Goals For 2016

Last issue, I reviewed how I kept up with my 2015 goals. Some I did well, some not so well, but I put in a pretty good effort throughout the year. It was a tough year monetarily, but I feel good about how I went about it and I’m optimistic heading into 2016. Big thanks to my wife who helps me set attainable goals each year. I’m grateful to have a supportive family and group of friends.

Goal 1: Get out of makeup (or at least put myself in a position to do so)

This is the only one of my goals where the steps aren’t clearly defined or easily attainable but I feel okay with that since I have a plan for how to do it. First of all, in order to get myself out of makeup, I have to know how much my makeup is. It’s sitting at roughly $125,000, give or take a few thousand. It’s been in the low six-figures for a long time now, with a few short stints in the five-figure zone. Tournaments are tough and it’s especially hard to clear a six-figure makeup number when most of your action comes in $1,500 to $3,000 tournaments.

So, how do I get myself out from under this number? Well, I have to play tournaments of course. If I assume that I have a 40 percent ROI in tournaments across the board (I think this is probably low, but I’d rather be too conservative than too optimistic), I’ll need to play in $312,500 worth of tournaments throughout the year in order to clear that number ( 0.4x=$125,000 so x= $125,000/.4 =$312,500). This isn’t particularly easy when playing the buy-ins mentioned previously, so I’ll have to find some bigger buyin tournaments to play. Luckily, Los Angeles has a big tournament in February/March where I’ll be able to play a $10,000 and $5,000 buyin. Add in the WSOP and perhaps another trip to Vegas and I’ll be able to approach that number in buy-ins without having to do too much traveling. Travel is a huge drain on resources, namely money and good will with my wife. Obviously, if I’m playing that much in tournament buy-ins, it’s not hard to find myself on the bad side of another six-figure downswing, but it’s not too hard to find myself on the good side of a seven-figure one either.

Working my way out of this hole would go a long way towards improving my quality of life and I’m looking forward to the day I can do so.

Goal 2: Average 100 hours of cash games per month

Last year, this goal took the form of hours spent at the casino. I reached it fairly easily with tournaments and wait time included so I’m not thinking this one will be a huge problem to reach. I would like to get some time in online and that will help as well. Accomplishing goal number 1 will greatly influence this goal, especially if I do so early in the year.

The reason for this goal is fairly obvious but I’ll state it anyway. As a professional poker player, hours in cash games are what produce money. I spent a good portion of my year this year being reminded that not all hours in a cash game directly translate to money in my pocket. That doesn’t mean that I’ll have another year with 6 losing months. Add in the fact that I’m profitable in 5-6 games that regularly run in my home casino and there’s no reason for me to spend considerable amounts of time in the casino sitting around. There should always be a game for me to play.

Goal 3: 10 hours of study per month

Whether I’m studying hand histories from live poker or online, watching videos, or coaching, study should always be a part of my routine. Since it’s likely that my older son will be starting preschool this year, at least part time, I’ll have some more time to make sure I don’t slack as much as I did in 2015. I need to find the time and drive to improve as a poker player or I will stagnate. I’m sure I’ll continue to find lots of help for myself by helping students be better, but I need to create more time each week and month outside of my coaching sessions to improve my own poker game directly instead of indirectly.

I’m looking forward to a (hopefully) great 2016 and with hard work and an eye towards these goals, I can make that more probable for myself. Thanks for reading this year and I hope your 2016 is good as well. ♠

Gavin Griffin was the first poker player to capture a World Series of Poker, European Poker Tour and World Poker Tour title and has amassed nearly $5 million in lifetime tournament winnings. Griffin is sponsored by HeroPoker.com. You can follow him on Twitter @NHGG