[b]1) Take time every week to study the game[/b]
I find I have not studied poker enough in 2006. I played a lot of hands, but I my poker skills have not increased that much.

There are so many ways to study poker today. Here is what I intend to do:

ITH Poker Tutor is a great learning tool]. Unfortunately it seems the lessons take a long time coming out, but when a new one comes out, I will buy it.

I ordered Expert Limit Holdem – Ed Miller and Rolf Slotboom’s Winning Plays – Rolf Slotboom’s from the ITH Store. They are DVD sets instead of books. I haven’t received them yet, but I am looking forward to study them.

Of course, some of my study time will be in books. I plan on re-reading HOH I, II and III and Odds and Probabilities – Hilger. I will also read Ed Miller’s new book on no limit book (not out yet I think) and a few more.

I will read poker articles and forums. Well not forums, but THE Forum

I hope we can continue our ITH NL study group. That was a great learning experience.

I bought a 6 months subscription to Card Runners. They offer training via instructional videos. I have heard a lot of good things about them and the price seems to be right. 19.99$ / month and a 1 time fee of 49.99$ (that one I don’t like, it feels like I am being hustled). So for 169.93$, I get to download and watch all the videos for 6 months.

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[b]2) No chat.[/b]
I find myself chatting a lot. Especially after a bad beat, I tend to berate the fish.

This is bad for business because sometimes the fish goes away or he changes is playing style.
This is bad for my image because, even if I am not prone to tilting, my opponents think I am on tilt and they tend to play back at me more often.
This is bad for my play because it takes away my concentration from my other tables.

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[b]3) I want to play in the PokerStars Sunday million.[/b]
MTTs have always interested me but I am not really good at them. I want to play in the PokerStars Sunday million. Eventually. Before I go and play that event, I will have to learn a lot about MTTs. I plan on re-reading HOH I, II and III, practicing on 10-30$ MTTs, asking questions in the forums and watching/railing some ITH players on IRC.

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[b]4) Play at least 10k hands / month.[/b]
I have lowered this 2006 goal. In the past my goal was 20k/month, but I always ended up playing way more than that. Since I want to dedicate more time to study poker and to play MTTs, I have to reduce the 20k requirement.

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[b]5) Play at least 4 MTTs / month.[/b]
That’s one a week really, but since all my goals are on a monthly basis…

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[b]6) Play live at least once.[/b]
I don’t know how I will manage this one since there are no Casinos that offer poker where I live. But I will find a way… Trust me!

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[b]7) Chase some bonus and rakeback[/b]
In the last part of 2006, I stopped chasing and decided to play at PokerStars where you can find more bad players on average. I got my platinum level and bought some pretty cool things form the electronic store with my FPPs. I need to get another 12k points to buy This TV.

When I am done doing this, I plan on playing at other poker rooms to grab some bonuses. Strangely enough, I don’t have a lot of poker accounts and I will be able to do a lot of first time deposit bonuses. I think the first one I will do will be the 600$ on FullTiltPoker.

This means that I will have to let go of my Platinum level at PokerStars. I am sad about this and may reconsider this option if I find that I cannot beat the game at other sites.

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[b]8 ) Learn sports betting[/b]
Not really poker related, but this side of gambling really interests me. The best place on the web to learn sports betting is probably here at Bull’s Betting.

I also bought a book on sports betting that I haven’t read yet. I’m a procrastinator I know…

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[b]9) Lose weight and get in shape.[/b]
Not poker related you say? I disagree. When you are in shape, your mind thinks more clearly, if your mind thinks more clearly, you make better poker decisions, if you make better poker decisions, you make more money, if you make more money, poker is more fun, if poker is more fun you play more.

I have about 60 pounds to lose. I am at 245 right now and 185 would be the perfect weight for me. My wife and I are on a healthy food diet and we train every day of the week. We started that on January 1st. We’ve always had good healthy food in the house, but sometimes I succumb to chocolate and chips and other bad stuff too…

The training goes like this: One day I do weight lifting (we have a helluva weight machine that was collecting dust) and she does cardio. The following day she does the weight lifting thing and I do the cardio. On top of that, we (my 9 year old son, wife and I) do Karate on Saturdays. I used to go 3 times a week, but I elected to do only once a week for the next session. We go shoe snowing during the winter. In the summer, I play paintball every Sunday and we (the family) go golfing.

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[b]10) Continue to have fun playing poker.[/b]
Poker is not my main income. I am not a pro player, far from it . I need to have fun playing poker. Of course, in order to have fun I have to win .