Since the beginning of December, I've been short stacking the live games at the casino I play at and building my stack up from there. Mostly due to the convenience where I play and when I stay with my friends that grind there as well. I found a bit of success doing it and my variance isn't as bad and my hourly is only cut by a little. I took some bankroll considerations for doing this since I felt I was a bit under rolled for 2/5NL after I moved to a new place and my bankroll took a pretty big hit. A little less stressed and still can take care of my family and build my bankroll back up to take shots at 5/10. I had real good success in December, and just been doing it since then. I have about 385 hours from what I filtered and making about 9bb/hrly from short stacking. I wouldn't really recommend this to someone without studying and working on it. It is a different style of play compared to full stacks, but I just keep adjust and build up my stack and keep playing even when I'm over 100bb's. Here is my graph from poker journal.
Only downside I feel from doing this is I'm not playing to my full potential sometimes. It deteriorates from my play and my game isn't as solid. Fortunately for me I have surrounded myself with a lot of real good players that buy in for max at table and we always discuss hands on and off the table which helps me keep in touch with the game. What I realized from poker there is all kinds of possibilities to making money from it. There are different winning styles. You can play deep stack 150bb+, reg stack 80-120bb's, or mid stack or short stack, tag, lag, etc. It is all about adjusting. If you don't, you will get eaten alive in this game. I have seen quite a few players that came from the internet and gone now. Quite a few live players that just quit and went to the corporate world because they couldn't handle the mental side of the game.
Aside from poker, I have been eating healthier and working out on a regular basis. Since my weight gain last year, I'm happy to say I have lost nearly 25 pounds and feel a lot better about myself and feel it has improved my lifestyle and game. I have a lot more energy and my kids that keep on getting bigger and bigger now 2.5 years old feel a lot lighter when I pick them up.
Well I'm still hoping for a big year and break out of the 2/5NL and onto bigger and better things from poker. Granted, taking care of my wife and kids is the greatest feeling to do and poker has given me that freedom to do so. But I gotta keep improving, getting better, and working on moving up because the games keep evolving and changing so i need to stay ahead of the curve.
As far as questions about poker, I am continuing to talk to other poker players from around the world through email or phone. So feel free to contact me about live poker, I am always trying to help others out there become successful at it or improve there win rate. Happy Grinding 2012!!
JEFF
