It was about 2 weeks ago that I realized, I need to change my game, I need to start tracking every night I play, I need a money mgt. strategy, I need a way to be able to do this on a regular basis and be able to make money off of it on a regular basis. I will start tracking this in full detail starting on August 1( I am giving myself until them to get everything in order), but the last 5 times I have played this is how it has gone.
2 Thursdays ago at Jeff's House:
- 19 person tourney, 45 to enter, I came in 4th and won $60
- played 1/2 NL, bought in for $200, lost that, bought in for another $200, got that up to $550, and left. That puts me a net of plus $150 for the cash game, and +200 for the night.
last Thursday at Del. Park:
- $65 tournament, 66 entries, went out 6th, won $180
- played 1/2 NL, bought in for $300, walked away from table with $820, but some of that buy in was tourney winnings, so total winnings for the day was $570
- Overall a Great day
last Sat in AC:
- 1/2 NL, bought in for $300, lost it all
- $120 NL tourney, lost that
- 1/2 NL, bought in for $200, walked with $340
- Overall, a losing day
Monday, July 19, 2010
It all starts August 1
For the next 2 weeks, I will be testing out the different online sites and figuring out which ones I like best and which games I like to play. I will them start playing for real and starting my whole strategy on how to make money and play my type of game online.
Terry is the only person I can talk to about this, because he is really the only one I know that plays the amount I do, we have the same goals, and honestly we are better then most of the people I know and at least the people I talk to daily. Me and him have different styles, and we play different games, but we are each other's coach's and we are working together to make each other as good as we can be.
Terry is the only person I can talk to about this, because he is really the only one I know that plays the amount I do, we have the same goals, and honestly we are better then most of the people I know and at least the people I talk to daily. Me and him have different styles, and we play different games, but we are each other's coach's and we are working together to make each other as good as we can be.
poker on 7/20
-.25 satellite tourney into a bigger one at night. 35 people in the tourney, I came in 2nd. I won the ticket to the later tournament.
- daily dollar tourney, won ticket earlier, 120 people, went out 22nd.
- free tourney( cost 1000 Full tilt points. winner gets a seat in the 750K tournament which is normally $216 to enter. 55 people entered. i went out 6th, I pushed with KK, got called by Ak, ace came..ouch..
That is it for tonight.
- daily dollar tourney, won ticket earlier, 120 people, went out 22nd.
- free tourney( cost 1000 Full tilt points. winner gets a seat in the 750K tournament which is normally $216 to enter. 55 people entered. i went out 6th, I pushed with KK, got called by Ak, ace came..ouch..
That is it for tonight.
what i need/want to work on
There are so many things that I need to work on, and like anything in life, I need to keep the mentality that I always need to learn and that there are always people better then me.
For me, the biggest thing right now( as for most poker players)is knowing when to make the lay down. The last time I played cash games, there were 2 huge hands, that in hind sight, I should have been able to lay down. Yes, sometimes you are getting bluffed, but the ability to lay down a huge hand based on your read will save you so much money in the long run. I will get into more detail later about specific hands, but overall knowing when to lay down a huge hand, even if you think you have the best hand, is the biggest thing I need to work on if I plan to make this a full-time successful thing.
Also, managing my bank roll is something else I need to work on. I need to set limits for myself for winning and for losing every time I sit down for a session. That amount will be based on the limit of the game I am playing and also how much I buy in for. I have to be able to set a limit for how many times I will re-load( buy back in) before I call it a day, and also set a limit for myself for winning a certain amount before I am done. Even if I win that much in the first 15 minutes( which is very easy to obtain with a big hand), I have to be able to say, ok, I bought in for 300, I am up to 750, time to walk away for the day etc.
For me, the biggest thing right now( as for most poker players)is knowing when to make the lay down. The last time I played cash games, there were 2 huge hands, that in hind sight, I should have been able to lay down. Yes, sometimes you are getting bluffed, but the ability to lay down a huge hand based on your read will save you so much money in the long run. I will get into more detail later about specific hands, but overall knowing when to lay down a huge hand, even if you think you have the best hand, is the biggest thing I need to work on if I plan to make this a full-time successful thing.
Also, managing my bank roll is something else I need to work on. I need to set limits for myself for winning and for losing every time I sit down for a session. That amount will be based on the limit of the game I am playing and also how much I buy in for. I have to be able to set a limit for how many times I will re-load( buy back in) before I call it a day, and also set a limit for myself for winning a certain amount before I am done. Even if I win that much in the first 15 minutes( which is very easy to obtain with a big hand), I have to be able to say, ok, I bought in for 300, I am up to 750, time to walk away for the day etc.
