Hellooo Peeps
been a while since I posted on 2+2. I never really posted much before anyways, but some of you might remember me from streaming on twitch briefly in 2015.

Quick Update:
- Casual player all my life playing after school & Work. Grinded Zoom 25NL on stars before economy in Canada went bad in 2015 & Lost my job.

- Couldn't find job so had a lot of times on my hand and started making casino runs. It helped pay the bill and I decided to play as much as I can until I can find a job again.

I had some money lying around + money on stars + first couple of run I did ok that gave me some boost but I started making trips to poker room in November 2015 like once and twice a week, and by January 2016 I was practically living in the poker room.

It started pretty good. I save up money on the side, payed my bills. I actually wake up every morning loving this new life. It wasn't until March that I hit some rough runs but I still managed to hang in there. Hitting a bad run is pretty stressful because still gota pay those lovely car payment + rent + gas + living expenses. I wasn't the best at money mangement, I try to be! but I always ended up eating out as well and those add up FO SHO

anyways. I've admitted this before and Im not proud of it. Those of you that knows me knows I am a tilt monster. God I tilt hard What I realized about playing poker is (whether it's full time or part time but especially full time), that it's really a battle vs yourself. Live games are easy to beat which is why I chose to play it (I also just enjoy talking to people) but there's no one telling you what to do, setting boundaries for you, giving you timelines. It's easy to get drown in the degen life. I met a lot of frds who loves to play table games and I got lured to start playing a little bit. yes i know table games are bad and I always knew that. I read stories how people get hooked on table games and I use to think why would anyone play an -EV game with the house. and here I am in August I started to be a part time poker player and full time Bacarrat player

They say you either win and celebrate or you lose and learn. And man did i lose a lot in bacarrat, and it's a learning process and I am okay with.

Posting my Poker Journal results for poker, most of this is from 2016 Jan - July. Close to 1500 hours. I really grinded a lot first half of 2016.


Somewhere along the line I got really tired of playing. The worst part about playing table game isn't that it's an -EV game. It's super hard to go back and play 1-2 because the game is just too freaking slow. At the end of the day after paying all my bills and all the table game losses. I didn't save up much and I am back to about the same bankroll as when I started at the beginning.

The GOOD news:
-I actually found a job now and it's a pretty decent gig. doesn't pay much but benefits are great and I think it sets some order in my life. I always end up playing until 5-6am and I didn't like that. I had no structure in my life and I was getting over weight. There are a lot of things I need to change in my routine and me knowing I am not the most mentally strong person, I need to work that much harder to get better mentally. Stay away from table games, set certain hours playing and playing patient and solid poker.

I want to try and update this blog as well. I don't know why I decided to write this now because I have an exam for my new job tomorrow but it felt right to do it That's my prority right now but once I get everything going I'll post more hands or stories or experiences that I have that I feel is interesting to share. Also want to set a poker bankroll challenge and when I do I will post everything in detail (bankroll, wins loss, hours, results, all that good stuff)

I am hyped for this, really want to make it a habit to be back on 2+2. and hopefully update some cool hands and stories for you guys. Feel free to comment and ask me anything

until then. peace out

gl from a fellow tilt monster

gl

My Bacarrat Table Game

So this will be my first and only post about table games. I don't want to go near it again. It may seem irrelevant to talk about this but this probably has one of the top 3 impact on my poker results. I know myself better anyone else and it's hard to admit sometimes but I've realize I have a gambling problem. It's not so bad if you are winning at poker, but when I am losing in house games it takes all my brain power to walk away and 9/10 times I can't walk away. My emotional control is so bad when I am at max tilt that it doesn't matter how good my A game in poker is if my C game is going to play house games to end the night. I doubt any one of you tilts harder than I do but I've read a lot about this subject at least I know the process of tilt and I am aware when it happens. It's a repeated cycle:

1) Live games are slow AF. I am usually okay taking several beats a nights before I start to steam a little bit. Obviously I don't tilt all the time it needs to be accumulated bad beats. Losing night after night, suck outs after suck outs.

2) Eventually it comes to a point where I still tell myself to be calm, but I am probably 1-2 bad beats away from snapping. This is a point where I should either stop or prepare myself if I lose again and I am super pissed I need to walk out. But I choose to proceed

3) I get myself into a flip situation, on the flop all in or maybe QQ vs AK preflop etc. Some sort of unavoidable flip and I lose. This is when I tell myself **** it "Why do I even wait 8 hours to get it into a flip and lose" I don't want to sit for another 5 hours for a hand so I figure I'll just flip a hundred in Bacarrat.

