Indeed, haha!

To add to this, I popped into the 1/1 game at LinQ earlier in the week and there were 4 seats with $400-$500 in front of them so I hopped in and was able to run my stack up to almost $900 in a few hours! There was 1 specific hand where I checked my option in the SB with 78ss and the BB checked and away we went 7 handed to the flop. I flopped a flush with the A and K on the board, and I just checked and watched as the action unfolded. UTG bet more than the pot and 3 players called, as did I. The turn was a low blank and again the same guy bet again, and 2 others called as did I. The river was another Broadway card, but not a spade, and with the board unpaired and the way the UTG player was playing (overvaluing and bluffing multiway every hand), I decided to check again. He bet big again on the river, 1 other caller, and I raised 3.5x his bet. Not only did he call, but the other player overcalled as well. They both showed their hand immediately as soon as I did, and they both had exactly 1 pair only.

It went on like this for a few hours, so again it helps to show the importance of game selection to me in this town. If you have that much money on the table, and players playing that way, it's a great game. Could I have been battling a few regs in a 2/5 game somewhere and possibly making a bigger hourly, maybe, maybe not, but I think that finding the social, drinking, heavy gambling sort of tables are much more enjoyable and present a much easier atmosphere to win all the manies than battling tough spots in bigger games. Although that exact winrate is clearly not expected nor sustainable for that size game, there are many nights where the smaller games look exactly like this, with exactly this sort of bad play going on. I am still starting to push my game selection stakes higher and looking forward to playing a much higher percent of 1/3 and 2/5 than I currently have been, but always staying focused on game selection will still be a goal and a key to the success of any player in this town!

Chip porn from the epic 1/1 game this week! (Bought in for full 300bbs):



Since I was able to get the pics link working again, I will do more with it in the future since it seems to add a little more to the content other than just the words on screen! I am trying to document the mental side of this journey and keep it pretty much business oriented in that regard, but I think a little added value with things like this and the general discussion of adding in Las Vegas Lifestyle stuff into my thread since I do put in a decent amount of live hours nowadays is an important addition to sharing this experience!

Couple progress updates, I have just 20 hours to go in November for my SouthPoint qualifier for the $145k freeroll in December and a bigger WIN was after my October WSOP.com APP/points statement I have officially hit the Diamond level for Caesers properties! Chicken wing buffets, sauna naps, and line cutting here I come! Just in the nick of time with WSOPc at Planet Hollywood right around the corner; with both the Diamond Lounge on the same floor as the tournament area and the use of hotel gym/sauna at PH now at my disposal, I will have no excuse not to crush the series! 😎

Table selected into a real nice game at Mirage last night where 3 of the players were trying to get 'bottle service' from the waitress!! I will back up for a second to explain what I was doing at the Mirage in the first place. Anytime you see a 2/5 game running in any room that isn't the big 4 (excluding Red Rock) it is most likely a game any serious player wants to be in. The Mirage had a 2/5 interest list with 7 names on it so I added myself to the list hoping it would go. It did get called down but only 4 of us showed unfortunately. The silver lining was the 1/2 game it became was the game I am now referring to as the bottle service game. It was a bachelor party for the 3 guys and they waisted no time promptly dumping about $800 onto the table in the first hour. From there it was a ton of fun with big pots and money splashing freely around. I was able to book a decent 150bb win in the time the guys were there, but as with all good things...they had to go to Saphire and alas the perfect storm of a game came to an end.

So I have made a push to play 2/5 in the last week, and I have some good and bad that I'm taking away from my sessions.

First, trying not to be results orients when jumping up in stakes is hard to do. When losing a buy in at your new stake is like 2 buy ins at your old stake, it takes a mental toll on you in game and even for me in my post game analysis thus far. I have run and played fairly poorly out of the gate losing over 3 full buy ins rather quickly. The big picture of this is obviously just a blip on my career radar screen, but it truly is amazing how much under the microscope the first jump up in stakes we place ourselves in. I don't want to let the numbers bother me, but it is human nature to let them. It takes a little bit of getting used to the swings being double or more of what I'm used to on a session to session basis.

Not only that, but I am going to lay it all out here and honestly say that my mental game has some work to be done in regards to my jump up in stakes. Until I can get past the immediate differences in swings and also in player pool talent level mentally, it will negatively impact my ability to play my A game and will blur some of my decisions so that I make technical mistakes as well.

