2011 Goals

My biggest leak in poker has always been complacency and laziness. The 1st few years of my poker career that wasn't the case as I grinded 30-40hrs/week consistently. I guess most people like to play a lot early on because it's fun and seems like a good way to make money whenever you want (given that you're a winning player) and I was no different. Also I was starting to build my roll and net worth and support a family along the way (w/ help from my wife who also played poker) so I put in the volume to provide a good life for us and reach some goals.

Well once we had built up a good bankroll, accumulated a respectable net worth, started investing for our future including our retirement funds, and bought our 2nd house I started feeling like I could take time off whenever I wanted. I think I took that too far at times though. It might have been some cockiness on my part though, which is bad. I just felt like I can resume playing anytime and expect to win lots of money. That isn't always the case though because we all know how tough poker can be at times.

This is the main reason I've stayed at midstakes, primarily nl400 to nl1k the last 3-4 years. I played enough and won enough to maintain our standard of living but never played more to build my poker bankroll to take shots at higher stakes, even though I think I can do ok at the bigger games. The trade off is that I got to pursue my hobbies and spend some quality time w/ my family, but there were also lots of times where I wasted time watching tv, browsing the internet, etc. that could've been used to play poker.

Well no more! Wait, I tried this last year and set a monetary goal of $1 million dollars and failed to a degree. I ended up playing 15hrs/wk which is up from the 13hrs/wk from the previous year. Well I think I figured out a better way to motivate myself to play as much as I can and hopefully build my roll and take shots at bigger games. My game plan is to go after supernova elite on Pokerstars.

Now I know this is really difficult to do, especially for somebody like me w/ a family. There were a little over 300 people that achieved sne on 2010 so it's not impossible. I already calculated that I would need to avg about 30hrs/wk playing the games I am playing now to get it (less hrs at higher stakes and in limit games). That would be doubling my hrs from last year which on paper doesn't seem hard but irl is.

I'm also planning on playing a few more live tournaments, especially the ones in Las Vegas and possibly some in Los Angeles. I think I have what it takes to win a major live event and I'm going to give myself as many chances as I can afford (within my means of course). I will probably sell pieces of myself at a markup because we all know how expensive it gets playing a bunch of $5k and $10k events. For now I'm planning on going to Los Angeles in February to play in the LAPC events.

I am not going to set any monetary goal for this year because I don't think it helps and can actually be a detriment. I'm not really susceptible to it but I can see how somebody can feel pressured to win and play less than optimally under those conditions. I'm just going to focus on putting in the hrs and playing the best I can at all times (this should be the mindset for all professional poker players though). I will continue to post my monthly results because I know readers like to see that, and that allows me to be honest w/ myself (if I'm not doing well), plus let's admit it, I get a certain satisfaction when I make an x amount of money in a month and get to share it (who doesn't though). If I ever start making 7 figures on a consistent annual basis then I may stop posting but that is very unlikely.

I'm going to work on my game some as well. I'm definitely an advocate of always working on one's game and I want to make sure I'm at least staying w/ the curve of the new generation of poker players, and hopefully I'll be able to stay ahead of that curve. I don't want to get into how I work on my game but I will be working hard on getting better. I do want to improve my PLO game and have been dabbling in it this year. I'm planning on playing a lot more PLO this year. I feel like the games are softer than NL in general and I'm an advocate of learning as many games as possible. Specifically I've been working on 3betting ranges in PLO lately.

Also I want to contribute however I can to improve Cardrunners. I am an employee of the company and want to take my position seriously and make my bosses happy. I'm still working on my video making and narrative skills. It's definitely not easy to produce videos and I'm going to work on producing the best ones that I can.

Along the same lines I'm planning on cohosting CashPlays w/ Jeremiah Smith (broadcast on CR and PokerRoad). I really enjoy my gig there and I get to share my experiences and knowledge of poker on the show. I've gotten to know Jeremiah better over the months and he's a really good guy (goes w/o saying I guess w/ him having been a pastor...talk about a career change...pastor to poker player-poker host). Remember anybody is free to email us and ask us for potential guests or send in hand histories for us to break down.

Random PokerRoad story...few years ago Jeannie and I were in line buying a snack during the WSOP at the Rio, Barry G was standing behind Jeannie and started hitting on her (talking nicely and all to her, so I assume he was hitting on her) while he was oblivious to the fact that I was w/ her (as her husband..in his defense I'm sure he didn't even notice me). I guess I should take it as a compliment he was hitting on her? Also he owns PokerRoad so I hope there's no repercussions from me writing this, and if so, oh well . :)

I guess for poker that is it but I'll leave my mind open for whatever new may pop up. After all last year I was only shooting for $1million but ended up getting a cohosting poker gig and became an instructor at CR. As for coaching I'm not sure if I want to do it yet. My 2011 itinerary seems pretty full but again, we'll see.

Since this is the new year, I, like many others, want to get in good shape and maintain good health. I want to get to the gym at least 2x/wk (there's a really nice one that's part of my community right behind my house so it's even easier to get to one) and I want to try to eat healthier (much healthier...lol). This might actually be harder than my poker goals but might be an even more important goal.

Now I set all my poker goals but poker will never be my 1st commitment. That will be my family (and as a spiritual person, God). In a perfect world I'll achieve all my poker goals and get in great shape but more importantly make everybody around me happy. In 2011 I'm hoping to live in a perfect world. Gl to everybody in 2011!