April 2016

25k hands, 101hrs. 247h/hr (though played more on UniBet and SKY).

Decent month. Had a few tough days after getting Olive, our new puppy. She is a bit more settled now and it has been easier to grind.

JANUARY = +£6,696 

FEBRUARY = +£1,143

MARCH = +£1,854

APRIL = +£ 4,921

TOTAL = +£14,614

March 2016

51.5k hands.  129hours. 400h/hr

 Another annoying month. I'm kind of confused as what to focus on - the in depth PIO based strategy which I find very difficult to get my head around - or the "solid", if perhaps not the highest EV and maybe more easily exploitable strategy. I think in April I will try to play less on Stars and will play only 200nl on other sites.

The untracked by PT4 sites especially I seem to do better on. Also it's an old stupid habbit but I think I don't respect playing in $ enough. It's utterly idiotic and tbh I need to fix this ASAP. Like I am way more willing to run debatable bluffs on $200nl - it's either because it's lower stakes or because the $ value dosent mean as much to me as playing in £. Just writing this again is kinda embarassing.

So April I'm going to focus only on 200nl and some £100 to help fill tables early morning. I need to cut down on needless spew which is the main thing holding me back I think. Also I'm going to set a strict limit of 8 tables. I think I may resize them in such a way that reminds me that 8 is my absolute limit - meaning if a better table comes up then I MUST ditch the worst table.

I realised when I was stopping today that I spend most of my playing time still actively looking for better tables. This is obviously a good idea to some extent and is needed if I want to make any more playing at the time of day that I currently play at - but it definitely takes away some intensity and focus from my actual play. Limiting myself to 8 tables may help with this - it's just I'm always on the lookout for a mega-whale and have a major case of FOMO!

I've been chatting to one former HU reg that has started playing 6m again - we have discussed the possibility of a Skype group but nothing has went any further. It's difficult because I don't know how much I have to offer other people and I'm not sure what direction I want to go with "study" at the moment.

There is a lot of talk about the "future" of poker and how long people will be able to make money playing. It is difficult to say and there is really no point worrying about it - as many of the changes happen gradually and the ones that don't are out of our control.

For this reason I think if I am beating even the 200nl games for a decent clip then there is very little point in devoting 100s of hours of study to learning this new PIO-based style. For sure there are elements that I can add to my game that come from Solvers - but I think for now I should just concentrate on getting in good games and playing winning poker at the tables.

Lets hope my performance on Stars, 888 and Party pick up - as those are holding me back quite a bit.

I really think with the right mindset I will be able to do well at 200nl. One quarter through the year and I'm at just under £10k, meaning a £40k year... which wouldn't be great but would not be a disaster anyway. I have less expenses now that I bought my half of the house (also not getting married this year!).

JANUARY = +£6,696 

FEBRUARY = +£1,143

MARCH = +£1,854

TOTAL = +£9,693

 

 

February 2016

53.9k hands.  124hours. 434h/hr

Had a good start to the month but then perhaps started taking things for granted, as well as concentrating on some of the wrong things at the table. I kind of forgot what was working well for me in January - when I was just trying to keep things simple - especially vs regs. The games around the 200nl stake play very tight at the moment - not what I was used to when playing HU and back in 2013 when I used to play 6m. I need to keep reminding myself that it is not massively +EV to get AK in from any position any more. Other stuff like that can happen, especially when you have been running bad or are not full focused on the tables.

I finally got some coaching this month from someone who play much more theory based than I ever have. I feel this has gone well so far (3/5 lessons in), but after the first lesson or two I was maybe applying a few concepts wrongly or not as part of an overall strategy. I still have a lot of work to do on that front, but hopefully I can start putting things together.

I bought the PIO-solver software that is the new trend just now, and I think it is probably a must have going forward. I do need to put in more hours using it, but as has always been the case for me I would rather play than study.

It has been a difficult second half of the month but I'm still positive going forward into March.

I will need to start setting more study based goals I think and start taking a more analytical approach to improving my game.

