January/February Review and March Goals

As I was really ill at the end of January right the way through to early February I didn't manage to get a review done so I will do one together of how the 2 months have gone combined!

I feel like I've been playing really solid poker but my volume is very low due to time, software being shit on pacific and me wanting to focus on playing solid at 50 for the time being!
I became a bit tired of 6max in mid February and switched to play some full ring again which I had substantially better results at than 6max! So I stuck to the games and am still grinding them at present after moving back to stars where there is significantly more traffic and also regs but I haven't tangled with many too much!

Anyway I will get to the numbers so far for both January and February combined as it's easier!

I've been beating 50 at 3BB and had 3 failed 100 shots for about -1.2k so I just need to run good one time please at 100 to make the numbers look pretty.

I also won $75ish I think it was more but the PT3 Omaha trial ran out so I lost my data and $75 in MTTs (lol) Although I shall be playing a few in March I hope!

Rakeback and Bonuses value comes to $1574

Total = $2464.75

Not a bad start but the volume increases to double then that's more of the figure I'm looking to make per month $1.5k with rakeback/bonuses added on top would be about $2kish for 50k hands which is doable then double the volume again when grinding full time for $4k months (the dream)

March Goals

Really simple goals this month, going to settle into Pokerstars , rack up 100k hands at 50nl so I can see a winrate over a decent sample and try and save my bankroll up to reach $5k.

1. 50k Hands
2. All Coursework completed to the best of my ability (I have been putting a lot of effort in this past week so hopefully it will all be worth it)
3. play some micro millions tournaments!

Ipad2 Bonus Finished + Moving Back To Where It All Began

After about 2 months of grinding at the Pacific Poker network I finally managed to reach the milestone of $2500 rake and get my free Ipad2! The IpokerVIP staff were very helpful with tracking how much I had raked over the course of the months, my HEM and PT3 were showing way different numbers for some reason, probably the HEM wasn't up to date! I've shipped the order to my dad who has wanted an Ipad2 for a while and I don't really need one so I have been a good son and handed it over!

A few thoughts on the games, software etc, the games have got dramatically worse from when I started up to when I finished, I really have no idea why that is because there isn't any sick rakeback deal available or a huge bonus!? The software is kinda manageable but only 8 tables max absolutely sucks, especially when grinding full ring. That's probably a huge factor why my hands this month is only about 25k (lol) Traffic on Pacific is ok for 6max but recently there has just been like 4 regs to a table which for a small site with not huge traffic isn't great and the 100 games seem to be even drier, apparently there's a big staking stable from 2p2 on there at 100nl which would make sense for the games being like they are and also there's very minimal traffic at 200+ so it has a knock down effect.

Anyway my stats are below, I ran absolute horrific at 100nl and I would say over 3/4 of that is coolers, standard response but I know it is I've reviewed all of the sessions. Other than that I did alright at 50 6max but the main boost from my winrate came when I moved to FR, I crushed the games at about 20bb/100 over 15k and I really didn't think I ran that hot either!

hSo now that I have my free Ipad2 and about $900 in bonuses my roll is looking fairly healthy at $3500ish but I have had to withdraw $500 which is super annoying but I will put it back in at the end of April! I am moving back to where I started my career as a poker player Pokerstars! which I am actually really looking forward to.

I am also going to move back to full ring and just see how that goes for a while on stars because I felt like I was playing solidish at Pacific and had some good results so we going to grind out some hands and hope for some good results! Pokerstars even tweeted me to say welcome back so that's a sign I'm going to crush right?

Anyway I will be posting a strategy/thinking post within the next few days aswell as a joint review of January and February as I was too ill to post when January ended haha!

Lets Get Connected

Over the past few months I have noticed my readers and page views have gone up dramatically and stayed consistent over this time period, no idea why you would want to read my ramblings but whatever I guess ;) . I consistently get between 20 - 40 page views a day which is really cool but not many comments from other poker players or followers on twitter, now maybe all the views are spam but I think it would be good to get some more poker blogs on my readers list and some players twitters to see how they are doing etc!

So my twitter is on the right hand side of the page and if you have a poker blog post a link below or tweet me to have a read and I'll link it up on my readers list so I get updates as you post!

I look forward to it!

My Thoughts On Playing Professionally

Before I begin I just want to say that this post will be my own thoughts about myself playing professionally given my situation and not what I would suggest for others to do.

