Kicking ass and taking names... or at least trying to

I've been putting in a good volume this week playing at least a few games every day and will probably hit at least 100 for the week which is nice to stay on my goal. That being said, variance is still rearing its ugly head and I'm still in a slump of sorts. Actually, I've been playing pretty break even lately. Still looks like a down month though unless I get some wins in the next week.

While the results aren't there, my play is improving every time I sit down. That ultimately is what matters. I've become more adept at spotting mistakes I make in certain spots where I should shove or fold, and even bet sizing to maximize value from my hands. I've also been better at reading hands and knowing exactly when someone doesn't have a hand, or a big stack bully is just trying to push me around. Yes I've made a few stupid hero calls, but I feel I've made more good than bad. The bad ones you learn from and don't try to make again, and the good ones you learn from and can spot even more. I am finally really starting to see what all the pros talk about in playing the player, not the cards! Although monster hands don't hurt!

In other news since I've lost a decent chunk of my stars bankroll I have decided to cut out the $1.75 18 man games until I get back up a bit. While the variance is less in these games, two of those games can equate to three $1.10 45 or 90 man games so the variance/volume risk/reward is less. Say for example I cash in 1 out of every 4 (A very realistic percentage) 18 man games, that's at least $7 for buy-ins not counting any sort of profit. Well I can play 6- 45 or 90 man games for that price and would estimate cashing slightly less say 1 out of 5 games to be accurate. These cashes will however be more $ as there are more players involved. Essentially I get more games for my money at this point is what I need until my roll goes up some.

My bankroll on Fulltilt has remained about the same for the months so no adjustments are being made there in game selection just yet. I'm still grinding out the $2.25 27 and 18 man games.

Only one week left in the month and I'm determined to finish strong!

Back to the grind

The first week of March I put in decent volume for me. Played almost my original goal of 100 games. However, this encompassed my largest downswing to date. So part of that play was to get thru this run of bad luck. One of the key things I have learned from pokerwit is to not be results oriented, but rather evaluate your play and if it is a +EV move then in the long run things will balance out. Variance is a poker players worst enemy and downswings will happen. But so will upswings where you feel like you are just running like God. It does suck though when you are constantly getting two and three outted, but you just can't let it tilt you if you are making good moves and hitting good spots. I just keep reminding myself of this even though I've lost almost 25% of my bankroll on Stars. I'm not yet in the zone of having to go back to mini games though so hopefully I'll get thru it now.

So after running so bad last week was a welcome break with a vacation to Vegas where I didn't play a single hand of poker. It was a great break going to see my alma madder Wyoming Cowboys and the whole Mountain West basketball tournament. It was also great to get to see my grandfather and brother whom I haven't seen in a few months. That is one of the hardest things living so far from home, never getting to see the people you care most about. All in all it was a great trip with a lot of gambling and Vegas fun. I think I still may be hung over and I've been home for two days!

Well getting back to poker, I played a bit last night on FT. I had a mini winning session last time I played on there, but was also running bad until then. Last night I just sat down super focused and ready to dominate. I only played 7 games as it was late after working out, but I managed to win an 18 man SNG, third in 27 player SNG, and min cash another for a good winning session. I made some killer folds against some way better hands, something I've been working on more and more. I also made a nice comeback after getting 2 outted KK < QQ when a Q came on the river, but fell short of the money in that one. I'm feeling refreshed and rejuvenated and ready to start getting out of the funk and evolving my game to start building my bankroll even more.

I also joined the Pro Hand section of Pokerwit and that has already provided some very valuable insight and new ways to look at hands. I'm looking forward to really learning a ton more on the site as the pros Amir got are some of the best in the world.

With all of this, I'm focused and committed to making March a good month for my game!

February recap, looking forward

February is in the books! There were a few ups and downs for the month, but overall it was good and I learned a lot. I ended the month on a terrible downswing losing about 10% (or about 15 buy ins at my current level) of my bankroll on Stars after a huge upswing early in the month. Although I fell short of my goal monetarily I still managed making $.62 per game average, which for an average buy in of $1 equates to an ROI of 62%. Not too shabby if you equate that to making other investments. If only my bank account would show that sort of return! The bottom graph is my games to date on Stars. Although I am running bad there still seems to be a slight uptrend, so I'm optimistic on turning things around this month. If you read my previous posts then you know obviously I didn't come close to my volume goal, but like I said... Poker is a second job, not my life at the moment. I still have to go out and have fun! I did however also begin to play more on Full Tilt as a few of my close friends are playing there more now too. Always good to try and take a friends money! Plus I have found the MTT fields are much smaller which can equate to less variance and hopefully a decent score sooner. So moving forward I plan to play more on FT as well and keep that in my stats. The graph on top is my games to date on FT and obviously I'm still in the black, but I plan on changing that this month and continuing in the future! Until next time, good luck and thanks for reading!