January 4th, 2005

I've never really been one to make New Year's resolutions -- I always felt that if you were the type of person who needed an arbitrary date on the calendar to motivate you to change for the better, then you probably weren't the type of person who was going to follow through on those promises anyway.

That being said, I DO believe in goal-setting, and I'll take this opportunity to set some poker and life goals for myself this upcoming year -- (feel free to criticize my attempt to distinguish resolutions from goals...I still think there's a difference.)

1. Continue playing 3BB+ poker at full ring limit games.

Alright, I admit it: even though I've managed 3.5BB / 100 over my last 125,000 hands, there's still a part of me that thinks it might all be a fluke. I'll drop $4,000 one night, or go through break even stretches of 5,000 hands or more, and all of a sudden start to think "hey, maybe I just ran really really well, and I'm really just a marginal winner...after all, the vast majority of 2+2 threads discussing limit winrates, even regarding 3/6 and 5/10, suggest that anything above 2.0 is outstanding." I won't even enter those discussions, because I'm pretty sure my claim of 3.5 at 20/40 and 30/60 would be subject to endless ridicule and skepticism. I've been pretty outspoken here about how I think that 98% of information on 2p2 is full of shit, so I figure there's simply little to be gained from having a pissing contest there. So I've allowed for the fact that I might have just run really well by merely shooting for 3.0 this year. I wanted to set an actual monetary goal, but because of how crazy I anticipate my life being this year -- all my friends are graduating from law school in May (although I've got a semester more to complete), I've got no clue what I plan to do this summer, although I've contemplated a 4 month around-the-world trip -- I don't think making a concrete dollar figure goal makes sense. I will say, however, that I hope, for the weeks that I am relatively stable, I'll be able to continue to get in 5,000 hands / week.

2. Continue to improve my shorthanded game.

Approximately 80% of my action in the last month was playing shorthanded games from 10/20 through 30/60. Before embarking on that adventure, I admit I really didn't think there was ALL that much room for improvement in my limit game, but having now played 20,000 hands of SH limit, I feel like I took a HUGE step forward, and I'd recommend that everyone practice 6max games (even if you struggle at first, which I promise you will). For starters, the caliber of competition at the Party 6max games is stunning. You won't believe just how bad people are. My theory is that because increased aggression is often rewarded in SH games, then the maniac who will get completely annihilated at a full ring game all of a sudden seems unbeatable playing 6max, and -- while he will eventually lose all his money -- there are times when he'll just run the entire table over for hours...and these temporary moments of domination gives him more reason to believe he's actually a good poker player, and thus is more likely to lean towards SH games. I think becoming a good shorthanded player is really an essential tool in one's poker toolbox (and will only expand the number of soft games you're able to find at any one time online.)

3. Become a dominant NL player

As I wrote here around a month ago, I really am in awe of the best NL cash game players out there, and how effortlessly they seem to accumulate chips. Although I've had modest success even at the highest stakes NL tables, I really don't think that abusing the short-stack strategy / shortcomings in Party's software really qualifies as having any tangible NL skill. I think, as I observed before, that most expert NL players' profits would make mine look like chump change over the same number of hands. Interestingly, NL tournaments have absolutely zero appeal for me. I think they're impossibly gay (in the colloquial sense). I can handle my own in SNGs and MTTs, but they're just not my bag. Maybe it's because deep down I'm a "math guy", and I know that over the course of 100,000 hands, it's nearly impossible for poor players to take my money in cash games. I just can't stand busting out of a MTT on a bad beat, only to watch some little punk rake in my chips, smiling smugly as though he freakin' owned me, and knowing that I'm not gonna get a chance to get him back. Maybe it's a little chink in my tilt-proof armor. So I avoid them.

4. Play in this year's WSOP.

Alright - complete contradiction of the preceding indictment of MTTs, but who really knows how long this poker bubble is going to last, and I figured I'd get in while the getting's good. It would be cool to play in the main event, but it'll be a cold day in hell before I'll shell out $10G to play in it...so either I win an online qualifier, or maybe I'll just go play in the $1,500 buy-in events or the side cash games. A couple friends are in the exact same boat and are equally committed to going this year, so it looks like it'll happen one way or another.

5. Take a trip around the world

Alright, a non-poker goal: I realize how little of this great world I've actually seen. Beyond North America, I've really only done the post-graduation Europe in a month thing, and then miscellaneous trips to Costa Rica, New Zealand, Mexico, and Hawaii. I also realize I'm in a somewhat unique position: a decent amount of disposable income, no realy family or work obligations in the near future, and a hell of a lot of free time (assuming I don't tie myself down with a summer job this year). I've got tons of places on my want-to-go list, so I was thinking maybe I'd just do a 4 to 6 month trip and hit as many places as I can, so I'll never find myself sitting in an office dreaming about all the opportunities I'd missed to see the planet's wonders when I was young. Just a few places and activities I've been thinking of: run with the bulls in Pamplona, dive the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, do an African safari, Easter Island, the Galapagos, Carneval in Brazil, Machu Pichu (sp?) in Peru, ski the Alps, Bangkok, China, ski Mt. Fuji eat sushi and ride the bullet train in Japan, Oktoberfest in Germany, take the trans-Siberian express through Russia (credit to a Henry Rollins show for this idea), see Pyramids in Egypt, Bali, Fiji, the Ice Hotel in Sweden, Ibiza, go back to the Greek islands, Israel, I heard there's an underwater hotel opening in Dubai that sounds like a trip, hmmm....that's all for now, although I'm open to any suggestions that people want to make of can't-miss places or activities I should hit. I figure I'll buy one of those open-ended unlimited-flight tickets for a few thousand dollars and see what happens.

I've got plenty more goals, some of the more personal nature that I won't waste space with here, but I think jotting these things down is a worthwhile activity. Makes you feel as though you're being productive with your life. I'm in Vegas for the next 6 days -- I'll be a fixture at the Bellagio tables if you want to say hello. Will write up trip report when it's over.