Original: $5,000

Previous: $8,165

Current: $7,965 (-$200)

Location: Home Game 2 / 1:00

Game: 1/2 NL (100 buy-in)

Hours Total: 79:15


Tried a new home game which was a short handed 1/2. I was happy with how I played all my hands, even the 2 bigger pots I lost:


- Pot 1 I held 77 UTG, based on table dynamics, I figure th3 guy to my left would limp and the next guy would raise. Sure enough, Raise to 15, cold call in the small blind, I shove for 91.

Guy to me left folds (he had TT), origjnal raiser folded and dmall blind tanks. I figured he was folding all Ax hands along with broadway combinations. He eventually calls with TT and won.

- The second big pot was my top pair good kicker running into a flopped straight.

The people there seemed nice, I knew a few from other games. I was invited by a friend of mine I havent seen in 6 weeks. It was cool seeing her and I called it a might.

- The game looked very beatable, I just didnt have the patience tonight. I think the long hours of both work and poker are getting to me. I think I will designate Tuesday's as my off day for now on.

Original: $5,000

Previous: $8,165

Current: $8,065

I made a mistake yesterday, I reported making 295.00 when it was actually 395.00. Correction made above.

I've been back in the US for a little over a week and finally going through some of the souvineers from my crazy trip. I have a small money bag I use to keep in the safe ahen traveling. I completely forgot I left $600 USD as spare cash among the pesos and baht. I might as well just add it to the bankroll:

Current: $8,665

This was a nice surprise, this almost makes up for every time I have a dirty redbird in my stack of greens at the table.

I'm feeling good, just a little mentally fried. Work has been extremely busy, I've been front loading a lot of hours M-Th so I can just do maintenance on Fri/Sat/Sųn. I have a game at Home Game 1 tonight, Home Game 3 tomorrow, spending time with my girl on Fri and then going with my friend to the casino this weekend to try to grind 20 or so hours Sat, Sun.

(Modified Goal) <-------

Once I hit a $12k bankroll, I will do the following:

- Take out $1,000 a month to cover new car payments, hotels, gas and insurance (casino is a few hours away)

- Any money over $12k will go to my Asia trip fund until it reaches $3500. Once it reaches $3500, I go back to only taking out $1,000 a month.


Here's a pic from EDC Orlando (Nov), had the best time!

Original: $5,000

Previous: $8,665

Current: $8,565 (-$100)

Location: Home Game 1 / 1:00

Game: 1/3 NL (100 buy-in)

Hours Total: 82:15


Ran it up to $250.00, bluffed a flush draw for a big pot with KJc. Board was Qc6c2, I figured he was folding most pairs but possibly gambling with a flush draw. He happened to show up with pocket kings.

Correction: Location: Home Game 1 / 3:00

I've decided to take today and tomorrow off from any playing or hard core study. Between a full time career and the amount of hours I'm grinding live + study, it's time for a break.

I'm heading up to MGM National Harbor all weekend with a friend of mine. I'm hoping to play at least 22 hours minimum.

Life is great, I'm feeling really strong at the tables. I'm getting in a better habit watching other hands and building player profiles. Tilt control continues to improve.

I'm thinking I'm being a bit of a bankroll nit especially with a great job that could replace the funds fairly quickly. I will need to think more about it.

One adjustment I'm going to make is:

Once I reach my 10k bankroll, I will start saving for my next Asia trip $3500.00. Once that's complete, I will pull put $1,000 a month profit to cover new car, insurance, hotels and gas since the Casino is 4-6 hours away.

In about a week and a half, I will start shifting study time off the tables to PLO. I have plenty of NL lessons I need to internalize on the table.

Health Goals: Failing

I need to start focusing on my health goals. Between poker and work, I'm averaging about 90 hours a week. When I leave the home game at around 1am, I'm in bed at 1:30 and back up at 6:00am for my job. I can't keep up that schedule and keep a health balance.

New adjustments:

- No home games on Tuesdays and Thursdays
- Work out Tuesday and Thursday morning at gym
- Monday - Thursday 45 min walk while listening to CrushLivePoker podcast
- No soda

Let's start there and see if I can maintain it over the next 30 days. I will go for a walk tonight to kick it off.

subbed ! GL bro

If you make a living working a normal job then you should be able to leverage your poker bankroll really well and agressive. That is if your skill level is beating the game. Plo is where it's at, even decent regs are not that good, whereas no limit holem gets a lots of mediocre and ok players. There is definitely more action at plo. That's not to say no limit isn't profitable, plo might be more profitable, but also plays much bigger. If you can handle the variance and mental game of plo then you will have a good edge there alone. I would consider both games for income. One thing no limit holdem is slow like watching paint dry, and plo is like doing a life size body painting with your body and to dry it you hike up a desert mountain top on a sunny day.

