Early Goings from the SNE Grind 2014

Well, I dove right into the thick of things when I returned from the PCA and have been playing about as much as I can everyday. I can already tell that this is going to be a long, incredibly difficult task for me to accomplish and much, much different than 2010. Back when I first got SNE, I didn't have a very strict schedule in place...I pretty much just played randomly when I felt like it and at one point in the summer I was going to bed at 7am and waking up at 3-5pm. I also checked my results constantly. I didn't map out any sort of VPP plan, although I was well aware of what I needed to hit as a minimum to keep pace. As a result, I ended up having to do a massive 155K VPP cram at the end of the year but really at no point did I believe that I was not going to make it.

This year, as I mentioned, things are completely different. I've been setting my alarm everyday (730am-830am), have a target VPP quota to hit and while I will check my results periodically, I can go weeks (sometimes months) without looking. With that said, I really can't say with a lot of confidence that I'm going to reach SNE this year! The reality of the matter is that I earn less VPPs/hand then I did back in 2010 and the mid-stakes games also don't seem to run as much as they used to. Still, you know what, I'm stoked for the challenge! The games seem good, I'm confident enough in my game and it feels awesome to get back into grind mode again. So I might have to try moving up stakes, or playing 6-max games, or maybe 1-2 months of Omaha or fixed limit for those extra VPPs...I feel like if I can at least keep things close for most of the year and give myself a shot to reach the 1,000,000 VPP milestone over the last few months then I just might be able to pull it off.

The start to the year has gone alright at the tables. I had a brutal day today where I played basically EV+ but ran about $800 under expectation:

, sevens over threes). Hero had 4♥, A♥ (stright, five high). Outcome: BB won $208.70

Here are a couple of the biggest EV discrepancies from today, although the first one is standard against a reg (fish in BB) and the 2nd is just a fish being a fish. You can't get too upset :)

1. PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (8 handed)

UTG+1 ($33.50)
MP1 ($175.59)
Hero (MP2) ($102)
CO ($118.82)
Button ($158.43)
SB ($40)
BB ($130.35)
UTG ($59.23)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 4, A
UTG raises to $2, 2 folds, Hero calls $2, 3 folds, BB calls $1

Flop: ($6.50) 2, 7, 5 (3 players)
BB checks, UTG bets $1, Hero calls $1, BB raises to $5, UTG calls $4, Hero calls $4

Turn: ($21.50) 3 (3 players)
BB bets $13, 1 fold, Hero raises to $44, BB raises to $123.35 (All-In), Hero calls $51 (All-In)

River: ($211.50) 3 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $211.50 | Rake: $2.80

Results below:
BB had 7, 7 (full house, sevens over threes).
Hero had 4, A (straight, five high).
Outcome: BB won $208.70

2. PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1.00 BB (9 handed)

MP2 ($103.73)
MP3 ($100)
CO ($117.50)
Button ($100)
SB ($106.43)
BB ($104.48)
UTG ($105.50)
UTG+1 ($136.95)
Hero (MP1) ($222.08)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with J, J
2 folds, Hero raises to $2.28, 4 folds, SB calls $1.78, BB calls $1.28

Flop: ($6.84) 8, 7, 3 (3 players)
SB bets $6.50, 1 fold, Hero raises to $20.17, SB calls $13.67

Turn: ($47.18) 4 (2 players)
SB bets $83.98 (All-In), Hero calls $83.98

River: ($215.14) 9 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $215.14 | Rake: $2.80

Results below:
SB had 8, 9 (two pair, nines and eights).
Hero didn't show J, J (one pair, Jacks).
Outcome: SB won $212.34

Despite the poor session today, the month has been alright otherwise and I'm currently up a bit:

 

I feel like I'm pretty rusty at the moment but am slowly shaking it off. I think that I'm playing fairly well overall but am making a lot of calls in spots where I have really strong hands but am being shown even better hands and I should be able to fold. I'm talking about borderline cooler spots but I should probably be a little less ambitious and start making more laydowns...for example:

The plan was to XR/fold the river but since I did backdoor it I convinced myself that villain could be shoving sets/straight/2pair and worse flushes but given how little money was invested until the river, I don't like my call in hindsight.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $2.00 BB (9 handed)

MP2 ($249.50)
MP3 ($208.70)
CO ($212.19)
Button ($77)
Hero (SB) ($200)
BB ($211)
UTG ($84.84)
UTG+1 ($208.32)
MP1 ($256.34)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 10, 7
2 folds, MP1 calls $2, 4 folds, Hero calls $1, BB checks

Flop: ($6) 7, A, 5 (3 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, MP1 bets $2, Hero calls $2, 1 fold

Turn: ($10) 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 bets $4, Hero calls $4

River: ($18) J (2 players)
Hero checks, MP1 bets $18, Hero raises to $48, MP1 raises to $248.34 (All-In), Hero calls $144 (All-In)

Total pot: $402 | Rake: $2.80

Results below:
Hero had 10, 7 (flush, Jack high).
MP1 had 2, A (flush, Ace high).
Outcome: MP1 won $399.20

I could post a bunch of losing river calls that I've made this month, a lot more suspect then that one of course. Anyways, I'll try to keep the mistakes to a minimum-something that becomes increasingly more difficult as the volume remains high.

Alright, I'm off to bed and probably won't update until the end of January. I've got to balance what's left of the month between poker, hockey, crossfit, a dentist appointment and a couple of parties on the weekend. Time to get up early!

gl at the tables!