Blog Has Moved!

Oops. Forgot to post back here with a link to my new blog, I'm now blogging for RakebackDollars.com so check out their rakeback offers!

http://blog.rakebackdollars.com/author/gotwai/

Final Blog Post

So I've been meaning to update this blog with my Las Vegas trip report, and also the end of month review for July. As soon as I got back from Vegas around mid last month, I had the uphill task of hitting 50k vpps before the month end, in order to keep my SuperNova Elite status.

Well, I'm still a SuperNova Elite, but I'm massively behind on the grind. Right now I have around 372k,and just under 5 months left to get 1 million - who said the SNE grind was easy?

After having a great time in Vegas, where I basically played zero poker, adjusting to life back here has been...difficult. Good news though, we're almost at the stage where contracts are exchanged on the flat, so hopefully we'll get the keys and move in by the end of August, that would be nice! So in exchange for a good amount of cash, we'll finally have our freedom, but in the process we'll also be flat broke. lol.

Poker went well last month, and whilst I did book another five figure month, I'm gonna break a trend here and not bother posting my results. I'm not exactly too happy with the direction that I took with this blog, basically posting just graphs and being completely results orientated, and whilst I think I've proved to myself and everyone else, that I have succeeded in making a living out of playing poker, I'd rather move in the direction of writing stuff that can help others - both poker and non-poker topics (life, travel and food are good examples!).

So this will be the final post in this blog. However, I'll be soon blogging on another site where a few poker mates have setup which will offer bonuses, rakeback and coaching packages. That'll be my fresh start, and I'll probably put up my Vegas Trip report on there too. Once I've got everything setup, I'll post the link here so everyone can keep upto date with my poker journey.

bfn!

June Review

Hands played: 75915
Table hours:  93
Total profits for June: $14,918
2011 half year profits: $66,004

Commentary to follow when I can be bothered! :)

House/flat Hunting Time!

And its about damn time! After working so hard last year, and to a lesser extent this year, we're finally in a financial position to start looking at flats/houses to buy. There seems to be quite a few properties that meet our requirements and budget in the area we're targeting, so I'm hopeful we'll be making offers real soon, with a target of moving out of here by October, but definitely before the year's end. We're pretty much fed up with living above the restaurant, for various reasons, some of which I've blogged about before. I'll be so glad when we're finally able to say goodbye once and for all to this place.

Pokerwise, I had a rocky start to the month but thats just variance, and its expected to happen from time to time. I have various reports/methods that I use to check for this in Holdem Manager, which helps alot when reviewing my 'bad' sessions to determine whether I just ran into the top of peoples' ranges and got coolered alot, or if my losses were due to mainly poor play. Overall though I'm doing good this month, and just today hit the 30% milestone of my SNE chase. Even though I'm way behind, I'm no stranger to hard work. After my Vegas holiday, I'll be back into serious grind mode. 

So yeah, just a short mid-month update to tell you guys that hard work does eventually pay off!

May Review

Hands: 73,137
Table Hours: 93
Total Profit: $19,387


Despite running bad for most of the month and falling just short of the 20k mark, I'm quite happy with the way I handled the bad side of variance for the past few weeks. As you can see in my graph above, the orange line shows my expected profit for the month, and the dark green line is what I did actually win. So had I not been run bad, I would be up 22k for the month. Thats a great indication though that my poker game has improved immensely since I started working with Deilor, and also a reflection of the improvements I've made to my mental game, thanks to Jared and Barry's book.

My goal at the start of this month was to achieve 100k vpps, and try to catch up to SNE pace. I didn't achieve that goal - instead I've accumulated only half that amount - 50k vpps, enough to maintain SNE for another month. Whilst 93 hours playing time in a month isn't something to brag about, I can say that I've spent maybe 30-40 hours in addition to this working on my mental game and reviewing my actual poker game.

