Some Introspection
Sorry the updates have been so sparse. I was working on finishing the the last major hurdle that gets me an MS degree in Computer Science & Engineering. The details aren't that important and have nothing to do with poker, so I'll spare them here. But it was a lot of work and I am both proud of myself and extremely happy to be finished with it. Enough said about that.
I have been trying to play poker as much as I can, but I was simply unable to for about the first 2 weeks of February. But since then I've logged a pretty decent number of hands and have been pulling in some steady wins despite never running very well (I don't think). I have been running very average for a while now, but I never have any of those crazy days where you hit every draw/set and stack everyone in your path. I'd like to have some of those days, but if it means not having the crazy bad days I guess I will settle for steady wins.
I don't want to get into any hands today, so let's just talk results. Since my last post, I've played exclusively at 100nl, still 12-tabling. I've logged a pretty decent number of hands at this level and I want to perform some introspection on things. First, the high level issues. I think I am comfortably playing 12 tabling at this point and I could certainly stand to add a few more. Full tilt does not allow you to play any more than 12 tables, so I might have to switch some of my play over to Stars in order to do this (but there is no rakeback on Stars as far as I know). It is also much more difficult to play this many tables on 2 different sites since it sort of takes you out of the zone. I am certainly going to try to figure something out, since I really think I can add a few more tables without damaging my win rate.
My win rate is also very nice so far. I am running at 4.5 ptbb/100, and I average playing 9.7 tables at a time (636 hands an hour). Without rakeback, this equates to an hourly rate of just over $57. With rakeback, it is more like $70/hr. This is a pretty sick win rate for playing low stakes. If I were to do this full time, this would equate to about $2800 a week or $140k a year! At 100nl! This is a sick amount of money that has me wondering why I am going to school to get jobs that start in the high 5 or low 6 figures. This win rate of 4.5 may or may not be sustainable. I think I've been running a little worse than average, although I could just be remembering the bad times. We'll see. I kind of want to take the summer off of school/research to see how playing poker all day every day feels. I think I would enjoy the freedom and lack of responsibility that this kind of lifestyle would entail.
I've already been gaining about 1/2 of my income with poker for the last 6 months or so. I've always heard that playing for a living takes the joy out of the game, since your ability to win is directly related to your ability to pay the rent or put food on the table or whatever. I have found that this doesn't bother me so much. I have always kept a very large bankroll, which I continue to do. This means that when I get stacked for $100, it doesn't matter a whole lot to me since I know I can still have more than enough money in my account to pay the phone bill or whatever.
Another thing I worry about is that I will have to log a ton of hands if I was only playing poker for a living. Theoretically I am ok with this, but it might really become a grind after a while. So far it hasn't, but then again I haven't been playing full time. I have only been logging 10k hands a week, instead of the 25 or 30k I would want to put in if I was playing for a living. I guess I will just have to try this to see how it feels. If I take the summer off to just play poker, this would give me a good chance to figure out whether I can deal with playing poker 24/7.
I guess those are all the higher-level issues I wanted to tackle. One more issue that I just noticed when I was looking at pokertracker. Of all the possible hands, I have lost the most money with AQo! This is really bad. I think the main problem is that I seem to be playing it too fast when I flop a pair. It's just really hard to get people to stack off with worse hands than AQ on an A or Q high board. I need to take it way slower with this hand I think, treat it more like AJ and less like AK.
Another hand I need to slow down with is bottom two pair. This is a hand that I seem to overplay with some consistency. I need to remember that the golden age of online poker where people are more than willing to stack off with one pair are kind of over. It's just hard to find people who overplay hands this badly anymore. People's mistakes are that they play too tight and don't get enough value for big hands (and let draws in for the right price). Sure there are people who still overplay everything, but these people are somewhat rare. Supertight is just as easy (if not easier) to beat than super loose. You can just steal from them with extreme prejudice and stay out of their way when they show interest in a pot.
