Milestone--Juicy Stakes Poker

A few days ago I got my bankroll on Juicy Stakes Poker up to $200. The current amount is $206.24.

There are times when it seems like it's going to take forever to build significant bankrolls on two online sites, but the last couple weeks, and the month of July in general, have gone pretty well.  I can tell that I'm improving.

There are things I can do at the table that I wouldn't have been able to do a couple months ago.  I know the math better and I'm better at applying it.  I'm more aggressive when it's called for and in general  I have a better grasp of the game and it's various situations.

That doesn't mean that I consider myself a good player compared to some of those that I've played with, especially live.  I'm still weak in a lot of areas and I'm still working on it.  I am, as mentioned in earlier posts, a plodding learner who absorbs information or learns new skills in little pieces until I eventually put it all together.  The last two weeks I could feel some of those pieces starting to come together.  It's a very nice feeling.

Milestone--Bankroll Building

My profit this year on Juicy Stakes Poker to date is $101.67.

That's just a nice number because it's more than $100.  The point is that I broke through the $100 profit mark for that site this year and can, with enough play and study, go higher.  It's not just that I can probably get that profit number up to $150, $200 and  beyond sometime this year.

Think of it like compound interest.  The bigger my bankroll gets, the more money I can afford to spend on a tournament.  The mathematical way to put that  is that I have decreased my risk of ruin. When I have a bigger bankroll I can play more expensive tournaments, and I can win more money.

The cycle builds on itself.  If I win a big top three cash at a bigger buy-in, most or all of that money will be reinvested into the business, which will grow my bankroll faster, which means I can play even higher soon.

I'm really looking forward to watching that happen.

June 2017 Results and Comments

Once again I've been lazy and didn't get around to posting last month's results.  My life is a neverending battle against Attention Deficit Disorder.  I formed a lot of bad habits over a period of many years before my ADD was diagnosed.  It will always be a battle to fight against more than 40 years of bad habits and to build good ones.

I used to write in my planner, in considerable detail, what I wanted to get done in the next day and the next week.  I stopped doing that and I obviously need to get back to it.

To use a  word popularized in the last few years, June was a nothingburger.  I didn't get to play very much compared to other months.  I was negative for the month, but not by much.

Here are the numbers, from the two sites on which I am now playing:

Juicy Stakes Poker, June 2017
17 tournaments played
8 net win tournaments,   +$10.95
12 net loss tournaments, -$18.65
                                                ---------
                                               -$7.70

Americas Cardroom, June 2017
5 net win tournaments,    +$4.23
13 net loss tournaments,   -$9.13
                                                ---------
                                            -$4.90


Combined results for May 2017: -$12.60.


I decided early this month that once again I had to make some changes.  The problem was simple.  I wasn't playing enough.  I erred on the side of caution in order to have good bankroll management, but it's obvious now that I can't be that picky about what I play.  I need to play more tournaments for more hours.  I need to play a variety of tournament types and structures.  I need to be willing to play at all times of the day and night.

I no longer choose from my standard block of tournaments that start between about 1900 and 2300.  Some of those tournaments don't run every day, so there were days where I found myself playing only one or two tournaments.

Having a somewhat regular schedule every day was convenient, and playing lower risk tournaments was certainly good bankroll management--but that wasn't enough.  It's time to play enough tournaments for enough hours to get some serious practice in and to starting turning this exercise into dollars.  This month (July) I am doing exactly that.

Starting near the end of June and continuing into July, I've been playing more types of tournaments and accepting the variance that goes with that.  I'm no longer avoiding the tournaments with very small fields, or that don't have structures as good as I would like.  Even more important, I'm playing at all different times of day and night.  Now that I'm playing more tournaments, I discovered that once I figured the the implications of the different types of tournaments I  can do pretty well in tournaments that don't fit the way that I usually play.

Instead of going into my office at 1900 every night, now I play almost whenever I want.  No more regular schedule of working from about 1900-0200 six or seven days a week, watching TV for a few hours, then going to bed. I play at whatever time is convenient when tournaments are available.  I sleep when I'm tired and when it's convenient. I often take naps before tournament sessions.

Now I have no schedule and despite my needs  for structure and discipline, it's actually working better that way.   When I played yesterday, July 13, I played tournaments starting at 1925, 2047 and 2214. Then I took a break before I played one today (July 14) starting at 0229.

I'm halfway through July and I'm up for the month, with most of my winnings coming from tournaments that I avoided the first half of the year.  I hope to have good results to post when I have my July numbers.