Been busting my ass this month trying to hit my VPP goal of 120k VPP's... To be honest I thought it would be a lot easier than it is, because some days I earn as much as 8k VPP's... but the bottom line is that 1k's don't always run, and if they run with 8/9 regs, I ain't jumpin in... I'm still really motivated to grind, (made infinitely easier by the fact that there are a group of sicko workaholics who grind almost as much as me on call whenever I play) but I need to ramp it up a little at some point because I can tell I won't be able to keep this pace for the entire year... I've cut MTT's from my regular daily grind, the added variance just isn't what I need while I continue adjusting to a really high buyin grind schedule... Sunday will now be the only day I grind anything MTT related, and even that will be MTT light/SNG heavy....
Cash... starting to get into it more and more, I've been splashing around quite a bit and will likely begin to focus my efforts here as time goes on... The only other thing to add prior to drifting into sleep is that I'm hitting St. Louis with another online player, Frenzuh. Should be pretty sick as his MTT game is definitely stronger than mine, and undoubtedly I'll be able to glean some things that will improve my play... (Which happens to be pretty fuckin good in case you wanted coaching, sick plug I know...) peace
Friday, March 18, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
Grinding through the swings...
Swinging and variance are the most challenging aspects of poker, because its those two facets of the game that can lead players to grind games that may not have a positive expectation... All the while grinding away patiently expecting variance to carry them into the black, this same variance can also drive players with a positive expectation out of games they really should be playing, and into games with a lower return. After having a losing month in January, which was difficult... I started to question my game and the foundation I've built up to this point, and then there's an upswing in February leaving me feeling like a champ... only to be humbled once again as February closes and March begins with the biggest downswing of my career.... Honest personal evaluation is an integral part to our success in the real world, but in the poker world if you can't do that you'll be broke so quickly Stars wouldn't bother giving you a screen name...
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Keep on pushing....
This is gonna be a short post, as I'm trying to minimize my computer time when I'm not grinding, but I'm transitioning into grinding the 100-1k SnG's nicely.... Looking back at the .10 cent games I was grinding in November 2009 this is a pretty epic change, and hopefully it continues to work out for the best :)
February Recap:
-Break into the 565's - Done, I've been grinding 1k's
-Volume of 2500 Games - Fail, I played just below 2000
-Coaching - I'm fine with this slacking a bit as long as I'm grinding instead
My goals for March include:
-2250 Tournaments (A compromise)
-Stick to a budget (sort of)
-110k VPP's
-Update the blog a little more
-Win the Sunday Million :)
February Recap:
-Break into the 565's - Done, I've been grinding 1k's
-Volume of 2500 Games - Fail, I played just below 2000
-Coaching - I'm fine with this slacking a bit as long as I'm grinding instead
My goals for March include:
-2250 Tournaments (A compromise)
-Stick to a budget (sort of)
-110k VPP's
-Update the blog a little more
-Win the Sunday Million :)
Monday, February 7, 2011
Aight, so its been a minute....
Hey guys, haven't updated in forever, despite several requests to do so I've just been hitting volume pretty hard, moving around... and all in all trying to get life shit done. December wrapped up pretty well and I had no complaints business wise, although my personal life went through a pretty tumultuous time. January saw some challenging living conditions with respect to volume, sleeping on my brothers floor and having no real desk to play on made grinding uncomfortable, and I dug myself a nice 6k hole to the start of the year... I am now in a much more comfortable living/playing environment, and have since turned the -6k into slightly above break even (epic start to 2011)... Anyone with sharkscope or the search feature on Pokerstars can see that I've been breaking away from my standard $114 and below 18 man grind into the $225/$114/$109 9 and 10 Man turbos and non turbos. I think the change is great for my game, as the higher limits are slightly more engaging for the time being. I've been running pretty well and table selecting the hell out of them (also different for me but 9 man turbos are a low edge game) and have ripped out about 8k in profits from the higher buy in games this year.. Hopefully I keep running well and put up big numbers, no I'm not going for Supernova Elite... I'm just doing what I do, playing the games that make me the most money, good luck to everyone whose grinding out there.. shouldn't be as long before my next update...
