Wednesday, March 01, 2006

February Review

It has to be said that 3 days into the February campaign things were pretty down cast. £5k deficit and an amber light on the bank roll. Since then I’ve managed to put together a great run and with the exception of the last week which has been a bit rollercoaster I was playing solid winning poker.

In the end the net positive after rakeback was getting on for 5 figures. I’m really pleased with this especially considering the 5k I had to make just to get back in the black. Throw in the Tallinn trip as well I think this is one of the most successful months I’ve had for a while….. all the more to spend at Mothercare!

Last night I decided to go down to the local pubs £10 rebuy after a bit of prompting from Rob. The month had been good and the opportunity to lock in the profit, sink a few pints and blow off some steam was appealing. I’ve got a pretty good record in the local game, over the past 12 months I must have played it about 8 times. So far I’ve won once, 2nd once and final tabled on one or two other occasions. Last night I managed to make the final three with a small chip deficit when a 3 ways equal split was proposed for £350 each. 3rd place payed £150 so it was a pretty good deal for me and a nice way to finish off the month.

I mentioned earlier that the last week has been a bit of a roller coaster. I think this is down to two factors. The first is that there seem to be loads of crazy players hitting the 2/5 tables at the moment. The volatility at the tables has been high. When half the all in calls you face are stone cold bluffs you are going to win some big ones with not much but also look a little silly on occasions when you walk into a monster.

The other factor is that I’ve been playing a few more hours and playing 4 tables on occasions as opposed to my usual 2 or 3. This extra play is chasing the Betfair promo WSOP $15k package, it should be achievable with a little extra effort. As a result I’ve lost concentration on occasions (i've not idea how some people can play 8 tables!!) and it is more difficult to play anything other than ABC poker when playing more than 2 tables, you become more predictable and stop picking up the little steals here and there that keep the balance healthy.

In order to combat this I’ve come up with a little handy hint to keep the mind fresh and your opponents on their toes. Nominate one of your multitables as your focus table and put that at the front in the centre of your screen. Play ABC poker on the other tables, but play ‘real poker’ on the focus table, make some moves, steal some pots, keep them guessing. Every 30mins or so, rotate the tables so one of the ABC tables becomes the ‘focus’ table. A simple and effective means of preventing stagnation when multitabling.

Good luck

Jim

PS: It’s good to see that the Blog is getting lots of traffic! The comment button is there for a reason! Say hello! Tell me I’m talking crap! Whatever! Just use it!


EDIT: Bugger!! Rob just pointed out that an option for me to approve all comments had been set. I've just had a look and ive got 20 odd comments for approval from the past month! Doh!! A few of u have asked me for info, i'll reply/send it out today. SORRY! Normal service has now resumed.

11 comments:

Highstack said...

Great update mate.

With a Tallin victory, there will be even more to smile about in March :)

Anonymous said...

great blog well done keep up the good work :)

kfw (bf forum)

Anonymous said...

Keep on donating at the tables :-)

Kilij

Anonymous said...

Don't you people ever sleep???

Wonky said...

I think the time may be US dear.. what time you home for diner? ;)

Posh said...

g'day wonky - hope you're well.

best of luck chap. One quick question chap, how do you cope with the emotional side of the game? Especially interested in your case that you've the pressure of doing it for a living.

I occaisionally struggly and I'm just trying to make some pin money at the mo... :-)

good luck
dble

Wonky said...

Hi dibble,

If I'm being really honest the ultimate pressure of doing it for a living is not there. Worst comes to worst I can always go back to a decent job full time.

The thing that makes it easier is a deep bank roll. I'd have to play bad for a long time to go through it all at this level.

Now dont get me wrong like most serious poker players I've been at the depths of despair at some points in the past 12months. Just keeping perspective helps if you can. I've been looking at my stats before/after I gave up the job and its definately improved my game, I'll prob stick a entry in on this soon.

GL and thanks for the best wishes,

Jim

Razboynik said...

Hi Wonky !
Great blog.

Alex Martin said...

Hi wonk, i liked your bit on having a focus table. I also do something similar. I will play 4 tables and sit down playing very loose for 5, tight for 10, loose for 10 etc on all tables simultaneously. If you do this while doing something else at the same time (watching TV for example) you can time your loose sprees with the adverts. Maintains your focus levels (if ur good at multi-tasking ;) while giving yourself a handy image if you show ur bluffs. ensures you will get paid MONSTER pots and lose a lot of babies. I always finish with a solid 3/4 of an hour and 10 minutes of madness so im remembered and labelled as a fishie. keep up the good work.

p.s how can i recover from bankroll decimation? lol

Alex

Anonymous said...

Great job on the blog - I loved reading it as I'm almost in the same situation as you. Started working only half time at my IT job a month ago (needed some solid persuasion for my company - large brand - to set my free for a year to try out semi-pro poker). BTW I had a month pretty similar to yours this month too :-) although not winning a trip to Tallin :-(

Best of luck

PokaHunta

Posh said...

thanks wonky - interesting stuff.

I've been known to chuck stuff around the room after a particularly nasty beat :(

At the levels I play (£10/£20 stts and £2/£4 limit) the money is well within my bankroll (which is around the £5k mark at the mo) but I just hate losing. Deep breaths and a little walk would prob do me fine.

I think the "head back to work" option will become harder and harder as the time passes - your skills will not be so up to date (for example).

anyway, good luck
dble