Operation Education

[JeffreyGB]

Completed Operation Double-the-Fun 2 days late. Moving on to my next goal...

Ultimately, I want to be playing professionally and spending the rest of my time with my family. Thus I'm making that my "if things go great" goal for the year. I know it can happen, but I also know I'll be short on time working through school.

So my ultimate goal this year is to make enough to play professionally starting in 2007 (which requires paying off some hefty debts). To that end, my next stated goal is going to be paying off my school loans - apx $25k.

Step one will be to bring my BR up to the point that it would cover that. My tentative date for step one is the start of the fall semester (with a subgoal of $10k this semester, putting me at $16k).

Step two will be making another $50k, so that paying off that $25k doesn't hurt my BR. At this point my school loans will be paid off. Other funds that I accumulate between now and then will help this, so it won't all come from my BR.

Step three will be conquering the other debt. That debt may end up being the reason I don't start playing professionally as early as above - but even with that debt in consideration, I aim to start by 2008.

My most immediate goal is $16k by May 2006. Followed by $25k by August 2006. I fully expect to accomplish both of these significantly ahead of schedule. If so, the yearly goal I'm going for is $100k by 2007. If things go slowly, I'll most likely shoot for $50k.

[JeffreyGB]

Did pretty bad in a run of 109/55 SnGs I played this weekend. Didn't cash in any MTTs since (though I've been playing quite well...just suffering beats and not managing to come back from them [and making one donk steal]). Down to $10k.

I played in the Super Monday yesterday. Had as good a showing as I can hope for w/o moneying - 400/1400 and busted out when I got all-in preflop with an average sized stack holding AA. In position to go deep there 81% of the time, so me likey.

I may play the Supers a bit more often than I was thinking, so long as I feel on top of my game. Between them and the $22 buyin for the $40k and the $50-ish average for the $45k, it averages to less than $100 / tourney, affordable in my BR. I'll probably drop the Supers if/when I drop below $9k...perhaps before if I feel a reason to do so. Currently, however, I want to play them frequently. I'll be posting some HH's in the high-stakes section for review...love to get some indepth thoughts from others playing in these events.

[JeffreyGB]

I'm having nightly nemesis hands...JT killed me in two tourneys a couple of nights ago (once when I tried to make a push steal w/ 94o and once when it called my LP raise preflop and ended with a str against my KQ flopped two pair). Last night, QJ killed me - again once in a suck out (all-in preflop; I had AA) and once in a steal gone wrong (I had JTs in CO).

I think I'm going to tighten up a tad when steal-pushing as short stack - esp in the $45k rebuy tourney. It's repeatedly being read as weakness and I'm getting calls that are just insane (people calling for 20-35% of their stack with the likes of JT and QJ?! clearly I need something when I'm playing against them here).

[SmackinYaUp]

i just wanted to stop by and say nice work jeff. i remember seein you play a lot lower stakes than what you do and now youve come a long ways farther than i have in that time. i hope you keep up the good work and manage to take one of those big ones down soon.

[JeffreyGB]

Thanks for the kind words and the well-wishes, Smack. I feel like I'm knocking on the door to *real* money. Pretty soon, someone will have to let me in!

[Easy17]

just wanted to thank you for your honesty and posting your goals and results, it is both encouraging and eye-opening for me, and I wish you luck in accomplishing what you set out to do.

[Sprayed]

jeff, how much do you withdraw from your br to pay for debt, if at all? Are you just holding onto it until you hit your magic number? I'm in a situation where I would like to start paying off debt with my winnings, but I am unsure about how much to withdraw and if any for that matter. Gl to ya btw.

[JeffreyGB]

just wanted to thank you for your honesty and posting your goals and results, it is both encouraging and eye-opening for me, and I wish you luck in accomplishing what you set out to do.

ummm...you're welcome?

Thanks for the kind words and the well wishes. I don't doubt that I'll ultimately make tons of money through poker. Time's the only question to me.

[JeffreyGB]

jeff, how much do you withdraw from your br to pay for debt, if at all? Are you just holding onto it until you hit your magic number? I'm in a situation where I would like to start paying off debt with my winnings, but I am unsure about how much to withdraw and if any for that matter. Gl to ya btw.

Currently, I'm not withdrawing anything for anything. I'm making enough to cover all of my expenses without touching my poker money, so it's staying just that: poker money - at least until I reach an amount where increasing my roll doesn't have a significant affect on what I can comfortably afford to play.

