Oops. I've become a fish.
When you're winning it's easy to convince yourself that you will be able to cope with the inevitable downswings and breakeven stretches. However, in the midst of one of them I'm discovering that it's not nearly as easy as I expected. It's surprisingly easy to fall into a pattern of negative self talk, and I'm disappointed to find myself repeating "I just can't win", "I'm so bad", "why do I even bother" and other similarly unhelpful mantras. Unfortunately I have been running slightly below breakeven since Black Friday, over 2 months ago. On the plus side I am now about $7k below all-in EV for the year. While this is not an accurate indicator of my true expected results, it does indicate that things have not gone terribly well for me when all the chips are in the middle. If I keep doing what I'm doing it's most likely a matter of time before things turn around.
I've ended up taking a lot of time off during June, first to go on a long weekend for a best friend's stag do. Secondly spending nearly a week in Ireland due to a family emergency. It's put me massively behind on my Supernova targets, but I have to say it was great to spend some time with friends and family, relaxing and clearing my head.
Now it's time to hit the tables with renewed vigor. Keep working on my game. Keep putting in the hours. The results will come!
Wish me luck.....
May profit: -$496
Yearly profit: +$16,258
Current VPPs: 69,198
Monday 20 June 2011
Monday 30 May 2011
Supernova Challenge
Poker-wise May has been something of an epic fail, and it looks almost certain that I shall end the month in deficit. Somewhat depressing, although not wholly unexpected in a game with so much short-term variance. I'll post a full May review, but for now I want to focus on staying positive and motivated for the month ahead. With that in mind I've decided to challenge myself to achieve Supernova status on Pokerstars in just over 6 weeks.
One of my goals at the start of the year was to reach Supernova by the end of June. Unfortunately so far I've only managed to accumulate a measly 63,500 VPPs, so I'll need to average over 5000 VPPs per week from now on to achieve my goal. There are many grinders out there who could manage that in their sleep, but for me it will be a challenge and will hopefully motivate me to put in more hours and focus less on monetary results at the tables.
Supernova Challenge:
1. Achieve Supernova status on or before 17th July 2011.
2. Keep a daily record of VPPs to aid motivation.
3. Review monetary results only at the end of each day (not during a session).
4. Update blog every Sunday with a running total.
One of my goals at the start of the year was to reach Supernova by the end of June. Unfortunately so far I've only managed to accumulate a measly 63,500 VPPs, so I'll need to average over 5000 VPPs per week from now on to achieve my goal. There are many grinders out there who could manage that in their sleep, but for me it will be a challenge and will hopefully motivate me to put in more hours and focus less on monetary results at the tables.
Supernova Challenge:
1. Achieve Supernova status on or before 17th July 2011.
2. Keep a daily record of VPPs to aid motivation.
3. Review monetary results only at the end of each day (not during a session).
4. Update blog every Sunday with a running total.
Monday 2 May 2011
Wasting Light
I treated myself to a few days off at the end of March, and it didn't take long for my motivation resurface. I'm naturally an ambitious person, and given that poker seems to be a viable way to earn a good living for the short-term future, I hope to make the most of the opportunity. A short break really helped me to re-focus on that and begin April with renewed vigor. Two weeks into the month I had already made over $3k from 350 games and was on schedule to have my best month yet. However, it wasn't meant to be as the announcements on April 15th led me to another short hiatus from the game and a disappointing end to the month.
The views on what poker players have dubbed "Black Friday" are numerous, diverse and almost entirely speculative. The general consensus is that it's only a matter of time until poker is legalised in the USA. But we have yet to see what legalisation will look like. Initially I was very disappointed by the news. However, so far the impact on me personally has been minimal. Traffic is down, but there are still plenty of 6 max STTs running and fewer regs to contend with. The main impact may be increased variance as I will now have to play more turbos.
On a brighter note, Pokerstars are scheduled to announce improvements to their SNG rake calculation and structure during May. This can only be a good thing. A more detailed explanation can be found here.
April profit: +$4153
Yearly profit: +$16,754
Yearly VPPs: 49,651
The views on what poker players have dubbed "Black Friday" are numerous, diverse and almost entirely speculative. The general consensus is that it's only a matter of time until poker is legalised in the USA. But we have yet to see what legalisation will look like. Initially I was very disappointed by the news. However, so far the impact on me personally has been minimal. Traffic is down, but there are still plenty of 6 max STTs running and fewer regs to contend with. The main impact may be increased variance as I will now have to play more turbos.
On a brighter note, Pokerstars are scheduled to announce improvements to their SNG rake calculation and structure during May. This can only be a good thing. A more detailed explanation can be found here.
April profit: +$4153
Yearly profit: +$16,754
Yearly VPPs: 49,651
Monday 4 April 2011
If you walk through the garden...
March is over and we're 3 months in to the year; time for a brief update.
