Really appreciate it. It was a 1/3 with 500 buy-in... yeah, it's a no worry situation, I was just looking for the feedback and agree that I discounted too many hands.

The lol was in reference to saying the bet sizing of $13 made this play like a 2/5 game 100bbs deep which is a ridiculous statement to make.

BTW, if I just sat down at a table I still have some sort of read on the other players based on profiling them. To not do so is a leak.

Current Bankroll: $7,961()
Money Earned Since Nov 1: $12,840 (fixed)
Games/Location: Casino MGM 1/3 500 buyin and 2/5 500 buyin
Hours Played This Session: 12
Total Hours Since Nov 1: 436.5
Financial Goal: Challenge 3 - $10k Bankroll
Mini Challenge: May Expenses $423 out of $1,000

\\\

Played a mix of 1/3 and 2/5... with travel, I've been up for 23 hours and heading to bed. I got into some spots I'll post later today that knocked me down $450 within the first hour of the session, managed a meager win of
423 after 13 hours Lots of great experience playing deeper and playing 2/5.

(My reference)

1. AJ JT7 7
2. Flush draw/open ended vs overpair

I never made that comment, that was someone else. We're on the same page now.

It was like hand 11, but I agree with what you are saying. He was mid 20s, I never saw him at MGM before and he didnt play a hand when I sat until the one in question.

Any advice on better intial live reads is always appreciated. What I do better than most people at the table is keeping track of HUD like stats like hands played in different positions. I also keep track of how they play draws, weak Aces, bet sizing etc. Now that I'm talking about it, maybe that's why I always seem to start off in a hole and do better throughout the session. Might be making wrong initial reads. Hmmmm

By all means call me out when you see leaks. I want to get better and willing to admit when I fail in areas.

Finished a few hours of CLP study, reviewed building hand ranges and about to head back to the casino. I'm still debating whether I should go up the east coast or play at MGM.

Edit: Screw it, I'm heading to AC to check out the area.

Current Bankroll: $7,961()
Money Earned Since Nov 1: $12,840 (fixed)
Games/Location: AC 2/5 500 buyin
Hours Played This Session: 4
Total Hours Since Nov 1: 440.5
Financial Goal: Challenge 3 - $10k Bankroll
Mini Challenge: May Expenses $838(+408) out of $1,000

///

It was fun visiting AC for the first time, even if it was a short trip. I hit up a few casinos and ended my night here at Borgota (card dead). I'm a little tired, I think I'll head over to Parx and play some fun 1/2 to check out the room.

Overall, met some really cool people. I will definately head back when I have more free time. Ok, onto the next casino.

Getting more comfortable sitting in 2/5. Did okay tonight, it was a good time.

Current Bankroll: $7,961()
Money Earned Since Nov 1: $13,319 (fixed again)
Games/Location: Parx and MGM National
Hours Played This Session: 4
Total Hours Since Nov 1: 445.5
Financial Goal: Challenge 3 - $10k Bankroll
Mini Challenge: May Expenses $909(+$71) out of $1,000

///

About 3 hours sleep, intense day at work and 4 hours of poker today so fae(1 hr at Parx on the way home). $71, I'm balling. lol

Burrrrrrnnnnnnt

I'll either go back to my room or goof off at the 1/2 at Maryland Live. I just can't get myself to focus today. I think the long hours is getting to me along with an intense work days. I'm being honest with myself, I need to relax.

Update: Talked to my girl, she convinced me to take a few days off after tonight. So I will play a little more tonight and then head home Tues/Wed. I'll be back ready to knock out Thurs,Fri,Sat,Sun. Take off Mon, Tue and finish my grind Wed-Sun morning.

It's easier in Asia, lots of distractions to recharge.

In an unrelated note, as I was walking toward the poker room I played the $5 wheel of fortune slot (2 credit). $10 is my pit/slot limit. I know, total degen. 1 pull, $325. Was kinda exciting. Anyway, I'll just add that to the May expenses goal $1,234 of $1,000.

Sitting at a 1/2, enjoying the conversation.

1/3 - $540 Effective Hand:

The villian in hand is a straight forward ABC player. He is position aware and doesn't get too far out of line. Big Blind is weak tight.

