Why haven't I been posting as many reviews?

Well first and foremost I'm lazy. On a serious note...

Although goal-setting is extremely powerful and almost essential imo, the fact that they are required to be set within predetermined time zones like days, weeks, months or years forces us to form bad habits and develop bad thought processes. By that I mean, for example, instead of just looking at our poker goals (like number of hands, strategical improvement, tilt control, hours of study etc) from month to month, we also look at our actual poker progress as broken up into months. I think it's destructive because it pushes us from the position of looking at poker as one big game, and instead we look at the results of smaller chunks of the big game, and as such focus more on the day to day variance. And that kills your tilt.

So instead of looking at each hand individually and separate from others (with metagame considerations obviously), we look at the results of our session; "FUCK, today I lost $X, and it's going to be harder for me to win $Y on the month now". Of course the results of each month are insignificant and arbitrary, and the important thing is simply playing each hand as best you can.

So that's one of the reasons I'm trying to ignore monthly results. That, plus the laziness of course.

So this being the end of month wrap-up, I'll be looking at my poker goals instead of my results, which have obviously been less than stellar.

One of the reasons I shied away from getting mental coaching from Jared in the beginning was that I just didn't feel there was enough time before, after, and during each session for all his warmup/warmdown/breathing exercise stuff. And I think it's partly true, but I could definitely have done better in that area this past month.

I only have 9 entries in my warmup/warmdown booklet for the entire month, and a good chunk of those don't contain a warm-down. This was mostly for the reason that I was so enraged after so many of this month's sessions that I didn't give a shit about writing down "why I felt angry", or "what can I do next time to improve". But therein lied the problem of why I was so tilted every time I started the next session.

How did I get out of the loop without actually adhering to the entire process? I have no idea. I think my desire to hit the ebooks, coaching videos, forums and sweat sessions helped boost my confidence tremendously and I've been on a nice heater for the past few thousand hands because of it.

It's just hard doing the warmup/warmdown every single session. I'll have to revise something, but it's just not going to happen when I decide to play a 1/2 hour-1 hour HU session on Prima with a horrible reg. Maybe it should, but I'm far to impatient and lazy to do so.

I think, before I start really ranting, my month can be summed up as such:

- Played 25k+ hands despite having my internet cut out for 1/4 of the month or more
- Was put to a real test with my tilt control, failed miserably in the beginning, but pushed through like a champ in the end
- Did warmup/warmdown for well under 1/3 of my sessions. Big fail.
- Really improved my work schedule and have been playing far more hours than I ever have. I can now actually visualize playing 4 hours a day.
- Really took a look at my game and studied lots. Very happy about that.
- Even played HU with all my tilt problems.

And although I'm posting a a graph below of my winnings (or lack thereof), I'm doing so purely for entertainment value. It's not any measure of anything except maybe my tilt problems early in the month. Most definitely the swingiest month I've ever had in my poker career, and I hope it will hold that title for years to come.

I mean really. I've made almost $34000 in my career, and this month is but a drop in the ocean. I finished the month ~$1000 under, but what the fuck does that even mean? It means relative to the beginning of the month, another completely insignificant point in time, I've dropped that amount. Relative to the beginning of my poker career, I've won $34k. So what does the month matter?

Obviously results are what we're looking for in poker, but paying attention to the monthly or even daily variance is just going to do nothing but break your brain. That said, here's the horror I've been complaining about all month, along with the slightly depressing all in EV line :p



My goals for next month:

- Play 35k+ hands
- 5k of which HU, 50nl-200nl
- Play at least 3/4 of my sessions with a >5 minute warmup and >5 minute warmdown.
- Get at least one more hours of coaching with Jared even if you feel like you don't need it
- Persue coaching with balugawhale
- Play all the WSOP satties from CC
- Set weekly goals including certain days where you have a certain number of hours to play, starting tomorrow
- Do at least two more sweats with fellow CCers, post videos of them (one of Icemonkey and myself coming soon btw)
- Spend less on sushi
- Go skydiving if you can find someone to go with you
- Get sub to gym before the 5th of the month

Can't think of anything else at the moment, but that's quite a list as it is anyways.

I should probably start making weekly summary/goal setting/review posts from now on. Think I will.

Here's to making progress, gl at the tables guys.

Good start to '09

Haven't played nearly as much as I'd like to, but at least I'm playing fairly well and am running really well. My EV is probably around neutral, but I know I've had my fair share of favourable spots this past month. Spending lots of time with the ladyfriend, and even more time lately watching over my Oma whose health hasn't been tops lately, so I have no qualms about only logging like 24k hands this month.

