Bad bankroll managment.

New update. Boy did I screw up this past Sunday. I did not do well this weekend but then I didn’t do that bad either. I was doing ok and just a tad down when I let one of the online pro’s convince me to play the $30 re-buy on ultimate bet. He was right I should play it, in the sense that it was a tourney full of bad players. No not bad players, horrible players. But, I ended up spending $270 on re-buys (that is 3 buy in's, with the double re-buy), getting for the most part all my money in ahead and I didn’t win one freaking hand. NOT ONE!!! I mean I got a guy to put in all of his chips on a gut shot and ace high against my two pair and he catches his 4 outer. And of course two hands later he blows all the chips. I get Ace Queen vs A9 all in on a ace high board and he catches (I had a pretty good read on this player)…. The final one was I had J-9 of diamonds on a Qd-10d-5c board and get it all in against top pair top kicker, leaving me 15 outs twice or 55% chance of winning the hand and I can’t catch. OK I am whining now but still, I should have been able to win at least once!

OK I was a little sick how that turned out.

Also I bubbled in my bread and butter tournament, two $20-180’s. First one, I went out in 19th place and the second in 20th, money started in 18th place. I played both well but lost some key hands in the later stages of the tournament. I knew I was risking bubbling in both but to be honest I don’t play those just to make the money. I play for top 3 spots and if I am low enough I will risk chips around the bubble in order to get myself to that final table. Just so you know, my record in these 180’s is awesome. I have over a 175% ROI in them, out of the last 100 that I have played I have cashed in 17 and final table 11 with my record as:

1st – 3 times
2nd- 2 times
3rd- 3 times
4th – 1 time
5th – 2 times
9th- 1 time

That is over $6K in wins right there and in total I have netted over $4K. Not bad if I do say so myself, but I can improve that.

I won a bunch of SnG’s that kept me even and made about $100+ in 5 card draw limit. But then in MTT’s I didn’t get a cash. Not one. I played some poorly, one horribly but others I really didn’t do badly. In a $50 I got zero cards and hung around but just couldn’t get anything going. In madness (3 buy in’s total for $30), I got all my chips in QQ vs 99, river 9. Not to belabor the point but I just wanted to point out that I was ahead more than I was behind when the money went in. So I finished the weekend way behind, mainly due to my poor bank roll management of getting into the $30 re-buy on UB.

Once more into the breach....

OK, it has been about a year since I have updated this blog and I have decided to try working on it once more. First thing first, I would like to set my goals for poker this year and review my goals for last year.

My first goal for this year is my bank roll. It was decimated earlier this month when I did a combination of taking money out for a family trip (last month), money for my wife (call it a bribe slash gift), and just poor bank roll management (buying into tournaments that I was used to playing that I could no longer do so due to my cash outs). Well I was down to my last $$ when I started wining again. So it is back to a somewhat healthy stack and my objective is to have a $10K online bank roll. I know that is small compared to most pro’s online BR but I am a small buy in player. I want to have this by June 1st, this means I have to close 5x my current bank roll in 2 ½ months. Can I do it? I think so but only if I play it smart. How I do it I will explain later.

Second goal, I want to play in a WSOP event again. Last year I was pretty discouraged that I didn’t make it into the Main Event. I mean, I came in 2nd 4 different times in tournaments where first place was the package and 2nd paid just as much as last. I did accumulate enough $W on Poker Stars to buy myself into a $2,000 event but I want to play in the ME. So this goal has two parts, 1st part get into the main event, 2nd play in a WSOP event. BTW my $2K WSOP table was sick, Eric Siedel, David Williams, Todd Arnold and John Bonetti. And yes they were there all at there same time at one point.

Third goal, improve my aggression in later stages of tournaments. I cash a lot in the large MTT’s but I am not making it to the final table enough or rarely. I think this is a combination of lack of aggression in the later stages and not picking my spots better. Something I really need to work on.

Fourth goal, work on my reads and what reads / story am I telling my opponent. I am pretty good on reading players and what they have but I don’t think I am incorporating it enough in what I believe my opponents are reading from me. Don’t get me wrong I do it but not enough.

Fifth goal, win a major tournament. Enough said there. I came close with a $150 buy in tourney and a 5th place finish but I still don’t like how I played that final table.

Sixth goal, play more live events around town. Doing that more already and I really played my last one well up until the point when I just gave my chips away on a 4 flush board. I totally fucked up and have no excuse for my poor play but those are the type of mistakes I have to work on. Playing more live events will help me avoid them.

Seventh goal, get a schedule together of the online tourney’s I want to play every night and stick to it. I am pretty hap hazardous about how I play and what is available. I believe I will benefit more form picking my tourney’s ahead of time.

Eighth and final goal, don’t play tired. Last night for example I was playing well but I was extremely tired and bought into Madness. Madness is the $10 10pm re-buy on Poker Stars and is nicknamed Madness due to how some people shove there chips in with crap hands hoping to double up.

Back to my bank roll…. Basically I have 12 weeks to earn what I need or basically about $650 net profit per week. Can I do this? As long as I am not over spending on my bank roll yes I can. Now lets see if I am full of shit or not.

Now how did I do on my goals from last year?

1. For February, I hope to make at least 10 final tables (2 in the bag already but both were 10th place finishes). (nope didn’t get this one done at all)
2. I want to have a $10K year. (nope)
3. I want to play in at least one WSOP event this year (even though I already did play in the WSOP circuit event in Tunica I am talking about the main WSOP events this summer). (Yup managed this one also).

Not bad I got 2 out of my 3 goals. More later