In just my first 3-4 sessions of 2/5, I have shared several HHs with peers and my coaches, and they are littered with technical and mental mistakes. I am going to come back to this journal post line of thought again soon and elaborate on some things a bit more, but I needed to put this down in writing today, as it is fresh on my mind, and is definitely something that needs to be addressed and improved on immediately!

I don't feel like I've done everything wrong, and certainly I still have the confidence needed to beat this bigger game, I just need to fine tune some things, and to get back on track with my big picture thinking and not be so tunnel visioned into each session.

I am taking a few days off from live grinding until the WSOPc starts on Thursday to work on these things mentally and also to get some technical HH review done as well as some online hours. Definitely will be revisiting the content of this post again later this month as my journey continues with my moving up in stakes and overall 'clowning around' aka poker career!

Sub'd-thx for referring to your thread in the Trooper's thread.

Have only read a few of your posts so far, but am def a fan and am rooting for you!

Thanks for the follow!

Going to be setting some updated and new goals in the next month to both address how my 2015 goals and results have gone, and where I want to go with them next year.

What's up RSR. I applaud your commitment to moving up in stakes. The transition can be hard and I can relate as I am trying to get back to 5-10+. I will be playing some events at PH too hope to see you there and running good. GL

Thanks man! Never challenged, never grow! GL in the series.

I'm updating via Twitter for anyone interested ( @RockstarRossi13 )

/shameless Twitter plug

Have a few more smaller events to play and then the main event this coming weekend for WSOPc. Haven't had anything good to report as of yet over the first weekend but played very well for the most part and happy with my decisions. Got a few cash game sessions in also and have really been making a conscious effort to game select and play good "decision" poker without letting the recent downswing results affect those decisions. I was able to book a few small wins this weekend, along with a few losing sessions online that were unavoidable situations that we just were either coolered, flipped QQ+ aipf, or faced terrible run outs in flopped set scenarios where the money got in really good on flops or turns and we just couldn't hang on.

These losing sessions are difficult when they stack up on each other, however, they are much easier to deal with amidst a down swing because we know matter of factly that we are playing well, making great +EV edged decisions in great spots. All those things add up to long term win rates, upswings, and success! The battle down here in the trenches is dealing with them on a day to day basis when the going gets tough, and not letting the results affect a hand we play in the future. This has quite the repetitive tone to it, but then again, battling through the mental game issues that pop up in these situations are often the same ones over again that we either haven't trained our unconscious competence quite enough, or we just flat out continue to be behind the eight ball in our applications of the principles learned.

I've made some added efforts to read and reread some new and old material on both mental and technical game strategies lately to help curb any negative thinking that may work its way into my processes. I've found a few new PGC threads to follow which I think are going to help me get to the next level in my career.

I have some new and improved ideas for goals on my 2016 plan! It is going to include volume: volume: volume as the underlying theme, and it will be sprinkled in with some specific game selecting habits (both online and live) that I'd like to work on as well. The continued push to become primarily a 2/5 player live, and 400-600NL+ online player will also be a heavy part of my 2016 planning.

I will continue to build and rebuild my personal finances to be able to accomplish some other life balance goals as well next year. This may or may not include buying a house, and building a personal bankroll to be able to take some more of my own action or to take shots when the time and place is right in MTT series on my own dime, or in some bigger and varied types of cash games (PLO/Mixed/etc) down the road.

Back to the business at hand... Finish strong in this weeks MTTs, and play and study my way out of my current downswings and break even stretches. Govember!

Had one deep run during the WSOPc and missed bagging chips in the money by 1 hand of the Monster Stack Ring event...boooooo. Was trying so hard to rebuild a stack once the bubble burst after taking a few tough losses for big pots toward the end of the day. I was probably all in about 10 times and finally got called by AKss when I shipped ATcc (10bb stack from MP) in that 2nd to last hand of the night. The toughest pill to swallow was how I had an awesome table draw for the main event (given the number of solid grinders that were there for this event), and yet I small balled myself to death early when I continued to have great spots but have to let some big hands go (ie bet/folding AA on the turn in two separate instances). I got it in for a big flip with combo draw against a naked A no draw and we did not improve.