For the month of June, I'm setting my goal to achieve 100k vpps, just short of 400k before the half year mark, and my 10 day holiday to Vegas. I tried making enquiries to cancel my flights, but the refund I was offered was so ridiculous to the point that I might as well just fly out there and enjoy it. Also, I've been told that the potential strike by Virgin Atlantic pilots has been resolved, not that it matters anyway since I've decided not to play in the Main Event. Hotel is booked, we're staying at the Monte Carlo on the strip so it really is going to be a break away from the grind that is online poker.

To finish on a good note, this month I also took my first steps into the world of high stakes poker - 5/10. If I look back at this time last year, I wouldn't have even thought I'd be playing at this level right now. My plan for June is to table select across from 1-2 all the way upto 5-10, and multi-table 10-12 tables. The last thing I want to do is fall back into old and bad habits, so I'll also be spending alot of time reviewing my sessions with Deilor, and working through Jared & Barry's Mental book.

For a change, I'm actually looking forward to June. Beginning of July is our Vegas trip. End of July is Raymond Lam's concert in HK...will we be attending? :D

Turning a corner

Where to start? Well, despite running bad all this month on and off the tables, this month I feel I've turned a corner in my poker career. Firstly, I'd like to thank Deilor for helping me identify the biggest mental leaks in my poker thinking. Secondly, I'd like to thank Jared Tendler and Barry Carter for writing 'The Mental Game of Poker' book. A book of poker truths and revelations which I now refer to as my bible.

I've had a few sessions with Deilor in the past couple of months, but it was only after our 3rd session, and after I'd replayed that session several times over, that it really sunk in - I was playing poker like a fish. I had so many mental game issues that prevented me from thinking clearly, and making logical decisions. I always took it for granted that I'd think logically, having a Masters degree in Physics and a maths background. But as Jared and Barry pointed out in their book, when your emotions are out of control, it turns off the higher functions of the brain - the part where logical thinking occurs.

Whilst I'm not going to go in exact detail about my mental game leaks in this blog, they're all covered in detail in  the book. I've read the book once over, and now I'm going through it again much more thoroughly, using it as a guidebook in helping me resolve the mental game flaws that Deilor found. Up until this month, these flaws had remained unresolved, and in some cases, I wasn't even consciously aware of.

Its with confidence that I can say these flaws have frustrated me and hindered my progress in the past, and that I'm so relieved and thankful that I'm fully aware of them. Fixing them is going to take a lot of work, but just knowing what to fix is a big step forward and onto the path on achieving resolution. So far this month, I'm seeing the positive effects of working on my mental game is having on my poker game, which I'll report on once the month is over.

Off the tables is a different matter, but I'm trying to apply Jared's teachings not just to poker, but to all parts of life, especially when it gets frustrating. 

Had I known that Virgin Atlantic pilots were balloting for strikes, had I known that Black Friday would have occurred, had I known that PokerStars were going to delay their WSOP announcement a few days prior to the series starting, then offer no incentives (as per previous years) for playing in the WSOP, I would have taken the option of flying to the Caribbean to play in the PCA at the beginning of the year. 

But I didn't know all this. So now I'm in an unfortunate situation with 2 direct flights booked in July, having booked early and at a ridiculous price, with PokerStars now not offering their SuperNova Elite VIPs guest suites at the Palms. There'll also be no VIP party, no 50,000 VPP incentive, no goodybag, no free PCA package if you cash in the Main Event, and absolutely no PokerStars representation at the WSOP this year.

That'll teach me to book so early, not entirely sure if I can cancel my flights and get a full refund, not sure if the strike is going to go ahead, going to Vegas at peak season and being amongst all the top poker pros but not playing the Main Event. Oh and having to book my own accommodation. Thanks PokerStars, I really feel like a VIP. I've decided pretty much to not play the Main Event now that they've withdrawn all the extras, and since they've given me the 10k buyin in cash I'd rather save that towards buying our house later this year, than waste it on a high-variance tournament.

