April Recap

Well as mentioned in my last post earlier today, work made it hard to focus on my poker game. I started out the month pretty even carrying over from last month, but then started to go on a heater. I only played on pokerstars because I was getting pretty comfortable there and trying to even out my bankroll on fulltilt, which after my heads up win will have to continue to be the trend I guess. I played a total of 120 games and profited $74. That comes out to about 62 cents profit for every game or a ROI of about 61% since my average buy in is usually $1. I cashed 33 times and got heads up in 9 of those cashes winning 5 of those games. I set numerous records for my monthly tlb points on stars, but also ended up setting my new monthly best at 1056.62 points. My yearly total is already about 500 points higher than last year and I'm still shooting for that 6 k point mark or better.

Those stats to me seem pretty good and I'm really pleased with getting heads up a little under every four games and winning over half of those games. This is still a very small volume sample however so I'm not reading into it too much and just trying to keep making progress and learning something every game. I have yet to play a game in May other than the heads up match, but I hope to get a decent volume going here soon if work allows it.

That's a recap of really my best month to date, even though it really was 2/3 of a month of play. That just shows me I have made some great progress and there is still room for more. Hopefully I'll get some more time to update and start to make these posts a little more humorous and interesting rather than just the blah of statistics. Thanks for reading anyway and good luck out there!

Work... is a four letter word!

So April was a record month for me in a few areas (not profit or volume though). That being said, it still could have been the highest marks across the board had I not been summoned to the field for my job. This caused me to have to work two weeks straight, 14 days, of 12+ hour days and left no time for poker to be played. It disappointed me as I haven't had to go to the field in a long time, but hey it is still my job so it has to be done. I was also selected to play the monthly heads up match for pokerwit where the winner pads their bankroll with $200. Being a micro grinder that would be a huge chunk to my bankroll at the moment. Well, after not being sure if I would make it because of work and numerous emails back and forth trying to adjust times I was able to make it and actually won! I know the pro I was playing had at least 6 other games going on two sites, but it felt good to beat someone who is established in the game at a high level and almost double my bankroll (on FT) in the process. It was a great win and I'm definitely looking forward to those games, heads up and member freerolls, monthly. Well that's just a quick update on what I've been up to and why I haven't blogged for quite awhile. I will post my numbers for April here in the next day or two and elaborate on where my game improved and where I can still improve. Until next time, thanks for reading and good luck!

Mid month

April is almost half over already! I'm on track to have a new record in volume, and while it's still not nearly the volume I would like I'm happy that I am making progress. I must have been running really hot back in January though because my results aren't nearly up to where I was. I'm not focused on that though, just playing optimal poker and grinding out the games. I've almost set a new record high for monthly TLB points and with one or two more high placings should eclipse that. I'm also over my yearly total for last year as of yesterday. The games have been up and down lately, but I am on track to grind out even some profit for the month. I am still shooting to move up in some stakes by next month too, but will not force the issue and become a bankroll nit. Keeping focused and playing within the proper stakes is really what bankroll management and staying off tilt is all about. Sure tilt is bound to happen, but at least if you stay in your bankroll limit you don't go broke.

I also purchased 200 searches on Sharkscope which will allow me to refine my search results and give monthly graphs as opposed to showing my overall graph. Makes it much more interesting to analyze stats and really find the places where I make the most ROI.

Life has also been pretty good lately. Spring is in full bloom and the weather has been just phenomenal lately. Definitely allowing me to get out and play/practice golf, ride my motorcycle, and drive my garaged sports car. Good thing I have this full time job to make me live like a "balla" until one day poker does. Work is still work though no matter what it is you do and I'm sure the guys grinding the tables, while making a decent living, still get burnt out. As the old adage says about poker, it's a hard way to make an easy living!

Well that's about all my musings for now. The future is looking better every day, but I still don't need my shades all the time yet! Until next time, thanks for reading and good luck at the tables and in life.

