Agreed! Perhaps the real problem here is that I raised 33 pf in ep. Especially knowing that there is an active, good/competent player otb. I have been lighting money on fire of late by cbetting these types of boards thinking "what J does villain really have here?" In reality, there are a bunch of J's that v's can have there. Some of my trouble stems from thinking that V's never make a hand/I can barrel people off of everything.

While I do believe that I could have gone with a larger raise sizing of $30-$40, ime v's really take notice when they get 3b! pf. Most of the time, they are finding folds, almost regardless of size. Unless...two or three other people have called the 3b!, then I have noticed v's taking flops with a wide open range looking to bink. I also don't think that I have seen a light 4b! pf this year. That may be because I have only seen 5 or 6 4b! pf in 175 hours or so this year. I think V's range here is AK, QQ-AA, and it is going to be unprofitable trying to proceed with this hand. I am just not seeing enough going to war pf with this player pool to get AK in pf for 100bb. I could be wrong.

That's a great point. V's turn play screams pot control as he likely has some sdv. I missed some value for sure here.

When I 3b! here pf, I am expecting V to have some pairs like 55-JJ, some KJs+, AQ-AKs. I am not really expecting V to fold, it's nice if he does, but I think that I am going to outplay them post flop in position so often that I am getting their pf call money, and maybe some money otf. However, this may be a leak as I am not going at this hand looking purely for direct value, and relying a lot on things going according to plan. I guess that I am thinking that V can easily be barreled off.

I agree with your assessment of my turn bet sizing. there are a lot of draws out there, and I guess that I didn't think V has a range of hands that connects w/ this board as a draw so much as I think that V has a Q that I don't want to blow out of the pot. Although, If V does have a big Q, he probably isn't folding to $55-$75 ott, and getting the money in otr is going to be less of a chore.

Good point! Thanks for the commentary on my hands. I will have several more hands that I butchered soon and I look forward to you analysis.

As for Hand 3, you are spot on.I suppose the reason that this was such a tricky spot, was due to just how weak my Q was. Quite the dilemma was created as to were it is tough to get max value (which, what is max value with my hand in this spot), or really any value for that matter. Hands like QTo are probably best left out of my repertoire, particularly my flatting range.

This is truth on Hand 4. Flatting pf here probably gains us much more equity and value considering all of the weaker hands that can connect and possible not as hard as we will when we get there. More often than not, I am iso'ing a player who's range is pretty well ahead of mine, and I have shed all of the weaker holdings.

Thanks for the input, Bob! Like I said to Ohsnap, plenty more butchered hands where these came from. Please continue to share your insights as they are greatly appreciated.

36.


Overall the last session was a frustrating one. I think the biggest hand that I was able to muster all evening was 2pair. I had countless fdsd hands otf and tun and just couldn’t manage to get there. Tilt really wasn’t an issue (I just made some bad plays thinking they were the right play), even though I did get needled by an older lady in a pot that there was a late position limper, older lady in the sb, me in the bb. I had 68dd and and the flop was TT7r. Old lady needler bets 7 otf, that’s not gonna fly, I raise to $25, older man in lp flats, woman folds. Turn was an offsuit 5, and I lead out for $50. Old man raises to $150, with about $100 behind. I fold.

I guess I let that pot get out of hand when I shouldn’t have (and this is where the lady needles me). Furiously she says “You shouldn’t have raised me there, cost yourself a lot of money.” Hey lady, it wasn’t the first time, and it probably won't be the last. In any way, she may have been right. I just told her that I knew she didn’t have a T.

In any case, I kept my head on pretty straight, but I continued to run into the top of everybody’s range throughout the night. Played a few spots too aggressively, and didn’t get there the rest of the time. One of my main goals going into the evening was to play 8 hours. I got to the 8 hour mark, was stuck, had three first timers sit the table (Only in for $100 a piece), but I decided that I had met my goal for the game, and had played my best, from a thinking standpoint, and erred on the side of taking my leave for the night.

Hand 1
Hero, $500, loose, button, QT
V1, $400, older man, sticky, over values his hands which can cause him to spew, hj

Table is playing loose and passive. V1 limps, hero raises to $12, v1 calls.
Pot: $24
Flop: J88

V1 checks, hero bets $25, V1 raises to $75. Hero calls. I went back and forth on the merits of a 3b! Here, but I really didn’t expect V1 to fold ott or otr based on what cards that come in to help my hand.
Pot: $174
Turn 4x

V leads for $50 (that seems weird, probably a spot that I can push V1 off of his hand, either that or he is laying some sick trap). I flat.
Pot: $274
River: K

V1 examines the hell out of my stack. He asks me how much I have left, and I have to tell him (quite loudly) twice before he can hear me. V1 bets $225. I fold and V1 claims that he had KJ and said that he was very happy to see that K otr. V1 said that he put me on QQ. Not sure why he would bet so big otr if that was the case, but ah well.