I'm really not looking forward to going to Vegas in just over a month's time. What's the point since I'm not going there to play in the WSOP? I won't even be able to play online whilst I'm there, since its been banned. If I could have my choice right now, I'd refund those ridiculously priced tickets and book a week away to the Maldives or the Caribbean, and/or go to Hong Kong and chill out, go shopping, eat nice food and get front row seats at Raymond Lam's concert. And perhaps pop over to Macau too, to remember only the good times we had over there back in 2009. 

 

The troubles of an online poker pro

April 2011 Results
Table Hours - 100
Hands - 81k
Table Profits - +$6923
Bonuses - $6800
Net Profit - +$13,723

If it were not the fact that I be publishing my monthly results on my blog right now, very few would believe that I'm doing ok. That's because the majority of people tbh, don't understand what poker is. They think its like blackjack or roulette - pure gambling. I'll usually forgive people's ignorance of the facts since it wasn't that long ago (maybe 5 years perhaps) that I'd have said the same thing, but what I won't be so forgiving of is if you try and argue with me about the particulars when it comes to taxation of poker in the UK - you really should know better, especially if your career is in finance/accountancy.

If you'd not talk crap out of your arse  done your research properly, you'd have found out that there is no such trade as a professional gambler in the UK. It doesn't matter if you're skilled at it or not, if you play recreationally or everyday, or if you win big or small, its not taxable in the United Kingdom. I was always pretty good at doing my homework...
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/bimmanual/bim22017.htm

But not being taxed has its downsides too. Most notably, the ability to obtain credit - specifically, you can't get a mortgage if you play poker for a living. How do I know this - well, again I've done my homework. I went to speak to a mortgage advisor in a retail bank, and when I told them what I did for a living, they just smiled and said no.

So this leaves me having to save up enough to buy outright in cash. Given the fact that house prices are pretty much still at their 2008 peak prices, especially in London and the S.E., It's likely I'm to have to budget for around £200k ($320k USD) just to even afford a 2 bed house on the very edges of London. Having lost/spent/wasted most of my previous savings back in Macau in 2009, and being busto for the second time in my life I started working towards this goal at the beginning of 2010.

Its not easy being a professional poker player, especially if you're trying to buy a property. Infact, its damn tough. As I've said before, I've not had a holiday for over 18 months now. Last Christmas and New Year's was a miserable time that I'd rather not talk about. I know I'm going to Vegas in a few months time, but its not a proper chance to really get away and not have to think about poker for a while - I've got a fair bit of reading up and playing tournaments as practice for the main event before I fly out there. Its still work that I need to do to prepare, in addition to my normal daily cash grind.

The reality is that, if I'm totally honest, it feels like I'm trapped in another rat race. The Supernova Elite rat race. The must buy a house rat race otherwise I'll be stuck living like a busto student above the restaurant for another year. Not allowed to have another dog (for obvious reasons), can't go on holiday or get a new car because we have to save for a house, can't have a bbq because we don't have a garden. FML.

It sucks especially since I'm so desperate to get out of this place, but at the same time I'm feeling well and truly burnt out. It feels like I've lost most of my motivation that kept me working hard last year. Every month this year so far, I've failed to hit my targets by a long way. I did only 100 hours on the tables last month, even though I spent alot of time working on my game away from the tables and playing less tables simultaneously, 100hrs/81k hands is poor for a SNE grinder. Even this time last year, I was much further into the Elite chase than I am right now.

And so I was told today, by someone I look up to and trust, that speaking with me they felt that I was playing poker like I'm just trying to 'survive', and not really trying to 'kill the tables'. That really struck a chord with me, because basically, he's right. We talked a little bit more about this, how I should be trying to be the best player that I can be, and not to trouble myself with trying to be as good as other players. For that in itself, I am certain that I can become a much better player if I commit to working hard enough to improve. The trouble right now is, how can I find the motivation to take it to the next level?

Poker's Black Friday - Another Setback?

It's barely even been in the news here in the UK, but Friday 15th April 2011 will forever be known as 'Black Friday' in the short history of online poker. For those who aren't in the know, last Friday the US Department of Justice and the FBI released a press statement indicting the executives at 3 of the biggest online sites - PokerStars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker/UB, for illegal gambling, bank fraud and money laundering.

