Another kid with the same dream!? tl;dr
01-24-2014
, 03:32 AM
I've been reading all of the life of a vegas grinder, moving to vegas to play poker, etc. threads here and it got me thinking maybe my story would be somewhat interesting to you guys. I moved here in June of 2013. Here's a bit about myself, and where I am now.
So I was 13 when I first played NLHE at my grandmas house with my family and it became a regular occurrence that I was winning every week. I was born and raised in Hawaii btw, and lived there until I moved here. Back on topic, I was always a lucky kid, and a gambler.. played quarter flip, dollar flip, closest to the wall, etc as a kid growing up through school. So my family decided they didn't want to play anymore and I was entering high school at about age 14 but my passion for poker was strong and I had an uncle in Hawaii who played on full tilt and introduced me when I was 14, I started playing online.. with my moms C/C. I told my family I was going to play poker for a living around age 14-15.. don't know how seriously they took me but my mom and grandmother were very supportive (my only parents, dad passed away when I was 6)
After I discovered the online poker world I was so excited and determined to become a winner, I started grinding 2c/5c full ring on nights after school and weekends. I found 9-10 friends in school who played poker and had a game at my house or one of theirs almost every week. We played 25c/50c blinds and I was an overall winner in the game almost every week, I would take my hundred or couple hundred toss it online and play with it. I was a competitive gamer throughout my years as well and I think it helped mold me into the poker player I am today honestly. So I met a few other poker players through gaming who were good enough to start teaching me solid fundamentals and get me reading books, etc. I was an overall loser/break even online until I was about 17, I became a winner at 25NL 6max.
After high school - After I graduated HS, I was playing more poker than ever.. Waking up at 7am to grind the daily doubles on full tilt (7am because in Hawaii the time zone diff) and I would switch off playing MTT's for a month, and cash games for a month, every day. I was getting really strong at both fields, my ROI Was increasing in tourneys and I was a pretty consistent small winner in cash. I was well on my way to building a solid roll to move up and had it all planned out...Black friday happened annnd that was it. Sooo I got a job, and was living at home rent free so I started saving every paycheck to move to Las vegas as soon as I turned 21. I wanted to make sure I had 10k for my poker roll and 10k for my living roll before I moved, just to be comfortable. So I patiently waited, worked, and saved. Whilst reading some poker here and there.. playing a few sessions over the course of 2 years, didn't have a losing one but only played once at morongo in california, and 3-4 home games. It was march of 2013 and my overall roll was at about 14k, not where I had hoped.
March of 2013 - I was closing in on turning 21 in April and was getting nervous, excited, etc. I had given my 2 week notice at work and they all wished me luck. I had to go to denmark for a big gaming tourney in march and then one in dallas in april and then I was off to vegas. I spent all of april really enjoying my last times in Hawaii, blazing, going to the beach, preparing myself mentally to embark on the goal I set as a teen. It was finally happening.. 5+ years in the making, it was very surreal to realize.
May of 2013 - So I decided to ship my car to LA and drive it up to vegas, I have family in LA so I stayed with them for about 4-5 days before I drove up here about the beginning of June. I have an aunt who lives here in vegas who said I could live with her for a family rate, back when I was like 19 she told me this. So everything was setup for me to succeed, all I had to do was make it happen at this point. I got to LA and had never drove a car on a freeway previously as there were none on my island, so I was a little nervous. As I drove into Vegas in late may, start of june I cant remember honestly, it was a beautiful day took me about 4 hours and couldn't wait to be in vegas! I get to my aunts place, unpack some of my things I didn't have much.. I just shipped my PC, and brought 2 backpacks with clothes/other items, and had 1 box of clothes shipped. I bought a desk for my computer and setup my room within the first week. My roll was already at about 12k after shipping my car, stuff, and moving in.
Vegas 2013/2014 - So in June I started getting familiar with everything, and playing SOME poker not a ton yet, I was rusty but confident and a little nervous as I had only played live at a casino one other time in Cali when I was 18.
My first month I was a small winner.. +200 or so playing 1/2 but I didn't play a ton. I proceeded to have 4 losing months in a row after that, all strictly in 1/2, and 1/3 for the most part. In july I was -328 in cash, I played a few tourneys out at the M, and 2 of those 235$ deepstacks in the world series which was awesome to experience right away, I actually ran deep in both and cashed in one. In august after a basically break even month in july, and june I was thinking I need to start doing something else if I want to win.
I started playing LAG... and DRINKING while playing. Not a good combo, I had 3 of my biggest winning sessions at 1/2 in a row as I started though and thought I had cracked the code, ez game. Rolling into a friday night with confidence on the strip I spewed off 1500$ at 1/2 in 4 hours. I was beside myself, sickened at what I had done, convinced I was just 'running bad' my drinking continued and I kept losing. I had a -3200 month in August and was wondering if this was really what I should be doing.. The streak continued into september, I was getting crushed again it lasted till about late September where I had a few good sessions to end the month but still ended -1700..
