http://www.rakebacknation.com/?affiliate=jared2896



Make sure to use signup code jhub for 33% rakeback when signing up for Cake Poker. Make sure you type it in as the SIGNUP CODE, not the promotional code or any other code. There's also a 100% deposit bonus up to $500. Transfers do not count as deposits. However, if you get money transferred into your account you will still be eligible for a deposit bonus once you actually make a deposit. If you need help getting money into Cake I usually have excess money in there & can swap money for money on another site where I have an account. Just post a comment on my blog or email me.

Since February 16th when I completely changed my table selection I was cruising right along making $340-$350/hr. All was good. That was then. Then there was the last 2 days. On Tuesday I lost $14,637.30 & on Wednesday I lost $10,682.50. I'm pretty sure that Tuesday my single biggest losing day for days in which I didn't play any $1K+ SNGs. I'm pretty damn sure that the 2 days combined are my 2 biggest losing days in a row not playing any $1K+. That put me back to slightly losing pre rakeback for the year. I'm still averaging $256.10/hr since February 16th though so it's not all that bad. I can't say it's not a little scary looking at players like spacegravy & bigjoe2003 on 10,000 to 20,000 breakeven/losing streaks but I don't think either of them table select so I would think that is the biggest factor there.

I've recently been thinking about how silly it is of me to have being the most profitable SNG player pre rakeback as 1 of my goals. It's a very conflicting goal. For one, it's conflicting w/ the main goal of maximizing hourly rate. Since Feb 16th over half of my games have been on Cake. Of those games on Cake about 2/3 of them are super turbos. The profit from super turbos comes mainly from rakeback. I doubt more than a 1 to 2% ROI is sustainable at $100+. However, the rakeback & how quick they are make them extremely profitable overall. That profit doesn't add a lot to sharkscope stats. I wouldn't even be surprised if I make more in rakeback this year than I do gross SNG profit. When you have a goal you should be willing to do things to strive to achieve that goal. I'm certainly not going to sacrifice hourly rate for such a silly thing as being the most profitable SNG player pre rakeback. I'm also not willing to play extra hours to achieve this goal. So what's the point of having it as a goal? I don't think there is one. I think it's just something I'm used to. If there wasn't rakeback then I wouldn't even play super turbos & would play games that are more profitable before rakeback, but that's just not the case so let's scratch this silly goal. It's also extremely hard to repeat w/ so much competition these days. I was the most profitable 6 man SNG player pre rb 2 years in a row. I was ALMOST the most profitable SNG player 2 years in a row but a -$30K Dec 2007 plummeted me from almost a lock to 3rd. Other than myself only Kenny05 was a top 10 repeat from 2007 to 2008. The other players weren't even on the radar 1 year or the other. In fact, I think the only other top 20 repeat from 2007 to 2008 were DDBeast & phatchoy888. The point is that w/ so many good SNG players out there these days & the high variance of the game, it's very difficult to be the most profitable year after year. Maybe I'll still turn out to be the most profitable w/ rakeback (or at least for 6 max) but maybe I won't even come close in that category. I think it's good to be competitive, but becoming too competitive just adds extra stress & is kind of silly. My friend Justin (69madman69) also brought up a great point that being in the public eye also adds extra expectations. Between my blog, sharkscope, & interviews I've become pretty well known to SNG players. I not only have to worry about meeting my own expectations, but also the expectations of everyone else. The point is that it's almost pointless to worry about this kind of stuff. I'm 25 years old. I make a shitload of money. I'm engaged to a wonderful women. I have a great family & friends. I have a sweet house & car. Whether I make $300K or $600K this year isn't that relevant in the big picture. Most people would be thrilled to make the low end of that range, especially for playing a game for a living that many people play for a hobby. Proving haters wrong & living up to fans expectations isn't all that important in the big picture. That said, I am very competitive so it is hard to not think about it at all. However, I think it's important to still have some competitive edge, just not to take it too far especially in a game like poker where things like variance are completely random & out of your control.

I realize that I'm part of the reason why 6 man SNGs have become so tough. 6 mans used to be softer than 9-10 mans. Then people saw how much money players like me & Kenny05 were making & decided to start playing 6 mans. I advertised it on my blog. My sharkscope stats were very public. Now the games are much harder. However, we're much better off now than we were 2 years ago. While the 6 max SNGs have gotten much harder, the volume of players that play them has also multiplied many times over. Games run a lot more at each level & at higher stakes than they did before. In 2006 & early 2007 the highest 6 man SNGs available on the big networks were $119/$121 & the $100s filled extremely slow. Now $500s go off at a decent rate, $1Ks go off, & $100s go off at a very good rate. You can now make just as much money off rakeback as you used to total. I used to spam the chat box asking people to email support to add higher stakes 6 mans. I got Cake to add every level above $120 & also the very popular super turbo format. It's crazy how far 6 man SNGs have come in the last few years.

I'm starting to study cash games a little. In a few years when Paula & I start having kids it would be very convenient to play cash games because you can start & stop whenever you want. I would probably still mix in $180+ SNGs on Cake when I had the time, but having my main game be cash would certainly be easier. If I did this & was successful in cash I'd also probably start up a SNG training site. This is all merely a possibility & far in the future.

I've seen the effect of my table selection entry at the tables. Players who never table selected before are beginning to table select & that's good not only for them, but for the rest of us. I'd recommend telling good players who don't table select to read my entry. While most players who don't table select are simply people who are running above expectation, don't understand variance, are extremely ignorant, & are too arrogant to even consider it, if even 10% of the players listen it will have a large positive effect.

Having a week break to go to AZ in March was nice I have a ton of family there. Me, Paula, my mom, my dad, & oldest brother Jeff went & we stayed at my aunt's. We were talking about going to a Suns game while we were out there but were too lazy to check the schedule. Our 1st day there we finally checked the schedule & they just happened to be playing the Cavs at home that night. Shaq & Lebron are 2 players I wanted to see play live before they retire so it was quite ideal to kill 2 birds w/ 1 stone. We had to pay through the nose since it was the Cavs & it was that day. We got 3 tickets that are usually like $80 each for $500 something. Oh well. Lebron didn't disappoint. At the end of the game my dad made a comment that Lebron & Shaq didn't do much. In reality Lebron had 30 points & a triple double. It's funny when the superstars do these things how it just seems so natural. People just come to expect these things from them & don't even realize how impressive it actually is. While in AZ we went hiking w/ our friend Jeremy (thevosh, voss1313's older bro) who lives in AZ. We also rented a boat & did some other fun things. It was a good break.

After you read an entry I recommend checking back for comments between posts. If you skip the comments section of this blog you're missing a lot of good questions and answers.

Results:

Month of March 2009:
Hours played: 141.38
SNG Profit: $20,801.02
Rakeback/Bonuses: $18,828.87
Total Profit from Playing: $39,629.89
Staking: $5,545.65
Total Monthly Profit: $45,175.54

Year of 2009:
Hours played: 461.97
SNG Profit: -$1,173.26
Rakeback/Bonuses: $83,719.13
Total Profit From Playing: $82,545.87
Staking: $14,270.65
Total Yearly Profit: $98,816.52


http://www.rakebacknation.com/?affiliate=jared2896









Top Stories