January review:

Ran well, played fairly well (barring the occasional skizo 3bet shove with overs which probably helps my image anyways), and ran well. I'd like to have played more hands, but meh.

I only just realized I didn't set any goals for this month at the end of December, only yearly goals. Those, however, included 500k hands for 2009, and I'm not off to a great start in that respect.

Biggest pot won:



Biggest pot lost:



February goals:

- At least 25k hands. I was busy this month, but I still could have logged more hands.
- More study away from the tables. Try to spend at least 1 hour every day either studying flop textures or watching DC/Stox videos.
- Think more about coaching.
- Post more in the forums.

I've been thinking yet again about moving out into my own apartment. With a guesstimated $1500 in rent and probably another $1000 in other stuff, this is easily doable. Something to think about. I'd kill to have a nice loft/warehouse space and get out of this god forsaken hunk of shit house.

2008 in retrospect

It's so easy getting caught up with the daily, weekly, monthly swings. I know you and I have heard it a fucking million times, but all you should be concerned with is the hand...at hand...and the results will come in the long term. A year is a good long-ish term, and I really can't be disappointed with how things have gone.

January of 08 saw me move from where I started in the rings at 25nl to 50nl. I still remember my first session, even one of my first hands when I moved up. I was playing full ring at the time, and I distinctly remember playing a hand with AA where I overplayed it a little bit on a Kxx board where someone limp/cold called my 3bet, and we ended up getting it in. I won the hand and his $50 stack against what turned out to be AK for top pair, and I got a taste for what could be some potentially big money to be made in the ring games. I don't think I'm way past my wildest dreams considering where I ended up, but I did pretty damn good, and am pretty proud of myself.

I've made my way from playing 25nl full ring to now playing mostly 200nl 6max with some 400nl mixed in when the games are good, and I've sustained a nice winrate the whole time. I've definitely had some trying times (namely March, where I lost about $200, and October where I lost about $1,500), but overall I've made a fuckload more money than I ever did in the tournies, and my game has progressed at a tremendous rate.

Last few months I've been taking a much more serious approach to playing and studying poker, and hopefully that will yield some nice 2009 results.

Real life has been a bitch. My aunt getting a stroke, my Oma moving in because of it, our whole financial situation being fucked up on top of it all...it's been tough. It's been tough on me, I guess it's hard having to be around all the time to take care of my Oma...

[pic removed]

...ok maybe it hasn't been that bad, but I just yearn for more time to dedicate to poker. To the friends and family who don't understand what I'm doing, it seems to them like I just want to sit on my ass and play games all day. Those who do know me know that I'm trying to set up my future here.

I have no doubt that my current situation is the root of my stress problems and my tilt. I had planned on moving out or traveling this winter, but instead I'm stuck at home taking care of everything, and that means I can't play as much as I'd like. Things are clearing up some, and I expect to play a lot more in the coming year.

I've mentioned I've been getting coached by Alan. One of the things we discussed was his poker career. It seems odd for me to pay him 200/hr to tell me about his trials and tribulations as a player, but it helps tremendously. He talked a bit about his coaching from Jared Tendler. Alan was in a real rut at one point, and without straying too far off topic, Jared told him that basically at that point he wasn't setting his sights high enough. He made something like 300k one year, and decided that 380 or something was enough for the next year, so that was his goal. He was failing miserably, and Jared basically shook him up and said he should be shooting way higher. He didn't have enough motivation. So Alan changed his goal from 380k to 1M. In the end, Alan says, he's failing miserably for his 1M goal, but is crushing his previous 380k goal.

My point is that I need to set some really high sights for next year. I'm not big on monetary goals since that's something I really don't have much control over, but I can control the number of hands I play. I got through almost 275k in 2008. 2009, I'm shooting for 500k which translates to somewhere over 40k hands/month. I'd like to be positive and say I will reach that goal, but I think it's a little out of my reach. The main purpose of setting it so high is to try to get that high. Better to try and fail than never to have tried at all. If I play anywhere over 400k hands, I'll be very happy. 500k is the goal though :)

I'm starting to rant here, so I'll close up with my little condensed review and goals thangs.

2008 overview:

- 275,000 hands
- $25,000 profit
- Went from 25nl FR to 200nl 6max/taking shots at 400nl
- Ongoing battle with tilt, my biggest enemy
- Got coaching from Stosh and Alan of stoxpoker, both of which have helped tremendously

Comparing my big bets vs hands graph with my dollars vs hands graph, you can see why overall it all seems good, but lately it's been tough controlling the tilt. In 'real' terms, it's just swingier. In the terms I should be thinking about, it's been absolutely fine.