A little under 3 weeks into October I decided I needed to take a break as I was -326 for the month still and took a trip to Oregon to see some family and relax my mind, regather myself. I spent about 2 1/2-3 weeks there, I was reading more 2+2 threads than ever before..for some reason.. on my phone before I'd sleep, as I'd wake up, throughout the day, etc. Poker was still on my mind. At this point I had lost a bit of confidence but still knew I could play winning poker. I also decided to stop drinking before I left as a whole. I came back after Oregon about 10 days into November and revitalized started playing solid poker, book 3 winning sessions in a row, and was confident I was going to start winning. I then had 1 losing session before going on another 8 winners in a row, now I had realized some leaks in my game that helped me improve I believe, but ended the month +2100. Finally a winning month!! My game continued through december and another fairly sized winning month +1100.. I was still happy, but set a goal to be back to even by 2014, I was just short of it when 2014 rolled around. I started taking a couple 2/5 shots in december and booked winning sessions btw. Booking my biggest session to date, a 2/5 game 2 days before christmas +1400. Ended the month with 3 losing sessions.. and overall +1100 like I said.
January starts, new year, feeling good, ready to crush. I start off with a winning session day 1, then 2 losers following it.. I picked it up and have been killing it this month so far. I had a huge +1600 1/2 session on the 10th and then a -800 1/2 session the day after. I still felt pretty confident and decided to start playing 2/5 regularly, I had 5 winning sessions in a row at 2/5 feeling great, played some 1/3 still winning...7 in a row until today I had a losing session but no big deal. Still my biggest month to date and hoping it carries on through this year, I feel my game is strong and I have improved vastly since my beginning here. I am now in the + overall and very happy as I was in a -6k hole at one point.
Now there was a ton of things I left out in this post, this was meant to be a 'catch you up to where I am currently' post and I kept rambling.. and rambling on.. But I had some somewhat wild times, hooking up with a chick I met AT the poker table after taking a couple hundred from her. Drunken partying, degening roulette and blackjack, but all that is done and poker is my primary focus
. I now have a girlfriend, and am living stable as a grinder here in vegas! I will post updates here if anyone seems genuinely interested in my thread / pursuit of my dreams. My roll is increasing and I intend on being a 2/5 reg for most of this year, cya at the tables
So I was 13 when I first played NLHE at my grandmas house with my family and it became a regular occurrence that I was winning every week. I was born and raised in Hawaii btw, and lived there until I moved here. Back on topic, I was always a lucky kid, and a gambler.. played quarter flip, dollar flip, closest to the wall, etc as a kid growing up through school. So my family decided they didn't want to play anymore and I was entering high school at about age 14 but my passion for poker was strong and I had an uncle in Hawaii who played on full tilt and introduced me when I was 14, I started playing online.. with my moms C/C. I told my family I was going to play poker for a living around age 14-15.. don't know how seriously they took me but my mom and grandmother were very supportive (my only parents, dad passed away when I was 6)
After I discovered the online poker world I was so excited and determined to become a winner, I started grinding 2c/5c full ring on nights after school and weekends. I found 9-10 friends in school who played poker and had a game at my house or one of theirs almost every week. We played 25c/50c blinds and I was an overall winner in the game almost every week, I would take my hundred or couple hundred toss it online and play with it. I was a competitive gamer throughout my years as well and I think it helped mold me into the poker player I am today honestly. So I met a few other poker players through gaming who were good enough to start teaching me solid fundamentals and get me reading books, etc. I was an overall loser/break even online until I was about 17, I became a winner at 25NL 6max.
After high school - After I graduated HS, I was playing more poker than ever.. Waking up at 7am to grind the daily doubles on full tilt (7am because in Hawaii the time zone diff) and I would switch off playing MTT's for a month, and cash games for a month, every day. I was getting really strong at both fields, my ROI Was increasing in tourneys and I was a pretty consistent small winner in cash. I was well on my way to building a solid roll to move up and had it all planned out...Black friday happened annnd that was it. Sooo I got a job, and was living at home rent free so I started saving every paycheck to move to Las vegas as soon as I turned 21. I wanted to make sure I had 10k for my poker roll and 10k for my living roll before I moved, just to be comfortable. So I patiently waited, worked, and saved. Whilst reading some poker here and there.. playing a few sessions over the course of 2 years, didn't have a losing one but only played once at morongo in california, and 3-4 home games. It was march of 2013 and my overall roll was at about 14k, not where I had hoped.
March of 2013 - I was closing in on turning 21 in April and was getting nervous, excited, etc. I had given my 2 week notice at work and they all wished me luck. I had to go to denmark for a big gaming tourney in march and then one in dallas in april and then I was off to vegas. I spent all of april really enjoying my last times in Hawaii, blazing, going to the beach, preparing myself mentally to embark on the goal I set as a teen. It was finally happening.. 5+ years in the making, it was very surreal to realize.
