2016 Recap!

Despite not going for SNE this past year, I somehow still earned 700,000+ VPPs by complete accident. Would have easily reached 1M if I hadn't started Psyduck Staking, but honestly that decision was probably the best one I made all year. I knew it'd be +EV, but it's also allowed me to create a social community in a largely anti-social profession. Proud of not just the profits and hard work of my horses, but in addition the relationships that have been forged as a result. I'm headed to Europe in mid-2017 and I'm hoping to meet up/have a beer with as many 'Ducks' as possible.



It took me a while to find all my results for the calendar year, as I changed computers/tracking software a few times during the course of 2016. Seems that I played approximately 25,000 Spins (~16,000 $100s and ~9,000 $60s).

$100s: cEV 44.6 (3.5% EV ROI)
$60s: cEV 43.3 (3.3% EV ROI)

A bit surprising to see the $60s cEV below $100s, but the sample is small enough where I think variance can be the culprit. In total, the EV adds up to ~$73,000 but alas, I was not lucky enough to run at it and finished the year far under expectation. Because my volume wasn't amazing this year I don't doubt other people ran worse than I did, but running $1+ under per game is pretty brutal IMO. Don't worry, I'll contain most of the whining in this paragraph.

Thankfully, the 45% RB helps pad the final numbers. It'd help more if I got the 68% I was promised, but I'm happy to pay for Baazov's yachts and sweet CGI that turned Ronaldo into a Tiger.



Made nearly $50,000 in RB which got me over the 'six figure' hump, I think the total is somewhere around $110k.

It's admittedly a much lower number than last year, but the hourly isn't that far off. Maybe $10-$20 or so. Played about half as many hours and made almost half as much profit. Story checks out, bro. And while I'm mildly disappointed I didn't clear more from my own grind, the success of the stable means I don't have to.

In non-poker news, I spent the first half of the year in Mexico (Puerto Vallarta) and the second in Canada (Vancouver) with my GF. We celebrated our two year anniversary in June, altho we still aren't sure exactly which date should be the anniversary. Regardless, she gets gifts in mid-June and that's all that matters. Here's a pic of us where she looks great and I look like it's my first time wearing a tie. But check out that sweet PokerStars watch!



Will be staying in Vancouver for another three weeks, and then it's back to Puerto Vallarta for some much needed sun. Have been lifting regularly for years, but recently I'd say I'm in the best shape of my life. Was able to get my diet somewhat under control and my body fat is somewhere around 8%. Trying to get shredded for Mexico, but once I get there I'll surely stuff my face with tacos until the abs don't show.

Haven't fully worked out my plan yet for 2017, I thought I'd look around to other sites for Spins but I'll have to wait til I secure a European bank account. Until then, I'm going to keep grinding $100 Spins. Hoping that some regs quit/games get a bit softer and I can make back the lost RB by winning more EV chips, but obviously as I've seen, winning more EV doesn't necessarily translate into real dollars. Still, between that grind and the stable I'm confident I can continue to make a solid income for the next year. We're currently in the process of rebranding/renaming it, but obviously the Psyduck will always have a fond place in my heart.



My goal is to reduce the # of Spins I play and instead, replace that grinding with MTTs. Makes sense considering I run a MTT stable, would be good advertisement to show that I actually know what I'm talking about, and I'm likely going to be doing a session or two per week on Twitch. Not sure if that'll garner any interest, but playing MTTs will allow me to interact with people and still mix in a little bit of strategy talk when the situation requires it.

Alright, holy wall of text Batman, I'll cut it off here. Thank you all for the support and best of luck to everyone in 2017!

Nice post mate, wp and good luck in 2017!

I love the ass grab in the pic. :P Congrats on the good year. Wish you the best next year.

Don't you dare change the Psyduck Staking name!

Thanks!

It's more of a hover than a grab. We're in public, brah!

Unfortunately it has to be done, building a brand on another brand isn't a good idea for multiple reasons.

