anomaly16

Not the most exiting topic as I guess the benefits are pretty obvious

• You can work the hours you choose and when you feel at your best, and not have working hours imposed on you
• You can work anywhere in the world as long as you have a laptop and internet connection
• When you work hard and do well you get full receipt of the benefits and don't have others or a company take the credit
• No boss to answer to (except yourself!)
• Limitless potential to earn more
• Tax-free in the UK
• Freedom to do other things
  

Goals are an important way to push yourself to fulfilling your potential. I think the tricky part though is understanding which goals to set and how ambitious to make them. It comes down to knowing your own self : what motivates you, what demotivates you, how success and failure affect you.

In poker there are certianly plenty of goal choices available - results, volume, learning targets etc.. and you can set them to be daily or even over a year or more as well as making them firm "I must.." and weaker "I'd like to..." targets . Setting short term results goals is inherently wrong due to variance and the fact we play for the long term. However, if you play for a living, bills need to be paid and the long term won't help with that.

When I started the year my primary goal was to work hard enough on my game and prove to myself that I could win enough at poker to make a living from it and I'm proud to say that I have achieved this goal.

Monthly I always wanted to do a decent amount of volume, but have never set myself a hard target but always enough to achieve the max iron man level at FT. Results-wise I always hoped to do better than previous months, and I've had 5 "best month ever"s this year.

Starting at 50 I hoped to move up and as the end of the year approaches I now feel established at 100, taking occasional shots at 200 but still playing 50 if the games are good.

Making the trip to Vegas was a goal I wasn't sure I'd manage in my first year, but it came together at the last minute.

I have had some failures as well that I have already mentioned such as improvements towards a healthier lifestyle and playing with less distractions.

With a year as a pro under my belt now, I can set some more specific targets for 2011 which I'll cover in the final topic - "The Future".

With regard to live play I think the best approach is pretty simple.. keep it friendly. I know there are some great players who have an ability to manipulate others and make them tilt, but its just not my style.

Online I think the same rule applies in general... don't tap the tank! I wrote about table chat a few months ago and still stick by what I said then.

The most contentious etiquette issues tend to revolve around how regs perceive each others' actions at the table. Most of the regs are very aware that it is going to be +EV to play at a table when there are bad players and also when you have positon on those bad players. Hence, decisions around seating choices and when to sit in/out can be the cause of some really bad feelings between regs.

At the end of the day we're all playing to make money and to make or avoid decisions so that other regs feel good isn't part of that. To do the best you can at the tables you need to pretty ruthless in your table and seat selection decisions so I won't shy away from making a choice that might annoy another reg. Some are very blatant in their choices and I'm probably considered by some to be one of those although probably not the worst, while others are pretty passive in their decisions and will be losing out as a result.

Its quite understandably frustrating when you have been trying to start a table for some time, finally get what looks to be a bad player sitting down with you, and another reg magically appears and takes the best possible seat. However I'm sure I've seen pretty much every reg that seems to have a bigger problem with this do the same to others at some point (perhaps only in the context as what they perceive as "revenge" on someone who has done it to them before).

I try to be friendly to most regs in chat if not always in my choices of where and when to play and I fully expect them to do the same to me as it is all within the rules. On occasion I won't push it as far as I can... I remember a few months ago finding a table with a reg playing HU with a deep fish. When I sat he politely asked if I would leave him to play HU. It was clear that the fish had been running good, stacked the reg a couple of times and the reg was keen to have the best chance to get his money back. I understood where he was coming from and as he asked nicely I was happy to leave him to it and he said he'd owe me one. Another reg took a seat a few minutes later and was asked to leave the game HU too, but he either chose to ignore it or didn't read the chat.

I guess my point is that its a part of the game that you just have to accept and make the most of. Harbouring hatred for some other reg due to their behaviour just isn't worth the energy and can create an unnecessary dynamic that affects either their or your play.

