Update - 2009 Goals

Hey,

It's been a while I know. For all my regular readers, I hope you are sticking around, and thank you. I'll give an update of how poker has been going for me lately then I'll talk about my June and my goals for July and the rest of the year. I'm going to reevaluate my overall yearly goals as we are now officially half way through 2009 and a lot has changed.

Update:

So, I managed 2 final tables this week which was pretty nice, although slightly disappointing. I know it's bad to be disappointed any time I make a final table, but for me, tournament poker is about winning the big score. I have my eye on first place the entire tournament and to get within a few spots of it and not make it, can be a bit of a let down. I'm grateful for what I've achieved but I'm still hungry for a win.

My first final table was in the 50-50 on Full Tilt with a 7th place finish. I was very happy with my play overall and went out on a coinflip for the chip lead. I've been hunting for this final table all month so I did accomplish my goal. I am going to win this one eventually.



The second final table was today. I decided to take a shot at some higher buy-ins and had my best Sunday ever. So I guess that's something to be proud of as well. I finished 5th in the $75 buy-in $22.5k guarantee on Full Tilt. I played really solid for most of the tourney, and ran good in key spots to build a stack. I was hanging around between 20-30 big blinds for most of the way. I was very happy to reach the final table as there were many points where my tourney life was on the line and I never had a big stack until the final table.




I am disappointed with my play at the final table. Well, one hand at least which was my last. We were down to 5 with 4 very aggressive players, including myself with raises being 3-bet left and right. I was 2nd in chips with 1st directly to my left. He had 3-bet my 2 previous raises and I was looking for a spot to play back at him. I was in the small blind when 3rd in chips raised from the cut-off. I had 22 and decided to turn it into a steal. 1st in chips in the big blind 4-bet for about half my stack and cut-off folds. I was frustrated with him and decided to ship it as I thought he was bluffing. He called and turned over QQ, which is about the worst I could hope for, and it held. I really wish I had maintained the level of patience I had throughout the tournament up to that point. I mean 22 is such a crappy hand, what was I thinking?

I don't know, maybe I'm being results oriented because I know if he had tabled AK I would have thought it was a fine play. But really with him raising into the 2 biggest stacks at the table, that should have been enough to tell me I was way behind his range. I know I could've found a better spot. So, lesson learned, I'm not going to choke like that again when big money is on the line.

Goals:

The following is a link to my post where I listed my goals for 2009:http://bustedjacks.blogspot.com/2009/01/2009-poker-goals.html

A lot has changed since then so I've decided to review and revise my goals moving into the 2nd half of the year.

Here is the list:

1. Make more poker friends and start talking more poker and learning.
2. Join a training site. (was thinking cardrunners for cash games but am open to suggestion)
3. Focus more on each and every hand and opponent to make better decisions.
4. Review more hand histories.
5. Post hand histories and session reviews in this blog.
6. Play more HU SnG's and cash, figure out which one I'm more suited for and crush.
7. Move up to $200NL 6max by April with 25 buy-in bankroll.
8. Be winning $400NL 6max player by end of year with 40 buy-in bankroll.
9. Always, always, always practice good game selection and bankroll management.
10. Make a Sunday Major MTT schedule by April and start playing them.
11. Start playing cash games at my local casino.
12. Make a trip to Vegas sometime this year and crush donks in cash games.
13. Strike a better balance between poker and real life.

And here I will review and revise:

1. I've done okay with this, having made a couple of poker friends I've been sharing hand histories here and there, and talking strategy. It has been quite helpful and I plan to continue. Thanks to those who have helped me out, you know who you are.

2. I got my free membership with cardrunners and have been watching a lot of videos. This combined with my purchase of Holdem Manager has caused me to completely reevaluate and retool my cash game. I am learning a lot and am still in the process of becoming an unstoppable 6max player. I plan to continue watching more videos as well as subscribe to bluefirepoker.com where I have been discussing hand histories on their forum. This has also helped a lot. Thanks bluefire SSNL forum members.

3. Well some days I have more focus than others, but I have been doing well at this for the most part and am always striving to learn and improve from every hand I play.

4. I've been doing much better at this in the last couple of months and especially since I got Holdem Manager. I will continue to improve on this in the coming months.

5. I didn't get off to a great start but I have also been doing better at this lately and intend to continue to post and discuss more hand histories in this blog.

6. HU has pretty much taken a back seat for me and I don't know if I will ever fully concentrate on it. However it is a very good tool for improving my poker game as most hands I play are in HU pots and I will probably continue to play it on a casual basis.

7. I haven't moved up the cash ranks as I had hoped. Part of that is due to my poor decisions with game selection and alcohol and also the fact that I became semi burned out on cash games. I'm still playing them and I intend to get back on a schedule with a hands per month goal next month. This month my sister is getting married and we will be having a few family members coming into town over the next 3 weeks or so. This will prevent me from playing a rigorous poker schedule this month although I intend to put in as many hands as I can when I get the time.

8. 400nl, Hah, we'll see. I would love to think of this as a realistic possibility but I still have a lot of ground to cover before I reach this point.

9. Well I made 1 major mistake in this area and I am determined to improve on this immensely as I believe this is the single most important aspect of being a winning poker player.

10. I'm still not bankrolled for the Sunday Majors, but beginning August 1st 2009 I am going to post a monthly schedule which will include an MTT schedule as well as a cash game schedule. These will be on a hands played and tourneys played basis as my buy-ins will fluctuate depending on my bankroll. I have found that I enjoy playing MTT's as much as cash games and will continue to do both in the future.

11. Haven't done this yet, but I will before the end of the summer.

12. Haven't done this yet, hopefully It will be a possibility sometime this year. The bright lights of Vegas are definitely drawing me near. Good luck to those at the WSOP this year. Wish I could be there.

13. I admit I need to improve in this area. Online Poker is a solitary endeavor. Which is funny because I believe poker started out as a very social game and many people get together to enjoy a poker game with their friends and have a good time with other people. But when you grind, the people aspect becomes just another calculation, and I tend to forget that this game, and it's rewards, are meant to be enjoyed with others.

That about sums it up. I will get into more detail about my monthly goals next month and will continue to review this list as time goes by. I wish you the best in your goals and achievements as well. Remember to feel free to comment any time on whatever strikes your interest. I am always curious what is on the minds of my fellow poker players.

Peace.