So after making my glorious comeback from a 200k downswing in the first couple weeks of this month... I couldn't stave off the second one.

A more brutal downswing in terms of mental suffering, but not so bad in terms of dollars. I am now down over 6 figs for the month and this time I'm feeling pretty fatigued and run down. Sure, I'm still up like 450k this summer and I really don't have any right to complain about anything, but it just proves the point that everyone who plays poker already knows: Losing $x makes you feel a lot worse compared to the happiness you get from winning $x.

Luckily, I have been really busy with Leggo and I will continue to put in lots of effort which will take me away from playing lots of hands (not the best idea when going back to school anyway). However, this will also mean that I need to economize the time I do play poker better. Over the summer I basically would sit at 25/50 and 50/100 HU tables and await people to sit down and play me. While I waited I would generally browse the internet or turn on Wii and play some video games, keeping a close eyes on the tables and turning up the sound all the way so I could hear when someone sat down.

Although this really was fun and relaxing and allowed me to effectively play longer sessions (me sitting at tables for an hour and then playing for an hour was something I would always count as a two hour session), I will not have this luxury when I go back to school for obvious reasons. Therefore, although this strategy was better in terms of long term EV (I could play more effective poker hours for an overall higher $/hr and not be burnt out due to the large breaks in between games), I now have to maximize the few hours a day/week I can play. Since I won't be playing long enough sessions (ie >2 hours) or enough per day/week to get burnt out, it's better for me to be constantly playing when I do. Therefore, I will be playing anywhere from 5/10-25/50 in the next month or two (until I recover my losses from this month). There will be no 50/100 HU , even though I still have to be up over 6 figures from that this summer.

Also, I only play two tables of HU so I will be doing something like switching from a 5/10 game if I'm already in a 25/50 game and someone else sits down at 10/20 to play me (unless the EV is higher at the 5/10 game). I apologize in advance if we are in a game and I take off, but I will do my best to inform everyone I play that I might leave midway through.

Couple more random thoughts: I think it's a lot easier (especially since I think my HU game is better than my 6max game) to win at >10ptbb/100 at 5/10 HU than to win at 5ptbb/100 at 10/20 6max. If I can play 4 tables of 10/20 6max and win at 4-5ptbb/100 that's about $600-800/hr. However, I would be shocked if my hourly 2 tabling 5/10-25/50 was less than $1000-1200 or so an hour. Looking at these numbers it kind of stinks because this is a self-imposed pay cut compared to what I feel my true hourly rate is playing 25/50 and 50/100 HU, but nonetheless necessary due to my lack of available hours, and also because I want to psychologically get back to "where I was" BR wise (purely psychological). I really think that I want about $300k in any account I'm playing 50/100 at so I can just take a $100k downswing in stride and not have any other factors like lowish (15bi or less) account balances affect me.

My goal is $100k in the next 31 days. I will also be moving back to Wake on Saturday and pretty much be out of action until Tuesday/Wednesday so I won't let that stress me out too much. During the weeks I will be in a very regimented schedule and this will certainly help me accomplish my goals. My lifting partner at Wake will be happy to know I will be offering him $100 every time I don't go to the gym as planned due to laziness.

Writing all of this out has been pretty therapeutic and I am already feeling better. After I make my goal for the next 31 days I will most likely set another goal for the next 30-31 days (after all isn't a month just coordinated numbers?) and maybe when I hit both of those I will buy myself something cool as a reward. Like an R8 .



Greg