Playing big boy tournament poker involves some big swings, and I''m starting to get a taste of what that feels like. It really hit me when I was reading my latest poker book, and the author said that when he books a flight to a city holding a week-long tournament, as they do on the World Poker Tour, he always gets a one-way flight.
The reason is that if he "busts out on the first day" (which happens often) he doesn't have to hang around, and he doesn't have to pay a large fee to get his ticket changed. He just buys another one-way ticket home, or to the next tournament location.
When I read that, I realized that I wasn't completely committed to this new style of high-risk, high reward poker. I was almost always making it through the first hour of an MTT, which means I wasn't taking enough risks.. I was opening up quite a bit, at least from my perspective, but it wasn't nearly enough. Since that style is where the money is, I have to do that, in fact, I've been doing it the last few days, and the swings are incredible.
On the 27th I started playing at 8 A.M. I won three straight small tournaments, and by 3 P.M. I had a net profit of $85 for the day. In the next 14 MTTs I cashed once, and I lost all of that $85 and more. I wound up positive for the week, barely, but something has to change.
I've been playing all of the decent MTTs that I can find between about $3 and $20, because the choices aren't very good. Clearly that's too risky, even if most my tournaments are on the low side of that range. I need to stay on the low end of those buy-ins, and probably mix in more SNGs to further reduce variance. And of course, there is always plenty to study when there is nothing good to play.
I feel myself getting better almost every day, and one of the reasons is that almost every day I'm realizing that I'm not very good at some aspect of poker, and it goes on the list to get studied and fixed.
I started with a $50 online deposit to Americas Cardroom. My bankroll has never been much over $200. That just doesn't work with my current situation. I've dialed back my playing of tournaments over $5, but that's not going to be enough. For now, I have to completely stop playing at that level. I can't get better unless I'm willing to take more short-term risks for long-term gain, and I have to do that only in tournaments that are reasonably priced for my situation.
I'll be playing about half as many MTTs from now on, at least until I have a larger bankroll to deal with this variance. It's weird and frustrating that getting better means that I have to play less, but for now, that's the way it has to be. Of course, variance works both ways, and sooner or later I'll have a streak where the high finishes come in bunches, and the size of my bankroll won't be much of an issue. I sure hope that it happens sooner rather than later.
This is already a long post, so I'll present the numbers with little commentary.
---------------
Poker Profit or Loss
Tournaments $11.20
Rakeback 0.70
Bonus 1.00
--------
$12.90
---------------
Work Hours
Tournaments 18.25
Study 8.25
Asministrative 4.50
-------
31.00
I'm actually OK with those numbers. My wife had some time off and took a four-day weekend, so we spent more time together than usual, which is certainly a good thing. So 31 hours in that situaiton isn't bad at all.
Study was 26% of my work time, which is probably the highest it's ever been. I'm very happy about that. Since I'm going to have to cut back the MTTs, there shouldn't be a problem with spending at least 1/4 of my time studying every week. I have a lot of holes in my game, and I'm eager to fix them.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Friday, September 28, 2012
Am I playing too low and too high at the same time?
I am now in my second readthrough of Scerets of Professional Tournament Poker, volume 2. I usually read a poker book two or three times before I break it down and start studying and applying the text to different poker situations. Yesterday, something jumped out at me that I hadn't noticed before.
On page 160, Kindle location 2305, Little says the following:
"The level of tournaments that you win is a decent indication of your skill level. If you have been playing $500 tournaments for years and only have one win, you are probably playing too high. Similarly, if you play $10 tournaments and win one every week, you are probably playing too low."
In September so far, I've won twice and made the final table two other times:
9/3, $5.50 buy-in, 2nd of 131, cash of $91.70.
9/4, $5.50 buy-in, 7th of 110, cash of $22.00.
09/15, $5.50 buy-in,1st of 120, cash of $138.00
9/27, $5.50 buy-in, 1st of 46, cash of $66.70.
A month is obviously a very small sample size, but even so, I'm clearly a lot closer to that one-win-a-week player that needs to move up than I am to that one-win-a-year player that needs to move down.
Unfortunately, bankroll management rules (which the author also stresses, and correctly so) say otherwise. Little says that you should have 100 buy-ins to play at your level, unless it's your only income, in which case you need 200 buy-ins. I have done a lot of reading about bankroll management, and those numbers are pretty close to the standard advise on the twoplustwo.com poker forums.
Since tournament choices are limited, I'm playing everything between $1 SNGs and $15 MTTs, but the majority of the MTTs that I play go off at $5.50. 100 buy-ins at that level = $550, and 200 buy-ins comes to $1,100. My current bankroll is around $200.
I'm devoting more time to study, and I'm gradually getting more and more comfortable with the playing style that Little advocates, and with adapting it both to my skill set and to tournament situations at my level. I have no doubt that I can go deep at my current level on a regular basis.
