Ramble's Ramblings

500-Game Update (For the first time ever!!!)

Although 500-games in a month was a goal of mine for pretty much all of 2014 - I never quite managed to make it. So starting off 2015 with this achievement makes feel very good!

♠_drink:

Games Played: 502
Pre-RB ROI: 6.4%
ITM Finishes: 40.8% (58/80/67)

I was late starting my session this evening and skipped my warm-up routine and it showed. One of my tilt issues is that when I am annoyed with something that happened at home, I tend to play with a bit more gamble. My warm-up routine usually helps to reduce or eliminate that and allows me to focus much better from the start of my session. Since I skipped it, the first half of my session I ended up making a few calls that were close, but ones that I would have normally folded given how deep the stacks were. A bit later in the session I got my act together and actually had one of the other good regs at the table complement my play when we got HU. Unexpected but appreciated.

Oh and I won another $3 bucks in the daily challenge to bring the total to $14 (or 2 buy-ins) so far.

January 2015 Report

Here we are at the end of the first month of 2015. I think it was a very good month in many ways.

Goals
I gave A LOT of thought to the goals I wanted to achieve for the year, and broke those goals down into weekly and daily chunks to keep me motivated and on-track. I printed off a daily check-sheet that keeps me focused on what I need to do and there is also something very satisfying in putting a check-mark on a piece of paper. I'm not 100% on top of my goals all the time, but I am making great progress on all of them.

End of Coaching-for-Profit Deal
Sadly, the end of this month marks the end of my 1-year Coaching-for-Profit deal with Alex. It was a great experience, with a great coach. I learned a ton and really enjoyed the process. I highly recommend that anyone considering coaching - look at a long-term coaching for profit deal as an option. It's a good way to ensure that your coach is invested in your success and provide the long-term oversight of your game. The time allows them to work on your thought process overall and not just the specific situation here and there. Just do a couple of sessions together first to make sure you are good fits for each other - that's what we did and we were.
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You Alex - I really appreciate you.

Volume
As I mentioned in the previous post - I managed to get in over 500 games this month - I've never been able to do this before and I consider it a great accomplishment that I hope to continue going forward most months this year.

PokerStars Challenges
January Daily Challenge - Managed to win $14 so far, with 2 more shoot-outs to come (including the $100k one).
Ultimate Challenge - When this one came out I thought - cool challenge, but no way I am going to make it and so haven't really thought about it. I would need to get ~310 games in over the next 2 weeks which is nearly impossible for me. But I am going to give it some thought...

Finally, it is time for the month-end results summary:

Games Played: 527
Pre-RB ROI: 6.07%
ITM Finishes: 41% (60/83/73)
Graph:

Here's to a great February! ♠_drink:

Just got done watching the Superbowl... was cheering for Seattle... not sure what to think of that last play call... easy to jump on the bandwagon and trash it, but listening to coaches arguments for it... meh...

Anyways, got to get to bed, will update weekly goals tomorrow and post about some real-life challenges that may interfere with poker for awhile...

Originally posted by Ramble
Just got done watching the Superbowl... was cheering for Seattle... not sure what to think of that last play call... easy to jump on the bandwagon and trash it, but listening to coaches arguments for it... meh...

Judging from the replay, I believe that a play like this would have resulted in a TD in about 90% of all cases. Then again, I never played American football, only rugby.

I must say, though, that for me as a neutral spectator (I'm a Packers supporter) that was one of the most entertaining Super Bowls I've ever seen. Certainly a nice contrast to the blowout last year.

Originally posted by Harrier88

Originally posted by Ramble
Just got done watching the Superbowl... was cheering for Seattle... not sure what to think of that last play call... easy to jump on the bandwagon and trash it, but listening to coaches arguments for it... meh...

Judging from the replay, I believe that a play like this would have resulted in a TD in about 90% of all cases. Then again, I never played American football, only rugby.

I must say, though, that for me as a neutral spectator (I'm a Packers supporter) that was one of the most entertaining Super Bowls I've ever seen. Certainly a nice contrast to the blowout last year.

I agree that most of the time it's probably going to score. I think the run is probably more likely, still runs the clock down and is less risky. Having said that, if it was successful, everyone would be saying what a great and unexpected play it was... In the grand scheme of things - it was a great game and either team was deserving. (For the record, I'm a Giants fan.)

Week 5 Goals Report

This week was shaped by a few things...

• We've had 2 big multi-day storms this week that resulted in almost a meter of snow-fall (~90 cm). Another 30-40 cm is forecast for tonight.
• Our normal family-routine has been altered a bit due to my wife staying with and caring for a family member for the next few weeks (or longer). This means my poker time will be much reduced and I expect my volume goals will be missed for the next little while.
• SuperBowl Sunday yesterday and all the prep-work for that.

