January News & Notes

- It's January, and that means the start of a new year. It's a time when people look back at the old year, and look ahead to the new year.

I keep track of my results in a database, and have been doing so for years. But with things going so badly this year, I decided to add a spreadsheet with detailed results on a monthly basis. I figured maybe I could see what things I'm winning at, and where I need to make some changes for this year. It was helpful, as I did notice some things. But the most import thing I noticed was that I'm up for the year, and that includes cash games, tournaments, pit action, and promo / freeplay money. And the amount I finished up for the year is ...

(Insert drum roll here)

$520

So since I moved to a casino town, I'm now averaging a staggering profit of $10/week. Yeah, I think it's pathetic, too.

The one bright spot in my spreadsheet was tournaments, specifically the tournaments under $100 (or the daily donkaments). I played in 94 of them, and had an ROI of 64%. I think that's a damn fine number, especially when you consider the turbo structures with 15-20 minute levels and a rake in the 20% - 35% range.

As for tournament with buy-ins of $100 or larger, I played in 45 of them with a ROI of -11%, and the total ROI for the 139 tourneys is 16.6%. But I did take two shots in larger buy-in tournaments that didn't work out, the Atlantis $1080 Main Event and a $1500 WSOP Event. If I remove those two tourneys, I have an ROI of 17.8% in the $100+ tourneys, and 38% overall, which is respectable.

- Being the start of a new year, it's also time for me to request vacation time at work because everyone wants some time off during the summer. I managed to get two weeks off in June for the WSOP.

The problem is they haven't announced the dates for the WSOP yet, which is a little weird. The dates are normally announced before the end of the year, and the actually schedule is announce later. I don't know why they are waiting so long this year, but I think it has something to do with the November Nine. Since ESPN seems to be switching to "Near Live" broadcasts, there is no reason to have the Final Table delayed until November. I have a hunch there will still be a delay, but it will be much shorter, probably in early August. All of this depends on when ESPN has a soft spot in their overall broadcast schedule. For example, the early November spot is right before college basketball starts up. So it's possible that the dates for the WSOP could be moved up to April or May, or be pushed back to July or August. The only thing that has been announced is the One Drop $1million tourney, which starts on July 1, but that could always be changed.

So my tentative plans are assuming the WSOP will still be in June. If it moves to a different month, then I'm probably out this year.

Last year, I mentioned that my 10 day trip was too long. So this year, I'm going to make two smaller trips. I will drive down on two different Sundays, June 10th and June 24th. I will stay in Las Vegas for most of that week, and drive back maybe on Friday to not pay for the weekend hotel rates, or stay until the next Sunday. I'll finalize the extact dates as the WSOP gets closer.

The other difference this year is that I will stay at a regular hotel instead of a casino. I know it's sacrilegious to not stay at a casino when in Sin City, but I don't care. I don't want or need the "Vegas Experience", as I'm going down to grind out money in tournaments. This is a business trip, and I should treat it as such. Saying in casinos means having to eat at the overpriced casino restaurants, and I have no interest in giving the Caesars Corp anymore money than I have to.

I have found various smaller hotels around the airport that are not too far from the strip, and they have kitchenettes in the rooms. If I can make just one meal per day in the room, that would save some money. Plus it will keep me away from the casino pits, and that's always a good thing.