Different types of players
I am not going to get into the different types of players that can be at a table( aggressive, loose etc). I am more talking about the different types of players that I know and also that I know are out there. I need to figure out exactly which one I am, which one I want to become and which one I never want to become.
Guys that play poker- This is the most common person I know. This is also the person that players like me can not wait to see at a table. Poker has become the new thing to do in a casino, so now when people get drunk instead of taking 1-300 and blowing it on red/black or roulette, they come to the poker table. These guys think that any ace is worth pushing all in, they think an 8 outer getting no pot odds is worth calling all their money. yes, these guys will win some money, but overall, these guys will never win and will always ship their money. These are the guys that will sit around with their friends, and they watch it on tv, but they are not poker players, and they are relying soley on what they see on tv to dictate their play.
Poker Players- These people not only love the game, but they are good at it. Over time( be it a 15 hour session or if you are tracking by weeks/months etc) they will always end up making money. They can play with anyone, and they are always confident in their ability to suceed no matter what game at what limit they are playing. These guy know when to make the call, know when to fold, know how to manage their money etc. These guys all still have jobs, they do not play poker full time, but when they do, they are good at it and they do it knowing full well they are going to make money doing it.
Ametuers and Pro players- In my mind the biggest difference between the 2 of these players is the bank roll. Both of these types are poker players and whatever their game is( tournies vs. cash, hold em, omaha etc), they know they are good and they know they can make money doing this. A pro has a huge bankroll and/or they have backers. There are thousands and thousands of ametuers out there who are just as good as the pro's, but they do not have the money to sit down and do a 1k tourney every day or have 5k to sit a bigger limit cash game. Both of these types of players know the exact limit they should be playing and they know when to walk away. Most ametuers are playing to build up the bank roll to become a pro.
I have played with pro's both in a tourney and in cash games. Terry just played in the main event and he was against tons of pros. The thing about poker is that yes, some people are going to be better, but just because someone is a pro, doesnt mean they can not be beat and that they are that much better. More times then not, the difference comes down to money. An example is people watch High Stakes Poker and talk about how good or bad these guys are. Negranue lost over 850K in 5 hours last time that was on. That was not all his money, and the other guys playing that are losing, can afford to lose. To a porfessional poker player, losing 15k is like me dropping a penny and not picking it up. I am not sure I want to be a pro, but for now, I know I am a poker player and I know I have the skill to be at a table with anyone. The key is sitting at the table and playing the limit that fits my bankroll.
Guys that play poker- This is the most common person I know. This is also the person that players like me can not wait to see at a table. Poker has become the new thing to do in a casino, so now when people get drunk instead of taking 1-300 and blowing it on red/black or roulette, they come to the poker table. These guys think that any ace is worth pushing all in, they think an 8 outer getting no pot odds is worth calling all their money. yes, these guys will win some money, but overall, these guys will never win and will always ship their money. These are the guys that will sit around with their friends, and they watch it on tv, but they are not poker players, and they are relying soley on what they see on tv to dictate their play.
Poker Players- These people not only love the game, but they are good at it. Over time( be it a 15 hour session or if you are tracking by weeks/months etc) they will always end up making money. They can play with anyone, and they are always confident in their ability to suceed no matter what game at what limit they are playing. These guy know when to make the call, know when to fold, know how to manage their money etc. These guys all still have jobs, they do not play poker full time, but when they do, they are good at it and they do it knowing full well they are going to make money doing it.
Ametuers and Pro players- In my mind the biggest difference between the 2 of these players is the bank roll. Both of these types are poker players and whatever their game is( tournies vs. cash, hold em, omaha etc), they know they are good and they know they can make money doing this. A pro has a huge bankroll and/or they have backers. There are thousands and thousands of ametuers out there who are just as good as the pro's, but they do not have the money to sit down and do a 1k tourney every day or have 5k to sit a bigger limit cash game. Both of these types of players know the exact limit they should be playing and they know when to walk away. Most ametuers are playing to build up the bank roll to become a pro.
I have played with pro's both in a tourney and in cash games. Terry just played in the main event and he was against tons of pros. The thing about poker is that yes, some people are going to be better, but just because someone is a pro, doesnt mean they can not be beat and that they are that much better. More times then not, the difference comes down to money. An example is people watch High Stakes Poker and talk about how good or bad these guys are. Negranue lost over 850K in 5 hours last time that was on. That was not all his money, and the other guys playing that are losing, can afford to lose. To a porfessional poker player, losing 15k is like me dropping a penny and not picking it up. I am not sure I want to be a pro, but for now, I know I am a poker player and I know I have the skill to be at a table with anyone. The key is sitting at the table and playing the limit that fits my bankroll.