Along with many of my poker friends that I've talked to over the past few days, my initial thoughts were that this was some kind of practical joke. But then I saw the twitter feeds from top pros and respected names in the poker world, alongside the many many threads on twoplustwo forum, and reports from Reuters confirming the news, but it still didn't feel real, and I'll explain why.

Since December of last year, lobbyists in the US have been trying to get online poker legalised and regulated. As recent as last month, the announcements of Wynn Resorts partnership with PokerStars, and Station Casinos partnership with Full Tilt were viewed as significant positive steps towards legalisation. Now both Wynn and Station Casinos have terminated these agreements. US players are now banned from playing at PS, FT and Absolute. So you can see why I was so optimistic that the poker economy would improve over the next few years. There was no forewarning of this event. It just happened.

Even just the day before, I met up with many of my former work colleagues, and was telling them that I was doing well this year, after getting Supernova Elite last year. My focus this year was getting SNE again, and improving my game so I can crush the tables. Now all of that is doubt - I don't even know if I'm gonna be able to continue playing on PokerStars in the weeks to come, nevermind getting Elite again, or going to play in the WSOP Main Event in Vegas in July. Funny how one day things can be going good, and then the next day everything is thrown into doubt.

So what now? Well, as of Friday I started trying to cashout my bankroll from Stars - there was no official response from their reps until Saturday, so I assumed the worst and acted how most people would - cashing out my bankroll. So far I've had one withdrawal approved, and one is pending, leaving me with a small amount to continue to grind in the meantime. Whilst I don't keep a massive amount online, I certainly can't afford to lose that amount. Such is the trust that I placed in PokerStars, I'd have said pre-Friday that the money was safer there than in any UK high street bank account.

I'm also so close to releasing 6.6k of bonuses so for the time being I'm continuing to play poker whilst I can, and I need to get a minimum of 50k vpps this month to keep my current SNE status. Whether I'll be able to continue on as a poker pro for the remainder of this year in light of recent events, its out of my control for now. All I do know is that the immediate future for online poker is at best, uncertain.

Back In The Driver's Seat

Even though I already have a full UK driver's license, it has been over 2 years since I last sat behind the steering wheel, which incidentally was when I actually passed. So I've had to don the L plates on whilst I'm driving, and getting used to navigate my way on the roads. I'm not afraid to admit that my current driving ability is poor, and that I need to improve. Also, the same could be said of my current poker ability.

Last post I talked about running breakeven on the tables, but I didn't go into much depth, besides mentioning the fact that left unchecked for an extended period of time, it can negatively affect your mindset. Infact, I'll dare go as far as saying that being longterm breakeven on the tables is actually costing you money, and the need for self realisation that you suck, and have huge leaks in your game.

The reasoning for this is actually, quite simple. When you're playing poker to win money, you choose to sit in games with weaker players, i.e. the fish. Thats because you're expected to be at a positive expectation (+ev) when you play against the fish, zero ev vs regs of a similar skill level, and -ev vs sharks. In most cases, even with 1 big fish and 2 sharks at the table, your overall expectation should still be positive. That's because the mistakes the fish is going to make vastly outweigh the mistakes that you'll make when you're in pots vs the sharks.

And lest we not forget, Poker is a game of decisions. Those who can make the best decisions and the least mistakes, will be the top winners. Everyone makes mistakes, even those regs like Nanonoko who crush the games, but the mistakes they make are usually small and big mistakes are infrequent. If you find yourself breakeven and you are a reasonable table selector, chances are you have making many mistakes and have big leaks, even when it comes down to exploiting the weakest of players for maximum value. Simply just sitting on a table with many fish isn't enough. You need to know how to exploit the mistakes that the fish will make in order to profit.

For the past week and a half, I've been working a tonne on my game, especially the basics. In the past, I've underestimated how important the foundations are to success later on, and this has hindered my progress thus so far. So I'm back to playing ABC poker, and learning the reasons behind the decisions we make on the tables. I've also dropped to playing far fewer tables for now (5-6) so I can focus more and implement my decision making process at the tables.

