I few weeks ago I noticed that I have been way too results-oriented lately. Well, actually, I've probably always been way too results-oriented, but I feel like I've recently regressed a bit. I thought about it for a bit and decided that I seem to play my best poker when I am not at all worried about or keeping constant track of results. This led me to decide that I will refrain from looking at my bankroll until the end of the month, and just focus on playing solid poker. I actually started this a few weeks ago, and it seemed to help, so I will continue it until the end of the month. I also am not looking at monthly results/graphs until the end of the month because I tend to get tilted if I am not living up to my expectations. I am still looking at daily results and big pots played at the end of each session, but win or lose I am moving ahead to the next session/day without looking back.

Basically, I'm trying to go with the flow and play more in the moment each and every day. So far, it has had the effect of making more a lot more calm and focused when I sit down to play. I know that my main objective is to play my best each and every session, and even if I don't, I will put it behind me and try to do better next time. This is, of course, how it probably always should be.

So how big is my roll? Somewhere well over 40 buy-ins. How much am I up/down this month? I don't really know, and it doesn't really matter. How will I play tomorrow? As best I can.

The Gators are awesome! Two national championships for Urban, Timmaaaayyyy!, Ooohhhhhhhhh Percy!

Man, if I had any gamble in me I would have bet the farm on this one. Happy nontheless.

So proud. UF alum, Class of '02!

GATORRRRSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, I've really slacked on updating my blog since that nasty downswing post. It's amazing how something like that can mess with your game so much that it's hard to get out of the rut. I've had like a 50k hand break-even stretch since then, but I'm feeling much better about things.

I looked some of my 2008 results and was pretty depressed about it. I think I came close to having a nervous breakdown over it. I haven't added everything up yet, but I think I made around $12k in cash games, and another few $k in rakeback and bonuses. Good thing I got a real job! I guess I did better than a ton of other poker players, but my results really tilt the hell out of me. I know I am capable of so much more. I still often found myself tilting and doing the same stupid crap that I would do 2 years ago (like steaming off a few extra buy-ins after a few bad beats).

On the bright side, I did make money overall :) Also, I had 11 winning months in 2008, compared to 6 in 2007. My hourly rate was like twice what it was in 2007. I actually cashed out more in 2007, but like $10k of it was from casino-bonus-whoring (oh, those were the days). I also think that I did get a lot better at the technical aspects of poker overall. I did also come a long way with tilt issues, despite still needing plenty of work in that area. Another cool thing from 2008 was that I was able to successfully complete my self-imposed mico-stakes challenge, making $1k from $25nl and below in under 2 months. The graph from that challenge makes me smile. Finally, I had some great experiences with coaching and meeting new people in the online poker world (some of which I need to get back in touch with, as it's been a while).

Overall, I'm looking forward to a great 2009. I don't have any major goals set in stone yet, but I know it will be a solid year. I may do a more extensive 2008 update later, or I may just put it behind me and move on.......

I have never run so bad at poker. One of those stretches there nothing goes right. I feel like digging a hole and sitting in it for a while. Oh poker. Well, I cashed out a few $K and am still well rolled for 100nl, so that makes me feel a bit better. Sigh....

My volume was fairly low again this month, due to the real job, but I am quite pleased with my overall play/results. I mostly just stuck with 100nl, as the games were often much better and I sometimes just wasn't feelin it for 200nl. I stuck with all of my rules very well again this month, and it still seems to be paying off.

The job is still going well. It seems like I pick up a new client about every other day, so pretty soon I should be ballin outta control. I'm still going to stick with a max of about 20 hours of non-poker work/week, and as I pick up regular clients my average hourly rate increases (haha, just like adding tables in poker). My plan is to make enough at my real job to support my mortgage, food, and gas habits so that I'm not cashing out much of my roll. This should allow me to move up with comfort when I'm ready, and I'd like to be sitting in some soft 400nl games by the end of the year.

