 full buy-ins in less than 30 minutes on 3 big hands:
Hand 1: I open-raised to $10 in middle position with KQo. The player to my left, whom I had pegged as somewhat loose-passive, called, and the player in the small blind (a fairly conservative player) made it $35 to go. I made the call figuring that I had position on the raiser as well as 3-1 pot odds after the late position’s likely call. After the flop came out KQT rainbow, the SB lead out with a $50 bet. I pushed all-in for another $120, thinking that the SB might pay me off with a hand like AK or AA, and with KK being a little less likely considering my holding of KQ. Unfortunately, the late position player pushed all-in behind me having flopped the nut straight with AJ.
Hand 2: I limped behind 3 other limpers with pocket fours, which induced 3 more limpers behind for a total of 7 players who saw the flop of A64, all spades. Action was checked around to me when I bet $15 into the $14 pot. Everyone folded except for the big blind, who had been involved in practically every other hand, usually calling all the way to the end before folding to a bet on the river. The turn was a blank, and my opponent, who had started the hand with a little over $100, checked to me. I pushed all-in, figuring that he would likely call me with almost any spade in his hand. Unfortunately, after instantly making the call, he turned over AA for a very dangerously slow-played big pair/set, and I failed to catch the case 4 on the river.
Hand 3: I once again had KQ in middle position, and after action folded to me, I again raised, this time to $12. The loose-passive player to my left called, as did the big blind. The 3 of us saw a flop of K85 with 2 diamonds (I had 2 spades). The big blind (whom I didn’t have much of a read on) checked to me, and I bet $35 into the $37 pot. The player to my left (to no one’s surprise) made the call, but then the big blind pushed all-in for another $40. I had a hard time putting the big blind on a hand that beat me, given his check-raise with so few chips on a flushing board. Even if he did have me outkicked, I couldn’t fold to what was effectively a minraise. The decision I had to make was whether or not to raise in an effort to force out the player to my left, who (as usual) was probably on some sort of draw. I decided to push all-in for my last $197 in an attempt to isolate the big blind, though I only had enough chips to just barely price out a flush draw or open-ended straight draw. The player to my left ended up calling with his OESD (76 in the hole), and the big blind turned over the ace-high flush draw. As you’ve probably already guessed, I lost the $262 main pot when the turn brought a third diamond and the $314 side pot when a 9 came on the river.
I don’t recount these hands just to bemoan my bad luck, but more so to illustrate the obstacles that had the potential to affect my decision-making. In this past, I probably would have crumbled in the face of such misfortune, but I'm convinced that I've finally reached a point where short-term results truly mean very little to me. Losing $676 is still a big deal to me at this point in my life, but it was well worth it to have reached this new level of understanding.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Another Atlantic City Excursion
I’ll be spending the last half of this week in Atlantic City
With a starting stack (if I’m not mistaken) of T6000 chips as well as 60-minute blind levels, this tournament will allow for more play than any I’ve previously entered. It’s kind of exciting that my strategies won’t be dictated quite as much by my stack size, but at the same time, I hope my judgment will be sound enough to choose the right strategy for each situation. That said, here are what I believe to be my primary keys to success in this (and just about any) tournament:
1. Stay prepared. In my case, this basically means getting plenty of sleep the night before the tournament. I usually handle distractions pretty well, but if my focus suffers due to a lack of rest, it’s all over.
2. Stay patient. With the fairly generous structure (at least compared to what I’m used to), I’ll probably limp often in the early going, hoping to catch a player capable of stacking off with a hand like top pair. I’ll also widen my range against players whom I feel I can outplay (either pre-flop or post-flop). Other than that, I think my best bet is to play ABC poker and not try to take down every single pot. Along those same lines, should I at any point find myself cold-decked at an aggressive table, I’ll have to stay disciplined enough to not force the action and just keep folding until the situation improves. In short, I have to do my best to play with selective aggression.
3. Stay composed. We all know about the potential detours that lead straight to Tiltville, yet so many of us continually fail to stay on track, myself included. I have to continue to make good decisions regardless of how many poor hands, band beats, and obnoxious players I encounter. Much of this will depend on my ability to disassociate the ego.