Hand 2
Hero. $350, loose, hj, KQ
V1, $200, has made some loose calls pf, haven’t really seen him get out of line, and has the appearance of a dopey middle aged low limit grinder (no offense), bb

Folds to hero, and I raise to $12. V1 calls.
Pot: $24
Flop: Q78

V1 donks out $25. I feel like V1 really doesn't have much in this spot, and I want him to continue value betting my hand for me. I flat.
Pot:$74
Turn: Q

This seems like a great card, and V1 donks out $25 again. I call.
Pot: $124
River: Tx

Seems like a great card for me. V1 once again bets out $25, I raise to $85. V1 puts in a good amount of time to think about it before making the call. V1 shows J9 for the straight. I guess that I value owned myself here, but there are many worse Q’s that V1 takes this line with, and as one can see from the tank call otr, V1 is never coming back over the top.


Hand 3
Hero, $240, Loose, Hj, KQ
V1, $200, Loose/Passive, utg
V2, $200, nitty lady, mp
V3, $300, Tight old man, button
V4, $90, seems to be a first time playing in the casino type, sb
V5, $225, 30 yo ish action player, can make some moves, bb

V’s limp to Hero, I make it $15. Should have probably gone to $20 here. All V’s call.
Pot: $90
Flop: T96

Checks to hero and I bet $45. I think that this bet will thin the field, and I have pretty good equity against any hand that calls. Only V5 calls.
Pot: $180
Turn: 2

This was kind of the theme for the evening. Countless times the absolute blank just rolled off ott or otr. Action goes check check. No I am putting some river bluffs in mind. There isn’t really enough room to fire the turn, and have enough left to make a credible river bluff size.
Pot: $180
River: 6x

V5 leads out for $50. This seems like a blocking bet, and an odd sizing for a value bet (maybe not, in the moment this is how I felt.) If anyone reading this recalls, I had a similar spot w/ A high at Ebro where a villain leads into me otr in a spot where A high is likely good. However, in that spot I happened to be up against 1 of two hands with an A that I couldn’t beat and punted. I had the right read, but made the wrong play. In this spot, I shove and V folds.

Now, to a thinking player, my line looks like super air. However, I read this player as blind aggression and not much of a thinker. I get this one through and V says that he missed the A high fd.


Hand 4
This is actually more of a synopsis of how I got trapped. There are two limps in ep and a 3rd overlimps from mp. There is one more limp and I am otb w/ TT. I raise to $20 (I started this hand with ~$225). All fold except the 3rd limper. At the time of this hand, I had probably folded for 1.5 hours straight. The flop comes QK7r. V checks and I bet $25, V calls. I am almost positive that V has a weak K, or maybe a Q that he is trying to hang on with. This is where things get kind of ugly.

Turn comes a 8x. V checks again and I bet $50. Wtf, am I really trying to barrel this kid off of top pair. Yes, yes, I am because I have erroneously done this about 5 or 6 times already this evening, and this v kind of looks like a schmuck that likes to shrug his shoulders and laydown top pair. V calls.

River comes 7x. V checks to me once again. Alright, this is where I shut it down, right? Nah, I shove the rest in and V makes the call w/ KK. Well, I was pretty shocked to see that hand. Honestly though, it did not need to get to this point. I should just check the river back and congratulate the V for drawing a line in the sand. I’m the schmuck.


So what have I learned?

I think that I need to stop my attempts at getting villains off of top pair. At the least, leave the barrels at two streets. Value betting should probably be what, 85% of my bets at this level? I am just getting caught up in the bluffing game and refusing to believe that value betting is the only way to make money. Probably it is not the only way, just the most surefire way. I am reforming myself to get out of the bluffing game. For the most part.

Time Played: 8:05
Result: -$517

37.


Pretty early on in the evening, probably about an hour or less in, I get JJ in the bb. Folds to a thinking, pretty solid button who raises to $13. Sb is also a pretty solid player makes the call. I raise to $30 and both V’s call. Flop comes JTx2. Sb checks, I bet $55, button calls, sb covers us both and shoves. I call, button folds. Board runs out clean and I have faded the pair+fd of sb. Button had AQ.