I have been steadily getting in a few hours of cash here and there throughout the week + long tourney runs, so my volume is going really well for the month. I have been able to get some more online hours in lately as well to try to get closer to a 50/50 balance of volume between live and online. I have just a few more sessions needed at SouthPoint to be done with my free roll hours there, and I have achieved Diamond level so my two main goals for live volume are nearly done. The last aspect of the live grind volume goal to maintain is to be putting in a higher percentage of volume at 1/3 and 2/5. A good part of my 2016 goals will be focusing on those limits in live play, so it just seems right to mentally prepare for that now.

After starting out the month in make up, I have made no strides in getting out of it, and in fact have added to it with my cold start in 2/5. I am down about 4 buy ins of that game total now, so I have my work cut out for me to close out GoVember as strong as possible volume wise to try to lower the number or even clear it prior to December. I have only closed out a few months in this adventure being in make up, so my preference is to battle through sooner rather than later and get back on pace with my year to date win rates for all stakes. It will also help to keep me motivated in crushing all my volume goals and set myself up for a bigger goal setting challenge of weekly/monthly volume for next year.

I have added a few more sicko PG&C threads to my daily/weekly mix in of reading and studying the game, and so far they have been extremely helpful in pushing my work ethic and motivations even more than it already is. Working on a few of the mental challenges that can road block our advancements of playing the game at a high level is priority 1 (entitlement tilt and fear of losing along with fears of jumping up in stakes, etc), followed by keeping technically sharp, and not making those sorts of mistakes in game especially when I am playing longer sessions as I increase my volume. I am still working on laying out my 2016 plans and goals, but look forward to sharing them here soon, and keeping this thread alive and well for year number 2 in this adventure!

Govember is coming to a close after tonite, and I will probably get 1 more session in before it is officially closed out, but my goals and results for the month are mixed.

I will have gotten over 140 hours of cash game volume in for the month. 100 hours are live, and 40 are online. This is a little out of balance once again, but again with some other bigger picture things I was working on (South Point 100 hour freeroll, Diamond Tier level at CET properties, moving up to 2/5, etc) it was necessary. The low hours online definitely hurt as I ended up on the down side of variance and didn't get the volume to help offset that. My totals for the month are another loss overall for the month. I am ending up my Govember with about a 7 buy in loss all totaled. It is difficult when I mix in so many different stakes, so what I did was just take each stake separately, and add up the total net buy ins +/- and that is how I came up with the number 7.

7 Buy ins at any stake is a pretty average down swing really. 10+ buy ins happen on the regular over the course of the year, and they can get even worse at the worst of times. Being completely conscious of where we are at on any given day throughout the month is sometimes a bit taxing on the mental game. It is sort of "cashier watching" just the same as it can be session by session. This is not the best thing to be concentrating on, as when we are in mid session and we experience a negative result in a big pot, it can trigger a response that would not be considered long term healthy to our objectives if we factor in how it now affects our big picture but short term results.

I have battled with this a few times this month for certain, and especially when I was playing at my highest stakes. Losing a buy in at the highest stake, and realizing its 2+ buy ins of my usual stake definitely will test our mental capacity. I am not past this basic mental game leak just yet, and I know I will be working on this well into next year, as it is a pretty natural response and reaction in general. However, to truly be able to not just win but excel at this venture, it needs to really have a zero sum impact on every instance of what we do. No decision should be impacted with any of those residual thoughts in mind.

All that being said, I am extremely motivated and excited to work on my next steps in moving up in stakes and just putting in the hours needed both on the felt and off. I had a great coaching session this month and was able to identify a few things in my game that are definitely going to positively impact my overall win rate. Technical game has so many moving parts, and when you mix in so many different types of games, understanding when to be completely exploitable (standard Bovada games, and live low stakes no limit games), and when to start to deviate from that and think about some unexploitable and GTO lines when playing against tougher opponents in non anonymous settings online and also in some higher stakes live no limit games. Understanding "Defaults" when it comes to how I want to play a certain hand from a certain position against a specific opponent is really only part of the battle. Adjusting those defaults in game as other factors are introduced is where we are able to truly optimize our long term results. It is also worth mentioning that the fundamentals of the game need to be constantly monitored. Even a well trained unconscious competence can break down fundamentally when we are faced with other external forces such as the many forms of tilt that we have talked about on many occasions throughout this journey. Risk aversion, confirmation bias, and just general C game tendencies that can rear their ugly head at any given time in a session can all play a role in such break downs.