4. Trust my instincts. When I know I’m beaten, don’t call ‘just to see it’. When I sense weakness, attack it. Deep down, I believe that I’m gifted with some pretty decent poker instincts, but they’ll continue to go to waste if I never fully believe.
5. Take things one step at a time, worrying little about the things beyond my control. In the movie "The Untouchables", Sean Connery's character, while waiting in ambush, attempts to calm an anxious Andy Garcia by suggesting that he neither wait for nor want anything specific to happen, but rather to simply watch what does happen. In tournament poker (and life in general) all we can really do is use our best judgment to choose a course of action appropriate for the situation at hand. So you got it all-in pre-flop with pocket rockets and they got cracked by a two-outer on the river? So what? So you're now short-stacked and in serious danger of bubbling out? So what? If you can look back and say that your judgment was sound, there's really nothing else left to analyze, regardless of the final outcome.
If I come back home this weekend confident that I achieved each of these 5 objectives, it will have been a successful performance.
Win or lose.
With a starting stack (if I’m not mistaken) of T6000 chips as well as 60-minute blind levels, this tournament will allow for more play than any I’ve previously entered. It’s kind of exciting that my strategies won’t be dictated quite as much by my stack size, but at the same time, I hope my judgment will be sound enough to choose the right strategy for each situation. That said, here are what I believe to be my primary keys to success in this (and just about any) tournament:
1. Stay prepared. In my case, this basically means getting plenty of sleep the night before the tournament. I usually handle distractions pretty well, but if my focus suffers due to a lack of rest, it’s all over.
2. Stay patient. With the fairly generous structure (at least compared to what I’m used to), I’ll probably limp often in the early going, hoping to catch a player capable of stacking off with a hand like top pair. I’ll also widen my range against players whom I feel I can outplay (either pre-flop or post-flop). Other than that, I think my best bet is to play ABC poker and not try to take down every single pot. Along those same lines, should I at any point find myself cold-decked at an aggressive table, I’ll have to stay disciplined enough to not force the action and just keep folding until the situation improves. In short, I have to do my best to play with selective aggression.
3. Stay composed. We all know about the potential detours that lead straight to Tiltville, yet so many of us continually fail to stay on track, myself included. I have to continue to make good decisions regardless of how many poor hands, band beats, and obnoxious players I encounter. Much of this will depend on my ability to disassociate the ego.
4. Trust my instincts. When I know I’m beaten, don’t call ‘just to see it’. When I sense weakness, attack it. Deep down, I believe that I’m gifted with some pretty decent poker instincts, but they’ll continue to go to waste if I never fully believe.
5. Take things one step at a time, worrying little about the things beyond my control. In the movie "The Untouchables", Sean Connery's character, while waiting in ambush, attempts to calm an anxious Andy Garcia by suggesting that he neither wait for nor want anything specific to happen, but rather to simply watch what does happen. In tournament poker (and life in general) all we can really do is use our best judgment to choose a course of action appropriate for the situation at hand. So you got it all-in pre-flop with pocket rockets and they got cracked by a two-outer on the river? So what? So you're now short-stacked and in serious danger of bubbling out? So what? If you can look back and say that your judgment was sound, there's really nothing else left to analyze, regardless of the final outcome.
If I come back home this weekend confident that I achieved each of these 5 objectives, it will have been a successful performance.
Win or lose.
Monday, January 7, 2008
December 2007 Recap & Year in Review
December Results
Cash game net profit = $452.85 (71.40 hours of play)
Tournament net profit = $398.10
Total net profit = $850.95
For the last month of 2007, I posted winning numbers across the board, which was nice but not anywhere near where I want to be. Before I jump into cash game analysis, I'll go ahead and break down my PokerTracker online tournament results:
Tournaments played = 21 (12 MTTs; 9 SnGs)
ROI = 30.93% (26.99% in MTTs; 36.84% in SnGs)
Because of the small sample size, these statistics are essentially meaningless. In fact, the only number I'm paying any attention to at all right now IS the sample size. The bottom line is that I need to play a lot more than 21 tournaments per month, especially if SnGs continue to comprise 40-50% of my total tournaments played. I just canceled my weekly Sunday home game for the foreseeable future (leaving me with only my Friday game), so this should go a long way towards boosting my monthly online tournament count.