One reg (who might be reading this) told me in chat the other day "I used to like you, but you are just like the rest". I'd taken a short break from my tables to make a drink and when I sat back in it just happened that one of the tables had almost broken and he was playing a fish HU. Sitting back in my original seat he had perceived that I'd jumped into postion on the fish. For some reason he doesn't seem to want to use AIM/Skype to chat and I had no desire to launch into a debate about table etiquette in public chat at the tables, espeically with the fish there, so I just left him to his perception of what had happened. Since then he has said a few things in table chat that I've not been too happy with, like quoting my winrate with a number of unknown players at the table, but again I do not want to launch into some debate in public chat with him about the ethics of what he is now doing. So, if you are reading this sir, get AIM and add me. We've had some fun at the tables in the past and there is no reason to do/say things that are going to affect how much we win.

So, in conclusion, keep it friendly, keep it fun, and save all your focus for making good decisions.

Happy Christmas everyone!

The bulk of my poker playing is online, but I do enjoy playing live for a change of pace and actually getting to see some real people!

Last year I played in the Office Poker league (a saturday afternoon tournament at the local casino) and finished a respectable 3rd. This year I've played again but it has been a bit of a shambles with a change in ownership and the new owner being out of the country most of the time. It was a great structure and a fun and friendly event but numbers have dwindled down to only 2 tables for the final event this year. I think it may unforunately die if it doesn't get some love and attention early next year. The events are generally holdem although there had been some PLO and a team event. There were some more varied games this year which I loved (especially getting to play PLO8 and win) but unfortunately I think it contributed to the reduction in numbers.

Last year a clear winner emerged fairly quickly, but scattered attendences this year meant that everyone realised with only a couple of events left that the league (and £500 prize) was still quite open. Going into the final event there were 4 of us playing with enough points and a chance to win. Two were knocked out and I reached the final table with one other who was 3pts ahead of me with up to 1-12pts available at the final table. We were both pretty short and it didn't last too long... I shoved JJ allin over a raise but it was a pretty easy call for him with AQ and the turn A ended my chances. Congrats Tam!

I obviously played quite a lot of live poker when I went to Vegas: 1 WSOP event, 1 Venetian Deepstack Extravaganza event, a $200 torunament at the Rio, a few small satellites as well as some live cash. I mainly played $1/$3 live at the Wynn and Rio however I didn't play that great or run very well which curtailed the amount I could play due to bankroll limitations.

I've come back from Vegas more determined to play better live and have definitely played better on my trips to the casino here since. A live cash games usually runs in the evenings but it has a lot of preflop nonsense so I've stayed away not wanting to put in the hours to get through the variance and have stuck to torunaments instead.

I'm looking forward to being back in Vegas this year and will try and play more live than I did last time.

Poker is an information war and some information is just too significant to share. I'm not saying I know some magic secret that can make you a winner at poker, but any information that if shared could affect your own winrate should be guarded carefully. There are some things I'm sure others would find interesting if I discussed them but it is not in my interests to share it here.

As there is no real content in today's post here is a wonderful picture from a post by Baz that really sums up a lot of the things you need to think about if you are going pro.

I decided to add this topic just to talk about playing games other than your main game. PLO and PLO8 happen to be two of my favourite alternatives to holdem but I've played most others at some point.. even Badugi recently.

It is important to stick to one main game if you are playing professionally I think. However, certainly for me, I feel there are some benefits of playing other games at times. It can give you a different perspective of different elements that are common to all forms of poker .. ranges, lines, position, aggression etc... In the early days I switched between holdem and plo8 a lot, and each time I came back to the other game I felt better at it. It can also provide a welcome mental break if things haven't been going so well - being able to shove a few draws in a cheap game and win for a change can feel pretty good and get you back on a more even keel without threatening your bankroll. I started playing poker for fun, and its good to rememeber that once in a while if you feel grinding your regular game is getting you down.

A database and HUD are essential tools these days and the only real choice is between PokerTracker 3 (PT3) or Holdem Manager (HEM).

I started out using PT3 but a few months later I trialed HEM and decided to switch instantly. I'm not sure how PT3 is these days, but at the time it seemed buggier, had less features and the HUD seemed slow and hungry on resources.

Getting to know your database is critical so that you can make the most of reviewing hands, analysing villains and looking for your own leaks.

Getting your HUD and popups right is a very personal thing and something you should re-evaluate and tweak over time. I'm sure others would find my HUD interesting but I'm not wanting to share. I know a few of my regular opponents are reading this and I'd rather they weren't aware of the details.