Sleep - 7 hours / night: 5/7 - Late to bed one night due to reading through forums here (guilty pleasure).
Exercise - 5 days / week: 4/5 - Only did treadmill 2 times, but shovelled snow for several hours this week so giving myself a pass...
Breakfast - 7 days / week: 5/7 - Made it everyday, but didn't eat it until late morning...
Work - 15 minutes early: 2/4 - Wasn't early due to not being prepared enough for weather and not used to getting my little one ready in the morning.
Friends - 1 get-together / week: 1/1 - Had friends cancel plans again on Friday night, and a Superbowl party cancelled last minute...but had Superbowl here last night with another friend.
Family - focused quality time: 7/7 - This was HUGE this week.
Volume - 100 games / week: 55(+45)/100 - Only 55 games this week, so stealing from my built-up bank from earlier weeks. (27 games left in bank)
Study - 3 hours / week: 3/3 - Most of this time was spent on building a standard process to analyse opponents.
Stakes - Get to $15 and win: 0/0 Long-term goal. If I keep on track, I could be taking stabs this month.
Games - Find 2nd format: 0/0 Medium-term goal.
Blog - Updates, Report: 2/2 - Done and Done.
Forums - Be Positive, Active, & Supportive: 3/3 - I feel that I am accomplishing this.

Got a heck of a lot of snow last night, took me almost 2 hours of snow-clearing to get the car out of the driveway this morning.

I tried to play some poker tonight but very tired and stopped registering after only 4 tables as I just didn't have it in me. Then I thought about studying, and din't have that in me either, so came to forums for some mindless distraction... when I really should just be going to bed.

Didn't cash in the big All-in Shootout... and I really thought I was gonna win that one too...:f_rolleyes:

No poker again tonight - instead I took some co-workers out for dinner and drinks this evening. We had a great time.
There will be no poker tomorrow night as I am going out with family for a light supper, some drinks and then to a comedy festival.

I think I'll still make my volume goal for the week though, as I managed to get some games in on Monday and will try to get the rest in this weekend.

I am getting tired of the snow-storms lately. We've received 1.5 meters (5 feet) of snow in the past 10 or 11 days , with another 15-25 cm forecast for tonight/tomorrow. I could see grass in my front yard 2 weeks ago. It's also been very cold, around -30°C (with the windchill) so going outside to clear the snow is no fun at all.

Have a good night all.

Comedy shows and Winter Carnival

About to start up some tables after days away - haven't really played since Monday. Will try to hit my 100-game volume goal and then stop and use the rest of the weekend to try to hit my study goal.

Thursday night at comedy show was fun - we got heckled by one comedian for a couple of minutes as soon as we got there and that got us in the laughing mood right away.

Friday night was the kick-off for our local Winter Carnival so we bundled up for the -25°C weather and went and stood with a bunch of other people to watch fireworks and listen to a band in the freezing cold for a few hours.

Today (Saturday) we went back to the carnival and went on horse-drawn sleigh ride, went sledding down a couple of huge hills at incredible speeds (my little guy LOVED it!!!), ate maple-candy poured into the snow, and will likely go back tomorrow for more fun.

Now I'm off to the tables - wish me luck!

Sounds like great fun!

Good luck at the tables!

Originally posted by UPAY4DINNER
Sounds like great fun!

Good luck at the tables!

Thanks Bud - managed to get my games in, but it was pretty much a break-even session.

600-Game Update

Only really managed to play 2 days this week with everything going on, but I still managed to get my 100 games in (using the rest of my built-up bank).

Games Played: 601/5000
Pre-RB ROI: 4.27%
ITM Finishes: 39.8% (70/89/80)

I've decided that since my volume goals are now weekly, and I plan to have a 100 games a week, that it doesn't make sense to reset the 100-game counter each month like I did in 2014 (where my goals were monthly). It also doesn't make much sense to have it as a separate post from my weekly goals, so this will be the last one.

I will still be posting an end-of-month report that contains my ROI and ITM stats, graphs, etc...

Hey man!

How's the snow in new brunswick?

I head some people say that you guys got snow tunnels?

I will be reading up on your blog to try to catch up

Take Care!

Maythany

Week 6 Goals Report

This week has been very challenging due to on-going changes in family life. My wife is still spending most days and nights away taking care of a family member, which means I am living the life of a single-dad right now. This is impacting just about every one of my goals while I get used to the adjustments required - the good news is that every day the routine is starting to come together to make it work for some of the items. I will be working on the rest over the next week or two to get them back on track.

