Goals for 2007

Okay, since setting goals appears to be all the rage, I've decided to come up with a few of my own. I have no idea how attainable any of these really are. Some are probably more realistic than others. But it will be interesting to go back a year from now and see if I've been able to take my game forward any this year, and these goals are as good a barometer as any.

1. Play an event at the WSOP - I thought I would do this last year, but between timing, and turning chickenshit, it didn't happen. I hope to satellite my way into a preliminary event, but if not, I'm prepared to buy in to a $1,500 or $2,000 event this year. And, there's a couple playing friends of mine here also willing to, so there will actually be an ad hoc Longmont crew, of sorts. That enough is reason to go. As for the Main Event, not a chance. I mean, I'll try to satellite, but I don't think my work schedule will allow me to take off the amount of time that the Main Event would require. And absent willing a bracelet in a prelim, there's no way I can give up ye olde day job.

2. Win a Blackhawk casino tourney - I actually won my first Vega$ live tourney last year (a $60 at Sahara). Winning is addictive. But I've only ever played three Blackhawk tournaments, and the closest I've come is to bubble a final table. I think if I work the schedule well enough, this is attainable, as long as I stick to freeze-outs. The rebuy events up there get crazy donkinsane, and my comfort level isn't there.

3. Attend a blogger weekend - 'nuff said. Guess there will be one or two chances this year, and I really hope to do so in Vega$. Too many of you out there fascinate me, and I want to be yelling PAIGOW! while watching Waffles drink a sixer of Soco from a plastic baseball hat.

4. Get a positive win rate at NL ring games - Ring games have pretty much kicked my ass the last few months. I'm not sure whether it's because I'm pretty much sticking to really low stakes, which let donks afford to make bad turn AI calls and catch rivers, or because when I do have the best, I'm not extracting the most $$$ out of them first, or a combination of both. But most of my losses this past year came from ring NL. And even in low limit ($2/5), I barely broke even. So clearly, there's something about my ring game that needs fixing. My goal is to have a positive year.

5. Play .50/1 NL comfortable - I'm not nearly there. I tried my hand at .25/.50 and got felted five out seven tries, ultimately. Doubled the two times, but that rate won't work. Jumped in to ring game NL at too high a level for someone who really only plays MTTs, I suppose. We'll see where I'm at in December.

2006 was a good year. Won a couple of home tournaments, won a Vega$ tourney, but in then end, I only finished in the black by a couple hundred dollars, whereas I made nearly $2k in '05 having played a lot less poker. My hourly EV can't be more than pennies. And unlike 2005, I did not make a single FT in any $26 buy-in online MTT. My real hope is to improve upon that in 2007.

As things stand now, my FT account has one token and $5.50 sitting in it. I'll load up this week (either $200 or $250, haven't decided), and we'll see where it goes. I'll start by rolling .05/.10 NL, and every time I win a full buy-in, I'll allow myself a crack at a Tier One. I'll also play the low buy-in Omaha MTTs when time allows, as well as the $3 turbo HL MTTs. If this plan succeeds, I won't have to reload again this year. If it doesn't?......