Well 2011 was an interesting one to say the least. I have definitely seen the most dramatic change in my game this year, which to those of you who follow my blog regularly will already know the obvious reason why. A transition from HUSNG's to MTT's really threw a spanner in the works in regards to my goals for the year. I don't think I can look back on this change as a bad one, but it has certainly had it's challenges.

It has been a thoroughly enjoyable year for me both in poker and in life. Most importantly my little boy is growing up fast and it is a great pleasure to share in that with both he and my wonderful fiance. My little family is the most important thing to me and I think we have had a really good, fun year, and can only look forward to 2012 with positivity.

In poker I have challenged myself in a completely different way than in previous years. A complete transition of games is not that easy in the current poker climate, and many people stick to what they know best and are proven in (which is obviously smart). I tend to just follow my competitive streak and go where my instincts take me, which consequently landed me chasing success in the MTT world. I have loved the challenge so far, and look forward to what will continue to be a challenge to improve myself as a player.

I am going to address my goals for the year and how I fared, so settle in, this could get long!

[ ] Supernova Elite:

Was bound to be a fail on this front. It's almost impossible to make SNE as an MTT'er so switching over to mtt's in around April bought an end to this chase pretty early. This was my main poker related goal for 2011 so it would usually be disappointing to fail by such a huge margin, but I understood that this would have to go out the window with a switch to mtt's, so I am fine with not getting there.

[x] 100k Profits:

I got there on this front. I'm not sure what the exact figure is but it is certainly clear of this $100k figure so I can only be happy.

[x-o] Be Healthy:

This is very hard to fully gauge to be honest. I have had moments in 2011 where I have felt amazing about my health, and other times where I have felt like a fat idiot. While I don't think I am unhealthy, I can certainly be fitter and shed a few pounds.

In reality the biggest win for me this year was probably quitting smoking. It just dawned on me that I have gone 364 days without a cigarette after sharing a true love with smoking since I was about 16 years old. This has probably improved my health more than anything else I could have done this year, so I certainly need to be very proud of this one.

[x] Be more Focused:

I think this has certainly been my most focused year at the tables and a lot has to be said for bringing the excitement back into the game by changing game types. I guess last year I started to auto-pilot a bit given how comfortable I was in my husng game. While it is impossible to be 100% focused 100% of the time, I have most certainly improved my mental game this year and bring my A-game far more often than not.

[x] Stop being so results focused:

This is another difficult one to gauge, but I am certainly a LOT less results oriented than I have been in the past. I still let results hang over my head a little too much, but I am certainly a lot better at not worrying about previous results going into the next session. As I said previously, I think my mental game has improved a ton this year.

I feel like my objectivity about my own game is a lot better now and infinitely less tied to results. One thing that really changed the way I think this year is constantly telling myself "you cannot change what is in the past, move on".

[x-o] Study once a week:

I was definitely doing this while still playing husng's, and once I moved to mtt's I spent a ton of time thinking about the changes I needed to make to my thought process. It took me a while to find a network of friends that I respect and trust in the mtt world so there was a time where I wasn't really bouncing ideas around like I usually would in husng's.

I'll give myself another 1/2 for this one because I have worked really hard on my game, but it probably hasn't been a regular once a week study session or anything, more just striving for continuous improvement through multiple mediums.

[ ] Save for/Organise a Wedding

This is more of a fail than SNE. It is fair to say it has been a really busy year, and certainly a year that we have made some inroads financially. However, the dream of the wedding will have to wait until 2012 because we/I haven't really got on top of this at all.

This will certainly near the top of the list for 2012.

[x] Play some live tournies:

I played far more live tournies this year than I anticipated. This isn't a bad thing, well, I have bricked every single main event this year on ANZPT/APPT, but yeah... it's not bad.

I have thoroughly enjoyed playing live mtt's this year, and really look forward to playing even more in 2012. I did not enjoy any success besides some prelim final tables in Adelaide and Sydney, but I had some amazing times with friends on these trips.