I picked up AA and QQ, along with the hand mentioned above all in the first hour of play. Following that suspense, I pretty much folded for the next 4 hours or so. I would have some decent playable hands, but they would be in ep or I would raise ppf, get several callers and whiff some poor board textured flops.


Hand 1
Hero, $475, tight, AA, bb
V1, $125, tight/passive, sb
V2, $395, older man, splashy whale, mp
V3, $600, competent, can get aggro, button straddle

V1 limps in, hero raises to $20, all v’s calls.
Pot: $80
Flop: 295x

I feel pretty good with this flop, particularly since I have the Ah. I think that I can get someone to bet behind me, and that I can get some v’s to play more straight forward if I check raise, or check call. In retrospect, I think that I should just be betting my hand. I probably should put out $50-$65 here.

I check and it checks around.
Pot: $80
Turn: 5

V1 checks, hero bets $45. I bet on the smaller side for sheer value because I feel like v’s don’t have much in this spot after the flop checks around. V2 calls, others fold. I feel like V2 is pretty light in this spot, and that I am going for value on alot of river cards.
$170
River: 7

This seems like a good card to get some value. I bet $65. I think that V2 will call w/ a 9, TT-QQ, 66, maybe a missed straight draw that he picked up a 7 with.

V2 shoves for $265. I go into the tank, principally because I think that V2 could be way overvaluing QQ or JJ in this spot. I feel like I am I beat here, and as transparent as this spot does actually seem, I am still learning the folding overpairs w/ AA & KK to the board thing. I end up finding the fold and V2 shows 99.


I get reminded why limping hands like QJs from ep is a poor play. I did just this, called a raise pf, missed flopped fd, and punt $75 playing a weaker hand oop and playing completely passive throughout. I much rather punt being aggressive if I am going to punt.

I ended up getting the max in a hand where I win just 20bb(take the wins). V has been playing around 90% of hands. V has donked into me otf in a hand where I pfr, but the board was very unlikely to have hit me. I have been playing tight. I have seen this V turn 2nd pair otr into either a bluff, or a super thin value bet attempt for about $50 into a $80 pot.

3 limps to me in the sb, and I raise QQ to $20. Only V described above calls. Flop comes 225r, and I think that this is a good board to check over to V and let him fire his air or etc. V does not oblige and checks it back. Turn is Qx and I bet out $20 really quickly. V thinks for a little bit, and then calls. I decide that I am checking over every river to let V make a bet. River is 6x and I check. V thinks for a bit and then checks back and turns over ATo, I am sure thinking that he might be good. I don’t think that there is really much deviation from my line that was going to get much more action out of V. Maybe I could bet flop, check turn and river and hope that V fires a bluff, but V looked fairly ready to fold on nearly every street.

Hand 2 (where i butcher chit)
Hero, $255, Tight, although it feels as though nobody is paying attention to the game, JT, mp
V1, $125, fish that is pretty much just playing his hands, hj
V2, $186, Tag, can play fast at times, button

Folds to hero, raise it to $12. Both v’s make the call.
Pot: $36
Flop: T89

I lead for $20, V1 calls, V2 raises to $75. I am not ready to be done with this hand, but I probably should just get it in otf as I think that V2 has 's in in his range, along w/ some sdfd, pair+sd or fd type hands. Along with a host of hands that may have me well behind. I am not really worried about V1.

I decide that I am not done with the hand yet, and that straight cards won’t kill the action, but I may be done w/ the hand if a comes because I don’t think that V will rep a S, he will let me know if he has it or not. V1 folds.
Pot: $206
Turn: Turn: 9

Not the best card, but also not the worst in my mind. I check and V2 goes ai for $96. While this is a very strong line, I think, would V do this with boats? Would he be more likely to continue with a fd, sd, or fdsd, type of hand looking to take it down with the somewhat scary card? Does V already have the straight and is looking to keep me from drawing out? I am getting 3 to 1 and think that I can find 25% equity in this spot and make the call.
Pot: $398
River 7

I turn my hand over at the same time as V2 and he shows


Time Played: 6:45
Result: +$380

38.


I turned what should have been a break even session into a loser. About 4 pots where I take the worst possible line account for all of my loses. Just some of the old blunders leading to big loses. Probably played some of my worst poker in months.