I love the honesty behind why you are going after this---- it doesnt seem overly outcome based financially speaking--- that gives you a big edge.

As far as the working out goes----- instead of planning big elaborate workouts, it is much more important to build the habit. Even going for 20 minutes and doing 10 minutes of cardio and 10 minutes of strength training will be so beneficial for building routine.

I am excited to hear about how PLO goes---- I simply dont have the bankroll nor do I put enough volume in of late to build one to play that game properly--- but maybe, just maybe reading about some successful 2+2 ers will get me itching to give it a try.

The average PLO player at lower stakes is just going to be so much worse than the average player in a usual NL game---- and with a game of more action, that is obviously a very profitable piece of the equation.

GL Man!

Thank you Balak0v, best of luck on your challenge as well. Had a nice day off from poker yesterday and plan to do the same again today. Saturday and Sunday I'm trying to squeeze in 20-25 hours of poker and then 5 hours on Monday and 5 on Wednesday. I quickly realized I need my Tuesdays and Thursdays off to unwind.

I agree with what you are saying about PLO. I've played a little higher stakes 3-4 handed PLO in the past, however, with such a small sample, it could have been mostly luck. I've purchased a few recommended PLO books and have a few training site memberships. My goal is to approach the same study habits I've built for NL.

I like the PLO vs NL analogy. We've all been in those NL games where it feels like we've been there for 12 hours and only we haven't even been at the table for 90 minutes.

Thanks for the feedback.

I went for a brisk 45 minute walk. I had my CrushPokerLive podcast playing on the headphones which seemed like a good combination. I need to get both done each day, win-win.

I'm on break from work, listening to Above and Beyond and getting packed for grinding this weekend at MGM National Harbor.

For the 4-6 hour car ride, I have some my Mental Game series cued up.



A few pics while in Vietnam:

Good to hear from you.

I figure if I keep putting in the hours on the table and studying, the results will follow. I've become aware of big leaks in my mental and how I play certain hands. I'm trying to focus on incremental improvements in those areas.

That's good.advice on building the habit, I went for a 45 min walk yesterday while listening to a podcast. I plan to do the same on Sunday and Monday. Once I'm out of the house, it doesnt seem as big of a deal anymore.

I'm going to give it my best shot in PLO. I have a few books and training sites prepared, I expect that studying to happen shortly. I feel like I've learned a lot about my NL game and need some time to build reference points at the table. Hope some of my upcoming blunders and successes in PLO help you on your journey as well.

About ready to head to MGM National Harbor for the weekend.

I just arrived at the MGM National Harbor with a friend (his first time playing poker at a casino). I never worry about monetary goals for a session, it's one long game. My goals for this session:

1)) Continue progress with tilt control and recording on phone when I fall back on bad habits.

2)) More isolation raising from late position

3)) Experiment with more 3 betting

4)) Thin river bets when I think players put me on nuts or nothing

5)) More focus on hand reading when out the hand

Original: $5,000

Previous: $8,565

Current: $8,065 (-$550)

Location: MGM National Harbor / 4:00

Game: 1/3 NL (200 buy-in)

Hours Total: 86:15



I'm very happy with my reads. I ran into 3 sets, no flush draws came in large pots and lost a big one top 2 on the flop vs a rivered flush. Boo hoo. lol

What's more important is I read all 3 sets, Ive continued to get my money in good, hand reading is solid and for the most part managed tilt. Also resisted the temptation to try to get 'even' with roulette. I gave up table games a long time ago.

Break to get hotel handled and then back to the grind.

Original: $5,000

Previous: $8,015 (correction)

Current: $8,035 (+20)

Location: MGM National Harbor / 6:00

Game: 1/3 NL (200 buy-in)

Hours Total: 92:15


Although I couldnt get much going this session, similar to the last session, I ran into monster hands and missed combo draws. In fact, didnt hit 1 flush or straight all night which was wild. I still felt like I hit all my goals for the session and I'm confident enough in my play to move up limits. I found myself loosening up too much toward the end of the session, so still work to be done on tilt control. Major progress.

While 1/3 is a lot of fun, I need to be willing to put ego aside and get beat up a little at 2/5 NL and 1/2 PLO if I want to be ready for 5/10 and 5/5 next year.

I'm switching over to hardcore PLO study while spending time internalizing all the new NL lessons I've picked up lately. Later this morning I will go for a 45 min walk.

