It's always good (I feel) to jot down some goals. Why not do it for poker? I'm not going for something unattainable (like a WSOP win or making millions overnight), but I do think I should make some longterm goals that might seem lofty. Here are a few things that I would like to do (both in the short-term and in the long-term).
1) Playing $1/2, have a month where I make over 3k. Playing 20 sessions a month (probably averaging 3-4 hours per session) might not be enough to make that happen, as that would be about $43/hour if I had 20 3.5 hour sessions. Again, maybe this is too optimistic to shoot for, however, I'm not going to aim at my feet with these goals.
2) Have 3 consecutive winning months to end 2010, . I won a whopping $165 for the month of September having played 17 sessions. I didn't keep track of hours played (like I will from now on), however, I'd guess that I averaged the 3.5 hours per session. So I averaged a nice 2.77/hour for September. Awesome! Who says you can't make a living playing poker! Seriously, though, part of my goal is to at least make an average of $20/hour for those 3 months (roughly $1200/month).
3) Play in more small tournaments in 2010. There are some descent tourneys for $50 buy ins that I want to play in and some for $100 that are run once a month and get a good number of players. I missed them for Oct. but I would like to play in at least one $100 one in both Nov. and Dec.
4) Starting in January, play in a $2/5 game on a consistent basis. If I want to make some money playing poker, I need to move up in stakes.
5) Starting in December, I would like to play in the $1/2 PLO game for 5 sessions. This will require a bankroll and better bankroll management and might conflict with my goal of 3 consecutive winning months to end the year. I just feel that the game is very soft now and may attract better PLO players very soon. I would make the deadline Nov. 1st, however, I just don't think I'll have the bankroll by then.
6) Play in a major tourney ($500-$2000 buy in) in the next 6 months. There is a WSOP circuit event in Hammond, IN later in October and the Heartland Poker Tour is in Mount Pleasant, MI in November. Ideally, I would like to play in one of those tourneys. If I can't make that, I would like to get into one somewhere by March 31st.
7) Play in a WSOP event in June/July 2011. They have affordable events and I now know some people who will be out there at that time. I think it would be a great experience and Vegas is always a blast.
8) By the end of 2011, I want to buy a car with money earned by playing poker. This one is a bit crazy, however, I didn't say what type of car. The way that I play now it might have to be an '86 Escort. But it would be nice to be able to get something (at least make a significant down payment) from poker winnings.
There are 8 goals that I will try my best to accomplish. I'm glad that I have put something down so that I can at least reference it later on. I urge you to do the same and not just with poker. I think it's motivational (among other things) to read over goals you had once set out for yourself and do your best to try and fulfill as many as you can.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
First session of October
Well, the first session of October wasn't anything special. I walked away up $121 in my usual $1/2 game with a $200 max buy-in (which is what I most always buy in for). It was almost a 4 hour session (3:45 I do believe), so I guess making $30/hour isn't bad, however, like most times I play I feel like I left money on the table. My problem is that when I have a good hand I tend to not extract as much value as I should even though I'm fairly confident I'm ahead. I call instead of raising, and I'll check the river. Part of the reason that I do that is because I feel the only way I get called in some of these scenarios is if they have me beat. But scared money doesn't make money, right?
Here is a hand example that I'm uncertain how I played it.
The scenario is that there is an aggressive player on the small blind. This guy had made many preflop raises and was called down with a rather weak hand. I'm 2nd to act and have QQ. I bet out $12 (standard openings at this place seem to be between $12-17 with big pairs, AK, etc.) as there is only one caller (2nd player to act) for the $2 blind in front of me. It's folded around to the small blind who raises it to $24. I'm the only caller. The flop comes 10 10 8. He checks and I check. I really put him on a wide range of hands, but felt like he had a pair in the 99-JJ range (which made the flop a little scary for me), and I didn't like the check as he had been fairly aggressive post flop up until now. The turn comes a 10. He fires $24 and I raise it to $50. He calls. The river is a J. He checks, I check. He shows AQ, I take it down with 10s full of Qs. The $36 preflop bet is what made me cautious on this hand. Not to mention that many of the hands I put him on had me beat (88, JJ, KK, AA). I still can't help but wonder if I should have bet on that river. When he checked it I had a fairly strong feeling that he did not hit, however, I did raise him on the turn, so me betting was a possibility in his eyes and if he hit the J it would make sense to hope that I would bet. Regardless, it was an interesting hand that I won (and should be happy about) but need to further exam if I want to be a better player.