Mistake 1:
I raise AJ to $12 in mp. Co(decent player) and Button(true TAG) call. Flops is A42x. I lead for $25, co folds, and button raises to $75. Now, this is where I should be done with the hand. Button can easily have flatted w/ AQ-AK, or have 44-22, maybe even A4s or A2s. At worst I call the raise and see what happens ott. I raise to $150? Button insta-shoves(for ~$100) and I fold pretty quick. V later tells me that he had 44.

Mistake 2:
Bob, this hand will make me look beyond ridiculous, as you pointed out the fault in these starting hands not that long ago.

TAG from above opens to $7 utg+1. 1 call before me, I call (QTo) as well as button and sb behind. Flop comes, KJ7x. Sb leads for $20 and hero and button call. Turn is 6x. Sb leads for $30, same two callers(button is AI). River is Qx. Sb bets $30 and I call. Sb shows K7 (this guy was a mega whale and punted off $7-800 real quick.

Mistake 3:
I have J8 otb. folds to whale who calls from hj, co(fish) raises to $12, I flat, sb and bb flat, and button straddler raises to $35. Whale calls, co(fish calls). I really want to be in this hand with both of the two players to my right. we are about 225bb deep eff. I call. Others fold.

Flop, 8T2x. Straddler checks, whale bets $40, co calls, I calls, straddler calls and is AI. Turn, 6d. Whale bets $50, co calls, I call River is 4. Whale shoves for $105. Fist tosses in one white chip and says "All-in", after his chip has hit the pot. Floor alerts him that this is a call, and I fold. Straddle mucks, Whale shows QTo, Co shows A8.

Just for some context on the whale above. He 4b! w/ A9o pre, then open shoved a 68Tr flop for $150. Guy on tilt that had 3b! the whale from the button w/ 68o makes the call and holds up. Then Whale makes a flop call on a 567r board w/ K9o for $150.

Mistake 4:
Maybe this isn't the biggest mistake hand, but a spot where I had a few streets that I could have made better decisions. Hero is in the bb w/ 88. UTG straddle is on. Two limps in ep, Co raises to $12, button(fish from above) calls, Hero calls, straddle calls, limpers call. Flop, 862x. Flop checks around. I thought someone would bet this pot and I planned to check raise. I really in retrospect think that this is a clear spot to bet out ~$35-45.

Turn, Tx. I bet out $30. I felt like V's must not have much of anything, and I have seen players in this pot bet and raise draws. Straddler calls, as does two of the original limpers.

River, 4x. I bet out $65. Straddler raises to $145, all others fold. Most likely hand that V has here is a straight. But I suppose that V could have played 22, 66, maybe 64 (probably not though). I am just unable to pull the trigger w/ the fold and call. V shows the straight, w/ 57.

Very unhappy with my play. I made several mistakes that I thought that I had gotten past. Most of my mistakes being preflop hand selection. Mixed in some FPS w/ the AJ. Sprinkled in some, betting too small/missing bets mistakes. When it was all said and done, I was able to account for all of the money I lost in this session w/ the mistakes above. This is not to mention some of the other smaller mistakes that I made throughout the night.

I wanted to put all of these mistakes itt, as to hopefully move past making these mistakes in the future. As I said, I thought that I had conquered some of these mistakes. Hopefully by reinforcing the common mistakes that I am making, I will slowly have them reappearing with less frequency.


Time Played: 6:06
Result: -$360

38.


The session was pretty well summed up about 45 minutes into the game. I raise KK utg $12, player to my direct left and player otb call. Bb 3b! to $42. This bb villain is pretty tight, and really only three hands that V does this w/ pf, AA, KK, QQ. Obviously since I have KK, it is unlikely that he has the same hand. I am weighting V more towards AA(slightly), than QQ. This is where I think that I make a mistake, I call the $42.

I think that I need to raise to $85-$100, and if V 5b! shoves I can probably get away from it against this particular V. I already have my finger on the fold button after V 3b! to this amount from the bb , I am just not good enough to follow through with it.

As played, V to my left also calls, and the button folds. Flop comes all small and Bb villain puts out $100. Once again, with finger on the fold button, "I has KK, can't fold" pops into my head, and I put my last $150 in and V has AA.

Two times I am ready to fold, and look for a better spot for the table to give me money, but I just can't follow through. I am still in the learning phase of being okay with knowing that sometimes I am to folding what may be the best hand. I am just trying to continue making the best decisions that I can, and then following through with the decision that I come up with.

