Poker related goals for 2007 December 1, 2006
Posted by yorkshirepuddings in Bonus Whoring, Online Poker, Poker.trackback
When I looked at my calendar this morning I almost dropped dead with shock! 1st December, WTF is all that about? Where did the summer go? Well in around 730 hours time we will be into 2007 and we all start afresh if we wish. It’s always good to set long term goals and what better time than the start of a new year. During December I am trying to clear the $100 bonus at Bowmans and I’m not overly tracking my results massively. I’m still trying to plug leaks and learn more about 6-max but I’m not overly concerned with the results, I suppose I’m kind of experimenting and trying things out before the new year starts.
I recently had a couple of days from work and spent a lot of that time playing poker and got a real taste of what it could be like to be a poker pro and I must admit I liked the freedom. I didn’t log as many hands as I could and I had didn’t log as much time as I would have if it were my job but there again I didn’t set out to play a set time or a set number of hands on each day. However, I do have 1st Jan until 5th Jan from work so I think I may sit down and try to play two 4 hour sessions on each of these days and see how it affects my play etc and see if I still find it fun after spending a week doing almost nothing but poker! Actually, I’ll do it for the 2nd until the 5th as I will be terribly hungover on the 1st I should imagine!
So do I have professional ambitions? I suppose I do but it would be very premature for me to start planning for a poker career as I do not have the bankroll, the attitude or the skills at present but I know I can develop these skills over the next 12 months and with that the bankroll should grow. Although I occasionally watch the biggest games on Stars and Full Tilt where hands of $5-10k are not uncommon, I actually spend a bit of time watching the NL100 and NL200 games as they are much more within my reach that the other crazy stakes, and if I could win at NL100 and NL200 I am sure I could earn a decent living from these. What I have promised myself though is that if I can get to a stage where I have been earning $20/hr (purely from playing, no bonus or rakeback) for 50k hands then I would get myself a part-time job (15 hours/week) and play poker for the other 25 hours. Going semi-pro then gives the best of both worlds as it would mean I wouldn’t have as much pressure to win as I’d have some sort of backup should I hit a bad spell at the tables. Where things went from there would solely depend on how that trial period went.
So here are my initial poker-related goals for 2007:
- Learn to control my emotions more at the table
- Get away from being results biased, play to maximise expectation instead
- Learn to limit my distractions to a minimum whilst playing
- Study the hand histories and theory for at least an hour a day
- Progress from NL25 to NL50
- Progress from NL50 to NL100
- Be able to withdraw $1500 for a new system
- Stay focussed on my goals despite what goes on around me
- Give going semi-pro a go
- Run good - obviously
So there you are. Today I am a loose cannon with a poor poker attitude but this time next year I hope to be blogging about becoming semi-professional. I am extremely confident that this can and will happen and I hope you stick around to read about it.
I do have some life goals but I’m not going into them here. Please feel free to comment and to also say if you have any poker goals for next year. I have a good feeling about 2007, let’s hope it turns out to be great for at least one of us!
Have a great weekend boys and girls and Cadmunkey. Get out there and stack the donkeys! 
dude i 8-table FTP NL200 and make $20/hr in rb.
poker winnings = performance related bonus YO!
Number 2 in your list of poker related goals is definately the best one for you to aim for. Its still a leak in your game (and admittedly my own) and once you put the short term gains/losses to the back of your mind it really improves your game. I know I’ve only just begun to play this way myself but it is seriously improving my own game.
Going semi pro would be sweeeeet
Good luck!!
Yeah number 2 on the list is definitely worth working on. I played a session of 350 hands last night and tried to make +EV plays and not worry about the result. 3 times I did this I lost the hand but the play was correct based on the info I hadand that’s all you can do, make the right plays.
Going semi-pro would be more than sweet mate, it’d be wanktastic!
Matt
Hopefully, in 2007 you will be able to build your bankroll without having to pay for car repairs.
Good luck with all your goals especially the semi pro thing. You and cadmunkey are right, that would be awesome.
Good luck! It’s easy to meander around when playing poker, especially online. If you achieve half of the goals it will have been one hell of an achievement.
My goals?
To be profitable at whatever level I play at. The level I play at will be determined by how profitable I am at the level I’m currently playing at ;). Sounds strange but it makes sense.
Play live, no matter how much it gives me the seats thinking about it. I had a nightmare about playing live last night. The reality can only be better!
Oh, and to still enjoy the game as much as I do today. I’m never going to make a living at it, so if I lose the enjoyment then there’s precious little point in carrying on.
Did I say ’seats’ in paragraph 4? Freudian slip methinks lol. I meant sweats
Some good goals there Cell. There is no point playing if you don’t find it fun, I love the game and I hope that continues for a long time to come!
As for playing live, go for it mate! I’m going to make a point of hitting the casino more next year and you’d be welcome to tag along, I know DerbyWhite wants to play too. NL MTT’s are getting more and more popular and Cadmunkey, Beatme and I sometimes go to the £10+1 and £20+2 games at Moortown casino. They attract about 60 players, you have 5k in chips, blinds start at 50/100 and are an hour long to start with. Good place to cut your teeth.
Sounds good. December was pencilled in by derbywhite but it seems to have been forgotten about in amongst all the pre-Christmas shenanigans.
I know my mate from Bristol (Matt H) is up for a session at a weekend if it can be arranged. I need to get into live somehow. I wish there were home games, but nobody I know locally even likes the game let alone plays it.
It’ll happen though, I’m sure. And when it does I’ll wonder why I bothered
Good Luck - You’ll Need It.