Monday, February 13, 2006
Feel The Burn
I did intend to play 500 Sit and Goes in 5 weeks, and I was on course to do that, but I think it's just been too many. They're fine when you're winning but I find them a slog when it's not going so well. Having started to play PLO8 and 7 card Hi-Lo versions out of boredom I have, I think, caught myself in time to say "enough for now".
Overall I trousered just over $5000 in about 420 which isn't bad. Having made $2000 in the first hundred and then repeating the trick in the second, I fell into the trap of thinking that I was the greatest and that this would continue indefinitely. I even had visions of quitting work and playing the boss's head like a bongo on the way out (it doesn't help that his head would make a brilliant bongo). I don't have to tell you what happened after that, although it's some consolation that I made another $1000 despite feeling that the whole world was against me for much of the time. $500 in rakeback and bonuses certainly helped.
Proof of concept and a handy $5000 in fairly quick time is enough to be happy with. I think it has improved my button/SB/BB play as well. Without having the exact breakdown to hand I have a feeling that the games are better in the mornings and afternoons, with more passive players who are just trying to cash. So these are still good for the odd hour of a weekend when there's not much tourney action. But in the meantime back to the MTTs, and now 4-tabling those. I'm moving towards the business end of one on Blue Square as I write, so back to that for now.
Quick update : In fact I've sold myself a bit short there, with rakeback I'm still owed it's about $5400.
Overall I trousered just over $5000 in about 420 which isn't bad. Having made $2000 in the first hundred and then repeating the trick in the second, I fell into the trap of thinking that I was the greatest and that this would continue indefinitely. I even had visions of quitting work and playing the boss's head like a bongo on the way out (it doesn't help that his head would make a brilliant bongo). I don't have to tell you what happened after that, although it's some consolation that I made another $1000 despite feeling that the whole world was against me for much of the time. $500 in rakeback and bonuses certainly helped.
Proof of concept and a handy $5000 in fairly quick time is enough to be happy with. I think it has improved my button/SB/BB play as well. Without having the exact breakdown to hand I have a feeling that the games are better in the mornings and afternoons, with more passive players who are just trying to cash. So these are still good for the odd hour of a weekend when there's not much tourney action. But in the meantime back to the MTTs, and now 4-tabling those. I'm moving towards the business end of one on Blue Square as I write, so back to that for now.
Quick update : In fact I've sold myself a bit short there, with rakeback I'm still owed it's about $5400.
# posted by Andy_Ward @ 10:17 PM 
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Nice going, Andy:
The more I look at my online play, the more that I feel that averaging $1,000 a week is not impossible, and this is while holding down quite a busy job as well. What vanishes is the social life and spare time.
The problem, as you say, is that playing one thing all the time gets a bit tedious. For me, it also gets rather tiring. An hour of four-tabling (admittedly after a day in the ofice) had be feeling knackered.
So, was it really a "proof of concept"? You showed that you could do it over five weeks, but the strain was clearly beginning to tell. As you and I know, the nipper's rail is littered with talented players who have no talent for bankroll management, or self-discipline. You had the self-discipline to stop, but would you (could you?) have carried on playing at the same level of skill when it became a monotonous grind?
In other words, the "I could do this professionally if I had to" line kind of remains unproven for both of us, because (a) it's always a supplement, never a must-earn-to-eat and (b) we can always take a rest when we feel that it's getting a bit too much.
The more I look at it, the more I feel that talent is a very small part of the equation when it comes to making a good living from playing poker.
For example, the degenerate law-school drop-out (precise address of blog escapes me at the moment), currently "grinding" at $30-$60. Nothing that he writes is rocket science, but a lot of it is sheer hard work. 2,700 hands a day? If I did that, five days a week, I would be earning $80,000 a year myself. The thing is, I couldn't do it five days a week, for an entire year. He, apparently, can.
Pete
The more I look at my online play, the more that I feel that averaging $1,000 a week is not impossible, and this is while holding down quite a busy job as well. What vanishes is the social life and spare time.
The problem, as you say, is that playing one thing all the time gets a bit tedious. For me, it also gets rather tiring. An hour of four-tabling (admittedly after a day in the ofice) had be feeling knackered.
So, was it really a "proof of concept"? You showed that you could do it over five weeks, but the strain was clearly beginning to tell. As you and I know, the nipper's rail is littered with talented players who have no talent for bankroll management, or self-discipline. You had the self-discipline to stop, but would you (could you?) have carried on playing at the same level of skill when it became a monotonous grind?
In other words, the "I could do this professionally if I had to" line kind of remains unproven for both of us, because (a) it's always a supplement, never a must-earn-to-eat and (b) we can always take a rest when we feel that it's getting a bit too much.
The more I look at it, the more I feel that talent is a very small part of the equation when it comes to making a good living from playing poker.
For example, the degenerate law-school drop-out (precise address of blog escapes me at the moment), currently "grinding" at $30-$60. Nothing that he writes is rocket science, but a lot of it is sheer hard work. 2,700 hands a day? If I did that, five days a week, I would be earning $80,000 a year myself. The thing is, I couldn't do it five days a week, for an entire year. He, apparently, can.
Pete
# posted by 
: 1:23 PM
: 1:23 PM
"Proof of concept" was probably a bit vague. I should say that it's more of a demonstration, maybe even only a suggestion, that I can make a reasonable rate playing Sit and Goes as one string of the bow.
My mental picture of quitting work is more along the lines of sorting out my expenses, primarily a place to live, such that I only need about $500 a week. Then I'd be playing 10-12 hours a week plus any extra I wanted to or didn't want to for pocket money.
As I have mentioned before, I think a lot of players are trying to make too much which causes them to burn out, either from the hours or the swings or both.
Andy.
My mental picture of quitting work is more along the lines of sorting out my expenses, primarily a place to live, such that I only need about $500 a week. Then I'd be playing 10-12 hours a week plus any extra I wanted to or didn't want to for pocket money.
As I have mentioned before, I think a lot of players are trying to make too much which causes them to burn out, either from the hours or the swings or both.
Andy.
And by the way, the rail is also littered with untalented players who have no talent for bankroll management or self-discipline :-)
Andy.
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Andy.
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