Outside of poker it wasn't as an eventful month as the last, though I do go through to Glasgow on Friday to see Fat White Family. It was an amazing gig, they really are special live. Their 2nd album came out this month too and again it doesn't do them justice compared to live. I also saw Supoermoon and a Glasgow band called White this month, both were enjoyable.

I have also started a new hobby of homebrewing. The first batch of American IPA has been in bottles for 10 days now - it tastes OK-ish at the moment but is due to improve and be drinkable in 3 weeks and best in nearly 3 months. I have another Pale Ale fermenting as well as a Belgian Dopple - both from extract malt kits. I'm a bit concerned about both of them for different reasons - I wasn't as on the ball with them compared to my first brew. Time will tell if they are OK. I also bought a sick BBQ and made some lovely food. Who cares if it's still winter? Guess it's the first day of Spring tomorrow so it might be more acceptable!!!

Anyway,

JANUARY = +£6,696 

FEBRUARY = +£1,143

TOTAL = +£7,839

January 2016

28.5k hands.  76hours. 375h/hr

So January is over already. I've had a good routine and an ignited passion for poker that I haven't had since the first 6 months of switching to HU a few years ago.

 Because of a planned holiday to Mexico (for our fiends wedding), I decided to start the month off only playing 200nl. My thinking was I wanted to "take it easy" somewhat and did not feel like going away for 10 days stuck a couple of grand. After the first few days I was pleased with how things were going and how I was feeling so I decided that I would extend this plan to the end of the month. I found it refreshing to be free from the dynamic where losing a couple of buy ins at the highest stakes (often £500 and sometimes £1000 if I felt brave/stupid) would affect how the session would plan out. It seems much less stressful playing one stake, this could be because of the lower swings or perhaps with all the betsizing being the same it is easier for me to concentrate.

I got a decent start and was happy going down to London with Claudia for 2 nights, then flying with the rest of the wedding people to Mexico for 7 nights. We had a great time although the food at the hotel left a lot to be desired. We will not be going all inclusive again.

Then when I got back I managed to get straight back into poker mode, playing shorter session has been key, although when I have slipped up and tried to play much longer than 2hrs I have had bad results. This has happened when losing and also when trying to cram in hours when I know I have stuff on later in the evening.

I have still been playing mostly day time hours, with the occasional early evening session. I have noticed a definite difference in the games - they seem to pick up around 1pm and really start getting good around 4.... who knows how good they are late at night!

I've actually been amazing at how soft some of the 200 games are. I am playing 3 sites mostly but even during off-peak hours I am much happier with my potential earnings than I was at HU for a long time.

I have been enquiring about coaching but have had some stupid communication errors that I will need to sort out.

I am going to play another 2 weeks minimum at 200 then think about moving upto 400 ( perhaps completely or perhaps just adding good 400 tables).

Been very good with gym and diet for the most part - it is all helping keep in the zone for poker.

January = +£6,696

December 2015

34.7k hands. 106 hours. 327h/hr

Total profit = +£3,005

Month started off very well and I was up £6k after about 8 or 9 days. Then it was a little bit up and down, twice I found myself playing very long sessions when I was down and chasing - I can't afford to be doing that these days.

I lost a little confidence for sure and it will take some solid sessions and study to fully recover. Though the monthly results are helped dramatically by SKY where I made a nice profit.

Looking back on the year poker took a back seat and I was focusing on planning our wedding, looking for houses, the actual wedding, the honeymoon, getting mortgage, buying the house, getting the house upto standard and then finally moving in. On top of this I was playing a ridiculous amount of 5-a-sides as well regularly going to the gym. This has been the most exciting and amazing year of my life!

That's not to make excuses - I'm still relatively happy with my results. No doubt with more study and focus I could have done better - but almost everyone will be saying that at the end of the year.

I feel proud to still be doing OK at this daft card game and determined to do well and enjoy playing throughout next year.

I still have lots of savings despite forking out £125k for the house then countless more £k's for spark/plastering/decorating work. Not to mention the Wedding and honeymoon - plus a holiday to Mexico in January.

