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.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
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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