Not So Good Start

I was hoping not to start out my backing on a downswing but that's not how it's worked out so far.

I'm not going to get into too many details regarding specific amounts and details about the staking but I will continue to update my MTT graph and you can draw your conclusions from that.

Also, I'm trying to figure out (using excel) how to change the color of the data on the graph where I become backed. You'd think it would be super simple but I'm struggling with it. If anyone has a solution please let me know, if not I'll keep messing with it.

In other news, I'm in the process of moving to Vegas right now and for about the next week. While I'm not going out there to play 10K buyins or twenty-five events at the WSOP or anything, I do know that poker is in my future for at least the next few years. I  might as well live in Vegas for a while, maybe longer.

Also, houses out there are incredibly cheap at the moment given the housing bubble and the state of the economy. I hope to be purchasing my own home sometime in 2011 and getting a great deal on it.

That's it for now.

Backed

Big news: I'm no longer playing on my own.

This is not a permanent thing. This allows me to open up my range of buyins and play slightly higher daily tourneys and a much broader Sunday schedule.

I haven't figured out yet how this is going to affect my blog. The graph at the top of the page that I've always kept is my own profit from grinding up my own bankroll. I don't think I want to mix that graph with my new staking results.

I'm completely open to suggestions on how I might merge my own results with my staking results in a way that makes sense.

Well, I have a good feeling about this. Wish me luck!

Quick Update

Haven't posted in a while so I thought I'd throw something up real quick.

Just got 4th in the 30c on FT. Also finished 9th in the $10k Sniper on UB tonight. Got 3rd in the 30r on UB a little less than a week ago. Stars has been a nightmare for me as always.

In my last 286 tourneys I've made a whopping $133.48. I'm starting to really question whether or not I can make 100K this year.

I keep saying/thinking I'm running below expectation but maybe I'm not. The game has gotten so much harder. More aggressive players forcing more showdowns. The edges are getting slimmer and I just don't think you can really rape it anymore.

I'm obviously feeling pretty negative and burned out right now but, who knows, maybe I'll hit some kind of heater or something and hit my goal after all.

2nd in 18K

What an emotionally draining month July has been. I've taken a good amount of time off the past couple weeks and my sleep schedule has gotten kinda screwy. I've been burnt out on poker as this month has been such a roller coaster ride.

I played last night for the first time since Sunday (the 25th) and I only played the second half of my schedule (starting at 11pm). Luckily I was able to pull out a 2nd place in the $26 18k Guarantee. I really needed the boost of confidence.

The money doesn't even get me back to my peak profit for the year but the confidence-booster is probably more important anyway. It reminds me that my heater WILL come.

Healthy volume, anyway...

Having played 293 tourneys so far this month, and given the fact there are still nine full days of play left, I'm easily on pace to have my second largest month of the year in terms of volume (and largest since I stopped playing low stakes tourneys). This is good news.

And while the absurd beats and situations won't come to an end, I'm very happy with my play and my focus this month. All I can do is focus on making good decisions and continue playing. That's ALL we can do in this game. The rest takes care of itself.

Just Stuck

On July 1st I won the 20K for 5.2k. Things were looking up. Then I ran deep in a whole bunch of tourneys and got disappointed tremendously. Then I won the 15K for 4k and change. Things were again looking up. Then I continued to run deep in some big tourneys but come up short at the end.

Overall, my last 250 games have been intense, frustrating, and worst, not even break even. Since the 20K win on July 1st I'm down 1k. It's completely absurd. I've been playing so well. This is one of those stretches where if just a few hands had gone differently I'd be up 10 or 15k on the month right now instead of sitting at 4k.

Two nights ago I bubbled the FT of the 30c. Tonight I bubble the FT of the 20r when my AK lost to 88 then I go onto bubble the FT of the 20k when my AK lost to KQ.

Obv Sunday was another disappointment... like I even need to mention it.

Just sigh. Gotta keep movin' along though. My big rush IS out there and it WILL come.

Absurd Opportunities

I've had an upsetting last couple nights. They have basically summed up my frustration this year as a whole.

I've now bubbled the final table of the Fifty/Fifty and the Nightly Seventy Grand three times EACH this year. Not a single FT in either and they have been the staple of my nightly schedule since basically February.

Last night I bubbled the 23K FT and tonight I finished 7th in the Turbo Fiddy (another tourney I just get raped in).

Every time I think I'm on the cusp of a breakthrough month or a huge upswing I start to run well below expectation. My average buyin for the year stands at $40.82 (through 2,033 games) while my average profit per game stands at just $20.04. This is an absurd ratio. This is the kind of profit margin I had when I grinded 45-mans.

I know that 40K profit is on the LOW end of expectation for any given 2,000-game period based on the schedule I've played and the +EV decisions I've made. It's just a matter of time until I breakthrough and start seeing the results I know I should be seeing.

Tomorrow is yet another Sunday and yet another bevy of opportunities. Hopefully I can turn my long string of upsetting Sundays around.