2008 year in review

so the graph pretty much tells the story. couldn't lose for the first half of the year, couldn't win for the second. i think i said it in a previous post but i think i must have ran very well in the first half of the year as well as made more money from playing a tighter game pre-flop which in turn puts you in better spots postflop.

i think the first half of the year i was playing a 18/15 style preflop and a real fit or fold post flop game which isn't the most profitable way to play poker but at low limits it can definitely work. the peak off the graph is when i was at 400nl and i did pretty well for my first 20k hands or so before things started to go sour. looking back now, i think the point of when i started losing was the same time i decided that i needed to open up my game. this included starting to open up more speculative hands, 3-bet more, introduce 4-bet bluffing etc.

since then i've been a steady loser not only at 400nl but 200nl as well. the thing with poker though is that it's easy to tell yourself you're just running bad but it does you no real good because before you know it, you're making bad plays and not taking responsibility for them.

take this example, i had a hand where a loose passive player limped the co and i chkd my option in the bb w/ J3o. flop is JJ8 rainbow, i lead out and he calls. turn is a small brick, i lead out again and he raises pretty much committing his stack. it's very easy to stick it in there and be shown a better Jx and chalk it up to a cooler but when you're analysing your play there is no way you can kid yourself into calling there.

so after i had opened my game up i went into a stage where i was playing scared poker. every flop i saw i convinced myself my opponent had a set, played timid and got slayed. i eventually got out of that mindset and have made great strides in my game since but i still think my game is far from great.

when i was 9 tabling the last couple days i realised that although it might be profitable, it causes me to develope bad habits and ultimately is causing a regression in my game. i love the fact that i can play 2k hand sessions but whats the point if im playing them all like garbage. i guess it's better to just play 600 hands to the best of my ability and if i can only get 12k hands in a month than so be it. this is something i've known all along but once in a while i need a reminder.

this is just one big ramble but when i look back on 08, im not going to think of it as a failure. i made money which is a lot better than a lot of people can say. my roll is slightly larger than last year but i've also cashed out upwards of 10k over the year. im dissapointed in the last 6 months though because i had so much hope back in july, i was crushing my way upward and had reached 400nl about 4 months earlier than i thought i would have. i remember signing up for a coach and stated that my goal was to be a winning regular at 400nl by the end of 08 so i guess i've missed that goal since im not playing 400nl currently but i do have a positive result lifetime at 400nl.

as for goals this year im unsure. i haven't really thought about any yet and i haven't played the last couple of days. i will probably think of some tonight and make another post about what i want out of 09 before i play my first session of the year.

tg