HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2006 Goals.

As we close out 2005, my head is spinning how fast this year has gone by. All in all, it has been a good year. But, looking forward to 2006, I am so excited. I have a new job, set a lot of goals for myself, and a better attitude and perspective on things.

So, as we start 2006, I wanted to list my goals and wish my friends a happy new year.

My 2006 goals are as follows:

1. DISCIPLINE!!!!
2. Stay employed at my current job. I am starting a new job and would like to have some stability. As long as I am not going to be a full time poker pro, I might as well keep a decent day job.
3. Win at least $25,000 playing poker (not including rakeback!)
4. Enter at least 1 WSOP event
5. Move up to playing $109 sngs
6. Hit my goals of playing 250 sngs a month. Moving up to 400 sngs a month as my game progresses.
7. Enjoy my life more
8. Appreciate my friends and family more
9. Work out!!! Getting too fat!!
10. Get the software program I have been brainstorming moving along.
11. DISCIPLINE!!!!

Good luck to all those setting goals. I hope we all achieve everything we set our minds to.

OK, I lied, December 29th

Ok, so I had planned to just relax while I have 2 little kids running around the condo. Hard to concentrate cuz they are climbing all over the place, but they are great little kids. But, I decided to dabble in some sports gambling and bet some college basketball because its my 2nd favorite sport to bet, next to college football. I thought I had the lock, small favorite, and they got smoked! Enough of that distraction, so I decided to try to win my money back playing poker. Just played 3 $55 sngs on Party.

First one I played I was 2nd big stack on bubble. Pushed 55 in small blind into shortstack on big blind. He called with a weak ace, board showed 2 pair and I got outkicked, obviously. Hard to take, but I fired up two more after that and pretty much dominated. Had a few suck outs. My AJ suited took out AQo when I hit 2 jacks on the board. Ended up winning $235 in an hour and a half. More than made up for losing my sports bets. Enough of that nonsense!

Last December Entry...AND DECEMBER RESULTS!

I have a hectic schedule right now. Between interviewing for new jobs, trying to get a workout regimen in place, and having friends staying at my condo, I have no time for poker. But, this might be a good thing because 2006 will be when I make my push...so a nice break prior to buckling down might be refreshing and a good way to get started.

I am a bit disappointed with the amount of play I had in December, but it is the holiday season and family and friends are taking priority for the time being. So, here are my December sng numbers, which have not changed since the 17th:

95 $55 sngs
18% ROI
35% ITM
$925 net winnings

I am updating these numbers as I play sngs during the last few days of December. Had a good night on the 29th and finished 4th (dang bad beat), 1st and 2nd. Nice welcome back after a short break.

For All You Sng Players...

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showthreaded.php?Cat=0&Number=4250842

Results - Week of December 19 - 25th

Monday 19th: Monday night football, hanging with friends. Just gonna chill and not push it.
Tuesday 20th: Spending today with friends and my west coast family. Poker maybe tonight, most likely, once I get home.
Wednesday 21st: Travelling to Wisconsin
Thursday 22nd: Holiday Stuff
Friday 23rd: Holiday Stuff
Saturday 24th: Christmas Eve - No plans to play
Sunday 25th: Christmas Day - No plans to play

December really snuck up on me. Cannot be too productive this month. I will be back in Phoenix on December 27th, stuff going on the 28th, so I wont be back at the tables until the evening of the 28th at the earliest. Good luck to my friends and anyone reading my blog. Please stay with me, things in January are sure to heat up.

A New Week Begins...Now It's Pretty Much Over!

This week is a short one for me. I have to leave on Wednesday night for home and only can play Monday and Tuesday. Ideally, I would like to offset my loses from Friday night by the time I leave for home. That is about $200 a night. I have a ton of work to do, so I better get on it and will come back and update later after I am caught up.

