Goal Update for 2008

Here are the goals from 2008 with the explanations of what I accomplished.

1. Win 15 multi table tournaments online.

Actual Result: 8 wins. The biggest was the Ultimate Bet Sunday Major for 45,000 followed by the Absolute Poker Saturday Major for 37,500. What is nice here is that my wins were all over 10k except for 1 tourney.

2. Win a 100 Rebuy on Pokerstars.

Actual Result: I didn't make a 100 rebuy final table on Pokerstars and largely quit playing the 100 rebuy throughout the year. I did win the 100 rebuy on Full Tilt which is a little bit easier field because it is a 6 handed tournament, but it pays more than a typical 100 rebuy on Pokerstars. So I'll call this one a wash.

3. 100 Final tables in multi table tournaments.

Actual Result: I'll count everything that I did throughout the year. 54 final tables is what it came down to online. I made 2 live final tables throughout the year not including satellites. 56 total for the year.

4. Live tournament win.
5. WPT prelim event win

Actual Result: Best finish was for 6th at the WPT Bellagio prelim 2k event for both above goals.

6. WSOP event final table

Actual Result: Best finish was for 53rd in the $2500 no limit.

7. 10 Live final tables.

Actual Result: 2 for 6th and 9th and not nearly enough money.

8. Final table Sunday Million on Pokerstars.

Best Finish: 274th

9. Win the Sunday Night HORSE tournament on Full Tilt.

CHAMPION!!!!! Take that Diego!!!


All in all, I had a solid year monetarily and in the goal department. I think my goals were quite lofty, and I'm going to get making them lofty. I think that I could attain all the goals above in a year with a little more hard work. On the live tournament side, I didn't really make these that realistic in the sense that I didn't know how much I would be playing live tournaments. I played maybe around 40-45 tournaments all year and to final table 10 of these would be an astonishing rate. I think a more realistic goal would be maybe 4 or 5. Even then, the talent of live fields has drastically increased in the smaller buy in events and even the WSOP. As always though, I'll look to get better and find a niche in the live tournaments I enter. Part of the problem that I've always said with someone not being staked in live tournaments is maintaining a proper bankroll. Since a lot of the buy ins are drastically bigger and putting in one tournament for 2,000 is equivalent to maybe 2-4 days of online buy ins, the variance is so much higher.

In the online arena, I had a blazing first half of the year from January to June followed by a little lull in the action until a big 2nd place finish in the Wednesday $300 on Stars. My only second half outright 1st place came as part of the HORSE tournament for a little over $10k although that wasn't my biggest cash of the second half.

In retrospect, I think my best results came at the times of the year when I was focused and locked in to poker without any external distractions. Distractions started to include a number of things that I wouldn't want to be distractions. Playing when I was visiting back in Cleveland didn't turn out as well as I would want. The focus wasn't there. I think I changed that by really only playing a small amount and sit n gos when I was home this time so I wouldn't be committed to playing. I think on a larger scale I can accurately comprehend where I need to improve in my game for next year as well as the scale of variance that a professional player has to go through. Some months or stretches of the year, it's going to be great. One win for $30k plus can really carry the focus and momentum. Other times, it feels like nothing will ever go right.

Stay tuned for goals for 2009.