Time to Regroup
The move up in May didn’t produce any positive results, and in fact made me withdraw from the blog and poker for awhile. I would look at the icons on my desktop and just feel like giving up on the whole thing. In reality, I was only a loser at Stars, and this was likely due to a series of bad decisions (like moving up before it’s time). At one point my Stars account was down to $5.53 so I decided to play 2 final SNGs to wipe it out. Well as luck would have it I cashed in both of them. After that I went on a bit of a hot streak and got my bankroll back up as high as $60. I’ve since dropped back to around $45, but it’s still not a bad run. Even though this looks like a bit of success, I feel like I need to start this project over.
When I first started this push to grind my way up I was committed to doing it in cash games. I believed this was the best way to earn money long term and would help me develop a well rounded skill set. However, somewhere along the line I got sidetracked with sit-n-goes. SNGs are a blast to play, but do they really help you grow as a poker player? I’m not sure. I am attracted to them because there’s a basic strategy that works for the first 2/3 of the tournament, and they usually take an hour or less to complete. While the later stages of a SNG require good decision making, I’m not sure these skills transfer to any other form of poker besides possibly final tables. It is definitely a skill set, but maybe a little one dimensional.
I’m far from an expert on these things, so far be it for me to say. I just know that my gut is telling me “back to basics”. I had cash on Absolute and Cake Poker, but rather than spread my bankroll around, I want to focus on one site where I can track my play via Poker Tracker. Absolute would work, but I feel I need to get away and stop supporting them after the way they handled the “potripper” scandal. As for Cake Poker it’s just alright. One of these days they may improve the software to the point where I feel comfortable, but currently I feel like I’m settling for an inferior product just to get a little rakeback. Plus, their opposition to Poker Tracker is really a negative when you want to monitor and evaluate your play. Hand histories, no matter how fancy, just don’t cut it.
So, I’ve pulled all my money out to eWalletXpress (which seems to be the only universally accepted ewallet left for U.S. players). My original thought was to split the money between Poker Stars and Full Tilt, but amazingly Stars is one of the only sites that doesn’t accept eWalletXpress. So it looks like Full Tilt will be my new home. I have issues with Full Tilt and their rakeback offers, but if I want a secure site with good volume, good deposit options, and Poker Tracker support I think I’m stuck. Someday I hope Full Tilt has the balls to put their players before their affiliates, but at least I understand the position they’ve put themselves in.
I plan to play some free tournaments I’ve won during the Full Tilt Fantasy Poker promotion, and then hit the cash games. I’ll be back to grinding in out at $.10/.25. Hopefully I’ve learned something over the past few months which will make this push a profitable one.
