OMG

This is hard to write.  Almost as hard as the month I've had.  How can I describe it?  Without swearing, like this,
Gutting, Demoralising, Frustrating, Confidence killing, Shocking and almost Heartbreaking.

Well, firstly, since my last post (when I thought I was beginning to make headway), I have been sick and while trying to play through it have lost a few days playing.  Now this is not an excuse for not hitting 900 games, OH NO, I hit 900 games and I could have exceeded it - BUT - it did not increase my profit, in fact it is partly to blame for my downward spiral.
The new site I was playing on had plenty of traffic (ongame network) and I settled down to some Double or Nothing Turbos (looking for the easy bankroll building stuff, ha ha)  Well my SS graph can explain it better than me.

It just disgusts me.  I was bobbing along quite nicely playing $11 games, hit my BR target and started including the $22 when deja-vu struck and I went spiralling out of control.  I did not feel like I was playing any differently but things went wrong and still are, that SS graph is today, and I'm playing as I write (Yes, I know probably not the best idea.)  I cannot really explain this as one of my previous SS graph looks exactly the same when I joked it looked like my son had played a few games.  I keep coming back to FOCUS.  Am I just losing FOCUS and sitting in these games, trying to play them quicker so I can make more money.  I just don't know.  I want to have a few days off and get some study in, which usually does re-focus me and I tend to play a lot better - but that is for normal SnG's not Double Thrus.  Plus I know I am way behind my target and am eager to get back on track. 

 

Well now I have shown you a graph and you have seen exactly how much I suck, lets have a look where we are at in relation to the plan.

Total BR stands at about - $3300 but after a few more games I will have my $500 bonus released, so realistically more like $3800.

Firstly from a start of $500, it is certainly not to be sniffed at, BUT I  am missing my targets.  And my rectification plan?

I have signed up to another site which is offering a $1000 bonus, which I think I can execute within the 40 days given to release it.  So if I can break even as a minimum (not planning on that), I can still build the roll.  I will still be playing the DoN's and may dabble with the non-turbos, if the turbos suck for me too much.

 

On the upside, looking toward the WSOP, I have also qualified through this site for a couple of satellites.  On 7th April the top 75 will go through to the final on 10th April where 10 out of 200 will get a $12000 package.  I will also qualify for the May version so a couple of cheap tries for me to get Vegas bound.  WSOP sats are popping up all over the place and it's hard to pick the good quality ones that offer the best chance for the cheapest entry.  ANY GOOD ONES SEEN, PLEASE POST A COMMENT AND LET ME KNOW.

 

I still plan on hitting Vegas whether it is with a smaller BR or going for the Venetian Deepstack as opposed to the WSOP, I don't know, I am pretty fluid at the moment, especially as my hopes are still firmly fixed on qualifying for something with someone.  That sounds pretty desperate, BUT, I AM.

 

If this month goes alright, I will head back to Full Tilt and play SnG's again as I am only $78 off the leaderboard I was aiming for, even without playing there for a while.

 

Another fly in the ointment is the Mrs has decided that we should have a decent holiday this year and is looking at Florida in the 1st 2 weeks of June, just when the sats go into overdrive, BUT she does deserve it and who am I to deny the lady of my life a good time.  (Plus, I love that place, got family and a villa over there, and I cant get enough of Mickey, if i'm honest)  The Mouse cannot beat the lights, sound, smell and feel of Vegas but he does come a close second.  Even with the Hard Rock Casino in Tampa it just cant excite like Vegas can.

 

   OR    

 

 

When the wife, kids, brother, niece, nephew and parents are in Florida and are up against a lot of sweaty poker players in Vegas the only answer I can give you is ...........       ABSOLUTELY BOTH.

 

The staking of players is going a little better with a couple of small profits being floated my way, and I have some promising ones running as well.  I have not had too much time to search for other winning prospects but that has probably saved me money.

 

Well, if there is anything else you want to know about my journey which I have failed to include or you have any valuable advice to offer then please post, here, on the forum or tweet me.  Even if the message is "GIVE IT UP BRO, NO WAY, NO HOW".  I am a big boy, I can take negativity and every so often I may just believe it, and I would like to hear peoples opinions, whatever they are.

 

GL at the tables.

Breaking Even

Well,well,well.  It would appear that things are a changing.  Can it really be after setting my targets and being a profitable player for some time that it can all disappear in a flash.  Can it be when I dissect my game further that, really, at best I am a break even player.  NOT ON YOUR NELLY MATE.  However recent results would suggest that break even is a good description.  Lets have a look at how it's going.