As I build my bankroll, I'll have some tough decisions to make. I've said that when my bankroll reaches $500 I'll take another look at the situation, and that I won't even think about moving up. or about taking money out, until I reach that goal. But even then, I'll barely be bankrolled for what I'm doing now, and moving up would be a very dangerous thing to do.
For now, all I can do is keep winning. Figuring out what to do with $500 will be a nice problem to have.
On page 160, Kindle location 2305, Little says the following:
"The level of tournaments that you win is a decent indication of your skill level. If you have been playing $500 tournaments for years and only have one win, you are probably playing too high. Similarly, if you play $10 tournaments and win one every week, you are probably playing too low."
In September so far, I've won twice and made the final table two other times:
9/3, $5.50 buy-in, 2nd of 131, cash of $91.70.
9/4, $5.50 buy-in, 7th of 110, cash of $22.00.
09/15, $5.50 buy-in,1st of 120, cash of $138.00
9/27, $5.50 buy-in, 1st of 46, cash of $66.70.
A month is obviously a very small sample size, but even so, I'm clearly a lot closer to that one-win-a-week player that needs to move up than I am to that one-win-a-year player that needs to move down.
Unfortunately, bankroll management rules (which the author also stresses, and correctly so) say otherwise. Little says that you should have 100 buy-ins to play at your level, unless it's your only income, in which case you need 200 buy-ins. I have done a lot of reading about bankroll management, and those numbers are pretty close to the standard advise on the twoplustwo.com poker forums.
Since tournament choices are limited, I'm playing everything between $1 SNGs and $15 MTTs, but the majority of the MTTs that I play go off at $5.50. 100 buy-ins at that level = $550, and 200 buy-ins comes to $1,100. My current bankroll is around $200.
I'm devoting more time to study, and I'm gradually getting more and more comfortable with the playing style that Little advocates, and with adapting it both to my skill set and to tournament situations at my level. I have no doubt that I can go deep at my current level on a regular basis.
As I build my bankroll, I'll have some tough decisions to make. I've said that when my bankroll reaches $500 I'll take another look at the situation, and that I won't even think about moving up. or about taking money out, until I reach that goal. But even then, I'll barely be bankrolled for what I'm doing now, and moving up would be a very dangerous thing to do.
For now, all I can do is keep winning. Figuring out what to do with $500 will be a nice problem to have.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Results for September 16-22
Work Hours, 9-16-9/22
Tournaments 13.25
Study 10.50
Administrative 6.25
-------
30.00
Thirty hours is better than last week, and better than any week in more than a month. The study hours are up, and that's important. Nevertheless, I keep failing to get my 40 hours, no doubt at least partly due to my natural, ADD-fueled tendency toward disorganization and laziness. But I've isloated another problem.
Now that we are a one-car family and my wife drives to work, it's harder for me to control my own time. I can't just jump in the car when I want to take care of something. I have to wait until my wife and the car are home. What usually happens is that when we have some things to take care of, we go together to take care of them.
Form the standpoint of family efficiency, doing it that way makes sense. We can knock off a list of things that have to be done (go shopping, visit my parents or her mother, pick up perscriptions, etc.) One trip, north to south, then back.
The trouble is that for my purpose, which is to plan and control my schedule, based partly on the Americas Cardroom tournament schedule, it doesn't work at all. I could do one task, for example, go to the local Walgreen's, and be almost certain that I would be back in time for that tournament that starts in an hour.
With a long list of things to do, things are more unpredictable, and at least one thing on the list is probably going to take longer than expected, for example, the grocery store or the drug store might be busier than we expected. If I have a two-hour window and visiting my parents is last on the list, I can't walk in and announce that we have we have 12 minutes to talk. But if we skip that last item on the list, then we've defeated the purpose of the venture, which was to take care of all of our errands in one trip.
I'm getting really discouraged that I have so little control over my time and schedule, and there seem to be no easy answers. The only thing I can come up with is that I try to put in days of 12 hours or more in the early part of the week, on the assumption that something will go wrong later in the week. This isn't an ideal solution, since good tournament selection strategy says that I should be doing most of my playing on the weekend. But I have to get those hours in somehow.
---------------
Profit or Loss, 9/16-9/22
Tournaments -$47.07
Rakeback 1.82
Bonus 1.00
---------
-$44.25
I would like to be profitable every week, but I know that's not going to happen. Johnathan Little said in his second book that he has gone 40 straight tournaments without cashing. I certainly understand that that could, and at some point probably will, happen to me, but the end of my bankroll would come well before then, thus, the urgency to grow that bankroll to $500 as quickly as possible.
I was successful in getting my study hours up, but at the expense of playing only nine tournaments, getting small cashes in three. It will take me a while to get the right balance between play and study. I'm was hoping to finish the month up at least $100. I'm still up $80, so I have a decent shot at doing that.
