It’s been awhile since I posted anything on my blog, it’s about time for an update and how I have been doing so far in 2011. First of all I like to list my goals for 2011. As stated previously, I want to set healthy goals, so here are my goals of 2011.
1) Make Super Nova – I am not setting a time table for this I just need to make Super Nova before the end of the year.
2) Find a coach – I am working on this goal right now and have reached out to a few quality coaches and coaching sites, so hope to have this taken care of soon.
3) Play a WSOP event –I have gone to Vegas the last two years during the WSOP and have not played an event. I generally grind the smaller games being held during that time.
4) Increase my volume online – this kind of go along with the Super Nova goal, but I want to increase my hourly rate.
5) Study at least 3 hours a week – this is a goal that I know needs improving on.
I am not setting any profit goals since it’s hard to hit these goals ( I said hard not impossible) but there are too many factors that happen that effect your profit that is out of your control. I believe by achieving these goals set above, being profitable will take care of itself
As far as how January goes it’s been an up and down month. I started off with $1200 downswing playing $12 45man and $6.50, 45man turbo’s. I decided I need to be coached in order to improve my edge in these games. So I twitched back to MTTs and regular sngs and was able to erase my down swing and I’m doing pretty well. I been getting deep in MTTs and if not for being on the bad end of a flip in which I was ahead, I would of made some very decent scores (this is why I have not set a profit goal). I hope to find where I will be receiving my coaching from and hope to start a coaching session in the beginning of February.
My wife posted this Video on Facebook and it gets me hype eveytime I watch it.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Day 1
So I been reading some of these guys post on 2+2 about their pursuit of super nova elite and there first day total for VPP’s are about as much as I have been getting in a month lol. I spent the day studying on SNG Wizard and Nash trying to tighten up my SNG game. Of course I took breaks to watch a few bowl games and a movie with the wife. I wanted to relax while everybody hit the year hot and heavy trying to reach their 2011 goals. I figure most will get burned out in a few months and I remember looking in at the tournament lobbies and cash tables and seeing all the REGs grinding there little harts out. I mean all the players in the top 25 on shark scope were all grinding today. I figure I take this first day of the year off, I have a feeling this is going to be a marathon and not a race for me. Plus I wanted to take the extra time to get my head right and focused.
I had a conversation with my boy who is also looking to make Super Nova this year in an effort to increase his volume; we talked about our goals and game selection. He is grinding the $12 180’s and $6.50 45 mans on stars. He said he is going to stay away from the $12 45 mans because they are so Reg infested and the payout does not warrant the effort to put in a decent grind in them. My first thought was you play $12 180’s you can’t really get more REG infested then those and you also grind the $6.50 man, so why would the payout structure bother you? I assume he is think along the lines that why pay $12 to play a 45 man SNG, when you can play in a $12 180 for the same price and make more money. I was thinking along the lines that the 180’s had a higher variance do to the structure and number of players and REGs.
He is going to be my wing man on this journey, he has the drive and the work ethic to study the game and put the time in to reach his goals. I need people like him in this aspect of my life, to help push me and bounce ideas off of. The Forums will also give me access to player trying to reach this goal and reading the post of player who have already reach this goal and of player like me trying to go for it for the first time will really improve my chances of doing so. Well the grind begins tomorrow for me I hope to reach these volume goals and to be profitable doing so.
I had a conversation with my boy who is also looking to make Super Nova this year in an effort to increase his volume; we talked about our goals and game selection. He is grinding the $12 180’s and $6.50 45 mans on stars. He said he is going to stay away from the $12 45 mans because they are so Reg infested and the payout does not warrant the effort to put in a decent grind in them. My first thought was you play $12 180’s you can’t really get more REG infested then those and you also grind the $6.50 man, so why would the payout structure bother you? I assume he is think along the lines that why pay $12 to play a 45 man SNG, when you can play in a $12 180 for the same price and make more money. I was thinking along the lines that the 180’s had a higher variance do to the structure and number of players and REGs.
