2008 YEAR IN REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!

So, i'm 2 weeks late, but i think i'm ready for the year in review. Looking back on 2008, it was quite a year. My poker game has evolved quite a bit, and i think the funniest thing is that i started out the year playing multi tables and SNG's, and i ended the year playing strictly cash games. I think the days of playing multi tables for me are pretty much over. I just really can't stand them. It's a love hate though. There is nothing quite like making a final table, and the feeling you get when you take one down, but i just feel like that euphoric feeling does not outweigh the constant feeling of losing a flip and busting out, or getting sucked out on, and busting out. In cash games when the donk sucks out, you can rebuy and try to get your money back, but in donkaments, you're done. I just think cash games are the way my game is heading now. Funny thing is, looking back on a post from almost exactly a year ago, i was saying how SNG's were my bread and butter, and i haven't played a sng for 7 or 8 months now lol.


I started the year playing sngs 50nl, and now i'm playing a mix of 100nl and 200nl. I like the small progress i have made moving up stakes, but to be honest with you, i really don't have aspirations to play anything higher than 200nl. 400nl is a VERY hard game to beat, and i'm not sure i would ever feel comfortable sticking $400 in the middle on nothing more than a draw, or even worse, a bluff. I guess i probably would've said the same thing about $200 one year ago, so who knows, but you can make a pretty decent living playing 200nl. As far as other goals, i'll save that for another my next post.


Onto the bottom line. I'm not going to get into specifics since i was too lazy to breakdown the winnings by site/rakeback/bonuses/etc..but in 2008, i netted $16,678!!!!! Seeing as 1 year ago, my goal for 2008 was to make 10k (a goal i realistically didnt think was possible), i would say it was an excellent year! I didnt get pokertracker until april, so posting my poker tracker graph would be pretty useless, and again, i don't know how many hands i played on the year either although i wish i did. My biggest month was March were i won $3055 and i had one losing month (not sure if this is good or bad...i feel like even having 1 losing month is VERY bad, but i may be being too hard on myself) and that was September where i lost a measly $192. I pretty much averaged $1400/month. For a quick glance into 2009, i really feel like $1400/month is not going to be something i am very happy with. I feel like my game has evolved quite a bit over the last 6 months, and by starting to play some HU, my game is only expanding, so i really feel like 2009 is going to even better than 2008!


Anyway, i'm getting off point. This should be a very joyous post because i met, and exceeded my goal for 2008 by over 50%! I actually got absolutely crushed today in HU running an unbelivable 6 buy ins -ev, and was in no mood to do the year in review, but decieded to do it anyway. After i tallied up the numbers, i was in one of my better moods in a while! Not to brag too much or anything, but it feels pretty amazing knowing that i made this kind of money from a stupid game we call poker!! 99.9% of people out there play poker just like they play gin, or hearts with the family or with friends, but i turned this "hobby" into something productive. Addiction???? You can call it that i guess, but ask yourself this....if you knew you could make 16k doing something you love to do, wouldn't you put in a couple hours a day doing it?? If you answered no to this, you are probably lying to yourself, or you're a hater. I call it hard work, plain and simple. I put in more time than post poker players playing/reading/watching videos/learning and this is my reward for it. I am not a lucky person, i am a dedicated person. I had a goal to learn and beat the game of poker, and eventhough i am still lightyears away from mastering it, i have a pretty good grasp for the game of poker. Put the time in yourself, practice practice practice and you'll start to win money in this game too...i promise you!! A few years ago, i turned a hobby into an obsession, and i am reaping the benefits from it now! In other words, "get your ink, or go give him a hand"


I think that's enough for now, as i'm sure nobody is actually reading at this point anyway. I comtemplated ending my blog seeing as i rarely update it with anything juicy or even interesting, so i'm still not sure if i'm going to keep it going. Blogs come and go, and at some point this blog has to end, so maybe this is a good time...i'll pull an Elway, and go out on top! Good luck to you guys in 2009, i'll post in the next couple days with my goals for 2009.

Murph


ps i also won a 50" plasma tv from the pokerstars store, a garmin gps system, and a 24" computer monitor in 2008...retail value...lots of monies!!!