Overall, I'm happy with how the year went though. I'm sure I lost like $5-10k in tilt, but that's something I'm working on. And will most probably be dropping a few K trying to fix.

This month was pretty good btw. I ended it on a pretty bad run with pretty bad tilt, but I can't be too disappointed. I cleared 30k hands like 5 days ago and haven't played since due to RL business, but I'm still pretty happy with how it went. Going to start coaching with Alan again in the next week or so.

2009 goals:

- 500,000 hands
- Sticking with the 'possibly out of reach but motivating goals,' $100,000 profit. Bam.
- Continue coaching from Alan, look into coaching from other 1knl+ monsters, get coaching from Jared Tendler
- Beat 600nl by the end of the year
- Go sign up at the boxing gym
- Develop a firm schedule to make sure you reach these goals, including study time away from the tables
- Possibly take a cross-country road trip over the summer
- Enjoy life

GOGOGOGO 5k+/month, 100k/year, midstakes beat-down time guys. I know you'll be up there with me, let's just try to avoid each other on the tables :)

You have achieved the Supernova

Poker goes well. Well, everything's kind of going well right now. My cousin has taken over for a good chunk of the week watching my Oma, and that means I'm basically free every day but Mondays and Wednesdays now. Even when I am busy, I have my new laptop to play with. That all adds up to more poker. Last few days I've been a little busy, but without feeling like I'm even playing that much at all, I'm already on pace for a record month in number of hands played.

Coaching with Alan has been phenomenal. We had another two hour session and talked a lot about flop textures, how exactly to use pokerazor, and other good stuff. I should get coaching more often. He charges $400 for a two hour block, but I always seem to make that back and then some after a session with him (or Stosh for that matter). I may be getting a little ahead of myself, but both Alan and I are confident I can both make it to the mid stakes, and win. By his guesstimations I'm better than %50 of the regulars, probably %60. That sounds pretty good, but I think I still need some more work done before I move up; I feel I'm better than a much higher percentage of 200nl regulars than %60, and would like to feel a little more comfortable before I move to 400nl.

Right now that's not really my biggest priority though. If I can really motivate myself to play more hands the rest of this month and next month, I can start reaching the 10k/month point again. I mean even if I'm making around 20c/hand (my overall rate has been ~10c/hand, my 200nl rate has been slightly higher than 20c/hand), that means I can clear $10k in 50k hands. That also doesn't include bonuses, which are significantly higher now that I've reached Supernova status on Stars.


10k/month is 120k per year. And that's fucking ridiculous for a degen like me. Moral of the story: play more, and you can set the rest of your life up with your poker winnings.

Now I'm obviously really high-spirited right now, and as you can guess, a lot of that is from me running like a god recently. But even if I'm overestimating my winrate or whatever, how can playing a ton more possibly be wrong? What's wrong with trying for $10k/month and only getting $5k?

I really mean it when I say this, but you guys will be seeing a lot more from me in the future. I'm motivated through the roof and will be playing tons more, and a lot better too with the help of Alan and some other resources. Oh, as an aside, I'll probably be coming out with a sweat style video for stoxpoker with Stosh! Should be fun. I wasn't really sure if I wanted to expose myself and my screen name like that, but I don't think it'll make much of a difference anyways.

So, this month's graph below. It's obviously a sample size thing, but my coaching literally started right at the base of that mountain.

November review, December goals

I can't find my November goals post, so I'll just post results rather than how my goals went.

- 20k+ hands
- Good tilt control
- Played lots given the time I had
- Adjusted my play well
- Improved!



I was approaching monkey tilt during my ~3k downswing weekend, but I kept my cool, tried some new things and ended up having a fantastic last few days which brought me back up. I'm feeling really good about myself right now (and was even during my swong!). If it weren't for home life being really fucked up and twisted, I'd be a very happy camper right now.

December should be good. I'll be getting my laptop any time now, and that means more hands. More hands, more poker, more profits hopefully. One thing I'm looking for in either Dec or Jan is another coaching program. Mr. Paulsson seems to be having a great time with Jason aka code1234567 of stoxpoker. I think he's currently booked but will be opening up with a new program in January, and I'll definitely have a look at that. I've pm'ed him at stox to see what's up.

I've got some stuff that will keep my wallet busy in the coming month, so it looks like I probably won't hit 400nl for a good month or two, minimum. I think realistically I would win if I were to move up, but it would probably only be around the 0-3ptbb/100 mark, and the variance would be considerably higher than what I'm experiencing now at 200nl. So 400nl will have to wait until a) I get some more coaching, and b) my bankroll is >40 buyins for the level.