RR - 140 hours of poker in a month is rock solid and you should definitely be happy with that.

That being said - dudes that are killing it are not dicking around chasing after "freerolls" etc. I have never played poker at the south point so I may be way off here. But it IMHO i think you will b far better served cranking out the hours in one of the big rooms and work on moving up when the games look their best.

food for thought
best wisheds

Thanks for the words of wisdom Squid, definitely appreciate them!

I will just quickly address the South Point free roll aspect of the post and simply say there are a few things at work for me here to make the decision to tackle this particular promo, while in a vacuum chasing those sorts of promos aren't going to be as beneficial as doing exactly what you stated. In my case, and only in my first 7 months in town, I have been building up a sample size of 1/2 to show myself and also my backers that I have what it takes to beat the live low stakes cash games. It is going to be with this sample size that I am able to then build it into moving up in stakes and playing almost solely 1/3 and 2/5, which will indeed put me in the bigger rooms for most of my volume.

The fact that I am still just 1 year into my transition into cash, and I come from a successful tournament background, my backers and I felt it was a solid move to add the EV of my expected ROI in a tournament as big as the South Point one will be ($145k gtd, $35k to first place) in a field of 180 runners as soft as will be playing this tournament. Many of the hours chasers play 2/4 LIMIT and have almost no tournament background/knowledge. We calculated out my added hourly to right around $8/hr based on all the facts and numbers at hand (this comes from my backer himself who has access to a large sample size of tournament results from me over the years).

It's a pretty ez calculation to then see which 1/2 game I should add into my volume. Also to note it was over a 3 month stretch, so the time commitment of just 33 hours per month was not too taxing on the overall picture.

So ya, to summarize, my particular situation this year, it made sense for me to add it in.

In general, everything Squid said about anyone who wants to be a crusher needs to have their focuses centered correctly, is 100% absolutely correct and I would echo those sentiments.

December goals:

[ ] 160 hours of volume of combined live and online cash games

[ ] clear Make up from last 2 months (approx 10 buy ins at combined stakes)

[ ] Write and post goals for 2016

[ ] Weekly database review of online hands played

[ ] Weekly post game analysis and Hand History review from live sessions played

[ ] Start reading 1 new book (Developing a list of options from a few different PG&C threads I follow)

[ ] Hike 4 times


As 2015 draws closer to the end, it is important for me to start gaining some momentum for 2016. Volume, volume, volume, while mixing in ways to keep the mind and body physically and mentally strengthened. Down time activities to include more reading and hiking/biking to tackle those goals.

Completed a really solid session today with one of my coaches and worked on some general full ring hand ranges and some small technical tweaks that need to either be implemented or executed better. Didn't get too much into the balance/GTO theories when dealing with playing against known opponents, but those will be themes moving forward as well as I continue to develop and improve some unexploitable vs exploitable scenarios (aka "Regsploit") in certain poker variants (mainly on WSOP.com for now).

I plan to come back to this post a few times throughout the month of December to update my progress. Let's make this month a Decent Ender to the year 2015!

*****UPDATE***** December goals:

[ ] 160 hours of volume of combined live and online cash games

35 hours thru Dec 6 (17.5 online/ 17.5 live)

[ ] clear Make up from last 2 months (approx 10 buy ins at combined stakes)

Down ~1 buy in through first 35 hours. (Down several buy ins online, up a few buy ins for live).

[ ] Write and post goals for 2016

Work in progress for writing them out. 2016 goals will have some more 'stake specific' goals included as well as the usual volume and work ethic goals.

[ ] Weekly database review of online hands played

This is more like almost daily actually. Warm ups for each day include looking at or reviewing a hand played the previous day. Will be doing complete database review of first 7 days midweek this week.

[ ] Weekly post game analysis and Hand History review from live sessions played

Shared a few hands with coaches and peers through first 5 days. Found a little too much optimism in 1 hand we turned into a river bluff attempt.

