its called motivation. go get laid kenny and no, don't you drive up here and try that stuff again with me.

Saturday, September 24, 2005


Plans for the future
Current mood: artistic

First let me start off this post by showing my patheic bad beat against GeeWhiz from BTP .

We're both playing 2/4NL after I just lose $200 on a hand. I only have $200 in front of me..and before I can rebuy, I'm dealt [Jc].

Folded to Geewhiz who is in LP one seat in front of me. He raises to $16. Now normally I would fold AJ here...but hell, it's suited and I'm a little tilty from the bad play I made a hand ago.

FLOP $36
[Qh][3c]

I have a flush draw and one overcard. Geewhiz pots it for around $36. I raise all-in for $200. He calls quickly with Q6o. Outplayed my ass.

Suffice to say, I hit my club on the river to take down the $400 pot. I'm a lucky bastard. More proof I'm not one of the best online 2/4 NL holdem players in the world. Moving along....
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I'm at the turning point of my poker career. I can feel it. I've been winning consistently for about 2 years now. My bankroll is going up quickly, quicker then it ever has. After I pay my 10k of taxes at the end of the year, I will move up to 5/10 about 3-4 months into next year. I expect to make around $200 an hour playing 5/10... I will play mutiple sites at the same time if I have to, to get enough tables.

While playing 5/10, I will start putting money into savings and an IRA. Almost all of my debt will be eradicated by this time, so I will have a lot of extra money for my bankroll. This extra money will go towards satellites for big land-based events. Then I just need to get lucky to win a big one.

By June my lease will run out and I will have to decide where I want to live. It may be Vegas, it may not. I'm not sure at this point... a lot of it depends on my bankroll, among other things.

Once I win a big tournament (or just win a ton from cash games), I will invest in start-up businesses of my own imagination. In other words, strip clubs. Just kidding Seriously though, my plan is to have a couple of start up businesses and watch one get "lucky."

I don't think I want poker to be my main source of income for my whole adult life. It's gambling afterall, and I wouldn't mind something more stable.
I can't imagine I would like to live in Vegas for more then a few years either, but who knows. My future is ahead of me and I have lots of options to consider. Hope I make the right choices.

Currently listening:
Greatest Hits
By Queen
Release date: By 17 August, 2004

I dont want to be the party pooper but I really dont think you will make $200/hr playing $5/$10.

Even if you were able to get 4 tables going, you would need a win rate of 4.25PTBBs. Thats pretty damned hard to keep up consistently, but playing 4 tables all the time just isnt going to happen.

Probably half the time, there is NO $5/$10 tables at Party. On avg, theres probably 1-2 at Prima. Bodog has a couple going I think. FTP has 0-2 depending on time of day.

Theres just no way you can get 4 all the time. If you can have $5K or so at 4 different sites, then you might be able to keep your MT rate at around 2-2 1/4, but I doubt you can get it higher than that consistently unless you start playing 6 max.

With a MT rate that low, $200/hr is impossible.

Now I think the rest of your plan is great and you dont need $200/hr anyway so Im sure you'll be fine.

Monday, September 26, 2005


Winning Streak
Current mood: accomplished

Played a 2 hour session tonight. (didn't wanna over do it since I was drunk last night.) It went really well. 2 1/4 buyins later, I'm a happy person.

I love this winning streak I'm on. I feel like I'm unstoppable, all my plays are working. Of course, when I look at my stats, I realize this will never hold.

Here are my stats since I've switched sites and moved up to 2/4NL full time:

Sessions: 3
Time played: 9h 55m
Earnings: $3701.99
Win Rate: $374.10/hr


Obviously I'm not gonna hold these numbers, probabilty will come back to bite me soon. I like dreaming though and since I can't get laid, well at least I can make money.

I'm using pokercharts.com to track my earning since Bodog does not support Pokertracker. I don't know what my exact multitable ratio is, but I can tell you I try to play 3 tables as much as possible. Bodog will not let you play over 3 tables at one time.