I have quite a bit of stuff going on this week, so playing is not a priority. My mind is elsewhere and I cannot focus when I sit down to play. For one, I had 2 friends staying with me until Tuesday. They are leaving, but now I have to pack for my trip home because I am leaving after work on wednesday, so that leaves me little time on Tuesday to play. I might play some at my friends when I get to Wisconsin, but I do not want to be sitting in front of a computer while I should be spending time with family and friends. Looks like January is a perfect chance to buckle down and make my push for 250 sngs.

UPDATE:

Ok, real life has been calling. Along with the holidays, poker just has taken a back seat for the week. Now, because I am heading home, it will take a back seat to the holidays and family stuff. Also, I got a new job that offers me a more flexible schedule, more $$, better benefits, etc. So, that is exciting. I currently play poker more as a supplement to my income rather than hobby...meaning it does help pay my bills. This job will take the stress of HAVING to make money away, which I think will help me as I build my bankroll.

So, for anyone that actually reads my blog in its early stages, don't give up on me. I will get back into town on December 27th. I will be refreshed and ready to rock and roll! New job, new outlook, I sure hope the ride is a fun one!

And the grind continues...

At work on Friday...I need to start getting to bed earlier. Need to have more discipline and 4-table. 4-tabling would cut my playing time in half, allow me for more time for other things every night. Considering I work a day job, this is big...could equal a few extra hours of sleep a night. I think the only thing keeping me from 4-tabling now is bankroll more than anything. Once I get about 100 buy ins for the $55s, I will bust out 4 tables. Until then, the grind continues. I think 4-tabling is the minimum number of simultaneous tables you need to play before you consider playing for a living. Most likely, more than 4. I have to get there...Need to increase my roll about 60% before I get there...the count down begins.

If I am going to work full time and play poker, the day job needs to get the respect it deserves and I can't say that it does. So, time to focus on the day job today...Tonight, poker! after happy hour! :)

Results

So I disappeared for a few days. A friend of mine came in from out of town, then I had a few stay with me at my place...so I didnt have the time to make the posts and my updates. Plus, this was a terrible night. I dropped 10 buy ins on the 55s. A combination of tough luck and bad play. I think my play wasnt as bad as it could have been...i think i kept my tilt to a minimum. I will have to review some hand histories to be sure. Took the next night off and won 118 last night while partying with my friends. Just played a few sngs and the $40k. Had an excellent run in the $40, but took a stand with trip queens ace kicker and lost to queens full tens. Tough luck, would have put me in excellent position to cash. I have been getting near the bubble with a good stack and i am looking to get in one more good hand to position myself for the bubble, but I run into a monster. Maybe pushing things too much and looking for one big hand. Hard to say though, I would play it the same in retrospect.

Looking to play some more tomorrow.

Today's Goal & Results

Well, typical for me, I am at work and my mind is on poker. I often find myself thinking about poker at work, then looking at the message boards and forums and thinking about what I will play that night. There are days when I just cant stop thinking about poker and when I get in my car to go home after work, I am positive I will win. I haven't had that feeling in a few weeks, but the last time I did, I went home and won $409.

Today is a big day. I will be leaving on the 21st to go home for Christmas and most likely wont be playing too much. So, I need to log some hours in the days leading up. Hopefully, I can make a deep run in a tourney as well. Thought last night might be the night, but not quite. Very satisfied in the way I played the tourney, but I might need to loosen up a bit. I felt the table tighten up and didn't respond quickly enough...must follow my instincts.

Tonight, sngs! Only if I am having success in sngs will I reward myself with a MTT. I want to play the $40k again, but only if I am up a minimum of $222 ($200 profit plus the $22 buy in). That's the daily goal for today...I have 4 hours to obsess over it!

Ok, about to leave work and very focused on my task at hand. One first major hurdle I am hoping to overcome is the # of sngs I play is not enough. The first obstacle to rectify this is when I start out and say I fire up 2 sngs and finish 1st and itm in the 2nd. Now that I am playing the $55s, that is netting me a minimum of $240 when that happens. I need to overcome my results oriented thinking and keep playing. I just can think of the times I am grinding away, catching bad beats to finish 4th and ending the night after playing 18 sngs either slightly up or slightly down...I just figure that I should take these winning days and be happy with them...But that also means I am foregoing big, big nights...Let's see what happens tonight...I'm outta here.