Speaking of the stable, one of my 'ducks' suggested renting a house in Mexico for SCOOP (May) and I've spent the last hour looking at available places in Playa/Cancun. This one was my favorite.











Obviously it's a tad early for me to booking a place and I don't want people to get too hyped up yet, but this is a very realistic possibility. I was going to be in Mexico through the end of May anyways, why not rent a sick house and invite the ducks down to stay with me. Granted, the group is like 30+ people deep but I bet only a handful would be able to make it. Would be a lot of fun, for sure.

nice all the best, hopefully non ducks are invited to grind scoop to mexico and colombia are on the hit list this year

Yeah, we'll hang out for sure. Just like when you were in Vancouver.

remember that time we ate at jam cafe? ..... neither do i cos you big timed me sigh

[ ] ass grab

sick condo if u pull the trigger!

Wait, how can I 'big time' when I wasn't invited? That's not how big timing works.

It'll probably be a different one since I doubt that place will be available when I go to book it next month. If it is though, weeeeeeeeeee.

First week of 2017 is in the books and it was a fairly productive one for me. Moved into my new (and old?) apartment -- Last year I lived in the same unit and my GF really loved the building, location, amenities, etc and so when she saw it was listed on Craigslist, we decided to move back in.



Stable hasn't fully recovered from the downer, but we did have a really nice bink the other day when one of my ducks shipped the $109 Builder for $15k+. Was quite a sweat as 2nd place money was about half as much as first. While I'm not proclaiming to be a GTO HU wiz, it baffles me that MTT players don't spend more time learning how to do something other than push/fold when there's so much of an equity difference between 1st and 2nd place, especially in Bounty Builders.

Ring the alarm, I am overrrrrrrr EV this month.



Chip EV is decent considering the regginess of recent games. Seems that all the regs have decided to grind more often and I'm hoping that'll die down soon like all the other New Year trends. More importantly, I've been shipping more than my fair share of 6x/10x.



If I can keep running this well, promise not to complain about the lower RB percentage. Something like +$9500 so far.

VAMOOOOO GR8 start man keep it up! And wow amaze same place live before free for u again! FATE

Just came by to say you got a very hot girlfriend

Inspiring! gl in 2017.

same right here, except no blame game just a fail on both ends. Oh and one invite for duckland please if they are being handed out

sick life chap

you get what you deserve braaa! hard work reaps its rewards!

well unless you're dan bilzerian you can buy what you think you deserve ;P

Made the GF super happy.

As did this.

Thanks!

Finishing my last week in Vancouver, basically making a restaurant tour of my favorite spots. Getting Sushi tomorrow @ Minami, Japanese BBQ @ Gyu-Kaku, and Thai food @ Maenam. Trying to balance that with a reasonable diet, which basically means I eat super clean except when at those establishments. Surely will post some beach photos once I get to Mexico and if I'm too flabby, the 2+2 community will rightly destroy me.

Poker has been a mixed bag. Haven't played much in the last few days, I'm breakeven ish but cEV has been good. Spent more time reviewing a lot of hands/spots for the stable. Group doing well, overall, but have a fair number of players in five-figure MUs. Not fun, but it's to be expected. Only cool part of having guys that deep is when they do bink, I get big chunks back in my Stars account.

Had a meh spot the other day and posted about it in the 'Negative Feedback' subforum, wasn't exactly 'rolled by a horse but he threatened to leave the group/break the contract and I was pretty much extorted into letting him go. Really disappointing to have that sort of thing happen.

But on the plus side, this other cool thing happened recently -- Members of the stable chipped in to buy me a Xmas gift. It's admittedly not the prettiest shirt I own, but I was bowled over by the gesture and I've already worn it a bunch.

