Halfway There

Crossed the 500k VPP mark earlier today, which means I'm officially halfway to SuperNova Elite. Can't say it's been a blast so far. Best thing I can say for it is it's much better than having a day job (even if I could find one that paid the same). I actually still enjoy the poker, at least in the main. What gets me down is just the sheer amount of time I have to put in to reach my volume goals. But I guess that's kind of how jobs work.

PACE: C+. I am only about three or four days ahead of SuperNova Elite pace, and I'm fairly certain I'll fall behind a bit over the next month or so as I'll be spending at least half my days on the road with the band. As I originally wanted to hit 1.25m vpp's (that's a virtual impossibility at this point), I guess my pace is somewhat disappointing. But I've had a few factors slow me down (most noticeably switching styles in a way that results in less VPP's/hr), and I've more or less stayed right on Elite pace the entire year. So I'm overall satisfied with this part.

GAME PLAY: C-. Tempted to give myself an F here, seeing as I'm into five figures for actual game play lossees. But given that my bonuses outstrip my losses by a big enough margin that my staker has still seen profit (even though he covers all the game play losses, and only gets a percentage of bonuses), I don't think an F would be fair. How can it be a failing grade when you're playing well enough to make a solidly middle class income? So I was going with a D, but I think I've played quite well the past month, probably on like a C+/B- level. So I upgraded myself all the way to C-.

The reason I am playing so much better (I think, anyway) is I decided to move up from 100 to 200 and drop down from 24 to more like 12-15 tables. In theory I should be getting around the same VPP's/hr (in reality, it definitely works out to less, but kinda close; on the road I actually get more per hour now as bad internet often limited me to that many tables anyway). I just realized I have never had an extended period of posting good results while 24 tabling. Even though I feel like I can handle the pace, the results say otherwise. Playing less tables now, I realize that I was not handling the higher volume well at all. I am now making way less mistakes, and finding spots to be creative. I'm not crushing, but I've had a few weeks of posting a small win rate, and my red line is showing signs of life for the first time in ages.

Often times when I switch up approaches, I seem to play better for a period and then the novelty wears off, so I'm always cautious about thinking I've had a 'breakthrough' or whatever. But I do feel very positive about the second half of the year.