On the fast train to Busto-ville

I haven't had the motivation to post in a while. I also have been sucking serious amounts of ass in poker. Coincidence?

Its getting to the point where I don't even want to tally and review daily results anymore. My dwindling bankroll is enough information. These losses are really getting scary though. Its definitely past the point of pain now. Each successive loss has become part of the routine.

November was bad - pretty much as bad as I could imagine. But I still came out on top thanks to the $1000 bonus and FPP points. This month I have no bonus to fall back on and I'm still in the red for the month. Its a little surreal at times.

I mean, I have essentially a whole years results as evidence that I was at one time a winning player. But when faced with almost two months of breakeven play, its hard to imagine that anything but bad poker play is going on.

Its getting to the point where it probably isn't just variance.

And that is something I have to deal with rationally. I mean, the games have gotten exponentially more difficult since the legislation and there really isn't any reason that they are going to get easier. Even with a large percentage of the SNG regulars moving over to cash games, the SNGs are still ridiculously tough.

The only question I really have to ask myself is: is there anyway I can improve my game to the point where I have a substantial edge over my competition again? And to be honest I'm not entirely sure. SNGs are pretty limited in your amount of creativity. Once the blinds get even past the first 2 levels, play becomes ridiculously structured. It would make sense that early game is the only room for improvement for a SNG player once the intricacies of pushbotting are well understood. But since the early game only lasts about 10-15 hands, there aren't a ton of chances to out play your opponents.

My only thought to this is that even if I opened up my game early and really concentrated on reads and outplaying people, its only going to add up to fractions of ROI increases in the long run. ROI's main contributor will always be correct pushbot strategy and correct bubble play. Even if I became as good as Negraneau at early game play, it just doesn't seem like it will change me from a 2% ROI player back to a 15% ROI player.

And thats where my brain is right now. I'm dealing with the fact that I have a dwindling pushbot edge over the majority of players and only a few small avenues for improvement. It may be a pretty naive view on my part but at the moment that is how I see it. SNGs aren't cash games where you have a ton of flexibility and opportunity to make reads. Most SNG opponents I play against I have to do so readless as there aren't enough opportunities to get a read on them over only 10 hands. Thats why massively multitabling SNGs had been so profitable as you didn't necessarily need strong reads to make plays. Just assign a vague calling range and push.

Whats funny is after a whole year of success, my bankroll stands at just about where it was at this point last year. So other than a bunch of money spent, this year has been pretty much a wash. How depressing.