2006 Review

The end of the year is at hand so I would like to discuss some of the things I did poker wise this year.

The start of my existence in the poker blogging world started at the end of February, 2006. It started as a whimper in that I received $5 on Noble Poker for filling out a survey. I spent a lot of time grinding ultra micro limit hold’em and moved into a comfort zone in the $20 + bankroll in short work. From this point I started grinding different levels of SNGs and playing occasional tourneys in an attempt to hit a bigger score. I eventually hit a few final tables and won a couple and moved my bankroll into the $500 range.

Now even though Noble seemed to be a great place to play, I felt restricted in that the traffic was slow so I opened a Neteller account and deposited $300 at Poker Stars. This was about the same time as (middle of May) that I lost my job and proceeded to tilt off the hard work I had put into the game. Even though I had much more than my starting money, I felt at a lose for a while.

I eventually got my self right and moved back to Noble for most of my play and started my climb again. By the time I started my new job in September, I had moved my bankroll into the 1100 dollar range and created an account on Full Tilt and culminated this run by winning the Mookie back in October.

November was a struggle for many reasons. I had so much to do for work and I was trying to work toward the bronze or silver level on Full Tilt. I went to Japan for a week in the middle of this and destroyed my bankroll during a bad run and some donkey play.

December has turned around the slid for the most part but I’m still struggling to stick to the parts of my game that keeps me winning. SNGs and tourneys under 600 people seems to be where I thrive and yet I continue to through away money at the large field events.

My goals as stated in February were and how I did relative to what they are:

1) Move up levels in LHE staying within my bankroll
This was achieved but abandoned during the course of the year. As I moved up a went away from playing limit because of the grind. I will look at this as a goal for next year.
a) Need 30 buy-ins for each level
I stayed within for the most part. Early on it was not possible to do this and I made a few attempts at higher levels during the year but didn’t play much of this over the last 6 months.
b) Stay within buy-in limits
Now that I look at this goal it is really part of the one above.

2) Play SnGs as bankroll allows
I stick to this plan. I will take a shot at a higher level now and then but not very often.
a) Need 30 buy-ins for each level
See above
b) Stay within buy-in limits
See above

3) Play MTTs as bankroll allows
I love playing MTTs but find myself playing higher then I should. This has caused much of the erosion of my bankroll.
a) Need 30 buy-ins for each level
See above
b) Stay within buy-in limits
See above

4) Win a MTT
I’ve 4 smaller buy-in MTTs during the year. I’ve also final tabled many other tourneys so I will set higher goals for next year.

5) Prove to my wife that poker is an investment, not gambling.
This will not happen.

6) Achieve a bankroll of $3000.
I made a dent into this but will change this for next year. I could have done this if I had been more focused with my play but bleeding money isn’t painful all the time. Sometimes you have to see the pool of blood before you realize you’re hurt.

So overall I achieved many of my goals. Looking back I realize that I didn’t have any real goals for the most part other than bankroll management goals. Now bankroll management is essential to staying solvent but I’m looking for more concrete ideas for next year. We’ll see what I come up with.

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I played some last night and donked out of the $3 turbo before the money. This is twice in a row that I could have cashed but went out trying to chip up. I have no problem with the decision I made in either event because folding to the money would have left me way to short to make a run. Winning either hand would have allowed me to go deep.

I also played in the $4000 HORSE tourney. I was doing well sitting in the top 35 when I had a terrible run of cards that saw me miss every draw I had for the rest of the night. I had three nut draws with made 7s and 8s in RAZZ that got rivered as well as two A234 in STUD HL that didn’t give me the straight or the low in the end. If I hit two of these hands then I go much deeper but it wasn’t to be.

I’m looking at a RAZZ tourney tonight and maybe HORSE. We shall see.