Wow I am really rambling now, so I guess I'll stop this post before it gets any worse. I'll try to update more frequently now that I have more time to play, think and write about poker.
I have been trying to play poker as much as I can, but I was simply unable to for about the first 2 weeks of February. But since then I've logged a pretty decent number of hands and have been pulling in some steady wins despite never running very well (I don't think). I have been running very average for a while now, but I never have any of those crazy days where you hit every draw/set and stack everyone in your path. I'd like to have some of those days, but if it means not having the crazy bad days I guess I will settle for steady wins.
I don't want to get into any hands today, so let's just talk results. Since my last post, I've played exclusively at 100nl, still 12-tabling. I've logged a pretty decent number of hands at this level and I want to perform some introspection on things. First, the high level issues. I think I am comfortably playing 12 tabling at this point and I could certainly stand to add a few more. Full tilt does not allow you to play any more than 12 tables, so I might have to switch some of my play over to Stars in order to do this (but there is no rakeback on Stars as far as I know). It is also much more difficult to play this many tables on 2 different sites since it sort of takes you out of the zone. I am certainly going to try to figure something out, since I really think I can add a few more tables without damaging my win rate.
My win rate is also very nice so far. I am running at 4.5 ptbb/100, and I average playing 9.7 tables at a time (636 hands an hour). Without rakeback, this equates to an hourly rate of just over $57. With rakeback, it is more like $70/hr. This is a pretty sick win rate for playing low stakes. If I were to do this full time, this would equate to about $2800 a week or $140k a year! At 100nl! This is a sick amount of money that has me wondering why I am going to school to get jobs that start in the high 5 or low 6 figures. This win rate of 4.5 may or may not be sustainable. I think I've been running a little worse than average, although I could just be remembering the bad times. We'll see. I kind of want to take the summer off of school/research to see how playing poker all day every day feels. I think I would enjoy the freedom and lack of responsibility that this kind of lifestyle would entail.
I've already been gaining about 1/2 of my income with poker for the last 6 months or so. I've always heard that playing for a living takes the joy out of the game, since your ability to win is directly related to your ability to pay the rent or put food on the table or whatever. I have found that this doesn't bother me so much. I have always kept a very large bankroll, which I continue to do. This means that when I get stacked for $100, it doesn't matter a whole lot to me since I know I can still have more than enough money in my account to pay the phone bill or whatever.
Another thing I worry about is that I will have to log a ton of hands if I was only playing poker for a living. Theoretically I am ok with this, but it might really become a grind after a while. So far it hasn't, but then again I haven't been playing full time. I have only been logging 10k hands a week, instead of the 25 or 30k I would want to put in if I was playing for a living. I guess I will just have to try this to see how it feels. If I take the summer off to just play poker, this would give me a good chance to figure out whether I can deal with playing poker 24/7.
I guess those are all the higher-level issues I wanted to tackle. One more issue that I just noticed when I was looking at pokertracker. Of all the possible hands, I have lost the most money with AQo! This is really bad. I think the main problem is that I seem to be playing it too fast when I flop a pair. It's just really hard to get people to stack off with worse hands than AQ on an A or Q high board. I need to take it way slower with this hand I think, treat it more like AJ and less like AK.
Another hand I need to slow down with is bottom two pair. This is a hand that I seem to overplay with some consistency. I need to remember that the golden age of online poker where people are more than willing to stack off with one pair are kind of over. It's just hard to find people who overplay hands this badly anymore. People's mistakes are that they play too tight and don't get enough value for big hands (and let draws in for the right price). Sure there are people who still overplay everything, but these people are somewhat rare. Supertight is just as easy (if not easier) to beat than super loose. You can just steal from them with extreme prejudice and stay out of their way when they show interest in a pot.
Wow I am really rambling now, so I guess I'll stop this post before it gets any worse. I'll try to update more frequently now that I have more time to play, think and write about poker.
posted by the_real_zano at 11:45 AM
0 comments
