I'm currently working my last shift at work and finish at 3pm tomorrow. My plan is to go home after work and get a few hours kip before I start grinding. I'm probably going to have to play through the night in order to get the best games but that was the plan anyway.
I had an excellent Xmas on all fronts apart from poker. I played a couple of sessions when I was slightly worse for wear and dropped about 150 - 200BB. I'm now back up to where I started after a couple of good sessions yesterday and today. Nothing much else to report really.
All the best for 2008
Monday 31 December 2007
Monday 24 December 2007
Some Goals...
With the new year fast approaching I thought it would be a good idea to write about what I hope to achieve in 2008. I'm hoping to set fairly realistic goals that I can refer back to from time to time.
Before I do that though I need to reflect on where i am now in terms of poker:
I play 5/10 full ring limit hold em. My bankroll is $10k, I keep $5k online and $5k in my bank account which can be deposited as required. I've taken shots at 10/20 and 15/30 in the past and did ok but I've never felt the need to move up to these limits. I was afraid of blowing a big hole in my bankroll. My game is quite good but there is definitely some room for improvement. I am a winning player.
That's pretty much how things stand as I write this. Next year will be the first time I have played poker on a full time basis for longer than 2 weeks. That doesn't phase me in the slightest though. Anyway, on to the goals.
1. Play at least 4 - 6 hours per day.
That one is pretty straight forward and is more about self discipline than anything else. I plan on keeping my sessions down to 2 hours and take a half hour break in between.
2. Devote 2 hours per day to improving my game / learning a new one.
I'm going to spend 2 hours of my working day improving my game. I am a member of a couple of coaching sites and the videos have really helped me iron out leaks etc. I'm also going to analise my sessions in pokertracker and make videos of myself playing so I can spot mistakes. I'm going to post more on forums like 2+2 and not just in BBV, actually I'll avoid BBV and NVG altogether lol. When I feel that my full ring game is sufficiently developed I'm going to use my 2 hours per day to learn 6 max. It's really about time I did this, too bad I'm a nit. I'll probably take 2k that's seperate from my bankroll and start at 2/4 and hopefully work my way up.
3. Move up
I don't have a concrete goal about the limit I want to be playing by the end of the year but I want to play higher than 5/10. If I get to 15/30 by the end of the year I'll be pretty happy. Full ring games above this level are few and far between, hence the move to 6 max. When I'm learning to play short handed my bankroll will be seperate and I won't be playing to make money. I'll pretty much move up or down as my bankroll allows, keeping the 500bb rule.
4. Don't tilt, ever.
Pretty important IMO. I've read a couple of poker psychology books and they have helped me a lot. I'll re-read these as and when required.
5. Make money.
Goes without saying really. I need to make money. I was very hesitant to set a goal in terms of money. If I make £25k I'll be very happy and that would make the whole thing worthwhile. I'm shooting for something in the region of £50k though :))
6. Get to Supernova Elite
The main reason I'm going to play on Pokerstars is their VIP rewards and I'd like to get to Elite by then end of the year.
7. Lose some weight.
You FAT BASTARD!! I seriously need to lose weight as I'm a fat fuck. I used to be really fit when I was younger but the combination of a knee injury and a penchant for Guiness fucked that up. I'm going to start running at least 3 times a week for a far as my lambert & butler stained lungs will let me.
I'll maybe edit in some more before new year as I'm pretty sure I've left one or two out.
Merry Xmas!
Before I do that though I need to reflect on where i am now in terms of poker:
I play 5/10 full ring limit hold em. My bankroll is $10k, I keep $5k online and $5k in my bank account which can be deposited as required. I've taken shots at 10/20 and 15/30 in the past and did ok but I've never felt the need to move up to these limits. I was afraid of blowing a big hole in my bankroll. My game is quite good but there is definitely some room for improvement. I am a winning player.
That's pretty much how things stand as I write this. Next year will be the first time I have played poker on a full time basis for longer than 2 weeks. That doesn't phase me in the slightest though. Anyway, on to the goals.
1. Play at least 4 - 6 hours per day.
That one is pretty straight forward and is more about self discipline than anything else. I plan on keeping my sessions down to 2 hours and take a half hour break in between.
