Updates (1/25/2012)

Quick update here...

I'm going to push to finish the month strong. 

By strong I mean decent volume while playing 100% mistake free of course.

Last week I lost a buy-in in only 25 hours played.  The volume was down because I was sick much of the week.

This week I'm up 2 buy-ins in the first 14 hours.

The stock of Baglife corp continues to fluctuate, but the month as a whole has been above average.  When running slightly above average I think it's extremely important to not get confident or over-cocky.  The way you control your emotions when up-swinging is just as important as the way you control yourself during down-swings (at least for me).  If I win 1k in a night in means next to nothing at this point.  Just two more buy-ins added to the bankroll...

Anything below 35 hours of play this week would be beyond unacceptable.  I'll be back to post a monthly update after January 2012 expires..

-bag

January Updates (1/18/2012)

I'm off to a very strong start in January.  This is a bit of a suprise because my volume has been seriously slashed.  Playing less and winning more is always fun, yet feels somewhat strange.  The lowered volume has had nothing to do with how much I've won.  It just worked out that way.  Last week I only played 24 hours and won over $1700.  My younger brother was visiting during the weekend so I just wasn't planning to play over 25 hours either way.

I want to really aim to play at least 35 hours during each of the next two weeks.  This would result in at least 140 hours played for January which isn't terrible.  My win-rate seems to take a hit when I put in over 160 hours.

Borgata's winter poker open is now in town which always makes for increased action on the cash tables during every day of the week.  I've decided to not even enter one tournament this time around.  No lottery tickets for me this time....

I'd normally at least play the first event, but screw it.  I'm doing so well on the cash tables right now that I don't want to screw anything up.  This could be my best month ever, now is not the time to lose focus on the real grind because I want to try to bink a tournament.

-bag

Goals for the new year (high rambling)

That was some great weed... Here are some goals this week regardless of volume. I used to be so goal oriented, what the hell happened? It made you a more determined person in the past. More hard working, more dedicated as a person So dear baglife, For the next year you will do the following: 1). Make goals again weekly. You can't control results true, but you can at least control your drive and determination which directly correlates to VOLUME. And you as a poker are nothing without Volume logged weekly average of over 35 hours minimum. Don't for one second be as stupid as to trick yourself into thinking you are like the other pros you meet out here. Nothing could be farther from the truth. All pros are different. And for you... You aren't a natural You do need to keep logging 35+ hours per week to even have a chance to continue surviving at the start of year 3. There are pros that don't need to do this but unfortunately this is not you. Work ethic of logging 35 hours + study per week keeps you improving. Your work ethic is all powerful You would be no where without your work ethic that you managed to build at your start as a pro. You need to get it back. To enjoy learning and studying about the game again. If you aren't studying cash be mixing it up by studying PLO and tournaments. Remember you aren't just a professional 2/5 NL full ring live cash game player. YOU ARE A PROFESSIONAL POKER PLAYER Wow holy shit that took a long to type caps from my phone.. Where were we... Oh right I am a professional poker player. How are you not studying more than 3 hours per week. It should be 8 hours per week but in the real world a minimum 5 . No excuses 5 hours+ minimum... 35 hours per week staring next week minimum 5 hours of study minimum Yes 40 hours minimum Weekly journal posts Back to corporate right? Well no my life still doesn't quite suck as much as corpoirate.

Keep An Open Mind

Anything is possible..... 1/11/2012 Wednesday morning

Updates and What Drives Me... (1/4/2012)

Update:

From 12/24- 12/29 I took a very long break from poker.  6 Nights without playing, I don't remember the last time I took that many consecutive nights off.

I almost went to NYC for NYE, but decided to stay in town for several reasons.  I'm happy I stayed, it was the right decision.  I celebrated NYE with friends around AC and had a party at my house.  It was good.

I've quickly gone back to the grind.  Since my return I'm up +$2500 in 23 hours.  Definitely an upswing.  During the past 46 hours I'm up just over +$4500.  I still finished December up a laughable +$500 so it is very good to get things going right now.  It feels good to have a RISING stock price again.

I took off tonight, but back to the grind Wed-Friday.

At the start of the New Year I've been trying to think about what motivates and drives me. 

When I went pro October 2010 I thought poker was it.  I thought it would make me happy if I could make a living playing poker.  Well I have made a living playing poker.  Sure it's not a super baller life style or anything (I never thought it would be), but I have in a way "done it".  I went out on my own and made a living doing it.

I think I was obsessed with the idea at first.  I could make a living off of a game I enjoyed playing.

No matter what happens no one can ever take year 1 away from me.  It took a lot of courage.  I made massive changes and started a new life.  There have been plenty of great stories and adventures both on and off the felt.  I feel more happened in my first year as a pro then my entire 3 years of corporate employment combined.  It was a good year.  I made a living and I added to my bankroll.  I have more than doubled the bankroll I started with.

So all is good for baglife, right?

.....

Well not really...

I guess the problem with me is "I've done it" isn't good enough.  I'm never satisfied.  Well I'm not really in a position to be satisfied, I'm barely making a lower middle class income, even though I probably live better.  But I'm very aware of this and certainly NOT satisfied.  I wanted to be "doing it" and then some. I won't be satisfied until I'm making a push at 5/10.  That is my next life goal.  To get a bankroll together that will allow me to play the biggest games in my city.  And not to just get a bankroll together.

To get the bankroll together completely on my own.  I've done it all on my own so far, I plan to keep it that way as long as possible.  And when I do that I can get to a level where I'm hopefully making a living, while saving money for other investments.  And if I can get to that level the possibilities are endless.   

I suppose challenge drives me.  And not just any challenge.  The kind of challenge that the normal world wouldn't see as feasible.  The challenge of doing everything on my own and having the ability to say FUCK everyone who ever doubted me.  The challenge of never taking the safe path and still somehow coming out ahead of it all.

It's going to be a tough year.  I have a lot of work to do.  I'm going to have to be ready to bunker down and live off a bare minimum when things aren't going well.  I'm going to have to adapt, be willing to continually search for the most profitable games, and travel far distances to grind them out when necessary.  I'm going to have to deal with the downswings better.  And I'm going to have to be unaffected by any upswings.  I'm going to have to be able to examine my game and keep improving.  I'm going to have to keep making sacrifices if I ever want to bust into high stakes on my own.  I'm going to have to protect and keep what's mine.

2012 presents formidable challenges but I will do my best to meet them.

I don't ever want to look back and say I didn't try hard enough.  Or I didn't fight hard enough.  That would be unacceptable.

-bag