review of 2009, opinions wanted...

[Ciso_B]

This is gonna sound like a really emoey post, but I need some feedback from people who won't be biased. Anyone who knows me , knows i've had it real tough for a while now, I've done terribly in 2009 imo and thats like 6 months now, half a year. Half the year I've been losing, and that's a good amount of volume.
I have mostly been playing tournaments, here and there I've dropped down and tried to appreciate playin more but at lower stakes, and it didn't really get me anywhere tbh. In that, real money to be made in mtt poker isn't play the low freeezeouts etc. I played the odd nice mtt like when the ftop's comes around but overall I've been playin the typical stuff like $50mtts here there and every now and then I've deposited on full tilt and done so so bad. I can't emphasize how poorly I've done there in mtts overall. I mean I get deep often there, but I literally have like now wins or top 3s , bar one that I remember. I'm lookin at it now , $50k in cashes on ftp, $2000 loser. So I mean that says it all..and for 09, im down $6500 there.


Pokerstars overall I've done well, but 2009, $20,000 in cashes, $23,500 in buyins. So there's another crap statistic, this is after 561 mtts on pokerstars btw. I know I've come real deep in alot of stuff where I could be winners on both sites, but we've got to be realistic here, and those are the stats/facts.


It is really annoying that I haven't made wsop 2009 aswell, 22 now, and I missed last year, and I could have gone this year, but I didn't want to risk a significant portion or all of my roll in going, so i didn't go this year. But more importantly , my question I pose is this... after 6 months of losing, putting in a good amount of volume, and venturing to play the odd live mtt aswell,should I re think my status as a poker player? I gave up any ego I had a long while ago in poker, its about money most importantly, so be brutally honest with me.


Everyone I speak to says I should play online cash, and I've put in the odd hour and there, but from what I've seen games aren't exactly easy, and it would take a long time before I moved up to a level where I'd be making serious money. If I had a plan ,or a direct route of making a good amount of money, I'd feel really positive.Cos at the moment I really just feel like im bleeding my roll away.It's incredibly frustating. Cos with tournaments you can't control your fate ,at all. I can play every day forever to try and attain a good sample to show results, but who's to say I will win x amount of mtts? I'm not sayin poker is conspiring against me, all im sayin is, I can run good at insignicant moments and terribly at the crucial moments...thats still luck evening out etc , but just at horrific timing for me.


Today for instance, I thought to myself I'd play htis $100 deep stack, only 45 runners, just cos I feel like I have great patience and will be able to pick great spots vs these guys. top 6 pay, firsti s like $1,665.. I wasn't at risk once preflop till late on, I make final table, but am really short cos I built up a tight image for like 40 mins (had no good sitautions tho) I raised A-4 as a complete steal in late pos, got flatted from sb, I c bet when checekd to on Q67, he called, turn 10, chek check, river K, he checks, and I just couldnt pull the trigger even tho i felt like he had 8-8, I let it go, he won with JJ...but that is kinda my point, I had terrible timing, I hadn't played a hand in 40 mins, then I open in late pos, and even got a great image to get it thro, but the guy has jj.


Forget my rant tho about that, I am probably no unluckier than anyone else, I'm realistic , I've played a lot , and lost for 6 months, clearly I have leaks in my game, and am probably not selecting the right mtts or sites to play on... so if anyone has any wisdom for me.I'd listen very carefully, bear in mind , I didn't finish uni, I have a crap cv and am 22 years old now.

I'm not going off sayin I'm definitely going to quit professionally etc,I just need some brutally honest views based on what I've said. So shoot, hit me with it!

[Jernej Zorec]

id say 500 mtts is what u should play in a month or two, since variance in these is huge even for a good player and its really not that bad to be be over such period, specially when u play wide range of bis and say u do well in lower ones but run bad in big buyins

[miaowmiaowchowface]

my honest opinion is play cash from micros, u can prolly beat nl25, im not sure try it. id start there regardless, ur rolled i presume

[Jonniedough]

my honest opinion is play cash from micros, u can prolly beat nl25, im not sure try it. id start there regardless, ur rolled i presume

I agree...

Try other games, if you havent already. Sometimes you get a new angle at your "regular" game when you try playing something else.

[jeffonline]

You lack confidence in your own ability and this reflects in your game.

[Ciso_B]

PokerStars Tournament #171773050, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $50.00/$5.00
1557 players
Total Prize Pool: $77850.00
Tournament started 2009/06/21 21:30:00 ET


Dear Neab,

You finished the tournament in 8th place. A $1,712.71 award has been credited to your Real Money account.

You earned 376.83 tournament leader points in this tournament. For information about our tournament leader board, see our web site at http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/tournam ... der-board/


Congratulations!

Thank you for participating.



Do you know how frustrating this is ^ first in thsi is over $13,000... I havent been at risk once, then i open shove A-Q for 200,000 with bb at 16,000 and even this was risky, but still very obvious. But im so careful and good at getting it in.. of course bam right away im vs AK,,, and im never ever beating that.


I dont lack confidence in my ability entirely, I am realistic, I'm a pretty strong mtt'er, but results speak, 2009 im losing player.


The shitness is that the times i final table, I come in these places ^...the last 2 weeks, the 2 big fT's I made I came 6th and 8th where top 3/4 are very nice payouts.

[crack]

TLDR but what i would say is that you are clearly a talented tournament player and you need to concentrate on that.

If you want to play cash games then gotta learn from some other cunts. I dunno but you got to take a different apprpaoch to poker and not be a whiney c*nt and think the world against you.