New goals:

- Breeze by SN while plugging a million hands
- Buy laptop with futureshop giftcard that will come sooner than later hopefully...
- Get back to practicing Jared's metal game concepts
- Look into coaching, also deucescracked/leggo/cardrunners
- Play lots, 25k+ hands
- Keep rehab'ing back
- Go to the boxing gym now that your back's better!

Halftime

Only about 1000 hands since my last post unfortunately, but it's been a nice 75c/hand. I didn't think it was really possible, but real life got even more fucked up. This time with details I'd rather keep to myself, but it looks like this is the real turning point for all of us. All I can do at the moment is take care of my grandma when I'm needed, and chip in a grand here and there to keep us afloat. I've decided not to buy my couch, instead helping out with the broken stove and broken washing machine. I'll have to buy the laptop since I've got a giftcard, but that will help with my hand-logging as I will then be able to play and take care of my oma - grandma in dutch :) - at the same time.

Poker has been going well this month, and unfortunately with last week's real life bullshit I had to really cut down on the number of hands I played, but even so I'm on pace for a great month. I'm just trying not to fall into the trap of seeing results and cutting down on playing, like last month. This time I really do have an excuse, but I want to make the most of my free time by plugging in as many hands as I can.

Another thing that's keeping me a little busy is study away from the table. Bryce's recent tutorial on the Stox Combo beta gave me motivation to start studying common situations so that they come more naturally to me at the table. For example, if my opponent is a typical tag with a %5 3bet, what will his distribution be on a Q92 flop? I have no idea! Hence the studying :)

With my crazy motivation earlier in the month, I was playing tons. I finally got the feel for plugging in big volume (relative to my 6-tabling style), and logged my biggest day ever at 3k hands earlier in the month. I can definitely see putting in a good solid number of hands in the coming months, maybe 30k or 40k. And with more hands comes more profit. It's just unfortunate that I've been snuffed a little bit.

Looking back at my goals for November, I'm following them pretty well. Admittedly I've really lost my way studying Jared's tilt control videos, the main reason being that even though I was breaking even for a good 5k hands or whatever, I still feel that watching his one video and practicing loose warm-up, wind-down and breathing exercises does wonders for me. Not that I don't need tilt coaching anymore, but I feel good right now. Otherwise, my goals have been going pretty well. Halfway through the month I'm at 10k hands despite not playing much for the last five days, and I've stuck to 6max the whole time. I've 'SUCKED IT UP, BITCH'. Now my problems are beyond 'how can I get rich and buy myself stuff'. It's now 'how can I help my family get out of his rut', and the answer is to help out with my oma, play as much as I can on the side, and put that money to good use.

Enough rambling. Here's my month so far followed by some fun hands from last night.







And the last hand I'll post will be in HA since I find it pretty interesting. Would like some input on it if you guys don't mind.

edit: oh, another thing! I finally got Tommy Angelo's book! Thanks for taking the time to buy it and ship it to me JD! This book is just awesome. It's the most excited I've ever been to read a book, hands down. Ever. And it's delivering. If you haven't bought it yet, do so. I love it.

Halftime

And a much-needed one at that.

My tilt is to the point where I really think I need mental game coaching, and if possible I'll get it from Jared Tendler of stoxpoker. I think he charges about 250/hour, but from what I've heard about him I wouldn't mind paying even more. Or rather I wouldn't be surprised if he was worth more. Plain and simple, I need coaching in that area. I won't be able to sustain myself as a professional or amateur poker player if I don't fix this problem, and I need to do it soon. For the last few months I wasn't tilting at all, but that was mostly because I was running so good, and didn't really see any bad runs, so obviously I had nothing to tilt about.

I mean I'm running semi-badly through the 14k hands I've played this month, and I can't even begin to imagine running badly through a sample like 50k hands. I just couldn't handle it. Coaching from someone who's dealt with Leatherass who plays five hundred million hands a month can't hurt.

So, my goals for the rest of the month are to keep plugging away with the hands, get coaching from Jared if possible, and generally try to control my tilt.

One thing that should help is that I found a boxing gym really close to my house. I haven't fully looked into their programs but that should relieve tons of stress and get me healthier in general.

3 things...

1:

As was requested by some peeps after I put out my 6-tabling video, I'll be putting out a small series of 4 videos where I play 10nl through 100nl 6max in hopes of showing players how to beat their respective stakes. ~30 minute videos per stake in which I'll be two-tabling while talking about the hands I play and the general strategy I think you should adopt. Should be fun.

