2011 Goals

So I am late posting this. Blame Rush Poker. It's tough to write when you're folding 260 hands per hour.

Here are my lofty goals for the 2011 poker year.

1. Withdrawal $3,000 net from poker sites.

• I thought about the amount I wanted to set for a long time. I have been doubling each year the amount I net. However I wanted this goal to be attainable. $4,800 seemed like stretching it given my current deployable job. $3,000 is over $300/month for 10 months. That's already stretching it. I will update this goal if I manage to swing some large early months. My actual goal (as usual) is to make as much money as possible. ;-)

2. Qualify (at least) Bronze Iron Man on FTP each month that I am not deployed.

• Easy-peasy. 125 points every other day, or 50 points for 20 days/month. At a $25 max table that's about 500 hands per day. This allows me to get some much needed work on my cash game play. Also, the rewards for qualifying are excellent: Freerolls, cash bonuses, and a lot of FTP points for purchasing tournament tickets. At 1,475 points per month I can purchase a $26 ticket every 4 months.

3. Play more step tournaments starting at the $8 level in an effort to play Sunday Majors.

• An $8 step pays 8 of 18 players. Top 5 pays out a step 3, $26 ticket. 6th gets you your money back. A 7th or 8th drops you down a step, which is an "easy" tournament to get right back where you started. My ultimate goal here is to buy into the Sunday $216 buy-in Majors. The more I play, the bigger shot I have at some real, life-altering money.

Best Laid Plans

On Saturday I woke up happy that I had written for the blog for the first time since May. I was refreshed after a very lazy Post-Thanksgiving Friday (ask my wife). That night I was having my first poker tourney at our new place and I wanted to straighten up the house. I started in the living room and worked my way into the kitchen. I finally got most of it done and started a pot of coffee while I logged on to FTP. 4 minutes prior to registration closing I signed up for the $10+1 $12.5K Guaranteed Rush tourney. Blinds were already 120/240 and I started with 3K in the BB. The good news was that well over 1/2 of the field of ‎1,863 had already been eliminated.

A few hours later I ran my KTo into and A5o and finished 4th place for ‎$1,471.77.

So about that plan for $900 in the next month... Time to reevaluate. I was planning on playing rush tourneys as much as possible and slowly creeping toward the goal while taking shots in $2 and $3 buyin MTTs with huge payouts. I was also going to run a stake on Part Time Poker for miniFTOPS. Admittedly, All of these approaches were long-shots for an entire $900. To put it in terms any poker player can understand, I was at least a 2:1 dog.

Now I'm a lock for accomplishing my goal and it feels great! I have some decisions to make though. Foremost I need to decide how much money to leave in my account. Historically I play my worst poker after a big win. I don't plan on that this time. That, coupled with the fact that I have accomplished my goal means I probably should leave plenty in my account. But we all know how plans go sometimes...

Next, I need to start formulating a goal for next year. Doubling a bankroll is an easy target (in terms of planning, not neccisarily hitting), but I want to find the best balance between challenging and realistic. FTOPS, WSOP, and WPT entry come to mind.

Either way, it means more writing for me, which means that part of the plan is still in tact.

With a Banner Like Mine, I Should be Writing More

And I will. I always do this time of year. It's freaking freezing outside, and I tend to get a little nostalgic around now. Also, the weather lends itself to mass-poker playing. So does my amount of off time. That means fewer Rush tournaments, and more massive MTT's with opportunity for huge payouts on eensy-weensy buyins. Historically I always make more money playing in winter time.

And I'm hoping the trend will continue. So far this year I've yanked over $1,500 off the Internet playing poker. Last year my total was $1,200. Secretly (or not) I've been attempting to double each year's production. That's a lofty goal for someone who doesn't like letting more than $200 sit in his bankroll without pulling some out so that "they'll never get it back". Most of the time, $5 and $10, (and all of the time $24) tournaments are out of my range. But I've got a plan. One month left. $900 to go!

Oops

Full Tilt Poker Game #21122842538: $5 + $0.50 Rush Tournament (162538399), Table 106 - 50/100 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:40:13 ET - 2010/05/25
Seat 1: omg73 (20,320)
Seat 2: rafaellhp77 (3,456)
Seat 3: shirzulino (17,189)
Seat 4: usa13 (4,170), is sitting out
Seat 5: SuperCheese21 (13,712)
Seat 6: DM_Hand2 (9,825)
Seat 7: CgCook38 (5,482)
Seat 8: KillDevil666 (9,088)
Seat 9: DoubLLeTroubLLe (13,172)
rafaellhp77 posts the small blind of 50
shirzulino posts the big blind of 100
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CgCook38 [2s 2h]
usa13 folds
SuperCheese21 folds
DM_Hand2 folds
CgCook38 calls 100
KillDevil666 folds
DoubLLeTroubLLe folds
omg73 calls 100
rafaellhp77 raises to 500
shirzulino calls 400
CgCook38 calls 400
omg73 calls 400
*** FLOP *** [Tc 5s 2c]
rafaellhp77 bets 400
shirzulino folds
CgCook38 raises to 4,982, and is all in
omg73 calls 4,982
rafaellhp77 calls 2,556, and is all in
CgCook38 shows [2s 2h]
omg73 shows [Ac Td]
rafaellhp77 shows [Kd Ks]
*** TURN *** [Tc 5s 2c] [9h]
*** RIVER *** [Tc 5s 2c 9h] [Th]
CgCook38 shows a full house, Twos full of Tens
omg73 shows three of a kind, Tens
CgCook38 wins the side pot (4,052) with a full house, Twos full of Tens
rafaellhp77 shows two pair, Kings and Tens
CgCook38 wins the main pot (10,868) with a full house, Twos full of Tens
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 14,920 Main pot 10,868. Side pot 4,052. | Rake 0
Board: [Tc 5s 2c 9h Th]
Seat 1: omg73 (button) showed [Ac Td] and lost with three of a kind, Tens
Seat 2: rafaellhp77 (small blind) showed [Kd Ks] and lost with two pair, Kings and Tens
Seat 3: shirzulino (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 4: usa13 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: SuperCheese21 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: DM_Hand2 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: CgCook38 showed [2s 2h] and won (14,920) with a full house, Twos full of Tens
Seat 8: KillDevil666 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: DoubLLeTroubLLe didn't bet (folded)