When someone finds out I play poker for a living, some variation of the following exchange normally occurs.

Them: Oh wow, that must be a lot of fun
Me: It can be fun. Except when you have losing days. No one wants to go to work, only to lose money.

I'm still up for the month, but we're halfway thru August and it hasn't been much fun. The past 30 hours have been exceptionally brutal. In that stretch I'm down like 65 buy-ins and cEV has been terrible (20/game).



Don't need to tell anyone how soul crushing it feels to run bad, especially when opponents are trying their hardest to punt but keep ending up with the best hand. Somehow still maintaining respectable equity for the month despite this ugly block of 500 games, and despite my HU SB winrate being incredibly low (6 EV BB/100).

While I'm whining, I might as well mention I'm already five figures under EV for the month. Thank god for rakeback.

Oh wait.





Downswings suck, but I know that the life changing upswing is always one Spin away.

Hang in there bro and gl for the rest of the month, one spin away indeed!

Yeah, not so nice looking graph :/ Not too worried about running under EV, but a cEV of 20 look worrisome? Or is that also standard deviation?

thats 500 games standard swing lol

Good to know, as I have been running at 20 cEV for the last month orso (less than 500 games even) when before I ran at 80 cEV. Always thought cEV didn't deviate that much...

Is that Dan Shaks Son on the right?

Glad to see you're still doing well in life, all the best in the future!

I'm hanging!



I'm def guilty of putting too much stock into small samples although I only tend to do it for the stretches of run bad; earlier this month when I had a 300-game block of 120 cEV, I *knew* that was just positive variance. But when I'm faced with the negative side, part of my brain ponders doomsday scenarios.

Haha, same to you.

Everyone in the picture is somehow related to me, except for my GF. Thankfully.

Bleh

Another rough day at the tables. Was supposed to be an off day, but I woke up earlier than expected and chose to get in some games. That was a mistake. Ran terribly by all metrics, but almost binked my way out of it. Late in the day, I spun a 100x and only needed 99 to hold vs K7o for a $10,000 payday, but alas...

http://www.boomplayer.com/en/poker-h...899_2EDEFA6A23



Congrats to Santiago, no hard feelings towards him at all. Just hoping that if we manage to get HU in the next one, I'm able to take it down.

Admittedly it's hard to focus on the positives right now, but a) I'm still up for the month and b) the equity is decent. It's an ez game when things are going well, but I'm reminded that stretches like this are what separate the best from the rest. Will spend an extra hour studying tomorrow, and then I'll be back in games.

what do u do these days? running like shiiit, losing every spins, losing ev, etc.. How do you manage to not stop playing and keep grinding ? its super boring/**** to play like that.. Do u usually watch your graf while playing ? any tips to keep grinding ? hope u run good the next days brah! <3

Today was a bit better, but yeah that's been my life for the past 4 days.

Running under expectation isn't a new thing for me. Since I started using EV tracking software (2009?), I've never finished a year over expectation. When I got SNE in 2014/my last full year at SNGs, I ran $50k under expectation. And since then, Spins haven't treated me much better -- Pretty sure that if you ranked all Spin regs by how much they were under EV in Spins, I'd easily be in the top five.



It's certainly not fun, and I reserve the right to complain about it from time to time, but there's not much use dwelling on something I can't control.

Sometimes, I stop. I'll take short breaks, long breaks, breaks to go to the gym, breaks to chat with horses, and breaks to grab a snack from the kitchen.

Normally only takes me a few minutes to get myself re-centered, and then I'm able to get back to the grind. It helps that at its most basic level, I still enjoy the game. Grinding is normally ~fun and I know that if I keep putting in consistent volume, the results will/should turn in my favor.

Not only do I sweat the graph, but I watch the cEV as well. It's a dumb thing to do and matches up with my biggest mental leak, but at this point, not knowing the results bothers me more.

Re: Grinding more, when I'm looking to put in more volume, I start by making a music playlist. Music definitely helps with the 'tilt' factor, and I'm motivated to continue playing until I hear each of the songs I put on the playlist, so I try to load it up with as many as possible. Will be doing exactly that tomorrow morning, if I decide to grind.

Hi, long time fan, if spins and online poker dried up tomorrow wat would you do? You seem like a very clever chap so Id guess you have an exit / backup plan? Whats your long term vision?

it should be obvious that he is going to flip burgers

Bolded part is debatable.

If Spins were no longer viable, I'd find another format. Probably mass tabling low stakes MTTs/SNGs, stuff under $30. There's a grinder who is currently doing that (<$15s) and is on pace for a $10,000+ month. Not trying to knock his achievement at all, but I'm confident that I could repeat those results.

