January: we rushed for the very first time

I have two recaps to finish from December's WPBT Winter Gathering. I so wish I would have had my camera's sensor cleaned before going. It's taking me absolutely forever to get the last two posts pics cleaned up. Sigh. Until then, let's try something odd for OhCaptain Poker...

I see people post their monthly recaps. They talk stats and figures and such. I usually don't post much about such things. The slow rate at which I grind I just can't imagine being all that interesting but since Rush Poker started, I figured I'd share some details of the month that was.

You have to keep in mind, I play WAY below my bankroll. I rarely ever leave my comfort zone of the $2 9 person sng on Tilt. I started the month trying an experiment. My new routine was going to be playing one sng at Tilt and then play limit hold 'em cash at Poker Stars until it was bed time. I was hoping to A) get more accustomed to that UI at Stars B) build a better bankroll at Stars C) do some bankroll building at Tilt and recover from a pretty flat 2009.

$2 SNGs at Tilt are fun:I didn't really play as many sngs as I usually do. You see, Full Tilt invented Rush Poker. Friggin' crack. It looks like I did play a couple of $1 sngs. I seem to play those when I come home drunk from a home game. My brain usually wants to play a little more, but thankfully I'm not dumb enough to blow the bankroll. Two for two drunk ain't to shabby either.

Now, I like those stats, that's a pretty solid ITM(In the Money), but what I don't like seeing and will probably work to improve is that 3rd place finish quantity. A better mix of finishes helps make more profitable months.

Everything was going well until, well, I let you see the calendar:Grinding a sng every night doesn't get you many Full Tilt Points. In fact, it took me almost 3 years to accumulate my first 10,000 FTPs. In just a little over a week, I've accumulated about 1200. Holy crap! Too bad I'm not trying to clear a bonus. Also too bad I'm no where near Iron Man status either.

I like Rush Poker, it's alright, I still kinda suck at cash games. The results others are posting are much more impressive then mine. All those points have only accumulate ~$60 for the month. Meh. I'm grateful I had a positive month, but for the 6,988 hands, that's not much. Geebus, I played almost 7,000 hands of cash game this month. Probably explains why I go $16 in rakeback. I realize that some of you are used to getting a payback much bigger then that. My previous peak? $2. Average? $.80. Woot! Woot!

So, what? Right? Rush is pretty cool. I do enjoy playing it. It's tough for a sng grinder to get used to the idea of being stacked. I hate that but it appears to be something that rush players have to get used to. It's a fast paced game and playing that many hands per hour, craziness is bound to happen.

I've slowed down the rush a bit. I feel I need to keep my sng game up. Playing rush is not good for that. Sng poker feels REALLY slow. I think I'm more motivated by the points at rush then the money. It's weird, but a boy will dream. I've always wanted one of those Full Tilt custom baseball jerseys and 1.75 points a night, it would take me a while to get there. Let's hope they don't change that point system. It's the best part for me.

How was your January? Love/hate the rush?