I want to become as competitive as I can personally be by next years WSOP and would appreciate any suggestions for laying out an organized plan on how to utilize my time efficiently for the time I have available to devote to this endeavor. I can spend 15-20 hours per week working on my game

Background & misc info:

* I am in the US and as far as I know, can only play online @ Bovada.

* I can go to Choctaw & Winstar occasionally as its about an hour away from where I live.

* I also have access to some local games but none of my poker playing friends like to think about poker on a deep level. They get bored, irritated or completely disinterested as they dont seem to like to think of this game as much more than catching cards, so I'm on an island as far as having other people to discuss poker with

* I plan to focus on No Limit holdem only unless there is a compelling reason to focus my time elsewhere.

* In order to be well rounded and best prepared should a miracle occur and I make a deep run/final table next year, I'm thinking I should try and work on heads up via tournaments and perhaps small buyin cash games. Work on short handed play by playing 6 max. Mix in deep stack cash games as well and do single table tournies and a variety of multi-table tourneys.

* I used to be a member of PokerXFactor and played a ton of sit in go's but they seem to have gotten significantly tougher if my recent experience on Ultimate Poker is any indicator (no one seems to fold anymore)

* I thought I'd join a couple of training sites and was leaning toward Bart Hansens site and whatever the consensus recommendation(s) are for another site.

* If any of the software works on Bovada, I'd like to utilize that as well. Whats the best software to use on Bovada (holdem manager, poker tracker, etc)?

* I want to play and study a few hours a day. So maybe I'll play 3 hours and study hour or play 2 and study 2?

I'd like to lay out a detailed schedule and plan based on the discussion in this thread and then see if I have the discipline and sustained interest to stay focused for the next year and adhere to the schedule/plan.

I'd appreciate any advice and will post the final plan once this thread has run its course.

If something like this has already been done elsewhere, kindly post a link and lock this thread.

Thanks in advance

1st (ever post)

Hopefully you get some more helpful and/or insightful answers from other posters but for now, here are my thoughts.

Firstly, I like your pro active approach and if you really do put in 15-20 hours a week improving your game, Im sure you will reap the rewards. However, It seems overly ambitious to improve at HU cash and HU sngs/MTTs, 6 max, STT, deep stack cash and MTTS. If your main goal is at getting better specifically for the WSOP then why not just play online MTTs and play live cash at your casino? That sounds more manageable to me.
At the very least cut out all HU focus; chances of you getting HU in the main are slimmer than me becoming a lesbian (I'm a guy), and if you do then youll have July- November beforehand anyways.

Im only a member of one training site - deucescracked which I find to be very good value and has some decent content.

gl, Ill be interested to hear other responses

BishiBashi.

I just kind of scatter-shooted all my thoughts and hope this thread will help me refine my focus into a cohesive, reasonable plan, so perhaps playing only MTT's is the way to go. Like you, I hope we get some good responses.

You're probably right about the heads up part and given the limited amount of time I'm hoping to set aside, there probably won't be enough time to focus too much, if at all, on heads up.

I forgot to mention, I'd like to get as sharp as possible at single table tourneys because I'd like to get out to Vegas early enough to play a lot of them for the first week or two in an effort to win a lot of lammers.

Its been years since I played single table tourneys at the WSOP, does anyone know if these can be profitable or is the rake too high coupled with the caliber of play making extracting an edge not worth the time?

MTT's seem similar to golf to me in that you have to be able to drive the ball (play slow and patient at the beginning of the tourney), play off the fairway (mid stages of the tourney where stacks are all sizes but reasonably deep & bubble play) short game outside the green (trying to make & play the final table) and putting (playing heads up for the win). So it seems you need a lot of various skill sets in order to find success in a tourney (& obviously a lot of luck). Thats why I wanted to vary what I planned to play but really just want a good plan I can focus on taking bites out of as the year progresses.

I feel like I pretty much suck across the board currently. I can play tight and push hands when I get short but I'm not even too confident of what my push ranges should be, so I have a lot of work to do.

I'll be working on an outline of the schedule and will try to post something soon so it can be critiqued but I was hoping to get a few responses to help get me kick started in the right direction

Well this went over like a ton of bricks, so I'll just try to develop a plan and see if I can get some critiques. I may hire a coach to help develop this plan as well.

I've been doing some research on various training sites, etc. and I think my short term plan is to keep it simple:

1. Join Tournament Poker Edge
2. Get more money on Bovada
3. Play 7-10 hours per week
4. Study & review 7-10 hours per week.
5. Find best software/hud that will work with Bovada, purchase, learn & apply.

Short term goal is to play the Winstar $540 NLH Deepstack on 8/19, so this ought to give me something to focus on and stay motivated. I may also play the $2500 NLH Main event on 8/29 if I win a satellite which I've heard are really soft.

This ought to keep me busy until then, after which I will revaluate or adjust my schedule accordingly or perhaps, I'll burn out...time will tell.

If anyone feels there is a better training site than Tournament Poker Edge, please chime in

Seems like a solid overall plan. If you can get more than 7-10 hours of play a week in that would be good, as that is really only one session assuming you go deep in a couple tourneys.