So I have been playing "semi professionally" or using my poker money to live, go on holidays, buy extras shall we call them for the previous 3 years. This has somewhat stunted my poker growth due to withdrawing so I haven't been able to move up in stakes as easily as I have wanted.

Over the past 2 months or so I have done a nice bunch of bonus whoring and managed to get my roll today where I have a little over 70 buy ins for 50nl. Now for me to play professionally I would want a $5k bankroll I think, maybe I would go with $4k but with the coming three months being extremely busy in my last semester at Uni I won't be spending any money at all really, March is Dissertation and 6 other courseworks, April is revision period and May is exam period.

This time frame gives me an ideal opportunity to build up more of a bankroll and hopefully hit the $5k mark, If I cant make $1.5k in 3 months I don't deserve to be playing full time :)

Once I finish exams and hopefully graduate at the end of May I am then a free man yay! So time to get looking for jobs and graduate schemes right?

Well no, I really don't want fancy it to be honest, yeah I've been a lazy student for the past 2 years but this year is such a ball ache I have so much work to do. I've been in education for what like 15 years or something probably more if we count primary school. I just want to chill out for a bit and do what I want to do for a year or 2, play some poker + travel!

I could try and get a career, save for a house etc all that sort of stuff which my sister has actually done and she is turning into being very successful but I think I would be stupid to pass up the chance to play poker for a living for a few reasons.

Firstly and probably the main reason is the job market, there is literally around 150 to 200 applicants per graduate scheme which is ridiculous when the money they are offering is like £20k max, most are about £17k, yes I appreciate you have to start somewhere and build up from the bottom but if I can make even $35k (~£21k) then I would be laughing add in freedom of work, my own boss, option to travel whilst playing, potential to even bink a donkament and win like $10k or something, how often can you walk into work with the chance to hit a $10k bonus, the answer is never. Also UK winnings are tax free so I take home that £21k the graduate jobs will probs be taking home maybe £14k - 16k based on 20% ish for tax and national insurance.

I am also on the verge of playing 100nl which has been a goal for me for sometime, I think you can really make some solid cash playing here and I know I have the skills to beat it! You can be making $50k+ no problem playing there which is £30k tax free straight out of uni! why would you pass that opportunity up?

I personally think there are too many positives for passing up this chance I have given myself to play professionally, I would hate to get into a career and everyday go into work thinking I want to be sitting on the virtual felt grinding! I mean if I start in June and go on a huge dswong like 30BIs or something 1) I still have 70 buy ins for 50nl where I could live off easily (no mortgage, kids etc) and 2) If not I could just apply for jobs then.

I really don't have anything to lose by giving it a go and if I fail then whatever at least I tried and I will continue to top up my salary with poker for as long as it stays around, which may not be that much longer for we know.

just my ramblings about my personal situation!

Improving In The Micros + Playing Professionally

I have been reading around the internet lately trying to pick up some tips from big winning pros about how to improve and get better. After some time searching I managed to find a nice free webinar from Tri Nguyen where he is promoting his new book "How I made my first million from poker" (if you scroll down you can watch for yourselves)

Improving In The Micros

• Become the best button player at your stakes - by this I assume Tri means to be basically a pain in the ass on the button. You want to have a healthy 3bet % but also want to be flatting a decent amount and playing some post flop poker. Tri emphasises post flop poker where he states the fact he doesn't actually coach pre flop in his 1 to 1 sessions. So you want to be playing aggressively in position on people, controlling the pot, pushing people off hands etc he says to aim to double your button win rate! now I'm not sure how feasible that is but improving it is a definite. Think how you feel when a button is being annoying and you're in the cut off, that is how you want to be perceived!
• Play a lot of hands - this doesn't mean play 50/45 at the tables it refers to volume! The more volume you get in the more you will improve and familiarise yourself with spots where you are uncomfortable
• Write Down Improvements - this will be mentioned again later in the post but basically set a goal for what you are trying to achieve. Whether it be session goal or weekly goal or even monthly, if you want to improve your 3betting, cbetting, post flop aggression then look for spots to do that, review and then figure how you have improved, then move onto the next!
• Playing wide from the blinds - simply just playing a wide range from the blinds and seeing how villains react to post flop aggression, find out who responds bad and pound them and who adjusts well (raising air, checking back, flatting) then don't do it to those!

Tri's webinar then goes on to explain further thoughts on playing professionally or how to improve as a general poker player.