I'm expecting to make my first big withdrawal once I hit $16k, $1k to cover major upgrades to my computer. After that, I doubt I withdraw again until I have a big enough cash to a) significantly affect my debt (as in pay of one of the loans completely) or b) cover major upgrades to my car

If I had need, I'd tap my poker money to the degree necessary (and only to that degree), but I don't, so I'd rather increase it to give myself a quicker path to "real money."

[JeffreyGB]

Currently I'm on a bit of a cooler. I'm sitting at $9.4k and taking a few days off. A touch over $600 of that drop came from playing in the Supers, wherein I have yet to cash (and have repeatedly made it to the 300/1200 spot, and frequently hitting hugely horrid beats - busted twice with a stack, AA all-in preflop).

When I return from my break, I'm taking two more stabs at the Supers. Then I'm returning to my previous game of $40k Gnty and $45k Gnty, allowing play in one Super event for every TWO buyins I make in profit.

Then again, if things go well, I'll return from my break and final table one of those two stabs, doubling (or quintupling) my BR. Yeah...that's the ticket

[JeffreyGB]

Back from break...had stuff going on that made the break longer than expected. Welcomed back by an ITM night @ the $40k.

[JeffreyGB]

Slow results. Not doing a ton of playing...2-3 MTTs per night. Trying to bide my time until I get another run to hold. It's just a matter of time.

I'm wondering if my relatively light schedule is ultimately crippling my progress, especially given the conservative approach I take toward BR management - preferring to lose less than 1% per day and play in tournaments where I have > 200 buyins. That's not likely to happen soon, honestly, especially given the tournaments/time I have available.

I'm getting my tatto tomorrow. The symbol inside the chip on my avatar (sans starburst) on my inner right forearm.

Pic:

[arkana]

I'm wondering if my relatively light schedule is ultimately crippling my progress, especially given the conservative approach I take toward BR management - preferring to lose less than 1% per day and play in tournaments where I have > 200 buyins.

Why play just MTTs? Why not play MTTs with smaller fields or SNGs? If you can't play loads of MTTs you can easily go on a dry spell for months which is mentally very tough especially since you set high goals for yourself. I am a big supporter of consistently making money rather than shooting for the big score since its much easier to stay motivated that way.

Good luck and I hope you achieve all your goals.

[Aces]

Yeah it seems like you were doing quite well with the SNGs. Maybe mix in few more of those while looking for the big MTT scores.

Another possibility - take a break and do some bonus whoring and play ring for a change of pace.

gl

[JeffreyGB]

I do want to mix in a few smaller field MTTs, I think. The thing is, my main goal is still just to learn big MTTs in preparation for live play. Most of what I'd be playing in live would be larger field MTTs.

And for the record, the last couple months I did mix in SnGs a bit...that wasn't pretty.

[Aces]

And for the record, the last couple months I did mix in SnGs a bit...that wasn't pretty.

Just some negative variance I'm sure. I've gone from mostly SNGs to mostly ring lately w/good results, but I'm sure I'll switch back. I'm not sure how the new Party SNG structure will affect my game - I kinda liked the old one. Also played live ring a few times lately - there are some horrendous NL players at my local casino.

[JeffreyGB]

And for the record, the last couple months I did mix in SnGs a bit...that wasn't pretty.

Just some negative variance I'm sure. I've gone from mostly SNGs to mostly ring lately w/good results, but I'm sure I'll switch back. I'm not sure how the new Party SNG structure will affect my game - I kinda liked the old one. Also played live ring a few times lately - there are some horrendous NL players at my local casino.

I agree...even as I typed that I thought "this is a stupid thing to say".

The biggest reason to stay where I'm at is that I consider MTTs a training ground that I need to conquer. I have enough of a BR that I don't need to worry about things sliding too far, especially at the levels that I'm playing. Plus I'm playing about as much as I can/want to time-wise as is. SnGs might be a good way to fill the gaps if I had time I to play that I couldn't fill, but if it's going to take me away from the game I'm making my bread and butter, I don't think that's good.

[JeffreyGB]

School's been taking up a lot of my time lately. Haven't played as much as I'd like and haven't cashed the times that I've played. Spring break (and a bit of a reprieve after that) is coming, so I should be able to play more for the next couple weeks.