Following the hand above, I was card dead and just folding for the rest of the session. I saw Q4o 8 times following this hand. No real relevance to this, it just kind of stood out.

Here is one of the latest beers I've had. The taste of the Boston Lager if very present. Mix in some more IBU's with hint of floral tones and this beer is what you get. FWIW, if I could only drink one beer for the rest of my life, it would be Sam Adams Boston Lager. Cheers!




Time Played: 4:55
Result: -$105

I don't think you want to be 4bet/folding KK. Assuming your read of villain is right (3bet = AA-QQ), then you should flat KK to keep in his QQ and the rare AK/spazz. 4bet ONLY AA for value and, if you care about balance in this spot, sooted wheel aces are the nut bluff hands cuz they block AA and have good playability post-flop.

(Not saying you should 4bet bluff ever in this spot. But if you do, use a sooted ace and don't turn a strong hand like KK into a bluff)

This seems ok/meh to me. You've kept in his QQ, which is a far better result than 4betting pre and allowing V to play perfectly vs. you by folding all worse hands and shipping better. Not sure if you're flatting all the pairs that you opened with (depends on stack depth). If you are, then you'll have sets to stack off with before KK.

I get what you are saying, and that all makes sense. My read that V behaves like this preflop w/ AA-QQ is with the caveat that I believe v's range is more waited to AA than QQ. Does that mean that I should consider folding KK preflop? Sitting 100bb effective for reference.

I like your advice with the sooted wheel A's. There are some spots and v's that incorporating this in could definitely be of benefit. Especially if stacks are a bit deeper and I am going to be in position post flop like the hand above.

4betting pf probably is the weakest of lines for the reason that you stated. I am probably calling all pairs that I open raise pf from utg and utg+1 w/.

Hand 1: You already said it, fold the flop when they raise. Bet/folding is one of the keys to beating live poker

Hand 2: Fold pre. This is one I'm getting used to myself, but QTo just doesn't play well at all MW against an EP raise and a call. There aren't many great flops we can see. QXX, TXX are all unknown for us. We could easily be dominated. KJX is probably the best flop or J9X. We could also 3bet preflop and attempt to get it HU, but the hand doesn't have the greatest playability.

Hand 3: I take it the straddle was UTG and not OTB? Flatting preflop seems iffy just because stacks are 1/2 to 3/5 shallower than without the straddle. Not a bad call though. Would fold once the straddle raises. We do want to play hands with the fish, but we have a suited two-gapper. We need very specific flops for us to continue ala J8X, XsXsXx, T9X. Then just fold flop

Hand 4: Checking flop is fine. One of the things to note though is how many players are in the hand. As more players get into the hand, the preflop raiser becomes less apt to cbet themselves because more players can hit more flops harder. We could think about a donk bet here due to that fact, but checking is completely fine.

Turn, the pot is $72. With the draw heavy nature of the flop, and everyone but button's range fairly uncapped (they will naturally check to the preflop raiser), I'd bomb for $50-$60 here. This is the type of board where a wide range of hands can call, so we want to bet larger so that we win more money. Completely different from a K842 rainbow flop, where betting $30 is fine since there really isn't much that can call a bet.

River is rough because only one real draw gets there, 75. The pot is $192. I don't mind the small bet on the river because we're wanting to be called by a weaker range, but we should also be aware that sometimes a small bet may induce a raise. We bet $65 and get raised to $145. So the pot is $402, $80 for us to call. We're getting better than 5 to 1, so we need to be good 16% of the time. So for every straight that completed, which seems to be just 75, we need to find 1 combo for every 6. There are 16 combos of 75 and we'll give one combo of 97ss (could call turn given the redraw). We need to find 3 combos to make it a winning call. Well, we can a combo of each set. So, 66, 44, 22 (this is assuming he bets or raises turn most of the time, but slowplays sometimes). It's a sucky call to have to make, but in the long run more than likely +EV. And let's not forgot about the occasional spazz from our small river bet.

Seems like you're playing a bit more, keep up the work!

Really solid analysis as usual, and I am still digesting everything that you thoughtfully took the time to write out. Thanks for the feedback!

I had been upping my volume at the start of the month, and making some regular rounds, then I fell off. I went full on degan with video poker one evening and just didn't have the stomach to look at a physical slot machine of any sort. So, I am building my courage up to RUN back into the poker room past all of the machines so that I don't have induced vomiting.

Thanks again for taking the time to post on my hh's in here, as I know reading through a bunch of my minutia eats at the clock.

