Nose to the ground...

I've been slacking again lately, my volume has been pretty non-existent this past week, and its clearly affecting my bottom line. I'm hoping to get things back on track after the 21st, as I'm currently out of town and will likely continue my unsatisfactory volume until my return to AZ. Through observation and experience it becomes clearer and clearer how a dedicated personal work ethic is an absolute necessity to the lifestyle/career path I've chosen, there's no one forcing you to get up and go to work, everything is a personal choice with no immediate consequence. I'm already eagerly awaiting Pokerstars to announce there adjustments to the VIP program for 2011, obviously (for those of you who play on Stars) they keep us in the dark as long as possible, hardly muttering a whisper until mid -late December about their intentions or adjustments. I expect that, should Pokerstars introduce a mid Elite level or make Elite that much more attainable, my VIP's for the year will likely triple (if not more) in 2011. At the start of 2010 I was exceptionally unprepared to make any form of serious commitment or goal w/ respect to volume or VPP's earned. For those following this blog that has obviously changed, and my goals, which I will announce in correlation w/ Pokerstars' release of the adjustments to their VIP program, will be more accurate, attainable, and understood, as I will have a better grip on what it takes to put in certain amounts of volume, and play at certain levels profitably.

Below you'll find a summary of the differences between this year and last year, and how I feel they affect my (or your)
success in long term goals/immediate results.

VIP Level
2010 - I started 2010 w/ Plat. star, and I busted my ass to get it prior to 2010 starting as I knew I would be putting
in a significant amount of volume in January, and wanted to capitalize on whatever amount of rakeback I could to cushion
the potential swings I would be facing
2011 - I'll be starting 2011 with Supernova, which is a massive edge in comparison with Platinum star, it allows me to
essentially spin my wheels (rakeback whore) profitably, which is extremely relevant in the $114 18's/$104 DoN's or any
other high stakes game I choose to play.

Experience
2010 - I started the year having dabbled briefly in the 16's, and moved back down to grinding the $6.50's as I didn't want
to go through a swing that would prevent me from being rolled for the $27/$38/$60 18's which I had never played, and had
decided would simply dive into (30 tabling) hoping to strike the positive side of variance.
2011 - As a poker player I have experienced a tremendous amount of growth throughout the last year, I have made the
transition from a $6.50 grinder pre 2010, to one of the more capable $114/$60/$38 18/45 Man grinders, and have completely
eliminated any lower buy in's than that from my playing schedule in an attempt to maximize my hourly rate.

Bankroll/Community
2010 - I began 2010 with a 2.5k bankroll, which I was grinding up during my stay with my parents for Christmas during 2009,
in an attempt to be able to absorb some amount of swing that might occur during January and my induction to games
that included regulars who played the game for a living. In mid 2010 I essentially went busto for reasons I'll not share
with the entire world, and was forced to grind 6.50's and below, I was unaware of any way to play in the games that
excluded my own roll.
2011 - I now have a slightly larger roll, one that is much more capable of withstanding the variance of the games I choose
to play. More importantly, I have a strong network of stakers/backers on and off Parttimepoker.com who are more than
happy to take my action for a percentage, should my personal roll become unavailable or bust. This is crucial
as my hourly rate won't slip to a fraction of what it is now due to a lack of funding at any point during 2011, unlike
2010.

As you can see, I'm much more prepared now to pursue any personal goals than I was at the beginning of 2010, maintaining
an honest relationship with yourself about where you stand is an integral part of our success, gl to all of us in making
2011 a stronger year than 2010!

Poker is a business...

Hey guys... been running hot, like hot like the sun hot.... Its November 3rd and I'm having nearly a 6k month all in, so yeah things on that side are clearly going well... Aside from my results my presence in my staking business has faded out a little bit, and I'm looking to remedy that when I wake up by running multiple sweats for both my BluffztheNutz and the SnGReasons stable. Presence is incredibly important w/ regard to how we handle our business, and is one of the most important things (in my opinion) with regard to the ability to successfully manage anything that has a bigger multitude than the individual. Obviously we can micro-manage, but that requires actually micro-managing the team you have working for you, you can't just let them do there own thing and expect it to work out the way you want it to, nor can you set goals and expect them to meet them when you provide no direction as to HOW we intend to accomplish these goals.. Here's a line from the Prince, which you should read when you peel yourself away from my blog, porn, (I hope not both at the same time) or whatever else you may be doing...

"... if he had not settled there, would not have been able to
keep it. Because, if one is on the spot, disorders are seen as
they spring up, and one can quickly remedy them; but if
one is not at hand, they are heard of only when they are
great, and then one can no longer remedy them."

I'm sure some/most and maybe all of you have read this book, but I've read it 5 times, so the bullshit excuse of being familiar with the text doesn't mean you shouldn't read it... If any of you have any books you found or are familiar with that really developed your sense of business or how you approach poker, throw it in the comments or hit me up by pm and ill try to read through them in the next few weeks... and if you don't, then you should... so put down the porn and get literate :)

October Recap, November Goals...