I've already finished 10nl and 25nl today and I think I'll do the other two tomorrow.

2:

I won't be playing any more poker today. Why? Because the new Brothers in Arms game is out and I want to pop some tops.

3:

Best month ever. I've done too much bragging already, so this is it for September:

Biggest winning pot:



Biggest losing pot:



My only real goal from last month was to play more hands. I'm really not hating myself that much for playing what I did. I'm only 4-tabling and occasionally 6-tabling, and I'm thinking about poker like I never have before. My biggest strides in my game have been from this month and August. I do think I could plug more hands and I'll see if I can do so in the coming months, but honestly I'm happy plugging 15k-20k hands monthly and doing what I'm doing now.

Plans for the future include treating myself to some new shit, including a reclining leather loveseat for my room and probably some clothes. I own about 50 white and black tees, a pair of khakis and a pair of ripped up jeans. It's about time for some new stuff. I think long-term I'm going to stick around at 200nl for a good 50k hands minimum and see how that goes. If I maintain anything over 5ptbb/100 I'll probably start taking shots at 400nl.

August results, September goals

Well 6-max has been good to me. Even through a solid number of beats and a dismal number of hands logged, I've still got my best month to date. You've heard the same story a million times from me: I could have played a lot more. I don't hate myself nearly as much this month as in the past though. Some personal stuff has kept me busy, plus moving to 6-max has made playing a million tables a little tough, so I'm not going to kill myself over my results in that area. I guess setting a record day for me yesterday through a tiny session boosts my confidence some, but I still know I could have played more.

So, August results:

-Ran at:



-Coaching is going well, though I should ship him a few more HHs
-Played almost purely 6-max
-Didn't fix speedbag, didn't skydive, survived birthday binge (which was a marginal 7/10 vs last year's 9.5)

Next month is pretty simple.

-More hands. Seriously, MORE FUCKING HANDS
-I'll be coaching at the very least one person from CC, so that will take up some of my time

July results, August goals

July? It sucked. I played fewer hands, ran like shit in the last ~third of the month, and played like shit when I ran bad. As usual this is all going to be a nice big lesson for me in the long road that is my poker career, but right now I'm stuck in a ditch, gunning the gas, and seeing my wheel go further and further into the mud. Or make it cow shit, that fits the analogy better. Tilt control will be Rachel McAdams miraculously driving by in a tow truck every time I get stuck.

I can't wait until I reach Irexes status. That is, nothing relating to poker ever affects my emotional state, and I play my A game %100 of the time. Yeah, that'll be the day. I think sitting down and actually reading The Poker Mindset (as well as rereading the Zen book) should help. I just have to stop reading one page at a time when I'm on the can.

Today's sessions actually went well! I figure it's foreshadowing for August which will rock for me. $4k, I guarantee it. Hands off that doomswitch, Lee Jones...or whoever replaced you. But ya, I think I played 4 tables of 6-max with my tightish 22/19 style and played pretty well. There will definitely some spots I could have played better (cough...



...cough), but the big thing was that I didn't tilt much. Key word: "much"...

I don't want to get to ranting here like I usually do. July results weren't anywhere near satisfactory to me.

- 20k hands
- something like $1300 profit
- back down to gold star

I mentioned I just finalize the coaching 'deal' with Stosh, so that will be a big part of August for me. I'm not only getting a bigger craving for the 6-max he'll be coaching me on, but I'm playing better shorthanded too (when I'm not tilting). I remember looking at 100nl 6-max like some kind of unbeatable game, but I'm doing very well against even the tougher regulars when I play my A game. That mans when I'm not tilting and throwing my chips around like an enraged ape.

...Anybody noticed a primate-based theme around my posts lately?

Anyways, August goals will be...

- Play more hours, more hands
- Play more 6-max
- Make the most out of my coaching
- Finish reading The Poker Mindset
- Fix speed bag platform ffs
- Go skydiving!
- Survive birthday binge in mid August

I <3 June

Canada Day Weekend at the Cottage

If you don't see me post heree, at CC or at stox for the rest of the month, well now you know why. Me and a few friends are heading up to my cottage and it's gonna be great. I haven't been in years. We have a spot up in cottage country and although it's been under construction for longer than I can remember, it's more than liveable at the moment.

Bringing up the pooch, beer, 'combustibles', my chip set, my swimming shorts and my camera. I'll post pics and maybe videos when I get back.

So since I'll be gone until probably the 2nd or 3rd of July, I figured I'd post my end-of-month results now.

