Wednesday, August 31, 2005
It's the end of the month and getting ready to be the start of my first full month since my comeback to online poker. Also September 1 marks the 1 year anniversary of my old blog which got deleted. For those of you that are new, let me fill you in:
On September 1 of 2004, I was sitting here at work admiring some notebook computers on the Internet when I come up with a brilliant Idea. It was payday. I was going to take $200 and turn it into the $2000 I needed for a new notebook computer. My goal was to do it by the end of the year.
Previously, I had played quite a bit of online poker, but I would make a deposit, play for a while and cash out all my winnings and buy something. Sometimes I would just lose my deposit. I used the Party Poker transaction history feature to keep track of what I won and lost. However, I had no concept of bankroll management.
So I start out with the $200 and start playing $1/2 tables with 100BBs. This was not enough as I hit a bit of a losing streak right off the bat and just about busted out. As I was about to give up on my dream of having that new notebook computer, I said "To Hell with it" and started 4 tabling the .50/1.00 tables. This got me back to even.
Then I started reading up on bankroll management and I started abiding by the 300BB rule of thumb. So I quickly 4 tabled my way through the .5/1, 1/2, and 2/4 levels. I also had some decent tournament showings that really helped the bankroll. Including a $500 final table cashing on a $5+1 MTT on Party with an insane amount of players.
So there I am less than 2 months into my quest with a bankroll big enough to buy my computer. However, I was no longer interested in the notebook. I saw how much money I was making online and thirsted for the higher levels.
Towards the end of October, I hit the $3/6 tables wide open and I'm making a killing. Loving life.
Then on election day 2004 I called in sick for work. I went to go vote. When I came back, I laid down for a few minutes, then decided I could play some poker. I fired up 4 tables on the $3/6 bad beat jackpot tables on Party Poker. I played for about 30 minutes and was just crushing them when this hand came up and changed my life:
Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (9 handed) converter
Preflop: Hero is SB with T, T.
UTG raises, UTG+1 folds, MP1 folds, MP2 folds, MP3 calls, CO folds, Button folds, Hero calls, BB folds.
Flop: (7 SB) 8, T, T (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets, MP3 calls, Hero calls.
Turn: (5 BB) 9 (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets, MP3 calls, Hero raises, UTG 3-bets, MP3 folds, Hero caps, UTG calls.
River: (14 BB) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets, UTG calls $3 (All-In).
Final Pot: 15.50 BB
Main Pot: 15 BB, between UTG and Hero. > Pot won by Hero (15 BB).
Pot 2: 0.50 BB, returned to Hero.
Results:
Hero has Td Ts (four of a kind, tens).
UTG has 9c 9h (four of a kind, nines).
Outcome: Hero wins 15.50 BB.
This hand triggered the bad beat jackpot. For dealing the winning blow, I won $14,587.98. Now I have enough for 7 or 8 notebook computers.
2 weeks later the following hand came along:
Party Poker 5/10 Hold'em (9 handed)
Preflop: Hero is MP3 with 8, 5. CO posts a blind of $5.
UTG raises, UTG+1 folds, MP1 folds, MP2 folds, Hero folds, CO (poster) folds, Button calls, SB folds, BB calls.
Flop: (7.40 SB) 7, 2, T (3 players)
BB checks, UTG bets, Button folds, BB calls.
Turn: (4.70 BB) J (2 players)
BB checks, UTG bets, BB raises, UTG 3-bets, BB caps, UTG calls.
River: (12.70 BB) Q (2 players)
Final Pot: 12.70 BB
Main Pot: 12.70 BB, between BB and UTG. > Pot won by UTG (12.70 BB).
Results in white below:
BB has 9c 8c (straight flush, queen high).
UTG has Kc Ac (straight flush, ace high).
Outcome: UTG wins 12.70 BB.
Add another $5000 to my winnings for November. I was afraid to go outside because I figured I'd get struck by lightning.
So now my $3000 bankroll was up to $23,000. However, I decided to not do anything foolish with the money. I just cashed out all my jackpot winnings and paid off my car, 4 wheeler, and most of my truck. Debt freedom was in sight.
Over the next few months, I took shots at the $5/10 6 max games (no 3/6 6 max at the time) and failed miserably. Each time, I'd have to drop back and re-establish the bankroll. Finally around February after a 2 month breakeven streak, the bankroll moved in the right direction again.
Around April of 2004 I had a $9000 bankroll after establishing a payday routine. I was taking half my profits for the month and cashing them out. I can't really recall the exact figures, but in 8 months, I had taken $200 and turned it into somewhere in the vicinity of $35,000.
During this 8 month period, I experienced a couple bouts with variance including a month of January where it seemed every time I looked at my computer, I lost money. However, due to good bankroll management, I survived without too many scars.
Towards the end of my 8 month stretch of poker, I had visions of actually turning pro and made many posts mentioning that fact in my old blog. However, I had set some guidelines before I was going to attempt it. They included a huge bankroll for the $15/30 game, paying off all my debts and then buying a home.
In preparation for the criteria I had laid out to become a pro, I played more and more poker. Then when the sun started to come out, my brain got baked with online poker. I had burnt myself out. It was spring time. Time to put away the mouse and pick up a golf club and a fishing rod. I needed the summer off.
During this past summer, I cashed out all of my bankroll except for $300. I was using the money for a down payment on a house. When a couple deals fell through, I put the money to the side. I've just bought a home and I'm using my poker bankroll to help with the purchase. However, I had set $1500 to the side for a rainy day.
Last month, I decided to get back to it and build my way back up to a healthy bankroll. However, I was bored. The .50/1.00 games just didn't excite me after being used to playing $5/10 6 max and a couple bouts of $10/20 6 max. So I figured I could make more off that $1500 than the 3% interest it was collecting in my savings account. So I've put it to good use online.
This brings me to the next year. Where do I wanna go with poker? I'm not entirely sure. All I know is that I want to get in the bigger games and make bigger money. I'd like to build up a very healthy bankroll and take a shot at the $10/20 6 max LAGfest.
In the meantime, I want to make enough to pay my mortgage and all my bills every month. This way, I can save my real paycheck for a rainy day. At the $3/6 level where I'm at right now, I'd say I can do it. I think it would be a lot easier at the $10/20 level assuming I can post similar win rates. We'll see how things go.
I've played a limited amount at the $10/20 6 max games and it's a different beast. The aggression is pretty high. However, with good table selection, it can be a donkfest.
I'm just going to take my time and have fun with it.