Hi, my name is Carmen. I am a 21 year old girl that studies engineering and rows competitively in Halifax Nova Scotia. Over the past few months I’ve lost a lot of motivation due to a negative life experience (Long story short, I was trying to be there for someone because I have a big heart and it backfired big time). It left me a little depressed and feeling trapped here in this small (relatively speaking) city. With a study week fast approaching, I decided to look at plane tickets to London. I found some relatively inexpensive ones, checked to see if I could stay with a friend there and then bought the ticket. I have to say, that this decision was truly one of the best I’ve ever made. Before I left, I was in row-bot mode; waking up at 5, training 1-2 times a day, going to school, coaching swimming etc. The only thing that was making me happy was the little bit of live poker I’d been playing. After arriving in London, I was finally able to take time for myself. Ate lots of Pizza, slept in, went for walks, spent quality time with people I care about and played my first ever live poker tournament. To recap on that experience briefly; I lasted about 4.5 hours, was fairly card dead and got it in with AKs for my last 10BB. Guy behind me wakes up with AA and the rest is history. I also managed to play a bit of 1/1 there which was really cool because I had never played in a casino other than my own and I met some interesting people. All in all it was a great experience.
My casino is not the greatest for poker players looking to play professionally. The poker room is open from 12pm-2am on weekdays and 4am on weekends. They generally have 3 tables open at a time. 2 tables of 1/2 NLHE (max buy-in 200) and 1 table of 5/5 PLO (max buy-in 1000). Sometimes they open up more tables if the waiting list is long (which it always seems to be) and if they have enough dealers (which they never seem to have). Let’s just say I saw 5 tables running one time recently and that was impressive. They also don’t run tournaments
which is why I’d never played one till London.
Over the course of the trip, an idea started to form. I’ve been playing poker recreationally now for 2.5 years, both online and live. I’m smart, hardworking and competitive. I’m decent at this game and I want to make a serious run at it. This whole idea has me finally feeling motivated again and not just for poker. I’m feeling motivated for rowing again and for school. So I guess this means I should tell you about my goals.
Rowing Goals: There are a lot of time based goals I can strive for this winter but my main goal here is to get my training in and approach every practice with intent. My current 2k PB is 7:48 (I am a lightweight rower for those of you that want to put that into perspective). My 2k goal for this winter is a 7:36.
Student Goals: Truthfully I don’t care too much about my grades other than passing. But I do want to pass and I am prepared to do the work to make that happen.
Poker Goals AKA the reason I’m here: My goal is to grind poker in London this summer from May to September. Why London? Well for starters, I’d likely have a place to stay with another poker player. The game selection is far better than what I can get here. Plus I still plan on rowing and England is supposedly quite good at the whole rowing thing. I will determine whether or not I will go to London to grind by the end of December. How I will determine this is where things get interesting.
Prior to now, I have never tracked results. So first things first, I have downloaded a tracking app on my phone for live sessions and have downloaded the trial for HM2 (still wondering about PT4 vs HM2, maybe you can give some insight on this). I have tracked one session (while I was in London) and have an interesting hand that I will be sharing later on. Why is it so important to start tracking? Well other than it just being the smart thing to do for any non-recreational player, but it’s also good for future backing and coaching deals. Ideally when I go to London I want to be on a backing & coaching deal. I’ve seen this work for others and think it’s GTO. I do want to add that this will not be a deciding factor on whether or not I go. It will just be a good way for me to take shots at higher stakes and get coaching from people playing the game at a higher level. So, what do I plan to do between now and the end of December? Study and Volume!! Since I’m a student, live volume will be a little difficult and I know that. After exams in mid-December I’ll be able to get more in but for now I will need to play some hands online at 10 and 25nl whilst getting as much live sessions in as possible. I want to get in lots of volume basically for learning and tracking purposes with the hopes of also building up my BR. By the end of this period I will know if I feel I’ve done the work to deserve London.
What studying am I doing so far? Not much, which is another reason I’m here on 2+2. This is a great place for discussing and analyzing hands at no cost. However this is obviously not enough. So I went on upswing poker today and downloaded their free opening charts package and that’s what I’ll be studying this week. As of now I want to use as many free resources as I can so if guys have any suggestions on where I should be looking for this stuff, it would be much appreciated. After December, my plan is to start looking for these coaching & backing deals. From there, I will continue the volume and study grind until May where I will go to London and do more (a lot more) of the same.
My plan with this thread is to update you guys every week or two on how much volume I’m getting and what materials I’m studying. I will also be posting interesting hands histories here whether they be from big pots or tough spots.
So without further ado here is the first hand
Background: 1/1 Aspers casino. V is LAG Asian.
Pre Flop: $2 straddle, UTG+1(V2) raises to $4 (tried to raise it to $3 but then noticed the straddle was on). Folds to the CO(V) who then makes it $12. It folds around to here($200 eff.) on the BTN we look down at J
J
and decide to flat figuring that UTG+1 might try to re-raise and we dont want to get too out of line with JJ. UTG+1 calls and we are OTTF
Flop($40): T
9
X
checks to hero who bets $20, V2 folds, V calls.
At this point I'm putting V on a straight draw or maybe a hand like AT or A9. Hero blocks JQ, and J8 so he could have some KQ or two overs and is floating. I dont put him on any OP's since I think he would take a more agro line.
Turn ($80):T
V checks, Hero makes it $25, V calls.
I'm not sure I like my sizing here, I bet small here to keep some straight draws in since I block a J from rolling out. I also want to keep 9's in. And Its hard for him to have a T here especially now that he's just called.
River:9
V donk bets $52.
What would you do here?