Seriously, I love June.

Best month evar. I put in the most work I ever have, ran like a god, watched damn near every video stox put out, and managed to get out and party hard through all of it.

Last month's goals were basically to stay away from 6max and to play 30k+ hands. I actually failed in both categories :( I definitely could have played more hands, but with the weather nearly overheating my PC, and with me getting out and exercising more, I can't really be angry with myself. I'm not worried or anything, but I have to realize that future months most probably won't be this good for a while - I ran incredibly good, and my expectation for 25-30k hands should be more like $1000-$1500 or something.



Another thing I meant to do but never got around to was playing more HU. I think maybe I'll touch on that next month some more. Crazy high variance, but I think even playing one table I could easily rival my current $/hr winrate at 50nl, no lies. We'll see. It'll be an experiment.

Also made another video for you, this time just playing 100nl by myself instead of a sweat or something more interesting like that.

July Goals

I've been debating whether or not to not only increase the number of tables I play, but also if I should drop the number of tables. I find my tilt basically has an exponential effect on my game when I add more tables as I have less time to think about hands, and more opportunities to run silly bluffs. Add on the fact that my progress is stunted with more tables (less time to run through a hand and explore all options), and I think I've decided to stick to 9 tables, and 12 at most if I find that many juicy tables.

So with fewer tables it'll be harder (read: will require more hours) to accumulate as many hands. I managed nearly 30k playing 9 tables almost all of June, so maybe I'll just stick to 30k as my 'standard' number from now on. Eventually I think 30k will be my minimum, but I guess I have to crack it first in order for that to happen :/ So...

• 30k hands at 100nl FR
  
• If running well, take a few stabs at 200nl
• Play >1000 hands of HU
• Play >1000 hands of 6max (oh dear...)
• Watch every stox NLHE cash video for July
• Go to cottage at least once more
• Fix speed bag stand & buy new speed bag
• Dunno what else

In a little bit of a rush, maybe I'll add more stuff later.

I know a lot of you guys ran like shit in June and I'm not quite sure what to say except keep your chins up and keep hammering away. It'll turn around. I said it before in Rex's brag thread, and I really believe it: I think a bunch of us CC guys are on a come up. It's easy for me to say because I'm running like an fuckin Ethiopian, but try to keep your eyes on the big picture rather than the daily - or monthly :( - swings. In a few months, we'll be hitting the mid limits and will be eyeing >full time job salaries with our game, and we can all open up our restaurants, bars, personal businesses...whatever. I don't doubt for a second that any of us who keep at this game will make a killing in the long-run.

<3, see you guys when I get back.

Half time

Well June is half gone, and I'm starting to get a little worried about how fast this summer will fly by :(

My poker progress has been good to say the least. For the past few months I've been eagerly awaiting the day when I check the PT3 forums and find that they actually have a stable working version of the program. The new stats will add a massive edge to my game, but as of right now even if the program was actually stable (still not sure, haven't fully tested it myself), the default configurations on the program are so different from what I'm used to with PT2 that it would take a good chunk of my time just to customize it.

The other day a quick hud configuration turned into a long 6-max session. If you follow me and 6-max, you'll know that means trouble. I'm finally pinpointing my actual leaks which I guess is a good thing. Mainly I find I don't stop and think for long enough, especially in big pots. I'm too lazy to pull up PT3 and get the graph, but basically it went steadily (like 20ptbb steady) upwards, only to see a massive drop where I got stacked making some ridiculous bluff or call down. Then back upwards steadily, and then yet another drop. Rinse, lather, repeat. I ended up dropping about 3 buyins at 50nl, but made at least 5 buyins worth of stupid plays, so I'm seeing some improvement :)

Like I've mentioned before, I plan on playing at least %50 of my volume at 6-max eventually, but have a long ways to go before I start making 6-max worthwhile (ie profitable). Right now my goal isn't progression, it's profits, and FR is giving me plenty of that. Since moving to 100nl FR again I'm on a tear - I've already crushed last month's total winnings and have only played 16k hands.

I've been a little busy the last few days, so I didn't have much time to play. I got a 'day off' from partying today, so I sat down this morning and ran like a god. I only really played like 700 hands, but managed almost a $400 day which is nice. I was lucky enough to pick up kings vs aces twice, spiking a king in one and losing the other. A good chunk of the other pots were just me picking up hands at the right times, but I also won a good amount from non-showdown pots. My 6-max and HU practice, plus the stox videos are really helping in that area. No better feeling than losing KK to AA, then immediately winning it back with some good solid play with no hand.

