live_straddle88's blog

So the first month of 2011 went better than the first month of 2010 pokerwise, so I can't complain too much.  I tried to grind some tournaments on FTP this past week to try to have a nice finish to January (and to take advantage of the double guarantees on FTP), but despite some deep runs, it was not meant to be.  I've certainly had some swings and finished averaging about $60/hour at the tables for the month which is certainly more than I expected.  I've been busy with some real life stuff lately, and I anticipate to be hung up in February as well, so my volume will likely be down a bit compared to this time last year.  Anyway, I'm feeling good about a lot of things.  February has historically been a lucky month for me for lots of reasons (some poker related, some not), so let's see if I can continue the trend.  Specifically, I need a bit of luck in some non poker related things this coming month, so hopefully life sends me the boomswitch sooner than later.

I'm way behind pace in terms of monetary goals, but I think they were a bit unrealistic to begin with given the amount of time I have to dedicate to getting better and actually getting hands in.  I don't mind though; the game has been fun lately for me and that is pretty important in my opinion even if I won't get to baller status any time soon.  Unfortunately I don't have much more to say, but I think my goals for next month is to get in about 30,000 hands at cash and make sure every one of those hands are QUALITY hands.

Good luck at the tables,

live_straddle88

I don't know what it is but every time I post strat advice or read strat advice on the forums I think I start to outlevel myself at the tables and start playing very badly.  Maybe it's a very loose correlation or non-correlated events entirely, but I have had this suspicion in the past.  I am not posting WHILE playing or anything.  I can't say it's all bad luck.  When I go back and review my own hands I just see bad play written all over it haha.

Anyway, I guess that's some free advice: if you see me posting recently on this or other forums, come sit at my table because I'm bound to do something stupid/get doomswitched.  Bring a bucket for all the money that falls out of me.

Had a great month up until the last few days then BOOM I fell off.  These things happen from time to time.

Trying to finish strong,

live_straddle88

I think it's customary to post resolutions/goals/year in review on blogs, so here it goes.

In general I think my 2010 poker year went relatively well.  I started the year with a few K in my account and stayed disciplined enough within my bankroll and beat up on the small stakes mtt sngs for a few months.  In the process I binked some high finishes in some small buy-in mtts and quickly spun my roll up (February has always been a good month for me!).  I then proceeded to play a ton of midstakes mtts.  July marked my biggest month (20k+ profit).  The summer was good to me.  Come Fall I decided to work on my cash game play and proceeded to donate a ton of money in the midstakes plo games.  As I began sliding and losing confidence (and my bankroll in the process), I realized I needed to take breaks and work on some non-technical aspects of my game (stop losses, tilt recognition, moving down, etc).  I have certainly learned a ton in the process.  I finished the year with a modest bankroll, a much deeper understanding of mtts (and variance!), and a tidy profit (imo).  Overall I think I made some decent progress in my poker career and couldn't be happier considering the other real life stuff going on in my life (busy social and day job work schedule to balance with poker), I regret some of the big mistakes over the year I made and am hoping to have learned something important from those (expensive) lessons.  The great news is the calendar has turned, and I'm still pretty hungry to play this game.

Having said all that, I am looking to make some big moves in 2011.  I am about to start studying for my GMAT relatively soon in pursuit of a masters degree.  I am looking to enroll next spring in a program, which means this may be my last year to grind hard for some time to come, as I plan on working full time while going to school part time.  I can't really say I have specific monetary or volume goals for the year, but ideally I would like to move up (obv) and get the hang of becoming a regular at 5/10 plo by the end of the year.  I realize this will take a lot of dedication both at and away from the tables, but I am planning on really focusing my concentration on plo 6 max (with the occassional dabbling in other games for variety's sake of course).  I guess there's only one way to find out if I'm good enough.

 Here's to starting 2011 with a bang,

live_straddle88

I realize that I love setting goals for myself.  I like the feeling that I am heading towards some definite end.  On November 10th, I cashed out all but 5k of my roll and went on a mission.  The goal was a simple one to state but a difficult (imo) one to accomplish: by December 31, 2011 to have earned 100k in profit.  I will allow myself to play any games I wish and to shot take as I feel necessary when I think my rungood is nicely charged up.  Since I play recreationally and for the challenge (and not necessarily to pay bills), I sometimes find cash games without a meaningful, finite end (as opposed to mtts).  I am in no way saying cash games are boring or that they are not a challenge.  I am simply saying that setting myself milestones personally helps me keep focused and headed in the right direction (up and up!) each and every session.  So this is my quest.  

I just got back from spending some time in Aruba, and while I played very little poker there (lol live 5-5), I feel like I have a very clear head for the game (as often happens to me with a little time away from the tables).  I'm hoping to crush the rest of the year.  Historically it has always seemed to me that the games are particularly good around Christmas and New Year's so hopefully I will able to use this to my advantage.  For any of you that would like to try to keep score at home, since 11/10/10 I am about 8% complete with my goal which I think is a great start as I have only played 21 of the days that have ellapsed since starting the challenge.  I also imagine the money will be coming (and not leaving) in larger clumps as I move up.  If everything goes well I should be posting a really pretty graph around this time next year.

