♠ Wednesday, July 07, 2004
Notes on Week Twenty-Two
Week Twenty-Two had a single goal: bankroll repair.
At this, I ended up moderately successful. I knew going in that I wasn't going to make "my nut," or catch up with where I was before my horrible June. My goal was to make enough money that I could play the game which had been my usual before I destroyed my bankroll, namely four-tabling $3/$6. But, I also needed to do it with as little risk of ruin as possible, which was difficult when my bankroll dropped below $200 at one point. I didn't quite get to where I wanted to be, but I came close. I am back to putting in hours at $3/$6, but I'm not back to four-tabling.
I've found myself more prone to tilt over the last month, than I would have suspected. I've always considered myself a pretty even-keel kind of guy. But the way I've been jumping games for the last month, makes me realize just how prone to tilt I actually am. Just this week, I got disgusted with a bad run at the $25NL tables (my BB/c has dropped to 12.59), and switched to the $2/$4 tables, which I had done once before. At the time, I said that it was like playing people whose cards were face-up. And indeed, I found it that way. But the second time I sat $2/$4, I didn't do so well, which soured me on $2/$4, and drove me to the $25BL. And then, a bad run on the $25NL drove me back.
I found the $2/$4 tables more like the ones I originally discovered than like the ones that drove me to the $25NL, but not incredibly so. I was profitable at them, even though some days I put in very little time and others I put in great gobs of time. However, I wasn't very profitable at them. My $2/$4 win rate is barely above my $3/$6 win rate (with a lot more hands of $3/$6), but of course it is positive, and that's what I needed. I've even reached the point where I could two-table $3/$6 again, which should increase my upside to the point where I can again three- and four-table. (It should, but so far I'm down over $100.)
Assuming I get my form back at $3/$6, I expect to remain there a while. Lesson learned, sort of. I still want to increase my earnings. But I expect—well, I intend—to take Gil's advice and make whatever I attempt additive (his word), rather than replacing $3/$6 play with something else entirely. In other words (and I needed an explanation too), I know that I can make an average of $400 a week on average playing $3/$6 as much as I historically have. One would think that by increasing my hours I can earn more, and I do intend to attempt that, but I've already discussed my thought that this might not be the case. But to truly earn more, to bring my earn up to the next level (and to the point where I'd really consider turning pro to have been a prudent move), I should not suddenly change my game, and declare that $20/$40 stud is now my official pro game. (Well, OK, I'm unlikely to do that with Stud anyway.) If I wish to take up $20/$40 Stud (and truly, I do expect to play that sometime, even if it won't be my usual game), then I need to make sure that I make my nut first, and really, the bankroll (sufficient bankroll) to play that should come from what I make over and above my nut.
All this sounds like common sense, but I've been sorely lacking in that over the last month. I can only hope I've learned my lesson, but one of my character flaws that I didn't talk about last week or whenever, is that I'm given to impulsiveness, so—even though I say now that I've learned my lesson—you may find me again testing the $15/$30 waters, or something equally foolish. But I hope not.
