August Results & Break Time

Alright, well I've decided that its time for me to take a nice week off from playing poker (for the most part anyways). I will still be playing in the CardsChat HU Championship and I may play some S&Gs/Tourneys just for fun. I will also still be studying poker during the break period by watching stox videos as I don't want to lose my edge over the week. I played over 50k hands in August so far and over 60k (I think) in July and its just time for me to relax for a week and not think about poker. To be honest I'm starting to feel a little burned out lately and I think its causing me to make some stupid plays. For example I used to just stay away from certain 50NL regs since I knew they were good and there's no point playing hands against other good players when there are plenty of fish to feast on at the table. Lately however, I don't know out of boredom or just because of ego I feel like I have to enter every pot with position on one of these regs and play back at them, usually with poor results. I want to try to prove I'm better than them or something. I don't really have a logical explanation for it, but yea, its stupid. I've also been kind of stressed out lately feeling like I have to be playing constantly (to try to make platinum) or some other stupid reason. And since I've been playing so much, the way I'm running at the poker table is affecting how I act in other aspects of life which is not good at all.

So after all of these things I just wrote about in the previous paragraph, I just decided that a break was in order and there's no better time for it than now. I'm going back to school next week and I don't want to be cooped up in my room playing poker for hours and hours a day when there is so much more interesting things to be doing around campus. I absolutely cannot wait to get back. I've been waiting ever since summer started to get back to school, lol. I'm going to be a senior this year and although I know I will have lots of fun like I always do at school, I really need to get my shit together and figure out what the hell I want to do when I get out of school. I think poker is definitely going to be an option, but is it the best option? I will be graduating with a Bachelors degree in Biology with minors in Chemistry and Economics. I was planning on being a pharmacist when I was in High School but I really don't want to do that anymore and tbh, have no idea what I want to do. Hopefully I will figure out something I like to do this year.

Ok, so here's what all you readers have been waiting for, my official results for August. August was a great month. My best month so far (Actually every month since March has been my best month compared to previous months). Started out a little rocky and ended a little rocky but the upswing in the middle was just crazy. Hopefully this month has taught me a little bit about variance and I will be able to keep myself controlled at all times at the poker table. The graph below is all the cash game hands I played in August including 25NL/PL, 50NL/PL, 100NL/PL with mixes between FR and 6max. Along with the winnings from ring games on the graph below, I won three 5400 FPP satellites which I took cash of $208.15 each and I cleared a $240 deposit bonus for bonus winnings of $864.45. I probably lost ~$40 playing tournaments so that puts my total profits for the month at ~$2814 which is just absolutely amazing and I couldn't be happier. Considering I made $8.50/hour at my part time job this summer those numbers are astonishing.

Anyways, even though I will be on a break for the next week or so I will still be active around CC and reading some other members blogs, so don't think just because I'm taking a break you won't see me around for awhile.

10,541 Hands, $203.85

Well I'm still running pretty good in August even though I hit a nice $450 slide over the last few days. I won another 5400 FPP satty, so if you count that towards my winnings (which I do) I've only lost ~$242 the last few days. I can't really complain about that since I've been running so hot lately and including bonuses/FPP sattys I'm up over $2500 this month which is real nice. I played a couple 100NL sessions and did quite well actually. I think I was up ~$350 in 2 sessions, but I wasn't really comfortable there. $100 is a lot of money to me and I don't really like ever putting it all on the line for one hand so I've decided to stay at 50NL for awhile. Atleast until September is over anyways and then I may reevaluate my goals. I also withdrew $1000 to help pay for school/repair my car so even though I am technically rolled for 100NL (24 BIs), I feel much more comfortable playing with 50 BIs at 50NL. I've only got ~1700 more VPPs to clear to get Platinum Star status again this month so I should be able to do that. Once I get the 1700 more VPPs I will have enough to play another 5400 FPP satty so hopefully I can get my profit up to ~$3000 before the end of the month which would be quite nice.

