New Poker Venture

My buddy Andy and I are starting a new online poker website that provides bonuses and rakeback programs for most of all the major online poker rooms. Our site will feature poker news, unique articles, and unique videos. Its still in a beta stage, but you can check it out at:

www.pokernewspage.com

November Results

And another month in which I struggled. I played about 3/4ths of it at 6M, and the last week or so I went back to fullring for a bit. Here are my results:

• 50NL 6Max: 26,601 hands, -$381.05, - 1.43 ptBB/100
• 100NL 6Max: 12,088 hands, -$242.00, -1.00 ptBB/100
• 50NL Fullring: 11,184 hands, +$356.34, +3.19 ptBB/100
• Various other levels
• Totals: 67,773 hands, -$322.46, -0.34 ptBB/100

With rakeback and tournies I played (mostly rakeback) I ended at +$303.02 for the month. That comes out to a whopping $1.42/hour. Woo-hoo!

For the year, I'm at +$6,143 with no chance of making my goal of $10,000 for 2008.

October Results; November Goals

Overall, October was a tough month. I had some huge downswings followed by huge upswings. It was just damn swingy. I got a new laptop and tried to make some videos playing the 6-max tables b/c there is more action. Turns out I was running really good there so I've decided to play some 6-max for awhile (I know, again!). But I was getting REALLY sick of the nitty full ring tables at 100NL, and playing 6-max will improve my pre-flop aggression and post-flop game anyway. So 6-max it is for the month of November (I'm going to try and not switch back to full ring even if I run/play bad - instead, I'll just go back down to NL50 6M).

So here are my results compared to my October goals:

October Goals/Results:

• Play 60,000 hands (at least 80% at NL100 and do not move up until I have at least a 3 bb/100 at NL100). Accomplished. I played 60,583 hands at NL100 Full Ring. I usually played 8-12 tables stacked. For the last week I played 6-max nearly exclusively.
  
• Over 6.0 BB/100. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha. No. I was -.076 BB/100 (-.038 ptBB/100 for you PT users). However, I did play 5900 hands at NL50 6 Max and ran at 23 BB/100 (11.5 ptBB/100). I
  
• Hourly rate from cash NL cash games: $5.00. I know this isn't good for NL100, but making it $10/hour (10x what I did in September) seems way too lofty. Ha Ha Ha Ha. No. I actually don't know what it is with Rakeback, but at least it was positive.
  
• Watch at least 1 instructional video per week. Accomplished. I watched a number of videos from both Stoxpoker and Cardrunners.
• Spend 30 minutes reviewing hands. Accomplished (close enough anyway)

While I was a slightly down at NL100 FR, with my Rakeback and 6-max winnings, I finished up $495 for the month. I'm at +5,840 for the year, which is WAY behind my goal. I have to win $5,160 total for November/December to reach my goal of making $10,000 playing poker in 2008. I don't think I have a chance of that happening.

November Goals:

• Play 60,000 hands at NL100 6Max
• Keep an overall aggression number over 2.5.
  
• Have VPIP/PFR numbers for the button for what I have for UTG (encouraging positional awareness).
  
• Over 4.0 BB/100. I think this is reasonable and probably low for what a "good" player can make but I'm not a "good" player.
• Watch at least 1 coaching video per week.
• Review hands daily (no time commitment)
• Be rolled and ready for NL200 6M by December.
  

First Poker Video

Here is a link to my first poker video:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=NE2AZIAS

It sucks and I probably played like a donk, but it was fun to make. I did 6M to get more action and I did. Unfortunately, my HEM is screwy and not all the hands showed up. I since fixed it and I ended up pretty good for the session.

Feel free to criticize any of the hands and tell me what an idiot player I am. Feedback is goot.

September Results; October Goals

Here are my September results:

• Goal: Over 60K hands (50K at NL100): Nope. Oh SO close, thought. I played 59.4K hands. I played 42K of it at NL100, though and only 3.1K at NL50. I also played some NL200, some NL/PL 50 6-max, and some NL25 6 max (at Stars). I'm at NL100 to stay except when I play cash games at Stars (due to roll).
  
• Over 6.0 BB/100. Not even close. 1.31 BB/100 for NL100; 0.65 BB/100 for all hands.
  