Here's the summary of what happened this month, I'm going out of town for around a week at some point this month so the goals will reflect that this month...

October Summary
VPP's : 20,100/25,000
Profit: $15,789/13,500
Coaching: 65/115 Hours
Tournaments: 1160
Investing: On top of it!

Eh fell terribly short everywhere except profit.... really disappointed and am going to really need to push it during November to try and compensate...

November Goals

VPP's: 20,000
Profit: 10,000
Coaching: 80 Hours
Tournaments: 1500
Investing: Keep going...

Gl to me!

Measure twice.. Cut once...

Title pretty much says it all, we should rehearse what we're doing, get it right, and THEN go after it... ill never understand the endless cycle of rinse/repeat mistake after mistake, to no end. People breaking even monotonously grind day in and day out, to no avail, and they wonder why? Well, its simple and I'll be nice enough to tell you, its because you're making fucking mistakes! Almost all of the solid winning players I know spend a considerable amount of time studying and reviewing there play, looking for places they could have done something differently, something that could potentially save them future money, and THEN executing it; in addition, there was a point where most of those players spent considerably more time studying than they do now... speaking from experience, I used to study every day while I played (only 5-6 tabled) then I'd study before I went to sleep, and I'd study when I'd wake up before work.... I only played a little bit... Its not the action of doing that promotes learning, that more or less reinforces habits, either good or bad... it's review and analysis that stimulate higher level play in the future, so measure twice and cut once... or waste time grinding life in a horizontal line, up to you...

Updates...
VPP's : 13,300/25,000
Profit: $13,800/13,500
Coaching: 42/115 Hours
Tournaments: 886
Investing: On top of it!

Bink!

Well, my last post briefly touched on mental toughness, and after picking myself up and getting my shit together.. I final tabled 5 MTT's in a two day period... shipped two of them, taking 2nd in another, and finishing in the top 5 in the final 2. Focus is crucial to obtaining a positive expectation, and when you expect to lose you shouldn't be shocked when that's what happens, but it goes both ways.. Winning is just as much a function of attitude as losing is. Of the MTT's I final tabled, the 109 2x had the biggest prize pool, and I shipped it for 10k... I'm still not thrilled with the volume I've put in this month, as it hasn't changed since my last post, but I have been putting in some MTT volume with my SnG's so less volume is to be expected... (I'm always easier on myself when I'm winning!) I'll probably spend the next week or two trying to clear out another 4k bonus and trying to improve my volume... Hopefully I don't run into a doom switch anywhere and the money keeps coming!

Goal Summary:
VPP's : 11,000/25,000
Profit: $11,500/13,500
Coaching: 20/115 Hours
Tournaments: 728
Investing: On top of it!

As you can see.. I'm falling short everywhere, going to need to really up the volume during the final week to satisfy the VPP/Tournament Goal, as well as step it up w/ my sweat sessions...

Mental toughness...

Ehh... I dont wanna complain, so I'll just say I could be running better :) I really only have myself to blame this month, and I am way way way behind on my goals... I dont even wanna post my progress I'm so far behind... It looks like I'll spend the next little while trying to play catchup... good luck me :)

Time is a commodity..

Got some staking coaching today from MHflush, definitely a +ev investment/good guy to work with, so I recommend him highly to anyone looking to take a more in depth look @ how they stake... He brought to my attention how much I squander my time, and how important it is not to do so, as my hourly rate will likely decrease as every day goes by, carpe diem is never more relevant than it is in poker, w/ the progression of weaker players' games the strength of our own is called into question, and so I need to be maximizing the value I have much more than I am currently... I have some really strong examples of how to do this to my benefit, Reasons14/MattGeer being the two who really stand out in this regard... Both guys' maximize the time in there day so much more efficiently than I do, and than most people do, (although they would likely disagree) and I have a lot to learn w/ respect to this... I think I've mentioned this before, but its so easy to get caught up in our own hype, how well or how poor were doing w/ an aspect of our lives, and dismiss a lot of others as less relevant or completely trivial, when focusing on those aspects brings not only more balance to the complicated equation of life, but also often impacts the thing we were so wildly focused on...

Another exceptionally relevant weakness that was brought to my attention was how often I see something positive, and hit it in full stride/swing without really analyzing the situation fully... E.g. I know staking (done properly) is +ev, therefore staking a LOT of solid horses will make me money... real conclusion, ehh... sort of... I have over 67 BAP's, 30 private horses, and coach for a site with a PF-stable setup... so all in all I have some amount of money invested in over 100 players other than myself... this number is overwhelming and too much, I bit off more than I could chew and have likely lost some amount of money in the process, oooooops...

This post was super random, and likely incoherent... w/ the next one I'll try to make more sense, but good luck at the tables, and if I'm not coaching you already... table select not only around me, but those I coach, cause there gonna eat your bankroll :)

*** I've received several PM's from horses who misunderstood my message, my private coaching is going to continue growing, the area I'm overextended most is PTP/BAP's.. so if you want coaching def. get in touch*** Thanks!