Bacarrat for those of you that dont' know (and if you don't play it dont start), it's the closest 50-50 game in the house. As long as you don't play the bonus animal game, it's 50%. The only time the house doesn't pay you is if banker hits Dragon and you bet on Banker. but that doesn't happen often and you don't lose your bet. If you bet on Player it's literally 50-50.

Sounds harmless if you just wanna try your luck one time before you leave. But I never leave, if I lose the 100$ I bet another 100$, then 200$. The biggest single Bet I made was 1000$. I know a lot of higher limit players that's not much, but for me that is a lot. It's a big chunk out of my bankroll and it's something I would never do when I am in a sober state of mind. (Unfortunately the two times I bet 1000$ I lost both of them ) but regardless I was betting 200-400$ a hand on average which is just NOT good.

I actually don't even Know why I play Bacarrat now. I don't even run good. I remember when I first played I ran super good I made 800$ in 15 minutes on 100$ bets. And that was like damn I usually need to grind a whole night to win that much, but in the last couple of months I just sit down and lose every bet I make. I know I am going to lose but I still bet, some might call that being insane. I surely felt like it.

So a couple days ago on Oct 18, 2016. I was just going to see a friend that works at the casino. I was like I am going to make like 2 bets for fun, and an amount I am okay with losing. Previous to this I probably lost 16 out of my last 20 bets, so part of me just don't want to believe I can run that bad, and Although I prepared myself for the worst, I guess I wasn't prepared enough.

First Hand I bet on Player (because the last 3 times I bet on Banker first hand I lose) I slowly peel the cards open, a face card....and a NINE. Nature 9! winning the first hand is always a good start. but then the dealer opens natural 9 for the Banker and chops

SEcond Hand I bet on Banker. I slowly peaked and see an 8, and now I want a face card and I GET it! Not a bad start, two naturals in a row. Just as I was high fiving people dealer opens two 9s for Player, and f**kin Ties again!

but you know I still haven't lost yet. as far as I know had the dealer opened first and I opened second I woulda felt lucky (but the reality is I didn't and I felt super unlucky already)

Third hand I m not going to build the drama, I open quickly and flips over Natural 8. Sickness. now I just need to dodge, and the house Opens Natural 9.

Fourth Hand I just straight out lost I don't even remember what I had like a pair of Qs.

I ended up losing the amount I Expected to lose but I tilted like a MofO. I think this is when I realize I am not Lucky enough to win at house game. Why would I even play if I don't even feel like I can't win. There are some people who hits jackpots on slots or first time playing poker and win the bad beat. or many of my frds who plays bacarrat everyday and somehow is up a lot. I am not one of those people, so I no longer want to try to turn my luck around on the table games. It's OVER!

It's going to be hard to not play but I know the consquences if I do and the tilt alone afterwards isn't even worth it, and I don't even want to win a thousand dollars in bacarrat it's not how I want to win. It'll be more rewarding if I played well in poker and win that way.

It's October 20th today and I am 1 Day sober from Table Games and I am going to keep a counter and really not over look this because I know how easily it is to just go back to an old habit. There's a hockey game in town tonight and usually on game nights the poker room has a lot of actions so I am going to play a session right now. Hopefully it be a good one!

Pretty frustrating session
-300$

one of the best action. played 8 hours. about midnight there's a guy who literally raise 30-60$ preflop every hand and if he connects in anyway like bottom pair he calls all in or shoves all in. couldn't catch a hand. probably gonna play another session later

gl

staying out of the pit should be your #1 focus. much harder and more profitable than beating live.

-860
4 days clean from table games

another ****ty night. got it in good vs draws on 3 big pots and lost. after my 2nd loss i wanted to play table games so badly lol but i walked away thinking i didn't want to update it on here.

first winning session of the blog
+570

my life routine is terrible right now. didn't felt like playing today, slept at 10PM. I woke up at 3AM and was hungry. I live in Calgary Canada not sure if all the casino does this around the globe but all the casino here serves food to the players at 3AM so I decide to go eat and fold cards.

