Hey PG&C, I'm an old man who has been grinding SNGs online for a living since 2004 (really). Came up playing the Party games pre-ICM tools, was SNE #5 on Stars in 2007, spent several years playing 3-4 sites at once, and have now been (pretty much) a Stars-only grinder since Tilt went off-line in June 2011, hitting SNE in 2012 for the first time in 5 years. I actually enjoy what I do, plan on doing it for the next 10+ years, and realize that puts me in a very small minority of truly batsh-t crazy people
. It is what it is.
Headed up to Canada shortly after Black Friday and spent the time since going back and forth between Vancouver, Mexico, and California, trying to figure on what the "new long-term" should be for the best life/poker situation. I'm pretty stoked to have finalized my new arrangement, where I live in San Diego, rent a condo in Tijuana, and literally commute to play poker (spending the occasional night there). No es tan loco como parece.
I don't coach, haven't staked, don't have a website, and am not looking for any sponsorship, etc. I decided pretty early on in my poker career that I mostly enjoy playing and the freedom that comes with not having to manage people/side businesses. Not saying I won't ever do any of that, but having a streamlined professional existence, where I can work when I want (after a short drive
) and not have to take it home with me, is something I highly value. To each their own.
It's been fun to follow a lot of the threads in here, and it seems that a lot of discussion about the games I play (mostly $$ Hypers) takes places in this sub-forum. By having my own thread, I (hopefully) won't tard up/semi-troll other threads with imperceptibly sarcastic comments. Hopefully
I spent >500 hours travelling to play poker last year (it's a long drive from Sacramento to Vancouver or Rosarito), so now that I'm close to the Border I should have quite a bit more time for play and study in 2013.
I think the higher stakes Stars SNGs are going to be crap/crowded for most of the year (kind of surprised it took this long honestly). Hopefully I can select around, mix in plenty of lower buyins where needed, etc. and with the added study time this year, avoid playing for too many stretches where I'm doing negative pre-RB for the sake of VPPs, etc. I'll play pretty much any 6-max or 9-max SNG that runs, and have even been donking in NLO8 6-max with little clue of hand equities.
I had a pretty good redline last year of ~+$100k, but think it'll be quite a bit more difficult this time around. If I do hit 2 million VPPs (and I'd love to be done by Thanksgiving), I think getting a +$50k expectation would be phenomenal. I'll probably be around 250k VPPs by the end of February, and then start cranking up the volume from there once my recent move is fully settled.
Will try and post some garphs a few times per month.
Cliffs: Push, fold, call for >$350k in rake in a year.
And....GOGOGOGOGOGOGOGO!!!!!