Where are you Pokerlifter...?

Endless apologies for being silent for so long, lots going on but I promise to get back to regular blogging soon..I know I have said it before but I will!

Pokerlifter's Back

Like the classic Rambo III movie poster tagline - Pokerlifter's Back.

Watch this space for weekly updates including how out of shape and unfit I have become, my 60 hour poker session and a world record attempt.

Have missed you all.

Pokerlifter's May

Raising Pots

It's been a hell of a month and let me start of by saying sorry for the lack of a weekly update. There's been a lot going on and it got to the point where I thought it best just to put all my thoughts down in one monthly update. Part of my absence was due to getting mugged earlier in the month at knife-point which was a pretty terrifying experience which took me away from everything for awhile. But I'm back now so let's get on with the goods.

So May saw some big changes in my game and my poker landscape. Firstly I made the transition to $25NL when my roll hit 30BIs. Initially it was a short-lived start as a few sick coolers saw me lose a decent amount of buy-ins as I ran horrendously bad but being very strict with my bankroll management though, I made the switch back to $10NL in order to rebuild, and rebuild I did seeing me back at $25NL within a couple of sessions. Added to this Full Tilt Poker provided a bonus this month which also helped towards buffering my bankroll. So my second shot at $25NL was slightly more successful and saw me safely embedded into the limit. So the major change in my poker landscape came as a result of me deciding to shift my bankroll away from Full Tilt Poker and on to Pokerstars. This was something I felt I had to do due to the uncertainties at the moment surrounding Full Tilt Poker. Since Black Friday I think a lot of people have felt unsure about having their money on any poker site but with the way Pokerstars dealt with the US payouts compared to Full Tilt's procrastinations it certainly feels like a company that is run a lot better. What will happen long-term? I don't know. I hope Full Tilt can find a resolution that will see them remain as a significant player on the poker scene but only time will tell. So, that means that I will get no rakeback going forward and am unsure entirely how much I can expect from the Pokerstars VIP program, will be aiming for at least Gold Star in June.

OK, so let's get on with the tale of the tape:

Hands: 39,803

Hours: 84.48

BB/100: 1.67

$/hour: $2.10

Total winnings: $177.18

Total rakeback: $62.44

Total bonus: $140

Total for the month: $379.62

Barnstorming month and a tidy little profit though still my winrate is just far too low. So let's compare versus my goals I blogged about at the end of last month. So I wanted a winrate of 4BB/100 which you can see I didn't achieve, I wanted to get 5,500 FTP points (managed to get 6,957). Hit Silver for Ironman (managed only bronze; irrelevant now). Session analysis every 10,000 (didn't do this) Move up to $25NL (did this, yay!), if going up to $25NL get a new coach (have arranged this and will be getting coached by a Drag the Bar professional which I'm excited about).

Ok, so let's have some goals for June:

1) Play 39,000 hands (very precise but what Pokerstars website recommends for Gold Star)

2) Achieve a winrate of 3BB/100

3) If hitting this winrate with this volume I should be rolled for $50NL

4) Achieve 3,500 VPPs thus hitting Gold Star

5) Start my next round of coaching

Lifting Weights

Disappointing month again I'm afraid. What with my 'incident' at the start of the month and being away for a bit I didn't really get started. Pleased to say I picked things up towards the end of the month and went to the gym hitting the main Rippetoe exercises which really helped me 'bulk' last year. Have lost a lot of weight this month due to various stresses so am keen to pile on the quality pounds in the next few weeks. I will be concentrating on getting in 3/4 workouts each week with the main emphasis on the push/pull barbell exercises.

Here's to a more positive June in all endeavours.

Pokerlifter's April

Raising Pots

I always look forward to writing these end of month summaries, especially as since November 2010 they have all had positive winrates, but especially as it gives me a wider sense of perspective. Although I feel it is important to check my progress each week and see what changes, if any I can apply, I think these monthly ones can give us a broader perspective and certainly highlight any leaks.

So as a general overall feeling, how has this month been? Well, good for the most part I'd say. I suffered a major down-swing part way through the month, after running super hot for the first part, which really dented my confidence no end. No matter how much I tell myself it's just variance march on through, I still let it affect my game to the point where it becomes a mix of variance and bad play. Off the felt of course Black Friday hit the poker world square in the face and this was right in the middle of my down-swing and I definitely feel it affected my game, with nobody quite sure what was happening, whether the money was safe, or were the sites going to be able to continue, focus at the tables was definitely way off. Now, there is still no definitive answer to what is happening but right now I'm just carrying on as normal. The sites are still operating to UK and the rest of the World, I still want to play, so I am cracking on.

