I'm making some (a lot) of changes with regards to poker this month. Since I went back to playing for a living things have been ticking over nicely and I've been making a steady income but my shortcomings as a player have been made apparent as I moved up in stakes. I'm going to take a more professional approach to poker and try to follow the example of other people.
First of all I'm going to play HUSNG's. I've developed some leaks in my game which are going to take a bit of fixing. I think the best way for me to do this is to take a month out of my normal games and learn something new. I can then go back (if i want to) with a clear head and analise my game better. Basically my options were plo or hu - plo can wait.
The main benefit of learning something new is that I'll get back in to the habit of study and review, something I used to do religeously but has fallen way down on my list of priorities. It's very east to get stuck in a rut with poker and before you know it the games have evolved and your win rate slowly dwindles to nothing. With the absolute wealth of poker kowledge out there you need to take advantage of it just to stay ahead of the fish.
I've played a couple of hundred HUSNG's over the past few days and the great thing I've discovered is that there are games going 24 hours. I woke up at 4am the other day and managed to get a game no problem. There seems to be bad players at all hours too.
The Plan
Play $11 HU with 50 buy ins - move up when i hit 50 buy ins for the next level. I'm going to be using rakeback and bonuses as part of my bankroll this month - this is something I never ever do but it'll help me move up pretty fast. The reason I'm doing this is to help me find a level where I'm not quite comfortable - again encouraging me to review my play and seek out answers for tough situations.
Volume
I don't know if I can sustain 100 or more matches in a day as i find them quite mentally draining. I'm going to aim for 50 as a minimum but think I'll get into the swing of things in a week or so.
Tilt
None. Ever. Step away from the computer. Play no poker. This is going to be a big factor this month. I'm only going to be 2 tabling and I'll be paying close attention so those runner runner straights and rivered sets are going to sting a little. I need to stay positive.
Study
I'm renewing my subscriptions for Stoxpoker and Deucescracked and will use them on a daily basis. I've also got the book I'll plough through a couple of times. I'm going to post hands and try to contribute to forums. It might be time to dust off Theory of Poker too.
Take Notes
I'm really lazy when it comes to taking notes on opponents but I NEED to start doing this.
Money
Make some. I don't have a clear money goal as that would be pretty silly given I'm totally new to HU games. I'll be trying to move up so I won't have the comfort of rakeback to fall back on.
In addition to the poker challenges, I have to stop my wife spending all of my bankroll which is winging it's way to my bank account as we speak. She's already said "if you can make money with a $500 bankroll what do you need the rest for?"
Alarm bell are ringing.
Tuesday 30 June 2009
Sunday 28 June 2009
Stale
The shot taking is now officially over and it's been an experience. At one point following my last post I was down a little over 4k or 80% of the money I'd set aside and I was a bit down on myself. I cut back to 2 tables at a time so I could focus more on the tougher players and slowly built back up. After a night of drunken gambling I was back up tp -1k which I can handle. I also cleared $1500 in bonus money to put me up over ther course.
I'm probably not at the point where i can beat these games if I'm prefectly honest with myself. I don't mind admitting it either. There's a lot of work to be done on my part over the next few months and I've set myself a rough target of crushing the $108's by Xmas.
I tried to get back into my normal games over the weekend but it wasn't happening. I think I'd focused so much on adjusting to the tougher games that I struggled to adjust back to the fish. I'm finding myself a bit stale atm and I've been thinking of ways I can challenge myself. I was planning on doing busto to robusto this month but put it off to next month. Now I'm putting it off until later in the year - it just doesn't appeal to me right now.
I was looking through some poker books and came accross Colin Moshman's HUSNG book. I liked his first one so I've bought that and have a new plan for next month. Read the book and play heads up lol. As you can imagine this plan was literally days in the making and the amount of planning and preperation that went into it were very time consuming.
I've always fancied learning heads up but put it off for other things. My priority has been making money for the past few months with the missus being off on maternity leave and spending money quicker than I can earn it. She's back to work in July though so now is the time. I know I've got a bit of a tendency to not stick at something but variety is the spice of life as they say and poker does get a bit boring when you're grinding it out day after day. I've got a really good rakeback deal too so even if I break even for a full month I'll still make 3k or so.... if I work at it.
