The year that was and the year that shall be

Did that title make any sense at all?

So what to say of our dear ol’ friend 2-0-0-6? All in all, I have to conclude that it was a success. My bankroll is now 5X bigger than it was at the end of 2005 and, in the end, that’s really what matters for a poker player. To be on the + side of things when it’s all said and done.

I’d like to think that my play has improved as a whole. I’m no longer a pure pre-flop player. I can now make plays on all streets. I can make the big laydowns, I can minimize my losses and extract value of my good and marginal hands. I can now think the game better, much better, than I could a year ago so kudos on that front also.

On the lesser side of things, my reaction to my first serious downswing (50% of my roll in about two months) was pretty disappointing. I hid and whined like a coward trying to protect what I had left instead of manning up, grit my teeth and dig my way out. I did get out of it eventually, but I definitely set myself back, way back, by being so cowardly. Lesson learned, those who repeat the same mistakes are what we call insane so let’s make sure we don’t end up in the loony bin of Poker shall we?

What now? Optimism. I believe I can make 2007 my real coming out party. This could be THE year where I leave behind the title of small stakes amateur and become a full fledge mid-limit semi professional. All the tools are there; a 5 digit roll, confidence in my abilities, eagerness to improve and the overall discipline to become a better player. To put all this nonsense in goals:

1. Play more hands! So simple yet so hard to achieve. I clocked the month of December at 25K hands, by FAR the most I’ve ever achieved in any month. Not only was this my best month ever financially wise, I also managed to break the 1K in rake back earnings in a month. Now I doubt I’ll ever be able to play that many hands in short little while (I had a bunch of days off in December) but a strict minimum of 15K hands per month and 500$ in rakeback should put me well on my way.

2. Expand my horizons. Which basically means seriously playing NL Hold’em cash games. This is where the money is folks. Now I love grinding the shorthanded limit games but the fact of the matter is there are far more donkeys and far more money on these NL tables. Now I’ve started putting in hours at these tables and the results have been average at best. I’ve been getting stacked a lot by sticking in my money as big favourite lately. Which basically means I’m on the right track and eventually, the money will come. I’ll put a floor of 5k hands a month to start but anything more will be greatly appreciated .Oh yeah, for some reason I’m really attracted to 7 Card stud so I really want to play some of that this year.

3. Play more tournaments. This one is a biggie. This is where the big money is to be made but I am nowhere to be found in these things. Am I the next Hoy, Smokee or Iak? Probably not. One thing’s for sure though, I’ll never come close to these guys unless I get my ass out there and start making moves of my own. And by moves I’m not talking about the occasional ‘Oh let’s sign up for this 10$ donkefest while I’m waiting for the hockey game to start in four hours’. I’m actually talking about winning tokens and playing 13k guarantees and up type tournaments. I actually need to take these things just as seriously as I do my cash games and the results will inevitably come.

4. Play more live. Options are a bit limited here since the closest casino (Where Poker is offered) is about a two hour drive away. I still have access to my fair share of low buy-ins tourneys in various pubs around the city with fairly decent structures but, again, I’m hardly ever around to take a stab at these. An issue here might be my lack of a live roll although that could be resolved quite easily if I simply decided to cash out 50% of my rake-back every month to build a live roll. Something I’ll definitely be taking a look at.

5. Attend a blogger event. This is pretty much a no-brainer. If there ever was a time for me to take advantages of trips and parties like this, it definitely is now. I’m single and I don’t have kids to look after (at least, as far as I know) so the time is pretty much now. Get those benders in while I can and sit back and enjoy the memories later when it’s all said and done.

There, that should be enough for 2007. I’ll definitely make a note of looking back at this list early in 2008 and see how I ended up doing. A toast to a great year!!!