[ ] Start reading 1 new book (Developing a list of options from a few different PG&C threads I follow)

Purchased and starting reading "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho (Several years ago when I went through a major life event that changed and helped reshape the path of where I'm at today {personal story/book to come one day} this book would have been a great read and I'm sorry I didn't find it until just recently. I had scribbled many such themes of following your dreams, chasing after dreams, etc back then, and this story seems to fit right alongside my own thoughts of many years ago. Thanks to another PG&C thread and a few +1 posts to "ECGrinders" recommendation and enjoyment of this book.

[ ] Hike 4 times

Just finished hike #1 with fellow PG&Cr "Pure Agression" and another stable mate of mine where we hiked the Calico trail into Red Rock Canyon. Couldn't have asked for a better day, and looking forward to hike #2 next week!



So as you can see we are off to a solid start with most everything on the goals list. As I have learned over the years whenever setting goals, sometimes the measurements we use to quantify success or failure do need to include hard money numbers. Interestingly enough, however, in poker, setting specific hard money number type goals is usually not the most beneficial way of going about our business.

Having long term win rates and other big picture numbers and bankroll expectations are very relative to showing success or failure in this regard without having to be too concerned with short term results. Although I have set a December goal of getting out of make up, whether I achieve that goal somewhat, completely, or not at all will not be any bit of a determining factor when analyzing my months success as a whole. In general I never set these sorts of hard money goals as I understand that fluidity and earnings in poker is not linear and we often face many downhill battles along the way. Rather, by having thorough self awareness of where I am at in real time in relation to my overall win rate and bankroll building goals is what is most important here.

All of that being said, it would sure be a great thing to NOT experience an extended break even stretch (or downswing) if for no other reason than to keep confidence levels high as we look to make the jump into bigger and tougher games!

****UPDATE 2***** December goals:

[ ] 160 hours of volume of combined live and online cash games

92 hours combined volume thru 12/18. Almost dead even online vs live. I have taken on some other commitments as the month has progressed so I am not sure I will hit my overall goal of 160 total combined hours or not, but either way I am happy with how much I have pushed myself (despite hardly winning most sessions) to put in very high volume. With the hard work (aka quality volume) will come the payoff eventually. I expect to still get very close even if I miss my monthly target. With planned Holiday time away and commitments I am on pace for about 140 hours.

[ ] clear Make up from last 2 months (approx 10 buy ins at combined stakes)

The month has gone the wrong direction with this goal the first 15 days or so. I have since had a small uptick and have also been working extremely hard on a few mental game leaks that have sort of worked their way back into my day to day as a result of the downswing. I have had to concentrate my volume 1 stake lower than my usual stake to rebuild some confidence, bankroll (bovada) and also in order to be certain I plug my technical leaks that are direct result of my mental game C game mistakes.

[ ] Write and post goals for 2016

Work in progress for writing them out. 2016 goals will have some more 'stake specific' goals included as well as the usual volume and work ethic goals.

Still am working on this, but sort of decided to just "get back to basics" and really concentrate on fundamentals as I close out December. I will have January specific goals at month end, and will have a decent outline for 2016 penciled in, with lots of room to add in the fine print in January.

[ ] Weekly database review of online hands played

This is more like almost daily actually. Warm ups for each day include looking at or reviewing a hand played the previous day. Will be doing complete database review of first 7 days midweek this week.

I have done several database reviews, utilizing both of my coaches and on my own this month. I have been brutally honest with myself in sharing some really bad hands played by me in this stretch, and I am building a lot of character and experiencing tremendous personal growth as a result. This goal will not let up as I look to close the last 2 weeks strong.

[ ] Weekly post game analysis and Hand History review from live sessions played

I have been sharing hands daily with peers I respect and also my coaches. I haven't held back in posting some very sketchy and optimistic plays (aka mistakes) by me in the process. Again the personal growth factor is playing a large role here in that now that is my main focal point to be able to benefit from during this rough patch.

[ ] Start reading 1 new book (Developing a list of options from a few different PG&C threads I follow)

Purchased and starting reading "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho. I'm enjoying the book, but a little disappointed I'm not finished with it yet. It is an extremely easy read and not that big of a book. This is just highlighting the hard fact that I sometimes struggle to commit to reading enough. (Too much Netflix and Chill!)

