Goals and Updates (February Nearing an End)

2.26.2012:

Apologies for not updating so much.  I decided to make up for it by putting this post up about my life and poker goals. 

Remember: QUALITY > QUANTITY.

I'm currently super-focused, probably more so than I've been in a long time.  I'm going out (partying) less than ever.  When I do hang out it's usually with friends, I'll smoke and have a few drinks one night per week.  I've only been going to the club about once every two weeks.  That won't last forever, it just has to do with what is important to me right now, and anything less than +4k per month is unacceptable in my mind.  I've also been working on a personal side project which involves organizing some old corporate humor writing I did.  I may look into trying to publish some of it eventually, even though I have no idea where to start and have never done anything like this.  Either way I think the project is healthy for me and a lot more productive than just partying or taking a a stupid girl out.  Even a few hours per week working on the side project has been a nice mental separation.  I'm closer to 100 buy-ins @ 2/5 than I've ever been, and it's motivating me to keep pushing very hard.

I've become a little obsessive about the 100-BI goal.  I always have been but kept it as a secret, I never even mentioned it on this blog.  For example, I'm currently at 74.2 buy-ins.  How do I know?  Well after each session I update the exact amount I have on a spreadsheet.  So if I lose -$200 tonight I'd update my buy-in total if it passes or drops below the next increment of five-hundred dollars.  The next big mark would be 80 BI's, 80% there, how cool would that be! 

Ok I don't always update the current BI after every session, but I have been during the last two months.  I enjoy updating it, maybe I like answering to something.  Anyways if I average 4k per month in profit I expect to add about 4 buy-ins to my roll per month.  At this rate I expect to reach the 100 BI goal in 6.5 months (average).  If I run amazing it might be 3 months, if I hit down-swings it could be a year.  Who knows.

That could be a very long time, but it's as if I can almost taste my elusive goal of 100 2/5 buy-ins built on my own.  No outside help would make the goal oh so much sweeter.  Keep in mind when I started as a pro I did not have more than 25 buy-ins available for 2/5

Why is building my roll too 100 buy-ins so important to me?

As a logical person I realize it is a completely arbitrary number that I sort of made up in my mind.  Whether I have 100 buy-ins or 40 buy-ins for mid-stakes may seem sort of irrelevant.  I'd still be in a very similar situation.  However, it's just a goal that I set so long ago.  I didn't know if I would ever even be close to reaching it.  Now I've built a foundation and a clear path to get there.  For the first time it seems VERY feasible.  This is exciting to me and has kept me motivated.

And I promised myself, once I hit a 100 buy-ins I'm going to really step back and consider what I want to do the next few months.  I don't have to immediately move up to 5/10.  I could if that's what I want.  I could focus on absolutely terrorizing mid-stakes a while before moving up.  Or I could take some of the money and put it towards a car at that point.  Or I can travel more before I return and go after 5/10.  Or I can play tournaments a month or do something stupid.

Based on my personality and how I feel now if I get to 100 buy-ins I'm probably going to go on vacation about a month.  I'm going to visit a friend in Hawaii, I'm going to visit a friend in Australia, I'm going to visit the Caribbean.  I'm going to make a stop in NYC for a while, etc, etc.  When I got into poker I was hoping that one day it would provide me the opportunity to travel more at a young age (if I wanted too).  If I ever hit 100 buy-ins I feel I could do this with the pressure off before going back to eternal grind mode.  At least I will be able to look back at my choice to play poker full-time and say: 'HEY well fuck, at least I paid for my lifestyle expenses, built bankroll X, and visited a few incredible destinations.'

After traveling 3-4 weeks I would most likely return and continue grinding for God knows how long.

Yeah I'm a dreamer, but it's not so far out there (at least until the next life threatening down-swing)...

Current Updates:

This week has been good for the most part on the tables.  I logged 30 hours and finished up over +$2700.  Most of the profit came on Thursday night where I was in total control of a table and won about 2k in 8 hours.  It was an amazing table and there were no pros keeping me in check.  This sort of thing can be possible if you pick up a few big value hands and don't get sucked out.  Yeah you have to run good with a few different variables going in your favor, but it's going to happen sometimes.  The only difference between this week and last week was I ran into a few big situations and DIDN'T get sucked out on this time around with dominating equity.

If I stopped for the month now I would be up around 5k, this is acceptable to me.  I consider anything over 4k as hitting my monthly expectations.

I still plan to put in about 12 more hours this month which should bring my February volume total to 145 hours.  I'm going to aim for 4 hours Sunday, and 8 Wednesday.  I'm not comfortable with a "solid February" just yet.  I realize much can happen during 12 hours of play, it could fuck up the month profits, so I'm not relaxed yet.  I do feel like the pressure is off however, which normally leads me to playing A-game during a high percentage of my sessions.

Below Average Week (2/19/2012)

After my decent win on Thursday I returned Friday to be brutalized. 

I finished Friday down -$735….

Suck-out stories usually aren’t productive, but I took a 6-out suck-out on Friday to lose a $1450 pot.

I was $700 deep in a very aggressive somewhat crazy game.

Mid stack casual player opened from MP+2 $25

I 3-bet to $75 pre with AA

A spewy LAG casual who I had been watching closely FLATTED from the SB, the mid-stack also called.  The flat from the Small blind should normally indicate super strength.  Something like QQ+, AKo.  However, depending on this guys mood it could be something like 88+, AQo+ 

Pot is now $250.

Flop K 6 4 (no draws)

The small blind immediately shoves all in (he has me way covered).  The mid-stack guy folded.  I called.  It was a snap call in my mind.  I’ve already seen him make a super aggressive action with a weak-ish hand post-flop.  I thought he probably had AK, there might even be more air in his range.  I don't see him playing a set like this ever, and if he does have a set I'm just paying him off.  It was $600 for me to win $1450.

