I'll start off what will hopefully be a fun and interesting thread for p5'rs of all levels.

2010 was a weird year for me personally, in life and in poker. I started working full time after graduating college and moved in with my long time gf /brags. Poker on the other hand was not so good. According to OPR I ranked in the 99.64% in 2008 and 99.62% in 2009, respectfully. As of this typing I'm staring at a very mundane 70th percentile. Needless to say I did not meet my goals. With poker and pretty much anything else in life there are variables. So in reflection I believe I can attribute some of my poker short comings from life changes which in turn dampened the time spent on studying the game, watching training videos, talking hands over with friends and staying focused ON POKER while I am playing (not work, football, gf, etc). Given I had less days to play due to life commitments I may have been reckless with game selection and overloading the number of games that I can profitably handle to try and "make up" for time lost.

Variance in MTT's alone could also explain it. I choose to not blame variance in my case because there are so many things I could have done better. Pegging variance as the root to all my problems seems like a cop out and excuse to me. Everyone obviously experiences the positive and negative side of variance, but with limited volume this still can be a logical argument. I'm still going to give it my best shot to finish strong so I can get my confidence back, make some money and avoid having to look @ that 70th percentile number for the next few years. Also it's not to early to start making a plan and learning from my mistakes this past year.

So there's my story. Hope to get some thoughtful responses from everyone else!

Oh and I dug up last years resolution/goals thread. Fun to see if you were successful or not.

http://www.pocketfives.com/f7/new-ye...5/#post5023588

"- stop bitching about variance/beats
- double profits this year while playing less.
- accomplish doubling profits by focusing and taking every tourney played seriously, study study study, maybe join a training site again, and find some players who aren't to cool/busy and are willing to talk strategy."

I for the most part failed lol.

2010 was shit poker wise and good non poker wise

Its pretty sad that the other way round might please me more!

2010 was easily one of the craziest years of my personal life, which I will not even begin to go into because this is a poker forum. My poker year is ending up really solid. Played my usual break even part-time self the first half of the year, but the last 3-4 months I have done really well for my microstakes. I've shipped a few MTTs, final tabled some more, top 100'd a MiniFTOPS, losing a huge pot with about 80 left to a 2 out river resuck to the eventual 2nd place finisher that chopped for 40some K(damn you pmpnuho!), and have shown a $2K profit on stars and just over even on Tilt(only playing on there since August) with around a $5 ABI. I've contributed a lot on here this year, learned a lot from other contributors on here, hooked up with some other poker minds to talk about the game and continue learning, and am really happy with the year.

Good luck everyone. Finish strong

 

Originally Posted by TheWhitePele

2010 was shit poker wise and good non poker wise

Its pretty sad that the other way round might please me more!

Same

had an absolutely horrible first 8 months and have finished stronger then i could have ever imagined over the last 3 months...i was all over careerbuilder for a couple weeks and seriously considering a regular 9-5...but as most know, a bachelors degree doesnt go nearly as far as it used to, and there's no doubt poker is my best option. Hopefully i can keep this momentum going into 2011...and im definitely on the side of "thank god for NO blackout"...might be short-term thinking, but it's where im at and not trying to leave the country for 1-3 years or whatever it was...gla in 2011

[x] Won money in tournaments
[x] Lost money in cash-games
[ ] Good year of poker

As a low/micro sng grinder im pretty happy with how my year went. Obv hard to have any highlights with sngs, but now its near the end of the year and im finally stepping out of the low stakes. Could be a sweet 2011 if stars remains open to the us

 

Originally Posted by andressoprano

Started the year with 10K FPP's on my PS account, looking for a "real" job, completely broke, buried in debts, credit cards maxed out, etc. 12 months later I shipped a Sunday major, chopped another, completed a TC, had 11 5 figures, and 1/4M profit. On top of that, I have a bunch of people paying me good money for coaching, and there is no variance involved in that, so my bills are covered. I'd happyly repeat in 2011.

Forgot to mention, all this happened from March 'til now, with 3 motnhs off from online play in between.

Such a good story, congrats on the success man. Oh and vegas? Too much fun, glad you've had some good Fortune.

Poker was mostly good. Disappointed in some of my year but c'est la vie with tourneys. Super proud of my girlfriend for getting into tourneys part time in August and grinding through a brutal downswing to start and finishing up the year with a second in the double deuce and a fourth in the 22 cubed on Sunday as well as a seat to the women's event @ PCA.

Overall life is awesome though and I'm very fortunate to be in the position I am leading into 2011. Considering where my life was a few years ago and where it's heading with my girlfriend I can't help but feel like a lucky guy.

Still trying to work on my mindset, though. I sometimes tilt and make slightly bad to mildly bad decisions and I'm effectively lighting money on fire. Just gotta accept that there's a shitload of variance in MTT poker and if you don't embrace it and accept it for what it is it's just going to beat you up.

Good luck next year everyone.

stan van gundy

I am very happy with where my poker has gone this year. Learned a lot from everyone who has contributed to this site and everything I learned from that. As a micro donk I wanted to become a profitable player, so I joined this site last feb and wanted to learn a lot more. Goal was to be up 3-5k in all poker games. With live and online I have attained that goal. Learned a lot about BR mgmt and finally started putting it into practice. New goal for 2011 is my first 4 fig score, (so close) put in more volume, increase my roll from low 4 figs to high 4 figs or 5 figs and start taking more shots at mid stakes. GL to all for the remainder of 2010 and I wish you much success in 2011.

Cheers

 

Originally Posted by Burying_Luck

Such a good story, congrats on the success man. Oh and vegas? Too much fun, glad you've had some good Fortune.

Lord, Vegas was some fun. Still high from giving my frist couple of puffs to a pot cig, I'm too old for that shit

Has been a great 2010, work has been awesome

got married this year, had our 2nd baby in March

poker has been up and down this year, they ups have been fun. And i have reached every goal i have set for myself aside from 1 (cant win a mtt on stars to save my life)

Have met and talk to amazing ppl that i have met through poker, mostly from this site

finally got my first major score and had several opportunities for others. all in all not a bad year. will double volume in 2011 and double my profit...

i've been playing $6 90 man ko's on FTP all day ------ my year sucked ass. 2011 will be better