I'm probably not at the point where i can beat these games if I'm prefectly honest with myself. I don't mind admitting it either. There's a lot of work to be done on my part over the next few months and I've set myself a rough target of crushing the $108's by Xmas.
I tried to get back into my normal games over the weekend but it wasn't happening. I think I'd focused so much on adjusting to the tougher games that I struggled to adjust back to the fish. I'm finding myself a bit stale atm and I've been thinking of ways I can challenge myself. I was planning on doing busto to robusto this month but put it off to next month. Now I'm putting it off until later in the year - it just doesn't appeal to me right now.
I was looking through some poker books and came accross Colin Moshman's HUSNG book. I liked his first one so I've bought that and have a new plan for next month. Read the book and play heads up lol. As you can imagine this plan was literally days in the making and the amount of planning and preperation that went into it were very time consuming.
I've always fancied learning heads up but put it off for other things. My priority has been making money for the past few months with the missus being off on maternity leave and spending money quicker than I can earn it. She's back to work in July though so now is the time. I know I've got a bit of a tendency to not stick at something but variety is the spice of life as they say and poker does get a bit boring when you're grinding it out day after day. I've got a really good rakeback deal too so even if I break even for a full month I'll still make 3k or so.... if I work at it.
Tuesday 23 June 2009
You're DOING it WRONG!!!
So far my shot taking has resulted in a 2k loss and 14 tournaments without a cash. Fucking marvelous. I'm not put off (although I'm not entirely comfortable losing that amount of money in such a short time) as I've reviewed the tournament histories and I'm not playing badly.
I tend not to complain about bad beats but I've seen my fair share over the past couple of days. This one sticks out: Folded round to SB who min raises, I have KJs in BB and push, SB insta calls with T5, flop AXJ, turn K, river is obviously a Q and I bubble again. I have millions of these.
I hate talking about hands where I've been unlucky but it's been a little bit harder to take as it's like real money at stake here lol. I need to work on detatching myself from my results as normally I'd just fire up more tournaments and be mildly surprised if I was down for the day.
My regular games have been going ok though and this has helped me shrug it off.
Still off the fags though. Survived my first big test tonight when I went for a meal with my family who all smoke. I even had a few beers and still dont feel the urge to light up. My inhalator thing is chewed to fuck though.
Tomorrow I'm going to try and get a shitload of poker in and try to cash at some point.
Laters.
I tend not to complain about bad beats but I've seen my fair share over the past couple of days. This one sticks out: Folded round to SB who min raises, I have KJs in BB and push, SB insta calls with T5, flop AXJ, turn K, river is obviously a Q and I bubble again. I have millions of these.
I hate talking about hands where I've been unlucky but it's been a little bit harder to take as it's like real money at stake here lol. I need to work on detatching myself from my results as normally I'd just fire up more tournaments and be mildly surprised if I was down for the day.
My regular games have been going ok though and this has helped me shrug it off.
Still off the fags though. Survived my first big test tonight when I went for a meal with my family who all smoke. I even had a few beers and still dont feel the urge to light up. My inhalator thing is chewed to fuck though.
Tomorrow I'm going to try and get a shitload of poker in and try to cash at some point.
Laters.
Saturday 20 June 2009
Moving on up?
Ok I'm now oficially old. I turned 30 the other day and have always said that I'm going to drastically change my lifestyle when I hit the big three-oh. Obviously I'm taking a few days to celebrate, drink beer, smoke tabs and eat pizza. On Monday I'm stopping smoking (I've cut down to about 5 a day), not being a pisshead and joining a gym. I know people say you shouldn't make too much changes at one time but this plan has been 10 years in the making so I'm totally prepared. My lungs and liver may not be though.
The past couple of days I've been taking some shots at $108's and I've had a pretty decent run at them - I even played a couple of $215's and luckboxed my way to a very welcome $3k day yesterday.
I'm not sure I can beat the games at this level although I haven't noticed a massive difference in play compared to $54's. It's mainly tighter in the early phases and super aggro when the blinds get significant.
I really have to think hard about where I want to be with regards to poker. My bankroll is sitting around the 12k mark (not including yesterday's score) so I'm not comfortably rolled to play the $108's full time. I think I'd want to have nearer 200 buy ins. They obviously don't run as often either so I wouldn't get the volume in on a daily basis. That's not a huge deal to me but if I'm only a marginal winner in these games over the long term then playing 30 or so tournaments a day is going to make for some sick swings.