Sleep - 7 hours / night: 4/7 - This is entirely due to my little guy getting up multiple times through the night while he tries to adjust to his mom not being here.
Exercise - 5 days / week: 4/5 - Only did treadmill once, but cleared snow and climbed sledding hills a ton!
Breakfast - 7 days / week: 4/7 - Too busy getting little one fed and dressed in the morning (my wife usually does this), but saw great improvement by week's end.
Work - 15 minutes early: 2/4 - Dropping the little guy off at day-care has been tough, but making progress.
Friends - 1 get-together / week: 1/1 - Went out for supper, drinks and comedy show - had a blast!
Family - focused quality time: 7/7 - Owned this one - great play-time with little guy, Winter Carnival, shopping, etc...
Volume - 100 games / week: 74(+26)/100 - Got it in with help from built-up bank (only 1 game left in bank).
Study - 3 hours / week: 1(+2)/3 - Got it in with help from built-up bank (2 hours left in bank).
Stakes - Get to $15 and win: 0/0 Long-term goal.
Games - Find 2nd format: 0/0 Medium-term goal.
Blog - Updates, Report: 2/2 - Yes Sir!
Forums - Be Positive, Active, & Supportive: 3/3 - Hope so.

Originally posted by maythany
Hey man!

How's the snow in new brunswick?

I head some people say that you guys got snow tunnels?

I will be reading up on your blog to try to catch up

Take Care!

Maythany

Yeah, we went from grassy lawns to 5' of snow in just over 10 days - it's been a lot of snow blowing and shovelling. No snow tunnels that I've heard of :f_biggrin:, but traffic has been brutal the past week as most streets were down to one lane for a few days. We're used to dealing with this much snow, but when you get it all at once, it takes a while to move it around.

I'm having a blast building snow caves with the little guy. Just wish it wasn't so damn cold all the time - wind-chills are around -25°C to -30°C most days. Maybe I'll post a pic or two tomorrow if I remember to take some.

Wow, I don't think my hands would work at those temperatures!

We had 1mm of snow earlier this year and the whole Northwest ground to a halt.

Just a quick update tonight...

Family situation this week has made playing poker (or just about anything else) almost impossible. Tonight was first night I could get a session in, but tables were dead and only got 9 games in. Did well cashing in 5 of them, and had bad beats on bubble of 2 others.

In other news, I've had growing disappointment and frustration over a situation where I can't help but feel I was misled and strung along. It's been eating at me for awhile... A couple of years ago, I learned the hard way that I can't depend on others for my happiness. It is my responsibility, and if I let others make me happy or allow them to disappoint me - it is because I have chosen to give them that power. So tonight I've made the decision to take back control and move on.

Goodnight all.

January was a really exciting month for me poker-wise with tons of volume and studying even despite a long break-even stretch through December and the start of January. I was very optimistic and looking forward to some opportunities and achieving my goals.

February has been the opposite - a struggle really. My family situation has made playing tough, and when I do get a chance to get some games in, traffic is usually dead because of how late it is. Worse than that though, is that my motivation is very low the past couple of weeks. Mentally I've just checked out - I have lost the joy for playing, studying or even thinking about anything poker.

I'll post my weekly reports because this is where I track my progress, but other than that I think I may take a break from anything poker-related for awhile.

This is the beauty of the game mate.

We can choose when to dip in and out as we please. In real life this isn't an option.

I really hope all is okay on a personal level and you're feeling more positive soon (dancing banana maybe not appropriate but always cheers me up!) ♠_thumbsup:

Originally posted by Ramble
January was a really exciting month for me poker-wise with tons of volume and studying even despite a long break-even stretch through December and the start of January. I was very optimistic and looking forward to some opportunities and achieving my goals.

February has been the opposite - a struggle really. My family situation has made playing tough, and when I do get a chance to get some games in, traffic is usually dead because of how late it is. Worse than that though, is that my motivation is very low the past couple of weeks. Mentally I've just checked out - I have lost the joy for playing, studying or even thinking about anything poker.

I'll post my weekly reports because this is where I track my progress, but other than that I think I may take a break from anything poker-related for awhile.

Hey I had this same issue awhile back. Life was just too busy for me to commit time to playing poker. I was working long hours and then when I came home, I was just super tired so that made me not be in the mood to do any poker grinding.

My advice is (if it matters) if there are life events that are happening that are a priority then that is more important IMO. Also, time away from certain things can make you miss them after awhile. Imagine eating the same kind of pizza everyday or 4 times a week

Maybe after that break you take, you will rejuvenate your motivation and continue on your journey to be on the top ranks on sharkscope for your stake

In my opinion, it's impossible to be a successful poker player, if you have a regular job or a busy family life.
It's just that a field is not as soft as it used to be several years ago. You need to study and improve every week, it takes time.

Also the main reason should be, that poker takes a lot of mental energy.. I couldn't imagine playing my best poker, if I'd come back tired from work.
You need to be well rested and focused on your game.

Otherwise, poker should be just a hobby, instead of grinding and feeling frustrated most of the time. Couple of extra bucks to the normal salary