Poker Goals for 2009

I'm not big on new year's resolutions, but now is as good a time as any to set some poker goals. I haven't posted in over a year since I didn't play too much in 2008 and I cashed out everything except $250 on PokerStars. I've been super focused on getting my new business off the ground and I was getting home at 10pm every night so I really never had the energy to play.

I'm really re-invigorated now and I'm ready to take my game to new heights. I've realized that one of the major things that has held me back is volume. I don't play nearly enough to overcome variance in large MTTs. Not having a big cash for long stretches at a time can start to make you question your abilities. I am confident and understand that even the best players only win/final table a small percentage, so I'm cool. But knowing this and the time I can allot for playing poker, I am going to re-distribute my play to the following:

1. Single table SNGs = 70%
2. Multi-table SNGs (45 & 90 man) = 20%
3. MTTs = 10%

I started using PXFs bankroll manager, and although I have a small sample size it's made me realize that in order to get my bankroll where I want it, I'm going to have to grind 3-5 tables of SNGs at a time. Everytime I read something about successful MTT players, they all say they started out grinding SNGs and cash games. I kinda have gone through this stage already, but I've never been focused and consistent. I keep bouncing around and never quite "grind" enough to build up.

So...goals for 2009.

1. Build the bankroll to $5,000: I will do this mainly from multi-tabling sngs and the occasional sprinkling in of multi-table sngs and MTTs. I know this will take some time, but I'm ready to start multi-tabling more.

2. Have bankroll patience: It's not like I used to take a lot of big shots, but I think one thing that has held me back is negative streaks while playing slightly above the "unprotected" bankroll recommended playing level. I know myself and I know that I don't play as confident if I feel like I'm breaking the bankroll rules. It holds me back sometimes and perpetuates the downswings. My sticking closer to the protected level, and only taking a few small shots when I "feel it" it will allow me to reduce the impact of downswings and not affect me mentally.

3. Increase my volume: Since I can't play poker every night, I will start increasing the number of tables I play in a given session. Instead of playing 2-3 at a time, I will start playing 3-4 and eventually 5-6 tables. I'm not going to rush this process, but I'm going to work on getting in 6-12 games a night.

That's it.

I Care Too Much

I found this great quote in a thread on 2+2.

"investing a huge amount of emotion into a single tournament is pretty stupid and counterproductive to achieving sick results."

While I have kinda known this, I realized that this is probably my single biggest leak, even when I multi-table. I try too hard to make good decisions and I fear making a mistake. I'm playing way too much on a conscious level instead of letting it flow.

I'm going to work on this. One sign that I've noticed tells me I might be thinking too much is constantly calculating my M. While it is important to be conscious of it, I don't have to figure it out every orbit. I've also notice that if I'm playing live and I don't count my chips all the time, it helps me play looser because I'm not so worried about the ups and downs of my stack. As long as I have a general idea of my M, that is enough to make good decisions.

10bb is Not a Magic Number

I used to use 10bb as some odd line of demarcation between needing to push all in vs. making a standard raise. For some reason, this has stuck with me even after I learned about M and zone play. The overly specific side of me always figured I was"safe" if I was above 10bb and by making a standard raise, I could fold if someone came over the top.

As I've gained more experience in tournament play, I'm realizing that any number...be it #bb or M shouldn't be looked as the only reason to make a certain play. There are so many other tournament and player specific situations that go into making a decision that you can't pigeon hole your decisions based solely on a number. There may be times where you have 12bb and it's right to push with KQ and there are times when it's just fine making it 2.5x.

I normally play looking at all tournament situations, but for some reason, I forget all about this when I hover near that 10bb line. But now that I've recognized this leak, I can start playing situations no matter what stack size I have.

Major Tournament Cash Goal Met...What's Next?

I just got back from the WSOP and met one of my short-term goals for this year by cashing in Event #25. It was a $2,000 buy-in event and I placed 109th out of 1,619 people for $4,123.

While I'm very happy to have cashed in my first WSOP event, I'm looking at this as a stepping stone towards my 5 year goal of winning a bracelet. In a way, I expected this to happen. I've been playing well and have been confident about my skills. I went into this trip fully believing that I was going to do well.

Of course, in tournament play anything can happen and I'm fortunate that I was able to run well. But cashing in this event really validated that I can hang with anyone out there from a skill perspective. While I have always thought that sometime in the next 5 years I would gain enough experience and knowledge about the game of poker to win a bracelet, there was still something in the back of my mind where I wasn't 100% sure. My experience at the WSOP this year has fully solidified my belief and I have no doubt that I will do it.

So, what's next?

1. I need to buckle down and focus on building my bankroll. If my family situation affords me the ability, I would like to play in a few events next year. In order to do that, I need to have a bankroll that supports it. I still have two bankroll goals to meet. One is the $10K milestone and the other is $20K. I think my primary goal should be to hit $20K before next year's WSOP.

2. Final Table - Now that I've proven I can cash in a major event, the next step is a final table. Obviously I'll be shooting for the win, but a final table is the next logical milestone. I'm not sure if I'll be able to play in any other events (i.e. Tunica) before next year's WSOP, but if so I'll be going into each one shooting for that final table.

