2008 – A year in review.

Firstly a brief wrap up for this month.

Start of December 2008 BR = $1780.10
End of December 2008 BR = $2448.75

Overall $668.65 profit
Bankroll increase of 37.56%

Where did the money come from?
Ring games = -$13.41
SnG's = $513.30
MTT's = $98.76
Bonuses = $70.00


Now how has the entire year gone?

January 1st 2008 BR = $100
December 31st 2008 BR = $2448.75

Ring games = -$8.53
SnG's = $1290.40
MTT's = $927.13
Bonuses = $144.80

I’d said to myself in the end of 2007 that 2008 was going to be a trial year for me. Prior to 2008 I had lost money consistently so to not bust once and show continuous growth is a massive achievement for me.

What’s really interesting is between January 1 and September 1 I made a profit of $366.97. September 2 through to the end of the year I made $1981.78. So approximately 80% of my profit came in the last 4 months. Exceptional growth, I can only wonder what will happen in the new year.

I am happy with my bankroll management system, its’ proved to be great protection for me. There have been several instances throughout the year where I moved up in stakes and had to move back down. Was real kick in the guts when that happened but it’s all about playing what I can afford to play in without putting myself at financial risk.

At the start of the year I was playing $1 SnG's, 10cent MTT's and playing .01/.02 NLHE cash games. Cash games didn't change all year and they are going in the can until I get some official training as I clearly suck at ring games. I'm currently on $22 SnG's and almost rolled for $22 MTT's. I am however strongly considering increasing my buy-in requirement for MTT's to 200 buyins.

Following last months data here are stats for my 3 main accounts for SnG's.



My most profitable game recently has been the $10 double or nothing at Titan Poker, the results are below.



These games have got me a hourly rate of $10.56. If I can attain the some ITM rate on the $20 games then $21.12 per hour is starting to look a lot better.

Plans for 2009

One of the best moves I've ever made this year was not focusing on cash so much. The biggest hurdle I find myself coming across is fear when I move up levels. I'm not going to start saying I want $xxxx by this time next year. I'm focusing om still playing my best but also start looking at my money in terms or buy-ins. Rather than saying I'm $600 away from $3000, start saying, I'm 15 buy-ins away from the $30 game. Ultimately I want to be multi-tableing $100 SnG's and MTT's by the end of 2009 but that's still along way away. I may even find I switch to playing 1 table at a time as the competition may be a lot better and it may be more like playing actual poker, however having viewed some of the hands played by CC colleagues on 200 or 400NL, I suspect it may be similar.

Another one of my goals is psychological. I've had a tendency to enter games with minimal expectations. Hoping just to cash in MTT's or hoping to cash in 5 out of 8 SnG's to make minimal profit, and generally that's exactly what happens. Highly inspired last night after watching the 2005 NBC Heads Up Championship several players were interview. They were Antonio Esfandiari, Scott Fishman, T.J. Cloutier, Chris Ferguson and Phil Hellmuth. They all have different styles of playing but their primary message was clear.

The Warrior Mindset
In order to win, you must think like a warrior. Let no-one put you off your game and show no fear at any stage. Shoot for the stars and know that you can do it. Don't be bothered by uncontrollable set-backs as they are unavoidable. Let nothing deter you and fight harder that you've ever fought before. This will be probably my biggest challenge to date as changing the way you think does not and will not happen over night. But with a positive outlook and critical thinking I can get it down, the only question is how long will it take.

Playing poker aside, I also intend on becoming a more prominent member at CardsChat. Having been helped by so many down to earth good people, I'd really like to give something back to new players, not so much in terms of how to play, more so how to think and keep positive.

Shout-Outs and Thanks

All CardsChat members that have given my advice throughout the year both via chats and responses on threads. Way to many to list but primarily, IceMonkey, KingCurtis, Chuck, Zach, Jurn, Insocre, Jagsti, thank you for any assistance and following the blog, I look forward to many more posts next year showing fantastic results.

Christopher Squirkle.

Mate, even though you don't play, you following the blog and watching the progress and all the comments are highly appreciated. Your one of the only people I know that doesn't play yet reads every post I make. I look forward to that big win where we can have a massive celebration, my shout obviously :).

And finally,
The one who doesn't believe in superstitions.
The one that's teaching me critical thinking.
The one that points out my grammar mistakes so I can edit my posts after they've gone live.
The one who went bananas with me when I took down that 360 player 10cent tourney.
The one who's trying to convert my from PC to MAC (I'm still not sold by the way)
The one I'll be working with even closer next year and in many years to come and some unbelievable exciting ventures.
Yes, I'm speaking of the infamous Dr.G.

You have been with me since I started with $1 in August 2007. I can remember being so excited about making 17 cents in a session because it showed a positive ROI. We haven't broken any rules and showed unbelievable discipline which will continue. I'm super excited about the projects coming up next year such as the blog migration and what the "Jabber" is working on for us. We are still a bit away but we have some unbelievable times ahead of us, or that needs to happen is to keep the focus.

So that's it for 2008. Over the moon with my results and looking forward to a bigger and better 2009.

Happy New years all.
Custo