My New Year’s Poker Resolutions
2006 is on its way and that can only mean one thing: New Year’s Resolutions. So without keeping you on the edge too long, here are a few of mine that can be useful for anyone trying to improve his game and win some money to pay off those holiday credit card bills.
Bankroll- This has been a bad spot for me all year and throughout my poker career so far. The conventional thinking is to have at least 300 big bets for whatever game you are playing for limit poker and 20 full buy ins for no limit. Sadly, I have violated this advice many times in 2005. This is the first step to fixing the problem. Now, the hard part comes as 2006 approaches. Saying it and doing it are two very different things. The fact of the matter is, it’s much better to be over bankrolled than under rolled for whatever game you are in. Maybe someday soon I will put this into practice and never look back.
Playing tighter- After getting beat up in a $1-2 no limit cash game, I recently made a bet with a friend. If he catches me playing any card lower than a ten (excluding pocket pairs), then I pay him $50. If I can last a month without playing bad cards then I win $50 (plus all the profits I’m sure to make in the cash games). Anyone who has played with me or has watched me play knows I’m an underdog to last that long, but if I can win the bet my friend says he’s happy to pay it off, because of the vast improvement it would be sure to bring to my game. A month without 56 suited? I can do that! (I hope)
Reading more- The more I read about poker, the better I seem to get in every aspect of the game. This includes magazines, forums, and books, as well as articles online. There is so much material out there today to absorb and take in that it’s frightening. However, I seem to read only when times are tough and I’m looking for a helping hand to get me out of my downswing (or tilt-induced bad play). I need to read more when I am doing well and keep a level head, so I can keep more of my gains and extend my winning streaks. Also, it’s never a bad idea to reread some classic books, if for no other reason than to reminisce about how quaint some of the ideas are.
Shorter sessions- A lot of my typical sessions start off so well. I play tightly for the first few orbits and pick up a premium hand and play it correctly and get paid off from one of the many fish at the table. I stay tight and pick up another hand, maybe wired kings or aces, and I win again. However, after I take a rough beat when I have a premium hand, things seem to unravel. I tilt slightly and play worse starting hands than usual. Maybe I win a hand or two with a bad starting value and give myself some false hope. I might even play tighter again and wait for good cards. However, there is a point in the session where I become too results oriented, too focused on getting even, and too tilted to continue. And yet I continue to play, hoping to win or break even. I think a lot of this is due to a lapse in concentration. Instead of playing 7 or 8 hours at a time with multiple tables, it would be a lot better for my game to stick to 3 to 4 hours at a time and then a break. This will help me keep perspective and stay in line. Mixing in a marathon 12 hour session maybe every two weeks isn’t bad, but making a habit of playing long hours is a recipe for disaster, at least for me at this point in my poker career.
More Tournaments/Live Play- Playing sit n gos, multitable tourneys, and even freerolls helps break up the monotony of cash games and gives me a fresh outlook on poker in general. The payouts are also very enticing for most multitable tournaments, making it worth the large time investment needed to cash. Live tournaments and cash games are also a nice diversion from grinding it out online and allow for good ole human interaction (the downside: can’t play in your underwear).