Taking the Blinders Off

Often times, as a hand progresses, you lose sight of all the information you've been collecting and you start playing on momentum and instinct. While that is a good thing, it is important not to abandon the exercise of putting someone on a hand.

This typically happens in a big hand. Instead of narrowing your opponents hand range, you simply classify it into "weak" or "strong" or "he's committed or not". In order to play optimally, I think it is important to not allow these blinders to be placed on. Staying focused on narrowing down your opponents range will allow you to extract the most chips out of a situation instead of just winning a small pot.

Here's an example. A tight opponent raises pre-flop in early position 4x the big blind and you call getting the right odds for a set with 77. The flop is 478 with two hearts. Now there are two reactions that can occur. One is sub-optimal and one is optimal.

Sub-optimal: ZOMG I have a set! But there are two hearts and a possible straight draw out there. I better protect my set.

Optimal: Okay, now what does HE have and what line can I take to extract the most? Does he have a big pair or just overcards. I'm not worried about the straight draw because I know he is a tight player and is likely not raising with T9. Yeah, there are two hearts, but I can't play scared of that unless I'm given information to suggest that he does have a draw.

The actual line to take here is dependant on a lot of factors...leading or checking are both possible choices....whatever will earn you the maximum. But the point of this post is not to react simply based on the texture of a flop or just one or two pieces of information. To play optimally, you have to take the blinders off and allow yourself to take in and process ALL the information at hand in order to put your opponent on a hand. That will help you determine the best line to win the most when you are ahead and lose the least when you are beaten.

WSOP Bound!

The journey begins.

I just pre-registered for Event #25 of the 2007 World Series of Poker. This is a $2,000 buy-in event that had over 1,500 people last year, in which the winner took home about $650,000.

While I'm excited about going, I plan on treating it like any other poker session. Of course, the environment, players and large fields make it a unique session. So in preparation for this event, I've put together a set of important rules that I will follow while I'm there.

1. Have fun & don't take it too seriously
2. Don't get caught up in the excitement and fan fare. I have a job to do.
3. Treat it like any another tournament
4. Don't play stereotypes; play tendencies that day/tournament
5. Don't worry about what others (i.e. pros) think about my play. I'm not there to impress them; I'm there to take their chips.
6. Don't overthink situations. Just process information and act.
7. Always follow my instincts
8. Play people and situations; cards are last
9. It's a long tournament. Eat right, get sleep and balance energy & focus across all three days.
10. Go for the win, F the bubble

Time for Some Short Term Goals

The WSOP bracelet is obviously a long-term goal, so I need some shorter-term steps along the way that will keep me focused and making progress.

1. Build my bankroll to $10K - This has really been a goal for a while now and I think that the only thing really keeping me from it is volume. If I'm going to be a tournament player and mix in cash games and sngs here and there, I need to ensure that I'm playing enough poker where volume makes up for variance. I can't expect to build a bankroll within a reasonable time period by only playing 1-2 tournaments a week. I'm going to have to play 3-5 tournaments each session and try to have 3-4 sessions a week. I'm not too far away from this really, so it's just a matter of grinding it out. I don't expect to reach this with one big cash. I'll keep playing the 20/180s and smaller buy-in tournaments with an occasional $150 when I feel like I'm playing my "A" game. I don't want to put a ton of pressure on myself to reach this goal by a certain time period because I think this can lead to forcing results. But getting here sooner than later will help me acheive my other goals.

2. A 5 figure tournament cash online by July 1 - Again, I think this will come with both volume and playing tournaments where this payout is possible. For the times I play, there are only a couple of tournaments that can make this happen - the nightly $150, the $20 rebuy and the $10 rebuy. Ideally, however, I want to reach my $10K goal before playing the $150 on a regular basis. I might need to evaluate the timing of this goal based on how I'm doing bankroll wise. I think if I play the $150 every night I play, I'll certainly get here faster, but I need to make sure I have the bankroll for it. I also will look into other sites like Full Tilt to see if they have tournaments around 8-9pm that could produce a 5 figure cash.

3. Build my bankroll to $20K - Once I acheiving #2 I will be a lot closer to reaching this goal and it will just be a matter of leveraging my increasing roll to keep playing events that ensure further progression. Reaching this goal will enable me to regularly play circuit events and a few WSOP events during the next couple of years.

4. Cash in a WSOP or WPT Event in 2007 - This doesn't even need to be a main event for now. It can be a $500 event or whatever. But this will help me break the seal and just be a nice stepping stone. I've been to a couple of WSOP Circuit events and have only played in about 5-6 events so far and I bubbled a $200 second chance tournament last time. I'm confident that I can final table, if not win one of these events, but it's not like I have the opportunity to let variance play itself out, so let's just start with a goal of cashing for now.

I think it's important to note that some of these monetary goals are simply benchmarks to chart my progress and keep me focused on moving forward. They are not magical numbers that open some new door to poker greatness and they won't be imaginary sticking points that prevent me from acheiving other goals. The worst thing I could do is get too caught up in acheiving these and let it affect my play. The money will come. It's just a matter of taking the steps to get there.