200th Post!

This is my 200th post.  So far my poker adventure the last year has worked out.  I have learned a ton.  I still have tons to learn. 

This is what I have learned in the last year.  I suck at NL Cash.  My results are negative stellar.  I would love to be good and play somebody like me.  I am o.k. at SNG's.  It is not a very profitable game for me.  Tournaments have had the best results for me.  Breaking that down further, tournaments with long blind levels and deep stacks have shown the best results.

Over the year I have tried many things to help me to make a buck at online poker.  I paid for and downloaded poker tracker software.  I'd be lying if I said this did not help out a little.  Mainly to improve my play by seeing how others are seeing my play.  It helped my see what percentage certain hands were winning and losing and the amount I have won or lost with those hands.  It also helped me see that I do not belong at a NL cash tables, unless I'm just there to have some fun.

I tried Table Tracker out for a short time.  It wasn't a big help since there were so few tables to choose from in the first place. 

One thing that has helped out a lot is getting a subscription to Card Player Magazine.  There is a lot of technical writing in there that has helped me to improve my play and see why others have made the plays they have.  It's nice to get some new ideas once in a while from people who know what they are doing.

During this last year I lost rakeback on Carbon, and decided to switch to Lock to get rakeback.  It seemed like a sound decision and was working out really well.  I was getting rakeback, deposit bonuses, and cashing in on points.  In the course of a couple months I was building my bankroll quickly and looking to move up to play games I have never had the opportunity to before.  That all faded as I heard rumor they would not be doing cash outs any longer.  I hit the cashout button in August and it still has not processed.  I went back to Carbon as there are still players saying they can get money off there.  It just takes a long time. 

I took advantage of the deposit bonuses and attempted to grind enough hands at the lowest limit to get me to the maximum tier I could reach in a month.  The VIP points did not help my upside down graph that is supposed to show my earnings.  I decided to try something new.  I would just play for fun and not worry about making or losing money.  I got back into tournaments and SNG's and started making a profit for the 1st time in almost a year except for my stint playing on Lock.  My bankroll was growing again and I was playing the games I love. 

As the Maximus Series got closer, I decided to pre-register in a bunch of tournaments.  I told my wife that I would be disconnected for a few weeks from family activities on the days I played.  I had tried the rest of the year to play late in the evenings as it was getting close to the kids bedtime, so that I could still do family things.  This opened me up to play some longer blind level tournaments, that I felt that I could do some good at. 

On the first Sunday I ran well in all of my tournaments and finally cashed in the 4 digits.  The next couple days my streak stayed alive and I final tabled a few more tournaments, increasing my bankroll even more.

Since my winning streak I haven't had a lot of success.  I have made a few semi deep runs in tournaments to keep my bankroll even. 

I have considered withdrawing some of my roll.  It sounds like I may lose the bonus I have going now if I do so I will wait until I clear the bonus.  I am going to keep enough money on the site to play up to 5.50 tournaments and SNG's and 4.00 NL cash.  I know, I know, but I have to get better at cash sometime.  I have years of tournament experience and now I have close to a year of cash game experience.  One of these days it may start paying off.  Plus, I can play shorter sessions at cash, giving me more time to spend with my family. 

If it was all about poker, I'd be all about tournaments.  I'd lock myself it a padded room and play hour after hour.  Fortunately for me, I have already committed to having a family.  They have put up with an extraordinary amount of poker for the last year, quite ofter pulling me away from them.  It's impossible to balance the two.  I have to follow my dreams.  If I give up on them I will become a shell of a man.  I have had dreams fade away, this one has taken others over.  I may not be playing next year, I don't know.  I have taken year long breaks from it before.  It defines who I am now.  I'm a poker player - fisherman - husband - father - business professional - fun guy - etc.  Not necessarily in that order.  One of my dreams that I have fantasized over is for poker to provide some trips for me and my family to exotic locations around the world.  I understood then as I do now, that this may be years in the works.

When I hit 400 posts, I hope to look back and say that I'm glad I put all of this time and effort into this game.  Looking back 200 posts, I can say today, that I am glad I put all of this time and effort into this game.