Tournaments 13.25
Study 10.50
Administrative 6.25
-------
30.00
Thirty hours is better than last week, and better than any week in more than a month. The study hours are up, and that's important. Nevertheless, I keep failing to get my 40 hours, no doubt at least partly due to my natural, ADD-fueled tendency toward disorganization and laziness. But I've isloated another problem.
Now that we are a one-car family and my wife drives to work, it's harder for me to control my own time. I can't just jump in the car when I want to take care of something. I have to wait until my wife and the car are home. What usually happens is that when we have some things to take care of, we go together to take care of them.
Form the standpoint of family efficiency, doing it that way makes sense. We can knock off a list of things that have to be done (go shopping, visit my parents or her mother, pick up perscriptions, etc.) One trip, north to south, then back.
The trouble is that for my purpose, which is to plan and control my schedule, based partly on the Americas Cardroom tournament schedule, it doesn't work at all. I could do one task, for example, go to the local Walgreen's, and be almost certain that I would be back in time for that tournament that starts in an hour.
With a long list of things to do, things are more unpredictable, and at least one thing on the list is probably going to take longer than expected, for example, the grocery store or the drug store might be busier than we expected. If I have a two-hour window and visiting my parents is last on the list, I can't walk in and announce that we have we have 12 minutes to talk. But if we skip that last item on the list, then we've defeated the purpose of the venture, which was to take care of all of our errands in one trip.
I'm getting really discouraged that I have so little control over my time and schedule, and there seem to be no easy answers. The only thing I can come up with is that I try to put in days of 12 hours or more in the early part of the week, on the assumption that something will go wrong later in the week. This isn't an ideal solution, since good tournament selection strategy says that I should be doing most of my playing on the weekend. But I have to get those hours in somehow.
---------------
Profit or Loss, 9/16-9/22
Tournaments -$47.07
Rakeback 1.82
Bonus 1.00
---------
-$44.25
I would like to be profitable every week, but I know that's not going to happen. Johnathan Little said in his second book that he has gone 40 straight tournaments without cashing. I certainly understand that that could, and at some point probably will, happen to me, but the end of my bankroll would come well before then, thus, the urgency to grow that bankroll to $500 as quickly as possible.
I was successful in getting my study hours up, but at the expense of playing only nine tournaments, getting small cashes in three. It will take me a while to get the right balance between play and study. I'm was hoping to finish the month up at least $100. I'm still up $80, so I have a decent shot at doing that.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker, volume 2
New thing I learned recently
A World War II battle was fought on American soil, and I didn't know that until I watched the History Channel last night.
The Japanese invaded and captured two of Alaska's Aleutian Islands. The US retook one of the islands, then the Japanese evacuated the other one under cover of fog. The westernmost Aleutians are actually closer to Japan (about 1,000 miles) then they are to Anchorage, which was a surprise to me.
Anyone who says that there is nothing good on TV hasn't really looked. I learn something new and useful (this does not include the latest pageant exploits of Honey Boo Boo) from televison on a regular basis.
------------------------
There isn't much to say about poker. I haven't played a tournament in the last 24 hours. I'm being very selective about what I play this week while I'm concentrating more on study.
I downloaded Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker, volume 2, by Johnathan Little, to my Kindle today. One of the nice features is that is has page numbers along with Kindle locations. I like that because when a book is discussed on the twoplustwo.com poker forums, it is customary to refer to the page number when addresssing a topic. If some players are referencing a book printed on paper, some have a Kindle, and some are using a Nook or other device, it could certainly complicate communication on the forums.
Much of the book is about the nuts and bolts of playing a hand of poker. But it also covers other things, for example:
having a retirement fund
how to stack your chips
how to take useful notes online
how to interact with dealers and other players
why playing slowly costs you money
why berating other players costs you money
why arriving late to a tournament costs you money
why you should wear sunglasses at the table
why you should not wear headphones at the table
why you should be in a study group with other serious players
In this book, even more than with voume 1, I realized that Johnathan Little and myself are a lot alike in that we are both ruthlessly analytical. I get some interesting looks (and sometimes comments) from my wife when I say something like, "I'm going to lay down. I think there's a 70% chance that I'll be able to fall asleep."
I knew that Little was a kindred spirit when he stated that he's very good at housework, ". . . because I have figured out the most efficient way to do each task."
As far as the importance of the topics in the book, you've probably looked at my partial list and are thinking something like, "Is that really important?" I thought that too, espeically when I saw the section title, "How to Stack Your Chips."