• water - drinking water before you play to help keep your mind focused
• sleep - rest is very important
• warm up - you need to be looking at hand histories, videos, blogs etc something to get you thinking about poker before you sit down and actually play! Only has to be ~20 mins!
• Clear your mind - this relates to doing jobs you have to get done on the day before you play so your mind isn't worried about having to get to the shops before they close or doing laundry before the missus gets back etc
• breaks - you must have a regular break, suggested every hour to just get up maybe refill drink check the forums

So you've probably heard those a thousand times before, however these next two I found were very interesting...

• quit when you lose, grind when you win - I've heard this before but not to the extent that Tri explains it. He gives the example of Phil Ivey arguably the best player in the world who apparently just quits when he loses 2 buy ins or at least stops the session. However when he's running hot he will grind and grind and grind! He goes on to say how we sometimes have huge losing days where we drop like 10BIs but these are more likely to happen than a 10BI winning day because our play changes when we know we are down, tilt factors in etc so use a stop/loss but only a losing stop loss, when you win just keep on grinding!
• keep a poker journal - this relates to the learning aspect of getting out of the micros. note down what you have learnt , what you're struggling with etc so you can note common themes. Write down how you feel, how you played , how you are running, so you can turn back and look at things you are doing when you're going through a rough patch and alter them to when you were winning! I will be doing this and trying to note down exact hours im playing because HEM hours aren't accurate!

this is getting long so I best end it ! peace guys!

Branching Out

I've been seriously considering doing this for a while with poker, the need for me to branch out of my comfort norms. Now I am not talking about my game or friends or anything but in fact forums where I am spending time. I have been a loyal member to Cardschat for about 3.5 years and the players there both past and present helped my game a tonne when I was playing micros and I would still suggest micro players visit there. However there is probably only a handful of players that play the same stakes or higher than me which just isn't good for HH review or Hand analysis.

If I were to post hands I would get players who play 2-5nl giving me advice which I am just not interested in as its most likely incorrect and I would have to explain to them why it is incorrect so I am not benefiting from my own hand, they are.

Therefore after being a member of Deucescracked for video content for nearly 3 years and racking up 1 post in the forums I have decided to try and make an effort posting hands and reviewing hands in the forums! I am really pleased that the actual coaches are active in the forums as well because this can help if people are giving bad advice and I can benefit from this if I am giving out the incorrect line advice then coaches can help me, sort of the same effect of the 2/5nl players at CC but at much higher stakes.

Also the volume of better players at DC is really good, hands which have been posted less than 24 hours sometimes have really good discussion going which makes the learning process speed up. Overall I have been a fan of DC and a paying member for the videos, so it maybe worth me checking out the video threads in the forums as well and not just note taking from the videos.

I have a list of series I need to watch as I really want to try and again take my game to the next level and put a solid mark down at 100nl even though I really have some kinda mental barrier there but I think this is due to the fact its been a goal of mine for the past 2 years which I havent been able to fulfil because of the withdrawing from bankroll and because the money is somewhat worth something but this should be able to cure when playing a decent amount of volume and when I get used to bet sizing and swings!

Im off for another grind at uni but hopefully can squeeze some study and grind time in later!

Man Down!

Over the past 2 weeks or so I have been really ill, I left it a week to see if I could get rid of the man flu symptoms with lemsip and general paracetamol/ibuprofen. However I just got worse and was forced to go to the Docs and hit up some Anti Biotics which I have just finished a weeks course today! I am feeling much better but still have zero appetite and not a lot of energy, the two work hand in hand I can guess. I'm going to venture back to the Docs today to see what they say about drugs and see if I'm going to be ok just to leave it now or see if I need some more, they did mention blood tests :S

I'm meant to be flying to Ireland on Thursday for UKIPT Galway so this leaves me in a dilemma as its meant to be a poker/drinking trip! I obviously wont be fit for drinking and probs wont be up for sat there grinding live poker half ill! Real shitter because I was looking forward to going and iv dropped £120 on flights !!

As for online poker, recently I've been getting bored of 6max and found the games to be kinda reg filled on Pacific. When I first moved there for the Ipad2 deal the games were amazing but now they are far from good! There's probs 4 regs to every 6max table which just blows!

So when I have been ill I have not been feeling like my aggressive self at the tables so I played some FR for abit of a change of pace, rolling back the years! I actually have enjoyed it so far, the pots that go like 5 way postflop I have not missed but we shall see how it goes! I have played a very tiny amount so far!

It's about time I leave for the Docs!

Peace!