Back in the UK - 2012/January Goals

Firstly, am back in the UK!  I had an amazing 3 weeks skiing, great times seeing old friends and making new ones.  I'll be very honest and admit that I slacked big time with regards to photos and videos so I can't put anything up here really but it was brilliant.  So brilliant in fact that after my exams finish on Wednesday I'm trying to head back out for another 10 days, the conditions are so good I haven't seen anything like it in my lifetime, the snow is really piling up and this isn't a season to be sitting in lecture halls!

Onto poker, this is copied out of my 2p2 PGC thread:

After a pretty dire year online coupled with a really good year live I'm back to set this years goals and challenges for myself. Going to keep it simple, there's enough about me and what I do in old PGC thread and others around here, happy to answer anything if anyone is interested though.

2012 Yearly Goals and Challenges:

1. Only play 6max NLHE cash games, my daily homegame tournaments, special promotion tournaments and anything I qualify for with fpps
2. 300000 hands of 6max cash
3. See a significant improvement in my play through studying videos and through coaching
4. Have a +ROI in my homegame tournaments
5. Become a respected poster in uNL in 2012 after moving from uNLfr where I made little contribution
6. Maintain my 2:1 at university and push for a 1st class degree

I've had real problems with game selection over the years and have wasted a lot of money on stupid tournaments, playing higher stakes game equivalent to my live play so the 1st goal is very important to me.

In addition to what I want to accomplish over the year I have a plan of monthly goals I want to achieve.

January Goals:

1. 20k hands
2. Win at 4bb/100 (whatever the one PT3 give me says)
3. Finish reading "Treat Your Poker Like a Business"
4. Nail my university exams!
5. 5 Cashes in my homegame tournaments

All the best to everyone in 2012
Jake"

So as you can see I'm going to be tougher on myself this year, less partying, more work, especially as I want to get more time on the slopes, the time I'm in England for needs to be productive!

November Review - December Goals - Skiing

Hey guys, time for another monthly review. This month was decimated by work so the very little volume I put in was all at 2 and 5nl due to this micro prop bet. Very little to report from this month, just been buried under books and piles of paper! Main thing now is I'm only 15 days from leaving for skiing! I really can't wait, only one essay stands between me and the true love in my life (barring my lovely gf). I'll hopefully be uploading photos/videos from France when I get there as I won't be able to grind any poker, hopefully that will break up the monotony that is my poker blog! Here are a few from last season, none are really that good quality, or that interesting for that matter as I only had a phone camera therefore had no real desire to get any good photos but have got a new GoPro for this season so hopefully some proper photos and videos to follow!:

Poker wise for the rest of this month I'm going to clear my last bonus, play some 10 and 25nl, hopefully make a bit more cash to take with me to enjoy the skiing! Jake

Too Much Work, Micro Prop Bet

Hey guys, another long break between posts unfortunately. I'm absolutely buried in work at the moment at university, essay after essay after presentation but not much I can do about that. I want to keep playing but I can't have poker weighing on my mind so I've set up a prop bet with a friend here at university for most profit at the micros before the end of term, starting with a $25 bankroll. http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/174/poker-goals-challenges/loldonkamentz-vs-joecool2-1000-micro-grind-prop-bet-1125376/ This should keep me occupied enough with poker but letting me get on with work, lets hope I ship it as well! I'd liek to sit and write a long blog post but I must go ponder the implications of and reasons for low voter turnout among young voters in the US....

October Review - November Goals

Another very up and down month, some great times and some not so great times. The bankroll is somewhat depleted after the coaching and I was around breakeven on the tables. I think this is probably one of the worst months I've had in terms of how I've run, all in ev is around bang on but it does little to tell of how you run consistently into the top of peoples ranges! This is a month I just want to put behind me and move onwards and upwards!

This month I want to rebuild my bankroll and get back to where I was at the beginning of October. I'd like to get in around 30k hands and get the BR to $1k again. I'm playing a few hyper turbo HU games when I'm on breaks from writing essays as they are nice and quick and I seem to be doing ok in them at the moment, I have some t$ I need to use up anyway from grinding 210fpp sats earlier in the year.



Work wise studying has really kicked up, I have an essay a week due from now until the end of the term (although it feels like the end of time) but it is much more engaging than it has been so I'm finding it easier to get on with. The ski season is fast approaching and I'm getting really excited about it, can't wait to hit the mountain!

Bit of a short post this but I updated the other day, I've restarted my PGC thread on 2+2 so check that out for hands and daily updates!

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/174/poker-goals-challenges/2011-micro-odyssey-10nl-beyond-949842/

Good luck on the tables everyone!

Feeling the Buzz

Well, it has been a fair while since I've put anything up here so time for an update methinks. First things first, I've had to stop the coaching for the time being, I'd had a few bad weeks and I was worried that I wasn't really getting great value for money, the coaching was good but I just didn't feel any marked improvement in my play (albeit I only had 3 sessions) and my bankroll was in freefall! I'm still comfortably rolled to play 25nl but I'm taking a bit of a break and playing some 10nl to regain confidence and work on my own game. I'm still working on my game alone, using Leggo Poker videos and reading the forums to hone my game.