On a roll

So far this month has been going great! I've already played almost 50 games, 48 to be exact, and look like I could be on pace for a record month for me. All the games have been on Pokerstars as I'm just trying to get into a good rhythm. I had been varying my game selection to include $1.10 45 & 90 plyr and $2.20 180's occasionally but seemed to be only break even at best. Granted 50 games is a very very small sample size, but I felt that if I stuck with one particular game my strategy could develop more. So the last two days I've played only the 45's. I have been dominating these it seems as I made it to heads up three times just last night. Was only able to win one, but really had a shot at all three just took some bad beats to lose. That's poker though and I know as long as I keep getting my chips in good I'll come out on top.

I still plan on trying the same scheme laid out in the link from the last post, but will be sticking with the 45's until my roll on stars hits the $300 mark. Hopefully by the end of this month I will be grinding out the $2.20 180's and can move up to the $3.25 45's next month too!

I've been in such a focused zone when playing lately too it just seems like the chips come my way and the decisions I make are falling into place. One key I have found is to not get yourself into tough spots and don't be afraid to fold to find a more sure spot. A lot of these donkeys think they can win the tournament in the first two hands, when in reality it will be at least 150 or so hands to win a 45 plyr sng. Patience really is a virtue!

I have also accumulated more TLB so far this month than any other month to date. I'm actually ranked in the top 20k players so far, which is way higher than I've ever been. To put that into perspective, lately the highest I've been ranked is like 60-80k. I've already almost accumulated as many points as my previous record and we are only 7 days into the month! Of course they only count the top 20 scores per month, but I still see my previous record (January) being smoked. I'm also nearing the total points I had for all of last year and should easily have that eclipsed this month. What does all this mean? Well it means I am actually starting to put in a decent volume for the time and setup I have. I can still only comfortably play four games at a time due to screen size, and my sessions are usually 2.5-3 hours long. This does allow me to keep a good focus though and thus keep making good results. Eventually I would like to get a nice pc and a bigger monitor to be able to comfortably play 8 to 12 games at once (gradually working up to that of course), but for now I'll just keep plugging away.

Well that's a quick, although long winded of course, update of April so far! Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables!

March Madness

March is in the books! After starting out on quite a downswing I finished the month strong, but also on a little slide. I managed 131 games, which I originally thought would be higher, but for missing over a week of playing I'm not too dissapointed. On both sites I actually managed to turn a small profit of $16 which means I made about 12 cents every time I hit the register button. Quite a bit down from last month, but anything in the green is good with me! It is however important to not manufacture win streaks and still analyze my play and figure out where my leaks are and plug those bastards so the ship will continue to sail onward!

The above graphs are again my games on FullTilt and Pokerstars. As you can see I hit my stride late, but lost it again slightly on Stars. That could be because I introduced the $2.20 180 man games to my play and actually cashed in a couple, but may have to remove them again until I build back up. I managed to win a few 45 man games to boost me up back into throwing in the $1.75 18 player games again too. Progress son! On FT I had a hot streak at the end of the month as well to boost my bankroll up and I'm getting oh so close to actually playing on other people's money here soon! If only I hadn't been so foolish in the beginning, but hey you live you learn!

Moving forward into April, I'm focused on continuing to improve my game and I want to destroy that volume number (double would be nice to come closer to meeting my goal), which will in turn boost my overall profit. I've also found a nice little challenge a player on pokerwit is doing so I may incorporate that into my own bankroll building although it may take me a little longer time. Here is a link fyi-- http://www.pokerwit.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=63

Spring is in full bloom here in the south too and I've also recently begun playing golf again after not playing regularly for quite awhile. There is a really reasonably priced course not far from my house so it's nice to get out and enjoy some beautiful weather before it gets sweltering out. It is nice to have some balance in life, but I don't want that to take away from my focus on poker either. Hopefully I'll have some good updates in the recent weeks and start to make strides in my play as I have continued to do this year. I really feel I'm playing my best poker ever and it is only a matter of time before the rewards really start to be seen! Until next time, good luck at the tables and thanks for reading!

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!