Operation: $$ accumulation

Nice! I'd be far too scared to go for the honey.

Also, how's the back?

Woot. I just activated my deal me in bonus on FTP and bought a whole pile of ring game tickets (after FTP told me in no uncertain terms that my original points to cash plan would result in my account being closed... unfortunate). Cash balance on FTP has increased 600% since three hours ago as a consequence of ring game tickets having a max ticket value etc.

There aren't a whole lot of games running so it's like playing a small site such as everest a couple of years ago or something - except with awesome software. I'll probably play 3 sessions a day for a while, alternating stars and FTP. Feels good to back at FTP - i've played over 3 million hands on that site so it's pretty familiar...

Originally Posted by rong

Also, how's the back?

back is improving. I've reached the point where i can do rehab exercises, which should accelerate healing. Hoping to go for a light jog at the start of february, optimism is a beautiful thing... In the meantime i'm going to continue grinding out some poker volume.

simultaneously playing the maximum number of tables on stars and ftp is not smart
simultaneously playing the maximum number of tables on stars and ftp is not smart
simultaneously playing the maximum number of tables on stars and ftp is not smart
simultaneously playing the maximum number of tables on stars and ftp is not smart
simultaneously playing the maximum number of tables on stars and ftp is not smart
simultaneously playing the maximum number of tables on stars and ftp is not smart
simultaneously playing the maximum number of tables on stars and ftp is not smart
simultaneously playing the maximum number of tables on stars and ftp is not smart
simultaneously playing the maximum number of tables on stars and ftp is not smart
simultaneously playing the maximum number of tables on stars and ftp is not smart

I think i'll mostly be on ftp until i clear this bonus. Not going to make the next vpp milestone on stars anyway.
bonus clear + rakeback + ticket clearing = almost snee rate. Add in winning at the tables and why would i even care that there are only 9 tables running...

i have less ring game tickets than i initially bought
when you make money with them, the money converts to cash when you leave the table. When you lose money with them, the ticket value decreases and can't be topped up. If you lose a few stacks with the same ticket then it eventually reaches a value where you either have to move down in stakes or shortstack aggressively until it's back up in value or busto. Then you simply start over with a new ticket - and i'm absolutely fine with that! FWIW, i have added far more to my cashier balance than the value of the tickets that have been used up. I'm converted. And as for the rakeback equivalent? well, i'm clearing a bonus + receiving diamond edge rakeback - so it's about 65% before factoring in the value of the points i am accruing...

whenever i feel the urge I'm transferring the FTP money across to my stars roll. I've still got a few hundred thousand FTP points and i'm accruing more - I expect I'll be able to do all of my FTP play using points for a while yet. People talk about not tracking results by checking cashier during a session - tickets are great for this cos opening cashier merely lets me know whether I've cleared any more bonus increments.

ahh, ftp. I'm back. Still going to keep enough volume on stars for nova etc, not sure which will be my main site in 2013. Debating putting in some time on party as well now that the bwin thing is happening. See what happens...

it's over 3 1/2 years since i started playing poker for a living. There have been swings. There have been long holidays and many overseas trips. There have been only a few weeks i've played more than 30hrs. I've been a little more busto than i'm comfortable with a couple of times. I've been as comfortable as i like most of the time. I've bought a house and i'm 9 months into paying off my mortgage. I still haven't won a big tourney. I'm still not crushing mid-stakes. I'm still grinding. Poker. It's an interesting game and still teaching me a lot. I'll stick it out a while longer...

yo daven, if you dont mind me asking, why is it you choose to grind a living out of microstakes instead of moving up? i mean you've beat 10-50nl for a very healthy winrate for many years over (i assume) many millions of hands, are you tempted to move up? do you think your hourly is better playing many tables at smaller stakes vs say 14 tables of 100nl?

edit: these questions arose in response to the "still not crushing mid-stakes" point you made

Originally Posted by rpm

yo daven, if you dont mind me asking, why is it you choose to grind a living out of microstakes instead of moving up? i mean you've beat 10-50nl for a very healthy winrate for many years over (i assume) many millions of hands, are you tempted to move up? do you think your hourly is better playing many tables at smaller stakes vs say 14 tables of 100nl?

don't mind you asking at all
there are a whole bunch of reasons, it's one of those how long is a piece of string type of questions. If it was re-phrased 'why are you stuck grinding microstakes instead of small-mid stakes' then a good answer would be 'too much time multi-tabling and grinding and auto-pilot, too little time playing fewer tables and studying and thinking deeply about the game'. Or as red so eloquently put it once (paraphrased) 'everything is because you fucking suck at poker'. Given how much i have learned since he last told me that, and how much i still have to learn, i have to concede that he was absolutely correct.

For context, I've played close to 2million hands at 100nl+ lifetime, so i've spent some time at small stakes. I've also had some pretty big swings. A few times i've decided to withdraw and start over, last time i did that was due to FTP closing down while i was travelling in Europe and it started out great (from $50, i got given shit about doing so and the points were valid). Late last year i was doing a sweat with m2m and talked about my moving up plans, they were good plans. Then i moved up to 50nl and 100nl and ran (played?) really bad for a week or two. Then things got all kinds of weird when i had heaps of distractions going on around buying a house and other life stuff and I decided to just grind the quarters and fiddies for a while, and, iunno, kinda stuck there. Which is pretty gross now that i think about it. I've been playing between all over the place the last two months, with most of the volume being at 25nl.

as for max hourly, i don't know at the moment. I hope to figure that out in the new year again.

Cheers

poker is done and dusted for me in 2012. Results? sufficient to support myself and pay the mortgage and travel some and have a few weeks off etc. Insufficient to be stoked about the year of poker.

It has been a good year in the life
see y'all in 2013.
in 2013 i'll graph in dollars rather than big blinds
here is 2012 - some 10nl, some 16nl, some 100nl, some 200nl, the vast majority at 25nl and 50nl.
cheers.

Looking forward to 2013. Keep up the solid work.

two years of blog here, time for a fresh op
this one has been an interesting ride
check in here if you are interested in 2013...

Don't know what it is about this thread that attracts spam but I closed it. If Daven needs it open he can ask any mod.