[salsa4ever]

why do u feel as if u *have* to crack MTTs?

I think it's easily the hardest format to play
As in, to make say $100 a day on average at MTTs takes a lot more skill than doing so in SNGs or ring games

Do you agree with my assessment?
If you do, why are u forcing yourself to crack MTTs?

[JeffreyGB]

why do u feel as if u *have* to crack MTTs?

I think it's easily the hardest format to play
As in, to make say $100 a day on average at MTTs takes a lot more skill than doing so in SNGs or ring games

Do you agree with my assessment?
If you do, why are u forcing yourself to crack MTTs?

Profit reasons. In doing the math (using standard calculations for ROI and time required), I found that it would be extremely hard to make over $100k playing SnGs (unless playing steps on Party). However with the same BR throughout, such a feat at MTTs would be more standard.

Aside from that, I have some opportunities for high level live play available to me when I'm sufficiently comfortable with my MTT game. I have nothing similar on the horizon for other forms of poker.

[JeffreyGB]

Limited cashes in March, and none of them sizeable -> $8.2k. I'm playing SnGs and ring a bit again, just to fill time when I have a hour or so to play but can't commit 4+.

A big cash is around the corner for my MTT game. School's just keeping me so busy that it takes a long time to navigate my way around that damn corner!

[JeffreyGB]

Final tabled the UB 15K Gnty/5K added tourney tonight. Went out 9th, so I didn't end up making a huge cash, but it was enough to bring me back to positive on UB (hadn't made a cash there since I started playing MTTs). A bigger cash is still around the corner for me - I was playing good poker all night tonight.

[JeffreyGB]

This didn't happen. I didn't get nearly as much play in as I'd hoped. And lately my results have been lacking when I have played. I'm making a new goal of $15k by the end of the summer, though I'm really not focusing on it at all - I'm just going to try to play a lot more - I'm looking to hit 100 MTTs a month for the duration of the summer.

I'll be putting in a lot of work on my game this summer, so hopefully things will go well.

[PO$$E$$ED]

MTT pros make me laf

[JeffreyGB]

Last two weeks have been good: 2nd + 4th in UB 7.5k Gnty for about $2k; 9th+6th in PA Macaw for about $500; 4th in Stars $5 rebuy for $2200, and some smaller cashes and SnG wins as well to balance out entry fees, for a net of right at $4k. So with that I'm now sitting at $11k. I'll be mixing in a few $109 freeze-out events here and there to get the feel of them before moving up fully when I reach $12k.

And Possessed, I'm by no means a pro. Yet. When I am, I assure you, I'll be making over $100k a year. Laugh at that.

[ark4748]

MTT pros make me laf

Why?

[JeffreyGB]

MTT pros make me laf

Why?

I assumed he meant this because of the extended form of variance MTT players can run into, wherein it's possible (moreso than in any other form of poker) to do everything 'right' for months without reaping the rewards.

[JeffreyGB]

5/400 in Bodog $25k Gnty = +$1375

[JeffreyGB]

Operation complete. 2nd of 387 in the BD $25k = +$4k to a total of !5842.61.

When we got to heads up I was destroying him. Had a 3 to 1 chiplead. Then my internet connection froze. When I got back, he'd blinded me down so that he had me 10-1. I pushed a few hands in a row; won each; then we went A8s v A9s. Two of my suit flopped and the board paired, but his 9 still held. This is the first time I've had internet problems since I moved here. It was also going to be my first MTT win. Next time, I guess...

[givememyleg]

Damn man... talk about a bad time to disc.... gj though making your goal!

[JeffreyGB]

Ok, so I shifted this goal around quite a bit. Now I'm returning to the original amount, for reasons two-fold:

1) Everything I said in my first post. Go read it.
2) With 25k, I can afford to buy in to almost any tournament I'd want to play online.

That's my next goal then - 25k. I'm going to stick with the by September part, as I think it's reasonable.

[JeffreyGB]

Finished the month with 16k. Over 7k in profit this month. I'd like to repeat that next month

[JeffreyGB]

Slow month so far; not as much play as I intended (I think I've hit 50 MTTs) and certainly not as many cashes as I'd have liked (few and minor). $14k currently.

[Beck]

How may hours a week do you play?

[givememyleg]

Updates?

[JeffreyGB]

How may hours a week do you play?

