Stats geek!

I'm running so bad at the moment in the cash game or at least it feels like I am... It actually highlights the importance of tracking your game if you want to take poker seriously. Nobody likes having a mirror held-up in front of them but in poker, you need to know if you are a winning player and if you aren't, you need to know where your holes are so you can fill them.

I track every game I play in and I mean every game. When I get home, no matter how late it is, I record my buy-in, what I have won or lost and I often take notes if I have made a bad play or picked up something on a player I play against regularly.

In live games, we don't have the benefit of Shark Scope or Poker Tracker so we don't have the luxury of knowing how we are doing and what hands are +EV or -EV. Imagine if you could access every hand you played in live games and then click a few buttons to find out how often Ace, 10 suited paid off for you?

It ain't gonna happen and of course in the live game, we have so many other inputs other than betting patterns, pot odds or the basic maths of our own hands. But it is important to decide what you want from poker... is it pure entertainment for you, does it boost your monthly income, or is it a business? It helps to be honest, but I am often amazed at how poker players simply refuse to even answer that question and they certainly don't or can't tell you if they are winning players.

I won't get into the cash value of the figures but this is how I have been doing the last few years:

2008

In the cash games, mostly the pomme and The Vic in London, I ended the year making 20% from the cash I put on the table. Even then, I didn't see many bank accounts offering that kind of return. I won (ended up with more money than I sat down with) 46% of the time. Biggest win was £1600 and biggest loss was £890.

In tournaments, I was down 27% but final tabled 57% of the time and cashed 24% of the time.

2009

In the cash games (and I broadened my playing everywhere from Vegas to the Caribbean) I made 37% on the money I put onto the tables. Owning a share in my own poker club meant I was playing up to 3 times a week so I am happy that my return increased year on year. I won 55% of the time, another trend I want to increase. My biggest win was £1405 and my biggest lost was easily over £2000 (in Bulgaria against the local mafia!)

In tournaments, I made 28%, which is almost the exact opposite of the previous year (where I lost 27% of my buy-in bankroll). That made me happy, as whilst tournaments are never going to earn as much as cash games unless you win a big one, I wanted to improve without effecting my cash game too much. I final tabled 72% of the time, cashed 38% of the time and won 11% of the tournaments I played in.

2010

So far this year, I have won 60% of the time in cash games, but I am down 12% due to a couple of big losses. Not a great start, but if I maintain my winning percentage, I know I can get back into the black.

In tournaments, I have final tabled 56% of the time and cashed 44% of the time. I've won 22% of the time, so that's not bad.

So am I really running bad at the moment? Not really... I am down and lost more than I would have liked in one sitting but the hands where I lost, I either had the best hand when the money went in, or gave a player a tough decision to make for all their chips with a semi-bluff or slightly worse hand at the time.

The cash game seems to be crazy wherever you go at the moment, with players in the hand purely because the pots are big.

Example.

I make it £17 to go with pocket Queens and get three callers before a fourth player raises it up to £50 (which is all his chips at the time.)

The pot is £107 when it gets back to me.

I make it an additional £150 on top of the £33 to call the re-raiser.

This puts £290 in the pot. Villain 1 tanks for 5 minutes and eventually throws his £60 or so into a side pot, boosting the pot to £350 or so.

Villain 2 announces that he now has to call as he is getting value... what? He has to call £183 to win £350, which ain't even 2 - 1 !!!

I show my Queens and this is what I am up against:

Villain 1 - K, 5 suited... yes, King, 5 suited!

Villain 2 who was calling for value - Ace, Jack offsuit

Re-Raiser shows pocket 10s.

I say out loud that I know my hand is doomed.

Flop:

10, 7, Ace

Turn

3

River

Jack

Brilliant, I have the third best hand and win a side pot of £4.

About three hands later I hit two pair with Jack, 10 against two King rags who flopped a King, with one card to come. Another King comes on the river and they share my chips.

The important thing is to look at the stats, note where mistakes were made and keep playing if financially feasible! I am lucky in that I can take a bit of a hit thanks to the bankroll I have built up over the last few years. Tilting... YES! Running bad... NO!!!

See you at the tables...

jT