Goals for October 2008.

Ring Games.
Since the start of the year I’ve had nothing but problems with ring games and I think I’ve figured out why. I’ve been playing them for too long and trying to make too much money of a single session. Turning $2 into $3.93 then saying “I’ll try and hit an even $4 then leave” and of course I end up going broke.

I’m going to go back to 1 table at a time and keep my sessions small. I’m on an absolute mission to get off 2NL and the only way to do that is to grind patiently as 2NL is one of the craziest games online.

As this is my first month with a new approach, my primary goal is simple, don’t lose money like I have almost every month to date.

No Reconciliations.
Something I did in July & September but not in August. Funnily enough I had the biggest months in both July & September and I lost money in August. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, having a primary monetary focus is a big mistake. When I focus on playing every day, session, hand to the best of my ability, then the end result reflects that. When I worry about needing to make $xxx by the end of the day, diaster strikes.

Sticking to $5 tournaments.
Last month I saw at 2 occasions I could afford to move to an $11 game. I moved up twice and lost twice and moved back down twice. If I had a good run at the start of the month I could easily afford to move up again early/mid October, but this is a long term process for me and with recent successes at $5 games, I figure it’s in my best interests to play them for 1 more month. Hopefully if I keep a high ITM and positive ROI I’ll have an additional 20-30 buy-ins for the next level starting November.

That’s all, nothing extravagant, still just sticking to basics and keep moving up.

Results to start the month couldn’t have been scripted better in my opinion. Played the $5 MTT, didn’t cash but made some stupid mistakes so all my fault.

Played 4 $5 SnG’s and didn’t just cash but won them all, very nice ROI there.

Also played my first 210FPP game at Poker Stars and cashed. If you don’t know what this is the buy-in costs 210 FPP (Frequent Player Points) it is a 20 person tournament with the top 6 finishes getting a ticked into a $11 MTT hosted on Monday mornings. As I won’t be able to play it I have the option to sell my ticket for a cash value of 99.5% or use that $11 in any other tournament. Still deciding what I’ll do.

Lastly, a nice picture to end a great starting month.