Bad hands and Bad Beats
Any poker player can tell you about the bad hands they have played and the bad beats they have taken. I have won a lot of money over the years playing poker, but if you ask me to talk about the hands I remember, about 99% of them are going to be hands that I lost either by a bad beat or by a playing mistake that I made.
I hear people complain about bad beats all the time. Complaining about a bad beat gets you no where. It happens to every player, and for the most part every player has bad beat someone else. An example is Terry just played in the WSOP main event. His final hand, he had AA and got called by QQ and the guy spiked a Q. That is a bad beat. To get to that level, he was all in with AJ against AQ and he spiked a J to stay alive. That is also a bad beat. The point is Terry was upset about the hand, but he didnt complain about it. He took it, like a real poker player does, and he moves on. Yes, he will always think about that hand, but complaining about a bad beat will get you no where and he knows that.
There are ways to avoid bad beats, but at the end of the day, they are always going to happen, and you just have to not only get lucky to avoid them, but you have to play smart. I am not saying that I do not dwell on bad beats, but you cant sit and complain and get mad at someone for calling. Poker is a game that can be played many different ways with many different strategies, and you should never yell or criticize a call someone makes or a play someone makes just because you think they did it wrong.
2 weeks ago up in Elkridge playing a 1/2 game, there was a raise to $7 pre-flop. When it got to me on the button, there had been 4 callers already and I had 77, and I decided just to call. A raise there would probably get re-raised by a monster, and if I smooth call and hit my set I am golden and can win a huge pot. Flop comes out Q74. Guy makes a cbet for 15, it gets raised to 25, I go all in. This is exactly what I want. I know middle set is good, if someone had QQ, they would have raised more pre-flop. I push all in and the guy calls, he shows Q7. I have him dominated, he is down to two outs( only the other 2 queens in the deck will give him a better hand them me). Of course, a Q comes on the river. I can't complain( other guys at the table said he should have never been in the hand with Q7). I said nothing, I was pissed, and we joked about how lucky he got, but all you can do is move on to the next hand.
The point of all of that is that every table I sit at and anytime I am somewhere and people start talking about poker, all you hear are stories of bad beats and what if's and how some loser called you with a crap hand and bad beat you etc. Real poker players know that is part of the game and when you do nothing about complain about bad beats and/or you just criticize every move that someone else makes, you are giving yourself away as someone who truly doesnt get the game of poker.
I hear people complain about bad beats all the time. Complaining about a bad beat gets you no where. It happens to every player, and for the most part every player has bad beat someone else. An example is Terry just played in the WSOP main event. His final hand, he had AA and got called by QQ and the guy spiked a Q. That is a bad beat. To get to that level, he was all in with AJ against AQ and he spiked a J to stay alive. That is also a bad beat. The point is Terry was upset about the hand, but he didnt complain about it. He took it, like a real poker player does, and he moves on. Yes, he will always think about that hand, but complaining about a bad beat will get you no where and he knows that.
There are ways to avoid bad beats, but at the end of the day, they are always going to happen, and you just have to not only get lucky to avoid them, but you have to play smart. I am not saying that I do not dwell on bad beats, but you cant sit and complain and get mad at someone for calling. Poker is a game that can be played many different ways with many different strategies, and you should never yell or criticize a call someone makes or a play someone makes just because you think they did it wrong.
2 weeks ago up in Elkridge playing a 1/2 game, there was a raise to $7 pre-flop. When it got to me on the button, there had been 4 callers already and I had 77, and I decided just to call. A raise there would probably get re-raised by a monster, and if I smooth call and hit my set I am golden and can win a huge pot. Flop comes out Q74. Guy makes a cbet for 15, it gets raised to 25, I go all in. This is exactly what I want. I know middle set is good, if someone had QQ, they would have raised more pre-flop. I push all in and the guy calls, he shows Q7. I have him dominated, he is down to two outs( only the other 2 queens in the deck will give him a better hand them me). Of course, a Q comes on the river. I can't complain( other guys at the table said he should have never been in the hand with Q7). I said nothing, I was pissed, and we joked about how lucky he got, but all you can do is move on to the next hand.
The point of all of that is that every table I sit at and anytime I am somewhere and people start talking about poker, all you hear are stories of bad beats and what if's and how some loser called you with a crap hand and bad beat you etc. Real poker players know that is part of the game and when you do nothing about complain about bad beats and/or you just criticize every move that someone else makes, you are giving yourself away as someone who truly doesnt get the game of poker.