Results

Overall, a successful night. Played 15 $55 sngs on Party for $175 bucks. I would say overall, I acted with confidence and there were very few hands where I felt I was lost. When those times did occur, I forced myself to fold. No sense going broke when you feel lost in the hand. I think controlling that impulse is enormous and one of the first hurdles you must overcome to play poker profitably.

Started the night slow, getting one 3rd place in my first six sngs. Was down about 4 buy ins, which is really quite small, but bothered me. I felt pressure to make it up...however, I felt that it didn't affect my play. I didn't push myself harder or feel any urgency to win, but it helped me focus and stay in the game. I came on late finishing my final three sngs 2nd, 1st, 1st.

I did miss my goal of $200. I wanted to win early and try the $40k, but didn't meet my goal by the time it went off and missed it. Maybe tomorrow. My goal for tomorrow is going to be $200 again, but if I am up $100 by tourney time, I think I will allow myself to play it.

Monthly Numbers:
79 sngs
23% ROI
37% ITM
$1005 profit

Respectable start.

ONE MORE NOTE: I am particularly happy with myself because in the final few sngs that I played, I felt the table tighten up and immediately started to raise. I ended up building my stack without going to a showdown and had a ton of ammo once I actually caught a hand to double up on. This is something I need to continue to do.

First Session

And I just fired up my first. Took a few days off and I am just gonna ease into it. Gonna just play the one sng to get my feet wet...turn it up in a few...goal for tonight should be about 10 sngs...let's see how I do.

Just busted and fired up 2 more...

so far, down vig after 5 and am going to fire up the Party Poker $40k. Probably will play a $55 sng while I play the tourney and just try to keep playing as many as possible. It is very apparent that when I am playing, I really need to do what it takes to 4-table. Break time though...tourney is gonna start in a few.

I didnt play any more sngs tonight, again with not getting enough of them per night. So in sngs, i ended down 25, vig for 5 sngs, but i did cash in 47th on the $40k, paid $151 and change. So, overall a winning night. I need to get more sngs...dont know what my hang up seems to be. I did want to concentrate on the tourney and make a run for the big money...came close.

I had A6s on bb and EP pushes for 2.5xbb. I had planned on calling if he pushed and another player came along. The flop came AQA and it was checked to me, I pushed, there were 2 clubs on the board and my push was about 2/3rds the pot, so he quickly called with AQ. I would play it the same way again, so I am happy with how i played. Hopefully log 12 sngs tomorrow...lets find out.

First Entry

After checking out my friend Ric's blog, I had to get one going. I thought it was a great way to document my poker progress. I often sit around and think about the different hands I have played and like to think out loud. I figured this would be a good way to remember some of the challenges I have face and overcome. I know from my limited time playing poker that dealing with variance is a difficult thing. Learning to deal with having your money in with the best hand, only to lose over and over again is something that I still need to work on. I understand those things will happen and the inevitable downswings occur, even for the best players, but it still doesn't make it any easier to watch your bankroll shrink and you confidence in your game disappear.

But, I thought I would start this blog because I feel I have made a few strides in my poker playing where I could start to investigate whether I could support myself playing poker. While my confidence in the long term profitability of my game has risen, I am starting to question whether I can play enough sngs to make that happen. I need to get over this and this will be the first challenge I will document in my blog. I have tried to increase the number of sngs I have been playing, but with very mixed results. I find that I can play 100 in a week and then I just get burned out. So I dont seem to be able to keep the volume I play high enough...I dont know why. My only thought is because I do not like the swings that accompany playing a high volume of sngs. Therefore, I try to maximize my ROI which is limiting my ##s of sngs. I am currently 2-tabling because it allows me to play each bubble efficiently. I still take a push/fold strategy to the bubble, but I am still a bit tighter than a lot of players that push hard at the 10xBB threshold. So, by making $$/hr my priority means I will have to change my game. I am fearful because I have a profitable game and dont want to mess with it, but this style will not allow me to ever support myself...So, here we go...