Year End Review and an Exciting New Year to Looking Forward

Well last year wasn't my most productive year in poker, at least not in the way of dollars made. Between our new baby and moving to a new home, my free time was utterly drained between wife, baby, moving, and "real" work. That being said, still another profitable and productive year.

My poker:
In terms of performance, I ended the year fairly strong. I had a positive finish in 7 out of my last 8 months, included my last 3 in a row. While my games/hours had dropped this year, I am now pretty well settled and expect to gradually put in more time and effort into my games. I also finished the year at my highest average buyin level pretty much ever at $141 average buyin per game/(sit in go). Most of my focus has been $150-200 double up sit in go tournaments in which 5 out of 10 players get double their money back when the first 5 get eliminated. I've been tearing these up pretty well cashing about 57-60%. That might not seem all that great, but I would venture to say it is in the highest ranks for that limit. Going into next year I have got my niche pretty well figured out for now.  I will also probably play 1 or 2 events at the WSOP again this year depending on this success and hopes I should have a renter for my condo.

Here is my latest qoute from the David Apostolico's book based off Sun-Tzu war strategies "Tournament Poker and the Art of War": "Now the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes few calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead to victory and few calculations lead to defeat: how much more no calculation at all! It is by attention to this point that I can forsee who is likely to win or lose".

This year I also rarely had time to research my and my opponents play hand-by-hand. This year I hope to work out a few more leaks with my increasing spare time.

My buddy "dawgonu" has had a great year as well, cashing in some big tournaments and improved the leaks in his game all around. He has already won a trip to play in the Aussie Millions in a couple weeks and I expect us both to have another great year.

My poker related investments:
I plan on buying another 37"+ TV to use as a 4th monitor and get a Verizon hi-speed internet plugin as a backup internet connection. I'd also like to get a heavy duty power backup "UPS" that could endure any long lasting power outages. Typically it's not a problem here in sunny CA, but it has happened before and if I'm playing 3 $200 tournaments and registered in 2 more and I lose power, I could potentially easily lose $1,000 and my short term sanity!! Too me it's worth the investments.

My financial investments:
I pretty much cashed out all my stocks last year so I could take off 3 months of work to support my wife during her pregnancy. This was a very good decision, obviously for the time spent with my wife and coincidentally the stock market has plunged over 30% since then. I hope this years' success will give me an opportunity to rebuild that account and hopefully by then the markets have turned around.

My real job:
As with most people, my real job is not something I love with all my heart, but it pays the bills in a time where people are getting laid off, so I can't complain. I'd love to quit and play full-time, but it makes sense to keep doing what I'm doing. To me it's like paid exercise during a time in the day when my favorite game doesn't fill well anyways. I actually like doing my job which has me talking to alot people I've known quite a while and I get to drive around and do things on my own schedule in my company car. The only real downside is dealing with increasing administrative work and catching heat from management, especially over things you don't have much control and rarely getting any kind of compliments for a job well done the other 99% of the time. So I'll keep on for now until I am able to line up a better scenario.

My family:
Despite my desire to play poker 24/7 365 days a year, I realize if I want to at least maintain my current routine I will continue to try to be a good dad and helper around the house. While it makes obvious sense based on my results $ per hour etc., my wife still has a hard time seeing my time playing poker as equal to time working my real job or helping around the house. She says she understands, but when I'm sitting in a tournament with hundreds or thousands of dollars at stake and the baby is crying or the house is a mess, etc., you can tell it goes right out the window. In a way I can understand and unless I am asking for a divorce, I have just got to deal with it. I am young and already have more than most people twice my age and am very grateful to have a nice home, good family, good wife and blessed with a healthy child.

My Poker blog:
I started this blog less than a year ago with no experience or expectations what so ever. I didn't really expect to make much money off of this, but I'm glad I am able have my experiences documented and at least do something positive for others with all the experience I have in this way of life. I expect to do more reviews on mostly poker related stuff and continue to network myself around and get to know more people in the industry. I do enjoy writing but since it is something I don't really get paid for, I prefer to use my valuable free time to play. I do hope to continue to improve my content and have gotten some good comments and advice this year.

All in all I think I'm in a great spot to have a good year. The only obstacle I really see is my playing time is still at a part-time level, which should at least continue to improve with time and set me up to have a spectacular year hopefully by 2010.  Time will tell my fate I guess. Good luck at the tables. Please keep the feedback coming (email, comments, and questions). Donkeyherder


 
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Just posting some pics of my current setup

I finally got some things put together so I can get back to work herding up some donks.  I'd like to add a 37-42" LCD above the current three monitors.






I got 2 power back-up/surge protectors and one of the most major necessities....the office FRIDGE Baby!!



I'm hangin a little poker wear to maintain that poker vibe and a Donkey Herder shirt to represent!!



Here's a little bit of some of the literature I've read on my way to graduating from Poker School with a Masters in Donkeyherding!! Hee-Hawwww.