OK, so let's see those all important numbers:

Hands: 33,078

Hours: 87.80

BB/100: 1.26

$/hour: $0.98

Total winnings: $86.05

Total rakeback: $61.47

Total bonus: $65

Total for the month: $212.52

Graph looks like this (note the swings):

A record breaking month no less! Not a record profit at the tables either in terms of actual dollars or BB/100 but with the bonuses spewing out from FTP it certainly gave a healthy kick-up the backside for my quest to hit $25NL. I started to turn the corner towards the end of the month but in a bitter twist of fortune I lost 8 buyins in the final day of April.

You'll remember at the end of last month I stated my goals for April. They were:

1) Play 20,000 hands at a winrate of +4BB/100 - played a ton more volume but alas at a lower winrate so need to work on that elusive 4+BB/100 this month.

2) Complete my coaching and continue to analyse my play in detail - coaching finished and am very pleased with how it went and what I learnt. I analyse my play a lot more but still something to work on.

3) Sweat a session post coaching with another player - did not happen.

So, let's post my goals for May. May will be unabashedly volume orientated this month as I really want to clear as much of the free bonus money as possible. As such I will also be playing 9 tables at a time.

1) Play maximum number of hands at +4BB/100

2) Earn at least 5,500 FTP points

3) Hit 'Silver' for Ironman

4) Session analysis every 10,000 hands

5) Move up to $25NL (if this happens tables will drop back to 6 initially)

6) If number 5 is achieved start to source a new coach for $25NL

Lifting Weights

A mixed bag here too. The month started off super strong training really hard and certainly feeling fitter and happier than bang...I got ill. I was dreading this happening as I knew it would set me back and put me behind pace which is exactly what it has done. I have missed a few sessions over the last couple of weeks and although I am confident I can get back on track it has certainly derailed me momentarily. I for a strong May. I still have my eye on that holiday in the sun as a reward...

Bringing up the rear

Raising Pots

Short week again this week due to the extended Easter Break and of course the Royal Wedding but I still managed to get some volume in. As always I left the Iron Man challenge to the last minute requiring me to hit the last 3 days consecutive to earn my badge, not a problem and was easily achievable. In addition to this and the take 2 bonus Full Tilt Poker in its quest to keep the UK players has offered an add on bonus of $300 - a bonus which needs to be cleared in the next 21 days. To successfully clear this I will need to earn 7,500 FTP points which is a lot more than I would usually hit (only 4,500 April alone). However, it will be possible for me to clear a good chunk of this bonus if I grind it out every day. So how has this week been? Well, I really wanted to come here this week and tell you that I have moved up to the next level ($25NL) being as I was so close but unfortunately a sick end to the month saw me drop 8 buyins in one day taking me further from that goal. Nonetheless April overall wasn't too bad (end of month blog to come soon) but this week was pretty disappointing.

So, the tale of the tape:

Hands: 5,925

Hours: 13.12

BB/100: -5.50

$/hour: -$4.97

Total winnings: -$65.21

Total rakeback: $12.26

Total bonus: $20

Total for the week: -$32.95

As I say, a poor week and not how I wanted to finish the month. Played pretty poorly and let my emotions come out at the table on a few occasions. Seems no matter how hard you try sometimes the dreaded tilt just comes to remind you that focus needs to be 100% all the time. Well, new month starts today and I have a hell of a grind ahead of me.

Lifting Weights

Surprised I can even write this blog this week the hammering my arms took on P90x! Been 2 days since I did the back and biceps work out and I still can't move my arms fully! Haven't had 100% commitment to P90x again this week which is disappointing but and happy that I have done enough to move on to the next week.

Check back later for Pokerlifter's April...