For so long I've been mass multi-tabling upto 24 tables on autopilot, without really consciously thinking about my decisions. The best decision I've made so far this year was that as of the end of last month, I no longer wanted to be a non-thinking mass multitabling breakeven rakeback monkey. Thus my poker journey begins (again)...

March Review

Table Hours - 69.5
Hands - 65k
Table Profits - -$6622
Bonuses - $4148
Net Profit - -$2474


OK, so I ran really bad this month. The red line in the graph shows my expected value (ev) which is what I should have won according to probability. But thats not the important issue here - despite the runbad, my game over the last 65k has been at best, breakeven.


Breakeven is still winning though? or is it?


Don't listen to what anyone else says about running breakeven. Sure, you can get Supernova Elite or 2x SNE and make six figures running breakeven or even at a slight loss on the tables, but I don't see how healthy that can be for your mindset in the long term. Besides, no one can deny that #winning feels downright good! Last year I told some of my poker friends that I'd put my Supernova Elite chase as my primary goal, spending more time grinding and playing poker at the cost of spending time improving. I did exactly that, but I also said that I'd spend more time in 2011 improving my game. And I'm not just talking about improving my CAP game, it goes much more further back than that, back to the fundamentals of poker itself, and my thought process when I'm making decisions.

Its been something that I've been told time and time again, both by my friends in poker and outside, but I refused to listen to them. I was telling Seb yesterday that even Jason, as bad as a coach and person he was, recognised that fundamental flaw in my game. He tried to help me fix that issue, but I don't take being shouted down at and being berated for it, too well :) And because I've never bothered to address the issue, it has severely affected my game until now.


A matter of perspective


Its a matter of perspective of the way we view things and other people in the world. You know the common sayings, 'stop comparing yourself to other people' (i.e. keeping up with the Jones's), 'stop moaning you have it quite lucky compared to people in Africa' etc. You could say that about everything in your life, theres always someone better off than you and someone worse off. Even so, that shouldn't stop you from trying to achieve greater success in the long term. Its human nature to aim for gold, to be the best, whether we get there or not isn't the point. And this is exactly how I feel. If this year turns out to be like last year, i.e. I make SNE and six figures again, but not improve, then in my opinion I've not accomplished anything. The money won't make me happy.


You can't do it alone

Especially in poker, you'll hear time and time again that those who make the most and quickest progress are the ones who constantly talk poker with like-minded people. Not only is it key to improving your thought process when discussing hands, but also the motivational aspect of talking to those who are of a higher level of thinking and success will help drive you to work harder. Whether thats through a study group, or hiring a coach (which you should always view as an investment if you're taking poker seriously and not a cost) or just talking with poker friends, networking can open doors which would otherwise be closed.


Don't get complacent - the best piece of advice that was written in my high school leaver's book, written by a classmate who unfortunately, I have forgot. And that's what's happened as reflected by my first losing month since mid last year. The good news is that I've taken the first steps to finally fix this fundamental flaw in my game. That's all I'll say for now!

Mid Month Update

As per usual, this month started off really bad. I don't know why, but its always happening. After a week in, I found myself down over 3k, running bad because my all-in ev was around zero (this basically means I should've been breakeven). So time to take a few days off, we drove out to Bath - home of the Roman natural thermal spa . We did the usual sight seeing, and also spent 4 hours in the Thermae Spa. Lucky for us it wasn't that busy on a Tuesday, and the weather was great so we spent almost 2 hours at the rooftop spa:

I definitely recommend that anyone who's currently stressed out from their jobs or whatever, spend some time there! So relaxing :)

So now after that mini-break, I'm back to grinding on the tables, feeling motivated again. I have about 3 and a half months before I fly out to Vegas for the Main Event, so I really need to get a move on with both Supernova Elite and learning a bit of tourney poker before then. As I'm behind pace for my targets this month (I don't even want to think about pace for 1.5x SNE!!) and also because the number of fish at NL400 seems to have dwindled abit since the changes, I took the plunge and started mixing in NL600 tables into my grind. So far its going ok, theres not much difference to the NL400 games except the pots and betting structures are a fraction bigger. The regulars are mostly the same as NL400 and the fish too, they are just as bad as they are at lower stakes, except they have more money to lose :)