After having the friendly donkeys on my screen saver for a while, I really didn't even think about it when the cable company guys came by to fix my internet and phone. One of them asked me wtf is with the donkeys? Was I really into donkeys or something? He probably thought I was a donkey fornicating freak. I tried to explain the poker reference, but I guarantee those guys were about to call Chris Hanson's Catch a Predator show looking for a reward.

There's still a few more things I'd like to do later, but I bought my own digital camera today at Costco (I could live there if I had to!!) so I wanted to post some pics before the holidays. Gl all, Donkeyherder.


 
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Wow I Hate Internet/Phone Companies!!!

Apparently Time Warner Cable has like the worst customer support of all-time!! I always had the worst experiences with phone and internet providers. I guess TWC's internet crashed about a week ago and I finally got a tech out to my house today which made 1 simple phone call reseting my modem from their office?!! You would think over the last week and 15 phone calls somebody woulda tried to do that already?? They also processed my account twice under 2 different account numbers?!! WTF? I still don't have a phone 45 days later too? Sighhhhh

More the reason I want to buy an internet plug-in card, but then I'll have to another phone company to screw me around. Anyways, I had a good start only to have a small but horrible suckout run. It should play out, but I might start being more selective on the $200's I play.

More to come later, just had to get that off my chest. Donkeyherder.
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Almost moved in...working on the ultimate computer setup!!

Well it's obvious to say moving sucks!! It's pretty much killed all my recent poker action. It took about a week just to get about the most important 90% of our stuff out and into the new place. Then what I didn't realize was even a bigger hassle of trying to take it all apart and reorganize which is in it's 2nd week of coming together. The good thing about the whole thing is you get to get to clean up and you get that feeling of a new fresh start. This also applies to my office (which I no longer have to share with the baby) and I get to rebuild my ultimate computer setup! My previous setup I had (3) 24" Samsung monitors and a 32" TV. I exchanged my TV with our bedroom 36" and I plan to buy a 37"-42" lcd 1080 High Def. to put above my 3 monitors and use it as another monitor. I had an electrician add an additional plug outlet under my desk. I also use 2 battery backups with about 1 hour of power in case the power goes out and has multiple outlets with surge protection. If I can find a good plan, I would also like to buy one of those portable high performance USB internet connectors, in case my internet crashes or prolonged power outage. Everything I've seen is about $50+ per month and I'm not sure how reliable they are, so I might wait till I find a good deal.

I recently was contacted by Neal Gersony who wrote a fictional novel called "Poker Slam" asking me if I'd read and review his book. I am usually very happy to do reviews, which I have done on other books and poker related subjects, and I think I will expand and do more of in the future, however, during my move-in process it might be a week or two more before I'm back up to speed. I'd also like to do some posting or start a new blog related to stock picking, which I have spent alot of time tracking and analyzing over the last 6 or 7 years on a daily basis. With the financial markets in such a bad state lately, I have a feeling I'll either look like a stock picking donkey or superstar with such wild swings. Variance is just as much an issue to overcome in stocks as well as poker. If you think about it the returns of a succesful poker player are anywhere between 5 and 20%. This is also very similar in stocks except typically most people aren't able to invest in hundreds or thousands of different stocks for long periods of time as you can play hundreds of games of poker in a month. This makes me believe that trading stocks is probably much more risky and volatile than playing poker. If you think about it most pro poker players can at least over the course of a year show a profit probably 9 out of 10 years. The odds of that same feat in the stock market are very rare even if you are one of the best stock pickers alive, as obviously seen this year in which the whole market has lost over 20%.

As far as my personal poker results for the month of November, I started the month off pretty bad down the 1st week and was able to turn it around and finish up positive after finishing up 10 of my last 13 playing days. I also had my largest average tournament buyin at abiut $130. I have been having pretty good success with 2x double up sit in go's which basically 5 out of 10 players get paid double their money if you are part of the last 5 standing. At first I didn't think these tournaments were worth the time since there isn't any large payout for 1st place and the profit margin is slimmer. Fortunately, I improved my strategy and at a higher buyin level ($100-300) I am able to make a decent and consistent return (as of right now at least). It's really hard to tell until you've played hundreds or even thousands of tournaments, which is why many players can get big ego's on a decent run and other players who play to high for their bankrolls can eventually find themselves reloading their credit cards or quitting altogether. Now I'm saying most players would be winners if they just kept dumping money and keep playing, but I'm saying it takes a while to figure out a realistic return and that's not even factoring whether your game or the way to beat the game itself changes. Personally I think most players should just play really small till they show a consistant profit and slowly move up. It can be frustrating, but why not pay as little as possible to learn how to win?

College Degree or Poker Pro?