                         

March on Full Tilt

Half way through March - need to be on target for my 900 games - need to be building the BR.
Games 395 - BR $2900.  Now, I know that it sounds a bit bad, and it is, BUT, as a man with a plan, I am on the case.

I guess you could say my plans are evolving in an unexpected manner on an almost weekly basis -
                             
                                                
Let me lay this one out there.  I WILL NOT FAIL!!  I WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES!!

So what is my problem and how low will I go to try and correct it.

Firstly since starting my quest I have failed to regularly update and reinforce my knowledge through the training site I use.  Not great but not the sole reason for my failings.

Secondly, I did decide to improve my play by the use of HoldemManager (HEM) in order to track my play and the play of others quicker in order to add the extra tables I was playing.  This has been a major problem.
I downloaded the software and signed up for the trial etc and during this process (being a technical retard) I managed to completely screw up my Pc.  The files were not going to the correct folders and in the end my newish Pc gave up.  It took me over two days to rectify the problem and get the Pc restored back to factory setting and start all over again.  Safe to say HEM is not on my Pc now and will not be until somebody offers to come round my house and set it up for me.  (Essex, UK, if anybody took the hint).  When I did get the computer back online I did the unforgivable and tilted off some of my BR.

Onto the corrections!  I looked hard at the Ironman benefits on Full Tilt and decided it would be more beneficial for me to go bonus whoaring
                                                     
For the uninitiated, that has nothing to do with quitting poker and heading for the red light district.  Instead I headed on-line and searched for the site that was going to offer me the biggest bonuses to start playing on their site.
With a new site found, I registered quickly as I have lost playing days this month already.  The bonuses I will be obtaining look something like this.

Sign up bonus will be $500 for playing an easy amount of games.  I could have gone for a bigger one but was unsure about the traffic on the site.

I will be entered into an exclusive monthly leaderboard as I signed up through raketherake.com.  From previous boards, I should earn between $75 and $140 per month.

A leaderboard for the last two weeks of March should net me another $75 or so.

Furtherstill I have a few freeroller tournaments to play and the offer to seal the deal was a satellite ticket for a tourney where 10 from 200 will win WSOP packages on April 12th.

So even if I do break even for the next 4 - 6 weeks, I should still profit in excess of $700.  Lets hope I dont break even and we get back on track.  After 75 games on the new site I am confident of good profit.

I know bonus whoaring is not the greatest thing to be doing for an aspiring poker player due to the short lived nature of the offers but in these circumstances needs must.

During my web surfing I did notice a good deal which I had just missed at William HILL Poker which was giving away WSOP packages (albeit smaller ones) simply for raking a certain amount (cant remember how much, but it was very dooable).  So disappointed at that but did find some others which may interest me as my satellite hunt steps up.

I am hoping my next blog takes a step in the more positive direction as this and the last were about me failing basically.

Along with 2 days off with no computer and 1 day off to spend with wifey as she was stressed over exams at work, I did manage to squeeze another night off from poker on-line to go play live.  A £100 freezeout at a local festival.  (Just realised thats 4 days off from 16 - better knuckle down)

How did you do live? I hear you ask -  Well I sucked like a fish - Really sucked.
                                   
                                         

I can only put it down to having been playing 10 tables at a time and probably 120 hands every 5 minutes, I was suddenly playing just 1.  I was falling to sleep, bored and found myself playing numerous small pocket pairs from the SB without hitting anything and bluffing at every pot.  The only time I did not stoke the pot seemed to be the two times I did have winning hands.  Oh well lesson learned.  At least one night off before next live action and new additions to the Ipod.

One more live trip to a £55 freezeout, next Sunday but that could be it until Vegas.

Nothing else going on really - I need to focus all my efforts on pulling this around.  On the plus side though, I did realise this week that I have enough air miles with Virgin to pay for my return flight to Vegas, although the dates are limited.

Two of the horses (poker players) I staked turned a profit this week.  Only small but a profit.  While a third one ran off with my money.   He had lost most of it already and only made off with a small amount, thankfully.  Unless I am being heartless and something terrible has happened to him which has meant that he cannot contact me or return my messages then I only wish him bad things for letting poker down.  I am not worried about the money, that will come and go.  But the integrity of poker needs to be kept intact for all those private stakes and private games along with all the prop bet action we are lucky enough to encounter.
If the bloke who has not returned my money is an avid reader, I have sent my nephew with something for you.  I have attached his photo so you know it was me who sent him.

                                             


Thanks for reading, until next time, Good luck at the tables.

Not the best start

Ok, so January and February did not go exactly to plan, and after a quick look back over the stats, I can see a few reasons for this.

