MONTHLY REVIEW: JANUARY

For those of you still following my progress, here are the results of my second month in the game:


-- Live --

Comps = 9
Freezouts = 5
STTs = 2
HU = 2

Total Buy-In Cost = £417.50
Total Registration Fee Cost = £25
Total Prize Winnings = £523

Net Live Profit = £80.50


-- Online --

Multi Comps = 7
STTs = 3
Profit = -£187.36

Cash Game Sessions = 26
Hours Played = 2217 mins (~37 hrs)
Average Session Length = 85 mins (1hr 25mins)
Longest Session = 213 mins (3hrs 33mins)
Shortest Session = 27 mins
Most Profitable Session = $812.57
Most Costly Session = -$1220.97
Biggest Pot Won = $949.40
Biggest Pot Lost = $510.50

Cash Game Profit = $2088.93
= £1174.25
Hourly Income = £31.74/hr

Net Online Profit = £986.89


--------------

Total Profit = £1067.39

-- Running Total = £3913.39 --


It’s not an incredible amount, but I’m still happy to have earned a grand. It’s important not to get too greedy as that’s when you start to push your hands too hard. It maybe almost two grand less than last month’s accomplishments, but I must take into account my lack of a festival appearance and the considerable knock I took on the first day of the month. I dropped well over a grand right off the bat, and, if it hadn’t been for such a poor opening, the final figures would have looked very tasty indeed.

The important thing is that I realised my downfalls and corrected them in time. Many thanks must go to Blondeite Matt674 for pointing out my failures and suggesting that it was because of poor play as opposed to bad luck. I’d realised just in time, but sometimes having someone else clarify the negatives for you is a big plus.

The key here is that I’m still winning, and making a sum that is enough to live on, which was one of the initial challenges of my venture.


(i) Live Performance

I really haven’t played enough live events this month. I fully intend to attend the Gala more frequently for three reasons:

· It’s great fun.
· They have a broad selection of games and seem to be steering away from the chip throwing contests.
· I have a good record there. Excluding my most recent visit, my last 3 finishes have been 1st, 3rd, and 2nd.

Although it went to a chip count, I was overjoyed to have won the £30 freezout a week or two ago. It may be there smallest competition to date, but it’s still nice to beat 65 other opponents, whatever you’re playing for. Most importantly though, I played well. I made the final table twice at the Gala with the biggest chip count. That’s a major progression for me as I frequently crawl into the final ten, often finding myself forced to wait for premium hands only.

The Gala have a £50 double chance freezout on Thursdays. Assuming it’s on tomorrow, I plan to pop down and give it a shot. Good to see some proper poker being encouraged.


(ii) Online Performance

My net profit may be down from last month, but my online success has improved by a few hundred squid. Assuming that it’s not a result of luck, what are the reasons for this improvement?

· After 3 consecutive days of severe losses, I stepped back and took a long hard look at my game. I referred to a few books and enquired with a number of fellow players. Finally, I realised that I was putting too much blame on Lady Luck. The clear fact was that I was playing poorly. Too many preflop raises, bluffing when I knew opponent’s wouldn’t fold, chasing flushes, you know, the usual. Anyhow, the bottom line was that I was trying too hard to hit a profit, when really patience was the key.
· I’m now playing in the mornings rather than the evenings when I was more fatigued and up against slightly stronger competition.
· I’m leaving games when I can see the standard improving and my quality of play weakening.

Let’s just hope that I can carry these characteristics through to February and perhaps pick up a few more. I’ve always got to be looking to improve my game. Once I stop learning, then that’s when my experiment will begin to go downhill.


(iii) Changes

Eek. This is scary. Right, heading back now to see what I said last month, hands partly over my eyes.

"(1) Be more selective in my preflop raising
(2) Refrain from titling whatsoever
(3) Don’t play too long and quit when I’m tired
(4) Assure plenty of breaks are taken
(5) Not chase losses or unattainable targets."

With the exception of the opening day, I’m confident that I have achieved these changes. My online game is in pretty good nick at the moment, and I reckon it’s because I have made the necessary alterations highlighted above. What has been noticeable is the lack of a ‘clawback’ session, which is a big relief.

"I definitely want to get myself fit and healthy again. I’m down to 9.5 stone, which is pretty light for me considering I was 11.5 at one stage.. I recall preaching in an earlier post, ‘Healthy body means healthy mind.’ Well, I still stand by that cliché and I fully intend to put it into practice over the next 4 weeks. Before you know it, I’ll be an Olympic athlete!"

Er… No one’s perfect!

One second, I’ll just go weigh myself.

Hmm, apparently I weigh ‘BATT’.

Anyway, I feel pretty good and I’m eating okay. Plenty of water, the odd fruit now and then. Plus, I’m regularly serving up a bit of brekkie – ‘The most important meal of the day’ don’t you know!

I may have to confess that I’m still a short distance away from being an Olympic athlete. To tell the truth, I’m a good few furlongs away from being anything except a lazy unfit git.

Having said that though, I did go on a run the other night. Good Lord was that an experience. I started off comfortably, striding down the road like Seb Coe, then, suddenly, I realised that I was snoops, not an Olympian. After just about a 100 yards, I felt my legs start to ache and my throat pleading for air. 24 and out of breath so soon, the shame! I hope this is just me being unfit rather than old. (I never thought I’d be in a situation where I’m deciding on whether I’m unfit or getting old.)

Anyhow, whilst looking rather pathetic, I decided to battle on. In the distance I spotted what appeared to be a couple of young ladies. What did I do? And I’m ashamed to admit it. Yep, I picked up the pace, so as to avoid looking like a complete loser. I mean, I must have looked a right state; breathing heavily, dragging my feet, runny nose, sheesh – I’d scare them to death.

So, I pushed my chest out and ran a bit faster as if I was a pro training for a marathon. As I got closer I realised that they were fellas! I need my bloomin eyes testing. What a waste of a sudden burst of pace that was! I was bloomin knackered when I ran past. Bah!

As a result, I think I’d peaked way too soon and I was forced to walk for a few minutes while I regained my composure. I probably would have walked for longer but I reached the canal where they once found a dead body. I was a kid at the time, and, at nighttime, the place still spooks me out. So, I started running again. It was dark!!! All right?!

As I reached my house, I collapsed on the step and wondered why the hell people did this for fun. Are they mad?! I looked at my stopwatch in dismay. A quick jog around the block had taken me 25 minutes, when I recall my old times being around the 13 minute mark. That’s almost double. Boy, this getting fit stuff is going to be harder than I thought.

Right, I refuse to bore you anymore with my tales of athletic woe. In short, my targets for month 3 are as follows; Carry on winning, carry on running, and carry on enjoying. Simple, huh? Guess I’ll have to wait and see…

snoops