Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Poker Stats



Logo courtesy of the OPR website
If you play online poker, you're likely aware of the Official Poker Rankings site.  I don't know much about the creators behind it but it's a great resource for checking out opponents and following your own play.

I have to say I'm pretty disgusted with my stats pre-July 2010.  Since becoming disciplined about adhering to a bankroll plan (begun around June 23, 2010), my stats are moving in the right direction.  I know it's going to take awhile to get my ROI for the entire year in the positive, but that's ok.

In June 2010, I had -67% ROI.  Si, senor.  That's a negatory sixty-seven percent..

In July, I had a +19% ROI and a profit of $27. In August, I had a +10% ROI and a $34 profit.  So far this month, my ROI is at +88% and I'm showing a profit of $206.

As I wrote here previously, I started off with $600 in my online account on September 1, 2010.  As of today, my BR is at $873.65 (which includes a PokerStars VIP Stellar reward - wheee).

I really don't know how I played poker before creating and sticking to a Bankroll Management plan.  Now that I am, I very much believe it's changed my game.

What about you?  Do you practice bankroll management?  If so, what is your plan and how does it work?  I'd love to hear your comments about the practices you follow.

My philosophy, in a nutshell, is:

Never buy into an MTT for more than 2% of my BR
Always have 250+ buy-ins for the game I'm playing

In addition, I write down my daily efforts.  It looks like this:
September 15, 2010
BR = $830.55

7 tourneys (-$15.40)
         Won (+58.50)

Profit (+42.10)

BR = $873.65
VPP = 121.28
Picture courtesy of Linda Spivey
I blank everything out and cut and paste and do it all again the next day that I play.

Maybe that seems too results oriented, and I admit that it sucks to play a lot of tourneys in one day and only have a $10 profit...and I've been there (and worse, with losing sessions).  But, tracking it in this way really clarifies it for me.

After writing it all down, I then often use my HEM and PokerStove to go over marginal hands and see where I messed up in a tournament or could've played a hand differently.

Anyway, that's how I'm doing it.

If you have not checked out OPR, I'd highly recommend using it.  If nothing else, it can keep you honest about whether you're being serious about your online pokers.

For grins, check out the stats on these monsters (they lead the PokerStars tourney leaderboard for 2010):

BFIZZ11
AltyAA  (this guy doesn't even have stats pre-2009!)

While I doubt I'll ever be able to play the volume these guys do, it's fun to be able to track the effort.

Hopefully, I'll get motivated to write soon about something other than poker (and Brandi Carlile).  Until then, I hope you're running good and I hope to hear your comments about BR strategy - or anything else you'd like to share.

Good luck at the tables!

9 comments:

  1. I track my progress using Holdem Manager but I also use a few spreadsheets for different games. I don't treat my poker account chips as my entire bankroll. Instead I segregate parts of it for different games and track those bankrolls individually through spreadsheets. I was going to put a more detailed post about that topic but haven't had time to blog lately :(

    I've posted the spreadsheets online so anyone can use freely. My MTT Bankroll Management Spreadsheet is the latest one I published.

    I'm pretty much a bankroll nit but I want to take a shot at a WCOOP. I haven't been playing too many MTTs lately and it's outside my bankroll mgmt requirements but I had some nice scores with my fun money bankroll and cleared some bonuses.

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  2. Well, I guess I just need to quit playing poker and start playing solitaire or hearts online.

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  3. Hey MicroRoller, thanks for commenting. You've got a great blog and I'll be checking out the spreadsheets. Good luck in your WCOOP quest!

    And anonymous...you kinda sound like my mom (or dad?). I like solitaire and hearts, too. There's just no money in it. =)

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  4. Great post -- this stuff is so important. It's just like trading. It's so easy to go broke if you don't have a well-defined exit strategy or position sizing strategy. So, too, in Poker, that you will surely go broke without the proper bankroll guidelines.

    I really like Chris Ferguson's video about this on Full Tilt Academy, for anyone who hasn't seen it yet. Breaks it down really simple.

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  5. hey, its Michelle from tonights game :).. I found this spreadsheet to be the best all around. Seperates your cash, MTT and provides lots of info.. check it out.. http://www.kingscascade.com/PokerSessionLog.html

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  6. Hey Michelle and PokerDyke - thanks a bunch for checking out the blog and thank you both for the excellent links. Hopefully we can talk at the next game, Michelle, b/c the spreadsheet looks interesting.

    The link to the training vids for FullTilt are pretty darn awesome, PD. I had no idea they put that stuff out there, but it's really great.

    Thanks again for sharing, guys.

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  7. wow this is such an important post. There is not enough said about budgeting and really making sure you don't go into debt. It is known that poker can cause debt but I am glad to see a real player posting about how she manages her budget!

    btw- I just came across your blog and I am really enjoying it. keep posting :)

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  8. Hi Jill - if you like my posts, you'll really like Nichoel Peppe. Here's a very good one from her regarding Bankroll Management
    here. Thanks for checking out my blog!

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  9. Thanks for the link to Nichoel. Looks like another good blog.
    Jill

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