The Grind

Welcome to the new installment of my blog “The Grind”. Follow me through what us poker players refer to the grind. The down and dirty, put in hours, make the cheddar part of the job. While many players are taking vacations following the WSOP right now, Im continuing the grind and continuing to work on my game.

I love getting in grind mode because of routine. Everything seems right when I am in a good routine. Wake up, hit the gym, eat healthy, and play some cards. Of course, I make sure to have fun while I am on the grind, but the main focuses are poker, working out and eating right. Hopefully you will see some golf updates, sporting updates, but I have a clear focus right now, Poker.

Goal setting is a very important part of being on the grind. It motivates you and keeps you going day after day through the struggles. My goals are going to focus on 2 things, health and poker. These are my 2 clear focuses throughout the rest of the year. I have always tried setting goals, but have struggled to stick to them, or keep good records to track my progress. Maybe more important then setting goals, is setting reasons on why you have the goals. For me this is simple this time. All my poker goals revolve around one thing, Making Money. I want to make money, more money. I have a lot of monthly expenses, way more than I should, and I have to work extremely hard too keep the life I have right now. Just like any other job I put in my hours, more hours, and grind it out day by day. The only difference is I love going to work, putting in hours won't be a problem for me. As for health. The reasons are motivational based. I haven't been under 200 pounds since early in high school probably. It is a huge milestone and I know when I see 199 on the scale that it will make all the hard work well worth while.

Poker

• 45 hours / week minimum of grinding. (most of this @ 2/5nl and 15/30 Omaha 8)
• 5 hours / week minimum of Studying game (books , videos , HH review, Equity calcs)
• $8,000 / month profit (trying to stay away from these goals as they are somewhat out of my control but this should be fairly obtainable)
• $1,000 / week for expenses (deposited weekly into bank)
• Really develop and perfect my Limit Omaha 8/better game
• Final Table a live tournament

The most important goals here for me are the two goals regarding minimum hours played. They will drive the success of the other goals. Also a key point here is the word Minimum. I am setting these goals up so that I can surpass them. The other two super important goals for me are the O8 goal and to FT a live tournament. We have recently gotten a 15/30 w 20/40 kill Omaha 8 game going at Tulalip a few days a week. I love the game, while I am still not suer experienced I want to work super hard on this game as it is super profitable. It is hard though to make a Quantifiable goal here. Also I want to regain my focus on working on my tournament game. I have a strong travel schedule set up for the rest of the year and plan on having a lot of success in those events. I need to prepare myself so I am ready deep in a tournament, whenever it maybe.

Health

• Under 200 pounds
• 5 workouts a week

Going to do some more research this week and probable revise these goals. Trying to find a new workout program to stick to. I want to do more crossfit based workouts instead of heavy lifting. Diet is going to be a huge part of these goals and I feel confident to go full speed on my normal diet like I have done in the past.

Not sure exactly where to put this, but one of the other big things I want to focus on is not wasting time. It is probably one of my weakest attributes and I will have to manage my time better in order to accomplish these goals. Basically my plan is before I go to bed make my schedule for the next day. What time I will wake up, what hours ill be in the gym, the casino, working on my game. Having a schedule is key for me to keep on track.

Travel Schedule

Get a lot of questions about what tournaments I am going to play next on twitter so here is my tenative schedule for the rest of the year.

August 10-14 Arizona State Poker Championships

September 12-21 Borgata Poker Open

October 6-7 DeepStacks Poker Tour Fall Pot of Gold

Oct 11-22 WSOPC Chicago

Oct 27-Nov 7 WSOPC Vancouver

As of right now that is what I am planning on traveling too. Some may be added, some may be taken off, but it is a good rough idea. The key for me is to remember that these are business trips and nothing should change in my routine while attending. Basically day off on each end for traveling, but other than that it is still workout in the morning followed by 10 hour days playing and working on my game. Traveling to events though is awesome casue it does keep the grind more exciting and different. Couple weeks at home and im ready to get on the road again. After a week on the road im ready to get home. This provides a nice change of pace. 

Look for weekly updates on this blog. As always you can follow me on twitter @McmattoPoker as I am always providing updates on their.