As for cash game play, I think I played well for the most part, but there were a few glaring mistakes:
- First of all, one of my biggest ongoing problems is that I can be reluctant to fold at times even when my gut is screaming at me to do so. This basically goes along with trusting my instincts, but the problem is exacerbated when I'm up against a decent aggressive player because I simply don't want to be outplayed. If a player who is even semi-aggressive flops a set against me in NLHE, my entire stack is as good as gone.
- I've developed a bad habit of playing tired lately. No matter how bad the competition is, it just isn't practical for most players to expect to play even their 'C' or 'D' game when they're tired, much less their 'A' or 'B' game.
- Lately, my home game has started to add some fixed-limit HORSE games to the rotation. I believe that I have a decided edge in this format against the generally loose-passive competition I play against, but I've had a hard time gearing down from the No Limit and Pot Limit cash games I've become accustomed to. I'm just playing a far too loose-aggressive style to expect to succeed in this game.
Beneath each of these mistakes lies what could very well be the single largest leak in my game:
My ego.
I recently read an article in Card Player Magazine (the title and author escape me right now) which described all of the potential pitfalls of letting your ego get in the way of good decision making. In short, for a true professional, poker is all about making money. Glory may come for the very best, but even a poor player can be a winning player as long as he surrounds himself with even worse competition. I know that I have to leave my ego 'at home' whenever I play poker; unfortunately, I have a feeling that it could take a few sessions before that lesson finally sinks in.
On to the December goals:
"1. Put all the bad beats behind me without letting them change the quality of my play"
I've definitely gotten better at forgetting about bad beats, but I did have a few bouts with a different kind of tilt - 'chip envy' is probably the most accurate description that currently comes to mind. There were a few players in my home game who've had some absolutely monster sessions in recent weeks, but while they are some of the better players in my game, there's no denying that the deck has been very kind to them as well. It's been frustrating at times to have to endure being cold-decked when some of the players around me have been running so hot. This probably goes back to the whole ego thing, at least in part...
"2. Trust my instincts without exception"
I'd have to give myself a D+ on this one. I've done a better job of following through when I've sensed weakness, but as I mentioned earlier, I've also lost way too much money making calls in spots where I'm practically certain I should fold.
"3. In tournament play, do a better job of playing for first place rather than just going deep in the money"
I'd say that I've done a better job of using my chip stack to accumulate more chips, but I haven't quite yet been able to assume the role of Table Captain (at least not in my opinion), even with a commanding chip lead. I do believe that it's better to err on the side of aggression; I just need to get better at pulling the trigger more consistently.
Goals for January:
1. First and foremost, I have to stop letting my ego affect my decisions; this is very possibly the most important improvement in my game that I'll ever have to make.
2. Develop the discipline to stop playing as soon as I know that I'm too tired to play.
3. Play more online poker. 'Nuff said.
2007 Year in Review
Cash game net profit = $5509.23 (650.23 hours of play)
Tournament net profit = $5720.57
Total net profit = $11,229.80
In looking back on 2007, I definitely didn't get as close to becoming a professional poker player as I had hoped, but I've certainly made some strides. Even though I'm still living paycheck to paycheck, I've at least reached a point where I could maintain my current quality of life without ever having to go back to a 'real' full-time job.
That said, I think I'll finally have every opportunity to seal the deal in 2008. I recently put my rental property up for sale, and once I'm relieved of that burden, I will literally have no obligations which my 'real' paycheck won't handle. In other words, just about every dollar I make from poker this coming year will go towards moving up in stakes. As long as I remain disciplined (which can be a real challenge for me at times), I should be able to show some real progress. I just need to make sure that I put in enough hours at the table...
