So 2010 was a pretty tough year overall. It started off with a Biloxi trip where I bubbled something like 7 out of 9 tournaments and was down probably $2k. I then went through some major ups and downs over 25,000 hands trying my hand at being a cash game player. I expected to have a nice pretty upward graph, instead I barely eeked out a profit. I then busted out of the Main Event with 17 min left to go in Day 1. Upon returning from Vegas, I went through pretty much the worst downswing I have ever had, had a Biloxi trip where I didn't win a single thing, and right in the middle of that I had to use about 1/3 of my bankroll to pay off a major life expense.
Now in between all of that I had some good moments as well. I did really well at local tournaments and I came home about +$2,500 from the World Series. So when you factor everything in, while my bankroll did actually grow to about $11,500 or so I saw it plummet to $2,500 in 5 months. For the most part I played within my bankroll, but when you combine the downswing with the life expense all at the same time it really hit me in the gut.
So where am I now? Well, I was able to put myself in a great opportunity by becoming backed by one of the top up & coming players. He actually used to play at my house a few years back and I initiated a re-connection. My plan wasn't to become backed or anything. I just wanted to pick his brain. But as our conversation evolved, I paid for a few hours of invaluable lessons and the topic of being backed came up. After a few weeks, he asked me if I wanted to do it and after doing research on the pros & cons, I decided it was for me.
So now it's been about a month and I've played a handful of Sunday majors. I haven't had a big cash yet, but I have been able to go deep in a few big tournaments. More importantly, I'm adjusting and improving my game. There have been a few spots that I've been a little unsure of because I'm applying new skills, but for the most part I'm building bigger stacks in tournaments.
I feel like 2011 will be a big year for me.
Here are my goals for the year with associated action items:
1. Get my confidence back and not beat myself up over tough decisions
Actions:
- Review hand histories the next day with fresh perspective and not wait until a week later. I need to incorporate more study time of my own hands which will help me continue to learn and increase my confidence when similar situations come up.
- Review hand histories with my backer
- Pull the trigger more when getting deep in a tournament. If I'm wrong, then I can review the hand with my backer to adjust for next time. I'm not going to worry about the results of any one tournament.
- Get consistent sleep. Keeping my brain fresh will help me not make emotion based decisions. This will be incorporated into my play schedule (see below) where I am balancing in rest days.
2. Put in 100 tournaments a month (note: while this is easy for many players my limited schedule makes it challenging. After March I may be able to increase this.)
Actions:
- Create monthly play calendar with daily/weekly volume goals
- Get more comfortable making reads playing 6-8 tables consistently
3. Finally win a "real" tournament with over 180 players - Believe it or not, I still haven't done this.
Action: By focusing on #1 and especially #2, this will happen...and likely more than once.
4. Get a 10k cash by June
Action: Just need to make sure that my volume includes tournaments where this is possible. My focus really is on volume and making the right decisions and the results will come.
5. Have profitable quarters in my backing deal - since I'm only playing Sundays and a handful of nightlys I think measuring this every 3 months is good.
Actions:
- Set a reminder for myself to review my quarterly results
- Focus on deep runs and not just cashing, knowing that my backer isn't interested in a bunch of min cashes.
6. My original goal 5 years ago was to win a bracelet by 2011. While based on volume alone it isn't realistic, I still want to make it something I'm shooting for.
Action: In order to play at the WSOP this year I'm going to have to have a great first half of the year and/or be backed to play live events. Even to be backed, I'm gonna have to prove myself so I am going to concentrate the majority of my efforts on volume goals and hand history reviews for the first half of the year.
So overall there are some things I want to accomplish, but most of it will be achieved because I'm focused on a solid play schedule getting both volume in, but also enough sleep to play fresh. I know that volume will help balance out variance and if I'm constantly trying to study specific hands in order to improve, it will help me make better, impartial decisions at the table.
