On Hold

Start Date: 3/24/08 @ $600
Current Balance: $965
Current Limit: 1/2 Limit Hold'em

Bankroll Status:
On a down swing this week. Nothing too crazy, lost $80 (-40BB) straight yesterday but was able to recover most of it today.

Lessons Learned:
This week was the first "dry run" I've had since starting. Premium hands not holding/hitting, Top Pair Top Kicker no good, sets getting flushed, blah blah blah you know how it goes. It kind reminded me of this one time I had at the Borgata where I bought into a 10/20 game for $800 and almost got felted. Shit wasn't holding up and I was down to $200 (-30BB).

During the entire time I was telling myself to remain in control because these swings are expected. Poker is afterall, gambling. Every time I got rivered or crushed by some donkey 2 pair or donkey gut shot, I took it as practice for the next time it happens. By consciously perceiving this situation as just practice for the next time, the (mental) blow was greatly softened. This technique turns downswings and dry runs into beneficial experiences which when repeated over time, has the potential to completely eliminate tilt. (By the way, that night at the Borgata I made all of it back +$200 by the end of the night)

Well, yesterday was that "next time" I was practicing for. I disregarded the fact that I'm playing micro stakes, because from a purely poker view points you have to see some pretty fucked up shit happen to swing -40BB in Limit. Proud to say I didn't tilt at all and the losses didn't effect my game at all (+1 for bankroll management!). The sessions were so rough that I just stopped playing and waited for today to try to make it back (I recovered $60).

On another note:

While spring cleaning today I took a look at old credit card statements and bills. I paid particular attention to the APR and finance charges that incurred over time and realized that I'm actually losing money by playing 1/2 limit! Even though my bankroll is growing, the time spent playing for $9/hr gets eating up by interest I'm paying on my credit cards, student loan and car loans.

Poker is a game of calculated odds and is a long term investment. The purpose is to make money and nothing else. So therefore I decided to stop playing poker until all my credit cards are paid off. Right now I've got approximately $2300 in credit card debt.

So today, I am cashing out my balance of $965 and using it ALL to take a whack at that $2300. Over the next 30 days I intend pay off the remaining $1300 in debt.

Once paid off, I re-deposit the $965 and get myself back on track.

I will post again once I'm debt free, should take no longer than a month.

Good Luck!

Almost at $2/$4!

Start Date: 3/24/08 @ $600
Current Balance: $980
Current Limit: 1/2 Limit Hold'em

Bankroll Status:
More than half way to $1200, at which I can start playing $2/$4!

Lessons Learned:
1/2 Players are horrible. But as horrible as they are, it still takes an hour of good poker to make $10 at these stakes. I've also been brushing up on my math and have used these sessions as practice to calculate my odds at every street. It's well worth it.

Quick Update

Project 20k
Objective: Turn $600 into $20,000. Limit Cash Games only, must have 300BB to play within a limit. Must start at 1/2. Doesn't matter how long it takes, but I can't play more than 20 hours in 1 week (so I can have a life other than poker lol).

Start Date: 3/24/08 @ $600
Current Balance: $787
Current Limit: 1/2 Limit Hold'em

Bankroll Status
I'm +$187 on my Cake account from playing 1/2 Limit Hold'em (6-Max & Full Ring) since I started. It's moving a lot quicker than I thought! Just need ~$400 more to move up to 2/4 Limit. I'm estimating I'll hit it by May first.

Lessons learned
The number of pots you win/lose in a session mean nothing other than short term variance. The only meaningful things at the poker table are: maximizing the number of decisions made that have +ev (positive expected value) , fully capitalizing on your opponents playing styles (individuals & table pace) and remaining in control of yourself.

If you take your game seriously, it doesn't matter what limits you play. It's funny how 1/2 can feel just like 10/20! When I lose a $30 pot, at 1/2, it sucks just as bad as losing a $300 pot at 10/20! I wouldn't go so far however as to say it feels the same as losing a $600 pot at 20/40 (Now that feeling is FAR WORSE, indicating that 20/40 was and still is, outside of my bankroll).

Have to go to work. Peace and good luck!

Money Can't Buy Happiness

Jeez it's been a whole 6 months since I last blogged. A whole lot has a changed...

I got a job in the city.
I work 5 days a week and about 10-11 hrs a a day, reminds me of multi tabling SNGs like in my previous posts lol.

I Moved in with my parents and helping them out with the mortgage on our new house.
I appreciate my parents more than ever. They've helped me make me who I am today and I am greatful. Living at home definitely has its perks.

I fell in love with Limit Hold'em cash games
Where to start... my main game right now is 10/20 Limit Hold'em, took a shot at 20/40 but quickly realized that I need a larger bankroll for that. At 10/20 I've got 122 hours @ $26/hr (1.2BB) so things have been great! I've been going down to AC just about ever weekend for the past few months and I've had a lot of fun but its been eating my social life away. So I'm taking a small break from the holy land.

Money can't buy happiness.

To quell the poker urge I've deposited $600 onto Cake Poker to grind it out at 1/2 6-Max Limit and give PROPER bankroll management a shot. 300bb is the recommended bankroll for a recreational player so I'm going to stick with it and move up in stakes accordingly. 6-Max will also get me accustomed to looser, shorthanded play which I've always been a bit shy of.

Although I feel I'm at my best game right now, I now realize (more than ever) how little I know about poker. It's a lot deeper and more complex than I ever imagined and I want to know more. It's been about a year since I played my first hand of hold'em but I feel like I've just recently learned how to play. I think I've found my game.

I will try to blog more frequently! It's always great to look back and see the olde me and how I've changed.