[ ] Hike 4 times

#1 was with Carl (Pure Agression) and stablemate Wali in Calico trail on north end of Red Rock Canyon

#2 was a solo jaunt up Exploration Peak in SW Vegas(very simple and short hike with tremendous sunset and night strip views...pics to come)

#3 was with fellow 2+2r BabiesDontTalk and we did Sandstone Quarry trail in Red Rock Canyon

#4 TBD


Completed the SouthPoint freeroll and didn't make it to the real money, but added $80 back in rakeback for showing up! This will most likely be my last scheduled promo/freeroll as I look to build some more solid volume at 1/3 and 2/5 in 2016. I am a proven winner (win rate a bit all over the place based on rooms and times of day, but shakes out around 9bbs/hour in a {small} 500 hour sample) at 1/2 after my first year on my cash game journey so I am very happy and excited to push past this stake more and more. Don't get me wrong, I will continue to utilize good game selection and I enjoy playing some of the juicier late night small room 1/2 games regardless. But at the end of the day, spending 100 hours in an OK room, when I could be focusing on bigger and better (wrong word maybe?) things now just doesn't seem to fit my priorities moving forward! (Side note on this topic, Venetian allows you to use your hourly comp toward tournament buy ins, so I can always put in extra hours there along the way that can still sort of be treated as having a nice rakeback 'freeroll' opportunity without actually paying the extra rake in the first place in the process!! Genius??)

Had no idea I could actually build confidence and experience the sort of personal growth all in the midst of not winning, but it is quite reassuring and motivating to know it can happen that way. When I land on the positive side of variance, AND eliminate the mental and technical mistakes that have crept in here and there lately, it should all come together quite nicely results wise for 2015s Decent Ender of a month/year!

Progress and mental growth happens during the good and the bad sides of variance and it's a good thing you recognize growth potential when on a down swing. I think it makes your game way stronger because nothing forces you to evaluate and make adjustments more than when that feeling of invincibility fades. Finish the month strong!

I saw a quote from the bankroll/winrates thread that kind of fits where I'm at as well.

"Scary the more you know about poker the more you know how bad you are" or something to that effect.

This stretch of my year has certainly been a true test on many levels, but nothing better than being able to see a silver lining and truly recognize and realize how much more there is to learn. Even after so many years of surrounding myself with the game on every variant possible, I wind up here, growing, learning, recognizing the amount of work there is still to be done to be where I want to be.

I welcome this chapter into my story. I write this chapter now, and I look forward to writing the next chapter...and the chapter after that.

I am now up to 120 hours for the month. I have plenty of days left in the month to continue the push for volume even with the Holidays, so should be a solid 140+ by NYE! I hope to keep the uptick of results going the right direction, but I am doing very well to take each session on its own merit and not be concerned with winning or losing in that session, and in turn not worrying about how much (or if at all) I have reduced my make up on that given day. I've done well to do fast and immediate cool downs and post game analysis of every session in real time including posting hands with peers and coaches so that I can put it behind me, and be ready to start the next session fresh and (as close to) mistake free (as possible).

Full December update and January goals coming, just wanted to stop in and say Happy New Year to all and I will continue This Clown's Journey 2016 in this same thread! (May need a title change to reflect).

Overall very happy with this full year of efforts, personal growth, and deep stack cash game learning! Very excited to continue on and rise above to another level of both game play and mental state! Thanks for following along, and looking forward to what's next!

December volume was 156.5 hours (original goal was 160) and this was my highest month as far as target volume and actual volume! Very pleased with that!

Profitability wise, the month started off terrible, and I only added to my November make up, however the last 10 days of the month were a nice uptick and closed out December and 2015 on a positive mental and actual results note! I ended up closing out December as a near break even month! (Down 1 buy in)

I am not quite finished last months book, but getting there! Happy to be on pace to start reading at least 1 new book a month and will carry that through the entirety of 2016! I haven't selected January's just yet but will do so soon.

I completed only 3 hikes as the last week of the month got a little hectic and the one I had planned for that week had to get pushed back to the first week of January! I will continue to keep the goal of hiking 1x per week each month in 2016, with some exceptions here and there.

