Poker goals for 2007

I've decided to write down what I'd like to accomplish in poker in 2007. As 2006 comes to a close, it was a good year. I made the jump to real money and didn't go bust. My bankroll is much higher percentage wise than when I started. For 2007 the goal is to continue to improve and move up. So here's the short list of 2007 objectives in no particular order.

• take some shots at low stakes limit $0.50/$1.00
• take some shots at low stakes sit 'n go $6.50 2 table turbo. Also revisit the $5.50 sngs I tried unsuccessfully earlier this year
• play in some $4.40 180 man tournaments. Cash at least once. Final table at least once.
• get and read Harrington on Hold'em I
• invest in software tools to be successful at the next level, including PokerTracker, PA HUD, datamining
• play some micro stakes no limit cash
• play in a big multi table tournament
• play $2/$4 live at the local casino
• be a winning player in limit 6 max
  

I may not do all of these things. That's OK if I don't. I hope to do at least some of them. It would be disappointing if I don't do any.

Upswing

I've been on a crazy heater since I started at $0.25/$0.50 limit hold'em. I followed up my first 50 BB win with another 50 BB win. So now I'm up 100 BB at this level. The win rate is a sick 27 BB/100. The sample size is too small to be meaningful, and that win rate is not at all sustainable. Still I'd rather be +100 BB than -100. I'm enjoying the upswing while it lasts.

I feel I've been playing pretty well. I've been able to find loose tables with lots of bad players. The truth is I've been catching pretty good cards and my good hands have tended to hold up. I make mistakes, some loose calls, some overaggression, some calling down when I'm clearly beat. I guess the opponents are making more mistakes and more expensive mistakes than what I make.

The 2 table turbo $1.75 tournaments have also been running well for me. It's good to be running well in both the cash game and tournaments at the same time. The two streams have put my bankroll comfortably into the triple figures lol and I hope it will stay there.

Up until now, whenever I win 100 BB at a level, I move up to the next level. The next level in limit is $0.50/$1.00. I'm going to wait a bit this time before taking a shot at the next level. For the first time, I don't have the bankroll to take a shot and be comfortable. So I'll hopefully keep winning at this level to get my bankroll where it needs to be for the next level. I have to be careful about overconfidence based on short term positive variance.

Also I played very few hands at $0.25/$0.50, so I should spend some more time there to get more experience before moving to the next level. I want to move up, but not too fast. There's also a kind of psychological barrier to the next level. The next level is in the Low Stakes tab. So leaving the micros for low stakes is more than a jump in the big bet size. I expect a different, trickier, tougher, and hopefully still beatable playground there. I should spend at least some more time in the comfortable micro stakes tab where fish abound and flops tend to be unraised and seen by many.

I want to keep my sng game up as well. I enjoy tournaments, but I kind of neglect my sng game. I usually only play a sng if I don't see a promising limit cash game first. As it happens, there's almost always a good limit table available in prime time so I just don't get into tournaments. Still I want tournaments to keep up and not be left behind. So in moving up to low stakes cash games, I should move up to low stakes tournaments as well. If I make the jump, I'll want to try the $6.50 2 table turbo sit 'n go. Again I should grind it out at my current level for a while longer to build up the bankroll and confidence to make the quantum leap to a new tab.

Low stakes player does have a nice ring to it.