In some ways it feels like my goal has changed - in that I want to get back to constantly learning and improving my game, but in other ways the goal is still the same - make as much money as I can without sacrificing (too much!) quality of life and quality of relationships.

I am going to play the first week of January then we are away for about 10 days in London then Mexico. I am planning on getting coaching when I get back, probably from Zazano who is one of the only 6m coaches game I respect. I will talk to him about things that I have on my mind - should I be using a GTO solver etc.

I will also draw up a set of goals again and an overall plan of action. This will be done after Mexico as I don't see much point in getting coaching or setting goals only to be away for 10 days after a week.


JANUARY = +£7,823
FEBRUARY = +£10,526
MARCH = +£6,645
APRIL = +£2,551
MAY = +£4,568
JUNE = +£6,166
JULY = +£7,190
AUGUST = +£2,725
SEPTEMBER = +£2,455
OCTOBER = +£646
NOVEMBER = +£3,742
DECEMBER = +3,005

TOTAL =  +£58,030

November 2015

21.8k hands. 92 hours. 236h/hr

Total profit = +£3,742

Mostly all 6m, actually lost a chunk  playing HU at start of month.

So this month was kinda disjointed with moving house and again needing to stop start my sessions without much warning etc etc. I'm surprised I managed so many hours worth of play. I did play a lot on SKY and PTR which doesn't track hands.

Been watching a lot of videos and even actually did some other work off the table - it wasn't much (just getting to know my own ranges in different pre flop positions - basing them on a few different winning regs stats from rPTR) but it helps to have something to concentrate on at the tables.

I feel it will take another couple of weeks to get fully settled into the house by Claudia and I are really happy with it, it has taken a lot of patience and years of hard work from both of us. It has been some year for us.

Feeling motivated.

JANUARY = +£7,823
FEBRUARY = +£10,526
MARCH = +£6,645
APRIL = +£2,551
MAY = +£4,568
JUNE = +£6,166
JULY = +£7,190
AUGUST = +£2,725
SEPTEMBER = +£2,455
OCTOBER = +£646
NOVEMBER = +£3,742

TOTAL =  +£55,025

October 2015

17.7k hands. 70 hours. 252h/hr

Total profit = £646

Very frustrating month, there was just not enough fishy action HU and tbh I completely went to pieces and was playing constantly with some underlying tilt.

The way HU is going I think it is finally time for me to switch back to 6m. This should probably have been done sooner but I've had a lot of other stuff on my mind meaning that I was happy to coast along having what was supposed to be a variance free income.

There is less of a monetary ceiling for me in 6 handed cash games I feel, putting tons of work away from the table and playing a mathematically orientated style is just not for me. there clearly isn't enough fish action to justify continuing to play HU - and the way things have been going with more and more sites cutting or changing how the HU lobby operates to decrease potential win rates - now seems the time to make the switch back.

HU has been good to me for the most part and at first it was a great new challenge and there was lots of fish action as well as clueless regs.

Some little stats about my time playing mostly HU.
Played April 2012 to October 2015.
43 months.
£271.2k profit
£6.3k average per month
£75.7k average year

Sites that I played on that decided to change HU or limit my ability to play on them:

Boss - closed down
888 - removed HU
Bodog - closed to UK
Stars.fr - closed to UK
Winamax - closed down
MicroGaming - switch to Anon tables then King of The Hill
iPoker - changed system to stop me stealing 12 tables/didn't crack down on Multi Accounters
onGame - ridiculous increase in rake at HU tables
PKR - removed HU
Party - made weak reg hunting more difficult with anon tables till you sit down. decreased my action by allowing just one table showing in lobby per stake
Stars - table cap/KOTH


I already feel much better about poker and tbh it has reinvigorated a desire and drive in me.

I may keep some HU on the side but it will be very minimal and 6m will be my main game until something changes again.

JANUARY = +£7,823
FEBRUARY = +£10,526
MARCH = +£6,645
APRIL = +£2,551
MAY = +£4,568
JUNE = +£6,166
JULY = +£7,190
AUGUST = +£2,725
SEPTEMBER = +£2,455
OCTOBER = +£646

TOTAL =  +£51,282