So...halfway through the month, I really haven't put in all that many hours of play, but have definitely put a lot more effort in sitting down and playing longer sessions more often. I don't often play >2 hour sessions, but have played several of them this month already.

So far:

• Play 30k+ hands of 50nl full ring

More than halfway there...except I'm at 100nl...

• Don't touch 6-max

*blushes*...touched :/

• Watch and study more coaching videos

Watching every one that comes out and then some...

• Bank as much money as you can for the new flat, whenever it actually happens

Banking, though the apartment looks like a flop.

Well on my way to a 2k+ month. I know I'm running good, but I've still definitely seen my share of variance this month (see -$750 low point a week ago). Things are going good. Putting in more effort, getting better results. Coincidence?

Another month gone by

April Results

While I can't say I'm disappointed with this month's results, I still feel they could have been better, and that I could have put forth a better effort. Put bluntly, this month was half-assed. I could easily have put in 50k more hands, made twice what I did, and felt a lot better about myself.

• 21,406 hands of 100nl and 50nl FR, and a small amount of 50nl 6-max early on in the month
  
• 100nl was break-even: 5k hands, .7ptbb/100, 40BB profit
• 50nl 6-max was a disaster: 1,600 hands, -17ptbb/100, -260BB profit
• 50nl FR was fantastic: 15,000 hands, 9.5ptbb/100, 1,423BB profit
• Maintained gold status
• Ordered gift cards for monitor, they still haven't come ffs
• Got HoC vol 1 and 2, and unfortunately that's deterred me from finishing Dawkins' book
  
• $1,234 in profits

I think the fact that I was running so well in the second half of the month made me quit early on so many occasions both in fear of losing my profits and because I often didn't feel that I 'needed' to make any more that day. Silly stuff and hopefully I put more hours in this coming month and ditch that retarded mentality that makes me quit a session early.

May goals

Now that spring is here I'm debating whether or not to start doing landscaping work, and my boss is pretty much waiting for my call to let her know I'll be coming in, so I have to make my decision soon. I can actually see it being beneficial for my poker progress - when I come home from work I can actually

• Play 30k+ hands of 50nl full ring
• Don't touch 6-max
• Watch and study more coaching videos
• Bank as much money as you can for the new flat, whenever it actually happens
  

Not much different here from last month, I just want to put in more hours and more hands at the rings. I'm happy I got back to winning $1k in a month, but I'm hungry for more. I know I can reach $2k in a good month and that'll be my goal for May barring a really busy landscaping season.

I hope everyone else's April was profitable and that your May will be just as good :)

March: good riddance!

March review

Well march sucked. Definitely my worst stretch considering how many hands I played. I gained some invaluable experience, but can't say that I'd prefer what happened to winning another ~$1500. Having this disastrous month couldn't have come at a worse time now that I'll be moving in the next few months and need the money.

• Played 25k hands of 100nl FR, 50nl FR, 100nl 6max and 50nl 6 max running at a sad -0.1PTBB/100 overall
• Failed yet again to achieve platinum status, maintained gold
• Played a good chunk of 6-max and didn't fare too well
• Withdrew $1000 for personal costs, bankroll dipped low enough to have to drop down to 50nl
• Really came back to study and work hard in the last few days, watching plenty of coaching videos and reviewing a lot of my hands
  
• Can't believe I was down about 'only' winning $1600 last month, heh

Looking at the overall results they're really not all that bad (at least I wasn't down $1500), but the fact that I missed out on a possible $1500 in profit means it left an especially bitter taste in my mouth.

I'm back with a vengeance though. Mark my words!

April goals

Unfortunately I'll have to grind my way back up through 50nl, but it was so profitable last time around that I really don't mind it all that much.

• Play 25k+ hands of 50nl full ring
• Don't touch 6-max
• Watch and study more coaching vids
• Post more HA hands
• Get out more! It's spring!
• Finish The Selfish Gene and start reading The God Delusion
• Get back to my $1000+/month ways
• If all goes well money-wise, pick up Elements of Poker, Professional No-Limit Hold'em and the Harrington on Cash series
• CRUSH the fucking rings. No more chump change.
• Play more sweat sessions with Liam/Jagsti/Zach or whoever else!

I'm setting my sights high for April. I should have a lot of time on my hands which means plenty of hands to get in. Taking a pure numbers view of it, I can easily manage platinum, it's just a matter of me putting in the hands. Playing 50nl FR I won't be able to do it (I only make .23 VPPs/hand which means I'll have to play upwards of 43k hands), but at 100nl I make .38 VPPs/hand which equates to only having to play around 26k hands. Scratch that idea I guess :/

For the past few months I tend to play a lot of hands in the beginning of the month ('I can make platinum!'), end up accumulating so many points that I think platinum will be a breeze and slow down mid-month, then squeeze in a lot of hands at the end of the month too ('shit! Crunch time!'). Hopefully I'll be more consistent this month.

