October 26, 2006

I am working out the kinks with the developer of the Tourney Manager software. It is great and he is very responsive. I would recommend it to anyone that would like a piece of software to track their progress and results.

I started playing some $36 sngs last night on Full Tilt. I feel that I have adjusted to the 9-man tables and different blind structure. I just cant stop thinking that I should be playing the $60s. However, I need to keep things at a slower pace and work my way up. the $36s offer plenty of $$ to the winner and I need to continue to get back into it before I get too greedy. Bankroll building is not something that can be rushed - it takes time and consistency. I usually take a very conservative approach to building a bankroll and never crap out once I hit a certain threshold. I believe this time will be no different because I never play outside of my means. The first few months, I am going to be accumulating my rakeback in my Neteller account and once I clear all my bonuses, I will start to make deposits and build my roll a bit more quickly. After I reach the $60s, when my bankroll reaches $2000 at a minimum, is when i believe things will start to get exciting. It really is hard to stay patient while I move back up the ranks, but humilty is a huge part of poker and long term success.

So, reading a lot of poker blogs, i am continually surprised that people update so infrequently. Poker is stressful and lonely work...i mean LONELY! If you dont have poker friends you know what i am talking about. To speak passionately about poker, your gameplan, and your goals to non-poker players, they will either listen and then tell you to pick up a new hobby. Or, they will just wait until there is a lull to change the subject - bottom line is no one wants to hear it. so you figure this out and never talk about it...it is hard to keep all of this stuff internalized and i use my blog to spew out my excitement as well as my frustrations. it is therapeutic...

Last night was a winning night...I believe I logged about 10 sngs, but I cant be sure because I am not a big fan of full tilt's hand histories. as i mentioned earlier, they are not uploading properly into the tourney manager software, so i cannot count them via the software. I believe i counted 11 new ones, but I really dont know. I am sure a fix will be available in the next day or two and I will be happy once again. until then, i need to concentrate on my day job. After the gym tonight, its poker!

A few notes i wanted to document.
- I need a bigger monitor
- I need to get back to 4-tabling profitably
- I need to only 2-table currently

I went back to the first few months of my blog and read a few of my entries. I have decided that I am only slightly ahead of where i was when i started this year...at least in terms of my poker game. I believe much of this was due to work, but the other part is from bankroll constraints, ie taking money out to pay bills. It is really disruptive to your game because as you start to generate more money, if you do not move up, it stunts your poker growth and boredom isnt far behind. i think that is part of my problem.

I have read a lot of blogs where the person went from rags to riches in a year. I believe my intellect affords me that opportunity, but my desire might not be there. I am pretty mentally drained when i get home from work, so logging 2+ hours at the tables is pretty tough for me. I am anxious to see what I could do if i were properly bankrolled and able to log 3-4 hours a day while 4 tabling. that would definitely be the right number of sngs to make substantial money. when i had the opportunity to do this, i blew it...took a wicked downswing early and lost my nerve.

my gameplan is to play out the rest of October, reassess, and set some goals for November and December. getting back into poker is kinda like riding a bike...you dont forget, but you arent quick as good at it as when you left...I am going to try to push myself harder this time around...learn from my mistakes, and make a push to support myself through poker. my first goal is to break the $1k mark in my bankroll ASAP...i am just one really good session away from doing that...

Had a nice session...was up $80 and still had my last sng open. Was playing so well tonight...i would love to continue playing, but i need to think about bed...i was on the bubble, had a dude all in with my KK vs A4 suited and he spiked the A on the river. seems like those damn weak aces always get me, but i never seem to hit with it...but overall, a good night.