Bankroll starting March 1, $122.40
Bankroll ending March 31, $140.87
March results, +$18.47
A profit is a profit, so I'll take it. I'm not exactly thrilled. It was a very volatile month, with some pretty big swings.
I learned a lot this month. The main thing I learned is that, in general, I can't try to force myself into a "normal" daytime schedule, for church or anything else. I was tired all the time, and because of minor illness and other things going on in the family I never made it to church anyway. In general, it just didn't work. Poker is not a first shift job.
There are online pros who make poker work as a first shift job, and someday I might be able to do that. But my biggest problem right now is that I am more convinced than ever, especially after looking at my Sharkcope profit graph, that most of my money is going to come from MTTs (multi-table tournaments) of a thousand players or more.
The tournaments with the best structures for me don't go every hour. They are at all different times, many of them starting at night, and I need to be able to take advantage of those opportunities. And, as I have mentioned in another post, the most US players are on Pokerstars (and other poker sites) during nights and weekends--which means that the most tournament choices are available then as well.
I recently had a 9 A.M. appointment. I slept most of the day before, got up in the evening and played poker all night into the day of the appointment, got a 2-hour nap, then got up and took care of the appoinment. That seemed to work pretty well.
So, the best approach to doing something during the might be to do it right after my work day (which would actually be starting about midway between normal second and third shifts), rather than starting my day with the appointment. If I leave more than eight hours between starting poker and my appointment, that will be enough make it to the final table of a large MTT. The times that I don't go deep into an MTT I can play a smaller tournament, or take some administrative time, or study. Or, if I have a daytime appointment later, or a chance to go to church, I can try to catch a nap first if I need it.
I am slowly but surely improving my playing situation. In 2009 I got a new computer and a 21-inch monitor. I hope to be moving into my home office very soon, maybe even this week. Eventually I will have a laptop, so I can play wherever and whenver I want.
The bottom line is that I'm disappointed about my meager profits this month, but I'm also optomistic. I'm learning what works and what doesn't, and that's not a small thing.
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I came across this while searching for something else poker-related.
ReplyDeleteI think bankroll wise you are putting yourself in some dangerous territory. The bare minimum for playing large MTTs is 100 buyins. This would limit you to the $1 level. A lot of people (including myself) will not play with fewer than 200. Beyond the actual safety it gives you, it also puts you in a frame of mind where you are not afraid to bust out before the money, so you can gamble optimally. A comment you made in your tournament report post seems to betray the fact that you might be playing too tight in order to make it to the minimum cash. ("all cashes are welcome, even the small ones.") This is bad thinking for an MTT player. Plot a graph of the money in a 1000+ player MTT, it all goes to the final table.
It cannot be emphasized enough how sick large field MTT variance is. As one person put it, "a single coin flip or 70/30 can mean end up meaning a 10 or 20% difference in your ROI". That's the difference between winning and losing to most players. Most people do not play solely large MTTs, they play things like 180s and 1000 caps and complement that with larger field tourneys. Only those who can put in an absolutely insane amount of volume play only large tournaments (and win).
I also think you need to evaluate whether you are really beating the game. Any guy who tells me he beat the $10 level at one point and had to start over after cashing out should be able to grind out a few hundred bucks a month playing at the <$5 level. The games are just that much easier. Either you aren't putting in enough volume, or more likely you are a breakeven/losing player.
My recs:
* Play $1 or $2 STTs or smaller MTT SNGs (18-45). You are not rolled yet for $2/180 or $4/180, or $2 or $3 large fields. Get a >5% ROI over at least 500 games (preferably 1000). Get confident that you are truly beating the game and earn at least $100 in a month.
When you hit $400 BR you can branch out a bit more and you'll have more options.
PS Did not mean to sound harsh at all.