May of 2013 - So I decided to ship my car to LA and drive it up to vegas, I have family in LA so I stayed with them for about 4-5 days before I drove up here about the beginning of June. I have an aunt who lives here in vegas who said I could live with her for a family rate, back when I was like 19 she told me this. So everything was setup for me to succeed, all I had to do was make it happen at this point. I got to LA and had never drove a car on a freeway previously as there were none on my island, so I was a little nervous. As I drove into Vegas in late may, start of june I cant remember honestly, it was a beautiful day took me about 4 hours and couldn't wait to be in vegas! I get to my aunts place, unpack some of my things I didn't have much.. I just shipped my PC, and brought 2 backpacks with clothes/other items, and had 1 box of clothes shipped. I bought a desk for my computer and setup my room within the first week. My roll was already at about 12k after shipping my car, stuff, and moving in.
Vegas 2013/2014 - So in June I started getting familiar with everything, and playing SOME poker not a ton yet, I was rusty but confident and a little nervous as I had only played live at a casino one other time in Cali when I was 18.
My first month I was a small winner.. +200 or so playing 1/2 but I didn't play a ton. I proceeded to have 4 losing months in a row after that, all strictly in 1/2, and 1/3 for the most part. In july I was -328 in cash, I played a few tourneys out at the M, and 2 of those 235$ deepstacks in the world series which was awesome to experience right away, I actually ran deep in both and cashed in one. In august after a basically break even month in july, and june I was thinking I need to start doing something else if I want to win.
I started playing LAG... and DRINKING while playing. Not a good combo, I had 3 of my biggest winning sessions at 1/2 in a row as I started though and thought I had cracked the code, ez game. Rolling into a friday night with confidence on the strip I spewed off 1500$ at 1/2 in 4 hours. I was beside myself, sickened at what I had done, convinced I was just 'running bad' my drinking continued and I kept losing. I had a -3200 month in August and was wondering if this was really what I should be doing.. The streak continued into september, I was getting crushed again it lasted till about late September where I had a few good sessions to end the month but still ended -1700..
A little under 3 weeks into October I decided I needed to take a break as I was -326 for the month still and took a trip to Oregon to see some family and relax my mind, regather myself. I spent about 2 1/2-3 weeks there, I was reading more 2+2 threads than ever before..for some reason.. on my phone before I'd sleep, as I'd wake up, throughout the day, etc. Poker was still on my mind. At this point I had lost a bit of confidence but still knew I could play winning poker. I also decided to stop drinking before I left as a whole. I came back after Oregon about 10 days into November and revitalized started playing solid poker, book 3 winning sessions in a row, and was confident I was going to start winning. I then had 1 losing session before going on another 8 winners in a row, now I had realized some leaks in my game that helped me improve I believe, but ended the month +2100. Finally a winning month!! My game continued through december and another fairly sized winning month +1100.. I was still happy, but set a goal to be back to even by 2014, I was just short of it when 2014 rolled around. I started taking a couple 2/5 shots in december and booked winning sessions btw. Booking my biggest session to date, a 2/5 game 2 days before christmas +1400. Ended the month with 3 losing sessions.. and overall +1100 like I said.
January starts, new year, feeling good, ready to crush. I start off with a winning session day 1, then 2 losers following it.. I picked it up and have been killing it this month so far. I had a huge +1600 1/2 session on the 10th and then a -800 1/2 session the day after. I still felt pretty confident and decided to start playing 2/5 regularly, I had 5 winning sessions in a row at 2/5 feeling great, played some 1/3 still winning...7 in a row until today I had a losing session but no big deal. Still my biggest month to date and hoping it carries on through this year, I feel my game is strong and I have improved vastly since my beginning here. I am now in the + overall and very happy as I was in a -6k hole at one point.
Now there was a ton of things I left out in this post, this was meant to be a 'catch you up to where I am currently' post and I kept rambling.. and rambling on.. But I had some somewhat wild times, hooking up with a chick I met AT the poker table after taking a couple hundred from her. Drunken partying, degening roulette and blackjack, but all that is done and poker is my primary focus
. I now have a girlfriend, and am living stable as a grinder here in vegas! I will post updates here if anyone seems genuinely interested in my thread / pursuit of my dreams. My roll is increasing and I intend on being a 2/5 reg for most of this year, cya at the tables
01-24-2014
, 03:59 AM
01-24-2014
, 04:24 AM
01-26-2014
, 12:49 AM
Lost 1200 today in 2/5.. Lost AA to A-8 in a 3bet pot, J-J-8 flop, I c-bet, call, turn 8.. I bet 110, call. River 10s I check he bets 200 I call. Bleh. Lost QQ to Q-9 in a limped straddled pot (Bad by me) Flop 9-10-7 I bet 30 on the flop, call, turn 9, checks to me heads up I bet 65, call. River blank, he checks I bet 90...call. Got it in with AQ v AK ~60bb's deep.. Lost that, a bit of a miserable day at the tables cards definitely weren't going my way. But I also wasn't playing my A-game either. Tomorrow is a new day though
01-26-2014
, 01:14 AM
01-26-2014
, 03:35 AM