In other news, I've recently been buying alot of things online, a friend mentioned that I had developed a bout of 'retail therapy' to ease my runbad on the tables, but I disagree - sure, I bought alot of games for my PC and X-Box recently, but they are there for when I need to cooldown from a really bad poker session. The kinect I bought, was for the purpose of shifting some weight, and being a bit more active. I've also spent a fair bit on computer stuff, namely a new Steelseries Xai mouse:

A new PSU for the PC that I initially bought in Macau:

A 60gb OCZ Vertex 2 SSD:

A Logitech G510 Keyboard (awaiting delivery):

The point I'm trying to make is, all the above stuff is for 'work', i.e. poker. I needed a decent 2nd backup mouse (I already have a Razer Imperator) to replace the Deathadder which started double-clicking randomly, causing me to lose money on the tables. I got so fed up with trying to fix that damn mouse that I binned it and got the Xai. You need a reliable and comfortable mouse, if you're gonna be grinding lots of poker tables for long hours.

My new PSU actually saved me money, because after almost 2 years of suffering random BSODs with that PC I bought in Macau, not knowing whether it was an overheating issue, a faulty mb, cpu or ram - I figured out that the stupid people at the PC shop had incorrectly built my machine with an inadequate PSU! So now that my PC is stable, I can put on hold my plans to upgrade to the Sandybridge platform, for at least another year - saving up for a house/flat is still our immediate priority.

The SSD was a must-buy too - since I'm running a SQL database and lots of background programs when I'm playing poker, I need a quick and responsive PC. The SSD solves that problem nicely. The G510 keyboard, well, this crappy Razer Arctosa that I also bought in Macau is a US style one and doesn't have a UKP sign. Nor does it have backlight keys. Those excuses alone are enough to justify getting a new keyboard, will all the bells and whistles of the G510.

Not everything I bought was expensive though, I did manage to pickup a bargain along the way, in the form of some G-Star jeans that were on sale for only 15quid, original price 80!

Online shopping ftw!

Vegas Booked, 2011 Goals and why I play poker for a living

Ok, so I initially had planned to do a more detailed blog update on my February results. That was just before I ran super bad and was down 3k after that ridiculous -2k friday, in less than 2hrs! But, as I've been told many times, its not worth bothering dwelling on the past. Therefore, I won't be posting Part 2 of my Feb review :)

I realise through talking to my friends, that its March already, and I haven't even stated what my goals are for this year, or why I've started blogging again. Well, the plan last year was to achieve Supernova Elite (which I did), and from my winnings, buy a house/flat in Manchester. That plan went straight out of the window last December - Yin and I realised we wouldn't be happy up there so we made a decision to buy in London...

2011 Goals
1. Achieve SuperNova Elite x1.5 (1.5million vpps)
2. Be in a position to buy a house/flat in London by the end of the year

Being a professional poker player, besides having its obvious downsides, means that I cannot get a mortgage here in the UK. This means I'll have to save up enough to be able to buy outright. However, the good news is that from gaining SNE last year, we're over halfway to being able to achieve goal number 2. Hard work does pay off.

Goal number 1, I'm very far behind pace currently sitting on just over 140k vpps for the year so far...not even on pace for just SNE x1! So I really need to set a goal to obtain 100k vpps for this month. That should put me just about on pace for SNE, and then in April I can try and get ahead of pace and go for the 1.5 million mark.

Goals aside, I want to explain why I chose to focus on playing poker for a living. There are many reasons, but the main one has to be that it puts me back in the driving seat. I treat poker seriously, like a business. I'm the boss, and how well I do financially depends on me. If I waste a few hours of my time surfing the net, I don't earn anything for those hours. Simple.