I failed to meet my target of 1000 games played during the month (again). I had a few things going on in real life, but more importantly I struggled with motivation for the first time this month. When I dreamed of playing poker for a living I imagined that playing all day every day would be the easiest thing in the world. It isn't. Concentrating for extended periods, consistently playing my A game and dealing with the emotional and financial swings is all mentally draining. Therefore putting in 30+ hours a week mass multi-tabling is harder than I expected. However, it's a lot easier that the job I used to do. Every time 6:45am rolls around on a Monday morning I remember how much happier and better off I am now that I was in my old job. Mike Caro says that the two hardest challenges a poker play faces are:
1. Motivation
2. The feeling that you aren't really achieving anything
March has shown me that I need to more pro-active about the first issue. I look forward to the second issue surfacing down the line...
On a more positive note March was my best month so far at the tables. Moving forward my goal is to (you guessed it) play 1000 games in April and also to increase my average stake my mixing in more higher stakes games. While this will increase my short-term variance it should also improve my long-term results.
In other news I finally got round to watching season 1 of The Wire, which my brother bought me for Christmas. It is scarily good, and my fiance and I enjoyed it so much we ordered season 2 the day we finished season 1. Highly recommended!
Time to head to the gym. Good luck in April.
March Profit: +$5167
Yearly Profit: +$12,601
Yearly VPPs: 39,339
I failed to meet my target of 1000 games played during the month (again). I had a few things going on in real life, but more importantly I struggled with motivation for the first time this month. When I dreamed of playing poker for a living I imagined that playing all day every day would be the easiest thing in the world. It isn't. Concentrating for extended periods, consistently playing my A game and dealing with the emotional and financial swings is all mentally draining. Therefore putting in 30+ hours a week mass multi-tabling is harder than I expected. However, it's a lot easier that the job I used to do. Every time 6:45am rolls around on a Monday morning I remember how much happier and better off I am now that I was in my old job. Mike Caro says that the two hardest challenges a poker play faces are:
1. Motivation
2. The feeling that you aren't really achieving anything
March has shown me that I need to more pro-active about the first issue. I look forward to the second issue surfacing down the line...
On a more positive note March was my best month so far at the tables. Moving forward my goal is to (you guessed it) play 1000 games in April and also to increase my average stake my mixing in more higher stakes games. While this will increase my short-term variance it should also improve my long-term results.
In other news I finally got round to watching season 1 of The Wire, which my brother bought me for Christmas. It is scarily good, and my fiance and I enjoyed it so much we ordered season 2 the day we finished season 1. Highly recommended!
Time to head to the gym. Good luck in April.
March Profit: +$5167
Yearly Profit: +$12,601
Yearly VPPs: 39,339
Saturday 5 March 2011
Fitter Happier
If you've ever worked long hours in a demanding job then you'll know that it's easy to form some bad habits. I know I did. Fast food at lunch time, drinks after work every Friday, and just enough energy to put that ready meal in the microwave before slumping in front of the TV. Playing Poker professionally has afforded me the opportunity to change some of those habits, and I'm now regularly working out at the gym, playing sports again for the first time in years and eating a healthy, balanced diet. The effects have been dramatic. Personally I'm happier and more content than I have been in a very long time, and the benefits of that extend to my fiance, my family and my friends - many of whom have commented on a remarkable change in my temperament in the last couple of months.
At the same time, my persective on many aspects of poker is evolving. My perception of the luck and skill involved in the game is really changing now that I'm putting in so much more volume than I ever have before. Perhaps more importantly, my own ambitions are evolving. Initially my only concrete aim when going pro was to prove I could make a living from this and find out whether I enjoyed it. Now I begin to wonder whether I may be able to achieve more. Personally I believe that SNG poker has a limited shelf life, and I hope to nake as much hay as possible while the sun's shining. I therefore think it's very important to continue to push myself to improve as a player and challenge myself to play higher stakes, and more tables. Got to keep getting outside of that comfort zone! Otherwise I'd still be one tabling $5 SNGs...
I've been thinking a lot about longer term goals, but haven't come to any concrete conclusions yet. For now my aim is to focus on improving my multitabling and hitting that 1000 game target in March. February was a mixed bag of variance and I'm currently about $3k under all-in EV for the year. However, I'm not sure how much I can really read in to that and I'm certainly not complaining. In fact it gives me some peace of mind that hopefully my results so far this year have not been a fluke!
February Profit: +$2698
Yearly Profit: +$7,434
Yearly VPPs: 26,550
At the same time, my persective on many aspects of poker is evolving. My perception of the luck and skill involved in the game is really changing now that I'm putting in so much more volume than I ever have before. Perhaps more importantly, my own ambitions are evolving. Initially my only concrete aim when going pro was to prove I could make a living from this and find out whether I enjoyed it. Now I begin to wonder whether I may be able to achieve more. Personally I believe that SNG poker has a limited shelf life, and I hope to nake as much hay as possible while the sun's shining. I therefore think it's very important to continue to push myself to improve as a player and challenge myself to play higher stakes, and more tables. Got to keep getting outside of that comfort zone! Otherwise I'd still be one tabling $5 SNGs...