I left the house and I remember closing my garage door and double checking. I got to the casino and they were serving some really nice pastas which isn't often, usually its some disgusting pizza. I played for 3 hours and made a profit. Was a pretty solid night all my hand held up. I would want to post some HH as well but not much interesting hands. I may start bringing a notepad just to jot down some hands for details. Yesterday when I lost 860 there were some hands I didn't play well that were small pots and i was steaming and those are the hands I could review. The big pots I lost were pretty standard spots and nothing I would do differently so i wouldn't want to just post another bad beat story on here

anyways i got home at 6:30AM and drove up to my house and my garage door was open. I just want a night where I can sleep well lol, it's kinda eerie and now I am a little bothered. I walk around the house and check every door and nobody, checked under my bed etc, I didn't wanna look too well cause if someone is hiding somewhere hopefully they just show themselves out, no confrontation needed. anyways I locked the door to my room.

tmr playing a 165$ tournament, not a tournament player but a frd wanted me to play and i think it's decent structure and player field. hope for the run goods

Tournament result
65 player field. 165$ buy in plus rebuy option at cash casino.

I built some chip lead. Early got flopped top set vs nut flush draw against another big stack and i held was early chip lead. Got down to money 7th and big stack loose player open to 10,000 chips min raise i rejam with KQo 65,000 he calls with 55. Window card king turn 5 and i cash for 300$. First place was 3600$ its a shame but finishing money was good results happy with the way i played.

I had to wait for a frd who was playing in a satellite SNG and the only game there was 2-5 PLO i shouldnt have played but got bored and bought in for 360$ and lost that

Head over to deerfoot casino and one guy had AK vs A3 and A3 rivered two pair. He was tilting and he bought in 200$ more and raise to 30$ pre for 1-2 game. Everyone fold. Next hand he raises to 30$ again pre and said he gonna raise every pot. I got TT and i reriase to 130$ he jams with A9o for 210 total. Board runs out QQ5KK.

Down 425$ for what started like a promising night. Currently playing another cash session.

ok time to update again
6 Days clean from table game

been running so bad this month. but I try to reset my mindset every day to the best of my ability. I sat down at this table where this guy on my left had 12$. He went all in AJ three ways and triples up to 40$ ish. he chips up bit to 60$ ish then he got AJs again and raises to 15$ from big blind. get calls multi way and flops flush draw. jams and get 2 callers and he wins that and now he has 205$.

Now mr. 12$ is at sb and couple of limpers I have 46s and I limp btn. He raises sb to 10$ 2 callers and I call.

Flop 46Q flush draw. he Leads 25$ and HJ calls. I cover and effective stack is 205$. I decide to jam here because I know he's not folding top pair and vs 2 players way too many draws I shouldn't even play 46 bottom 2 are always vulnerable. But pretty sure I had the best hand and this play gets max value. SB tank calls and HJ shows Q and fold. Turn K and river K and sb shows KQo.

I was pretty tilted and wanted to say something negative to the guy like "nice play" sarcastically but he actually looked super happy. He went from 12$ to 425$ in less than 2 orbits so I just said nice hand buddy, but saying it geniunly haha.

A couple hands later I open 88 to 15$ and get calls by short stack. flop 522. i bet 25$ he goes all in for 60$ i call. he shows pocket 3s and rivers full house.

Honestly this is one of the worst runs I've ever had and I felt like I was at my limit and I'm about to explode, but I really just sucked it in and walk it off. I talked to my frd and complained a bit, I don't like it when I do and I feel bad my frd's always listening to my bad beat stories but I was just in a slight shock.

I gather my cool after 10 mins and I sat back down. and I started making some good plays + value bets. Actually ended up the night up 650$ after grinding for 9 hours. I've been losing my cool a lot lately and starting off the session with those 2 beats I felt pretty good I didn't lose it this time and luckily I was able to turn a profit for the night.

Big hand of the night:
A bit of history n table dynamic. I moved tables and this is about 3-4 hours in.
My image to the table is active, they probably dont notice my image but people were calling a lot preflop. the villain in this hand is a 50 year old caucasian guy. he has been tight usually miss flop just folds. but he smooth called AA twice preflop and raising people's 20-25$ cbet to 60$. He had AA twice and did this twice and showed AA both times.

I open JJ from UTG+2 to 12$. villan calls @ CO, sb and bb both call.

