Born Again

Last night was my first cash game session after putting the rules of engagement in place.  I left after 5 hours of play with $286 in profit.  That win brings my total up to $942 which equates to $742 in profit.  I played the $50-$200 table of no limit texas hold em.  I played very good poker and was extremely patient.  I decided to step down one level after the massive down swing to get my bearings back a little.  I am going to go back up to the $200-500 game in the next couple of sessions and continue making the right plays.  I wanted to give a status update and didn’t want to make this post long.  I feel like I am a born again semi-professional poker player...So until next time take care and check out the videoJ

Life After Death...

It has been a while since I have done a blog post.  I took a little break from poker after going from $200 up to $3700, and then back down to $656.  Now sometimes a down swing like this happens in any poker player’s journey, but as I look back on how everything happened I understand how I won and how I lost.  So what I would like to do on this post is explain what I was doing to win $3500 in profit, what I did to lose and go down to only $456 in profit, and what I am putting in place to guarantee it doesn’t happen again.  When I started this challenge I went into every session rested, sober, and focusing on making the best play.  I did that consistently and watched my bankroll grow fast.  After several winning sessions I lost sight of what helped me to win those sessions.  After a couple of losing sessions I started to focus on the money, winning every hand, and added alcohol into the mix.  If you read any poker literature or talk to any professional poker player they will tell you not to focus on the money you win or lose, but focus on making the best decisions that will lead to inevitable profit.  Reflecting on the last two months of losing session after losing session I realized in order for me to become the poker player I aspire to be I have to make some drastic changes, put rules in place and follow them. 

Gary’s Rules of Engagement:
1.  Play 5 hours and if I am not catching cards QUIT.
2.  While in a session alcohol is allowed in the last 15 minutes of the session only.  After one beer the session is over.
3.  I have to stop playing if I lose:

a.  Game:   $50-$200-->Stop Loss:  $200 (4 buy-ins)

b.  Game:  $200-$500-->Stop Loss:  $400 (2 buy-ins)

c.  Game:  $300-$2000-->Stop Loss:  $600 (2 buy-ins)

4.  I must be well rested in order to play in a session.
5.  Anytime I am focusing on the money and not making the right play I must take a break or leave. 

Believe it or not this is what I was doing when I initially started…these were unwritten and something I did initially to make sure I could be profitable and make this journey intertaining.  After winning a ton and then losing it all back after some stupid mistakes I realize that playing by these rules is the only way to take my poker to the next level and show everyone following this blog that Gary knows his stuff.  Until next time!!!

Rock Bottom...