2008 Recap: All These Things That I Have Done

Posted by icemonkey9 on Jan 1, 2009 in 2008, recap | 2 comments

If there was a lyric from a song that defined my mindset from 2008 (not poker, just overall) I thought of The Killers song All These Things That I Have Done:

And when there's nowhere else to run
Is there room for one more son
These changes ain't changing me
The gold-hearted boy I used to be

This past year was definitely one of the hardest I've had to endure personally and professionally. There were many "down on my luck moments" very personal to me and each time they cut deep and crushed my heart. 2008 was a tough year for a lot of people, myself included. But I didn't change who I am, my mindset or attitude towards people, and was true to that "gold-hearted boy I used to be" and didn't give in to despair, anger, fear, and grief.

Poker served to do the following for me:

• I don't sleep much (never needed to) and served as a great late night distraction while the wife was asleep and I was still up
• A great mental exercise in game theory and statistics
• An alternative to mundane video games like World of Warcraft
• Outlet for creative expression via a blog / videos / and more
• Make some good side money in the form of profits at the table and freelance article writing

Exactly a year ago today I sat myself down on the couch and came to two conclusions about poker:

1. Playing in tournaments was something I was no longer interested in doing because of the nature of driving 45 minutes to my local cardroom to play 3 hours or 5 minutes and potentially come away with nothing.
2. Online poker offered no commute time and the ability to learn at super micro stakes.

So I decided to drop $240 into FullTilt Poker and give cash game poker a shot and just see where it led me. If I went busto - fine ... then then experiment failed. If I did well, then great I had an outlet to play poker without leaving my house and paying ridiculous rake. Obviously as you see this blog, the experiement was a resounding success.

The reasons for my success in 2008 can be concluded in the following points:

• Joining CardsChat.com and reading the forums and getting involved with the site.
• Making an effort to build relationships with people on CC that I felt were top players and asking for their help. They graciously accepted.
• Adhering to strict bankroll management guidelines.
• Playing through the downswings and getting my frustrations out via blogging

So how did things turn out? Very well for me. At the end of the year I turned a $240 bankroll into $3750 which is an amazing 1 year ROI. The year graph:

Just a nice steady upward graph with one nasty downswing. Considering my experience and emotional nature as a person, it could have been a lot swingier for ups and downs, but learning to control my emotions and simply not giving up (i.e. getting pissed off and withdrawing my BR) were keys to my long term 1-year successes. I made $2661 at the tables, and the difference from $3750 is the original $240 I deposited plus the site bonuses and rakeback I accumulated.

Here are the numbers per level of Hands, Profit/Loss, and ptbb/100 from Holdem Manager:

I have done well in 2008 and built myself up a bankroll to really be playing for some actual money in 2009. I've gained a ton of experience and my poker game and understanding of the game is simply incomparable to what it was a year ago. Overall I'm tremendously proud of my 2008 accomplishments in poker. I feel like my progress so far is in congruence with my overall end-game plan.

For those of you out there reading the blog that have known me since I started, thank you for coming along for my journey and for your ongoing assistance and help you've given me.