I suppose it comes down to what you want to get out of poker. I'm pretty happy just making more than i would working for a living. I never really thought about playing higher stakes and I'm happy to grind it out. Maybe I should be a bit more ambitious.
I think I'm going to split my bankroll, keeping 7k for grinding and taking a 50 buy in shot at the 108's. That way I can grind during the day and use my evening sessions to play higher when the games are going. Sounds like a plan to me. I'm over rolled for the games I play most anyway.
I'll give this a shot until the end of the month and see where I stand. Nothing ventured nothing gained and all that.
The past couple of days I've been taking some shots at $108's and I've had a pretty decent run at them - I even played a couple of $215's and luckboxed my way to a very welcome $3k day yesterday.
I'm not sure I can beat the games at this level although I haven't noticed a massive difference in play compared to $54's. It's mainly tighter in the early phases and super aggro when the blinds get significant.
I really have to think hard about where I want to be with regards to poker. My bankroll is sitting around the 12k mark (not including yesterday's score) so I'm not comfortably rolled to play the $108's full time. I think I'd want to have nearer 200 buy ins. They obviously don't run as often either so I wouldn't get the volume in on a daily basis. That's not a huge deal to me but if I'm only a marginal winner in these games over the long term then playing 30 or so tournaments a day is going to make for some sick swings.
I suppose it comes down to what you want to get out of poker. I'm pretty happy just making more than i would working for a living. I never really thought about playing higher stakes and I'm happy to grind it out. Maybe I should be a bit more ambitious.
I think I'm going to split my bankroll, keeping 7k for grinding and taking a 50 buy in shot at the 108's. That way I can grind during the day and use my evening sessions to play higher when the games are going. Sounds like a plan to me. I'm over rolled for the games I play most anyway.
I'll give this a shot until the end of the month and see where I stand. Nothing ventured nothing gained and all that.
Monday 15 June 2009
Happy Days
There's nothing like a few days work to make you appreciate how good it is to play poker for a living. For the past 5 years myself, my dad and brother have spent the close season painting Dens Park (home of Dundee FC). It started out as a voluntary thing as the club were up shit creek financially but we get paid for it now. Well they pay us and we buy hospitality and sponsorship etc. so all the money goes back to the club. We're all big Dundee supporters so it's good to meet all the guys and get to see behind the scenes. My only complaint is that it's ruined the mystique about the football club. When I was young I used to worship the players and could only dream of meeting them. Now they're just in the way when we're trying to get stuff done.
Anyway the point is I had to work for the past 3 days and it really puts things into perspective. I have a pretty easy life. I wake up when I want, work when I want and finish any fucking time I feel like it. After 2 days of 8 o'clock starts I was fucked by dinner time.
This just adds to the general love I have for poker right now. I'm really happy at the moment. The last couple of months have been great and I feel that things are really working out for me.
When I decided to give playing for a living another shot I was a bit apprehensive. The first time around I was totally miserable and absolutely hated poker. I had absolutely no confidence in my game. I was constantly working on trying to improve, so much so I became somewhat obsessed with it. I didn't realise at the time that the problems I faced were not entirely related to my ability to play poker.
First of all and by far the most important was the fact my only game was full ring limit hold em. I got totally bored of that within a month. Being bored does not help your game at all and I was playing well below my A game. Obviously I didn't realise this at the time and thought I was playing fabulously but running into donkey luckboxes all the time.
Secondly I was playing on Stars and basically keeping American time, playing through the night and sleeping all day. This led me to feel pretty isolated - if I wanted to do anything (like going to the football for example) I had to totally change my sleeping patterns and socialising was a fucking nightmare.
I was also playing in the house and was frequently disturbed by my kids waking up, the dog wanting to take a piss etc. Not good for my mindset. The most productive change I've made was getting myself a little office away from any distractions.
Volume was a big problem for me too. I thought it was lazyness but it was more to do with the fact I was just pissed off playing poker. Tilt was pretty much ever present for me just bubbling below the surface. I expected to win any hand I showed down because it was my divine right to win. I was so much better than the opposition.