Cash game net profit = $452.85 (71.40 hours of play)
Tournament net profit = $398.10
Total net profit = $850.95
For the last month of 2007, I posted winning numbers across the board, which was nice but not anywhere near where I want to be. Before I jump into cash game analysis, I'll go ahead and break down my PokerTracker online tournament results:
Tournaments played = 21 (12 MTTs; 9 SnGs)
ROI = 30.93% (26.99% in MTTs; 36.84% in SnGs)
Because of the small sample size, these statistics are essentially meaningless. In fact, the only number I'm paying any attention to at all right now IS the sample size. The bottom line is that I need to play a lot more than 21 tournaments per month, especially if SnGs continue to comprise 40-50% of my total tournaments played. I just canceled my weekly Sunday home game for the foreseeable future (leaving me with only my Friday game), so this should go a long way towards boosting my monthly online tournament count.
As for cash game play, I think I played well for the most part, but there were a few glaring mistakes:
- First of all, one of my biggest ongoing problems is that I can be reluctant to fold at times even when my gut is screaming at me to do so. This basically goes along with trusting my instincts, but the problem is exacerbated when I'm up against a decent aggressive player because I simply don't want to be outplayed. If a player who is even semi-aggressive flops a set against me in NLHE, my entire stack is as good as gone.
- I've developed a bad habit of playing tired lately. No matter how bad the competition is, it just isn't practical for most players to expect to play even their 'C' or 'D' game when they're tired, much less their 'A' or 'B' game.
- Lately, my home game has started to add some fixed-limit HORSE games to the rotation. I believe that I have a decided edge in this format against the generally loose-passive competition I play against, but I've had a hard time gearing down from the No Limit and Pot Limit cash games I've become accustomed to. I'm just playing a far too loose-aggressive style to expect to succeed in this game.
Beneath each of these mistakes lies what could very well be the single largest leak in my game:
My ego.
I recently read an article in Card Player Magazine (the title and author escape me right now) which described all of the potential pitfalls of letting your ego get in the way of good decision making. In short, for a true professional, poker is all about making money. Glory may come for the very best, but even a poor player can be a winning player as long as he surrounds himself with even worse competition. I know that I have to leave my ego 'at home' whenever I play poker; unfortunately, I have a feeling that it could take a few sessions before that lesson finally sinks in.
On to the December goals:
"1. Put all the bad beats behind me without letting them change the quality of my play"
I've definitely gotten better at forgetting about bad beats, but I did have a few bouts with a different kind of tilt - 'chip envy' is probably the most accurate description that currently comes to mind. There were a few players in my home game who've had some absolutely monster sessions in recent weeks, but while they are some of the better players in my game, there's no denying that the deck has been very kind to them as well. It's been frustrating at times to have to endure being cold-decked when some of the players around me have been running so hot. This probably goes back to the whole ego thing, at least in part...
"2. Trust my instincts without exception"
I'd have to give myself a D+ on this one. I've done a better job of following through when I've sensed weakness, but as I mentioned earlier, I've also lost way too much money making calls in spots where I'm practically certain I should fold.
"3. In tournament play, do a better job of playing for first place rather than just going deep in the money"
I'd say that I've done a better job of using my chip stack to accumulate more chips, but I haven't quite yet been able to assume the role of Table Captain (at least not in my opinion), even with a commanding chip lead. I do believe that it's better to err on the side of aggression; I just need to get better at pulling the trigger more consistently.
Goals for January:
1. First and foremost, I have to stop letting my ego affect my decisions; this is very possibly the most important improvement in my game that I'll ever have to make.
2. Develop the discipline to stop playing as soon as I know that I'm too tired to play.
3. Play more online poker. 'Nuff said.
2007 Year in Review
Cash game net profit = $5509.23 (650.23 hours of play)
Tournament net profit = $5720.57
Total net profit = $11,229.80
In looking back on 2007, I definitely didn't get as close to becoming a professional poker player as I had hoped, but I've certainly made some strides. Even though I'm still living paycheck to paycheck, I've at least reached a point where I could maintain my current quality of life without ever having to go back to a 'real' full-time job.
That said, I think I'll finally have every opportunity to seal the deal in 2008. I recently put my rental property up for sale, and once I'm relieved of that burden, I will literally have no obligations which my 'real' paycheck won't handle. In other words, just about every dollar I make from poker this coming year will go towards moving up in stakes. As long as I remain disciplined (which can be a real challenge for me at times), I should be able to show some real progress. I just need to make sure that I put in enough hours at the table...
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