2011 Poker Goals

Main 2011 Goal:  Be playing 1/2NL by the end of the year

Sub-goals required to meet main goal:

• 500k hands in the year
• 42k hands per month
• 10k hands per week
• 2 hours of play per weekday, minimum of 3 hours per day on the weekends (16-20 hrs play per week)

Study:

• Finish and comprehend a book, "Poker Math That Matters" 
• 1 video reviewed/studied per week.  This includes posting feedback to author and actually asking questions

Mental:

• Control tilt.
• Maintain 3 buy-in stop loss at all times

Physical

• Eat better, drink more water and less caffeine, exercise more (which means exercise period)

And do more of this, remembering constantly to analyze the villians and there hand ranges.  I would say I was about 80% confident I was ahead making this +EV (now I just need to do the actual math to see if I was right):

Poker Stars $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 1110128

DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

BTN: $74.10

SB: $15.50

Hero (BB): $64.75

UTG: $51.65

MP: $50.00

CO: $105.50

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is BB with A 8

3 folds, BTN calls $1, 1 fold, Hero raises to $4, BTN calls $3

Flop: ($8.50) 6 5 3 (2 players)

Hero bets $4.50, BTN calls $4.50

Turn: ($17.50) 6 (2 players)

Hero checks, BTN bets $6, Hero calls $6

River: ($29.50) 4 (2 players)

Hero checks, BTN bets $10, Hero calls $10

Final Pot: $49.50

BTN shows T K (a pair of Sixes)

Hero shows A 8 (a pair of Sixes - Ace kicker)

Hero wins $47.10

(Rake: $2.40)

Congratulations! You have achieved Supernova.

Wonderful message received from Pokerstars.

Supernova

Sorry for the lack of updates.  I decided in mid October that I was going to make Supernova.  Since then I've been pushing hard.  With a screwy schedule and an 8 month old, every spare minute has been put into getting hands in.  I went from averaging 12-15k hands per month to getting in approx. 20k in October.  November saw that jump to over 63k hands.  I'll top that mark in December as I'm already approaching 65k hands.

At first I tried mass multi-tabling 18 tables AND jumping to 100NL.  Big mistake as I suffered some significant (to me at least) losses.  Dropped back to 50NL and recovered to only 15% of my starting bankroll to month being lost.  

That was nothing compared to November where nearly a third of my bankroll disappeared.  Took some heavy losses as my basic game is not strong enough to make good decisions at the rate required.  Fortunately bonuses from the store kept my bankroll able to absorb the losses.

For the last two weeks, I scaled it back to 6 or 7 tables but putting in more hours after discussing with wife the benefits of hitting.  Winrate has sky-rocketed and my confidence has been restored.  I'm over 65k hands so far this month and will probably approach 70k.  I've also restored a bit of the bankroll with profits. Supernova bonus will put me back at my original bankroll from back in November.

So I definately learned a lot throughout this experience and am hoping to share some of this insight after the new year.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season.  Take care and be looking for my Supernova screenie.

Go Hawkeyes!

My condolences to all MSU fans who actually thought they had a chance at a nat'l title.

Why it's important to not TILT....

Tilt is still holding me back from being anything more than a marginal winner at my stakes.  The following 3 hands shows why it is critically important not to tilt.  I've been working on pounding shorties.  With my 3b squeeze shove, I thought for sure that the SB would fold, a 36/9 poor player over a very small sample size.  I was shocked to see what he called off 37bbs with:

*******************************

Poker Stars $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 989412
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

BTN: $23.85
SB: $63.00
BB: $20.00
UTG: $16.40
Hero (CO): $116.10

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is CO with K A
UTG raises to $2, Hero raises to $6, 3 folds, UTG calls $4

Flop: ($13.50) 4 3 K (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $11, UTG calls $10.40 all in

Turn: ($34.30) 8 (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: ($34.30) 6 (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $34.30
UTG shows 7 K (a pair of Kings)
Hero shows K A (a pair of Kings - Ace kicker)
Hero wins $32.65
(Rake: $1.65)

******************************

After this, I simply took the following note:

100NL6M:  

-sat w 40bb stack at 50bb table 

-cld 35bb in SB vs BB 3b sqze

So I know this player is going to call down lightly at this point.  Time to look for top pair or better.  I'd get my opportunity very soon after:

*******************************

Poker Stars $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 989413
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

SB: $24.35
BB: $43.05
UTG: $63.00
MP: $20.00
CO: $75.20
Hero (BTN): $58.80

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is BTN with 8 7
2 folds, CO calls $1, Hero raises to $4, 2 folds, CO calls $3

Flop: ($9.50) 6 5 3 (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $6, CO calls $6

Turn: ($21.50) 9 (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $19, CO raises to $65.20 all in, Hero calls $29.80 all in

River: ($119.10) 4 (2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $119.10
CO shows 5 5 (three of a kind, Fives)
Hero shows 8 7 (a straight, Five to Nine)
Hero wins $116.10
(Rake: $3.00)


*******************************


Time to finish him off:

*******************************

Poker Stars $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 989412
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

BTN: $23.85
SB: $63.00
BB: $20.00
UTG: $16.40
Hero (CO): $116.10

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is CO with K A
UTG raises to $2, Hero raises to $6, 3 folds, UTG calls $4

Flop: ($13.50) 4 3 K (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $11, UTG calls $10.40 all in

Turn: ($34.30) 8 (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: ($34.30) 6 (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $34.30
UTG shows 7 K (a pair of Kings)
Hero shows K A (a pair of Kings - Ace kicker)
Hero wins $32.65
(Rake: $1.65)

*******************************

By keeping in control, I was able to maximize my returns (albeit it was a bit of a cooler for him).  Now I just have to remember this mantra ALL the time, instead of 60% of the time!