I've always wanted to be an entrepreneur in some kind of way, and being a poker pro is probably as close as I can get to running my own business, without the major startup costs and risks. Perhaps in a few years time, I'll save enough up from poker and start my own business, idk what yet.

Freedom - unlike working for an employer, or having other people (i.e. customers) rely on me for opening hours, I can chose when I work, and when I can take time off. I don't have to get up at 7am to catch the packed bus, train or tube to work. I work at home.

I find that I'm more motivated when I can see the direct results of my hard work. At the most basic level, poker is simply a card game based on math, with the random element of the dealing of the cards defining the luck aspect of the game. This is what seperates poker from chess - in chess, all the information is available to both players - hence theres no luck involved. With poker, the lack of complete information makes the game much more exciting, and attracts gamblers in bigger numbers than pure luck games like roulette or fruit machines. Poker has the correct balance of skill and luck, such that a skilled player will overcome the short term luck element over a sufficient enough sample - this is what professional poker players rely on. Luck is still confined within the mathematics of probability, so the better you can estimate your chances of winning and make decisions accordingly the higher your long-term winrate will be.

Funny as this might sound, I'm not really a gambling person. If you'd known me over 6 years ago, you'd probably know that I didn't play the lottery, and I had an overall negative view on gambling as a whole. That all changed though, when I stumbled upon a way to make profits from wagers that seemed in the bookie's/house's favour. From casino bonuses, sportsbook bonuses and arbitrage, the natural progression was onto poker. But poker was a different beast, it required me to study the game, from the wealth of information ranging from books and magazines, internet forums and coaching sites, to poker coaching. Almost 3 years ago I quit my job, and here I am still in the game. Whilst I'm certainly no expert (yet), I'm more than competent at what I do, and certainly better than I was last year!. You could say I'm lucky that I found poker, but it takes more than luck to survive purely on poker as an income for almost 3 years :)

So where am I right now? Well, this year I made a decision to focus more on improving my game, whilst still putting in a tonne of forum so I can put my Elite badge to the most effective use! Last year I was grinding small stakes no-limit, but this year I made a permanent move to the mid-stakes CAP games, occasionally dropping back down to small stakes when the mid-stakes games aren't so good, or when I'm running bad.
Two months in and overall its going well so far. I'm in a much stronger position both in terms of my poker skill and financially, than I was 12 months ago. Last year certainly was a grind, but this year I'm determined to keep a balanced life between poker and everything else, like going out and holidays!

Speaking of holidays, its been almost 18 months since I came back from Macau, and I've not left the country in the time since! Whilst last Christmas, new years and Chinese New Year all turned out, to put it bluntly, CRAP, I'm determined to make up for it. Already booked are a short mini break to Bath, but the big one will be in July, when I fly out to Las Vegas for the first time, and play in the $10,000 Main Event of the World Series of Poker. One time please!

As a Supernova Elite, PokerStars will be providing accommodation for my stay - I'll be representing them, so hoping to do them proud by trying to finish in the cash! I'm pretty much a n00b when it comes to tourneys, so I'll need to practice and study in the next 3 months if I'm to have any chance of navigating the live circuit. But even if I don't make it past day 1a/b/c/d, at least I'll have the rest of the stay as a well deserved vacation.

Last year, Elites got to stay at the Palms in the 1-bedroom suites, check it out:
http://www.palms.com/rooms/palmsplace/1-Bedroom-Suite

I know PokerStars won't disappoint their VIPs this year ;) I just got round to booking my flights today, and am happy that I can cross that item off my to-do list.

On a final note in this epic long mega blog post, I want to share with you a video of the legendary PokerStars Team Online Pro, Randy 'Nanonoko' Lew. This inspirational video pretty much sums up the reasons why I play poker, and my hopes of emulating some of his success.

F*ck Fridays!

February Review - Part 1

Been a little busy of late so I'll get round to posting a full Feb review later today.

Table Hours - 98

Table Profits - $3796

Bonuses - $5514

Net Profit - $9310

Not a bad month profit wise, but I really didn't put in the hours that I was aiming for. As a result of my slacking, I'm quite far behind pace for 1.5x SNE. Will post my goals for March, stay tuned!

