With 2009 just a few days away, I've been giving some thought to New Year's Resolutions. Among all the usual blather, such as losing weight, getting in shape, finishing some long-running home and honey-do projects, yada yada yada, there are the all-important poker pledges for 2009. Here's what I've got thus far:
1) Grinding Like A Monkey. I'd like to continue my NL Cash Grind of 200+ hands per day. Some days this target is easier to hit than others, so I'm going to redefine it a bit and count hands per week. If I can grind out 200 x 7 = 1400... nah, call it 1500 hands a week, I'll be happy. Correction: I'll be happy if I get in 1500 well-played, tilt-free, perfect hands of poker per week. The overarching goal is grind out $5 dollar a day, times 7 days a week = $35 of profit per week. If I can do this, I should have $35 x 52 = $1800 this time next year. Well, I can dream, can't I? Seriously, this is a realistic goal if I can somehow manage to keep from tilting and play my A-game everytime I sit down at the virtual felt.
2) Become A Sit-and-Go Wizard. I've been pretty lax with putting in seat time at single table Sit and Go's lately. Part of it was a run of bad luck at the SnGs that happened early in the summer; i.e., I was pretty discouraged and just gave up playing them. The other part of the problem was a renewed focus on cash games that I took pretty seriously and spent most of my poker time playing. Anyway, the goal for 2009 is to get my ITM back up above 45% and my OPR rating above 90%. The only way this is going to happen is if I play at least 5 single tables per week and start moving up in limits. I'm going to start with $2 games and then (hopefully) move up to $5 as my bankroll (hopefully) grows. Hopefully.
3) Emulate Mr. Multi. As I've mentioned before, my buddy Bret has been having some good success at 45 and 90 player low-stakes MTTs this past year. I'd like to find time to play at least 1 multi per week and see if I can have that same success. The reason to twofold: 1) practice for bigger tourneys; and 2) help my OPR numbers out. Multi's are a completely different animal from cash games and single-tables, so this is an area that I need some serious improvement in.
4) Go Back To School. I've found that watching grinderschool videos has markedly improved my cash game. So has reading poker books and forums. The trick is to get into a habit of doing at least one of these things every day. The grinder vids come out at the rate of one every 3 days or so, so I should be able to keep up with them. I've also got 3-4 new poker books that I received for Xmas, and I'd like to start working my way through them. The forums are an other useful place to find tips and tricks, so I'd like to hit one or two forums regularly at least 2x per week.
5) Live it Live. Another big goal for the new year is to play at least one live game per week. Poker pub will be a big part of this for me, but I'd also like to start doing at least one trip to the casino per month. Another poker friend, who, frankly, isn't a very strong player, has been having a lot of success at the casino by simply playing ABC poker. He's chopped something like 6 of the last 12 times he's been out there. Why can't I do the same? Another option is to find a regular home game. (The husband of my wife's best friend recently called and invited me to play at his monthly game. They're meeting this weekend, so I'll probably go for a few hours and see how useful/fun/good the game is.) I'd also like to try at least one "big" tourney sometime this year, whether it be a $100-200 event at the local casino or a bigger event up in Phoenix or, gasp, Vegas. This last one is more a goal than a resolution, but if I can figure something reasonable out, I'd really like to make it happen. Maybe even get up to the WSOP this coming summer.
6) Act Like A Writer. As I learned teaching calculus years ago, one of the best ways to absorb a subject is to teach it to someone else. In lieu of that, simply writing about a subject on a regular basis can help improve your understanding of it. On a related note, the Guru, Alex, and a number of other noted poker authorities all say that one should keep a daily journal of their play, interesting hands, etc. in an effort to improve. Ergo, I'm going to try to post here more regularly. It may be boring at times, but I really want to post at least 3 times per week, even if I have little to say.
Resolutions are like belly buttons; everyone has one. The trick is to actually implement them and make them habits. We will see how it goes.... and here's to a profitable year of poker!
All-in for now...
-Bug
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