2008 is going to be great!

Did someone already say that? 2008... is going to be great! How catchy.



What an interesting year 2007 was for me. I began the year barely knowing anything about Texas Hold'em. Oh, I thought I knew something. I was able to play the game. I played live occasionally, and did quite well (on very small stakes). I was playing on my ability to read people.


As of January 2007, I had played once in a Hold'em tournament at a casino and I finished in the money (6th of 60). My only other experiences were playing in charity tournaments or home games. And I usually cashed in those or at least did well enough to think I knew what I was doing.


So in April 2007, when I was going to be in Las Vegas for my wife's business, I decided to load up on poker tournaments. The first night there, I played a re-buy tournament that paid 9 spots and I finished 9th. Once again, confirming (in my mind only) that I was a "good" player (not "great") and could play breakeven or better for the trip. Then everything went down hill. I ended up playing 7 more tournaments and didn't cash in a single one.


To right the ship, I sat at the cash tables and found I could make money quicker (and easier) there playing $1/$2 no limit. To classify it for you now, I will say I was a high end fish, not even worthy of a "donkey" level, but was able to win a few pots here and there as long I avoided the local amateurs who would run all over me. When I ran into these, I would take a break and come back later refreshed. By the end of the week, I was able to replenish my poker bankroll to almost breakeven. But I was starting to realize:


I really suck at poker. I don't know what the hell I am doing. I would play a tournament, lose, replay it in my mind and know that I played it wrong, but didn't really know why. You know that feeling? You should have re-raised, but you fold and the raiser shows his bluff. I mean, it is one thing to be able to read tourists and occasional players when they are weak, or when they hit their monster, but it is another thing to play with no knowledge whatsoever, of position or pot odds and hope to beat someone who has that knowledge. I had no clue. I was guilty of overbetting pots or not calling when pot odds screamed you have to.


This also explained why I could never make any money playing online. I played online like I did live but was unable to consistently win anything. I had dabbled a few hundred bucks at a time on pokerstars and fulltilt, but never could keep a profit. RELOAD. That should have been my screenname. I couldn't bluff people off of pots and I couldn't tell if they were bluffing me.



So in late April, 2007, I bought a few poker books, started reading poker blogs, and tried to take in as much information as I could to really study the game. It helped.


I still had bad tendencies to gamble too much. All in for a draw. All in because you know some donkey is on 2nd pair, and he calls you. But, I managed to pull off a few decent cashes. I loaded $200 into FTP in July and by December 31st, I had withdrawn $1150. I hit a freeroll for over $700 and then won the MATH (a private tournament) for a nice little boost in the bankroll. Neither of these will show up in any online tracking sites but it accounts for just over $1,000 in winnings.

So with 2008 ahead, my goal is to solidify my game. I have moments of good play, but I am inconsistent. I got a great email from Vinay that laid out some leaks for me that I can work on. I am literally down to my last $10 as I went on a horrid run cashing in like 1 out of my last 20 SNG's. I think I need to tighten up my game, play solid poker and play it well, and then loosen up my game. I do know that I am doing the right thing by trying to improve my game. I want to play with the "fish" who don't try to improve because they know "poker is all luck" or they think they know all there is to know about the game of hold'em already.

I didn't play much over the last two weeks as I was doing a lot of Christmas and Holiday stuff with the family. And, I kind of wanted a break after the Push for BBT2. That was damn fun! And I have met so many new players. I think Chad has the right idea in trying to really develop a bigger and stronger link between all of the poker bloggers. Not only is it fun to compete against the same players on a regular basis, but you get to meet a lot of new people.

So that's about where I am at. I really hope whatever you do, you do it better in 2008. Set some goals and figure out what you need to do each and every day to stay on path to achieve those goals.

And of course, stay patient....