Turn brick

River jack

Dude has KJo.

So that auto-ruined my week basically.  I’m 87% to win on the turn, but failed to hold.  It happens, but yeah that ruined my chance of having a decent week.  A few pots like that and your live poker month is ruined, which has happened before.  That’s the first really big suck-out I’ve taken in a few weeks.

In the first 37 hours this week I’m up +$170.  I’ve played 5 nights in a row.  Tonight will be my sixth.  I’m going to try to find a game because it is a holiday weekend.  Tonight could be like a normal Saturday’s action.

Monday/Tuesday probably taking off.  I don’t remember the last time I’ve played 6 nights in a row.  Tonight will be serious over-time for me, so I have to stay super-focused.  I usually start tilting after the 4^th consecutive night.

It's amazing that there is only a week of play left in this month.

-bag

Solid Thursday and Updates (2/17/2012)

I logged a solid Thursday session tonight winning close to $1200 in 7 hours.  It ended a brutal 58 hour break even stretch that spanned from 2/3 (Friday) - 2/15 (Wednesday).  I played in a low key casino that barely got a 2/5 game running.  I enjoyed myself, more comfortable environment.  The game was not that great most of the time, but I ran well in a few decent spots.  I'd give the action a 3 out of 5 combined. 

Up over 3k on the month, so I have a good chance of hitting 4k.  The 4k mark is important because it's what I want to be averaging monthly at this point.

I keep flip-flopping on the China trip.  One day I really want to do it, the next day the cons seem to out-weigh the pros.  This makes sense because I question if I'm Bipolar sometimes.  Right now I'm leaning towards NO for a few reasons:

1)  I'm coming off my best live poker month.  So?  Well why leave and fuck shit up?  I seem to be doing very well around here at the moment and I'm comfortable.  Maybe I should stick around while things are going good.  Why the hell am I going to leave during one of my best stretches? 

2)  3k in expenses for one trip is a fuck-load.  Yeah I could afford it, but there is a lot I could do with that money.  I could put it towards a new car.  Or I could break the money up and probably take 3 different trips around the U.S at different times during the next few months. 

3)  I've researched some of the action in Macau.  It seems the comparable 2/5 games aren't worth traveling around the world for.  The comparable 5/10 games would probably be worth it.

PROBLEM:  I'm NOT ACTUALLY READY to go to 5/10.  Why?  I don't trust myself to be emotionally ready to lose 2k a night for THREE consecutive nights (yes a down-swing can happen).  I'm just now reaching a point where I'm truly emotionally stable when I swing 1k in a night.  Does it make me a bankroll nit because I'm grinding 2/5 with over 70 buy-ins? 

YES!

...but I really don't care.  I feel the one thing that can take me out of climbing the poker ladder is poor bankroll management.  I'd rather have a 5x bigger bankroll than the average pro.  I also feel there are spots I can still improve at 2/5.  I'm just starting to frequently cross into LAG territory to run over weak games.  Also, I don't like the concept of "shot-taking".  I think it is an over-used and dangerous term.  For example when I take a "shot" at 5/10 I want to have an 80% chance of STAYING there.  I don't see the point of dropping 6 buy-ins before dropping back down in a self defeated depression.

Therefore, I don't feel I should incur a 3k expense and fly across the world to grind 2/5 for 2 weeks.  If it was 5/10 then maybe.  Without the trip I could run average around here and push towards an 80 buy-in milestone mark while slipping in a couple night vacation to NYC.

4)  The flight is 13 hours one-way.

WHAT THEFUCKINGFUCK

However, there would be a few pros.  I just have to realize I would need to do this trip for an experience type thing.  Even if I run average out there I'm still probably going to lose over 1k.  But 1k for a trip to China isn't all that bad.  

Leaning towards staying around here for sure!

-bag

Update and Possible Macau Trip (2/15/2012)

I’ve cooled off a little this month, the meteoric upswing certainly wasn’t going to last.  I’ve played 66 hours so far this month and I’m up 2k in that time.  As always I’m happy with any sort of profit.

Last week I took a trip out to WV to check out the games at Charlestown.  Free money was falling from the sky but I couldn’t seem to catch any.  Finished the trip break even, so I basically lost if you factor in gas, hotel costs, food, etc.  If you put me in the same games I’m going to have a decent profit 8 out of 10 times, that’s just the way it goes sometimes.

I plan to put in solid volume this week.

There is also a slight chance I might visit Macau China for 2-3 weeks to play.  I would leave Tuesday.  My good poker friend is almost certainly going out there and I might tag along with him.  I also know 3 other grinders who will be out there (2 of them speak fluent Chinese).  If the Chinese grinders weren’t out there I would probably never go.  However, I feel like this could be a once in a lifetime experience for me.

Part of the reason I got into poker was so I would have more freedom.  I wanted to eventually travel more and see some of the world.  A few players I respect are making it seem like games in Macau are the most profitable on planet Earth.  This is interesting because online forums read differently on the matter.  IT may be a risk worth considering.  Poker aside, I’ve never been to Asia.  It could be a great experience.  I would play as much as humanely possible, but the trip would be part pleasure.  The players I would meet up with out there are also the best live grinders I know.  They all play 5/10 and up.  One of them is coming back with reports of winning 5k in a night running average at 5/10.  I can’t imagine the crazy shit that is going on out there.  Part of me is like FUCK, if I could average 1k running average playing 2/5 per night it would be worth it.  Anyways, I respect these players and look up to them in a way.  The fact that they would even consider extending the invite my way means a lot.

So that’s about it.  I’m seriously considering the China trip.  I’m going to talk with my friend tomorrow and discuss all the specifics and see whether it makes sense for me at this time.  I will provide an update soon!

-bag