On the looooong road to victory

First, a big thanks to those that sent along good wishes, some tips and general positive energy as I make my run up (and down) the super Nova Highway. Its been a real challenge so far - a great excercise in futility…and lots of lessons on how to succeed in poker. Many of those lesson coming the “hard way”. I want to reach Super Nova and its a ways away so I have to set some intermediate goals.

First my goals….by Christmas.

To make this a reality …..my ETA is 24 months. For those that think its impossible to achieve - I disagree. Its sure is going to be hard so first I needed to get an idea on what it would take. My first reality check was to punch into the VIP calculator what would it take to get there…and here it is what the numbers look like.

CASH GAMES - NL Holdem - 2 Tables - 10 hours at the 1/2 Level. Need some bankroll for that …..So that would require a 200$ stake each session. If I stick to the rule you need 25X for each roll, that would mean 25X200 or 5k. 10 hours is very doable - the way I look at it is 3 sessions in a week - each about 3 hours. Its what I roughly play now….just not at that level. So I am there on the time - play 2 tables. I am 4 levels away - means I need to move up a level every 40 days roughly. I am starting  at the NL10 level. Then moving up to the NL25 level - then NL 50 finally 1/2 NL. I could also add a few hours of LIMIT. I think it is a safer way to build a roll. I plan on implementing a ‘test’. I am gonna play microstakes using the Skalnsky Malmouth and Miller Winning Low Limit Poker as my guide. My goal is ride one table like a computer - just to see what happens at the lowest stakes.

SNG PLAY - Secondly, 10 hours of SNG play at the 50$ level. When I play Table tournaments 9 handed - they usually are in the 2 hour limit time wise. So for me that would be 20 SNG tournaments….maybe 4 at a time. I know its done. I know there are pro’s that make a living at SNG’s….and its goal of mine to become good at them. Again, I think its doable. I am proud that my “poker” partner and study buddy - CTOWNPRO….has graduated from 1$ to 5$ and now to 10$ SNG’s with moderate success. He has really studied his game hard and continues to make a positive ROI at each level. I wish I could keep up.  Again 50$ a tournament x 4 at a time is $200 a buy in. Need to build that roll to 4k. Now we are at 9k starting roll….whew.

MTT PLAY - Finally a few MTT’s. These really don’t wow the VIP calculator. Again, to be a great poker player - it would require a solid understanding of MTT play…and a few big tournaments in the hopper. Buy ins’ are roughly 200$ so 20x that in the roll would be another 4k.

It would mean playing Cash and SNG poker for 20 hours a week and then the tournaments on top of that - consistently for 10 months to reach SUPERNOVA status. To become that type of player - I’ve given myself 240 days…8 months of studying - playing and improving. For those that are interested, I do have a “job” of sorts - its about 20 hours a week at night, as a consultant - pays well - limited time. So for me its balancing poker - work and most importantly family. Most of my sessions take place at night, with a few minor ones during “NAP TIME” which is really daddy’s “POKER TIME”. If at any time - I turn in to a +EV poker player - I know I could swing the wife into a full time type gig…which it would have to be.

Now to do all this with a 10$ starting bankroll. That’s the challenge. I did start with a 10$ roll on Jan 10th. I took that roll to the 1$ SNG turbo’s where I do quite well and managed to run it up to about $30. Then I took a shot at the 5$ rebuy for 55$  tournament tickets. I hammered 4 of 5…so that pushed my T$ roll which I sold a bit and played a bit. Before I knew it - month one was over and the roll was a healthy $150.00. Month two rolled in and so did the cash games. Poker Tracker has me at up $75.00 in cash which is the good news. I started Multi Tabling 5/10 cent poker and then up to .10/.25. One day I got bold after a few winning tables and jumped into a 50NL game and took it down for $150.00. All of a sudden my roll was at $300. Then I started taking shots. This is a big NO NO when your trying to grind your roll.

I played a lot of 5$ SNG’s with moderate success. Then I wanted the instant gratification to the roll of the 4$ SNG 180 man…a big failure on that. Finally I played some loose poker and took a beating in the cash games. The roll went down hard to about $100.00 where it sits today. So I  need to reanalyze and work on my game. I was so tired playing this week - I might as well have given my money to charity.

I am gonna work on a schedule - one that allows time for improvement - considers my bank roll requirements and keeps me on track for SUPERNOVA. It has been a real mental test.

Back last summer I can remember sitting on the porch, laptop in hand, a few cool drinks…day after day.  Great days, a few quiet times. My results were pretty good. 3 tournaments of the low buy in nature. A 36th, 27th and 16th all with fields in excess of 1500…back to back to back. I remember thinking - easy game - I could make a living at this. Truth is I knew less about poker back then, and played way more fundamental. More in tune with “tight”. A few leaks later and I find myself struggling to make it deep. That will change when I “refocus” my game.

Finally I had my “radio” interview with Mike and Adam who seem like genuinely great guys. It was a neat experience and a cool way to introduce our new baby girl to the world, via the pokercast two plus two. It was nice to get a plug in for pokersift and I hope it helps our community grow.

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