Preparing for 2009

Pud's Poker Progress / Matthew Pitt / 22 December 2008 / 6 Comments

Since my last post I have set the wheels in motion for a karma increased by giving Leeds General Infirmary my old PlayStation 2 and the games I had with it. In a strange twist of fate, I ended up donating the console to Ward 52, which turns out was the ward that looked after me when I suffered third degree burns over 24 years ago. It felt really good to be giving something back and it is something I will be doing again when the opportunity arises.

After looking through some of my older blog posts recently, something became glaringly apparent. Money-wise I have not made hardly any progress this year. I am ending the year in a similar position to where I started and that is not acceptable. It did not help that I had to withdraw my bankroll to replace my busted laptop but with the knowledge and skills that I have, I should be making a good score every month and I need to do something about it.

My main problem has been darting from site to site and setting stupid little challenges for myself that were obvious I would not stick to, so come 2009 Pud is going to be a changed man. Many of my older posts show me playing Heads-up Sit and Go's, with moderate success before changing my mind and playing other games. After doing a ton of research over the past week, I can announce that I will be returning to the world of the HUSnG although I may throw in some cash games to break things up.

According to article I have read recently, HUSnG are a fantastic, low variance way of building a bankroll. Whilst many people will argue that heads-up can be a volatile game, they also fail to mention you only have to win 55% of your games to show a profit which means the swings are actually less. Most players have never dropped 20 buy-ins in HUSNG where 30+ are common in normal SnG and much higher in MTT's.

Starting at the $5.25 games, I plan to play no less than 3,000 HUSnG and preferably closer to 6,000 during 2009, all of the time following a proper bankroll management guide. Ideally, I will have 30 buy-ins for each level but will take a shot once I have 20 buy-ins, dropping back down if I drop five buy-ins. Being prepared to lower my stakes should mean that I never go busto unless I suddenly become a total fish.

If my calculations are correct and I manage to keep to my projected ROI's, then I fully expect to be playing the $30 games by the end of February. Once I reach these stakes, I have the potential to make some decent money, well decent by my standards and at this point I will really ramp up the volume in order to attempt to reach my monetary goal of $25,000 profit.

In all my poker related New Year resolutions are as follows:

1.)Play between 3,000-6,000 HUSnG
2.)Have poker profit of $25,000
3.)Do not play tired / drunk / stressed out
4.)Play at least one British Festival even if it is only a side event

There is a few other things I was going to post here but this entry has gone on for long enough I think so I will put them in my next one.

As always, thanks for reading, good luck at the tables an of course, a very Merry Christmas to all who read my little piece of the internet!

Comments (6)

1. EvertonYorkie | 23 December 2008

   Stick to this one Pud! If you stick a challenge you can make it, you have the skills, just the patience you lack.

   If you start to lose a few don't let the confidence get you down!

   Have you purchased Moshman's HU book?

2. GazBillingham | 24 December 2008

   All the best for 2009 mate, just stick to it and im sure you will get where you need to be!

   As ever top blog keep it up mate

   Gaz

3. BoroYorkie | 24 December 2008

   Why do u keep setting arbitrary numbers like 3000 sngs? Stating stuff like this is just setting you up for fail imo. From what I've read you've got a short attention span and little discipline. You are going to get so bored playong exclusively headsup sngs. You have to be a machine to do stuff like that. Also the skill level is going to greatly increase above small stakes $5-20 so be preared for some swongs. No offence but I think this is never going to work. Prove me wrong.

4. LuckyStraights | 24 December 2008

   Best of luck with your new years resolutions.

   Merry Christmas xxx

5. Pud's Poker | 24 December 2008

   Thanks everyone for the comments.

   Everton - I asked Santa for it!

   Gaz- Same to you mate

   Boro - I had OCD which I used to deal with by assigning a numerical value to many things. I know nobody has taken my previous challenges seriously because I have knobbed them all off but this one is different. I have my reasons. Oh, and I will prove you wrong.

   I also received a comment from NoChance that I have not published. You said I have and will never achieve anything in life, well, I got you to read and comment on my blog at 3am on Xmas Eve so that is something.

6. Amatay | 02 January 2009

   lol @ the pricks who mock you at 3am xmas, sooo sad.

   gl for 09 mate and stick at it ffs