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.
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