It turns out that there are good reasons for the section. For one, if your chips aren't well organized, you have to fumble for the right chips to make your bet. Any extra moves you make can give off tells. One of the basic tenants of live poker is that you never give your opponents free information, and to that end, you should make the save movements every time you bet. Here is an excerpt from the book:
"I once saw a player who would shake like crazy when digging through his stack if he had a large hand and would smoothly go through his stack when weak. I wonder how much money he would save if he just stacked his chips so they were easy to access."
When playing live I put my chips in stacks of ten or twenty, with different stacks for each denomination, which is very similar to what Little advocates, but I do it for a different reason. I want to always know how many chips I have, and if I always keep them organized, I don't have to guess, or count them.
I"m learning a lot about how handling something seemingly mudane can actually make a difference. The only downside was having still another poker expert tell me how important it was that I have poker friends with whom I can study and discuss hands. That's not an option for me for a varity of reasons.
I'm learning a lot from volume 2 so far. I already have a long list of things to study based on volume 1, so I will be using Little's books as a core part of my studies for a long time.
A World War II battle was fought on American soil, and I didn't know that until I watched the History Channel last night.
The Japanese invaded and captured two of Alaska's Aleutian Islands. The US retook one of the islands, then the Japanese evacuated the other one under cover of fog. The westernmost Aleutians are actually closer to Japan (about 1,000 miles) then they are to Anchorage, which was a surprise to me.
Anyone who says that there is nothing good on TV hasn't really looked. I learn something new and useful (this does not include the latest pageant exploits of Honey Boo Boo) from televison on a regular basis.
------------------------
There isn't much to say about poker. I haven't played a tournament in the last 24 hours. I'm being very selective about what I play this week while I'm concentrating more on study.
I downloaded Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker, volume 2, by Johnathan Little, to my Kindle today. One of the nice features is that is has page numbers along with Kindle locations. I like that because when a book is discussed on the twoplustwo.com poker forums, it is customary to refer to the page number when addresssing a topic. If some players are referencing a book printed on paper, some have a Kindle, and some are using a Nook or other device, it could certainly complicate communication on the forums.
Much of the book is about the nuts and bolts of playing a hand of poker. But it also covers other things, for example:
having a retirement fund
how to stack your chips
how to take useful notes online
how to interact with dealers and other players
why playing slowly costs you money
why berating other players costs you money
why arriving late to a tournament costs you money
why you should wear sunglasses at the table
why you should not wear headphones at the table
why you should be in a study group with other serious players
In this book, even more than with voume 1, I realized that Johnathan Little and myself are a lot alike in that we are both ruthlessly analytical. I get some interesting looks (and sometimes comments) from my wife when I say something like, "I'm going to lay down. I think there's a 70% chance that I'll be able to fall asleep."
I knew that Little was a kindred spirit when he stated that he's very good at housework, ". . . because I have figured out the most efficient way to do each task."
As far as the importance of the topics in the book, you've probably looked at my partial list and are thinking something like, "Is that really important?" I thought that too, espeically when I saw the section title, "How to Stack Your Chips."
It turns out that there are good reasons for the section. For one, if your chips aren't well organized, you have to fumble for the right chips to make your bet. Any extra moves you make can give off tells. One of the basic tenants of live poker is that you never give your opponents free information, and to that end, you should make the save movements every time you bet. Here is an excerpt from the book:
"I once saw a player who would shake like crazy when digging through his stack if he had a large hand and would smoothly go through his stack when weak. I wonder how much money he would save if he just stacked his chips so they were easy to access."
When playing live I put my chips in stacks of ten or twenty, with different stacks for each denomination, which is very similar to what Little advocates, but I do it for a different reason. I want to always know how many chips I have, and if I always keep them organized, I don't have to guess, or count them.
I"m learning a lot about how handling something seemingly mudane can actually make a difference. The only downside was having still another poker expert tell me how important it was that I have poker friends with whom I can study and discuss hands. That's not an option for me for a varity of reasons.
I'm learning a lot from volume 2 so far. I already have a long list of things to study based on volume 1, so I will be using Little's books as a core part of my studies for a long time.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Attempting a deep run against 500 players
A few hours ago I finished a $5.50, 503-player tournament. Most of the tournaments that I enter have around 100 players. The larger tournament runs twice a week on americascardroom.com, and I had played it a few times, but not recently. I thought it would be interesting to try it again and see how I did.
I always think about that particular tournament carefully before I play it, because with that many players it's a pretty big time committment, and the larger the tournament, the less often I'm going to cash. I struggle with the idea of playing for several hours, and probably not cashing, when I desperately need to build my bankroll.
I decided to give it a shot last night, and it went pretty well. I played for 3 hours and 20 minutes, finished in 28th place, and cashed for $13.83. I got some good experience, went pretty deep in a large tournament, and I got a little money for my time. I'm pretty happy with that outcome, and I definitely learned a few things that I can do differently the next time.