I've been thinking a lot about longer term goals, but haven't come to any concrete conclusions yet. For now my aim is to focus on improving my multitabling and hitting that 1000 game target in March. February was a mixed bag of variance and I'm currently about $3k under all-in EV for the year. However, I'm not sure how much I can really read in to that and I'm certainly not complaining. In fact it gives me some peace of mind that hopefully my results so far this year have not been a fluke!
February Profit: +$2698
Yearly Profit: +$7,434
Yearly VPPs: 26,550
Tuesday 1 February 2011
January Results
One month in and so far things have gone very well. I ran fairly good for most of the month although I ran in to some variance in the final week where I pretty much broke even and ran approx $2k under all in EV. This trend seems to have continued into February as I've just completed my biggest ever losing session at about -$600. On the plus side I also had my biggest ever winning session this month at over +$1k.
Unfortunately I didn't manage to meet my volume goal, finishing at 784 games according to sharkscope, although my HEM has it at 827. Room for improvement. I was also lucky enough to achieve 3 gold stars on sharkscope, although I don't expect to maintain them throughout the year and it won't be on my list of goals.
[ ] Play at least 1000 SNGs
[ ] Maintain an average stake of $35 (nearly)
[X] Join the gym and go at least 3 times a week (16 times)
Unfortunately I didn't manage to meet my volume goal, finishing at 784 games according to sharkscope, although my HEM has it at 827. Room for improvement. I was also lucky enough to achieve 3 gold stars on sharkscope, although I don't expect to maintain them throughout the year and it won't be on my list of goals.
[ ] Play at least 1000 SNGs
[ ] Maintain an average stake of $35 (nearly)
[X] Join the gym and go at least 3 times a week (16 times)
Saturday 1 January 2011
January Goals
I am focussing on 6-max SNGs on Pokerstars:
1. Play at least 1000 SNGs
2. Maintain an average stake of at least $35
3. Join the gym and go at least 3 times every week
At the moment my goals for 2011 are as follows (these may change):
1. Play at least 10,000 SNGs
2. Achieve Supernova by June
3. Achieve an average profit of at least $4
3. Earn at least $40,000 before bonuses
1. Play at least 1000 SNGs
2. Maintain an average stake of at least $35
3. Join the gym and go at least 3 times every week
At the moment my goals for 2011 are as follows (these may change):
1. Play at least 10,000 SNGs
2. Achieve Supernova by June
3. Achieve an average profit of at least $4
3. Earn at least $40,000 before bonuses
Going Pro
It's January 1st 2011 and it's my first day as a professional poker player.
So how does it feel to be a 'poker pro'? If you enjoy player poker then there's a good chance you've day dreamed about doing it for a living. You can be your own boss, work whatever hours you choose and, if you're good enough at it, make a lot of money. What's not to like?
Certainly for me the word 'pro' in the context of poker has long carried a certain romance. You see it plastered on the covers of poker magazines and thrown in your face by articles about teenage poker-made-millionaires. But for me the appeal really boils down to a single word. Freedom. Freedom from the 9 to 5; freedom to make life decisions on my own terms; freedom to spend time with friends and family and invest time in hobbies and interests; and, hopefully, freedom from most of my financial worries.
Sound too good to be true? It probably is. Will I really be free, or simply a slave to a new master? Can I really continue to enjoy the game now that I've turned a hobby in to a job? Most importantly, is it a good way to spend my life?
Not easy questions to answer, hopefully time will tell. This blog will document my progress as I give 'going pro' a go.
So how does it feel to be a 'poker pro'? If you enjoy player poker then there's a good chance you've day dreamed about doing it for a living. You can be your own boss, work whatever hours you choose and, if you're good enough at it, make a lot of money. What's not to like?
Certainly for me the word 'pro' in the context of poker has long carried a certain romance. You see it plastered on the covers of poker magazines and thrown in your face by articles about teenage poker-made-millionaires. But for me the appeal really boils down to a single word. Freedom. Freedom from the 9 to 5; freedom to make life decisions on my own terms; freedom to spend time with friends and family and invest time in hobbies and interests; and, hopefully, freedom from most of my financial worries.
Sound too good to be true? It probably is. Will I really be free, or simply a slave to a new master? Can I really continue to enjoy the game now that I've turned a hobby in to a job? Most importantly, is it a good way to spend my life?
Not easy questions to answer, hopefully time will tell. This blog will document my progress as I give 'going pro' a go.
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