Thursday, January 31, 2008

Still alive!

I haven't posted here in forever!

It's been a crazy last few months poker wise. November was my worst month ever as a player, as I broke even for the month with rakeback, meaning I actually lost a couple hundred bucks playing cash games. My confidence was ravaged, and I took the hit really badly. My Cardrunners membership expired and I didn't renew because I hadn't been taking the time to watch the videos and devote time to my game, and I was suffering. I decided to try and just grind out some profit in December playing tight in full ring and just being solid to get myself going again. I grinded out some profit but then had a day where I lost several buyins playing on Full Tilt and Cake and played some SNGs for the hell of it and won them. So then I suddenly decided that this short term variance meant I must play SNGs and they would be the key to my survival! I did well in them after reading Collin Moshman's 2+2 book and won about $900 in December playing a limited amount.

In January I kept playing SNGs and even joined SNG Icons. I also got a free subscription to Stox Poker through a Pocket Fives promotion. I played SNGs the first half of January to about a 10% ROI and modest profits at the 10's and 20's. But I could not stay away from the cash games and eventually returned. I vowed to dedicate myself to studying the game and fixing the leaks and flaws in my game as these limits (50NL) should be VERY beatable, even on Full Tilt! I watched several Stox videos my Cottonseen, Hunter Bick, and Leatherass and thought I identified several key leaks in my game. I returned to the tables and started to crush. I have had a great January, up around $2000 now not including rakeback. My goal each month is to make enough money to cover my wife and my car payment and save a little bit, which ends up being about $1000, so doubling that is obviously great to me.

I have since renewed my Cardrunners membership for another 6 months and have dedicated myself to improving my game, and watching both CR and Stox videos every week to improve, fix leaks, and keep making money. I have had a fun month, aside from the last two days which have been a bit of a downswing, but I have also been working on staying cool mentally when bad times come, and not just abandoning ship and taking up a new game! :)

I have learned a lot over the past few months and it feels good to put it into words. Thank you for reading.

Pete