I would have loved to last another hour. It was a very nice prize pool, with final table prizes ranging from $42.75 for 9th to $490.42 for first (as always, the big money is in the top 3 places.) As with any tournament, with a few breaks I could have gone deeper, and I now believe that I'm capable of making the final table of that tournament. It certainly wouldn't happen often (you have to catch some breaks to get through 500 players) but with that kind of money, even an occasional good cash would make a huge difference in my bankroll.
Overall, it was an interesting tournament, and I feel pretty good about my chances when I play it again.
I always think about that particular tournament carefully before I play it, because with that many players it's a pretty big time committment, and the larger the tournament, the less often I'm going to cash. I struggle with the idea of playing for several hours, and probably not cashing, when I desperately need to build my bankroll.
I decided to give it a shot last night, and it went pretty well. I played for 3 hours and 20 minutes, finished in 28th place, and cashed for $13.83. I got some good experience, went pretty deep in a large tournament, and I got a little money for my time. I'm pretty happy with that outcome, and I definitely learned a few things that I can do differently the next time.
I would have loved to last another hour. It was a very nice prize pool, with final table prizes ranging from $42.75 for 9th to $490.42 for first (as always, the big money is in the top 3 places.) As with any tournament, with a few breaks I could have gone deeper, and I now believe that I'm capable of making the final table of that tournament. It certainly wouldn't happen often (you have to catch some breaks to get through 500 players) but with that kind of money, even an occasional good cash would make a huge difference in my bankroll.
Overall, it was an interesting tournament, and I feel pretty good about my chances when I play it again.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Another week saved at the end
Near the end of the week it looked like I would wind up in the red. A week isn't that big a deal (and I can't let it be, as that kind of short-term thinking can lead to nothing but trouble) but I'm tired of treading water and not getting anwhere. I want to get my bankroll built up sooner rather than later. I pulled it off in my last three tournaments of the week:
$1.65 buy-in, 9 players, 1st place, cash of $6.75.
$1.65 buy-in, 6 players, 1st place, cash of $5.95.
$5.50 buy-in, 100 players, 1st place, cash of $138.00.
I have been lurking at or near the final table in a lot of tournaments with around 100 players, including finishing 2nd of 131 on September 3. I haven't taken one down in a while, and it feels really good. It's certainly more profitable than finishing second--in this case, the difference between first and second place was around $50.
It was quite a battle, especially the heads-up. where first I was up, then he was, back and forth for over an hour. The hand that won it for me had us both showing top pair (eights) but I had the better kicker.
Profit or Loss, 9/9-9/15
Tournaments $45.45
Rakeback 0.81
Bonus 1.00
--------
$47.26
---------------
I'm not thrilled with these numbers, but 29 is the most hours I've worked since August 5-11. so I'll take it. I'm getting my life back and organized again, and I hope to get my 40 hours in next week, incluing at least 15 hours of study (see my previous two posts concerning the need for a increased emphasis on study.)
I'm more than a third of the way throught the latest reread of my poker book (also discussed in the previous posts), writing down things on which I need to spend some serious study time. I'll be getting volume 2 as a birthday present this month. There is always something to study or work on.
Work Hours, 9/9-9/15
Tournaments 22.00
Study 3.00
Adminstrative 4.00
--------
29.00
$1.65 buy-in, 9 players, 1st place, cash of $6.75.
$1.65 buy-in, 6 players, 1st place, cash of $5.95.
$5.50 buy-in, 100 players, 1st place, cash of $138.00.
I have been lurking at or near the final table in a lot of tournaments with around 100 players, including finishing 2nd of 131 on September 3. I haven't taken one down in a while, and it feels really good. It's certainly more profitable than finishing second--in this case, the difference between first and second place was around $50.
It was quite a battle, especially the heads-up. where first I was up, then he was, back and forth for over an hour. The hand that won it for me had us both showing top pair (eights) but I had the better kicker.
Profit or Loss, 9/9-9/15
Tournaments $45.45
Rakeback 0.81
Bonus 1.00
--------
$47.26
---------------
I'm not thrilled with these numbers, but 29 is the most hours I've worked since August 5-11. so I'll take it. I'm getting my life back and organized again, and I hope to get my 40 hours in next week, incluing at least 15 hours of study (see my previous two posts concerning the need for a increased emphasis on study.)
I'm more than a third of the way throught the latest reread of my poker book (also discussed in the previous posts), writing down things on which I need to spend some serious study time. I'll be getting volume 2 as a birthday present this month. There is always something to study or work on.
Work Hours, 9/9-9/15
Tournaments 22.00
Study 3.00
Adminstrative 4.00
--------
29.00
Saturday, September 15, 2012
My Homer Simpson moment
Lsst night I had one of those Homer Simpson moments. I had planned to get some serious tournament time in during the week, and take a day just for studying this weekend. Then it hit me. The weekend is when more SNGs run, when the MTTs have bigger prize pools, and when there are more casual players (weekend warriors) in the tournaments. I know that the best time to play is on the weekend. Any halfway serious online player knows that.