It varies a lot, depending on how busy I am with the rest of my life. If I have all the time and focus I want, I'll play around 6 hours a night for 5 days a week. It hasn't been since June that I've had that kind of time, however. And I'm not sure how much I can expect to have over the next few months.

[JeffreyGB]

Updates?

Pretty much no big cashes since the ones I mentioned here. I final-tabled one $109, but I went out 6th and it was a small field, so it just served to cover a couple of day's worth of buy-ins. I've been busy with work and moving, so I haven't played as much as I'd like, and taking 4 graduate level classes while teaching this semester makes me think that I'll be rather hit-and-miss this semester too.

I'm sitting at 15k right now, which includes a 3k downswing and +2k in investments/staking/side-bets.

[JeffreyGB]

Not a lot has happened. Some ups and some downs. I'm currently at 15.5k.

I'm not sure how much I'm going to get to play this semester - I ended up having to take 12 graduate hours and one of those classes has to produce a publishable research paper. Also because of those time constraints, I expect to play a lot more SnGs and some ring. I'll likely be playing $109 SnGs (because I don't want to mess with Turbos and it takes a century to get a game at the $215s on Stars) and I'll be starting out at NL200, moving up to NL400 once I have 5k+ hands in @ +4ptbb/100.

I'm also going to be focusing on skill-development throughout the semester. I want to improve my reads while multi-tabling, improve my short-handed play, and improve my live play. Obviously, I'll be doing more of each respective action to that end.

[JeffreyGB]

And then I go deep in two tourneys, one covering half of my buyins for the day and another giving me $4k in profit...decent enough. $19k and change now.

[chardrian]

Congrats on the Bodog last night - I thought you played goot. Just needed the K8 to hold versus the K3 and u had your first win.

[JeffreyGB]

Thanks Char.

[insert segway into talking about the thread's topic again]

I've played all of 12 SnGs this month, and 15 MTTs. Gradschool = not enough time/energy to play. I felt something big was going to happen earlier in the month, but the closest thing was the 4k cash. Feeling is gone now - I guess I didn't seize the moment. I'll be playing when I can throughout the rest of the semester, but chances are, that's going to be farely limited unless I make some major strides in hitting my graduation requirements early.

[JeffreyGB]

I didn't pass the September goal. I didn't manage to play enough to make that very possible. New deadline, given that I don't play much these days (2 days a week is a high estimate): January 2007 (aka when I graduate).

Intuitively, it seems like graduation is a good goal date for Operation Education anyway, don't you think?

Here's some updates on what I'll be playing for the upcoming timeframe:
- Party Super Weekday Events (for as long as I can play on my account...)
- Array of $109 MTTs on UB, complemented with $44 Satellites to the UB big Sunday events.
- Bodog $25k Gnty and $100k Gnty.
- Dise $90/$100k Gnty. Possibly Dise $10 rebuy.
- Stars $10 rebuy. Some stars SnGs ($55+ stakes, depending on availability. I may move in to the ~$200 6-max SnG game)
- Poker Room $54 and $108 MTTs
- Full-tilt MTTs and/or SnGs (maybe...will re-examine once things settle from the bill)
- Absolute MTTs (maybe...will re-examine)
- Live MTTs (at least one a week at stakes that I'm rolled for < $200; supplemented with some satellites and staking agreements to play bigger events)

[JeffreyGB]

Cashed in the $230 "Chop It" MTT in the Cherokee Poker Classic for $1570. I was staked into it, so I took away about $800 for it. Not bad, given that I played it and a few other CPC events for zero risk, but money-wise, it's just making up for the downswing I was seeing in the $100/$200 SnGs.

Here's to hoping that in the 2 or 3 remaining event (each bigger stakes), I can manage to cash for quite a bit more The $1k main event looks quite fun.

[donkbee]

Glad to see an update, good luck in those tourneys.

[JeffreyGB]

Haven't posted 'cause I haven't played much...Sorry for that. My only cashes have been some minor ones in December. Something like $400 in the Stars $1M and $750 in the FT $350k. Just enough to keep me going with the same roll I'd had.

I graduated, however, so that's cool. Should leave me with some more time to play before too long. Also, in the mean time, I've been doing a lot of work on the Tournament Trimmer. Expect lots to happen there soon. I've had some other developments that I'll discuss when I start playing again...probably will make a new thread to mark the new stage in my poker path.