I've been recovering from a small cold the least 2 days. I wonder if the 80 hours of poker/work/study/little sleep has anything to do with it? I'm back to grinding starting tomorrow, one more day of recovery.

The PLO study has been going great. Full ring is certainly a very different beast from 3 handed. Depending how this week goes, I might mix in some PLO 1/2 this weekend.

Overall, I'm very happy with the improvements I've made to my game recently. I'm seriously thinking about moving to the 2/5 as my primary game. I'm torn... 1/3 is super soft but it's not getting me closer to my 5/10 goals skill wise. I'm still trying to figure it all out.

Subbed. Good Luck man.

Original: $5,000

Previous: $8,035

Current: $7,835 (-200)

Homegame 1 / 1.5 hours

Game: 1/3 NL (100 buy-in)

Hours Total: 93:45


Decided to call it an early night.

- Lost a big pot with an open ended straight flush draw on flop. J56, I felt like a lot of hands would fold to the checkraise. He happened to have KJ.

- Got all my money in, villian hits a 3 outter

- Lost AT vs A9

I won some small pots, but each of those were stealing. Hand reading continues to improve, all and all a successful session.

I look forward to putting in 25+ hours this weekend.

Original: $5,000

Previous: $8,035

Current: $7,886 (+51)

MGM National Harbor/ 2 hours

Game: 2/5 NL (300 buy-in)

Hours Total: 95:45

Decided I would add in some 2/5 every trip to get more familar with next level.

Some noticeable differences in my small sample (compared to 1/3):

- overall very nitty, it should be much different dynamic in the weekend evenings

- Not much cold calling, a lot of 3 bets. I never showed a hand, I 3 bet 5x during the duration.

- Hand reading seemed to make much more sense than a random 1/3 table.

I'm finishing up lunch and about to check in to the hotel. Being ona bit of a downswing has tested my tilt control this past week. I've noticed a considerable improvement. The Mental Game audios were a huge help.

I've been putting in some serious PLO study. Each day I walk, I play a Crush Live NoLimit Podcast and listen to 3 traveling to the casino and 3 on the way home. I'm completely committed to this project.

Current: $7,286 (-600)

Bought in for 500, ran it up to 900. AA vs 24dd with a huge preflop lot. Yup, I understand you want this call all day every day. River flush. Oh well. Time to take a little break.

Original: $5,000

Previous: $7,286

Current: $7,456 (+170)

Homegame 1 / 3 hours

Game: 1/3 NL (600 buy-in)

Hours Total: 106:00

- Not many lessons learned tonight

- I've become much more comfortable playing deep stacks which is a nice improvement

- Dropped about $150 in the first 30 minutes. Despite losing a few bigger sessions recently, kept tilt under control.

- I made too big of a check raise flopping a straight oop. I realized the mistake as soon as I made it.

- Spending about an hour a day studying PLO.

Original: $5,000

Previous: $7,286

Current: $7,456 (+170) out of $8,000

Vacation: $0 out of $3500

Homegame 1 / 3 hours

Game: 1/3 NL (600 buy-in)

Hours Total: 106:00

No changes

----------------------------------

I've spent most of my day (breaks) on reviewing hand reading, combinations and pot odds relates to those topics. For example, 99 on a AJ926. Replaying the action in my head, figuring out the number of combos of AJ, A9 bluffs such as QT and so on. I've gotten lazy at the poker table doing these calculations, I'm trying to reinforce the habit.

Original: $5,000

Previous: $7,456

Current: $7,671 (+215) out of $8,000

Vacation: $0 out of $3500

Homegame 3 / 5 hours

Game: 1/2 NL (200 buy-in)

Hours Total: 111:00

- I was down 290.00 in the first 30 minutes. Some of it was unavoidable, some of it was being far too aggressive trying to bet people off hands.

- I've been raising more hands which is something I wantes to work on this week

- Put people to tough decisions as much as possible. Givijg them bad odds to chase fd or oesd

- I felt a wave of tilt hit me when I was about 250.00 under. I didnt lose a major pot, just lost quite a few medium pots barreling.

- I need to watch out for winner's tilt. Something I will payore attention to in the future.

- I wanted to experiment more with bluff raising rivers, however, I dont think it will be very effective against most players that 'have to see it'.

- Attempted to isolate as much as possible

- Feeling really good at my game at 1/2 1/3. Would have stayed longer but have work in the morning.

- Still plan on studying CrushLivePoker daily.

- Made some solid thin river bets

- As I get deeper, I'd like to experiment more with light 3 betting.