Today is Saturday, the last day of the week. I haven't done much studying this week, and I'm certainly not going to do it today. I guess my plan for more study time will have to be implemented next week.
Doh!
Today is Saturday, the last day of the week. I haven't done much studying this week, and I'm certainly not going to do it today. I guess my plan for more study time will have to be implemented next week.
Doh!
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Studying poker
The latest poker book that I have been reading and studying is Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker, volume 1, by Johnathan Little, the World Poker Tour Player of the Year for season six.
http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-players/34909-jonathan-little
I've read the book a few times, and now I'm going through it again, this time taking notes on things that I need to study more deeply. I'm learning more and more how many things I don't know. There are a lot of holes in my game.
Most of these holes I already knew about, sort of. What I didn't realize was what a difference it will make if I fix them. One problem is that I'm folding too much in late position. I'm much better at being aggressive from late position (form any position really) but it seems I don't have much feel or knowledge when it comes to calling from late position. I'm folding way too often, when I should be calling even if I have a bad hand. (One reason that I should be calling more often is that the advantage of being last to act significantly lessens the disadvantage of probably having the worst hand.)
To put it bluntly, as I struggle to build a poker career, I'm finding out that in a lot of ways I'm not nearly as good as I thought I was. There is a lot more math that I need to know, and a lot more mathematical situations that I need to understand. I have a ton of memory work to do for different situations, for example, how much equity does QJ suited have against my opponent's range? Against two random hands? Three random hands? I need to know this, if not for every card combination, at least for enough of them that I can extrapolate to the ones that I don't have memorized.
There is always something to work on. I have abandoned the study of poker tells since I'm not playing live right now. I have to get back to that sometime.
I could go on, but the point is that I have to make study a higher priority. Therefore, my goal is no longer to study for 10 hours and play for 30 hours every week. My new weekly goal is to study at last 15 hours a week and play at least 25 hours. The more that I study poker, and the more that I read about how other players study poker, I know that 10 hours a week isn't going to get the job done.
http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-players/34909-jonathan-little
I've read the book a few times, and now I'm going through it again, this time taking notes on things that I need to study more deeply. I'm learning more and more how many things I don't know. There are a lot of holes in my game.
Most of these holes I already knew about, sort of. What I didn't realize was what a difference it will make if I fix them. One problem is that I'm folding too much in late position. I'm much better at being aggressive from late position (form any position really) but it seems I don't have much feel or knowledge when it comes to calling from late position. I'm folding way too often, when I should be calling even if I have a bad hand. (One reason that I should be calling more often is that the advantage of being last to act significantly lessens the disadvantage of probably having the worst hand.)
To put it bluntly, as I struggle to build a poker career, I'm finding out that in a lot of ways I'm not nearly as good as I thought I was. There is a lot more math that I need to know, and a lot more mathematical situations that I need to understand. I have a ton of memory work to do for different situations, for example, how much equity does QJ suited have against my opponent's range? Against two random hands? Three random hands? I need to know this, if not for every card combination, at least for enough of them that I can extrapolate to the ones that I don't have memorized.
There is always something to work on. I have abandoned the study of poker tells since I'm not playing live right now. I have to get back to that sometime.
I could go on, but the point is that I have to make study a higher priority. Therefore, my goal is no longer to study for 10 hours and play for 30 hours every week. My new weekly goal is to study at last 15 hours a week and play at least 25 hours. The more that I study poker, and the more that I read about how other players study poker, I know that 10 hours a week isn't going to get the job done.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Results for week of 9/2/2012
After this one I'm all caught up with my posting (the week ended yesterday) and I hope to post on a regular basis. I started the week with two very nice cashes:
9/3, $5.50 buy-in, 2nd of 31, cash of $91.70.
9.4, $5.50 buy-in, 7th of $110, cash of $22.00.
Most of the rest of the week I didn't cash, but those two results were more than enough to make it a very good week. I started the week with a bankroll of $29.28, and ended it with $113.04. That definitely puts me back in the fight.
The only really disappointing thing was how long I fought unsuccessfully to get the win in the first tournament, which would have given me an extra $40 or so for first place.. The heads-up was over an hour. I've never played heads-up even close to that long online before. We both had very short stacks at different times, but eventually I lost and settled for second.
I think I played the heads-up reasonably well, but I have to add a few tricks to my game. My heads-up style will beat a lot of players at my level, but I'm not sure it will hold up when I'm playing $20 or $30 tournaments, and I haven't done any heads-up study in a long time.