Well, I don't really have much else to say so I guess it will just be a short update today. I'm off to school in a week and I cannot wait. Here's the graph:

5,016 Hands, $924.70

So, I'm still running like a god at 50NL and my upswing continues. Since my last post I've made over $900 which is pretty crazy. I've been playing 50PL along with 50NL with good results. I used to table select for only NL, but I've noticed that PL has some extremely juicy tables and theres no reason to sit at a NL table that isn't as juicy if there is a better PL one availabe. Basically the only difference is that I can't 3bet as high as I would like preflop, but other than that postflop is very similar to NL. I sort tables by % of players to the flop and there always seems to be quite a few PL tables in the mix. I've accumulated ~5800 VPPs this month so I'm a little behind where I want to be to make Platinum. I'm going to really have to grind some hands out over the next couple weeks to make it. I won't be working to much so I definately am expecting to reach my goal.

I ordered The Poker Mindset by Ian Taylor and Matthew Hilger a couple weeks ago with FPPs and I am about halfway finished. I cannot recommend this book enough. It is basically all about the emotional aspect of playing poker and how to control your emotions/deal with tilt. I thought it would be pretty basic stuff that I already knew, but it has really been more than I expected. I have learned a lot of new things that I hope can keep my tilt/anger problem in check the next time I hit a downswing. Obviously I've been fine during my upswing, but I really am hoping that during my next long downswing I can control myself.

Anyways, here's what you've all been waiting for, the graph of my last 5k hands

Upswings Are Nice

Well, August is going much, much, much better since my last post and I am up ~$730 at ring games this month. If you count a $240 deposit bonus I cleared and a $208.55 FPP satty I won, this month is now going great with over a $1000 profit if u count bonuses/FPPs. I managed to get GoldStar yesterday night and should be able to get Platinum by the end of the month as I am back at 50NL again. I have been trying really hard not to get angry and tilt much and I have been doing better. Whether that is because I am on an upswing at the moment is not clear, but hopefully I can keep up my tilt/anger control. I played a 5400 FPP tourney the other day and lost when my AA lost to 89s and then AJ lost to A9 both all in preflop and I really didnt feel angry whatsoever. Just shrugged it off. Usually tourneys/S&Gs tilt me badly so that is great news that I didn't get angry when I suffered two horrible beats to lose. My BR is currently slightly under $2000 and I am hoping not to withdraw for a little while so I can stay at 50NL permanently and never have to worry about going back down to 25NL or god forbid 10NL. I plan to take a shot at 100NL when my BR reaches $3000 but I will move immediately back down to 50NL if my BR ever drops to $2500.

In non-poker related things, I have been playing quite a bit of golf lately and have been getting better. I work at a golf course so I can play for free and have actually been taking advantage of it lately. I love the sport, but have never really played all too often so I was never good. Earlier today I had my best round ever. I shot 14 over par for 18 holes which is very good for me. Granted, it was a fairly easy course, but I did play from the blue tees, so I was very proud. I only had 2 bad holes really. Anyways I plan on playing a lot before I have to head back to school so I might not be able to put in quite as many poker hands as I would like, but I have been playing a ton lately, so it will be good for me.

Here's the graph for August so far.

August is Here

Well, its the last month of summer and I absolutely cannot wait to get back to school again in September. I will be a senior this year and it will be my last year of school :(. I can't believe how fast the last few years of my life have flown by. I almost wish this last year would last forever, but I know the reality is that after this year I will most likely have to join the workforce. Hopefully I can find a job that I enjoy doing and isn't too boring. After having a discussion with zach the other day I have contemplated whether I would be able to play poker temporarily right out of school so I didn't have to look for a job right away. I think that if I could reach 100NL and log ~200k hands there b4 school ends I might consider doing it. I'd have to win a substantial amount of money during the school year to do it though, just so I could have something to fall back on.

Anyways, August started out pretty rough at 25NL FR and 6max, but Ive rebounded quite nicely the last few days. I finished July with ~$2000 profit after bonuses and everything, my best month yet. However, I hit a pretty bad downswing/break even stretch of 35k hands the last half of the month. I think the downswing was causing me to get angry and tilt. I have been reading The Poker Mindset and so far it has been helping my tilt/anger problem quite a bit. I have only really gotten angry once this whole month when it used to be at least a once a day occurance. I really hope that this month I can get rid of my anger/tilt problem above anything else b/c it will just make me so much a better player. Also, if I plan on playing for a living for a year after school theres no way that I could tilt ever. If I was still tilting or getting angry it just wouldn't be an option to play for a living. Here's the graph for August so far. As you can see I'm still 4 buy-ins below expected, but it will turn around eventually.