Full Speed Ahead

A lot of shit happened since I've last posted, I wanna play poker so I'll give you the abridged version:

1. I've been able to pump out $500+ checks every 10 days for the past 3 months (missed one withdrawal due to a 2 week dry run). But I'm basically "in the cycle" so a check hits my door every 10 days or so.

2. I've gotten over my fear of cash games. I'm far from expert/pro level cash game play but I can definitely say I understand them now. I'm up close to $1.5k from my past 10 AC trips (1/2 NL $300 Max Buy-In)

3. I quit my job. Basically I've got only 2.5 months left on my lease at this apartment. In order to stay I need to renew my lease for another year. The fact that I'm getting bored of work and also want to live closer to my family/friends gives me little reason to renew the lease and stick around at that retarded-ass desk job. I quit so soon because I've got enough money now to cover all my living expenses for a solid 3 months (thanks poker).

Ok so, looking forward

Immediate Action Items
These are my immediate, reachable goals that I've set for myself. The ultimate goal is MUCH larger but this is my current checklist

1. $500+ every 10 days is nice, but I need more. First and most important goal is to make $650 a week. I picked $650 a week is because that's about how much I was netting at my day job ($47K/year). I will primarily do this by 6 tabling $8 and $16 SNGs (my bread and butter) for 5-8 hours a night.

2. Dedicate 3-5hrs a day to my other projects. Ultimately, I do not want poker to be my primary source of income. My other projects will be my source of income wealth. Since this is my poker blog, I won't get into this right now.

3. Consistently beat $1/$2 NL live in AC. I started playing poker online, primarily play online and consistently beat online so therefore I'm an online player. I need this kind of confidence at live games. This goal is not as immediate as the first 2 goals and I will only begin to focus on it once I hit a consistent $650 a week online for 3 weeks straight.

4. Stay healthy. Cut down on fast food and junk food. Stretch, jog for 45 min and play 1 hour of tennis daily. Not only do I need to get back in shape, but I need the discipline.

4. Blog at least 2 times a week. This has many benefits.

OK sick of typing, gonna play. Peace.

- Mori

The most important Poker advice you'll ever read

Excerpt from David Sklanky's "The Theory of Poker"

In the long run a poker player's overall win is the sum of his

mathematical expectations in individual situations. The more

plays you make with a positive expectation, the bigger winner you

stand to be. The more plays you make with a negative

expectation, the bigger loser you stand to be. Therefore, you

should almost always try to make the play that will maximize

your positive expectation or minimize your negative expectation

in order to maximize your hourly rate.

Once you have decided what your hourly rate is, you should

realize that what you are doing is earning. You are no longer

gambling in the traditional sense. You should no longer be

anxious to have a good day or upset when you have a bad day. If

you play regularly, you should simply feel that it is better to be

playing poker making $20 an hour, able to come and go as you

please, than to be working an eight-hour shift making $ 15 an hour.

To think of poker as something glamorous is very bad. You must

think that you are just working as a poker player and that you are

not particularly anxious about making a big score. If it comes, it

comes. Conversely, you won't be so upset if you have a big loss.

If one comes, it comes. You are just playing for a certain hourly

rate.

If you have estimated your hourly rate correctly, your

eventual winnings will approximate your projected hourly rate

multiplied by the total hours played. Your edge comes not from

holding better cards, but from play in situations where your

opponents would play incorrectly if they had your hand and you

had theirs. The total amount of money they cost themselves in

incorrect play, assuming you play perfectly, minus the rake, is the

amount of money you will win. Your opponents' various mistakes

per hour will cost them various amounts of money. If the hands

were reversed, you wouldn't make these mistakes, and this

difference is your hourly rate. That's all there is to it. If they play

a hand against you differently from the way you would play it five

times an hour, and if it's a $2 mistake on average, that's a $10-

an-hour gain for you.

To assume you play perfectly is, of course, a big assumption.

Few if any of us play perfectly all of the time, but that is what we

strive for. Furthermore, it is important to realize that there is not

one particular correct way to play a poker hand as there is in most

bridge hands. On the contrary, you must adjust to your opponents

and mix up your play, even against the same opponents.

Furthermore, it is sometimes correct to play incorrectly! You

may, for example, purposely make an inferior play to gain in a

future hand or future round of betting. You also may play less

than optimally against weak opponents who have only a limited

amount to lose or when you yourself are on a short bankroll. In

these cases it is not correct to push small edges. You should not

put in the maximum raises as a small favorite. You should fold

hands that are marginally worth calling. You have reduced your

hourly rate but have ensured yourself a win. Why give weaker

players any chance to get lucky and quit big winners or get lucky

and bust you if you are on a short bankroll? You'll still get the

money playing less than optimally. It will just take a few more

hours.

You should try to assess most poker games in terms of your

expected hourly rate by noticing what mistakes your opponents

are making and how much these mistakes are costing them. Don't

sit in a game with an insufficient hourly rate projection unless you

think the game will become better — either because you expect

some weaker players to arrive soon or because some good players

in the game have a tendency to start playing badly when they are

losing. If these good players jump off winners, you should quit if

you can. However, it is sometimes good to continue in a game

with a low hourly rate projection for political reasons — you do

not want to get a reputation for gambling only when you have

much the best of it.

$1,210.00

The $8.00 mentioned at the end of the previous post turned into $22, which I used to enter a $10.00 MTT tournamanent. After 5 long hours I came out 2nd for $1,210.

Since then I've found that I can steadily make money 3 Tabling $16.60 SNGs. I think if I I can build my multi-tabling skills, I can steadily increase my bank roll while absorbing as much information as possible. This method has quite a few benefits:

1. Low risk with decent odds.
2. The plethora of donks makes SNGs marginally profitable even for the average player.
3. The consistency will allow me to easily measure my progress
4. More hands, more situations, more knowledge
5. Builds dicipline (very important)

Will update later, gotta play poker.

- Mori