---------------
Poker Hours 9/2-9/8
Tournaments 11.00
Study 6.00
Administrative 3.75
-------
20.75
I'm not thrilled with those hours, but it was better than either of the previous two weeks. This week my schedule is open, my time is my own, and there is absolutely no reason that I can't spend more that forty hours on poker this week.
---------------
Profit or Loss 9/2-9/8
Tournaments $83.40
Rakeback 0.36
Bonus 0.00
--------
$83.76
---------------
9/3, $5.50 buy-in, 2nd of 31, cash of $91.70.
9.4, $5.50 buy-in, 7th of $110, cash of $22.00.
Most of the rest of the week I didn't cash, but those two results were more than enough to make it a very good week. I started the week with a bankroll of $29.28, and ended it with $113.04. That definitely puts me back in the fight.
The only really disappointing thing was how long I fought unsuccessfully to get the win in the first tournament, which would have given me an extra $40 or so for first place.. The heads-up was over an hour. I've never played heads-up even close to that long online before. We both had very short stacks at different times, but eventually I lost and settled for second.
I think I played the heads-up reasonably well, but I have to add a few tricks to my game. My heads-up style will beat a lot of players at my level, but I'm not sure it will hold up when I'm playing $20 or $30 tournaments, and I haven't done any heads-up study in a long time.
---------------
Poker Hours 9/2-9/8
Tournaments 11.00
Study 6.00
Administrative 3.75
-------
20.75
I'm not thrilled with those hours, but it was better than either of the previous two weeks. This week my schedule is open, my time is my own, and there is absolutely no reason that I can't spend more that forty hours on poker this week.
---------------
Profit or Loss 9/2-9/8
Tournaments $83.40
Rakeback 0.36
Bonus 0.00
--------
$83.76
---------------
Friday, September 7, 2012
Results for week of 8/26/2012
Not much to tell. This was the last of the lost weeks, when our life was either turned upside down, put on hold, or both. Pretty much like the previous week--I didn't play much, and I would up around breakeven for the week.
This is the last of my catch-up posts. Without further ado or commentary, the numbers:
---------------
Poker Hours
Tournaments 4.25
Study 4.00
Administrative 2.75
------
11.00
---------------
Profit or Loss
Tournaments -$6.25
Rakeback 0.25
Bonus 0.00
-------
-$6.00
This is the last of my catch-up posts. Without further ado or commentary, the numbers:
---------------
Poker Hours
Tournaments 4.25
Study 4.00
Administrative 2.75
------
11.00
---------------
Profit or Loss
Tournaments -$6.25
Rakeback 0.25
Bonus 0.00
-------
-$6.00
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Results for week of 8/19
I don't have to report for jury duty this week, so it looks like I really do have control of my schedule again.
As promised, I'm catching up on my reccordkeeping, including results from pervious weeks. I should have the week starting 8/26 up tomorrow. That will bring everything up-to-date.
After a very bad previous week, around 8/22 the SNG offerings an Americas Cardroom got a little better. I had been down for the week, but I cashed in a few SNGs so that I was about to pull even for the week.
----------------
Work Hours 8/19-8/25
Tournaments 6.25
Study 1.50
Administrative 1.00
------
8.75
-----------
Profit or Loss
Tournaments -$0.27
Rakeback 0.98
Bonus 0.00
-------
$0.71
Not much to say. I didn't play much, but at least I stopped the bleeding.
------------
As promised, I'm catching up on my reccordkeeping, including results from pervious weeks. I should have the week starting 8/26 up tomorrow. That will bring everything up-to-date.
After a very bad previous week, around 8/22 the SNG offerings an Americas Cardroom got a little better. I had been down for the week, but I cashed in a few SNGs so that I was about to pull even for the week.
----------------
Work Hours 8/19-8/25
Tournaments 6.25
Study 1.50
Administrative 1.00
------
8.75
-----------
Profit or Loss
Tournaments -$0.27
Rakeback 0.98
Bonus 0.00
-------
$0.71
Not much to say. I didn't play much, but at least I stopped the bleeding.
------------
Monday, September 3, 2012
The last few weeks.
In my last post, I said that I would post results for 8/19-8/25 "tommorow". That was several days ago. Our lives (my wife and I) have been turned upside down the last few weeks:
1. Americas Cardroom has been making all kinds of changes, most of them bad, and there have been times where there were literally no tournaments available that I could afford to play.
2. My grandchildren have been over a lot, sometimes overnight, or several times in one week.
3. My wife's car wound up in the shop for several days. Mine was totaled in an accident recently. We had to rent a car, and extend the rental time twice, while we waited to see when/if her car would be repaired.
As someone with ADD, I don't exactly thrive on chaos. When I don't approach life with a plan and a schedule, chaos happens. It doesn't happen often, because I know what I'm dealing with, and what I have to do to manage it.