Here's the graph for August:

I've been doing well overall this month, but I've felt just a little off for the most part. I think a lot of it has to do with adjusting to having a real job, which is still going quite well btw. I've been a bit tired while playing my last dozen or so sessions, and it has effected my game a bit. Well, I finally got about 9 hours of sleep last night (as opposed to 6 or 7 lately) and played a very well-rested session today. I think being well rested and in a good state of mind are pretty darn important for playing poker. The session went very well. I was very confident in my reads and everything just clicked nicely. I wish they could all be like this. Actually, the amount of these great sessions can be maximized by being very self-aware and having the discipline to not play when conditions are not optimal. I've been working a lot on this type of meta-game stuff and it's been working out very well for me. Tommy Angelo is kind of my idol. Check him out on this weeks' 2+2 pokercast if you haven't already. Anyway here's what my stats look like when I feel like I'm playing close to my best:

July is done. I didn't play many hands this month, but I pretty much crushed when I did. I attribute this mostly to really only playing when I felt good and strictly sticking to my 1.5 hours session rule. Actually it was more like a set of rules that I wrote out for myself in mid June. Here are the rules, along with estimates on how I did with them in ( ):

1. Always watch a video before you play (I stuck to this 95%).

2. Play 1.5 hours max/session (100%).

3. Review each session in HM (90%)

4. Play 4-6 tables, focusing on other players and playing my best game (98%).

5. Make sure I have a good reason to make each play (75%, sometimes it's pure feel).

6. Focus on independent hands and making the best decision in each one (mmm, maybe 85%).

These seemed to work out very well for me. I think the 1.5 hour session rule is HUGE and the watching a vid rule is very good for me too. I am so much more prone to do stupid crap or go on tilt and spew if I play longer than 1.5 hours. I can't believe it took me a few years to figure this out, but hey, now I know and as G.I Joe always said, "Knowing is half the battle." lol

Here's the fun picture:

+ $192 in rakeback, $350 Iron Man bonus, $200 cancelled cashout bonus, and $186 from PLO = $3700

That's my best month in a long time. Sweet.

lol, I was so tilted last night. I'm over it now. I should be pretty happy with my progress at PLO so far. Making almost 8 buy-ins at .15/.25 in my first few K hands isn't bad. I think it was just the combination of having such a heater to start, then having everything seem to go wrong that got me so tilted. I definately have spewed plenty of buy-ins as well (aside from the tilt spew), so I have a lot of work to do if I want to be a long-term winner at the game. I also got really pissed when this guy who was playing 96/52 was sucking up all the money at the table, including mine. He played this way for about 200 hands and left the table with 5 buy-ins. I guess I can get really tilted when an obvious donkey goes on a heater and wins a bunch of money. I think what gets me about it is that I study and work on my game so much, then some retard comes along and wins all the money in sight while I lose my ass. I should know better than this, though. Just because I think I have a theoretical edge, doesn't entitle me to win on any given day. That's poker...

...which reminds me of a great quote about the "that's poker" saying. I can't remember who it was or the exact quote, but it was something to the effect of saying "that's poker" also meaning you want to gouge the other guy's eyes out with an ice-pick. I thought that was hilarious, and totally true. haha

In other news, I got a real job! I've been living mostly off poker for the last year and I'm still doing fine with it, but I've been looking into doing some other stuff lately. I've done some personal training over the past year, with just a few friends/family clients, and I've decided that I want to get out of the house a bit more and do more training. I got a job training at a little gym in my area, and I start tomorrow. It's brand new with awesome equipment, the owners are very nice, and they are cool with me having a flexible schedule. I plan on putting in about 15-20 hours/week there, which will still give me plenty of time for the pokers. I'm looking forward to making some totally stress-free money and hell, I have a master's degree in exercise physiology, so I might as well put it to use, lol. Also, I'd like to refinance my house and get a new car, which is virtually impossible without a "regular" job. So anyway, it should be pretty cool and I'm looking forward to it. That's all for now.

I've been spending the last few days trying to learn PLO. Right now I"m tilted and hate it!!!!! I want to run through a wall....

So, I had a pretty nice day at the tables today. I was feeling well at the start of the day, and fired up some good tables I found after datamining. I was grinding along, with nothing much happening, then boom! I had a very nice run, which cooled off towards the end of my first 1.5-hour set. At the end of that set I was up $946, and it was time to go to the gym. I told myself that I was going to go for a $1k day when I got back, so upon return from the gym I decided to fire up some 50nl tables for my 2nd set. I did the move down to reduce the chance of taking a significant hit, which could put a damper on my otherwise beautiful day. Plus, I remember it often seeming like 50nl was like printing money. Well, it seems as if 50nl is just as I remember it, and I was up over $1k within about 30 minutes. Nice! End of day.

All the big pots were pretty standard good hands vs my better hands, thus not too exciting. Here's my favorite hand of the day: http://www.pokerhand.org/?2914182

I was hovering over the call button and snap-called this like a mongoose's counterstrike vs a cobra :)

Now, the obligatory graph: