My goal of playing more cash games this year is off to a good start. I have played in 4 "home" cash games so far. Unfortunately I have played poorly. I can't blame bad luck or bad cards. (Well I have not had pocket AA yet in a cash game this year) I have made two of the worst calls EVER.
In the first cash game that I played I lost a nominal amount and that can be attributed to no cards and playing for nine hours with very few good hands. I am ok with how this game went.
0-1
In the next game I way overplayed top pair and gave a gift to Terry. Grayday was drinking and playing kind of crazy. Grayday bet 45 on an 8 high flop. Andy and I called. Terry inexplicably raised $200 more. I could not figure out why he was doing that. There were not any draws on the again? I stupidly called his raise and of course he had bottom set. So stupid. Just because I would not have raised there, doesn't mean other people wouldn't. It is a horrible call with my hand. (I had top pair top kicker and backdoor flush draw). Other than that hand I played really well. I re raised quite a bit and was aggressive and smart. Exclude that hand and I have a winning session. 0-2
Next game I played really well until one stupid hand. I got into a pot with Meat in a hand that I should have folded preflop. I flop middle pair with backdoor straight and flush draws. Meat check raises my 30 bet to 130. He has 93 behind. I can fold and still be ok. Nope. I put him all in. He is such a nit. Why would I do that. Very stupid play. So again, play good all night, misplay one hand and another losing session. 0-3.
The last cash game that I played was a time after a big tournament win and I didn't even really want to play, but I had really good focus, so I figured why not. I played well actually and I won. I also did not play very long. 1-3.
So I am getting the opportunity to play cash games regularly, now I just need to play better.
The tournaments have gone well. I have played in three. I have cashed in 2 of the 3. The big one was the CPMG winter classic. A two-day $200 buy in tournament. There were 30 players. I developed a strategy before the tournament and I stuck with it throughout day one. On one of the breaks I decided I had to change my strategy a little bit and it worked. Going into day 2 I was second in chips and had a great table draw. I developed a plan for day 2 and I executed the plan. Overall, it was the best poker that I have ever played and I won the tournament. More later.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Goals for 2011
I have been reading a lot of poker blogs and I see that everyone lists their goals for the year and it got me thinking. What are my poker goals? Do I have any? I have not really had any so I thought that it is about time that I create some goals. I have been playing this game a fairly long time and I have won and lost a lot of money over the years. Thankfully I have actually won more than I lost.
So my goals for 2011.
1. Cash in a "big" mtt. I am defining big as a tournament with at least 125 people and a buy in of more than $250. I have cashed in tournaments that qualify for each criteria but not for both. I should have cashed in the tournament at Meadows in December as I had a huge chip stack and was playing really well. Oh well. I think that I learned something from the experience.
2. Play at least 30 live cash games, excluding casino trips. There are a lot of home games and local "charity" games that I can play. Last year I only played in 20 such games and I did really well. (Excluding one trip to Gemini club where I played 2/5 and got killed with top boat vs. Straight flush. I should have left after that hand, but of course I bought in for another $500 and got squashed.) I need to play in more of these games as these are games where I can generally win.
3. Do not play 2/5. (except at the MGM or Palms in Vegas) I know that this is really not a goal but it is a reminder that I should not be playing in that game. My bankroll is not large enough to handle the swings. At most of the 2-5 games that I play in, the players hate money and just do not care. I have to exclude MGM and Palms because I seem to always win at those two places and I win big. For some stupid reason in my two vegas trips in 2010 I did not play in either place. Guess that is why I lost at the casino cash games last year.
4. Do not deposit more than $300 for on line poker. Lets face it. I suck at on line poker. I have had a few nice scores in mtts, but in general I am not very good. The other part that is hard for me is that it is not "money" that I can see and touch so I do not seem to mind blowing all the money in my account because it is not "real". I know that I will periodically deposit $50 here and there if there is a Sunday afternoon that I am home and a tourney that I really want to play so I do not want to cut it out completely.
5. Play Colin heads up. I am not really sure why I have this a goal for this year but it popped in my head so there you have it. I think that Colin is one of the best players that I know and I think it will be interesting playing him heads up.
6. Play another wsop event. I have played at least one event in each of the last three years and I had a great time. Each year I have sat with at least one person that is a "name" in the poker world. On two occasions I was right next to the person so I had the opportunity to talk with them. It was fun. Of course now I am like a stalker and pay attention to everything that they do.
7. Make up for the losses that I had in 2010. I know that we are supposed to look at poker as one long game and not be so concerned about short term variance, but I had a REALLY bad year in 2010. Most of my losses came in cash games at casinos. I have studied my notes from each losing session and have determined that most of the "big" losses have come after I take a horrendous beat and then play bad. Can you say TILT????
8. Stop going on TILT. It is really easy to say but oh so hard to do. I really think that if I get the opportunity to play more often that it will be easier to stay off tilt. My thinking now is that when I lose a big chuck of money because of a bad beat, I need to make up the losses now as I do not know when I will be able to play again.
To help achieve many of these goals this year I am going to have cash games in my office. I bought a table and chips and I am excited about it. The bad part is that the players that I will be playing against are pretty good, but I generally hold my own against them. I think that this will help me achieve all of my goals. We shall see.
So my goals for 2011.
1. Cash in a "big" mtt. I am defining big as a tournament with at least 125 people and a buy in of more than $250. I have cashed in tournaments that qualify for each criteria but not for both. I should have cashed in the tournament at Meadows in December as I had a huge chip stack and was playing really well. Oh well. I think that I learned something from the experience.
2. Play at least 30 live cash games, excluding casino trips. There are a lot of home games and local "charity" games that I can play. Last year I only played in 20 such games and I did really well. (Excluding one trip to Gemini club where I played 2/5 and got killed with top boat vs. Straight flush. I should have left after that hand, but of course I bought in for another $500 and got squashed.) I need to play in more of these games as these are games where I can generally win.
3. Do not play 2/5. (except at the MGM or Palms in Vegas) I know that this is really not a goal but it is a reminder that I should not be playing in that game. My bankroll is not large enough to handle the swings. At most of the 2-5 games that I play in, the players hate money and just do not care. I have to exclude MGM and Palms because I seem to always win at those two places and I win big. For some stupid reason in my two vegas trips in 2010 I did not play in either place. Guess that is why I lost at the casino cash games last year.
4. Do not deposit more than $300 for on line poker. Lets face it. I suck at on line poker. I have had a few nice scores in mtts, but in general I am not very good. The other part that is hard for me is that it is not "money" that I can see and touch so I do not seem to mind blowing all the money in my account because it is not "real". I know that I will periodically deposit $50 here and there if there is a Sunday afternoon that I am home and a tourney that I really want to play so I do not want to cut it out completely.
5. Play Colin heads up. I am not really sure why I have this a goal for this year but it popped in my head so there you have it. I think that Colin is one of the best players that I know and I think it will be interesting playing him heads up.
6. Play another wsop event. I have played at least one event in each of the last three years and I had a great time. Each year I have sat with at least one person that is a "name" in the poker world. On two occasions I was right next to the person so I had the opportunity to talk with them. It was fun. Of course now I am like a stalker and pay attention to everything that they do.
7. Make up for the losses that I had in 2010. I know that we are supposed to look at poker as one long game and not be so concerned about short term variance, but I had a REALLY bad year in 2010. Most of my losses came in cash games at casinos. I have studied my notes from each losing session and have determined that most of the "big" losses have come after I take a horrendous beat and then play bad. Can you say TILT????
8. Stop going on TILT. It is really easy to say but oh so hard to do. I really think that if I get the opportunity to play more often that it will be easier to stay off tilt. My thinking now is that when I lose a big chuck of money because of a bad beat, I need to make up the losses now as I do not know when I will be able to play again.
To help achieve many of these goals this year I am going to have cash games in my office. I bought a table and chips and I am excited about it. The bad part is that the players that I will be playing against are pretty good, but I generally hold my own against them. I think that this will help me achieve all of my goals. We shall see.
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