I have had countless sessions, both formal and informal with peers and coaches over the last month+ that have focused on some technical game (specific hand history discussion) and some key mental game progression stuff. I have also had some conversations regarding my moving up in stakes and am on board to really put in the effort to focus my live hours almost completely in 2/5 effective immediately! So far I have played the majority of my 2/5 at Belagio, and as I continue to build on my volume sample size moving forward, I would look to add in playing in some of the 200bb capped buy in (and even mixing in some of the uncapped buy in games) when applicable. The main thing for me is to just get used to the bigger swings and be comfortable with my technical decisions regardless of dipping deeper into my overall bankroll. This is one of the biggest proponents to what makes being backed so valuable at a time like this. I need to take full advantage and not be too conservative in my approach to bankroll management. That is not to say, of course, that it's time to go 'hog wild crazy, no stop loss, biggest and deepest games I can find' poker, but it does mean that it is time for me to utilize this important tool (bankroll) to step up my game!

Looking forward to what 2016 has in store for this clowns' journey, and I hope to add some fun and solid results in this thread along the way!

I wanted to put a nice closing statement to what 2015 has been for me with regards to taking on this journey before I get too focused on 2016 and January specifically.

Looking back to the start of the thread, and my official start to this serious cash game journey, I had a vast array of poker knowledge and experience, and was confident I could succeed in this sort of "new" adventure. Of course, it wasn't easy, and hasn't been easy in any way, so anyone who thinks the poker life is an easy one is clearly misinformed or just delusional. It takes constant upkeep of the mind, body, and soul. What I mean by that cliche sounding sentence is that if we aren't working on every single aspect of ourselves as a person and as a poker player, we are going to be leaving out something extremely important, and we will find ourselves lacking behind our competition.

Experience at the tables of course is huge, and perhaps number one as far as truly realizing our potential for success. But being a full time player goes much beyond that. I will start with the upkeep of the mind. This simple sounding and perhaps over analyzed aspect of the poker player is absolutely the key ingredient in this overall recipe. As I have spent a lot of words discussing in this thread, and even more time listening to coaches or reading about it through the experience, learnings, and teachings of others in the poker world, I still cannot emphasize this point enough. No matter where we find ourselves along our journey, amidst an amazing heater, a career worst downswing, or the day to day slow and steady positive results, it is absolutely critical that our mindset is strong, immovable, and focused. Not letting the negative aspects of thinking infiltrate our mind when things get tough. Not focusing on what we can't control, and the things that have no true bearing on our long term goals. Rather, staying positive in every aspect, realizing the great opportunities we put ourselves in to achieve great results on every street of every hand we play in every single session of our month/year/career. Just because the results don't always go as hoped, desired, or planned, we cannot let that deter us from the path we are on.

Upkeep of the body is probably the easiest yet most neglected one of the traditional lazy man poker type. Staying motivated and making good health choices with regards to nutrition and exercise is not always the easiest thing to do, especially when we are surrounded by the conveniences of exactly the opposite; unhealthy easy fast junk food and not enough time in our day to exercise regularly. Making it a point to make better choices in regards to our time management to include some forms of exercise, as well as in our choices for healthy eating patterns even though it may take more mental and physical effort to accomplish such goals will reap benefits tenfold. A healthy body will produce a healthy mind, and that will take us back full circle with regards to the efforts of the upkeep of the mind, and it will make it so much more natural and easier to attain such health.

The final thought is the upkeep of the soul. I haven't gotten deep enough into the meditative and spiritual (non religious) side of this as much as I want to, and in fact have in my goals to do more of this this year. But what I do know is that it is an important aspect and sidekick that once again will produce full circle positive results with regards to our mental and physical well being. I think it sort of ties everything together quite fantastically, and the success that can be achieved through a deep understanding of that and how to maximize our potential through such learnings is the sort of success that I am looking for. The list of reading material I have on this topic specifically, along with all the aspects of self education that I wish to improve upon this year is quite long. I do hope I can tackle it in a prosperous yet not burdensome way as I continue to strive toward that end goal of success.

The last piece of 2015 I wish to touch on is with regards to the cast of the supporters around me. First and foremost the long-term and ongoing support of the girlfriend has kept my head above water on many occasions it would have been easy to drown. 2015 was no different as she sought new life experiences for herself, she was the driving force behind our move to Las Vegas. This certainly was a stepping stone for me in my career as the opportunities have grown for me, and I only see them continuing to grow. Her help in me keeping a proper life balance throughout all the hard work and effort and quite literally being immersed in the work and study of the game of poker has also been amazing and much needed. I feel like I have a long way to go, yet I have already come so far!