I have to say that the St. Louis Cardinals win tonight is near the highlight of my year. Sad, yes perhaps.. Everyone carry on.

August 2017 Update

Time Played: 43 hours
Result: +$5





As I alluded in a previous post, I started out the month on a trajectory to get in a quality amount of hours. Somewhere along the way I just lost the desire to be at the table grinding out the hours. I heard Limon once say on Bart Hanson’s podcast, that he didn’t love the game, it was just the best form of work that he could find at the time. It went something like that anyway, hopefully I didn’t misquote him too bad.

I suppose I mention this to say that sometimes I love the game of poker. Other times I find it boring. Rarely, if ever, do I hate the game of poker. So far, my final analysis yields that I enjoy poker much more as a hobby, than the times I try to manipulate it in my head into a profession. As can be seen from my hours played for the month of August, the total volume was measly. Even in the scant amount of time that I spent at the table, I was pretty unhappy.

I think that I will once again be pivoting this thread into a new direction. Anyone looking to see a professional that grinds it out on the felt day in, and day out, you are in the wrong spot. On the other hand, if you are looking to see an individual in a transitional phase of life, looking for new endeavors and direction in life, that will be playing poker as a hobby, this is the spot. I’m not sure how much I will be posting moving forward, but I hope to provide some things that could be illuminating for others out there thinking about playing the game of poker as they move through life. Ultimately, I still want to improve at the game of poker, and this thread has been an immense help in that regard. That, I believe, is why I want to continue documenting my journey.

A brief update:

Busted the August hours freeroll on Saturday in 22nd. Top 20 cash. Shoved AK and called by a slightly larger stack w/ TT. Flop was K97r. Turn 9, river T. gg.

Been researching and grind the early NFL DFS games. I plan on pouring most of my efforts into NFL DFS for awhile. No big plans to get volume in the poker room. I may pop in on a larf. May hit the room up from 12pm-12am this upcoming Saturday, as there are cash drawings for hours and hands on that day.

GL in your future endeavors! I enjoyed reading this thread.

DFS felt like it was going to be a bloodbath for my lineups on Sunday, and they were for the most part. However, I was thinking somewhat along the right line. One of my lineup's had 5 similar players as the 2nd place finisher in the DK Play-action. Between all of my lineups and first place, I had all of the players covered but one and the d/st.

If it wasn't for DFS, I would have very little interest in the NFL.

I was talking with a friend recently, and had a revelation of not missing my previous employment at all. There was not one aspect of my previous job that I could express as something that I missed. Probably a tell tell sign that this wasn't the right job for me, because I have heard of others expressing joy for the work they do. I've never really been able to say the same for myself.

Hey, Thanks!
I don't think that I am completely done with posts to this thread, but probably just a different iteration in the future.

You going to play the Oklahoma State Championship Series?

I will be playing this Friday at the 12am 100k, the 7pm $100 that day.

Sunday the $75 green chip bounty

Tues and Wed I am playing in the Omaha and Omaha H/L

And probably a few others.

Hey dude, no long time no see. I was down in Lubbock visiting a buddy over the past few days and missed the kick-off tourney. I would have definitely played that one if I had been around.

I may make my way to one or two of the events. How did you come out in the Kick-off event?

Ended up not placing in any of the 3 I have played so far.

Busted the $100. Opener with not much success.

Busted the $235 100k in 73rd out of 600+. Sadely I was 10 short of the money.

And I also played a $75 bounty tournament. Busted 1 player and then lost a huge pot for the chip lead when I got it in Ah8h vs 7s.

I flopped an 8, turned an Ace and as the player was leaving, bam, 7 on the river.

Still had fun. Hope to see you on the felt sometime soon. Until later bro.

For anyone that may be interested,

I've started an update to this thread a couple of times and ended up scrapping it each time. No poker to report, other than dabbling on ACR when I am bored. Most of my money making efforts have been focused on DFS. I haven't had any scores of note, just enough balance to keep from continually having to deposit. The game seems to be getting tougher each week, much like the trend in poker. I fluctuate between trying to make money at DFS and "entertainment purposes only," I am finally starting to settle on the latter.

I have dabbled in a few tasty brews and drams of late:








The Prison Rodeo, from Prarie Artisian Ales is the most deliciously complex beer that I have experienced. Just related to the taste though, it won't be for everyone. Particularity if you don't have a palate for coffee.

I have been doing a fair amount of reading:






I know I have missed a few, but these are what stands out. The last book pictured was a birthday gift from a friend that I am soon sinking my teeth into.

