Let Poker Year 2008 Begin!

2007 has come and gone, and once again, a whole bunch of money churned through the poker community. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act might've slowed down online poker, but it sure didn't kill it. And although the World Series of Poker main event saw its first decline in number of entrants since 1992, 6,358 players putting up $10,000 is still nothing to sneeze at. In fact, a field that size would've been considered unthinkable as recently as four years ago. Poker is alive and well.

In what has become an annual tradition in these pages, it's time for me to review my poker year and resolutions. It's also time, of course, to make new poker resolutions for 2008.

Poker can be a grueling game, and I encourage all players to reflect on some of their highlights every now and again. Here are some of mine from 2007:

1. I cashed in three WSOP events out of the 14 I played. I didn't net a profit at this year's WSOP, but it's important to once in a while remind myself that cashing in 21 percent of events isn't easy - especially when I'm not trying to cash, but trying to win.

2. I became the head multitable tournament pro for stoxpoker.com. I've always considered myself a better coach than player, and now I have a chance to reach out to many more students through this excellent poker coaching site.

3. I won a trip and entry to the Aussie Millions. By the time you read this, I'll be down under competing for the Aussie Millions title. Wish me luck!

My 2007 lowlight was failing to play as many hands as I wanted to. This is really not so much a lowlight as a fact of my professional evolution. I've been working more on my own writing, and on my poker coaching, and as a result, I've done less grinding at the tables. I attended only two major tournaments (Foxwoods Poker Classic and the WSOP) in 2007, easily my lowest ever as a pro. I expect to attend a few more in 2008, but writing and coaching have at least caught up to poker playing as a priority for me right now. I like it that way, and I'll try to make my 2008 resolutions reflect that fact.

Without further ado, here are 2007 resolutions/grades, and 2008 resolutions:.

2007 resolution: I'd like to find a reliable method for determining exactly how tight or how loose I should play at a particular table at a particular time.

Grade: F. I didn't even get started on this project. In fact, if I were lenient, I could give myself an incomplete, but I think an "F" is a more honest grade. I've been gathering data, though, so I think this is a project I could actually get started on this year.

2008 resolution: I'd like to find a reliable method for determining exactly how tight or how loose I should play at a particular table at a particular time.

2007 resolution: Improve my read of my opponent's hand by the river, so I can bluff more often and more effectively.

Grade: B. I definitely believe I made more river bluffs in 2007 than in 2006, though I don't have any hard evidence.
2008 resolution: Begin a project in which I can analyze data from my games and determine my bet/value-bet/semibluff percentages on each street.

2007 resolution: Keep up the value-betting on the river.

Grade: B+. I'm still pretty good at this, especially in limit poker. Value-betting has always been one of my strengths, and I think I'll turn my resolutions elsewhere for 2008, as I've been OK on this one for a few years running now.

2007 resolution: Set aside and schedule time for poker study, and actually follow through on this studying at least once a month.

Grade: C-. Once again, I didn't do very well at this, although I did more studying than I did in 2006. I'm hoping that the increased amount of coaching I'll be doing will help me to follow through on this resolution.

2008 resolution: Set aside and schedule time for poker study, and do this studying at least once a month.

2007 resolution: Record time, date, hours, and location for every cash-game session I play. Record entrants, finishing position, buy-in amount, and net profit/loss for every tournament I play.

Grade: D. I botched this one again. But, I'm back to using a tracking program for data collection after I'd given up on it for a while, and I think I've finally turned the corner and can keep solid records for an entire 12-month period.

2008 resolution: Record time, date, hours, and location for every cash-game session I play. Record entrants, finishing position, buy-in amount, and net profit/loss for every tournament I play.

2007 resolution: At the end of any day of brick-and-mortar casino poker, write down at least one read I had and, if possible, the accuracy of that read. Compile these observations into one database.

Grade: Incomplete. I didn't play enough brick-and-mortar casino poker for this to really apply, so this time, I will give myself an incomplete. That said, I still think this is a good idea, and I will try again to do this in 2008.

2008 resolution: At the end of any day of brick-and-mortar casino poker, write down at least one read I had and, if possible, the accuracy of that read. Compile these observations into one database.

2007 resolution: Find more opportunities to bluff on the river in limit hold'em.

Grade: B. Again, I think I did more of this, and more successfully, in 2007, but I have no proof. To get the proof, I hope to follow the resolution I made above about figuring my bluff/value-bet/semibluff percentages for various situations on all streets.

2007 resolution: Make an even greater effort to work with other poker players to battle potential collusion in tournaments, and to make sure poker players are treated fairly, especially during televised events.

Grade: D. I did a few things on this front, but it became less of a priority as I started playing fewer tournaments. If I do, however, decide to play the tournament circuit close to full time again, these issues will get a lot more of my attention.

Much like last year, I need to improve on studying and record-keeping most of all. But I also see that I need to do a better job of scheduling and prioritizing my time. I need to decide when to write, when to play, and when to coach, and then stick to my decision. Otherwise, I end up sitting down at the computer with too many options, inertia takes over, and I freeze and get far less done than I'd wanted. In the spirit of organization, here's one last, quite general resolution for the new year.

2008 resolution: Spend the amount of time I want to spend, on the projects I want to work on, at the times I want to work on them.

Best of luck to you in 2008!

Matt Matros is the author of The Making of a Poker Player, which is available online at http://www.CardPlayer.com/.