[supafrey]

take it to the bad beat forum jesus christ

[miaowmiaowchowface]

I havent been at risk once, then i open shove A-Q for 200,000 with bb at 16,000 and even this was risky, but still very obvious.

heres one of ur major problems

also, stop f*cking whining, we get it, ur account is rigged blah blah blah

[Ciso_B]

lol, ok ok .


Nah i don't think my pokerstars account is rigged, was just emphasizing that I wasn't taking lots of huge gambles and getting lucky to get there. Then the first time I'm forced to gamble im out.

No more whining, but I've cutdown guys, gimme a break.

[jimmer]

I've written this in a bit of a hurry, so apologies if it doesn't make sense.

You want me to be brutally honest? Right here goes.

Firstly I think you lack direction. You indicate you are a professional player. Although I don’t want to dwell too much on the word ‘professional’, in this instance it generally means poker is your main income, it should also mean you make enough from playing poker to support your lifestyle, (without getting handouts from your parents etc) right? Therefore, if anything, this should indicate have the ability to beat a certain game, stake or type of poker. Yet within this thread you have dropped down stakes, (informing us that the real money isn’t made in the low freezeouts), you complain you haven’t made the 2009 WSOP, and you suggest you’ve dabbled with the cash games.

Most professional sports people play to their strengths. David Beckham would never make it as a goalkeeper, the same as Martin Johnson would never make it on the wing, but this doesn’t mean they are not top professionals. They simply know their strengths and weaknesses and concentrate on maximising their potential within this area.

So I have a question for you; What is your game and why don’t you stick to playing that?

Secondly, I think you are not looking at yourself as a complete business model, but instead lots of little factory workers trying to earn enough to put some food on the table. Instead of concentrating on you as a person, look at you as complete package.

What I mean by this is; there is much more to becoming a success professional poker player than winning a few hands. Once again, let’s talk about David Beckham. Yes he’s a quality football player, but his total income is far greater than his wage from football. This is because he knows how to market himself. This means he gets massive sponsorship deals, big wads of cash for celebrity appearances and is also seen as an ambassador for the game (and even Country!) Not only that, but he has had specific coaching and support to make sure he says the right thing-at the right time to maximise his publicity, yet also knows when to lay low so he can concentrate on his football.

Basically, David Beckham doesn’t look at himself as a footballer, he is looks at himself as a multi-million dollar business entity that has the foundations in place to survive long after his footballing days have finished.

So what does this mean to you? I would question whether you are trying to survive hand after hand without taking a step back to look at the big picture. For example, you know full well you will lose a lot of hands over the next few weeks. Some you will lose because you played well, but got unlucky, some because you played the hand badly, and others because of a bad-beat. Any good business will know there will be down-turns or deals that fall through. Most will account for this within their business plan and it will simply be part of their ongoing development.

My second question for you is this; So what is your business model and what is your business plan? What I mean by this is; your business model should be based on the things that made you profitable before. They are the factors that worked for you and the characteristics of a winning Ciso. Therefore when you were winning, did you know how many hands you played per hour, how many hours you played per day or week, how many breaks you took, what tournament gave you the best return, what time of the day you were most switched on, what day of the week brought you your best results, what foods gave you energy and what made you tired, what music did you listen too, how was your general outlook with regards to friends and family, how many bad beats did you encounter per day, how did these bad beats effect your game and mindset, did you play better after you’d just won a big tournament or better after a week without cashing when the pressure was on…………………….I could go on and on.

Now compare all those answers to now. What are the things that are different? What worked then that doesn’t now? Did you even think about these things when times were good? If not, I doubt you are looking at these things when times are bad.

The point I’m trying to make is; stop looking purely at the poker and start considering the other stuff, cause it’s those things that make a difference.

I use to play semi-professional sport and the difference between us and the pro’s was their mental attitude. In most instances our fitness levels and skills were very similar, it was just their focus, mindset and motivation that was far greater. They simply knew the little things that made a difference and ultimately that extra few percent.

I think the same rules apply here. Some players may make money and tell you that they don’t consider the little things. That doesn’t mean they don’t make a difference, it just means they haven’t considered them.

And finally, the third question I have for you is; how do you judge success? Don’t just look at the game of poker, look at your life in general. If you are a professional poker player part of your answer should be poker based, but there is always other stuff going on in your life and you need to understand what motivates you and why.

After all, positively breeds positively and as soon as you start succeeding in one part of your life, the other bits will follow.

Looking at your post and knowing what you’ve achieved over the last few years, I personally feel you have just taken your 'eye off the ball'. You’ve become slightly stagnant. You’ve fallen into ‘the comfort zone’. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, you just need to refocus, learn what’s important to you, and work towards it.

Remember, people don’t plan to fail, but they do fail to plan. Do your homework now and things will come good in the end.

Whatever you decide - good luck mate

[HalfSugar]

Nah i don't think my pokerstars account is rigged

If I could be bothered to find it, I'd find your post that literally says that you think your Full Tilt account is rigged.............

[Ciso_B]

yeah, I do find my ftp a/c runs so bad. Even though its not rational. But I remember I had an account "Narciso", and I was doing fine on that account, then i didn't play for a while on ftp, forgot my login details or something and registered a new account "Ciso", they got wind and made me close the original account strangely.Since this event, I've done terribly on ftp.

Like I said, its not rational, It's very unlikely that it is rigged, I'm just a bad loser

I'm done with the whole whining thing now ,I've stopped doing my blog, I understand how crappy it is for forumers. So no more posts about u guys complaining now cos im done


Thanks btw jimmer, alot of truth there that I need to think on.

[heyitscorey]

Hey,

Variance is very tough.

I'd mix in some lower limit MTTs and SNGs so you can win and get the eye of the tiger back