Some see difficulties in opportunities, others see opportunities in difficulties

Raising Pots

Firstly sorry for no blog yesterday but have been away with family for the Easter break. Haven't been very well this week either so have not put in a ton of volume. After last week's upheaval in the poker world coupled with my atrocious week at the tables I was so disappointed in myself that I practically sat myself down this week and had a good talking to myself. I looked over some of my previous coaching videos and once again set out to plug some leaks. I think downswings have their uses. We're never gonna be without them in our poker careers but if we can put them to good use and learn from them then it's not a waste - In the word's of Winston Churchill "Difficulties mastered, are opportunities won". I think my problem at the moment is in thinking that because of the success I've had in the last few weeks that my learning for this level is over. I don't devote enough time to training at the moment, I know I've had a lot of coaching but I think session reviews need to become a firmer staple of my week. I will try in future weeks to devote some time on a Sunday to properly reviewing the previous weeks hands and plugging some leaks.

In he meantime, the tale of the tape for this week is as follows:

Hands: 13,263

Hours: 35.37

BB/100: 1.83

$/hour: $1.45

Total winnings: $51.19

Total rakeback: $13.80

Total bonus: $25

Total for the week: $89.99

Good to be back in profit this week and the the graph has taken a turn upwards which is good. The winrate isn't setting the world on fire and should be 3-4 BB/100 higher but like I say it has taken a little work to get out of the downswing. The tale end of the downswing was in at the start of this week where I saw myself 6 buyins down after 5,000 hands so I did well to get it back up into positive. I also received my take two bonus this week which was good for an extra $25. I'm hoping to play a lot of the next few weeks in order to clear a new bonus which will kick of this week which could be worth up to $300 depending on how much I can play so that will be a huge bankroll boost.

Lifting Weights

When starting P90x 5 weeks ago one of the main worries was that I may get ill along the way, miss a few workouts and then lose motivation. Well I got ill this week and missed a whole week's worth. I haven't lost motivation though as that holiday I talked of a few weeks ago is all booked, I'm now a week behind pace but assuming no more set backs I should finish the weekend before my holiday...what an incentive.

Black Friday

Raising Pots

Well, a monumental week for online poker. The landscape of Internet poker was changed forever on Friday when The FBI in America and The Department of Justice shut down the three biggest online poker sites (Full Tilt, Pokerstars and Absolute Poker) citing bank fraud, money laundering and unlawful gambling. Now online poker in America has been a grey area for a long time since Party Poker pulled out in 2006 following the passing of the UIGEA bill, a bill which has been argued as unconstitutional and is being challenged. Full Tilt and Pokerstars captured the lion's share of the approximately 15 million US players that continued to play by circumventing that law that deems it illegal for the banks to deal directly with the poker sites. By use of 3rd party payment processors the US continued to play. It has now come to light that the poker sites lied to the banks about the true nature of their business and for this reason have been shut down to US players and numerous members of top tier staff arrested and indicted. I must stress that none of the claims of any wrongdoing have yet to have been proved and there is so much wild speculation around at the moment that no-one is really sure what is going to happen. All we know currently is that FTP and Pokerstars are claiming business as usual for the rest of the world but speculation is rife that their businesses my not be able to continue if hit by the reported $3billion fines.

So, with that bombshell covered on to my week. In addition to the shocking news on Friday I had a pretty atrocious time at the tables too. Despite finishing my coaching on Wednesday and being set free to crush the micros I had a pretty appalling week. I played bad, tilted too much and got my money in bad in too many spots. I have had to grind every night this week in order to get my take 2 bonus so have not had the time to really sit down and study some hands and see where I am going wrong. Suffice to say I need to and I need to review my sessions with my coach in order to get my head back in the right place.

So the tale of the week:

Hands: 5,306

Hours: 16.05

BB/100: -8.56

$/hour: -$5.66

Total winnings: -$90.81

Total rakeback: $17.40

Total for the week: -$73.41

Good work, Pokerlifter. You manage to follow up your best ever week with your second worst. I'm not gonna let this affect my mood too much, I can't afford to. As things stand I'm still in a decent amount of profit for April and am both on course with my winrate expectation and on course for my best ever month. Just gotta keep on moving forward and remain focused and positive.

Lifting Weights

Added to my disappointing week at poker I need to add a disappointing week of training. I have my excuses though they shouldn't get in the way. I worked earlies this week which is always tough on me, added to this I had two late nights out plus one overnight trip to Manchester so all in all I have been a little all over the place. So, to make up for this I will be repeating week 4 of P90x this coming week in order to get me back on track. I didn't want to get into a situation where I was repeating weeks but I always figured it would need to happen at some point as life is bound to get in the way every now and then!