That hand brought me back, as I was down in the session at the time. My problem is that I tend to either be too impatient early or I just feel I need to bet position. The place I play has a lot of action and players are more likely to call than fold. With that being said, I tend to want to bet my position more than I probably should in that scenario. In the last half dozen sessions I have gotten down early (sometimes down $150) because I raise preflop and than throw out a c-bet and get called. My holding is air in some cases (missed suited connectors), so I might fire again on the turn but tend to ease up on the river. I do this because I feel my image is really tight most of the time. This process has gotten me in trouble the last few times I've played. I've been fortunate on all but one occasion to get down to a certain point (between $50-80) then get into a 2 or 3 way all-in and come out the winner. Obviously, this isn't something that I can bank on happening all the time. I just need to open less early on, especially when I know the table is loose.
I'm glad I won some money and I just have to continue to work on my game.
Here is a hand example that I'm uncertain how I played it.
The scenario is that there is an aggressive player on the small blind. This guy had made many preflop raises and was called down with a rather weak hand. I'm 2nd to act and have QQ. I bet out $12 (standard openings at this place seem to be between $12-17 with big pairs, AK, etc.) as there is only one caller (2nd player to act) for the $2 blind in front of me. It's folded around to the small blind who raises it to $24. I'm the only caller. The flop comes 10 10 8. He checks and I check. I really put him on a wide range of hands, but felt like he had a pair in the 99-JJ range (which made the flop a little scary for me), and I didn't like the check as he had been fairly aggressive post flop up until now. The turn comes a 10. He fires $24 and I raise it to $50. He calls. The river is a J. He checks, I check. He shows AQ, I take it down with 10s full of Qs. The $36 preflop bet is what made me cautious on this hand. Not to mention that many of the hands I put him on had me beat (88, JJ, KK, AA). I still can't help but wonder if I should have bet on that river. When he checked it I had a fairly strong feeling that he did not hit, however, I did raise him on the turn, so me betting was a possibility in his eyes and if he hit the J it would make sense to hope that I would bet. Regardless, it was an interesting hand that I won (and should be happy about) but need to further exam if I want to be a better player.
That hand brought me back, as I was down in the session at the time. My problem is that I tend to either be too impatient early or I just feel I need to bet position. The place I play has a lot of action and players are more likely to call than fold. With that being said, I tend to want to bet my position more than I probably should in that scenario. In the last half dozen sessions I have gotten down early (sometimes down $150) because I raise preflop and than throw out a c-bet and get called. My holding is air in some cases (missed suited connectors), so I might fire again on the turn but tend to ease up on the river. I do this because I feel my image is really tight most of the time. This process has gotten me in trouble the last few times I've played. I've been fortunate on all but one occasion to get down to a certain point (between $50-80) then get into a 2 or 3 way all-in and come out the winner. Obviously, this isn't something that I can bank on happening all the time. I just need to open less early on, especially when I know the table is loose.
I'm glad I won some money and I just have to continue to work on my game.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
An Introduction
Yet another blog on poker.....spare me the details, right? Well, first and foremost this is for me as a player. I'm hoping documenting my play (i.e. my mistakes) will allow for me to be less of a donk at the tables in the future. As a reader (if I ever have any), maybe you can learn from my blunders and not make the same errors.
As for me I am 31 years old and have been playing poker for about 8 years now. I started as a limit hold'em player and then made the switch to NL hold'em in 2005. It's hard to believe that I've been playing poker that long. My screen name is 'Lowcald' and I've played on quite a few sites online. Currently, I'm playing exclusively on Full Tilt. As for live action, I'm playing about 4-5 sessions per week at a $1/2 NL game with a $200 max buy in. I've been playing at that level and about the same time duration for about 9 months. Prior to that I would only play live poker a few times a month. As my live sessions have gone up drastically, the time I play online has diminished quite a bit. I do feel that the live games at the $1/2 level are much softer than that of Full Tilt at similiar stakes.
I just started dabbling in PLO (only online so far). There is a juicy game near me that is filled with players that have a lot more money than they do knowledge of how to play the game. I just don't feel I have the bankroll right now to play that game (as the variance is much higher than it is for NL), nor is my comfort level with the game where I would like it to be. I am currently reading a book on the game and playing micro stakes at Full Tilt in the hope of getting on that table. The book I am reading is 'Pot Limit Omaha Poker' by Jeff Hwang. I've heard the book to be very informative and have liked what I've read so far. I'll provided a more detailed review of the book when I am finished with it. I also have his 2nd book on PLO, however, it has been suggested to me to play extensively prior to reading it due to it being geared towards the more experienced player.
