With 2010 coming to an end and 2011 beginning there has been a lot of talk on P5s about "who will break out in 2011" or "turning their 1k bankroll into so much more". Breaking old habits and getting your resolutions in order for 2011 and also creating new habits to move forward with your game, fitness or state of mind has to be step 1. I've been PM'ed by a lot of members asking about posts I make on this site in regards to my 2010 year. I can relate to a lot of micro/low stake guys as I was in the same boat a year ago today. I had a 1k bankroll and no real MTT success yet but was so ready to break out with a fresh slate of a year to get going. The way I was managing my time and money before I started getting serious just wasn't getting it done. I knew there was still a lot of leaks I had to get figured out. I reached out for coaching and it helped me plug a lot of leaks in my game. The most important lesson I took from coaching was that I needed to be able to play stakes where I could afford to fail. I am the kind of person that has to learn from my mistakes in order to get it down. So I started with the intention of playing for experience, not for the profit yet. I was 12 tabling everything under 10$ and I mean EVERY 1,2,3.5,8 and 10$ double stack, superstack, turbo and reg stack I could find. WITHOUT a tracking program. I knew this wouldn't be enough tho, I knew just like anything else you have to completely surround yourself in the game you want to progress in. I moved to Vegas for the month of February '10 to mix in the Venetian Deep Stack/NAPT events for live balance. I had a few cashes but still no success.

In March 2010, I moved back to Texas and planned out my everyday sessions in a in a house with SamuelL_Jackson, a cash game turned MTT up and comer to keep the mindset and grinds going. That month, I finally had my first uptick winning the Daily Double A, 32k and 15ko in 24hrs for over 15k. I was a firm believer in inevitability and that if I kept making strides while mixing in shots it was eventually going to happen. I can honestly say that 2010 was all about getting my hands dirty and I am proud of the well deserved victories and accomplishments.

Now it's 2011 and after winning the Turbo Fiddy last month, I cashed down my roll quite a bit and am currently dealing with a 7k downswing. With that being said and really packing on some extra weight over the holidays, I have chosen to get back to basics not only with my physical and mental state but with new MTT goals for a fresh year. Last year was about the experience and this year my focus is to learn how to switch gears better, discipline myself from being too spewy and get mid-high stakes/live success. I had started with some micro/low stakes and mixing in some midstakes shots in preparation. At this point I work all day during the week so I have must been playing the 6max rebuys and some higher than avg bi mtts and saving the midstakes grinds for the weekend.

I wanted to help the micro-low stake guys that need a midstakes mentor to help them with their game and be shown that with the right money management and dedication you can turn 1k into a 35-40k year. Everyone on this forum is at a certain level and I know that as a midstakes grinder, I personally look up to a lot of the high stakes professionals just as I know there are a ton of micro players that look up to midstakes players trying to get to that next level.

Good luck in 2011.

nice post.

good luck this year!

DO you think your 7k down swing was because you played abover your bankroll? or do you think its variance? or did you find that you still have leaks in your game and you have to work them out? I'm assuming when you play higher stakes you have to change your playing style a bit right?

just asking.......you seem like an honest guy who wont sugar coat anything......wish you the best.........

ty Chuns, congrats on the 50/50 last week

theboy- I absolutely believe not only was I playing out of my bankroll but had not done anything to empower myself since thanksgiving. The combination of holiday eating, drinking everyday and no working out/running will destroy your beliefs in yourself and your game. Confidence plays a huge roll in the way you shuffle through huge fields. Variance is there but it can be controlled at a lot better pace with better bankroll management. Higher stakes defiantly requires changing up your play. Most of the players at those levels have already destroyed the low-midstakes so it's a lot tougher to get past them on later streets, especially when they have position.

Good post and good luck in 2011. Variance is a bitch, but you have the right attitude!

good post monies!congrats on your year!look forward to more!

[QUOTE=wilLplay4mOnies;5994721]ty Chuns, congrats on the 50/50 last week

Ty bro.

gl in 2011

gl mOnies. I'm a micro grinder and looking forward to good things myself this year.

Nice post mang.

