So that's about it - the end of 2010 - a year with many ups and downs, both in personal life and in poker.

A year, where I played on so many different poker sites, got almost bust so many times, then grinded myself back up again.  When I look back now, I must admit that I never had any real edge in this game throughout most of the year, since I simply played too much just for entertainment and distraction, with the TV running in the background, being way too tired after a long and hard day in the office, with a beer in my hand, etc., etc., etc.

I've always used variance as an excuse, but it wasn't variance - and I also can't say it was lack of skill, since I really think that I do have the skill to really crush these games and make some decent money - it was more like lack of focus, simply not paying attention to what my opponents were doing and being on auto-pilot way too often.  Interestingly, my results were always a lot better when I played at my desk and not on my laptop on the couch - and my results where just horrible when I 3-4 tabled (which I often did early in the year).

Things finally started to turn around for good around August, where I got some coaching from ITRIED2WARNU which was really great.  He's such a great teacher and the few sessions I had with him did not only help me a lot to improve my game, they also gave me the confidence that I can actually beat these games, and the willingness to actually take things seriously and really work on improving my play.

But then .... then came October.  And I had to play one single hand All-In against the Devil himself - and the odds don't matter if it's a lot more than just money that's at stake.  Luckily, the Powers That Be offered me this deal - to make me win if I never ever complain about negative variance again.  Of course I excepted this deal of a lifetime, and things worked out fine.

Maybe I should unblock my SS stats for the month of October - that wasn't variance, it was "level zero poker", a monkey clicking buttons, not thinking at all, emotionally unstable and incapable of playing, just looking for distraction at the tables.  Even played some lower stakes, intentionally throwing away money for distraction and fun.  I really had to force myself to take a break.

Now I'm back, and everything is alright again.

This year, I decided to stay at home over the holidays, which wasn't even too bad considering all the snow that we got and all the bad implications it had on and kind of travel.  Had a great Christmas weekend with the family and am now enjoying my week off.

And I finally found the time to play some poker.  As you can see here, the results were not that great, but I'm still satisfied with my play.  I think that except some minor mistakes, I made the correct decisions - though I shouldn't have played quite that long as it became really hard to concentrate in the end.  So maybe I would have made some decent money with shorter sessions.  However, the last three days, I always found at least one super fish just when I was about to quit my session, a fish who dumped a lot of money to me, so I kept playing like forever.

Tomorrow is reserved for the family, and I may not find any time to play on Friday, so this looks like it was my last session in '10.

Overall, I didn't make any profit at all in 2010, but I think I can safely say that I improved a lot, both intellectually and mentally.  My bankroll is now around $3k, so I won't ever have to play any lower than $55 anymore, and I can take some more shots at $110 again soon.

In 2011, I'll try to go Super Nova, but I won't rush things.  If it works, that's great, if not, well ... all that really counts it total profit, not some VIP status.

This year, I threw away so much money by playing crazy long sessions on Merge, even against good regs while being very tired, just to make these $250 in MGR.  Won't happen to me again in '11 - I already payed my HUSNG.com membership up till St. Patrick's Day, and then I'll simply extend for a full year.

I'll try to maintain Platinum VIP at Stars if possible, but I won't try to force it.

My big goal for 2011 is to finally leave $55 behind me for good and crush the $110's, making some decent money.  And this time, $220 can wait.  My personal requirements for moving up to $220 are either $10k or beating $110 over at least 1000 games with at least 3% ROI, whichever comes first.  I'm confident that I can beat $110 - and I've already played it as a reg in the past - but always got completely crushed when taking any shots to $200.  So this time, I'll wait and build a decent bankroll first.  At the moment, I still don't feel sufficiently rolled for the $110's with my $3k, and I really want to play it safe this time.

Ok, so before I leave ... I really wanted to do this before, but never found the time for it, here's a little Christmas present for you guys:

I already said I got some coaching from ITRIED2WARNU this year, and one thing I really liked were his two free leakfinder challenges.  Well, you'll also get one from me :-)  I'm planning on getting some more coaching anyways once I fully established myself at the $110's, so this'll just fit perfectly.  Just be a bit more patient, I really wanna do this at the $110's after I play these regularly and also feel confident enough to play against regs, not just bumhunting shots.  So this could get February, but it's promised !

Have a nice holiday weekend, and happy new year 2011,

Jack