Best Moments
Even though you always remember the bad hands and the losing hands, there are times that I will remember as good moments for me.
The biggest thing I remember in a good way is when I was in an online tourney on party poker( 2005) and I came in 2nd and won 14K. It went from 9pm to about 3am, and had about 3500 people in it, and there were re-buys allowled for the first hour. The first hand of the tourney, I had KJ in the big blind, 6 people limped in. I just checked, flop was AQ10. I checked, by the time it got back to me, there had been 4 all in's. Knowing this was a re-buy tourney and people push, and knowing I flopped the nuts and there was no flush draw, even a set couldnt beat me, so I called. The hands I was up against was Q10, A10, A8, and another Q10. It was fucking awesome. From that moment on, I couldnt lose. Then my power went out about 3 hours into the tourney. I went up the street to Keller's house, and by 2am, chip, tj, and mike were all there drinking and cheering me on. It was an awesome night.
Another great moment I remember, was the first time I played in a poker room at a casino. I remember walking in, knowing I could play, but I had never played in a casino before, and I was a little nervous/intimaded etc. It was at the Sands in AC( it is no longer there) and it was 6 of us that were up there. We started by playing a $50 re buy tournament. The guy next to me was decked out head to toe in all poker gear. I remember being intimadated and thinking that he must be great because he has on all this poker parafanilia. Remember, I was abot 22 and this was the first time in a poker room in a casino. After about 20 minutes, I realized how bad this guy was. I then did pretty well in the tournament, and after that was over I preceeded to play cash game for the next 12 hours. I won 300 that night. i couldnt tell you one hand I had, but I remember the feeling of knowing I belong and knowing that I will never be intimadated at the table again.
The thing about good moments is that you have to move on from them the same way you move on from bad ones. Last week, I won 600 at Del Park. I have to forget that happenned and play each day and each hand like it is a brand new hand. You can never get to happy or complacent with your game or you will lose money quickly.
The biggest thing I remember in a good way is when I was in an online tourney on party poker( 2005) and I came in 2nd and won 14K. It went from 9pm to about 3am, and had about 3500 people in it, and there were re-buys allowled for the first hour. The first hand of the tourney, I had KJ in the big blind, 6 people limped in. I just checked, flop was AQ10. I checked, by the time it got back to me, there had been 4 all in's. Knowing this was a re-buy tourney and people push, and knowing I flopped the nuts and there was no flush draw, even a set couldnt beat me, so I called. The hands I was up against was Q10, A10, A8, and another Q10. It was fucking awesome. From that moment on, I couldnt lose. Then my power went out about 3 hours into the tourney. I went up the street to Keller's house, and by 2am, chip, tj, and mike were all there drinking and cheering me on. It was an awesome night.
Another great moment I remember, was the first time I played in a poker room at a casino. I remember walking in, knowing I could play, but I had never played in a casino before, and I was a little nervous/intimaded etc. It was at the Sands in AC( it is no longer there) and it was 6 of us that were up there. We started by playing a $50 re buy tournament. The guy next to me was decked out head to toe in all poker gear. I remember being intimadated and thinking that he must be great because he has on all this poker parafanilia. Remember, I was abot 22 and this was the first time in a poker room in a casino. After about 20 minutes, I realized how bad this guy was. I then did pretty well in the tournament, and after that was over I preceeded to play cash game for the next 12 hours. I won 300 that night. i couldnt tell you one hand I had, but I remember the feeling of knowing I belong and knowing that I will never be intimadated at the table again.
The thing about good moments is that you have to move on from them the same way you move on from bad ones. Last week, I won 600 at Del Park. I have to forget that happenned and play each day and each hand like it is a brand new hand. You can never get to happy or complacent with your game or you will lose money quickly.
Goals for playing
I have goals both mentally and monetary. My financial goal breaks down something like this( knowing this is all from 8/1/10, which is when I plan to start this year long poker run I am going on).
- start with $1000 on 8/1. My goal is to gain 1K every month at least through live cash games and lower limit cash games online. The big thing is to make sure I am playing at a level of where I am not worrying about a re-buy and I feel comfortable. What I mean by that, is that 1k can go way further and make me more money at a 1/2 table then it can at a 2/5 or 5/10. Yes, I could win bigger pots quicker at a higher limit game, but I could also lose it very quickly. My starting with the $1000 is going to be $200 online and $800 for live poker.