Read the post in neg feedback thread, definitely pretty scummy of him. This is a problem that will come with having unenforceable length of time contracts I guess though. I generally think a horse should be able to leave whenever not in mu (or if paying their mu or agreed upon buyout number), however I get why with coaching it can make sense for both sides to agree to a set period of time. So even though I'm not a huge fan of having a length of time to the agreement, he's still obv being sketchy and doing something wrong breaking it. I'm assuming the deal was most likely pretty fair and reasonable for both sides and he knew what he was agreeing to. I had a horse basically force me into dropping him once back when I was staking people and it def doesn't feel good to have someone you tried to help screw you out of money.

Sweet shirt though! gl back in mexico.

It's not a meh spot at all, stealing future equity is exactly that - stealing, whoever does it is just a scammer and person who can't be trusted. The fact that poker community thinks it's whatever for the most part is just because people don't have a clue about that business. You should mostly feel sorry for his new backer, who is obviously not particularly smart, dealing with someone like that. If someone is going to break his word once you can most certainly expect more of the same.

It's obviously a breach of contract, and indeed what good is a contract, with a set period of time no less, if a person can unilaterally break it without consequences? Meaning also that, given this new backer was aware of the contract and the terms of it, he purposefully made an offer to breach that contract. That's unethical at best.

abarone, do you feel staking so far has been a net positive in your life (disregarding pure financials)? You do talk about some really positive things wrt the stable (I guess that ugly-ass shirt can also count as positive ) but my impression of the staking world, mostly from reading 2+2, is that it's a tough gig which is mostly a serious mental drain.

I'd be fine if the deal didn't include coaching, but he was getting access to training sites, software, group coaching twice a week plus individual review sessions. Can ask my horses, I pretty much review HHs whenever they send me one.

Deal was super fair IMO, actually had given him exactly what he wanted at the time he signed the contract, and then three weeks later this goes down. He broke his word, violated the contract, and potentially blacklisted himself (although this other backer doesn't seem to mind) for a 5% higher cut.

I don't disagree at all, I used the word 'meh' because I thought ****ty would get censored by the forum.

Horse messaged me yesterday and said he enjoyed working with me, wished me all the best and so I wonder if he actually realizes the gravity of what he's done here. Probably not.

This deserved its own reply, and to be honest I could drone on and on about staking/etc. Perhaps down the road when I'm more established I'll make a 'Well' thread.

Staking can look easy, but running a successful stable is hard. Before I got involved, I made myself aware of the pitfalls that plague many unsuccessful groups; growing too fast, spreading money too thinly, acquiring the 'wrong' types of players, etc. I think I've done a decent job so far, but I've still been rolled a few times and I've still had money-related concerns at others.

Seems like there's two types of backers in this industry; 1) the very hands-off, sit back and let the money roll-in type 2) the hands-on, meticulous, micro managing optimizer.

I definitely fit more into the second category, but by no means am I disparaging those who reside in the first. While the hands-off backers might not make as much at the end of the day, they're also less exposed to a myriad of stressors and save a lot more when it comes to opportunity cost. There's undoubtedly a lot of value in that. But since I'm the hands-on type, not only do I spent hours pouring over HHs/schedules/etc but I make it a point to have a dialogue with the players and there's a lot of strain involved there, too.

My group currently has ~40 players, so at any given time there are a few sun-runners and a few buried in deep downers/MU. Being type-2 staker means that my duties often include giving pep talks to the guys who are struggling, and tempering the expectations of those who are crushing. I'm certainly happy when a player binks a big score, but almost always the next thing that I'm asked about is when they're going to play higher. As if the ultimate goal is high stakes, and not stacking cash. Shipping the Big 11 is fantastic, but it doesn't automatically qualify you to crush the B109, and at many points I have to have sobering conversations with people about their skill level. That part can be tough.

At times I feel like I wear far too many hats: Backer, coach, friend, parent, therapist, financial planner, babysitter. I've tried to delegate duties to others but they keep pulling me back. On the other hand, I do very much enjoy bonding with people and in many cases, feel like my involvement in their lives is a net positive. I wouldn't go as far to say that I'm making the world a better place, but if I can have a positive impact on these people's lives, that can spread to the lives of their friends, families, etc.

