Milestone

This week, I finally broke through the $1000 barrier. It took me 9 months to go from $50 to $1000. Most of that profit comes from LHE cash games, $0.25/$0.50 Full Ring for the first few months, $0.25/$0.50 6-max after that and $0.50/$1 6-max for the last few months. Around $90 also came from the last 2 weeks playing Sit&Go's (single table and multi table). My bankroll now is a healthy $1000. It's a great feeling to finally be winning again after breaking even for 2 months strait.

I've also adopted a new philosophy. I play the types of games I feel like playing and don't worry about growing my bankroll anymore. This means that I sometimes play two (or more) limits below what my bankroll can stand. A few months ago, this was unthinkable. I didn't want to play at lower limits because I feared my bankroll wouldn't grow as fast. While this is true to some extend, it's also very short sighted. You can still make some profit at the lower limit, it helps to boost your confidence and you can still learn a ton there. By playing also at lower limits, I play better and more confidently at my usual limit. For a few months, I was 'trapped' in playing $0.5/$1 6-max exclusively, now I'm free.

I'm also continuing to make excellent progress developing my game. My sessions with another ITH member definitely help in this regard. Besides learning things from him, it also stimulates more thinking about the game which is perhaps even more important. Playing other games, like LHE FR, NL10 FR, S&G's, also increase my understanding of the game. It forces you to look at the game from another angle which can be very refreshing. I find that I am finally beginning to understand the game. Instead of knowing nothing, I now know something.

I've also become much stronger mentally which is just as important as the technical aspects of the game. Developing a good poker mindset sounds easy but in reality, it takes a lot of practice. One thing that helps me is that I don't look at short term results anymore. I just make sure I am playing within my bankroll and play the games I feel like playing. Someone once wrote that statistics are the only thing keeping him sane, for me it's just the opposite. By focusing on short term results, you focus on something you cannot control. It only serves to create an emotional state, whether that is positive or negative.

My plan for the future is just to keep having fun while playing and let the money take care of itself. Since my bankroll now allows $1/$2 6-max LHE, I will start to play this limit occasionally. I will also focus on developing my Sit&Go game. I like playing these and there is still a lot of room for improvement there. I also need to focus more on developing my NL cash game. There are still plenty of NL games while the limit games are drying up. Switching to NL cash will be unavoidable but I think I can wait for a few months before really putting in an effort.

Current bankroll(approximately): $1000(PokerStars) + $80(PartPoker)