General Update and Thoughts

So, things have been going well, poker wise.

I have been posting some updates to twitter and so far this has been a good month at the tables.

A few things have happened that have got me thinking, so I wanted to do a general update to see where I still need to get to by the May mark (6 months).

Goals:
Every Session:
Use proper game selection - Done (as much as possible)
Practice good BRM - Done
Always buy in for the maximum and top up if needed - Done
Learn to identify when you go on tilt and activate the killswitch - Done
Apply the maths - Done
Try some multi-level thinking - Done
Be patient, remain calm and focused - Done

Short Term (3-6 Months):
Know the maths - Done
Practice multi-level thinking - Done
Realise a decent profit - Busy 1/2 way
Increase number of simultaneous tables to 6 online - Busy
Up the stakes from $2NL to $10NL on FT - Canned
Up the stakes from R20NL to R100NL on Piggs - Up to 200NL now
Buy tracking software - Still need
Check and record stats once a month - Done
Read 2 poker books - Done
Play more live games - Done

So thats where I'm at, 3 goals to go before May. Need some new goals I think...

Poker 2011 Second Home Game of the Year

Now that home and live games are going to be happening more regularly, I'll be posting results as they happen.

Saturday 05/02/2011 - Cash Game at Pyro's

The structure was as follows:
Blinds: 25c/50c until 10pm then 50c/R1
Max BI: R50 until 10pm then R100
Total Pool after rebuys: R1030

Players and results were:
1st Ruse
2nd Vixen
3rd Pyro
4th Wombles
5th boB
6th Phar
7th Croglet

See Full Results Here.

All in all, not too bad, although I lost my temper a few times...
R80 being my total profit for the session. Next one is set up for 19 Feb.

6 Month Graph and Technical Glitches.

Well, I have started watching vids on Dragthebar and there is a hell of a lot to go through. So at the moment I am just picking a few at random and going from there...

HEM problem is a little more complicated, I installed it a few weeks ago and had issues, tried to set it up last night after fixing my .Net issue and now the trial has expired. So much for that idea, guess I'll have to fork out some cash.

In the meantime, I thought I'd give you a sneak peak on my progress to date.

I think 6 months is starting to get to the sample size I want to be looking at, apart from my withdrawal last year, looks like I'm doing something right... Even if I still have a lot to learn.

Decisions decisions...

I have made a few hard decisions these past few days, based on some of my poker friends’ advice ;) and the info in the book (Treat your poker like a business).

1.Take a harder look at my playstyle. Just winning money from the donks and still playing badly is not going to cut it anymore if I really want to get serious. If I lose money, but made good decisions at the table that’s an investment.

2.Use Dusty’s 100 BI BRM rule instead of the Ferguson 25 BI rule. So that means sticking with 20NL, smaller tourneys and R20 DoNs until I hit the 5k mark.

3.Play more tourneys. I love the style and changing tables that you get with tournies, so I want to dedicate more time to them.

4.Take notes while playing. This means not only making notes on players, but also on hands that I feel I made mistakes on or did not play as well as I could have. Ask people about them or look them up.

5.Use my 14 days free that I have for Drag the Bar. This will help extend the knowledge that I’m picking up from the books and forums. Cut play time by another 10% to increase study time so that the ratio is now 80/20.

6.Sort HEM out! I have a 14 day trial that I can use on the desktop until I have the cash to buy it. The rule with the wife is that I don’t spend cash on poker, so I’ll have to draw from my BR to buy the software, but again, it’s an investment. I will only buy it once I have made sure that I know exactly how the software works including the HUD and all stats.

Ok, that turned into a 10 page essay, but ja… that’s what’s happening.

Bankroll Update: January

Ahoy,

Apart from the insane amount of work that needed to be done this month, I have still been hitting the virtual felt as often as possible, even if I have dropped back down to the 20NL tables for a bit due to brain drain. Still managed a tidy profit for this month.

Start: 2010/12/23 R2300
End: 2011/01/25 R3200
Winnings: R900

Conclusion
Short Term Goals on Hold:
Up the stakes from R20NL to R100NL (Currently playing 20NL/50NL)

Short Term Goals Attained:
Know the maths (Applying this to every session)
Practice multi-level thinking (Applying this to every session)
Read 1/2 poker books
Stopped playing on FT, focusing on Piggs

Short Term Goals in progress:
Read 1 poker book (Busy reading - Treat your poker like a business "Dusty Schmidt")
Play more live games (Playing more home games)
Check and record stats once a month (you're looking at it)
Play 4 simultaneous tables consistently (currently only at 20NL/DoNs and Tourneys)

I have been having some technical issues with HEM and .Net3.5 but should have this sorted in the next little while.

Well that's it for January's update, drop me a comment if there is anything you'd like to see here.

Poker 2011 First Game of the Year

For new years, a few mates came around for a cash game. I set it up as a cash game so that people could leave and come back to the table without worrying about being blinded out.

The structure was as follows:
Blinds: 25c/50c
Max BI: R50
Total Pool after rebuys: R1000

Players were:
Pyro
Von
Rhubarb
Lolly
boB
Xenn
Phar
Vixen

The results were:
Pyro: R390
Rhubarb and Lolly: R330
Jade: R280

My hand Highlights/Lowlights:
I was in the blinds and got to limp in with K8o. Rhubarb bluffed me off the hand with K3o. The board paired our Kings, but I wasnt happy with my kicker.