Hope everyone is having a good December so far,

live_straddle88

Poker has been going just ok.  A lot of break-even time spent battling some regs at 1/2 plo on FTP.  It's been fun and I think I'm learning quite a bit about what works for some other players.  The fact that I am still learning is both a a positive and a negativ:; on the one hand it's great that I am recognizing spots where winning players are making plays in spots where I ordinarily wouldn't think to do.  On the other hand, it is making me realize how much more I still need to learn to be a good player.  November has certainly been a fruitless month pokerwise, but a great month lifewise so who am I to complain?  I will keep working on my game and, variance gods willing, I will hopefully finish the month on a high note. 

I wish I had something more meaningful to say, but happy Thanksgiving to all you fellow Americans.  American or not, I suggest everyone take some time off from worrying about their 3b frequencies and winrates in the next few days.  Do not linger on these things.  Instead, think about all the good things in your life.  I'm sure it is not hard to see that there are many.

Be thankful.

-live_straddle88 

Just wanted to share this thread with guys thinking about jumping into midstakes plo.  I think DP is widely respected as one of the best small-midstakes plo 6max players around currently.  Here is a sick prop he is undertaking this month.  100 buy-ins in 31 days at 2/4 plo.  The graphs make me nausous, but it's certainly a fun sweat to see how this plays out.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/54/poker-beats-brags-variance/official-plo400-prop-bet-100bis-31-days-904023/

That's all for now. 

Keep on keepin' on,

live_straddle88

In a strange turn of events I have taken up playing no limit cash games.  I actually can't remember the last time I played that game as a main focus (maybe a year and a half ago?).  PLO variance was just making me sick (aside from the fact that I'm a big fish) because I would put in short swingy sessions and the bad feelings I got from losing days were not offset by the good feelings of winning days.  What also frustrates me about plo is that there are lots of spots where both players are completely justified in putting their stacks in the middle regardless of how deep the game is playing, and in reality both players are just about flipping (+/- 5% equity).  I think I used to enjoy the gamble, but after such a hard downswing last month, I don't mind switching to a game with a little less variance.  Also, since I only play on 1 site I find plo game selection to be a problem since at any given time only a handful of 1/2 and 2/4 100bb or deep tables are running; the rest of the tables are all shallow stacked games which just invites a ton of show-down bound tilt-inducing variancaments given that I find myself in a lot of spots where I have no choice but to bet/call since there is often so little money to play behind.  I feel like on average I can't get in as many hands as a full-time grinder so the so-called "long run" magical land where everything is supposed to smooth out just feels too far away for me.  Mtt-sngs are still a lot of fun for me, but I seldom have time to play poker for (minimum) 3-4 hour sessions.  So I'm sharpening up my nl cash game skills a little bit, and hopefully that will translate into more nl tournament success.  If everything goes right I should be laying in a pile of money come December 31st (sarcasm obv). 

Here's to a successful November,

live_straddle88

After an abysmal October due to some serious spewage in th cash games, I've got tournaments on the mind again (who doesn't chase the big score?).  When I have time to get in sessions I will be grinding 1/2 and 2/4 plo as well as some big field mtts when I can squeeze in longer sessions.  FTOPS and USCOOP will be starting up, so I'd like to play a few of those.  I have really been under-utilizing HEM.  I am working on a limited amount of playing time this month, but I think I will be shooting for a goal of 20k hands in November  (6-8 tabling) and a profit of at least 3k.  I suppose that might sound small to a full time baller/grinder, but I think it's going to be a challenge for me.  Hopefully I'll surprise myself and just crush.

Wish me luck,

live_straddle88 

It's been a while since I last blogged.  I steamed through a bunch of my roll with a combination of mostly playing bad, running bad, playing too many tables, and not game selecting well.  I've been pretty distracted this month with real life stuff going on, so to be honest I'm not really that surprised.  I'm going to drop down and work on my game/confidence some.  Overall I still am very happy with how well i've done this year (just not this month!) considering all the other stuff going on in my life at the moment. 

Halloween in NYC, as anyone who as has experienced it can attest to, is quite the show.  Looking forward to the weekend and starting a new month fresh on Monday.

Have a good one,

-live_straddle88

It was bound to happen, but I've also been playing pretty bad.  Moved down a little and working on some stuff away from the tables which will certainly be +EV long term.  I certainly engaged in my fair share of winner's tilt and started donating money back to the regs.  Sigh.

In other news, I just saw Stars released the schedule for a USA COOP and, whatdaya know, FTP dropped the FTOPS XVIII schedule recently as well.  Hopefully I'll get a chance to place some of these events and get a few deep runs.

That's all for now,

live_straddle88