The New Year

So, it's 2010. I've officially been playing poker "seriously" for a little over a year now. This seems like as good a time as any to take stock of how I've progressed, what I still need to work on, and set some feasible goals for the upcoming year. But first, the news.

I spent New Year's weekend in Atlantic City with my boyfriend playing poker. Not that there is a hell of a lot else to do in AC in January. Sweet Jesus, it was cold. Just waiting on the jitney was an exercise in patience and stamina.

As far as success at the actual poker tables, not so much. This is partially due to my desire to play mostly tournament poker, which of course carries the inherent risk of losing the entire buy-in if you don't cash. The closest I got was 8th in a tournament that was paying five. In cash play, I had a very rough start early but rebounded after my last tournament bust to recover almost all of my cash game losses. So it was a losing weekend overall, but that's to be expected, right?

While I'm not thrilled with losing money (who is?), I'm less thrilled with my continued difficulty transitioning between cash and tournament play, and with my difficulty adjusting to the type of villains that seem most plentiful at the low limit cash tables - the loose passive preflop players who love to take flops with pretty much any two suited cards, any ace, any two face cards, any remotely connected cards, and sometimes any face card. Also, they think top pair is the nuts and won't lay it down no matter what their kicker, and they like to slow play monsters, including limping with JJ+. Mix in the odd hyperaggressive player and I usually end up so confused as to the optimal way to play that I end up nitting it up then becoming extremely frustrated when I get cracked. So, my cash game play needs a lot of work.

On a good note, I ended up at a table I managed to adjust to late, including taking one tricky villain twice for good sized pots. I also did something I absolutely could not have done last year - made a correct read on a single villain and executed the appropriate play to maximize my value. This occurred twice where I was conscious of it, once in tournament play and once in cash. I was successful in getting my whole stack in against an aggressive villain I knew was drawing, giving myself a chance to double up - the fact that he did catch his flush card on the river is immaterial, I think. I also correctly read a cash villain as having a weak hand on an A high board and bluffed him off his hand on the river, recognizing my own busted ten high flush draw had no chance of winning without a bet (and having already represented the the ace by calling on the flop and betting when the villain checked to me on the turn). Small things, of course, but then I think growth in this game tends to come more by small increments than giant leaps.

I already talked a little about areas I've seen some growth in - I'm particularly proud of my increased ability to bluff, and the ability to recognize when a bluff stands a decent chance of working, something I had zero concept of a year ago, and something which speaks to my still limited but oh so slowly growing skill at playing my opponent rather than my cards. That said, I still have a long way to go, so...

Poker New Year's Resolutions

1. I resolve to play more cash games online, particularly six max. This will hopefully lead to increased skill at two of my weaker areas - post flop play and being too passive.

2. I resolve to stop freezing like a deer in headlights during tournament play, particularly during the middle stages. I am, at the core, a pretty conservative player (hence my own surprise and delight to learn that yes, I can pull off a bluff). Unfortunately, this often leads to being TOO patient in tournaments, I think. I routinely go multiple orbits without playing a hand, which often leads to my decent stack becoming short before I can get deep enough. I know there's a fine balance between patient play and spew, but I think I err to far on the side of caution and ABC poker. And since I'm not happy with my current results, I'm going to try to push my comfort zone and develop my aggression. This will probably mean more busts and fewer min cashes. Hopefully, though, it increases the size of my cashes when I do find the right circumstances to aggress.

3. I resolve to strike a better life balance on the weekends. Since Friday night - Sunday afternoon is about the only time I can put in any serious time, I've been going overboard with this, allowing poker to consume EVERY Friday night, and EVERY Saturday. Probably not healthy, and I think it makes more likely to become bored or distracted. So, balance. I will work out on Saturdays. I will set aside time to work on my dissertation (oh sweet God, I have to write my dissertation). I will not become a weekend poker crackhead.

4. I resolve to post on this blog more frequently. Not that I think I'm letting anyone down by not posting (look at all those followers!), but because it forces me to think about and articulate what I'm doing well and what I'm doing poorly. Here on out, I will study, post and discuss one tournament hand that make me think during the course of a tournament, and I will do this every week where I actively play. That's pretty ambitious for me, but hopefully it will force me to spend as much time thinking critically about my play as I do swearing about the bad beats.

That's all for now, I think. Good luck to one and all, and I'll see you at the tables

SGT RJ