Next up is the stable I am a part of, all the players in it, the owners, and the coaches. As a collective, I have never worked with such an intelligent, focused, and success-driven group of individuals. That says a lot coming from my background in corporate America, working for one of the biggest corporations this planet has seen, ever! Kudos and thanks to all of you who have been a part of this group, and a part of my growth both personally and from a business and poker aspect.

So as I put closure to my 2015, and look ahead to what is to come, I invite you along for the continued roller coaster ride, as I march on down this obstacle-ridden path, enjoying each and every day of this clowns' journey.

Closed out 2015 by hitting 1260 hours of total volume! This is combined between live 1/2 and some 1/3 and 2/5 (very small samples), and online Bovada 50NL up to 200NL along with WSOP.com 50NL up to 200NL! I posted a solid win rate for the first 9 months of the year in virtually all stakes; capping out at 6.5bb/100 in my 100NL for my best numbers online and achieving 9bb/hr winrate in live 1/2 in a 500+ hour sample.

The last 3 months of the year I ran into some negative variance at some of the online stakes and at the live 1/3 and 2/5 stakes. My solid 1/2 live winrate stayed in tact amidst this otherwise difficult downswing.

As 2016 is already in full swing for me, my January goals have my eyes set on a higher percent of hours played at live 2/5 than any other stakes including online. I feel that right now there are so many great table selection options in Vegas week in and week out at this stake that it would be utterly wrong to not be taking my shot at playing it near full time. I will continue to mix in some 1/2 in good deep game conditions, and some 1/3 when they look better than the 2/5 options in the same room, but for me this year will be all about game selection and pushing my comfort zone and my limits to capitalize on all the growth that I have experienced over the past year. My mental and technical game has grown tremendously in that year, and it is time to take full advantage of the opportunity that lies in front of me.

My goal for January is 150 hours of quality combined online and live volume. I am going on a cruise with the gf (barg!) at the end of the month so will lose 2 days of gambool otherwise I would keep this number at 160. That will be my starting default volume for every month this year, and I will work backwards based on other events and calendar obligations that will be planned out month by month. If I can come close to hitting 1800 hours in 2016, that would be amazing. I am setting my hourly goal for the year at that as of now. Given that I will be playing more live this year than I did last year (at least as of my goal for now), I don't think it is a stretch to bump up the total number of hours that much. Live poker is so much easier to get 8-10 quality hours than it is to try to do even 4-6 online hours. The number of decisions and hands played alone doesn't even come close to compare, so the added hours should not be too much of a mental or physical burden at all.

I am going to follow suit with 2015 and NOT post any particular profit or win rate goals, as they are simply numbers that can sway us mentally from the true underlying goals which include playing our A game as much as possible, and improving our C game and eliminating it from our day to day grind as much as possible. With proper commitment to study and analysis away from the tables, and a healthy and focused mindset at the tables, the profit and win rate results will be there. Keeping the focus and mental stress off of these numbers, and firmly fixed on overall big picture decision making success is what I want my 2016 to be all about. I am not looking to break records, or have some insane numbers to post in the Official Bankroll and Win Rates thread or anything like that. I am simply looking to take the foundation that I have built in the last 15 months of this journey, and build an amazing tower of success that is unshakeable amidst the obstacles that arise in this profession. Overcoming downswings and negative variance while being completely and brutally honest with myself when I analyze lines, hand histories, and mistakes made is what I have began to build my foundation out of.

I'm taking this personal growth I have experienced and quite excitedly running with it as I now build on top of it and take 2016 head on in my cash game journey!

glglgl in 2016

Nice end of year write up. Best of luck in this new year and with your transition into higher stakes. One of the main challenges for me moving up on my own roll was separating the financial part of the game from making optimal decisions. It's good to have a backer/ coaches so that you don't have the mental stress of making bigger bets on your own dollar and can make plays because they are +ev. See you out there!

Glgl on your goals in 2016.

Will you be in Vegas during superbowl weekend?