I assume I'm playing about 180 hands an hour since Bodog's hands go by very quickly. I swear playing 3 tables of Bodog is like 4 tables of prima. You need to learn to act quickly and decisively. Good thing I've had a lot of practice. Lots of strippers too, but that's another story for another time.

My bankroll is going up leaps and bounds at the moment. I hope it keeps up, though I know it's so unlikely. I'm gonna try to ride this streak till the very end.

I posted a new quote on my BTP profile. It goes like this:
"I am a lucky player; a powerful winning force surrounds me." Mike Caro.

I honestly beleive the luckier you think you are, the better off you will be. So damn't, I'm a lucky guy.

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Currently listening:
Rent (2005 Movie Soundtrack)
By Jonathan Larson
Release date: By 27 September, 2005

Saturday, October 01, 2005


10 reasons not to play poker professionally.
Current mood: cheerful

Thomas "Thunder" Keller wrote an article on cardplayer called "The Top 10 Reasons Not to Play Poker Professionally." Since I'm bored, I will post my thoughts on each of his reasons.
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10. Poker does not provide a stable income.

How very true. You better be damn good with money management if you plan on doing this for a living. You never can "expect" to make a certain amount at any certain time. Over the long-term you can expect great things, but you never know how you're session will go the next day.

9. You must save a portion of your total net worth as a bankroll to withstand the inevitable swings in poker.

That's pretty obvious. Though I'm gonna make about 50k total this year, most of it goes to bankroll and taxes, it's more like 25k for myself (bills and my nice TV.)

8. The huge financial swings can cause many people great mental anguish.

I get better at handling this everyday. It's amazing how far I've come dealing with crazy losing streaks.

7. The choice to become a professional poker player can greatly affect all of your personal relationships — most importantly, those with your spouse or significant other, relatives, and close friends.

I haven't had much of a problem here. Maybe because poker has become more mainstream it's not as big of a deal? My parents don't like it, but it hasn't become a strain or anything.

6. It can be impossible or very expensive to get health insurance as a poker player.

I guess I don't have this problem since I live in NC. It's about $100-$150 a month depending on the plan.

5. Getting loans or credit can be very difficult as a professional poker player.

Not looking forward to buying a home. It would suck to have to use my bankroll to buy a house. I hope I can increase it steadily and quickly for the next few years, to deal with this problem.

4. Once you go pro, it can be very hard to go back and get a more traditional job.

Other then my sleeping schedule, I don't think this would be a big issue for me. I've already thought about working part time for a while. If I have to get a job to support myself, I will.

3. It can be very hard to make new friends and get involved in new intimate relationships outside of poker once you start playing professionally.

This is a big negative for me. It's very hard for me to make new friends since I don't go to school or have a job. I've met some really cool poker playing friends, but they're online, and far away. I'm still working on this.

2. Playing poker professionally desensitizes you to the value of money.

I guess so. Not a big deal to me. Once again it just points to a need of great money management.

1. If you truly love playing poker, you may not want to play professionally, because that may take the fun out of playing.

I still enjoy playing (especially when I'm winning), but over a certain amount of hours it makes me go crazy. I usually don't play because I want to. It's more " I have to play."

*******************************************

I think the positives have far outwieghed the negatives in my life. My biggest problem is #3. I need to figure out a way to make new friends outside of poker.

Thursday, October 06, 2005


Great run continutes
Current mood: ecstatic

Watching the Yankee game and going to bed soon. Gonna give a short update.

My Incredible run has yet to cease. Though I had my first losing session in 15 days yesterday, I came back in force today. +$1694 in 4 hours... ahhhh

The last hand I had 88 vs AA. Flopped a set and took a $500 stack. Can't tell you how lovely that was.

My stats for 2/4 so far: (According to pokercharts.com)

Win Rate: $231.98/hr
Sessions: 8
Time played: 27h 45m
Return Std. Dev: $832.09 (deviation a session)

I believe this is about 4500 hands. Obviously I can't keep the win rate up this high. But damn, what a way to start.

Good luck everyone.