2. Devote 2 hours per day to improving my game / learning a new one.
I'm going to spend 2 hours of my working day improving my game. I am a member of a couple of coaching sites and the videos have really helped me iron out leaks etc. I'm also going to analise my sessions in pokertracker and make videos of myself playing so I can spot mistakes. I'm going to post more on forums like 2+2 and not just in BBV, actually I'll avoid BBV and NVG altogether lol. When I feel that my full ring game is sufficiently developed I'm going to use my 2 hours per day to learn 6 max. It's really about time I did this, too bad I'm a nit. I'll probably take 2k that's seperate from my bankroll and start at 2/4 and hopefully work my way up.
3. Move up
I don't have a concrete goal about the limit I want to be playing by the end of the year but I want to play higher than 5/10. If I get to 15/30 by the end of the year I'll be pretty happy. Full ring games above this level are few and far between, hence the move to 6 max. When I'm learning to play short handed my bankroll will be seperate and I won't be playing to make money. I'll pretty much move up or down as my bankroll allows, keeping the 500bb rule.
4. Don't tilt, ever.
Pretty important IMO. I've read a couple of poker psychology books and they have helped me a lot. I'll re-read these as and when required.
5. Make money.
Goes without saying really. I need to make money. I was very hesitant to set a goal in terms of money. If I make £25k I'll be very happy and that would make the whole thing worthwhile. I'm shooting for something in the region of £50k though :))
6. Get to Supernova Elite
The main reason I'm going to play on Pokerstars is their VIP rewards and I'd like to get to Elite by then end of the year.
7. Lose some weight.
You FAT BASTARD!! I seriously need to lose weight as I'm a fat fuck. I used to be really fit when I was younger but the combination of a knee injury and a penchant for Guiness fucked that up. I'm going to start running at least 3 times a week for a far as my lambert & butler stained lungs will let me.
I'll maybe edit in some more before new year as I'm pretty sure I've left one or two out.
Merry Xmas!
Sunday 16 December 2007
Amsterdam again
Amsterdam was excellent. We stayed in a nice hotel just off Dam Square and I melted the credit card pretty good. Spent 2 days chilling out and drinking rediculously expensive beer (£6 a pint!). It was a barrel of laughs though.
On Thursday night i persuaded the wife to go to a coffee shop with me before our big night out in the red light district. That was a huuuge mistake. I don't normally smoke hash or anything but had a good experience with the local weed the last time we were here. Anyway, found a reasonably nice coffee shop and purchased a gram of medium strength skunk. I smoked it in one go despite my wife telling me to take it easy. Left the coffee shop after about half an hour and i felt fine, had a nice wee buzz going on. I walked about 5 paces from the door and the world decided to go in different directions from my legs. I was out of my tits, completely. I couldn't walk and was convinced I was going to die. We somehow made it back to the hotel where I lay my tripping, paranoid arse down on the bed and promptly fell asleep. At 6.30pm.
So much for our big night out. I heard about that when I finally came round.
Unfortunately the phone call I was waiting for earlier in the week did not materialise so I'll have to content myself with telling the boss face to face on Tuesday when I'm back at work.
I played a bit of poker yesterday and this morning but nothing really of note. I limped aces from the sb against a super tight bb after it was folded round and he proceeded to outflop me with 45o. Happy days. Another blind v blind hand, flopped 2 pair and betting was capped on the flop and the turn, river paired the board and counterfeited my 2 pair in a pretty big pot. After this hand I felt the old familiar red mist coming down but I managed to maintain my discipline and not tilt. I've not tilted for a long time and I was pretty sure that bad beats didn't effect me any more. Maybe it was having a few days away from the table that did it.
I blame the weed.
On Thursday night i persuaded the wife to go to a coffee shop with me before our big night out in the red light district. That was a huuuge mistake. I don't normally smoke hash or anything but had a good experience with the local weed the last time we were here. Anyway, found a reasonably nice coffee shop and purchased a gram of medium strength skunk. I smoked it in one go despite my wife telling me to take it easy. Left the coffee shop after about half an hour and i felt fine, had a nice wee buzz going on. I walked about 5 paces from the door and the world decided to go in different directions from my legs. I was out of my tits, completely. I couldn't walk and was convinced I was going to die. We somehow made it back to the hotel where I lay my tripping, paranoid arse down on the bed and promptly fell asleep. At 6.30pm.
