2012 Goals

Happy New Year, I hope 2011 was kind to you.

Moving swiftly on, this post is being written by a hungover bigstealer trying to work out his goals for the year. Subsequently, this may not be the final edition of this but a few things spring to mind.

1. Take it seriously - I aim to put in at least 30-35 hours of online poker per week. There will be weeks where I do not attain this as I do plan on occasionally having time off with the prospect of specific events, holidays and festivals etc. Anyway, 2011 was a fairly good year volume wise, with just over 10,000 games played, but I was travelling for 3 months and my volume pre-September sucked (as I rarely played more than 8 tables before then) so I think I should attain 300k VPPs. 2011 brought $12k in rakeback with 235k VPPs so 300k VPPs would equate to around $20k from rakeback. So, 2012 - time to get serious.

2. Improve MTT volume - I did mention in the previous post that I may increase MTTs played but I've decided that whilst the focus will remain on Sit 'n' Gos there is simply too much money to be made in MTTs. I may well avoid the Sunday Majors because the variance of the big buy ins is ridiculous (currently my MTT top buy in is $162) so my focus will remain on the mid stakes MTTs during the week. However, regarding the  Sunday Majors, I could change my stance. If I have a repeat of 2011's income from MTTs(~$30k), I'll be happy but obviously I believe there is more to be made from that.

3. Play Live once a week - I think it is important to break up the grind where you can, but where I live (Fulham, London) there is the Empire Casino less than half an hour away on the Underground. To say the games/players here are bad is a gross understatement. I'm sure it isn't exclusive to London as when I've played live before (in LA and Vegas) it was like playing on a table of 8 Monk532s all at once...it was just that good. Anyway, I hope this will improve my live game too as this links in well to my 4th goal.

4. Play a UKIPT - I don't care which one specifically. I think it'd be a great experience but it would most likely be one towards the end of the year as I'll have set aside money for it. Having said that, I'd love to go to Dublin in May so that could be the specific goal but if not, Newcastle would be good fun too as I have friends who are up there. Obviously if I do well there it'd be fantastic for my reputation but it's not something I'm pinning my hopes on. Although the softness of the fields make it +EV for me to enter, the key is enjoying it there and playing my best. This will be one of the weeks where goal #1 will likely not be achievable.

5. Don't spew in the chatbox - sometimes it's incredibly hard to contain your frustrations at a table when things aren't going your way, but telling someone they're shit when they've made a mistake that you didn't profit from, is quite close to the most stupid thing a player can do. Added to that, I can't think of one poker player who enjoys listening/reading about how bad someone is running or specific hand histories about bad luck. So, whilst I've not been perfect in this particular part of poker, a lot of reputation in poker comes from being a decent bloke/girl, as well as a good player and whilst my game has its faults and is likely never to be perfect, good behaviour at the tables is something that doesn't require much effort to achieve. This isn't just a goal, but also (I hope) good reasoning that might encourage other players who read this and like to use the chatbox to pipe down a bit too. I don't mind talking and joking, but this links with goal #1 - if I'm going to take this seriously this should be part of it.

6. Balance - I stole this goal from bigbluffzinc, but I'm sure he won't mind. Poker can be stressful, frustrating, a grind etc but those times are grossly outweighed by the quality of life you can attain. Those regs who grind 12-14 hours a day every day(including weekends), in my opinion, really are not getting the most out of what poker offers you - the chance to make more than your fair share on fewer, more flexible hours, than in almost any other niche. So whilst I've mentioned improving volume, exercising around 5 times a week is very important to me for example, and balancing work and play is key. So, whilst obviously you want to make a decent living, happiness should be your primary goal...and for me a balanced life will achieve that.

Ok, 2012 has begun-the working week begins tomorrow. Take care and good luck.

bigstealer