I have also found myself exercising with regularity. I have been getting in 5-6 days a week. I have only been using body weight exercises, with the occasional dumbbell(25lbs) movements thrown in. My daily baseline/minimum exercise are:

20 chin/pull up
75 push ups
300 ab/sit ups
6 30-sec sprints

I reach the above minimum thresholds with each exercise. Some days I push in extra reps in each. I do many ab variants to reach the 300 rep mark. I alter the, sets, and rest times to keep my routine fresh. I have also begun to incorporate various other movements into the fold. I make sure to document all movements, reps, etc. for the days routine.

Overall, I have been trying to improve my vessel. Spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically. I am searching every avenue that I come across in effort to improve what I am. To put it simply, I am trying to alter/enhance the substance of my being. I'm still not sure if poker is a part of my future journey, but the want for acclaim that I once thought poker brought to some is not of import to me anymore. I am looking to reinstall some discipline in my endeavors to fall back in love with the process. I suppose more looking around and enjoying the present.

Runouts like that, literally, are what have kept me out of the cardroom. More fruitful things that I feel like spending out 6+ hours doing. Although, I do get the urge to go punish myself with the grind every once in awhile, ha!

Ditto man! Hope to see you out there, and I hope all is well with you.

1. Not compromising on the amount of hours that I have set as my target goal. 1,100 hours

326 Hours. Fail. Although, I would say that I compromised on my hours, I just fell completely flat. I posted 200 hours online, 36 hours of tournament play, and 100 hours online. No excuses to be made on my part, just a synopsis of how bad I sucked in this area.

2. Maximizing the amount of study that I put into the game. I should be studying hand histories on 2+2 llsnl forums. I should be watching strategy videos. Additionally, I should be recording all of my interesting hh’s for 2+2 and similar analysis. 5 hours/week, 20 hours/month

Fail. To be honest, I never really made a steadfast effort to chart this goal. I kind of lost sight of this goal early on, as I didn’t find it beneficial to be charting my hours of study. It may have also been very difficult for me to keep up with and I gave up.

3. I must limit my consumption of alcohol considerably.

I would consider myself somewhat successful in this endeavor. I guess a vague goal deserves a vague assessment.

4. Find poker players to discuss hands, play, and strategy with.

Success. I would consider this a success in that I was pretty active in strategy discussion with posters itt. So I should actually say thanks to those of you who took the time to comment on hand discussions itt. So again, thank you.

5. Make steps towards playing 2-5. Have a bankroll sufficient to 2-5 by the end of 2017. I will be starting with a $3k poker bankroll. Basically I will need a $10k poker bankroll to satisfy this goal. If I fall back down to $3k, I will rebuild back to $10k and try it again.

Success; in that I made steps towards my stipulated 2/5 bankroll. Fail in the fact that I didn’t get all the way there. I ended up with a profit of $2,498 from 1/2 play, a Profit of $141.88 from online play at different stakes and games, a profit of $1,103 from paid to play promo and freeroll money, and a loss of $303 from tournaments. At the end of the year, my bankroll sat at $6,428.88.

6. Be a fun/enjoyable player at the poker table. I am not sure if there is a metric to assess satisfaction of this goal, I am just going to have to try and be really self aware.

Success. Again, too vague of a goal to fully assess, but my demeanor at the table has evolved for the better over the past year.

The past year saw me fall sort in nearly every way. I feel as though I have a better feel for what sort of goals are appropriate for me, and what sort of goals are actually realistic. I do believe that I will fire out a goal list for 2018 soon. However, my next goal list will be much more specific. Thanks to all of you that followed along, and helped aid in my growth.

Goals for 2018

[ ] Meditate for a minimum of 5 minutes each day
[ ] Exercise a minimum of 4 days each week. (minimum of 25 minute workout)
[ ] Feed the wolf of love, starve the wolf of hate
[ ] 600 hours of live poker
[ ] 400 hours of online poker
[ ] No more than 3 alcoholic drinks in a day. Minimum of 3 days no drinking each week. (I will simply put an "X" in the box if I was able to meet this goal for the week.)

Here are the results for week 1:

[ 7 ] Meditate for a minimum of 5 minutes each day.
[ 4 ] Exercise a minimum of 4 days each week. (minimum of 25 minute workout).
[ 6 ] Feed the wolf of love, starve the wolf of hate
[0] 600 hours of live poker.
[ 5.5 ] 400 hours of online poker.
[ X ] No more than 3 alcoholic drinks in a day. Minimum of 3 days no drinking each week.

