2011 Year in Review – Courtney Gee Poker Blog

Happy holidays! I hope everyone has been able to take some time off to enjoy their friends and family this month. Life has been crazy for me, but I really wanted to try to post this before the year ended.
Where poker is concerned, 2011 was a pretty interesting year for me. I went to PCA, played on the Big Game, and went to the WSOP for the first time. While none of these get-rich-quick schemes worked out for me, they were great experiences and I learned a lot.
I started playing poker around 6 years ago back in university, but I definitely played more poker this year than the other 5 years combined. I played almost 370k hands which is pretty low compared to the average grinder but quite a lot for me.
In past entries I mentioned that my goal for online poker profit this year (before rakeback and bonuses) was $30k. At the end of November it looked like making the goal was going to be pretty easy since I was less than $500 away. But I forgot one minor detail: it’s easy to lose money playing marked poker this game. Oops. Here were the (somewhat disappointing) final numbers for 2011:

• # MTTs: 2,290
• # SnGs: 3,850
• Total online profit: +$29,077.18 (before rakeback and bonuses)

Actually I would have just barely made the profit goal if I hadn’t decided to play MTTs on the very last day I played this month. But I couldn’t skip the 10^th Anniversary Sunday Million, right?! It was actually fun playing MTTs for the first time in ages. I went deep-ish in a $55+R, but unfortunately I busted 41^st and still ended up losing a bunch for the day.
While I’m annoyed that I fell short of my goal, I’m happy with how the year went. I had some live winnings, bonuses, and rakeback, so overall I made ~$40/hour. I survived my first real year of being a pro grinder, increased my bankroll, and became a better juice cards player in the process. And I achieved Supernova for the first time :)
I also improved my life outside of poker, which is equally important. I started working out at the gym three times a week, and I eat much healthier. I think that maintaining a healthy diet and eating properly is something that many poker players overlook. I will probably write an entry about food one of these days.
Anyway, I’m obviously not going to get rich making $30k/year, so I’m looking for a bigger year in 2012. I’ve been thinking seriously about my goals for next year, and I will share those with you in my next entry.
Thanks to everyone that supported me in 2011 and to everyone that has followed this blog. I really look forward to sharing my experiences again in 2012. Happy New Year!