For starters, that bad downswing in January really did dampen things down, I won a lot more in February than I did in January to get us somewhere near back on track.

The bottom line is with one day of Febraury left my BR has only grown to $2550.  I am disappointed with this but I can see the $20 sng's are still hurting me a little (Yes, I know I said I was going to leave them alone for now, and from now on I will, I promise.)
The leaderboard I am attempting to win is not going too bad as you can see -

I am sitting in 10th but I did just have an $80 winning session which should boost me a couple of places.
My staking of other players has not been too successful, with the best result being somebody that didn't lose all my money.  I do still have 4 running though with at least one in profit.

Obviously I am slightly less than $1000 from my target at this point which is a huge %.  I clearly have to do something different to make up for the shortfall, so with that in mind I will not be beginning my satellites in April.  I will grind March and April as usual, without touching the $20s until I am over $4000.

I played just over 700 games in January and the same in february.  My master plan is too increase my volume.  Easy! I hear you say but let me lay out my life for you.  My entire life runs on a 9 day cycle right now and once I explain you will see what an angel my wife is for putting up with me.

Day 1 - Off work but up to have kids from 7am until wife gets home from work at 6pm,  I might do dinner but start grinding about 7 or 8pm -usually until 1am, because,
Day 2 - and
Day 3 - are the same as Day 1
Day 4 - I am up having the kids again from 730am.  Mother-in-law(AKA Supergran - could not live without her) comes round at noon, so I can go to work returning home about 10pm (hopefully).  Poker till about 1am.
Day 5 - and
Day 6 - are the same as Day 4
Day 7 - Up and out by 730am, to work and home by 530pm (hopefully).  Eat and probably start playing by 8pm until 1 or 2am (not bothered if i'm tired at work)
Day 8 - and
Day 9 - the same as Day 7.
Then the cycle starts again.  Yes, I do not get a day off with the wife ever.  Yes, she does most of the household stuff while also working full time.  I do maintain the cars and garden and we share the cooking so i'm not all bad.

If you cant be bothered to do the math, that equals about 39 hours, give or take, grinding.  Now I am playing sets of 9 and usually get 3 sets in as a minimum to keep my ironman status.  3 sets (27 games) for the whole month with a day or two off comes out to round about 700 games.  So, How am I going to increase my volume? I hear you ask.

Firstly I think I am doing a lot better at the $11 turbos now so will primarily try to play these to speed the process up and squeeze in the extra set here and there.
Secondly, I think I may be able to introduce another 3 tables per set making it upto 12 instead of 9.
Thirdly, I am going to play for an extra hour here and there.  A friend of mine told me you can try to re-program your mind into needing less sleep - I will let you know how this goes.
Anybody got any other ideas?? Feel free !!

So I say it here loud and proud I am aiming for, in excess of 900 games in March.  This will be a push but the extra motivation and ambition I have felt since starting my blog should help to push me through.
I am not going to lower my projected cash targets as I still aim to be there or thereabouts at the end.

Just by writing that, I feel able to achieve it. I feel free like a peacock -Let me fly!!

Love that film!

Hopefully, you now have a better idea of my circumstances and my day to day routine.  Oh by the way I have had to give up all exercise in order to grind so much so if you meet me and I am fat, there is a very good reason.

Between my on-line grind this month, I am planning on a few live events and i'll let you know when i have finalised those details. 

From the personal side of my life.  I have just purchased a brand new car (Vauxhall Zafira) which will arrive in April.  I could not fit the kids in my Toyota.

Decided not to travel abroad this year as the little one was a nightmare last year so booked Butlins.  I know, really sad but the kids will enjoy it, and it should not impede with my wsop plans for which I have booked annual leave at work.  Hope that is not too presumptious.

Thanks for the visit.  If you have endured any of the problems I am having and found a cool solution, please dont keep it to yourself, comment or tweet me.

See you in a couple of weeks.

Cheers !!

The Plan

The Plan.

Ok, for me to get to see this sight in person this year it is going to take some serious planning.

I started the year with two goals that you are aware of and this is the plan of action I have to succeed. 

In the past my bankroll management skills have been, play what I want when I want.  If the $$$$ are not in my account - deposit.  Failure - deposit again.  Success - enter more tournaments and withdraw some to pay the bills or treat wifey and kids.  Yes, I know, before you start on me, absolutely terrible.
I have corrected this somewhat over the last year or so but I am stepping up the laws on my play to give me the best chance to succeed.

January started with a strategically calculated $500 in my Full Tilt account.  (It was what I happened to have laying bout in Cyber Space).
January and February are the two months where I am concentrating on grinding that up to the max. 
Aim $3500.