Without doubt my highlight was APPT Queenstown. It is just an amazingly beautiful place and there is so much to do and see. This is closely followed by my trip with Dale (decapod10/chumplestultz) to Adelaide zoo and the tilt/chaos that ensued (you can read abuot it in my February 22nd blog titled "Radelaide"). Adelaide was def my 2nd favourite trip.

[x] Spend time with my boy:

I think/hope I achieved this goal in 2011. While he is a huuuuuuggggeeeee mummies boy, and if given the choice between Nat or I he will choose Nat in an instant, we still spend plenty of time messing around together. Nat does a huge share of the workload with Madden, and I wouldn't be able to do what I do if it wasn't for her attending to him constantly.

So that generally leaves a lot of playing time/roughing each other up.

But seriously, I feel so privileged to be able to do what I do and get to see him and spend time with him every single day. It is so rewarding to see your own child develop and I look forward excitedly to the future.



So I guess I get 6/9 for 2011. Not too bad really.

Highlight of the Year:

My highlight of my year was definitely Queenstown, New Zealand. I headed over there for APPT Queenstown, and while I did my usual spew off in the tournament, I had an amazing time. Nat came on this trip with me which was really nice to spend some time doing fun things together (Madden free ). Nat's best friend was also on holidays in Queenstown, and with Gin, Ricestud, Cal, and Ami all thrown in there it was a lot of fun.

Besides the great company, Queenstown is an amazing place that I would recommend for anyone. The scenery is breathtaking at times, the food is to die for (hello Fergburger), the people are chilled out, and the possibilities for adventure are endless. I reall cannot say enough to justify how great a place Queenstown is.

Most satisfying from 2011:

I feel proud that I have been able to somewhat successfully make the switch to MTT's. It is so hard to truly gauge where you are at when there is variance involved, but I do feel comfortable that I am a winning player in mtt's. As I have said many times before, I am certainly a long way from perfect and have tons of improvement still to do.

Being results oriented within an imperfect system, it is always nice to look at the most widely recognised ranking system for mtt's online and see myself ranked at #13 in the world and #1 in Australia. I have said many times before that I really don't consider myself to be as good as I am ranked, and the system has it's imperfections obviously. Nonetheless, it is widely regarded as the best system and I can only be more than satisfied in where I have risen to.

Most disappointing of 2011:

Two words... LIVE TOURNAMENTS.

I have failed miserably in live tournaments this year. While I have more than enjoyed the trips I have been on for both the people and the fun times had, I am really disappointed with my results in main events.

I have probably been impatient at times and made some higher variance plays because of this. However, I have really learnt some lessons about live tournaments and the overall hatred people have for folding. Variance cannot be underestimated either... I have played 8 main events this year I think and in reality that is a tiny sample size and not really surprising or unusual that I haven't had a result.

I will certainly admit I have made some mistakes, and when this is coupled with not running well, it is only inevitable that I brick the world. Let's hope 2012 brings a lot of success in this area.

This is closely followed by my failures in WCOOP/SCOOP. I certainly learnt some lessons in mtt variance through these series.

........................

Last but not least, it was a huge honour to even be considered for Pokerstars Team Online. We are still yet to find out who will be representing Australia in Pokerstars Team Online for 2012, but it was really nice to be recognised as someone who could potentially fit that role.

I don't have any per-conceived ideas about what is to come on this front, but in the last couple months of this year I have given my very best to try to show Pokerstars that I can be an asset to the Team. I can only keep my fingers crossed, and thank everyone for their support so far!

I'm really looking forward to 2012. I will be doing a goals post some time early in the new year (probably once I find out yay/nay on the Team Online front).

If you have gotten all the way through this then you have no life ... haha j/k. Thanks to everyone for following this blog and sharing my ups and downs throughout 2011. I hope there are plenty more ups in 2012 for all of us.

I hope you all had a safe and wonderful Christmas period, and wish you all the very best for the New Year!

Matt

Follow me on Twitter @mjw006

PS: I had a lot of trouble putting pictured into this blog, if you would like to see blog complete with pics you can check it out HERE