I was checking out Jhub's blog today and I came across a topic I unfortunately must deal with probably for years to come. Haters who bash guys who don't finish out their degree in order to pursue poker as a profession. You hear the usual claims of home much of a waste of space you are and how you are wasting your life, etc. There are many strong opinions, including my own if you want to check it out: http://jhub3000.livejournal.com/81973.html

I do agree for the great majority it can be a pipe dream and I probably wouldn't recomend it to others because it is very tough, but no more than those who dream to be famous actors, golfers, or Ultimate Fighters. My basic philosophy is if you can work a real job and play poker as a 2nd job like I currently do or do school and poker and you can always go back and finish a degree if it is that important, but few people are able to do something they love for a living and on top of that be some sort of a tremendous contributor to society. I personally have a lot of respect for those who grind out a 9 to 5 everyday for years on a assembly line or in the the coal mines put food on the table. Barry Greenstien (who donates millions of dollars to various charities) is a great example of how to still do something good in the world. Maybe if more players were more generous these negative perceptions might be less common. I'm sure it's way better than when Doyle was playing in his younger years, but it shows we still have progress to make. 

 
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Peter Eastgate is the 2008 WSOP Main Event Champion, but were the fans cheated!?

 
Cake Poker is one of my favorite smaller poker sites to play. Games fill well, are very loose, and U.S. players accepted. Please use my sign-up code: Donkeyherder


Congrats out to Peter Eastgate, the newest, and youngest ever WSOP Main Event Champion!! He broke Phil Hellmuth's (self-proclaimed unbeatable) record being only 22 years old and won over $9 million along with the bracelet and probably numerous sponsorship deals to come. I just finished watching the final table show tonight and it was a very exciting final table. Plenty of suckouts and suprises. In the end, it seemed like the 2 most introspective players seemed to rise above the rest. Ivan Demidov and Peter Eastgate were left to battle it out after fan favorite and chip leader coming in Dennis Phillips, who previously seemed to play pretty solid and straight forward, was KO'd 3rd making a huge bluff with only Ace hi after a jack hi junk flop. 

After seeing the show 1 time I haven't fully been able to collect my thoughts on the plays shown, however, it was clear that ESPN was determined only to show the biggest most exciting pots, so I had a hard time figuring out were everyone stood, what the blinds were, etc. In the end I really did like the final table being filmed at a later date in a theatre that was filled with the fans of each player and numerous big name pros looking on. It gave you a feeling like you were watching 9 different teams fighting it out, each with there own cheering section. It seemed more exciting than the random collection of fans who don't have much of a personal interest in the competitors and are just there for the spectacle or it all. 

On the bad side, when it got to heads-up, which sould be the most exciting point of the tourney, apparently ESPN cut 103 out of the 105 hands played and on TV it plays out in only 2 big hands. the final of which both players make big hands and are pretty much committed to get all the chips all-in. I didn't know this after watching it, and figured they must have just happened that way, but after looking into it online, I am now dissapointed to know they just cut out all the heads-up hands I guess due to time constraints. I really felt a bit ripped off after learning this. I feel like they could have at least showed 10-15 hands to show a little back and forth warfare. I do know they claim this was the longest final table ever, but if I was them add an extra half an hour or cut out something less critical. I also wish Peter Eastgate would show the least bit excitement about winning. He reminds me of a you Barry Greenstein. Can you say Parrrrrtttyyy!!! Maybe not. lol. At least I feel he won't do anything too stupid to bring a bad rep to poker, but he is only 22, so I guess you never know?

Overall, I like the direction the WSOP went this year. Ratings are up and many exciting events took place. Here is a link to "Cardplayer's" final table time-line of how it played out. http://www.cardplayer.com/tournaments/live_updates/14422/20824 

I'd like to get some feedback on what others think. Did you like the delayed Final table?, the way it was aired?, was it interesting and exciting? What changes would you like to see?
Here's this weeks dose of Chinese war master "Sun-Tzu" : "If he is taking ease, give no rest. If his forces are united, separate them."

I'd like to get some feedback on what you thought of this year's WSOP and Final Table. Please feel free to leave your opinion. Better luck next year for the rest of us common folk. Donkeyherder.

If you do decide to sign-up for a new poker site make sure to click on my rakeback link first and follow the instructions, because once you sign-up if you don't use the rakeback code you cant go back and still get rakeback!! This once screwed me on FullTilt and I didn't have rakeback for a long time and lost alot of free money. If you're playing online poker and aren't getting rakeback, you're losing alot of free money!! Here's a link to the site I use with my ID(RTR17810). It's the largest rakeback site and I've never had any problems. They actually answer their emails and have always been paid. You can get 25-60% back on most sites. Check it out:
 
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Voting For Poker Rights

If you enjoy the right to play poker and are interested on how our country's representatives would be rated regarding these rights, here is a link to the Poker Players Alliance "Congressional Ratings Website", which breaks down and rates each representative by state. Here is the link: http://www.congressionalpoker.org/index.php?option=com_sectionex&view=category&id=2&Itemid=12

Pass it along.  Donkeyherder.



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