I don't like setting cash goals, but I'd like to crack $2,000 this month. Setting cash goals is a little silly since it relies on results, which of course as poker players we realize are never set in stone, so I think the primary goal is to play more, secondary is to win.

A nice problem to have

I've debated for around a month now on what I want to spend my points on, but I think I've finally decided what to get. I want something that will be an asset, not a liability. Having a Canon digital SLR camera would be great, but that would spark a(nother) time-consuming hobby that would actually cost me money in both the sense of directly losing me money (batteries etc), as well as the sense that the time I spend using it could be used to make money instead.

I think for now the best choice is simply to get myself a new monitor (or three). Added monitors at better resolution means more tables which means more hands which means more profit. I was going to grab the 24" samsung from the FPP store, but as Zachvac pointed out it's really not worth the money. That one costs 55k FPPs, while three $250 'Canadian electronics store gift certificates' are only 52k points. I know a 24" monitor doesn't cost $750 any more, so maybe I'll go and pick up a couple 22"s or something. Still looking into it. I've emailed PS support about their asking them if it's actually guaranteed to work. I just don't want to order these things and have them denied at my local futureshop or bestbuy or whatever.

Sweat sessions are a go

Well I had my first sweat session with Tenbob yesterday and it was a lot of fun. It's not every day that you get to actually talk intelligently to someone about poker. Liam didn't want to play, so I fired up four tables of 50nl FR and ran pretty damn well. Luck of the Irish I guess. Bad joke, I know Liam :p Here's the link to the video. Unfortunately I fucked the audio up so you can barely hear Liam's commentary, but we'll get it right next time.

I tried later on last night to get a session going with Zachvac and unfortunately my mic decided it didn't want to work anymore, so we couldn't get it going. I did a system restore, everything's working again, and I'm actually off to play right now with him! I'll post that video as well and hopefully everything works out this time.

February review

Well even with my terrible streak in the last three days, I've still managed to make a record month in February and it's unfortunate I'm in such a bad mood that I can't appreciate it. It seems like the tilt is getting to me a little more often lately and I've been looking at ways to reduce it's effect and control it more.

Apologies for any lack of posts in the near future but I think it's break time for me, plus I have some stuff to attend to in real life anyways.

February 08:

• Played 19k hands of 100nl, 25nl 6-max and 100nl 6-max running at 5.7PTBB/100
• Maintained Gold status, failed miserably at achieving Platinum due to small number of hands
• Started considering playing 6-max more
• 6-tabled more than I 8-tabled; thought it would help but results say otherwise
  
• Peaked at $2,240 on the month, ended up netting a record $1,583 in profits

Goals for March 08:

Well to be honest I'm really not sure what I'm looking to achieve next month. I'd like to play a lot more hands (maybe 30k) and of course break my previous record for monthly profit, but I'm not sure I'll be able to with real life issues keeping me busy and stressed out. I guess I'll update the blog when I figure out what it is I should aim to achieve.

On a side note it looks like I won't win the Stoxpoker Project competition as ActionStan has a huge lead on both me and InsQQmniac. It's unfortunate as coaching from Ed Miller really would have been invaluable to my game, but I'll lick my wounds and keep on truckin'. ActionStan probably is the best candidate for the job, although I feel he needs a lot less help than me :p Anyways I wish him all the best since barring a miracle he's going to win this, and we'll all benefit from his shared experience over at Stox anyways.

December Summary

December 07:

• 8-tabled 25nl at 7PTBB/100hands through 11k hands
  
• Dropped tourneys almost completely
  
• Got 6-month stoxpoker subscription
• Took leaps and bounds in my game
• Moved up to 50nl
• Achieved goldstar status
  
• Finished the month up roughly $1,350
  

November Summary

November 07:

• Started playing FLHE more
• Dabbled (VERY unsuccessfully) in 6-max 25nl
• Achieved silverstar status
  
• Decided to really work on my ring games; looked into poker coaching
  
• Finished the month up roughly $150
  

Tournies:


Rings:

October Summary

October 07:

• Left cardschat's blog to start my own here
  
• Started dabbling in FL rings, razz, other games
• Despised tournament swings
• Roughly broke even; first non-winning month in a while

Tournaments:

Rings: