Happy Cold Year and New Resolutions

Got back from my family holiday over Christmas and New Year in Domincan Republic on Tuesday to be welcomed by -5 degree temperatures then having my Dad try to drive out of Manchester Airport at rush hour with half frosted windscreen. I had a good relaxing time and seemed like I was away for ages which is of course a good thing. Bit naff Thomson flights compared to BA ones I just had and the hotel wasn’t as good as expected but I’m not gonna complain when i’ve got hot weather and a lush white sandy beach on the doorstep.

A blog would be shite without some standard new years resolutions so after some thought on holiday I came up with the following:

• Tidy my room. Ok for over the last year my room has been a complete embarrassment and I think it is part of the reason of why I am so lazy.  But it’s like a viscious cycle when I tell myself to clean it every weekend and I can’t be arsed.  If this doesn’t get done then I doubt i’m gonna have any motivation to do the things below so i’ve set myself a target that should make me do it.  I am going to give my mam £200 and if It’s not sorted by the end of January then she gets to keep it.
• Get some strength. Probs another reason why i’m so lazy because I have like so little strength and i’m borderline underweight eventhough I eat junk food and sit on a computer for 12 hours a day and never exercise.  I’ve also got awful posture so that also needs to be sorted.  To do this I need to increase my weight to 65kg and do some strength training with mainly barbell exercises.  Then once I can squat my body weight I think all should be good.  Dunno whether to pay rediculous gym membership fees as they’re are usually full of egotistical arseholes who don’t know shit or to invest in my own equipment.
• Work more, waste less time. Well this is just a general one which bundles a few small ones together and and basically just shows how lazy I am.  I waste so much time both at work and at home and on reflection I always find myself not doing much or doing things unproductively like never sticking to one thing but I guess that’s just the way I am and it’s hard to change something like that.  I’ve got lots of things things i’d like to achieve for my day job which i’ve targeted for this year so hopefully by the end of the year a lot of things will be completed.  I’ve also just bought a new domain name for a new site i’d like to build as a project so hopefully I can get that off the ground and if all goes well I have a good start to things I want to achieve in the future.  Also, loads of massive things planned for this year with my baby NPF so I need to remember not to forget about it and keep enough time to make sure I achieve waht I originally wanted.  I’ts already been a massive first year for it so there’s no reason why it can’t be bigger this year.

Poker Goals

• Build a Bankroll. Well this isn’t just a general point about a poker bankroll as I already have enough money to play poker comfortably at the levels I play.  I have a specific goal of building a roll of £3000 for Vegas when I go there in September for my 21st Birthday as i’d like to make sure i’ve enough to havea  really good time, well I can have a good time without it but come on, it’s Vegas!  I think £3000 is a very tough target but still achieveable if I really stick at it.  Even if I don’t reach it what’s i’m taking anyway and any profit is good and a loss is a total disaster.  I’ve deposited a £500 roll on Virgin Poker to play mainly SNGs as this is the only thing I have ever made profit but it’s the MTTs and sats that make me a losing player overall.  This will be separate from a general roll that I use to play the odd games. Starting at €10 and €20 SNGs (10-30 seaters) i’ll assess my targets and see if they are acheiveable as i’ve not yet properly worked out if the target is achieveable at these levels and the amount I play.
• Keep Records. I’ve seen this loads on resolutions but still players fail to do it and missing out on valuable information to asses your own play.  Well i’m one of these players and despite being very organised and interested in stats etc, it’s just something i’ve never bothered doing.  So i’m keeping a spreadsheet of all games I play, even the ones I think ‘don’t count’ and then I should really be able to see what i’m doing wrong and how to be a better player.

Other than, my poker is gonna be pretty much the same.  Playing the odd multi and hoping for that big score that everyone wants.

On another note, first poker of the year was the satellites for the next Virgin Festival at Aspers Newcastle and didn’t last long in the PokerPlayer feeroll a combination of playing shit and semi unlucky situations.  Had a good stab at the €7 1R 1A and decided the best solution was to double rebuy, sit sickly tight and then add on so I didn’t get knocked and just aim to survive with a decent stack after the break.  Kept my stack up above starting after only turning a set of jacks and winning ok pot, then sucking out with my KK vs AA.  Bloody typical that you sit tight like that and end up with KK v AA ( but won so don’t care), that left me still only about 8th in chips at the break after add on.  Grinded the way through and picked up some decent hands that I could re raise with and keep my survival.  Blinds kicked in and got to crapshoot stage where you have little play except be lucky and pick moments.  Ended up getting low then picked up KK and doubled through.  Then shoving 8 bbs with 99 in cut off then being cripped by short stack who called me with AJ and hit.   Some survival hands and then teamdobb taught me the magic of a min bet with short stack and kept me above board when I was really buggered.  Blah blah, then get the standard fish limp utg, I shove my 5bbs with AJ hoping for him to call with his raggy Ace only to walk into AK obviously and not suck out twice.

Hope you all have a lucky new year and win loads of money and get to achive the things you want, but most of all be happy .