Is $3,000 in 3 months realistic?

$3,000 is the arbitrary goal I set for myself to win in the first 3 months of 2012.  (Mainly because "Three Months Three Thousand" sounds cool.)  Depending upon your point of view $3,000 may or may not sound like a lot of money.  But here are some factors to consider:

• 6-8 sessions per month -  I'd like to play more, but I only have so much time.  I work full time and work as an Ambassador for Ante Up Magazine so I think 6-8 sessions is all I can expect.  That's probably double what I average, although I occasionally will play that often.
• $2-60 SLHE - I mainly play $2-60 spread limit hold'em.  This has a max buy-in of $200 and plays similar to $1-2 NLHE.
• Tournaments - The variance in tournaments is really too high and my volume to low to be realistic for a challenge like this.  However I'm really trying to play more live tournaments since that is mainly what is covered in magazines. So I'll be playing some tournaments even though it may not be the best strategy.

So let's say I play 8 sessions every month.  That's 24 sessions total which would mean averaging $125 per session.  It's definitely possible to win $125 in a session playing $2-60 SLHE, but it is a very aggressive goal to average that.  I may have to try to play additional sessions.  Of course this will only be worthwhile if I can keep my level of play up.

So I may need a little "run good" but I think the goal is achievable, but by no means easy.  I'm looking forward to starting.

Three Months $3,000

I remember for a while, back in the day, Daniel Negreanu was posting all of his session results.  I thought it took a lot of guts to post everything, the good, the bad and the ugly.  I've been thinking of doing the same thing for a short while.  It might make me think twice before calling that draw when I don't have the odds.  I was also a fan of the TV show Two Months Two Million.  That had four internet poker players trying to make two million dollars over two months.

Of course my plan isn't anywhere near two million.  In fact I'll probably only play 1 or two sessions a week, in my spare time.  But to make it more interesting I'm going to come up with the them of Three Months Three Thousand.

So starting January 1, 2012 I will publish the results of every live poker session I play for three months.  The somewhat arbitrary goal will be to make $3,000 by the end of those three months.  I'm hoping this will help my to kick-start this sorely neglected blog and help me focus on playing good poker.  Whenever I tweet things related to this event I'll use the hash tag #3Months3000.

Wish me luck!

December 2011 Ante Up Magazine Article

This month I review a poker room that was recently remodel.  It is for one of the smaller casinos in the state.

http://www.anteupmagazine.com/featured-column/prairie-s-edge-poker-room-smaller-but-successful.htm

November 2011 Ante Up Magazine Article

This month I cover the results of the Fall Poker Classic and the Midwest Poker Classic.  This is the cover story of the magazine. Cool right?

http://www.anteupmagazine.com/featured-column/hubbard-captures-canterbury-park-s-fall-poker-classic.htm

October 2011 Ante Up Magazine Article

This month's article covers how Canterbury Park and Running Aces handle the betting limit in Minnesota.  I think it turned out well.

http://www.anteupmagazine.com/featured-column/creative-ways-to-simulate-no-limit-hold-em.htm

September 2011 Ante Up Magazine Article

This months article previews Canterbury's Fall Poker Classic and covers the impact of the Minnesota state shutdown.

http://www.anteupmagazine.com/tournaments/canterbury-to-host-fall-poker-classic-on-oct-1-15.htm

August 2011 Ante Up Magazine Article

This month's article was about how the Minnesota State government shut down affected Canterbury Park and Running Aces.  This one took a lot of research to write, but I like how it turned out.

http://www.anteupmagazine.com/news/two-minnesota-poker-rooms-re-open-after-3-weeks.htm

July 2011 Ante Up Magazine Article

For this month's article I interviewed Chris "Fox" Wallace about some poker training he is offering at Running Aces Harness Park.  I hope you like the article.

http://www.anteupmagazine.com/featured-column/fox-hosts-poker-seminars-at-running-aces-in-minnesota.htm

June 2011 Ante Up Magazine Article

I had my first article published in Ante Up Magazine.  It's short but I didn't have much notice for this one.  Hopefully the rest will be better.  I'll include the text below because there isn't a link directly to the article.  Or you can download the PDF here and go to page 42. (It's small so you may miss it.)

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Minnesota

By John Somsky
Minnesota has had a vibrant poker community long before the Moneymaker boom, with cardrooms sprinkled throughout the state. The Department of Justice’s actionsagainst online poker sites on April 15 sent shockwaves through the nation’s poker industry, but Minnesota’s live action seems to be heating up as a result.

Gregg Barktu, the Running Aces Harness Park poker room manager, said entries have increased in the $235 and $125 weekly tournaments since Black Friday. There also has been a noticeable increase in players sporting PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker gear.

As further evidence that poker will continue to thrive in Minnesota, Ante Up is now covering all things poker in Minnesota and will be available at many local cardrooms. You can look forward to coverage of such events as Canterbury Park’s Fall Poker Classic and the Spring Poker Classic at Running Aces. Anything important to the Minnesota poker player will be reported here.
— John Somsky is the Ante Up Ambassador for Minnesota.

Poker is NOT a Crime

Today the US Department of Justice decided to waste time and taxpayer money and indict the big 3 poker sites.  You can view ESPN's announcement here.  I am appalled at this action.  I stronly encourage all poker players to let their voice be heard.

• Email your senators and representative.  You can do so at http://theppa.org/.
• Tweet your senators and representative. http://www.tweetforpoker.com/
• Donate to your favorite Poker Lobby (http://theppa.org/)
• Let your voice be heard in whatever way you can.  It's ok to let everyone know we are mad as hell!

Having said all that, don't panic.  We need to come together and defend our rights.

AIPS VI POY Tie

Interestingly we have a tie for each of the first 14 spots.  I guess I'll have to update the http://aipsstats.com/ site to handle ties.

AIPS Stats

I'm continuing to post the "player of the year" stats for AIPS this year.  I'm hosting the stats at http://aipsstats.com/. I've also added a twitter account (@AipsStats)to announce tournaments.  Only AIPS related information will be posted to this account.  Also I'll be using the #AIPS hash-tag for all AIPS related announcements.  I'd suggest the rest of the nation do likewise.

I'm also interested in any feedback for improvements to either AIPS announcements or to the stats site.

Poker Stars Home Games

Well it's been a year since my last post, so it's about time for me to post again.  I've been playing on the Ante Up Nation Home Games hosted by PokerStars recently.  I think its not as profitable as sitting at a random low limit table, but it's a lot more fun.  Even though I only know the rest of the nation through the forum and AIPS events, it's fun to play against people you know a little bit.  Also since we all know each other there aren't the jerks you can get at random tables.  The only issue I see is the 50 player limit seems a little low, there are many more than 50 regulars.  But hopefully PokerStars will increas this limit over time.