$540 effective

Folded to button, villian makes it $15, hero raises to $48 in SB with AJo (black), BB folds.

If it was AJs, I would have probably flatted a higher percentage of the time to keep the bad BB in the hand.

Flop comes Jh,8h,7s. Pot is $99. Hero bets $80. I see some merit checking, getting him to bet combo draws or pairs such as 99,TT. Since the board is very wet, I decided to bet big to get calls from the different combo draws as well as pairs. Villian calls, pot is $259, I have $412 behind.

Turn comes a 7 of clubs. Hero....

I belive he sees me as a either as slight aggro maniac or solid higher limit player. I've been in a lot of hands raising and squeezing. I don't think he's folding many 3bet hands against me while in position.

Day 5 - Poker Trip 2

I'm feeling much better today and will return to the casino either tonight or tomorrow to finish the reminder of my trip. Sometimes I have to remind myself that it's okay to relax now and then.

Any LA players?

I will be heading to Los Angeles to play at The Bike and Commerce for a few days starting June 2nd. I have to catch a flight to Manila out of there about a week later.

Since I'm back home, I might jump into one of the home games. They are both 1/3 but play deep, so I will buy-in for like $800.

I played 1/3 with a $6 rock with an $800 buy-in. I lost $45 after 5 hours (I will combine that with the next casino day I play). It was fun catching up with friends. A few lessons learned that made the session well worth the money:

- In January, I was playing with $100 stacks at 1/3 and now very comfortable with up to $1,000.

- I'm starting to pick better spots for 3 bets and squeezing.

- I bluff sticky players too much

- Still cold calling way too much

- Missed out on some river value spots

Was about +180 and -340 throughout the night.

I just hit my first royal flush ($250 + $500), up almost 2k playing a mix of 1/3, 2/5 and 1/2. I usually dont get too excited but this has been fun.

3 Week Poker Break Announced

Current Bankroll: $9,732($1,771)
Money Earned Since Nov 1: $15,425 (now accurate)
Games/Location: Live/MGM/Homegame
Hours Played This Session: 13.5
Total Hours Since Nov 1: 459
Financial Goal: Challenge 3 - $10k Bankroll (sooo close)
Mini Challenge: May Expenses Achieved

///

I mentioned in an earlier post I'm a little burnt playing so much. Today was incredibly fun, however, I'm ready to cut this trip short and take a much needed break. I'm heading to LA in early June and the off to play in Manila and Angeles. I think I will take the next 3 weeks off to unwind and spend some solid time in the lab.

It annoys me that I'm about $250 from finishing my $10k challenge. Oh well, I'll hopefully be through goal 4 of $12k around July.

I will see you all in a few weeks. In the meantime, I can spend time reading more of PG&C.

Just come across this Potluck, cool travel pics, looks like the poker is going well too, hope you have a good few weeks off

Thanks for following along. It's been crazy, getting in more than a few hours each night, sleeping in my own bed, catching up with friends. I'm trying to make the most of the time!

I've been dealing with some vision issues lately. After a battery of tests from doc and optomistrist, a few good results came about:

1. No retina damage

2. No glaucoma

3. High level of sugar detected (borderline diabetic) which is most likely the cause of the blurry vision. Made modifications to diet.

4. My recent fatigue is tied to #3. It's positive because now corrections can be made.

5. Glasses coming Thursday until eyes eventually (hopefully) correct.

It's a bit of a pain but could have been much worse.


What else is going on:

1. I've been enjoying my time away from the casino trips
My next big trip starts in 2 weeks, heading to LA and then SE Asia.

2. Been studying 3 hours a night using CrushLivePoker has my resource. I feel like I'm finding a groove.

3. Been playing so super deep low tournaments with friends. Between that and my recent deep play on 1/3 and deeper homegames, deep stack play is so more interesting to me.

4. Looks like players at MGM National Harbor didnt like my idea of a few super deep stack tables. That's cool.. it wasnt something I pulled out of my ass.. plenty of casinos I played last summer in the midwest had some of those options. I will have a chance to play them in late July. No worries on my side, plenty of competition and I can fly anywhere.

5. I'm really excited about playing some PLO again in Angeles City, Phillipines. Fun players, drinks flowing and cute dealers.