I've read a few other books on poker. The two that I always suggest are Dan Harrington's. His books on tournaments improved my tournament game immensly. As a matter of fact, I had never played in a casino tourney prior to reading those books. At the time, I was within driving distance to Atlantic City. After finishing the books I decided I would take a trip there and play in a $100 tourney. For someone who plays in games where I've pushed hundreds of dollars into a single pot I don't know why I was somewhat unconfortable with spending that amount on a tourney at the time, but that was indeed the case. I ended up finishing 8th out of about 100 players and just making the money. I played in that same tournament 1 month later and chopped it 4 ways for a nice win. Surprisingly, I never played in another casino tourney since. I guess I just like saying that I'm 2 for 2 when it comes to cashing in them. I have played in some smaller tournaments run in charity poker rooms with some success (a few money finishes). I guess the point here is that Harrington's books more than paid for themselves in my eyes and I do look forward to playing in more tournaments in the future.
My goal here is to be extremely honest about my play, my wins and losses, as well as how poker is effecting my life. While I'm passionate about poker, I don't want it to control my life. Poker does not fall under my definition of gambling. This is just due to a player being able to put his money in when odds are in his favor and getting the hell out when the odds aren't there. The part that effects your life is the addictive side of poker. I have to admit, there are times when my urge to play over-rides my senses to the point where I might put things off in order to play for a few hours. This is something that I'm not proud of, but I'm not going to hide it.
Well, lets see how I do. My next session won't be for a few days, so until then good luck at the tables.
As for me I am 31 years old and have been playing poker for about 8 years now. I started as a limit hold'em player and then made the switch to NL hold'em in 2005. It's hard to believe that I've been playing poker that long. My screen name is 'Lowcald' and I've played on quite a few sites online. Currently, I'm playing exclusively on Full Tilt. As for live action, I'm playing about 4-5 sessions per week at a $1/2 NL game with a $200 max buy in. I've been playing at that level and about the same time duration for about 9 months. Prior to that I would only play live poker a few times a month. As my live sessions have gone up drastically, the time I play online has diminished quite a bit. I do feel that the live games at the $1/2 level are much softer than that of Full Tilt at similiar stakes.
I just started dabbling in PLO (only online so far). There is a juicy game near me that is filled with players that have a lot more money than they do knowledge of how to play the game. I just don't feel I have the bankroll right now to play that game (as the variance is much higher than it is for NL), nor is my comfort level with the game where I would like it to be. I am currently reading a book on the game and playing micro stakes at Full Tilt in the hope of getting on that table. The book I am reading is 'Pot Limit Omaha Poker' by Jeff Hwang. I've heard the book to be very informative and have liked what I've read so far. I'll provided a more detailed review of the book when I am finished with it. I also have his 2nd book on PLO, however, it has been suggested to me to play extensively prior to reading it due to it being geared towards the more experienced player.
I've read a few other books on poker. The two that I always suggest are Dan Harrington's. His books on tournaments improved my tournament game immensly. As a matter of fact, I had never played in a casino tourney prior to reading those books. At the time, I was within driving distance to Atlantic City. After finishing the books I decided I would take a trip there and play in a $100 tourney. For someone who plays in games where I've pushed hundreds of dollars into a single pot I don't know why I was somewhat unconfortable with spending that amount on a tourney at the time, but that was indeed the case. I ended up finishing 8th out of about 100 players and just making the money. I played in that same tournament 1 month later and chopped it 4 ways for a nice win. Surprisingly, I never played in another casino tourney since. I guess I just like saying that I'm 2 for 2 when it comes to cashing in them. I have played in some smaller tournaments run in charity poker rooms with some success (a few money finishes). I guess the point here is that Harrington's books more than paid for themselves in my eyes and I do look forward to playing in more tournaments in the future.
My goal here is to be extremely honest about my play, my wins and losses, as well as how poker is effecting my life. While I'm passionate about poker, I don't want it to control my life. Poker does not fall under my definition of gambling. This is just due to a player being able to put his money in when odds are in his favor and getting the hell out when the odds aren't there. The part that effects your life is the addictive side of poker. I have to admit, there are times when my urge to play over-rides my senses to the point where I might put things off in order to play for a few hours. This is something that I'm not proud of, but I'm not going to hide it.
Well, lets see how I do. My next session won't be for a few days, so until then good luck at the tables.
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