He is going to be my wing man on this journey, he has the drive and the work ethic to study the game and put the time in to reach his goals. I need people like him in this aspect of my life, to help push me and bounce ideas off of. The Forums will also give me access to player trying to reach this goal and reading the post of player who have already reach this goal and of player like me trying to go for it for the first time will really improve my chances of doing so. Well the grind begins tomorrow for me I hope to reach these volume goals and to be profitable doing so.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Stability
When I think of true New Year resolution for myself only one word come to mind “stability”. It’s the one thing I lack in life, and it’s the only thing I can think of to improve in 2011. Something’s in life are naturally unstable so, I will need to work on being able to adapt better in the long run. Poker is one of those unstable things in my life at the moment. I have never been able to have a stable incoming cash flow from the game. I have been fortunate to hit some decent scores every now and then, but overall poker has been inconsistent. How do I find balance in poker in my life? Swings happen and bad beats happen; there will always be times when you’re losing more than you’re winning. Thankfully I can look and see that I have made an overall profit in playing poker over the years, but since it comes in spurts it does not seem like it at all. I don’t want to end 2011 like 2010; I want to improve on my results not just in poker but in life in general. I want to be a better father, a better husband and better poker player. I want to be able to bring in a better income and achieve some goals. I am very thankful because it could be allot worst, but thankfully there is allot of room for improvement. Things will never be perfect I just want them to be a little more stable.
2011
Well I fell short of my overall goal of 10,000 dollars by the end of December by $2,400. I did manage to pay off all the people I owe on PTP so that is a big stress of my back. I also manage to build a pretty solid roll to start the New Year with. I am excited to be able to grow my level of my overall poker game in the New Year. It is very stressful to be stuck grinding the micros, but in the same time, it was a very good chance to work on my game. Right now I have to set some pretty reasonable goals and see if I can come out on top in my 2011 grind. I just want to envision were I wanted to be by this time of year and stay discipline and hungry. My time in the Micros starting with a $230 bankroll in august has taught me how to use proper bankroll management. Bankroll management has been my most powerful leak and I am still working on it but have really tightened up. But first I need to set some goals for 2011.
I watch a video on Poker Pwnage by Ghettofab about goals. One of the main points of the power point presentation video was to set healthy goals. These are goals that allow you to have 100% control over accomplishing your goal. An example of a healthy goal is the amount of games you set out to play in a day. This is a goal you have 100% control over, another example would be how many days of the week you play. An example of an unhealthy goal is setting a goal based on a dollar amount. For example my 10K by December goal, was an unhealthy goal since I had no control of the outcome in the cards and a bad run with a few unlucky rivers could heavily affect my goal. This leads to stress and a feeling of failure and even spewing off my bankroll trying to reach this goal which leaves a very good chance of going broke.
I hope achieve success in 2011 by setting healthy and reasonable goals.
I watch a video on Poker Pwnage by Ghettofab about goals. One of the main points of the power point presentation video was to set healthy goals. These are goals that allow you to have 100% control over accomplishing your goal. An example of a healthy goal is the amount of games you set out to play in a day. This is a goal you have 100% control over, another example would be how many days of the week you play. An example of an unhealthy goal is setting a goal based on a dollar amount. For example my 10K by December goal, was an unhealthy goal since I had no control of the outcome in the cards and a bad run with a few unlucky rivers could heavily affect my goal. This leads to stress and a feeling of failure and even spewing off my bankroll trying to reach this goal which leaves a very good chance of going broke.
I hope achieve success in 2011 by setting healthy and reasonable goals.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Ok time to tackle cash games
Some new things happened to me this month. The first thing is I got a Job : )The second thing is that I am taking a new direction in poker. I am twitching from SNG's and Tournaments to tackle cash games. The main reason is to really learn how to play deep stack poker. The components of a player who is able to crush tournaments is vast. First you have to know the basics, I got that down for sure. Second you have to know how to play a short stack, to many times in Tournaments you end up with a short stack so knowing how to play short stack profitably is very important. Third and most important you have to understand deep stack play. This is the most important because it is a complex skill that few players have, but is 100% needed in order to win tournaments. All the great players we know are very very good deep stack players.
My goals for improving my deep stack play. 1st I will play 50,000 hands of NL 9man cash games. I will use twice the recommended bankroll guide lines in order to prevent going broke during this period and losing my focus do to losing money( I am new to cash thats all I need is a huge down swing to start off with). 2nd I will reevaluate my data using leak buster and see where I still need to fix some leaks. Then I will play another 50,000 hands and reevaluate, if I am still leaking bad I will wash rinse and repeat.
I am switching to cash because working on deep stack play in tournaments or non-turbo sngs will take too long. The reason is that the deep stack portion of the game will not last for long and due to the blind structure. I just want to work on deep stack play and the structure in cash games will help me out with that. I have to get a huge sample of hands in order to clearly see leaks ( no matter where I go on the net anything under a 50K sample is to small, even HM site agreed its data is not accurate without a large sample size). Cash games will allow me to not only stay at a stack size that will allow deep stack play, but also allow for the flexibility I will need with my new job (since I can walk away at any time and don’t have to worry about being stuck deep in a tournament when it’s time to go). I will still put in a SNG grind, but this will likely be on the weekends, and just to keep my roll afloat and my tournament basics up to par.