I was on the cutoff with AdQc. Preflop raise. boB goes all in, I call. He turns over 7s8s. Flop hits his 8 with 10d8dKc, turn brings 4d and river hits my flush with a 3d.

All in all, it was a great game, with R340 being my total profit for the session. Next one is set up for 15 Jan.

Poker Book Review - The Mammoth Book of Poker

The Mammoth Book of Poker - Paul Mendelson - UK ISBN 978-1-84529-807-4

This was the first book that I picked up when I decided to take NLHE seriously.
I would really recommend it as a first read, although I have not read the Little Green Book or Super System, this book gave me enough knowledge to base my new game style on.

Sections Include:
Texas Hold Em - The basics of the game
NLHE - Starting hands, loads of examples
Tournament Strategy - A good starting strategy for low BI tourneys
Online Poker - Things to remember when playing online
Home Games - How to set up your own home game
LHE - Limit Hold Em
Other Poker Variations - Explains the rest

And the best bits are the bonus ones:
100 Tips for Hold Em - Really good read, helped me a lot.
Tables and Stats - Easy Ref
Tells - Good for Live Poker
Bad beats
Glossary

On of the best things about this book was the many many sample hands and little quizzes at the end of each section. The book teaches the ABC TAG style of play, which is most recommended for Micro stakes.

Bankroll Update: December

Hey all,

Hope you are enjoying the silly season. Here is the first of (hopefully) many updates.

Piggs
Start: 2010/11/22 R1800 (after 2k withrawal)
End: 2010/12/23 R2300
Winnings: R500

Full Tilt
Start: 2010/12/01 $50/R350
End: 2010/12/23 $20/R140
Losses: $30/R210

Total
Start: R2150
End: R2440
Winnings: R290

Conclusion
Short Term Goals Abandoned:
Increase number of simultaneous tables to 6 online (Cannot be done on Piggs without playing different stakes)
Up the stakes from $2NL to $10NL on FT (Need to practice more first)

Short Term Goals Attained:
Know the maths (Applying this to every session)
Practice multi-level thinking (Applying this to every session)
Up the stakes from R20NL to R100NL on Piggs (Currently playing R100 NL)

Short Term Goals in progress:
Read 2 poker books (Busy reading - Poker Wizards "Warwick Dunnett") (On Xmas list - Don’t Listen To Phil Hellmuth "Dusty Schmidt")
Play more live games (Playing more home games and went to Silverstar once)
Check and record stats once a month (you're looking at it)

New Short Term Goals:
Stop playing on FT, focus on Piggs
Play 4 simultaneous tables consistently

That's December, ups and downs ;)

Feeding the fishies and turning donks into sharks...

I have started noticing a phenomenon on the tables at Piggs that doesn’t seem to happen on FT. Coaching at the tables… Here we are grinding out our BB/100 and a couple of suckouts turn the better players into coaches, trying to stop the donks from calling to hit the flush on the river if they don’t have pot odds.

I used to do this myself, but having experienced a player that was a recipient of this information, suddenly start winning tourneys and having seen other donks that have received good advice turn into sharks, that it is –EV to coach at the tables.
You are teaching them to be better players, allowing them to take their money back and all of this without having to do any of the work that we have had to do, scouring forums and reading poker books, analysing hands and putting in the hours that it takes to be a better player.

So just a plea, leave them, let them call, in the long run they will be your best source of income… If they want to get better, let them do the work.

Cool Poker Vids

Here are a few links of classic poker vids:

The Micros - Episode 1: Pilot 

How to play JJ

 

Downswings and the nature of the game.

Over the past few days, work has really taken a bite out of my normal poker timetable. I am getting a few hands in a day, cos I know this is the best way to learn.
Over the past week or two I have had a bit of a downswing, and although I know that I should be looking at my swings monthly, I still feel the effects.
Work has therefore afforded me the opportunity to do what I normally do when I have a downswing of epic proportions.... Take a break.

Now I have the weekend to focus more on my game again and get those numbers up. Let's hope the break helped. :)

The story so far...

The first time I remember playing No Limit Hold Em, the "Cadillac of Poker" was about 5 years ago now. One of those home games at a mates house, set up out of boredom, more than anything else. The haze of smoke and alcohol induced bluffs... chasing gutshot straight draws and calling just to make sure your opponent didn't have the nuts - that's what I used to think poker was all about. If only I knew how wrong I was.

Fast forward to about a year ago, home games are starting to happen more frequently, I manage to scrape ITM a few times and the bug had officially bitten.

I guess I started out where most players who have just been bitten land up, depositing a few bucks online, short stacking, ratholing trying to make sure I didn't bust my almost non existent BR, bust out, watched some poker on the telly, reloaded, tried some pro moves that I learned from the wsop bracelet winners, bust out, reload... It suddenly dawned on me that there may be more to this whole poker thing than what I initially thought.

Then I started reading, pretty much anything I could get my hands on. I was consuming poker books, forums and blogs like a raging Vrystad veld fire. Most of the stuff I read just amazed me, the more I soaked up, the more I wanted to hit the felt, the more hands I saw, the more forums I scoured.

Things finally started coming together and I was getting a clear picture of my poker future. This was something that I wanted to do on a more permanent basis. I knew that if I put the hours in, I would see rewards, so I started again, from scratch.

I am improving, steadily. I am by no means a pro, but the intention is to at least go semi-pro in the next 2 years. Things are starting to pick up and I have been asked for tips from micro stakes regs and newbies, then there was the suggestion that I start a blog.

So here it is, how I'm planning to go from Ratholer to High Roller... Hope it helps!