But everything got away from me. I had no schedule, and in fact some days we didn't know if we would have a car. Planning when to play poker was out of the question, because we didn't always know how we were going to get around, or when the girls would be here. We were reacting, and for me that's never a good thing. But today, for the first time in weeks, I felt like I finally had things under control.
My wife's car is fixed. The rental has to be returned tomorrow. I was scheduled for jury duty this week, but today (Labor Day) is a federal holiday, and I don't have to report tomorrow, so I only have three days, Wednesday through Friday, when my plans are on hold. My daughter-in-law and her girls now know when they leave for Germany. They will be on a plane Saturday, and we will be there to see them off. I finally know what's going on, and that, for me, is a really big deal.
Tonight I played a regular tournament (not just a one-table SNG) and I was excited and at the same time relaxed. My bankroll had dwindled down to about $30, but I never gave up, and I never doubted my ability
I got a lot of breaks tonight, and I got more than my share of good cards. But it's my job to take advantage of that when it happens, and I did. The entry fee was $5.50, and there were 131 players. I came in second, for a cash of $91.70.
That's how it's supposed to work. There will be downswings, and there will be long stretches when it seems like all I can do is break even. Being an MTT specialist is about getting the occasional large cashes that can make a week, a month, or even a year. So, I'm back, and I'm making a renewed effort to spend more of my time on study.
My current bankroll of $115.48 isn't much, but it's a lot better than $30. Now I have at least a little room to operate. I'm learning to apply the things I've studied when I play, and I know that I'm only going to get better.
In a recent discussion on the 2+2 poker forums, someone asked if older players (meaning roughly over age 50) could remain competitive. I responded that Doyle Brunson won a World Series of Poker Bracelet in 2009--at age 76. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doyle_brunson
I'm only 56, and I plan on getting a lot better, and on earning a real income from this game. I'm not going to be ready for a rocking chair at age 65. I plan to be playing a lot of poker, and maybe even running another marathon to celebrate my birthday.. I got a run in today, and the 89 degree heat didn't phase me at all. It was a very good day.
I will try to catch up on posting week-by-week results in the next few days, but this time I'm not making any promises about exactly when that will happen.
1. Americas Cardroom has been making all kinds of changes, most of them bad, and there have been times where there were literally no tournaments available that I could afford to play.
2. My grandchildren have been over a lot, sometimes overnight, or several times in one week.
3. My wife's car wound up in the shop for several days. Mine was totaled in an accident recently. We had to rent a car, and extend the rental time twice, while we waited to see when/if her car would be repaired.
As someone with ADD, I don't exactly thrive on chaos. When I don't approach life with a plan and a schedule, chaos happens. It doesn't happen often, because I know what I'm dealing with, and what I have to do to manage it.
But everything got away from me. I had no schedule, and in fact some days we didn't know if we would have a car. Planning when to play poker was out of the question, because we didn't always know how we were going to get around, or when the girls would be here. We were reacting, and for me that's never a good thing. But today, for the first time in weeks, I felt like I finally had things under control.
My wife's car is fixed. The rental has to be returned tomorrow. I was scheduled for jury duty this week, but today (Labor Day) is a federal holiday, and I don't have to report tomorrow, so I only have three days, Wednesday through Friday, when my plans are on hold. My daughter-in-law and her girls now know when they leave for Germany. They will be on a plane Saturday, and we will be there to see them off. I finally know what's going on, and that, for me, is a really big deal.
Tonight I played a regular tournament (not just a one-table SNG) and I was excited and at the same time relaxed. My bankroll had dwindled down to about $30, but I never gave up, and I never doubted my ability
I got a lot of breaks tonight, and I got more than my share of good cards. But it's my job to take advantage of that when it happens, and I did. The entry fee was $5.50, and there were 131 players. I came in second, for a cash of $91.70.
That's how it's supposed to work. There will be downswings, and there will be long stretches when it seems like all I can do is break even. Being an MTT specialist is about getting the occasional large cashes that can make a week, a month, or even a year. So, I'm back, and I'm making a renewed effort to spend more of my time on study.
My current bankroll of $115.48 isn't much, but it's a lot better than $30. Now I have at least a little room to operate. I'm learning to apply the things I've studied when I play, and I know that I'm only going to get better.
In a recent discussion on the 2+2 poker forums, someone asked if older players (meaning roughly over age 50) could remain competitive. I responded that Doyle Brunson won a World Series of Poker Bracelet in 2009--at age 76. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doyle_brunson
I'm only 56, and I plan on getting a lot better, and on earning a real income from this game. I'm not going to be ready for a rocking chair at age 65. I plan to be playing a lot of poker, and maybe even running another marathon to celebrate my birthday.. I got a run in today, and the 89 degree heat didn't phase me at all. It was a very good day.
I will try to catch up on posting week-by-week results in the next few days, but this time I'm not making any promises about exactly when that will happen.
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