SuperNova Elite Pro Tips

[FPP Pro]

This thread will be for current or past SuperNova Elites to post their experiences, tips, suggestions, and other comments about reaching that exclusive club. If you're thinking about going for SNE, this should be a good resource for you to read. It will probably be wise to apply their advice.

I may end up posting for some of them, in which case I will quote and sign the post as needed. Posts by non-SNE's may be deleted in order to keep the thread tidy, depending on what direction this thread ends up going (digest-like or more open discussion).

[FPP Pro]

This is heavily condensed from Furbean's blog entry, found here: http://furbean.com/insights.php

First and foremost, Dedication.

Secondly, Planning and Executing Your Plan. You should come up with a yearly, monthly, weekly and even daily plan.

Third, Game Selection. By game selection, what I mean is what type of game you want to play in order to achieve SNE. After you have chosen what type of game you want to play, you should fit yourself into a proper limit.

Four, Bank Roll (BR) Requirement. How much money you need to have as bank roll before you start?

Lastly, Miscellaneous. There are good days and bad days along the year; you need to know how to handle them properly. Improve your game as you pursue your SNE. Remember, every mistake you correct means a big jump in your yearly profit. Find yourself a relatively comfortable working environment. Comfortable computer screen, chair, proper temperature in the room, good neighborhood, these are all pluses to your productivity and profits. Tell your family members and friends about your goal; they will understand you and give you support whichever way they can offer.

[FPP Pro]

From 3J55:

I'll list the ones I can think of in no particular order

-Never play longer than 2 to 2 1/2 hour sessions, as past that point your concentration drops incredibly fast.

-Between sessions do something active as it really clears your mind for your next session (e.g. go for walk, do some press ups/sit ups, etc.). I always play my best straight after gym.

-Getting ahead of pace is important. Obviously I have a hard pace to keep too, but still I can keep ahead of that pace and not plan to reach it at 11pm on Dec 31st.

-Don't look at your account balance during sessions, even longer than just after sessions if you are able to.

-Having subtle music on in the background gets your brain working better and should help you to play your A game.

-Stay away from caffeine. If you are tired go sleep. Avoid playing when tired.

-Drinking green tea helps.

-Don't bumhunt

-Be ergonomic. Have an ergo keyboard, mouse, sit properly, right desk height, etc.

-Don't play straight after eating a big meal. While you are digesting, your concentration sucks. It's better to eat more smaller meals.

-Seriously, stay ahead of pace

[DannyOhBoy]

My name is Dan Grolemund, aka "DannyOhBoy" on PokerStars. I am 33 years old and a father of three. I work a full time job in Pennsylvania as an Occupational Therapist. This year, I achieved Supernova Elite status on PokerStars for the first time. I play only small stakes, primarily No Limit $100 cash games. So far this year, I have played well over 3 million hands.

Here are my tips for the average Joe trying to reach Supernova Elite:

1. Do the math. You need 1 million VPP's to achieve Elite. Divide this number by 365 (days in the year), and you find that you need to average 2740 VPPs on average per day throughout the year to achieve Elite status. Play a week on PokerStars and you will get an idea how many VPPs you are earning.

2. Don't get behind. If you are going to go for Elite, stay on pace. I have heard from so many people trying for Elite who need to play 24/7 throughout November and December just to make it. Doing this will drive you crazy and will completely take the joy out of playing (and possibly burn you out for good).

3. Find a game you are best at. I do not crush the game. With the PokerStars VIP program, you don't need to be a winning player to make a lot of money. I will achieve 1.25 million VPP's this year, and this gives me approximately $140,000 in cash and tournament entries. I am actually down on the year. Find a game that you can at least play near break even and you will make out incredibly well under the Stars VIP program.

4. Prioritize and manage time effectively. With a family and full-time job in addition to playing a lot of poker, I must manage my time extremely well. I player poker 5-8 hrs per day on average. I still find time to work 6:30-3:00 Monday through Friday, spend time with my wife and each child, and get my daily poker commitment in. This does take from my sleep time often, but that is the price of success, I figure.

5. Manage the ups and downs. Playing this many hands has taught me a ton about patience and anger management. Even at my levels, I manage pretty large swings. The bad beats can be devastating when they occur every day for three weeks. You must have a bankroll that can support your game limits and style of play.

Good luck. If I can do it, anyone can. Stay focused, disciplined, and don't get behind.

[joeyp101]

Nice post Danny, if you are only playing NL$100, how many tables are you playing at once? I'm very surprised to hear you can make it at such a 'low' level. Congrats!

[DannyOhBoy]

I 24 table....for many, this sounds overwhelming; it really isn't. My advice for the newer player is to begin with 2-3 tables, and add 1-2 per week. As you play more hands, the decisions become more automatic. I invested $1200 in a 30 inch monitor that allows me to tile my tables across my screen so that all are in view.

[unknown]

Hi 3J55

Don't bumhunt

Seriously !? Why ? I mean look at vinivici9586 for example he's doing well table selecting and playing a lot

Don't look at your account balance during sessions, even longer than just after sessions if you are able to

I look at my account balance for every single pot I win or lose bigger than 10bbs lol
Why is it so bad ?

[FPP Pro]

I'm going to take some stabs at answering for 3J55. I'll also link him to your questions. Hopefully my attempt at clarification isn't too far off.

1) Bumhunting to an extreme is going to cause you to not put in the same amount of hands as otherwise. I do believe that originally this was posted as more or less of a joke, however think about huge bum hunters (this does not mean table selecting - it means only playing when you can get in hands when you are shorthanded or in position vs fish)... You should realize that these optimal conditions won't always be available and will greatly reduce the number of hands you can put in during sessions. Going a bit further, this also means that you are (probably) not a good enough player to play at tables that are less than optimal. This clearly means that ideally, you will be or become a better player by not bumhunting.

2) Looking at your account balance is going to stress most people out. It's going to cause you to tilt more and possibly cause you to make less optimal decisions. Deciding to make the best possible play every time regardless of results is clearly ideal. The flip side is that a personal friend only plays well when he can see the result of making borderline decisions (i.e. if he makes a borderline call, he will never question himself later unless he sees the result of his call lost him money. If he did not look at his cashier, he would never improve his play. This is an extreme example and clearly a shortcoming of him as a player, not a sound strategy)

It should be noted that 3J55 later said that he maybe does two things out of the list he provided. The list he provided is very much a "what I would ideally do" vs "what I actually do." That said, I agree with just about everything he has said.

[ettorek]

Dannyboy wish to ask you wich has been your policy to redeem the bonus on ps:
do you have cashed just the milestones or also some other cash bonus?
Thanks and congratulations for your successes.
Ettore

[DannyOhBoy]

I trade in Frequent Player Points for cash ASAP. The best deal on Stars now is to exchange 250,000 FPPs for $4,000; With the amount of hands that I play, this is about every two weeks for me.