i will survive.
23 January 2007
Before I get into anything poker related, let me first say that 24 is quite possibly the single craziest show ever to grace the airwaves, or cable lines, or whatever means the high-definition glory comes pouring into our 50" beasty of a television. I don't want to risk ruining it for anyone, but this past episode was zomg wow teh crazy (*insert other random internet slang that means "this was off the hizzy" here*). All I have to say is that if this is any indication of the craziness that lies ahead this season, we're in for one hell of a wild ride (and no, Mr. Toad is not invited).
Anyway, on to poker. If you have read any of my previous posts (God help you if you did), you know that I decided to start the year off with $1000 and try to boost that up 40 buyins at the 25NL level before stepping up to 50NL. Well, I have no idea what I did to the poker gods to piss them off so much, but my game has gone into an all out tailspin, plummeting me towards the ground faster than that airplane that Superman decided to rip the wings off of and send through the air like a Patriot missile. In about 18k hands since the new year, I have dropped an astonishing 14 buyins. You heard me, 14 buyins. If someone finds my confidence, please let me know. I already took out a missing persons ad, and you might see its face start popping up on milk cartons because that baby is long gone.
I know that this isn't standard variance, although I'd like to think that some of the loss can be attributed to that. I have been playing absolutely terrible post-flop poker, and have been choosing situations where I go to the felt in an almost haphazard manner. We're talking absolutely ridiculous hands like TPTK, 2pr on a straight + flush board, high PP to an A or K high board, etc. There is no excuse for it other than lack of focus, and a complete breakdown in my ability to accurately place my opponents on a range of hands and act accordingly. I'm also letting villains complete their sets, straights, and flushes way to cheaply, or even for free. Why am I doing this? The easy answer is "I have no freakin' clue." The real answer is "Because my big hands haven't been getting paid off when I bet at them, and I want to make more money." Wow, do I deserve to get smacked in the face for that line of thinking -- and I have. Believe me, I have. And the worst part about it is that I am paying people off handsomely when the obvious scare card comes.
Enough whining, and on to what I'm going to do about it:
1. I'm going to take off the rest of the week and spend a significant amount of time reviewing my PokerTracker stats of overall, of late, and while I was winning. In addition, I plan on reviewing where I'm losing good chunks of money, and determining why I was getting my chips in in those particular situations. I need to plug that leak first and foremost. "Big pots are for big hands." I need to plaster that shit on my wall or something.
2. During my time off, I will also be getting into the habit of hitting the forums hard. This is a resource that I have yet to even scratch the surface of, and I need to start getting out there and getting advice. Sure, 4/5 responses will probably be useless, but if I gather any insight from any posts, it will be well worth it. I also need to go back and watch some more of the CardRunners uNL videos. I've really been neglecting this asset of CR of late, and need to get reenergized about playing poker. Plus, listening to fruitypro's silly British accent might cheer me up.
3. I've decided to set up a new goal for myself; one that I will probably me more determined to succeed at. Using my original starting BR of $1000, I intend to bank $15,000 by the end of 2007. Unfortunately, this downswing has put me into a fairly decent sized hole, but, as Beyonce Knowles so eloquently says, "I'm a survivor. I'm not gonna give up (what?)." This still leaves me at 30 buyins for 25NL, which I think is plenty to fuel my recovery. I also plan on reassessing my situation once I hit $1500, and might decide to start blending in some 50NL since that will be the 30 buyin point for that level. Either way, I've set a goal in stone, and I plan to track my progress along the way. I'll update once I have my actual stats sitting in front of me.
4. Continue posting regularly, including problem hands and periodic stat snapshots. So what if you guys aren't commenting yet and I've gotten about 0 feedback or insight on anything that I have posted so far. It doesn't hurt my feelings. But eventually, someone will post something useful. And it will help me. And I will benefit from it. And then I will be grateful. But until then, at least it gets me to write things down and think about them -- so go on, be all selfish and stuff and keep your comments to yourself. (edit: Not really. Please post. No comments makes baby moniquer sad.)
Alright, enough is enough, I'll post more on this topic later if something else comes to mind. I also plan on pulling a bunch of stats during my week long hiatus/analysis. I'll post any that I think are relevant and might help you guys analyze my play. If anyone out there on the interweb is willing to take the time to help, I'm more than willing to pull any data you need, just ask. Thanks in advance, I hope this garners some sort of response.
i amM0NIKER at 11:47 AM
kevin,
thanks for the comment. glad to know somebody out there might be reading. I'd love ur feedback, it's always nice to get some different perspectives on hands and such. I'll be checking back with ur blog as well.
Best of luck,
Pichee