Flop pot ~ 45$
743

bb donks 20$ I call. Villain raises to 65$. bb folds.

This was really a tough spot for me. I'm sure he isn't bluffing but I know he's a recreational player and he overvalues hands. also he doesn't know how to plays post flop. He has ~ 300$ to start the hand.

He could definitely have QQ-AA and I also felt like he has 88-TT as well. so the combos are 50-50. I definitely think he does this with 88-TT but its just such a tough spot and he's pretty deep for me to jam. I decide to call here because I know he doesn't have spades and if flush comes he'll slow down and I can also evaluate depending on what card comes.

turn pot ~ 175$
743 3
I check and he bets 125$ and have like 90$ behind. I guess he could also have a set but on the turn I eliminated set from his range because 125$ is a big bet for him and if he has the nuts he would wanna suck me in, it's also a pretty good card for me I counterfeit 74 two pair, although he never would never have that hand in this spot.

Can't remember the last time I put JJ in this spot but I just felt he has an overpair and if he has QQ or KK then nice hand. I get it in he calls and has TT, so pretty happy to scoop that big pot.

I won a couple more hands afterwards and miss some draws, wins a couple flips. ended the night up +650$. nice to make a comeback for sure.

I had a couple days off until now and start work tmr so I'll probably get to play this weekend at the earliest.

Have enjoyed reading updates so far + gl with the continuing of avoiding table games! Hopefully you hit a solid heater in poker so you are less tempted for table spins !

We talked briefly on here few months ago when I moved to Calgary, still here but have mostly been playing online until bankroll is more comfortable, also don't really enjoy the live atmosphere though I want to push myself to play since the games are so profitable.. perhaps we will meet in the future!

GL bro! Long time no talk! n subscribed! I caught the baccarat bug too when I went to appt Manila..

ya i remember you haha thanks man. gluck online im sure we'll meet, small town

yooo buddy haha ya dangerous game. keeping clean now haha hopefully poker going good for you

Do you solely play 1/2? (How much of that graph is 1/2)

Ya i only play 1-2. there are only 1-2 games in my city, lots of 1-2 games and Rarely 2-5 games unless people gathered and ask the house to start one, in my past year here only seen that happen like twice. I would probably play 2-5 games if it runs reguarly but the 1-2 games here run pretty big. There are straddles/ button straddles and probably plays like a 2-4 game on weekends when the actions are packed.

the other games that run in Calgary is 2-5 PLO and my PLO game is bad, brand new player in that game, lots to learn hopefully I can transition into that game one day b/c the PLO game runs way too big for my bankroll. I played about 4-5 PLO session just to try and get lucky when I was tilted in March 2016, dropped like 3000$ which you can see in the middle of the group. Now I try to stay away from PLO. but the rest of the 235 games are all 1-2 games.

No session today. Just worked my first day in 2 weeks. Had to wake up at 6:30am to work from 8:00am to 4:30pm. SUPER exhausted. It was a training course so we had to listen to lectures all day. While I was sitting there I just wish I could play poker instead. 8 hours flies by on the poker table, but I guess balance is good there are days when i grinded poker and i felt sick and I wish I could just do normal jobs.

Anyways Had to wake up 6:30AM tomorrow again so I can't stay up too late. I just got home and kinda got the itch to play even though I shouldn't because of time constraint. I think it's good to for me to learn to take days off and just enjoy the day, watch a movie etc. also i don't like going and having limited time to play. It's easy to leave if you are up but if I am down I like the option to grind longer. So yeah~ also didn't get enough sleep last night, probably catch up on some sleep and clean my room or something. Maybe i can try to squeeze a session tomorrow since Friday just seems too far away.

Lightning Update then I gota crash~ super tired.

I been working 8-9 hours a day this week physical work, and after work I just been going straight to bed. Wanted to squeeze in a sess yesterday but passed out. Got home today and was planning on playing but again SUPER tired I lay on my bed and I just want to sleep again, but I felt I missed two days and there's enough energy in me to get off my lazy ass and play.

