2006 Poker Goal Update

Tomorrow will be December, leaving me one month left for my 2006 goals. Below are the goals that I listed in last December with progress comments.

These are my goals for next year in no particular order.

1) Start playing higher stakes on-line. I would like to be playing successfully at 5/10 NL which is 10x my current stakes. If I am still playing .50/1 at the end of next year my game is going nowhere

I am just starting to get around to this which is a little pathetic. I do have some hands in at 2/4NL, and may get a shot at 3/6 and 5/10 nl if the ladder challenge continues to go well.

2) Generate $100+/hr profit long term playing online.

I probably ran at about $20-25/hr for the year so far with around 8k in online profits in 2006. I can see how that rate is reachable at 2/4 NL and up, and I am currently running at around $80/hr at the higher stakes, but in a very limited sample size.

3) Play in the first $2000 buy-in event of the WSOP. This one starts on Saturday July 1st, and I have the following Monday/Tuesday off from work for the 4th of July holiday. Of all my goals, I will guarantee this one right now.

I ended up playing in event #27 which was $1500 buy-in. I held my own, and outlasted over 1000 entrants (about 1/2 the field). Late with still a starting stack, I got my money in as a 60/40 favorite twice, but could not win either time. I will say this one in COMPLETE.

4) Play in the WSOP main event. It would not crush me if I miss this one next year, but I got to make it a goal. If I cash in the 2k buy-in, the main event is a given. I love the deep stacks and slow levels of this structure which play right into my game.

Did not try to qualify online other than the a couple 20 seat freerolls on FullTilt. Not really a hard goal, but the goal was FAILED.

5) Win the season for the company online tournament

This one hurts a little. Smokkee jumped out to a decent lead, and I rallied back to have it all on the line in the final event only $3 in winnings behind the infamous Smokkee. He was out out early in the last event, and I had a huge stack. Unfortunately, I thought I could get to third and the season championship without playing any more hands. It was a big mistake, as I ended up bubbling out and handing Smokkee the title. It was a very close second, but second does not count. Goal FAILED

6) Play more 3/5 NL live casino games. I have been pretty much beating up this level, but it is still a little out of my comfort zone. By the end of 06, I need to start thinking that 3/5 NL is low stakes and it is time to move up.

Did not play very much live cash games at all. I did win when I played, but did not play any 3/5 except a drunken session with doubleas at the summer blogger gathering. There is the winter blogger gathering to turn this around at, so we will see.

7) Play in some big home tourneys and get some big wins.

I dominated the Orange County Poker Tour, cashing in an 8 out of 10 stretch at one point, and getting a couple big wins. I also competed in the Orange Poker League, qualifying for the single table championship and taking 5th overall. I played in just a couple other big buy-in home games, and was out early both times. I will call this goal COMPLETE, but I did expect a little more.

8) Upgrade my monitor so I can see all four tables at once. I am so cheap, that for some reason I will not do this yet. Now I have to tile the four tables, which can lead to an occasional accidental raise as you switch from table to table. Also you can't follow all the action as you can only see parts of all four tables.

Did this early in the year. Hi-RES rawks. Goal COMPLETE

So what do I need to work on in December? Play higher stakes cash games, live and online. I will do my best in this area. I still have a shot to hit these goals.