June 2010 Review

So, my first month as an FPP Pro is complete. I am writing this a day early as you will notice, this is because i am having the last day of the month off to troll around London in the hot Sun. I will be tempted to drop into 'The Vic' or the 'Empire', but i won't till next month now. Oh, and if anyone has any feedback on the Western Club, please mail me or comment below as i have never been there and am interested to visit.

How did my debut go then?, well in a word, disastrous..... I have had my first losing month in well over a year and i have also had to top up my bankroll.... something i have not done in ages as my account balance was previously large enough through built winnings to cope with my downswings.

The reasons for my loss are mainly bad beats. I reckon i lost around $2k in situations where all the money was in and i was a large or huge favourite. This happens to all pokers players, so i just got to ride it i guess. I can't blame it all on bad luck as i am definitely guilty of making quite a few bad river calls this month, around -$800 i think.

One of the big errors that i made this month was succumbing to the time pressure of playing 20 tables. When i had a big decision to make i would often find the waiting tables building up and then i would rush my decision in order to deal with the other tables so i don't time out. I now realise that if i need to correctly act on a hand worth $200 i need to forget about say 10 waiting tables where i might only be in the blinds for around $3, so if i time out i time out.... sounds obvious, but in the heat of battle, the pressure can force mistakes. This is part of the learning curve as a new player to full-time grinding. I am figuring things out one by one.

I have also had a play with my bet sizing, 3bet and 4bet strategies and also my starting ranges in various positions. I am still to finalise all these elements of my game and some of the things i tried this month were simply not profitable and i will change certain things in July. I have used a sound strategy for 5yrs and its worked extremely well, so i guess if its not broke then don't fix it. The only problem with the last statement is that i want to improve my game and that will not happen if i play the same way as i have always played. I have over the last five years won on average 71% of the time (calculated by month)

The final numbers for June are as follows:

-$2,793 (Table Losses)
+$100 (Stellar Reward for 90,000 VPPs)
+$1,000 (Milestone Bonus for 100,000 VPPs)
+$54 (2x Free Poker Books from the VIP store less 1 purchased)
+$40 (Free Gym Bag from the VIP Store)
+$44 (Live/Home game winnings)
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-$1,555 (Total Month)



The YTD numbers as at the end of June are as follows:

+$5,745 - Jan*
+$3,385 - Feb*
+$467 - Mar*
+$1,620 - Apr*
+$1,234 - May*
-$1,555 - June
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+$10,896 (Total YTD)

* indicates winnings attained as a part-time player

One of the things that i estimated before i began life as a poker pro was the attainment speed of bonuses. I thought i would pick up one $4k cash bonus and one milestone bonus every 25 days. I have now revised this figure to take into account time off and the work-life balance. Realistically at NL100 i think it will take me 35-40days to get the 2 bonuses worth c$8k. This will be quicker at NL200 but then i have a larger risk. In June i got around 42k VPPs. I need to get more like 70k VPPs per month to hit my bonus collection target. I blame it on the World Cup and Tennis distracting me.... haha.... I don't actually need an income till Aug as my previous employer is paying me till the end of July. So June was pretty relaxed.

I will set a target each month for the following month. So, for July my target is:

To hit the gym 20 times..... lol
I will not set a target for July as i will be pretty relaxed about poker till the 12th of the month. I may issue a target after that.

GL at the tables...