So much for our big night out. I heard about that when I finally came round.
Unfortunately the phone call I was waiting for earlier in the week did not materialise so I'll have to content myself with telling the boss face to face on Tuesday when I'm back at work.
I played a bit of poker yesterday and this morning but nothing really of note. I limped aces from the sb against a super tight bb after it was folded round and he proceeded to outflop me with 45o. Happy days. Another blind v blind hand, flopped 2 pair and betting was capped on the flop and the turn, river paired the board and counterfeited my 2 pair in a pretty big pot. After this hand I felt the old familiar red mist coming down but I managed to maintain my discipline and not tilt. I've not tilted for a long time and I was pretty sure that bad beats didn't effect me any more. Maybe it was having a few days away from the table that did it.
I blame the weed.
Tuesday 11 December 2007
Amsterdam
I'm off to Amsterdam tomorrow with the missus until Friday. Just booked it as a spur of the moment thing. I've been once before, 2 years ago and loved it. It is quite possibly the most bizarre place I have ever visited and it took me a couple of days to get my head around it. That holiday now ranks at number 1 for me.
So... no poker for a couple of days. Believe me when I tell you that is good news. I've been getting my arse kicked at the tables for the past couple of days in the weirdest ways (AA losing to 23o capped pre flop for example).
Looking forward to getting pished for a couple of days and some time away.
Incidentally, I am currently awaiting a phone call from my boss where I'm about to tell him to stick his job up his arse.
Should be fun.
So... no poker for a couple of days. Believe me when I tell you that is good news. I've been getting my arse kicked at the tables for the past couple of days in the weirdest ways (AA losing to 23o capped pre flop for example).
Looking forward to getting pished for a couple of days and some time away.
Incidentally, I am currently awaiting a phone call from my boss where I'm about to tell him to stick his job up his arse.
Should be fun.
Tuesday 4 December 2007
things going to plan
Things have been going good with regards to poker lately. I have already met my target bankroll for the beginning of the year and still have the rest of December to grind out the last of my bonuses.
I've been cashing out of all the sites I kept bits of my bankroll on which has taken a while. By the end of the month I should have it all sorted. I've played a little bit of 5/10 on Stars lately too with decent results. I was really only doing this to make sure my VPP per hour calculations were correct.
I'm really optmistic about hitting my targets for next year. I'll post about these in more depth later.
I've been cashing out of all the sites I kept bits of my bankroll on which has taken a while. By the end of the month I should have it all sorted. I've played a little bit of 5/10 on Stars lately too with decent results. I was really only doing this to make sure my VPP per hour calculations were correct.
I'm really optmistic about hitting my targets for next year. I'll post about these in more depth later.
Tuesday 23 October 2007
The Beginning
On the 1st January 2008 I will become a professional poker player.
I wanted to post a blog to chart my successes and failures in this venture and give me a place to vent my frustrations (which I'm sure will be frequent :)).
I have a couple of months before I start officially so I've been spending most of my spare time ironing out a few leaks in my game and bonuswhoring.
Basically I'm starting out with a 10k bankroll and will be playing 5/10 fr limit hold em almost exclusively, though I'm not afraid of having to move up or down. I'm planning on maintaining a 1000 BB bankroll for any game I'm playing. I will also be grinding out lots of hands, 4 - 6 tables, 6 + hours a day.
I'm also planning to play exclusively on Pokerstars to take advantage of their VIP program.
I'm really itching to get started as my current job is boring the pants off of me. I also work shifts which seriously infringes on my poker time at the moment.
Wish me Luck!
I wanted to post a blog to chart my successes and failures in this venture and give me a place to vent my frustrations (which I'm sure will be frequent :)).
I have a couple of months before I start officially so I've been spending most of my spare time ironing out a few leaks in my game and bonuswhoring.
Basically I'm starting out with a 10k bankroll and will be playing 5/10 fr limit hold em almost exclusively, though I'm not afraid of having to move up or down. I'm planning on maintaining a 1000 BB bankroll for any game I'm playing. I will also be grinding out lots of hands, 4 - 6 tables, 6 + hours a day.
I'm also planning to play exclusively on Pokerstars to take advantage of their VIP program.
I'm really itching to get started as my current job is boring the pants off of me. I also work shifts which seriously infringes on my poker time at the moment.
Wish me Luck!
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