6. After reading some of the angry posts outside of PG&C, I'm reminded how fortunate I am to play a game I love without having to stress about the money. I love all forms of poker, excited to improve each day.

Happy.

Current Bankroll: $9,682(-80$)
Money Earned Since Nov 1: $15,345 (now accurate)
Games/Location: Homegame 1 - 1/3 with $6 rock - $1,000 buy-in
Hours Played This Session: 5
Total Hours Since Nov 1: 464
Financial Goal: Challenge 3 - $10k Bankroll (sooo close)
Mini Challenge: May Expenses Achieved

///

My eyes are starting to normalize which is a huge relief. One of my good friends recommended I come down to the homegame since I've been stuck in the house for the last week. 1/3 with $6 rock, average buy-in is around $500 with some $250 stacks and some closer to $800. I buy in for $1,000 to cover. I said this before, I'll say it again, being able to play deepstacked is such an improvement since when I started this challenge. I remember a time when I only would buy in for $100 at a time because I would tilt losing $200 at a time. I have a few hands I want to post tomorrow. In the meantime, here's a few observations:

1. There's a big difference between being aggressive and forcing the action. I lost a $500 pot that frankly was just over aggression on my part.

2. Was dealt 11 pocket pairs between 22-66. Nothing remotely connected, so that's about -$175. People in this game are very sticky, sets get paid off nicely.

3. It's much harder for me to concentrate at a local game when I know all the players vs the casino.

4. A little too much fancy play syndrome.

5. I'm learning to apply some of the lessons learned from CrushLivePoker. I realize my inexperience will cost me money short-term and that's okay. I'll get it wrong before I get it right. I'm looking for long term skills that will eventually part of my arsenal.

6. I've become pretty numb losing pots. I credit Jared T from The Mental Game audios.

7. I still play too loose deep stacked.

8. When card dead, NL can feel like a freaking grind. As I continue to work on my PLO game, I look forward to spending more time on it.

It was great seeing everyone, I'm very excited about the start of my next poker trip June 2nd to Los Angeles and then Asia.

Current Bankroll: $10,008(+$326)
Money Earned Since Nov 1: $15,681

Games/Location: Homegame 1 - 1/2 HO - $1,000 buy-in
Hours Played This Session: 5
Total Hours Since Nov 1: 469

Financial Goal: Challenge 3 - $10k Bankroll Achieved
Mini Challenge: May Expenses Achieved
Financial Goal: Challenge 4 - $10,008 out of $12,000

///

I didn't expect to play today, however, the guys said they would play half holdem, half omaha hi. Ok, I'm down. It was 1/2, stacks were around 350-600, I bought in for $1,000 to cover.

Even though I was on the losing side of a lot of PLO flips, still pulled a decent profit which finished my $10,000 challenge 3. My next bench mark is $12k. I felt fantastic about my game and feel like I'm continue to grow as a player.

Hosting a BBQ tomorrow for my poker friends in the area. Spent about $500 on food and drinks and hosting a 1/1 $100 with no rake. I'm making the limits small to make it more casual.

I was invited to another big home game from someone after the home game last night. It's easily one the loosest invite games in the area. Although I don't play them much anymore, it reminds me how important it to not be a d%$k at the table. Smile, don't react to bad beats negatively, get people laughing goes a long way. I wish that HO game could have played forever.

Damn! I wish I was your poker friend, and lived in your area. Sounds like a blast. Have a good time and enjoy the camaraderie.

Good to hear from you, the party went great. The food and bar was almost cleaned out, I'm glad everyone enjoyed it. The low limit poker game was also a lot of fun, was a good way to catchup with everyone without friends worrying about massive pots.

Hold'em

I've been taking a lot of notes lately from my study material from CLP. I have just another day of videos and then shifting focus back to PLO. With everything I've been studying, I need more time applying these concepts before taking on more material.

PLO

I'm starting to make a lot of progress in my PLO game. I've been doing quite a bit of reading and CLP videos. After looking at my bankroll, once I breach $12,000, 1/2/5 bring-in PLO and 2-5 NL will be my main games. If I drop below $9k, I will rebuild and repeat.

Stud

I'm still learning the basics to prepare for low limit mixed games.

Other

My next move will be to add O8 and Big O into my training cycle. My month trip begins at the end of the week.