I could go on. There was a lot of stuff that prevented me from succeeding the last time and around this time last year I went back to work. To be honest it was the best thing I have ever done. After a while I really missed the freedom that poker gives you. I went over and over all my failings and took time to seriously analyse the issues I had. I thought about how I could make improvements if I ever decided to get back into poker. I spent a few months putting things into place but at the time had no intention of playing for a living any time soon. I fucked it up one time and had to be sure that the second time it would work.
Business started to slow down around Xmas and I was struggling a little bit. I played to make some extra cash and started playing SNG's. When I started crunching the numbers it was dawning on me that there was some money to be made if I did it full time.
I managed to convince my wife who vividly remembers what a miserable bastard I was.
So here I sit, 3 days shy of my 30th birthday feeling pretty fucking happy with myself. I'm currently playing 3 or 4 sessions a day - all SNG's now. I've found a structure that works well for me. I'm not exactly doing 9 -5 but have plenty of time with the wife and kids and dont have to change my sleep patterns if I want to go out. I'm playing a minimum of 100 tournaments a day and find it easy to put that volume in. I generally take Saturday off and play drunken mtt's on Sundays.
I'm taking a more relaxed approach to improving my game and concentrate more on playing the game to the best of my abilities. If I make a mistake I don't beat myself up over it and I'm generally more relaxed when I'm playing. I don't tilt any more and feel strangely detatched when I take a bad beat. Before I would be breaking stuff. I think that with SNG's there are a lot more close decisions where you're either shipping it in or folding so the beats are ever present.
I don't look upon myself as the best player at the table now and don't think it's my divine right to win when I have a good hand. Truth is I don't need to be the best, I'm pretty happy with slightly above average thanks.
I'm very aware of the potential pitfalls but I think I've matured just a little bit. There's also the ever present fear that I'll fuck it up this time. There won't be a third chance.
From the moment I discovered poker I knew that this is what I want to do. Now finally, I'm doing it right.
Anyway the point is I had to work for the past 3 days and it really puts things into perspective. I have a pretty easy life. I wake up when I want, work when I want and finish any fucking time I feel like it. After 2 days of 8 o'clock starts I was fucked by dinner time.
This just adds to the general love I have for poker right now. I'm really happy at the moment. The last couple of months have been great and I feel that things are really working out for me.
When I decided to give playing for a living another shot I was a bit apprehensive. The first time around I was totally miserable and absolutely hated poker. I had absolutely no confidence in my game. I was constantly working on trying to improve, so much so I became somewhat obsessed with it. I didn't realise at the time that the problems I faced were not entirely related to my ability to play poker.
First of all and by far the most important was the fact my only game was full ring limit hold em. I got totally bored of that within a month. Being bored does not help your game at all and I was playing well below my A game. Obviously I didn't realise this at the time and thought I was playing fabulously but running into donkey luckboxes all the time.
Secondly I was playing on Stars and basically keeping American time, playing through the night and sleeping all day. This led me to feel pretty isolated - if I wanted to do anything (like going to the football for example) I had to totally change my sleeping patterns and socialising was a fucking nightmare.
I was also playing in the house and was frequently disturbed by my kids waking up, the dog wanting to take a piss etc. Not good for my mindset. The most productive change I've made was getting myself a little office away from any distractions.
Volume was a big problem for me too. I thought it was lazyness but it was more to do with the fact I was just pissed off playing poker. Tilt was pretty much ever present for me just bubbling below the surface. I expected to win any hand I showed down because it was my divine right to win. I was so much better than the opposition.
I could go on. There was a lot of stuff that prevented me from succeeding the last time and around this time last year I went back to work. To be honest it was the best thing I have ever done. After a while I really missed the freedom that poker gives you. I went over and over all my failings and took time to seriously analyse the issues I had. I thought about how I could make improvements if I ever decided to get back into poker. I spent a few months putting things into place but at the time had no intention of playing for a living any time soon. I fucked it up one time and had to be sure that the second time it would work.
Business started to slow down around Xmas and I was struggling a little bit. I played to make some extra cash and started playing SNG's. When I started crunching the numbers it was dawning on me that there was some money to be made if I did it full time.
I managed to convince my wife who vividly remembers what a miserable bastard I was.