• Get rolled for, and take shots, at NL200. I got rolled and then some. Took some shots at the fish. Played only 2,200 hands at -2.85 BB/100
  

With rakeback, bonus, and tournament $ (cashed in the last 4 tournabees I played), I ended up the month +$1,440 for my 3rd consecutive month over $1K. I'm still not playing well, but I'll take it. I made (are you ready for this?) a whopping $1.16 per hour! (not including rakeback). With rakeback and tournabees, my hourly rate was $8.04/hour. Sweet. I'm almost ready to go pro. (NOT!).

After 8 months, I should have won $8,000 to be on pace to make $12,000 this year from poker. I am only at $5,345, about $2,700 off the pace.

October Goals:

• Play 60,000 hands (at least 80% at NL100 and do not move up until I have at least a 3 bb/100 at NL100).
  
• Over 6.0 BB/100.
  
• Hourly rate from cash NL cash games: $5.00. I know this isn't good for NL100, but making it $10/hour (10x what I did in September) seems way too lofty.
  
• Watch at least 1 instructional video per week.
  
• Spend 30 minutes per day reviewing hands.
  

August 08 Results; September 08 Goals

Results vs. Goals for August:

• Over 60K hands (about 30/30 split NL50/NL100). Fail. I only played 37K hands total for the month. This is due to having to travel way too much this month for work. I got in 27K hands @ NL/PL100 and 7.7K NL/PL50. I also played some 6 max.
  
• Over 3.6 ptBB/100 for both levels. Fail. Sort of. I was at 6.25 ptBB/100 for NL50 but only 1.3 ptBB/100 for NL100. I'm still happy with both, although I can easily find enough hands that I donked that I could have been around 2.6 ptBB/100.
  
• Get rolled for 1/2 NL (doesn't mean I'll move up, though). Fail. Sort of. I did get rolled for NL200, but I fell back down. If I deposited monies from my rakeback account I would be rolled, but I want to play the majority of this month at NL100 and at the end I should be more than rolled for NL200.
  
• Improve my tournament play. I think I did this. I read HOH Volumes I & II and I managed to get a 2nd place in a 180-man SNG this month.
  

Total made for the month (w/out rakeback): +$1.073.47.

My year goal was to make $12k from the poker. YTD I am far behind - I'm at $3,904 (May and June just killed me). So, over the next 4 months I have to make about 8,000 in poker. Considering that my best month so far has been $1700, its going to be a stretch. However, I have moved up stakes so that should increase my potential winnings (but on the downside it increases potential losses). I think when its all said and done, I'm going to be damn close.

September Goals:

• Over 60K hands (50K at NL100)
  
• Over 6.0 BB/100.
  
• Get rolled for, and take shots, at NL200.
  

Other poker news and notes:

• After being very frustrated with how laggy PT3 was making my laptop (could barely play 4 tables), I tried out Hold'em Manager. Long story short - I fell in love with it and bought it. The look isn't as "slick" as PT3, but its a ton faster and takes up less resources. I also feel its easier to filter the data that I most want to see.
  
• I didn't mention it earlier, but I'm a mod in the poker section of a site called insidestl.com. check it out. Though, since I am the ONLY person who reads this, I can guarantee that my entire readership will join the site.
  

July Results

July was a pretty decent month - especially compared to May and June. Overall, I ended up up $1,768 (including poker winnings, bonus, and rakeback). That is the largest month of my (poker) career.

Here are some details:

50NLFR
Hands: 45,067
ptBB/100: 1.44 (not great, but I was over 6 for my last 10K, so that is promising)
P&L: $646.90

50PLFR
Hands: 6,567
ptBB/100: 2.57
P&L: $187.05

100NLFR
Hands: 4,718
ptBB/100: 0.17 (hey, its positive)
P&L: $15.80

25NLFR
Hands: 7,770
ptBB/100: 3.63
P&L: $141.10

Goals for August:

• Over 60K hands (about 30/30 split NL50/NL100)
• Over 3.6 ptBB/100 for both levels
• Get rolled for 1/2 NL (doesn't mean I'll move up, though)
• Improve my tournament play.