Outside of poker things are going even better, this years studies are infinitely more interesting and the tutorials/seminars/whatever you want to call them are a great deal better. The workload has increased but it feels a lot easier as it is so much more engrossing, you can get lost in some of these articles for hours!

The ski season is fast approaching and with around 50 days till I leave for leg 1 of the year I'm doing what I can with regards to eating healthily and preparing myself for another long season. Sessions on the dry slopes are going well, our freestyle team had a great session last weekend and the race team meets tonight, always something to keep you busy!

Right now I feel like I am on a massive life upswing, I have never felt this happy while being at university, I really think that cutting back on the drinking has made a huge difference to me, something that I couldn't have seen a few weeks ago. I don't feel I drank any more than your average student but maybe it affects me more beyond the evenings, tiredness, laziness and unproductiveness all increase when I drink, take today as an example, had a great night out but I've accomplished very little since then! Everything else just feels great at the moment, I don't know what it is but my mood is always good, my patience seems endless and I can really focus on my work. I'm slightly concerned I might be growing up but I'll have to get back to you on that....

I've been giving my future a lot of thought, I have two years left of university and I need to plan beyond them. Realistically I think my future lies in on of a few areas. I won't bore you with them here as everything feels up in the air but I'm planning on being more proactive with regards to my future, planning internships, going to meetings etc.

Over the next few weeks I guess I'm going to carry on as I am, working hard, playing hard, drinking less and in general leading a happier more productive life!

Onwards and Upwards

What a difference a week or so can make! After a truly appalling finish to September things are looking up, had a good few sessions strung together and the results have been pretty good, I'll save the details for the end of the month. I've just finished my third coaching session and am really pleased with how they are going, even if not a lot is talked about in an individual session the effect it has on my game over the whole week is invaluable. The last session was fun as I have a new favourite fish from Germany, I'll keep his name a secret for now but he provided me with endless entertainment both on the table and in the chat box. One thing I really need to work on is my volume, I'm very unhappy with the amount I've been playing, I need to up it to at least 10k hands a week, preferably a lot more to really put what I'm learning into practice and win more. I don't want to cheat at this by simply increasing the number of tables I'm playing, 12 is perfect, it allows me to closely follow the hands I'm in and gives me time to note, mark hands for review and take time over important decisions, not to mention they fit on my screen ok.

Aside from poker everything is really good, settled into the new house well and am getting on with studying, feels hard after 4 months off but I'm sure it will come back over time. Last night was the introductory pub crawl for the University Snowsports club and it was great to see loads of new faces who have joined this year, looking forward to seeing them over the next 10 months and beyond!

My fitness regime has taken a slight knock as I haven't been feeling so great, probably enjoying myself a little too much and not enough sleep but since stopping all that I've been better and am getting on with it. Played squash for the first time in years the other day and I had forgotten what a fantastic game it is, coupled with the fact it is a excellent workout! I'm aiming to try and play 3-4 times a week, thats about all my legs can handle right now, I am ridiculously stiff this morning thanks to a 5 game stint on the court yesterday.

Lastly, I'm sure many of you do, but I have to recommend listening to the 2p2 PokerCast every Tuesday, for those who don't listen it is a brilliant roundup of the weeks poker news mixed with engaging interviews with stellar guests! The hosts Mike and Adam do a great job presenting as well, ably assisted by their technician Bunner, if you like to listen to stuff while you grind this fits the bill nicely!

September Review - October Goals

Sorry it has taken me a while to get this post up, I had a very bad end of the month and needed to cool off a while and take some time off poker before coming back. I lost an entire months profit in one day playing very badly.

However, there were a lot of positives last month as well! I agreed to enter a coaching contact with Team Moshman, this entitles me to at least 1 hours coaching every week in exchange for 50% of my earnings at 25nl only, a fair deal from my end seeing as the majority of my profit comes from live play, this allows me to work on my online game with great coaches and great people to discuss hands with! In addition to the coaching there is a great network of support and people to talk to that gets you through bad days and bad beats!

I finally moved into the house and I love it, the internet is all sorted out and am looking forward to mixing grinding with studying over the next year. I've arranged skiing in France in the winter for three weeks so far, I'll look to do more once Easter time gets a bit closer. This is my favourite time of the year, checking the snow reports and webcams and seeing the resorts changing and getting ready for the new season, I am very pumped for the start of the season!

Looking forward to the next month I plan to put in my required volume for coaching, at least 10k hands per week and really get on top of my academic work, the more I work now, the less revision I will have to do while skiing in France in preparation for my exams when I return in January. To get ready for the ski season I am almost completely cutting alcohol out of my life and getting much fitter, this is a general pattern in my life, everything seems geared towards the ski seasons! I've started 2 fitness programs to complete couple bets, one is to complete 1000 situps in an hour, the other is to do a certain amount of pushups but the details are not confirmed yet. I used to be a decent athlete competing at county and regional levels but have let my fitness go in the last 2 years since an illness, time to regain myself! These bets are a way of finding the motivation to get me started again!

I'll finish off this post with my depressing results from last month!





Onwards and upwards, start of this month has been promising!