So here I sit, 3 days shy of my 30th birthday feeling pretty fucking happy with myself. I'm currently playing 3 or 4 sessions a day - all SNG's now. I've found a structure that works well for me. I'm not exactly doing 9 -5 but have plenty of time with the wife and kids and dont have to change my sleep patterns if I want to go out. I'm playing a minimum of 100 tournaments a day and find it easy to put that volume in. I generally take Saturday off and play drunken mtt's on Sundays.
I'm taking a more relaxed approach to improving my game and concentrate more on playing the game to the best of my abilities. If I make a mistake I don't beat myself up over it and I'm generally more relaxed when I'm playing. I don't tilt any more and feel strangely detatched when I take a bad beat. Before I would be breaking stuff. I think that with SNG's there are a lot more close decisions where you're either shipping it in or folding so the beats are ever present.
I don't look upon myself as the best player at the table now and don't think it's my divine right to win when I have a good hand. Truth is I don't need to be the best, I'm pretty happy with slightly above average thanks.
I'm very aware of the potential pitfalls but I think I've matured just a little bit. There's also the ever present fear that I'll fuck it up this time. There won't be a third chance.
From the moment I discovered poker I knew that this is what I want to do. Now finally, I'm doing it right.
Saturday 13 June 2009
Getting It In
Over the last week or so I've been cashing out my bankroll from random sites so I can take advantage of a superb deal on Ongame (details to follow - might be able to get some high volume fish a similar deal).
Not a hell of a lot of poker has been played. I seriously need a bonus or something to clear to get me motivated.
I left around $100 on one of my fave microgaming skins and have consistently doubled it and cashed out on 5 occasions - cue doomswitch if you please.
I've been playing their "extreme" tournaments which I've talked about before. They're great for volume but shit for your sanity. I usually do well if I manage to avoid anything approachng a decent hand in the early stages.
On Monday my new deal kicks in (hopefully) and I'll be back to grinding like a motherfucker. I could really do with another $6-8k month. It's hard when the weather is this good though.
I did have aspirations of getting to the WSOP but it's not happening now. Hopefully next year. I feel jealous of all you fuckers who have been there lately.
bastards.
Not a hell of a lot of poker has been played. I seriously need a bonus or something to clear to get me motivated.
I left around $100 on one of my fave microgaming skins and have consistently doubled it and cashed out on 5 occasions - cue doomswitch if you please.
I've been playing their "extreme" tournaments which I've talked about before. They're great for volume but shit for your sanity. I usually do well if I manage to avoid anything approachng a decent hand in the early stages.
On Monday my new deal kicks in (hopefully) and I'll be back to grinding like a motherfucker. I could really do with another $6-8k month. It's hard when the weather is this good though.
I did have aspirations of getting to the WSOP but it's not happening now. Hopefully next year. I feel jealous of all you fuckers who have been there lately.
bastards.
Saturday 6 June 2009
cba
my little challenge has gone up in smoke, mainly because I found a bonus that I coudn't refuse.
next month fo sho.
I'm currently playing a shitload so should be fine.
next month fo sho.
I'm currently playing a shitload so should be fine.
Monday 1 June 2009
Postponed
I had to put off my little challenge today purely because it's too hot in my office to play poker. It's 8.40pm and currently 24 degrees in here.
Thats fucking hot for Scotland.
I don't know why it's so hot in here, might be the fact it's pretty small and has a lot of electrical shit in it.
Anyhoo I might have to invest in some sort of air conditioning system. Jeeziz how stupid does that sound?
I spent the day dossing around in the garden, cut the grass and read a bit of Your Worst Poker Enemy which was quite good. I don't feel like I'm havin so much trouble with the psychological part of poker this time around but I don't study nearly enough either. I Might compile a reading list for the next few weeks.
So as promised:
Number of tournaments played: 0
Profit/Loss: 0
Not a bad start
Thats fucking hot for Scotland.
I don't know why it's so hot in here, might be the fact it's pretty small and has a lot of electrical shit in it.
Anyhoo I might have to invest in some sort of air conditioning system. Jeeziz how stupid does that sound?
I spent the day dossing around in the garden, cut the grass and read a bit of Your Worst Poker Enemy which was quite good. I don't feel like I'm havin so much trouble with the psychological part of poker this time around but I don't study nearly enough either. I Might compile a reading list for the next few weeks.
So as promised:
Number of tournaments played: 0
Profit/Loss: 0
Not a bad start
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