It's hard to say if it's a net positive if I disregard financials entirely, obviously the allure of profit is what made me get into staking in the first place and it continues to drive me to put in work. But I'd consider myself a rather social person, so being able to build relationships with people and being partly responsible for bettering their lives definitely gives me happiness. If I wasn't playing poker and had to transition to a 9-5 job, I'd want to be a teacher and this sorta gives me that outlet.

Things like the shirt make me feel it's all worth it though. I know it's an ugly shirt, but it hits me right in the feels. I don't even know how the idea came up, but one (or more) of the horses had to think that I deserved a Christmas gift and then the idea picked up steam. Admittedly I don't have much experience in the work-world, but how often do employees go out and buy gifts for their boss? Doesn't seem super likely unless the boss has done something worthy of that adoration, and so I was touched when they did that.

You're 100% right that it's a tough gig, tougher than most people (myself included) thought it would be. But I'm happy with the decision to do it for reasons that extend beyond the bottom line.

At first thought this would seem to be a very important part to being a successful MTT player but in actuality "HU" is only a very small portion of overall play in No Limit Holdem MTTs and most MTT players would probably be better off focusing on other situations, aspects of their game that they'll encounter on a more frequent basis.

Earlier mistakes/leaks at the early/mid/late parts of the tournament prior to HU may not seem as costly but considering the sample size of hands that a player gets in those parts it ends up costing a typical MTT player alot more money long run than any leak in their HU game.

Still though and I agree with you that there really is no excuse for not at least learning and developing some sort of better strategy for the shorter stacks than push/fold.

Good luck in your transition to newer sites and with the addition of more MTTs this year.

Yeah, I didn't think about this but sheer # of those hands is massive in relation to the small sample of HU. Still obviously we agree that a small one hour HU session would do wonders for the average MTT reg.

January recap!

Didn't play much after my last update, but that was expected considering it was my last month in Vancouver/living with the GF for a while. And on the 25th, we flew down down to Akumal (Cancun area) for my cousin's wedding.

GF and I at the wedding


Trying to look cool with my Dad


View from the hotel in Akumal


Wedding was great, had an amazing time catching up with cousins, celebrating the happy couple, and drinking lots. Akumal itself was alright, I guess, a little too laid back/sleepy for my tastes. Only had one bar, two restaurants and the food wasn't incredible. So then the GF and I went to Playa del Carmen.

Ate at all my favorite spots and then had hands-down, the best taco of my life. Pulpo al Pastor, which is octopus marinated in the style that's normally reserved for pork. Was cooked perfectly, incredibly delicate yet meaty, not chewy at all and topped with onions, cilantro, a spicy cilantro/avocado dressing, and pineapple. Incredible.


View from the hotel pool


On the 1st, GF flew back to Vancouver and I went westward to my new home for the next few months, Puerto Vallarta. I'm a few blocks further from the beach than last time, but it's no more than a 5 min walk until my toes touch sand. Apartment is new and super modern, so far internet is fantastic in the main room (although a bit spotty in the bedroom).





Excited to get back to work, just got a computer chair today and the desk should be here soon. For now I'll be grinding on this small ish table, but it'll be fine for a few days. Once I get the desk, I'll post pictures of the new set-up.

Oh, poker, right.



Made some significant changes and so far, so good. Made about ~$13k in 60 hours, can't complain too much about that.

I'm not sure if the Spins ecosystem will get better/worse in the next few months, I'm hopeful that some regulars stop grinding because of the rakeback decrease/variance increase, but that might just be a pipe dream. Sure, someone in a first-world country might find Spins are no longer worth their time, but in a third-world country it's much easier to stomach the lower hourly. Guess we'll see.

Going to try to get in 100+ hours of grinding this month, alternating between Spins and MTTs while still balancing stable-related duties and time for the beach/tacos.