GL crushing 2011

Thanks for the post. I am implementing a work out schedule as well as watching more videos to improve my game. anyone who is trying to get better needs to keep a positive outlook on all aspects of life. and have the desire to work hard. Any micro- midstakes players who would like to discuss HH's theory etc. please pm me I only have one poker buddy irl and need more people to bounce ideas and what not off of. I look forward to more posts Monies and hopefully we can all learn from each other.

great attitude! today i said about 10 times that i hate poker (am on a sick downswing myself), and ur post is like that eye of the tiger rocky song lol wish u the best

I can totally relate to your situation as I started the year out in a similar position and almost ended it as you did. I started out the year with no bankroll to speak of and depositing 50 dollars here and there for a total loss of around 1k. One day while super tilted from throwing away another deposit I used 50 ftp points to enter a million guarantee super sat. I happened to win it by running great and made it into one of the big ftp point sats and somehow won entry into the milly. I decided to cash out that ticket for around 500 T dollars and started playing way above my roll in the various $26 guaranteed tourneys and managed to cash for a little over 2k. 2-3 days later I was at the final table of the double deuce chopping it four ways in first place and was so tired I didn't even realize we left a few thousand to play for, having never before even discussed making a deal. Luckily I still got second and walked away with 23.5k. This put me in a crazy position as I went from having no real "bankroll" and no plans to play for a living to having 25k+ online. I immediately started playing stakes where I had no hope of being +EV and withdrawing/blowing cash on all the worst things possible. However over time I put in real time with my game after deciding it was as good a time as ever to take a shot at playing for a living. Up until the last few months of the year I was consistently hitting scores right before I ran out of money online and my profit was around 30-35k. I was consistently withdrawing when i would hit a score as money to live on and as my spending gradually once again outpaced my earnings I started to take money out of my stock account to fund poker and was seriously looking at the possibility of having to make some hard choices in the near future. The last month and a half of the year I was no longer hitting scores often enough for poker to be actually earning me money and my downswing was making me question my game. My 40k profit goal for the year was no longer looking realistic and I was considering dropping down below my usual 26 dollar stakes for the first time since January. Then on the 30th I played one tourney, the 28k guarantee and managed to make the FT, though I soon busted in 9th for a huge disappointment in my first FT in over a month. Then on the 31st I woke up around noon and was thinking I wouldn't even play that day since new years activities meant the 33k ko was the only tourney i could hope to finish and I would be registering about 40 minutes late which I had really been trying not to do on my now meager bankroll. I took a look at it anyway and most likely because it was new years there was about a 10k overlay with registration soon to close so I decided to play one tourney before I left the house for the night. I managed to play it great and run well to make the FT in back-to-back tourneys, which I don't believe I'd ever done before. Though not one of the chip leaders I made it to 3/3 and there was deal discussion. I was ready to chop it up for the smallest share but the player in first wanted more and the player in second claimed his edge was too huge since he was a professional and wouldn't take anything but the largest share. Shortly afterward i busted the professional to go into heads-up with a nice chip lead. The other player wanted to deal and I planned to if we ever got even in chips but managed to play as perfect as I could and things went my way ending up with me shipping it for just over 7k for my largest outright win. This immediately completely reversed my mindset and put my years profit at almost exactly 40k. It put me in position to play my favorite tourneys within my bankroll even while withdrawing some much needed cash for my expenses. It's so easy to lose sight of the fact that variance can make it seem like you aren't the player all evidence points to you being. And I know that I'll probably feel that way again but hope I can keep reminding myself that I've consistently made money playing and that if I keep up complete dedication to improving my game and putting in the hours that I can hopefully continue to do so. Your story just sounded so familiar to me and I'll also tend to downswing after doing well because I don't have that hunger or discipline that you do when winning in the short term is very important. I wish you the best of luck in the upcoming year. Remember that you're a winning player and if you play your best game variance will swing your way eventually. Good luck to everyone else to and hope to see you at the tables.

Can someone tell me how to edit my above post? I accidentally posted before adding paragraphing and feel pretty stupid that I can't figure out how to fix it.

 

Originally Posted by Pghfan987

Stop trying to run the table over; give people credit for a hand every once in a while.

ohhh

gl