Make sure you include reviewing your own HHs as part of the study period, and if possible add some "poker buddies" on Skype so you can discuss hands, strategy, etc.

Good luck!

Thanks for your advise, duly noted.

I'm sure I'll have to adjust my schedule based on the reality of how things play out at the tables. I don't want to get burnt out and I have other interests and obligations, so I'm trying to find a sweet spot where I play enough to learn but not so much that I lose the "hunger". Time will tell, I just know if I spend too much time in front of the computer, my brain turns to mush and I lose motivation.

Where's a good place to find "poker buddies"?

Hey man,

Sry I didnt read it all cause I am too lazy.

What stakes do you play on?

I think the best thing you can, is to get a coach and play as much as you can!

Why not play the Card Player tournament at Choctaw that starts next week?

No worries, I probably overdid the background info and tend to be wordy (as the rest of this post will show).

I'll start researching to find a good coach

I havent played much since Pokerstars got shut down and even when it was up I didn't have a lot of time because I was running my biz full time.

I used to do ok at sitngos and was a member of PokerXFactor years ago, but never got a hud and tracked all my stats.

As fast as things change, I feel almost like I'm starting over but with a so-so understanding of the game.

I consider myself weak tight and I'm sick of not knowing how to do much beyond picking up a few pots until I get short stacked and then having to push my stack in when I get low.

I think I'm horrible at post flop play and my cash game is weak as well.

I just got back from Vegas and broke even playing 1-3 NL, but I couldn't tell you if I was playing good or bad when I was winning or losing. The 1-3 games I played seemed impossible to bluff in, had 4-5 people in most flops and it seemed to me you had to hit a hand to win anything.

I played a $550 mega sat to try and win a sit for my buddy and managed to hang around until I got knocked out 120th out of 700+

The only place I know I can play online currently is at Bovada which is where I plan to practice.

I played STT & MTT's at Ultimate Poker while I was in Vegas and couldn't win squat. Either I got knocked out early or managed to hang around until my only option was to push or fold. I don't have a clue how to build a stack early in these things.

I'm basically raw as hell and probably the fish at most tables. I need lots of work and want to basically start from the ground up in the hope I can be feel competent and reasonably competitive by next years WSOP

Because I feel like i need to put in some play at low buy in tourneys online, study, review and repeat.

I just got back from Vegas and felt woefully inadequate thus why I think it would be better if I waited until the Winstar tourney starts in September as that should give me some time to practice, etc

Update:

I might spend the rest of the month just trying to wrap my brain around all the info that is out there and what to focus on.

I thought I'd start with determining which tracker software I should use and found this useful thread in case anyone else is pondering the same choices.

Re: PokerTracker 4 vs HoldemManager 2: Which is the best and why ?

I have two problems (three if you count the fact that I am in the US):

1. I'm on a mac (solved via VMware Fusion)
2. My only online option is Bovada which isn't supported by Poker Tracker

correct me if I'm wrong, I dont think there is any option for a heads up display while playing on Bovada, which I am ok with as long as I can review my play via hand histories.

Well, thats looking like a hurdle as well but I found this:

Bovada Hand History Converter Software

I'm still reading through the thread, but it looks like this only works with cash games, so I'm hitting another wall I don't know if I can get past because I want to focus on STT's & MTT's.

Just passing along what I'm finding so far in case anyone else is having the same issues and perhaps wants to add something to what I've found/not found so far.

Suffice it to say, non Americans (&/or Americans abroad) have a decided advantage when attempting to get better by playing online poker

I dont know how hard it will be to get money off, but I got money on Bovada in a flash

A friend of mine just got a check from bovada in only a week

If I am not mistaken isn't Bovada anonymous tables so HM or PT won't function properly, I could be wrong about that though. Is there a reason you can't play on Carbon or the WPN?

Bovada does have anonymous tables but I think i've found a work around. Its taken a ton of time just to sort out the options for how to get HEM to work as well as figuring out what resources to commit time to. I plan to make a post of what I've discovered and the plan I hope to follow but its going to take a while given my other time commitments to the business that makes me money.

Bovada makes it a pain because you have to request a download of hand histories and then come back within 7 days and download the files. They sometimes drag out making the files available so if you're not on the site every day, you can miss downloading a file which I did in a 900+ tournament I placed 8th in and really wanted to review. It was my fault because I thought I had 7 days from the date the file became available and apparently its 7 days from the date of the tournament or cash game.

I am amazed at the MASSIVE amount of resources available to help improve one's game and its really time consuming to figure out how to narrow down all of the resources into a few of the best to focus on in the limited time I have to devote to this effort.

I'm convinced the game will be beatable for a long time because of how much time and effort it takes to understand and play the game at a high level. While there are probably a lot more great players than ever before, I'm convinced most people will never put in the time to learn and benefit from all the resources that are available and that probably includes me who loves the game and wants to improve. It requires a lot of time and focus and I know many people who have played for years who don't like to think of poker in this way. They've played for years, are extremely successful in the business world but get irritated by deep poker analysis and believe its a waste of time because its just over thinking the game.

I have a lot of respect for everyone who has been grinding out the game online and working to utilize all the resources available to improve. Its takes a lot of time and commitment.