Once I am done I will seek a coach that will help me put this all together the basics, short stack play and deep stack play and help me crush the tournaments online. Well good luck me
My goals for improving my deep stack play. 1st I will play 50,000 hands of NL 9man cash games. I will use twice the recommended bankroll guide lines in order to prevent going broke during this period and losing my focus do to losing money( I am new to cash thats all I need is a huge down swing to start off with). 2nd I will reevaluate my data using leak buster and see where I still need to fix some leaks. Then I will play another 50,000 hands and reevaluate, if I am still leaking bad I will wash rinse and repeat.
I am switching to cash because working on deep stack play in tournaments or non-turbo sngs will take too long. The reason is that the deep stack portion of the game will not last for long and due to the blind structure. I just want to work on deep stack play and the structure in cash games will help me out with that. I have to get a huge sample of hands in order to clearly see leaks ( no matter where I go on the net anything under a 50K sample is to small, even HM site agreed its data is not accurate without a large sample size). Cash games will allow me to not only stay at a stack size that will allow deep stack play, but also allow for the flexibility I will need with my new job (since I can walk away at any time and don’t have to worry about being stuck deep in a tournament when it’s time to go). I will still put in a SNG grind, but this will likely be on the weekends, and just to keep my roll afloat and my tournament basics up to par.
Once I am done I will seek a coach that will help me put this all together the basics, short stack play and deep stack play and help me crush the tournaments online. Well good luck me
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Waiting on some Run GOOD!!!!!!
Sigh….. Still play through this down swing, but it’s really frustrating. The most frustrating thing about these downswings is that you don’t know how long they will last. Guess the only thing to do is keep studying and focus on my game. I try not to get frustrated, but holding it in may not be good also. It’s sick when you hit these bad stretches but I need to plan while I am down here. Along with my bankroll guides, I will also use some game selection to help ease the strain on my small bankroll at this point. Playing some STT and 18 man games to lower the variance and will pick up on the 45 mans when it seems I am running well. Of course if I drop down lower than $300 the I will play the $1.10 45mans. This is the sick times when you hate poker. Everyone loves poker when you’re crushing but doubt and tilt creep into your mind. Stay focus, plug my leaks and practice good bankroll management and of course this is all easier than done.
Monday, October 4, 2010
You can play good enough to succeed, but run bad enough to fail
Its five handed in a $3.40 18 man, and I am 4 of 5. The short stack shoves and I have 5bb and A9s and the blinds are about to go up. I think in my mind that I have been running so bad that there is no way I am ahead, and if I was ahead there’s no way I will win. I know I have to call this, its shorthanded and the blinds will eat me alive so I shove to ISO expect the player yet to act to wake up with a monster which would be pretty much standard the way I have been running. Both players fold and I am up against AKo, yup just what I expect time for his hand to hold and for me to bubble, thanks Poker Stars. I hit a 9 on the flop and the bubble breaks. This is an example of maintaining focus and playing correctly no matter how good or bad you’re running.
I could have easily folded in this spot hoping the blinds would wake up with a calling hand and I would limp into the money, but that would be a leak. When I am running badly I used to tighten up and play bad because of the fear that I am going to get unlucky. I know now that this has a negative effect on my game and my bankroll. Playing in a way that does not maximize my profitability over the long run will only make down swings worse. Sometime I have to understand that I can play good enough to succeed, but run bad enough to fail. Down swings and bad luck is a part of the game. Winning players understand this and don’t let these events change the way they play. All I have to do is use good bankroll management and keep studying to improve my game and the rest will take care of itself.
I could have easily folded in this spot hoping the blinds would wake up with a calling hand and I would limp into the money, but that would be a leak. When I am running badly I used to tighten up and play bad because of the fear that I am going to get unlucky. I know now that this has a negative effect on my game and my bankroll. Playing in a way that does not maximize my profitability over the long run will only make down swings worse. Sometime I have to understand that I can play good enough to succeed, but run bad enough to fail. Down swings and bad luck is a part of the game. Winning players understand this and don’t let these events change the way they play. All I have to do is use good bankroll management and keep studying to improve my game and the rest will take care of itself.
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