Goals for February
Priority - Keep moving up in limits, break into the 565's by months end/mid March at the latest
Volume - At least 2500 games
Coaching - Do something lol, been slacking here
"Why would you be realistic, being realistic is the number one road traveled to mediocrity."
- Will Smith (I quoted that off memory, it may be a little off, but I prefer it my way)
- Good luck at the tables, and as always.. if you like your money,
they call it table selecting!
Goals for February
Priority - Keep moving up in limits, break into the 565's by months end/mid March at the latest
Volume - At least 2500 games
Coaching - Do something lol, been slacking here
"Why would you be realistic, being realistic is the number one road traveled to mediocrity."
- Will Smith (I quoted that off memory, it may be a little off, but I prefer it my way)
- Good luck at the tables, and as always.. if you like your money,
they call it table selecting!
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Pickin it back up
Hey, its been awhile since my last post and thats mostly due to my getting killed during the beginning of the month, and some of the motivation getting slashed... obviously the flip side to that is this post comes with some run good, and I've turned the month around a bit...
bigbluffzinc 779 $5 $42 16% $4,075 Tilt N/A PokerStars 12/1/2010 12/19/2010
The staking side of things hasn't really flipped, and the Pokerstars VIP changes were a pretty significant let down, so in light of the adjustments I'm still not 100% certain as to what my goals will be stepping into 2011. One of my business partners had to step out which was obviously for the worse, but I've worked out a system that seems to be getting the job done... I'll be moving back to BC in January which I'm pretty stoked about, still have no clue where I'm gonna live permanently but I'll stay with my brother till I get it figured out...
As far as regulars are concerned, people seem to be getting a lot better... the dynamics with a lot of players are getting a bit deeper, which makes for better poker and tougher swings... but nose to the grind stone, coz I aint workin at McDicks..
bigbluffzinc 779 $5 $42 16% $4,075 Tilt N/A PokerStars 12/1/2010 12/19/2010
The staking side of things hasn't really flipped, and the Pokerstars VIP changes were a pretty significant let down, so in light of the adjustments I'm still not 100% certain as to what my goals will be stepping into 2011. One of my business partners had to step out which was obviously for the worse, but I've worked out a system that seems to be getting the job done... I'll be moving back to BC in January which I'm pretty stoked about, still have no clue where I'm gonna live permanently but I'll stay with my brother till I get it figured out...
As far as regulars are concerned, people seem to be getting a lot better... the dynamics with a lot of players are getting a bit deeper, which makes for better poker and tougher swings... but nose to the grind stone, coz I aint workin at McDicks..
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Keep going...
The year is coming to a close, and its getting pretty easy to just call it a good year and throw in the towel. Pushing through and pounding volume is pretty close to one of the last things I want to do, but maintaining the pace I've been on (however sluggish) is the least I can do as I close out this year... November was a disappointment monetarily as per expectation, but hopefully I'm able to pick it up a little in December, rest up a little bit and prepare myself to hit the ground running in January. I have a number of personal things to take care of throughout December which will distract me from poker, but to have a worse mo/ in terms of volume than November won't be acceptable.
bigbluffzinc 871 $7 $50 11% $5,811 - N/A PokerStars 11/1/2010 11/30/2010
Staking went about as badly as it could have, and on the month I may have only had a $1500 month including poker, (about -$4,000) so hopefully I run better there this month :)
Goals for December: Play at least 1k games, get the Supernova 2x Milestone and the rest of the 4k bonus (about 40k FPP's from where I'm at now)
bigbluffzinc 871 $7 $50 11% $5,811 - N/A PokerStars 11/1/2010 11/30/2010
Staking went about as badly as it could have, and on the month I may have only had a $1500 month including poker, (about -$4,000) so hopefully I run better there this month :)
Goals for December: Play at least 1k games, get the Supernova 2x Milestone and the rest of the 4k bonus (about 40k FPP's from where I'm at now)
Monday, November 15, 2010
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!
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!
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