Frustrating start to February...

What is Supernova Elite?

Its a question I get asked alot by my non-Poker friends. Since its the central theme of my new blog, I'll attempt to address it in this post, for those of you who are new to all this.

Supernova Elite (SNE) is the highest rank of the PokerStars VIP club that a player can achieve. In order to obtain SNE, a player must collect at least 1 million VIP Player Points (vpps) in a calendar year - no simple feat. Out of the thousands that started out their SNE chase/quest each year, only a few hundred manage to cross the finish line. In 2010, I was amongst only 342 players worldwide to achieve this status.

So how do you collect VPPs?

Simple - you get points for playing real cash poker games on PokerStars. The speed at which you collect points depends on the stakes and games you play. Higher stakes games will net you vpps much faster, however the games are obviously much tougher than lower stakes. To give you an idea of how much poker we're talking about, I estimate that I played approximately 2.5 million hands chasing Elite last year mainly at small stakes.

Fortunately, online poker allows you to play multiple tables simultaneous (aka multi-tabling). Last year I was multitabling upto 24 cash game tables for hours on end. Good hand-eye coordination, a decent multi-monitor PC setup and high levels of concentration were required for this feat. A typical day would usually be 6hrs+ of poker and over 8000 hands.

What are the main benefits of achieving Supernova Elite?

The net value is approximately $110k usd. This consists mainly of cash bonuses, but also includes live and online tournament packages/tickets worth about $20-30k, depending on the packages you opt for. Cash bonuses are purchased in the PokerStars store, using fpps...

Wait, I'm confused, what are fpps!?

Frequent Player Points (fpps) are basically the cash equivalent of vpps. You rate at which you collect fpps is based on the VIP status you have at PokerStars:

1). Bronze Star - 1 fpp per 1 vpp

2). Silver Star - 1.5 fpps per 1 vpp

3). Gold Star - 2 fpps per 1 vpp

4). Platinum Star - 2.5 fpps per 1 vpp

5). Supernova - 3.5 fpps per 1 vpp

6). Supernova Elite - 5 fpps per 1 vpp

As I'm a Supernova Elite, I get 6 stars, which I can choose to show off at the tables...

...but I choose not to because I don't want the fish knowing that I'm a Pro!

So you got SNE last year, what now?

Well, heres the interesting part. When you obtain SNE the previous year, you get to keep your Elite status provided you collect a minimum of 50k vpps per month (allowing 1 month off) until October. However, when you start the year off as a SNE, you're starting the year with a higher fpp multiplier and hence generate cash at a much quicker rate (43%) faster than a normal Supernova VIP. So obtaining SNE a second time around will net you ~$130k.

Summary

The benefits I've outlined above are just a base of what can be achieved, thats if you breakeven at the tables for the whole year. The amount you can earn per year can be much higher, but this depends on how much money you make on the tables. Since poker is primarily based on skill rather than luck, over the long term and a sufficient sample of hands a winning player will be profitable, as skill will overcome the shorter term variance of the luck element of the game.

I hope that I've sufficiently explained Supernova Elite for anyone who's interested, since I'm always talking about it! If you want more information, you can find full details on the PokerStars website  http://www.pokerstars.com/vip/supernova/elite/ or you can ask me in the comments section below.

Happy Chinese New Year and gl at the tables!

Back to blogging - January 2011 monthly review

Its good to be back blogging again!

A quick update on how I faired at the tables this January:-

Table Hours - 101

Table Profits - $6540

Bonuses - $4600

Net Profit - $11,140

All in all, a solid month to start this year's Supernova Elite chase. However, as I've spent a significant amount of time away from the tables studying my game, I'm quite far behind the pace I set for myself. February I'll be upping my table hours significantly to catch up - I had alot of stuff to deal with in January which I might blog about later on, when I have the time.

I'll also get round to summarizing my Supernova Elite chase last year, which almost turned out be a disaster but I managed to finish with 1 day spare!