- $200 for online. This will be used only for .25/.5 no limit cash games, starting with 2 windows open every time I am playing. My goal is to master each level until I move up to another level( sort of like a video game). I am basing that on winning 100 times the buy in. The max buy in for that game is $25, so I will play that until I have $2500 in winnings. This is going to take a long time, but after doing that, then I will move to 1/2 online. This is a long term strategy. This is not meant to win 500 a night, but more 50-100 each session that I play. I will play some small satellite tournies, but I am primarily focusing on cash games. I need to get the hands under my belt online, and also at this limit, it will help me to get my game down. I am spending the next 2 weeks figuring out exactly which site I want to play on, how I want to set up my place to play at home, am I going to play at work at all in my down time etc.. It is looking like pokerstars will be where I start, but I also like the way full tilt is set up. Once Football season starts, i will be playing way more in sportsbook.com. The reason for that is the same reason that so many people play on bodog and on wsex. There are so many random guys on those sites that are winning money betting on football, and then going directly to the poker room and putting their winnings on poker. I love playing against these guys, because for the most part, they are just guys playing poker, and they really can not compete with the type of game I am playing, and they are what is referred to as easy money or dead money.
- $800 for live games. This is plenty to start. I am using this for 1/2. The starting buy in at any 1/2 game is $300. I will have limits, I will never buy in more then twice, and any time I get up to winning 300( double my buy in), I am getting up and walking away from the table. This has always been my biggest problem. When you are a poker player and you play enough at cash games, you are always going to be up at some point and you have to be able to walk away. Also, there are going to be times when you are card dead and unlucky etc. and you have to be able to suck it up and not keep donking off money and just suck up that loss for the day and go at it the next time. When Terry and I were at Ceasers in December, I was in a 1/2 game, i got it up to $1400, and instead of walking away, I forced myself to stay, and ended up only winning 100 for that session. In my mind, I lost 1300 that day. I have to be able to set a winning goal and walk away once I hit that number. All winnings both online and in person will be saved in a seperate poker account. I do not have a certain goal in mind to hit fo me to start playing 2/5. For now, 1/2 is the game I am not only the best at, but I feel the most comfortable at.
- start with $1000 on 8/1. My goal is to gain 1K every month at least through live cash games and lower limit cash games online. The big thing is to make sure I am playing at a level of where I am not worrying about a re-buy and I feel comfortable. What I mean by that, is that 1k can go way further and make me more money at a 1/2 table then it can at a 2/5 or 5/10. Yes, I could win bigger pots quicker at a higher limit game, but I could also lose it very quickly. My starting with the $1000 is going to be $200 online and $800 for live poker.
- $200 for online. This will be used only for .25/.5 no limit cash games, starting with 2 windows open every time I am playing. My goal is to master each level until I move up to another level( sort of like a video game). I am basing that on winning 100 times the buy in. The max buy in for that game is $25, so I will play that until I have $2500 in winnings. This is going to take a long time, but after doing that, then I will move to 1/2 online. This is a long term strategy. This is not meant to win 500 a night, but more 50-100 each session that I play. I will play some small satellite tournies, but I am primarily focusing on cash games. I need to get the hands under my belt online, and also at this limit, it will help me to get my game down. I am spending the next 2 weeks figuring out exactly which site I want to play on, how I want to set up my place to play at home, am I going to play at work at all in my down time etc.. It is looking like pokerstars will be where I start, but I also like the way full tilt is set up. Once Football season starts, i will be playing way more in sportsbook.com. The reason for that is the same reason that so many people play on bodog and on wsex. There are so many random guys on those sites that are winning money betting on football, and then going directly to the poker room and putting their winnings on poker. I love playing against these guys, because for the most part, they are just guys playing poker, and they really can not compete with the type of game I am playing, and they are what is referred to as easy money or dead money.
- $800 for live games. This is plenty to start. I am using this for 1/2. The starting buy in at any 1/2 game is $300. I will have limits, I will never buy in more then twice, and any time I get up to winning 300( double my buy in), I am getting up and walking away from the table. This has always been my biggest problem. When you are a poker player and you play enough at cash games, you are always going to be up at some point and you have to be able to walk away. Also, there are going to be times when you are card dead and unlucky etc. and you have to be able to suck it up and not keep donking off money and just suck up that loss for the day and go at it the next time. When Terry and I were at Ceasers in December, I was in a 1/2 game, i got it up to $1400, and instead of walking away, I forced myself to stay, and ended up only winning 100 for that session. In my mind, I lost 1300 that day. I have to be able to set a winning goal and walk away once I hit that number. All winnings both online and in person will be saved in a seperate poker account. I do not have a certain goal in mind to hit fo me to start playing 2/5. For now, 1/2 is the game I am not only the best at, but I feel the most comfortable at.
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