Not too bad considering that I spent Monday-Thursday ill. I would be including some reading goals in 2018, but it is just standard practice for me to spend time every morning reading and writing notes for an hour or so.

I plan on providing a weekly update itt every Monday morning with my progress in the goals that I have set. There will be hand histories, motivational quotes, probably information/research that I have found illuminating, and of course various beer/whisk(e)y,etc. that I feel deserve my feeble endorsement.

I hope that everyone is making great progress in their respective goals this new year and in life in general.

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Good luck with your goals for 2018. Hope to see you on the felt again soon. Are you playing the $275 , 50k at the end if the month at hard rock? I will be.

https://youtu.be/5897dMWJiSM

This something that I feel should be shared. Something that speaks to the hedonistic part of our pursuits. We should be what we are, and pursue virtue in all things. Please do not go out compete with others, but perhaps, compete with yourself instead. Be better than your are right now.

peace be with you.

GL this year dude!

I'm considering it. It was so meaningless in the grand scheme of things, but my soul got crushed in the last tournament that I played in, the August freeroll, and the feeling stuck with me. I have been playing online lately and have plans to enter back into the live arena soon. Hope you are well.

Thanks Pure, same to you! Thanks for all of the inspiration through the years.

Week 2:
[6/7] Meditate for a minimum of 5 minutes each day
[5/7] Exercise a minimum of 4 days each week. (minimum of 25 minute workout)
[6/7] Feed the wolf of love, starve the wolf of hate
[4 hours] 600 hours of live poker
[7 hours] 400 hours of online poker
[5/7, 1/3] No more than 3 alcoholic drinks in a day. Minimum of 3 days no drinking each week. (I will simply put an "X" in the box if I was able to meet this goal for the week.)

I didn’t really find it all that difficult to carve out the time or motivation to meditate on a daily basis. Although, the one day that I missed made me realize the importance of setting a daily time when I do meditate, as I simply got to the end of the day and realized that I hadn’t done so.

Regular exercise has always been very important to me. Outside of a two year period following my collegiate baseball days where I more or less mutinied exercise, I have always been pretty well on the ball with being physically active.

As far as feeding the wolf of love, and starving the wolf of hate, there will no doubt be some ambiguity in assessing this. I am basically viewing how I treat others and myself on a daily basis as the ruler for this metric. I have simply found it beneficial to have this goal in mind. Being mindful of compassion and kindness is very important to me, particularly when playing a game that is full of avarice, deceit, and yada, yada, yada.

I would have liked to play more hours of live poker, but I am simply happy that I actually dragged myself to the cardroom to wet my beak in some action. Not much to really report on as far as hand histories, pretty standard stuff. Got my stack ai a couple of times, once with AQ on a A small small board, and another time w/ an overpair on a draw heavy board. One ai was for ~90bb, the other was ~80bb and seemed pretty standard. I ended up holding on both ai’s, and had to fold AA ott facing some pretty heavy action and ended up seeing a full house and a rivered straight. +$121 for the sole session of week 2.

Online I have only been putting in the hours. I haven’t looked to see if I am up or down so that I can focus solely on good decision making. I wish that I could replicate this in my live play but the cashout process makes it difficult to be oblivious to short-term results. I am at 12.5 hours online through week 2.

I fell a bit short on the sober nights in week 2 do in part to a few friends being in town wrapping up some holiday breaks. Ah well, here are a few of the tasty treats that aided in my falling short of 3 nights of complete sobriety in week 2:



I was kind of shocked at how tasty that I found this brew. I think that I am quite late to the game in trying this beer out, as it was hot fire in certain parlance 3 or so years ago. I think the critics have moved on to bigger and better now.



Just a strong, hearty beer. Great taste.



My palate is nowhere near as refined as most beer connoisseurs, but this beer proved to be the most complex tasting beer that I have ever tasted. I should say, most complex tasting profile while maintaining a semblance is favorable drink-ability.



This was a beer cocktail that I dreamed up. A local brewery that is under the Prairie Artisian Ale umbrella (A peach ale), combined with a A SA Boston Lager. Turned out well in my opinion. I think the peach ale could combine with a number of beers for an interesting combo. Tasty spring/summer beer as well.



The whip crested 100K miles and thought that I would like to share that since I shared my 75K milestone as well. There is probably something telling about my psychology as to why I find this remotely interesting.

On to week 3.