That will put me on course to grind some more in March and April and begin to introduce some satellites into the bigger events such as the Sunday Majors etc.  I am not sure I will play any events I do win entry too, I may just take the tournament $$ it will depend how the roll is looking.  I am hoping to hone my satellite skills further and be in the satellite zone when they start for the WSOP.  Hopefully March and April will see my roll increase further but at a slower rate due to my change in focus.
Aim $6000.

So into May and June, continuing to grind whilst hitting the WSOP sats.  Because of shift work I have trouble playing on a Tuesday night to qualify for a tournament on Saturday night because generally I will be at work on one of those nights at least.  This means I will probably have to buy straight into the direct qualifiers.
Aim - At least one WSOP seat in the bag and a roll of $7000.

Then the big decision.  If I have not managed to bag a seat to Vegas, I will have to decide whether the $7000 is used to jump on a plane, try a few live sats at the Rio and maybe play some lower buy-in events, or admit defeat, pay some bills, buy something nice for the wife and kids and start all over again.

I am attempting to use a 2% of my bankroll rule but may not stick to this for a couple of reasons.  I will not be going over the 2% apart from the direct qualifiers for the WSOP but may stick to less as I really want to win the Sharkscope leaderboard for $5-$15 9man sng.  It may be a bit strange not to increase my level for the sake of a star on sharkscope and there is a little more to it than that, let me explain.

January started good and toward the end of the month my roll was closing in on the $2000 mark.  I had done this by just playing the $10 9 man sng on FTP.  I decided that the way I was playing I should definitely up the stakes and planned on starting to play the $20 9msng.  The $11 sng turbos had not been kind so I left the turbos alone.  Unfortunatlely a day or two before I started with the $20 sng I started a downswing.  When I started the $20's it continued and the cards that were arriving were ridiculous.  If I had a $ for every time I shouted "F***ing Rigged" like I had tourettes, then I would have been on my way to Vegas already.  Check this sharkscope out, it looks like my 11 year old had taken over for a few days.

Devastating.  Did I run bad? Certainly.  Did I start playing bad? Yes. 
So I was off the leaderboard and things were not looking good.  I stopped the 20's and went back to grind the 10s again.  This is the reason I am skeptical about playing solely 20's again for a bit.  I do however sneak one or two in every set of 9 that I play.

As I stand today,

As quick as the cooler left, along came a heater, so we are back on track.  With my rakeback and the very odd, very small mtt tourney cash my account is over the 2k mark.
I played about 800 games in january, earned my Ironman badge and am on track for the same in February.

So that is the plan.  It, of course, could go either of two ways and I will share the highs and lows with you along the way.  I wont brag or make excuses (well maybe one or two of each).  Hopefully I will end up meeting with some of you in Vegas and wont end up looking like a -

or need to do any of this

I will post every week or two.  Thanks for reading.  Feel free to make any comment you wish, any advice you can offer will be gratefully accepted.



The Beginning

Firstly, a short piece about me.  One regular guy really.  Live at home with the wife and 2 boys (11 and almost 2) At the moment work full time in a relatively well paid job.

Why are we here?
I would like to share with you my experiences as I attempt to go from regular poker player, playing recreationally for the last 10 years or so, to a player who at least earns a regular supplementary income.  Along the way, this year I am aiming to finish at the top of the Sharkscope leaderboard for $5 to $15 stakes for 9 handed sit-n-go.  My other aim is to win entry into the WSOP 2011 and cash!!

I will share with you all good and bad experiences along the way including the staking of some poker players which I also hope to profit from this year.
I hope to gain many followers along the way and to stake a few of you in the process maybe.

I am hoping the purpose of this blog will inspire some other players to follow in my footsteps in the future.  I would also like some real participation and help from you.  I primarily play on Full Tilt Poker at the moment but information from you guys helping me locate the best value satellites into any of the WSOP 2011 events will help greatly.  I think the blog will also help me maintain my focus and keep my eyes on the prize.

I have cut my teeth over the years mainly on-line on the smaller European sites and only get to play live in decent festivals a few times a year.  I am of course still working on my game as a member of a well known training site.
I have been earning about $1500 a month for about a year now on the smaller sites with relatively low volume, however I hope to improve this with more volume.
Qualifying for any WSOP event is a must as I do not have the gumption to pay $10,000 or anything like it from my own wallet - (Did mention I have a wife yes?- I want to keep it that way).

If I can get to grips with all this technology, I will post some pics along the way and i'll also be tweeting so feel free to follow me on Twitter also for up to the minute info on tournies i'm in and how i'm doing.  I might also want to let off some steam.

More about me as time goes on - now lets get this journey started!!!!