Decided to play in Deerfoot Casino, it's Thursday and usually action is better here on weekdays. 3 tables running and a couple of loose passive players at my table which is great. Got off work at 5:00pm. Rested for an hour and got to Deerfoot at 6:30pm. Was planning play until 9-10pm if card dead. but ended up playing until midnight. Played well today not too many difficult spots, made good value bets, missed cbets get through, folded when behind etc. In for 300 and out 900$. I was at 900$ already about 10:00pm and I stayed another 2 hours but didn't really get another spot. Wanted to stay longer but need to wake up at 6:00am the next day

Tomorrow is weekend anyways so I can continue playing tomorrow. Good win for today

Profit: +$600
Days clean from table game: 9

friday night session soon. gonna go right into the late AMs

aite its tough to keep this updated. need to get in a habit to update it daily either end of day or start of day

last Saturday I played a tournament at cash casino 560$ buy in for 330+ player field. deep stack tourney with 40 min blinds. I couldn't reach Day 2 and busted level 14. Couldn't catch a hand but I was able to obtain chips thru steals and maximizing value on the few hands i won. Eventually had to flip and lost that. Swapped action with another and he didn't cash either so that's a bummer. Started at noon and finished at 9:00pm or so.

Decided to head over to Cowboys casino for some cash game. It's halloween and there are the Calgary Flames hockey games which are near the casino so action's always great during game day. I was rather tired and had 145$ in my wallet I planned to just do a short buy and if i bust I just wanted to go home and rest. The action was so good I ended up playing until 3AM. I ran the 145$ up as much as 300$ but I just couldn't get anything going, keep getting 2nd best hand and had to fold, there was a guy who was paying people off hard. The best spot I had was QQ and I 3bet to 50$ and he calls and flop AKx, and I check-folded. I was kinda mentally tired I stayed too long as usual. Actually felt like I played my A/B game most of the night so okay with that but I live 30 mins away and I needed to sleep. I have a pillow in the backseat of my car for situations like this I just went to the car and slept

Woke up at 11am and might as well keep grinding. bought in for 200$ and had a 14 hour session until 1:15AM. Again the action was just one of the best, towards the night bunch of drunk fella and fun players I hit a couple of hands here and there but ultimately it was frustrating. I lost one 500+ pot on the flop with flush+gutter vs two guys who got it in with top pair and missed. and several medium sized pot. ended the night with 444$ and had to work the next day at 8am. and i shouldn't have left at 1:15AM that was way too late and literally had to leave or else I would not wake up for my work =\

got 4 hours of solid sleep. and went to work 8 hours half asleep did not feel good. Ended the weekend up 94$ but down 560$ for the main event tournament (I had a frd who bought my action for 200$). felt I played well in cash game, I chased a lot of draws because everyone was 500+ deep but I couldn't hit any. feels exhausted but keeping my heads up.

Its end of oct and I just wanted to take the day off but may not be able to grind next few days. im prob gonna do a summary and chart for my oct grind tonight so hopefully I end tonight with a good note

alright end of the first month of the blog. finish a short session now and glad it was a good session got some big pairs and it held up. in for 200 out for 540~

ill be starting a new graph for this blog, the old data is still there but haven't played much poker last month and earlier this month except for table games. and this is my Reform thread that I hope to keep me in good routines and habits. straight up poker.

actually played 2 tournaments this month as you can see in my previous post. 165$ buy and out 300$ for 7th place, but 100$ was given to another player we split action. then the 2nd tournament was the 560$ buy in which I had 200$ action bought off me and I didn't cash off that. Also lost 360$ in 2-5 Omaha game I played once. so overall those dropped me down a bit but the poker journal entry is strictly for 1-2$ NL



Oct 18 - Oct 31, 2016
Profit: $1,113
Hours: 67 hours
13 days clean from table games. gonna keep thatt up through november !

Hey, just sending some good vibes your way! Really like the blog and have had my own problems with craps and blackjack in the past.

Curious about the Calgary poker scene since ill be out there in a month to visit some friends - any of the rooms have 24/7 action or do they all shut down around a certain time?

I'm not OP but all the poker rooms are 24/7 (not the casinos themselves though, they usually shut down at ~3 but they are seperate.) Deerfoot casino also is on 'pokerdesklive' where you can see what tables are running online without having to call in. Wish cowboys / grey eagle had this feature!

thanks appreciate it ya TreadLightly is absolutely right . 24/7 room on good nights actions good until 2-3AM and usuallly ppl start to scatter and game is pretty dead around 4-5AM as expected. check the place out for sure it's got one of the better 1-2$ in Canada and I've played in Ontario and Vancouver as well.