If it was 'gg' for all of online poker, I'm not sure what I'd do. Might try to grind live, but that wouldn't last long. I'd hate my life within a week. So I suppose I'd try to re-enter the traditional workforce. Perhaps I'd go back to school to get my MBA. Have several friends in medium/high level management positions and I've been told that degree is all that's separating me from a high five figure starting salary. Well, that and the desire to actually work a 9-5 job.

Long-term vision is to stack cash, and ultimately have enough where I can work some 'regular' job that I ~enjoy without having to worry about the salary. For instance, I think being a teacher is one of the most noble professions, but often (in American society) it comes with the stress of living barely above the poverty line. If I could somehow hold down a teaching gig and maintain my current quality/style of life, that'd be perfect.

Can't do that if I'm not good at flips

The part about burgerflipping made me laugh more then it should ^^

less poker more food ffs?!!

Caught me at a bad time, I'm about to start a month long clean-eating endeavor. In 2015, about a month before I turned 30, I set a goal of being in the best shape of my life (or as close to it as possible) by my birthday. Continued that tradition last year, and now I suppose it's an annual thing. This year my birthday happens to coincide with a friend's bachelor party, so I've got ~30 days of eating well ahead of me before being rewarded with booze, junk food, and laughter.

But, I did have an incredible sushi dinner last week. Went to a place in White Rock called Taka's, which has replaced Minami/Miku as my favorite sushi spot in Vancouver. Fish quality is impeccable. The 'Flounder Fringe' melts like butter.







Been clogging up this thread with whiny recaps of ****ty days, so I'm glad I get to post some good news. After bricking my last three 25x, I was able to take one down.



Had a solid day, cEV wise, and realized I was leaking in one particular spot -- it's a leak I thought I had plugged, but at some point I reverted back to my old (and less profitable ways). Just so happened to see the cEV rocket back up immediately after my 'A-HA' moment.



Hoping I've turned the corner and can have more days like this going forward, because it's so much more of an enjoyable experience when you're not getting crushed.

Looks like I've got a new place to go to for sushi when I'm in Vancouver. F*ck now i want sushi lol.

looks good food and giraffes vamooos

nice comeback bro :P

How many ev chips did u lost in the downswing few days ago ? and how many spins were? im breakeven/lost 6kish evchips in 200 spins and im not sure if i spew a lot or its maybe std..

Well I was still up EV chips, just not as many as I'd like. Had about 21 cEV over 1100 games, and over that sample I had 2 (!!!) chips/game in 3-handed play. Yeesh. Thankfully, the last few days/800 games have gone considerably better.

Wouldn't worry too much about 200 games, I often pump out that many Spins in a day, and my day-to-day fluctuations are fairly common. A few hands can make a massive difference in the day's cEV. That said, it also *could* be spew/leaks. Doesn't hurt to review hands, or have a friend/study buddy to look over some spots.

btw I have a friend named Dylan and I often refer to him as one of the top 5 rappers of all time.

Outstanding.

Last couple of days have went better, at least in terms of cEV. Green line has yet to catch up. Had a chance today, when I spun a 25x but it ended when I lost a flip with even stacks HU. A few hands earlier, this happened.

https://www.boomplayer.com/25037141_7AB0DD2EB0

Means I'm now 1-5 in 25x this month and 0-1 in 100x.





Will try to pump out some more volume before August ends, partly because I know poker is going to take a backseat in September, and partly because I'm not satisfied with this month's profit totals. GL all, let's finish August strong!

Haven't offered a freeroll in here for a while, and I need something to keep me accountable re: diet, so "two birds, one stone."



Leaving for the US on the 21st, means I've got 25 days to lean out as much as possible.

- Currently weigh 190 lbs, body fat in the 9-12% range
- Maintenance caloric intake is ~2700
- Twenty-one days at 1800 calories/day
- Two cheat days at 2700 calories/day
- Two super cheat days at 3600 calories/day (900 calorie surplus)

Already started yesterday and kept it under 1800. #keepit1800

Iced Coffee w/Milk
Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich
Grilled Salmon with Mango Salsa (Mango, Red Onion, Bell Pepper, Cilantro, Avocado) and Coconut Rice

Based on rough calculations, I'll have a calorie deficit of 15,200 over the duration of the diet, which means I should lose ~4.5 pounds. Don't care too much about the number though, just want to shed a bit of fat so the muscle protrudes more. Will continue my lifting routine in hopes to maintain the muscle I currently have.

So, two freerolls at $100 each. First person to quote the freeroll they want, gets it.

1) [ ] Hit the gym for 15 days (out of next 24)
2) [ ] 20 days of 1800 or fewer calories

Gl with the challenge mate, based on the pics of sick food looks like the calories one might be the hard one!

I am in for this one

Gl barone