Yeah Id imagine I would know the face if he is any type of semi-reg. Thanks for the well wishes

Thanks man! Haha I feel ya-- I'm always worried about the dealers when I am in the 1 or 10 giving them a good accidental knock down.

I think that the tall chip stacks are semi-good for my image too-- I think it gives more of a "young super laggy internet poker kid" image to me-- when in reality I am betting for value 99% of the time-- I get called off really light.

Went down to Twin River on sunday night and finished -304 over 6 hours, played too splashy for my style of play-- and then got priced into a big draw with a hand I usually wouldnt play preflop-- good lesson for me, the math was breakeven for a ~400 pot but as I have said many times those are not spots I look for and was pretty disappointed for playing the variance game.

Overall after 100 hours I am up 2,975. Writing a recap and plan for the future later today.

Just bought the book PEAK PERFORMANCE POKER by Patricia Cardner and Jonathan Little. I am 2 chapters in and BY FAR this is the most excited I have been in like 5 years to read a poker book. We spend so much time working to develop our A game strategy, but not enough is talked about mentally strengthening yourself to always have the capacity to find that clarity to allow your A game.

I think I will take few days off this week from poker-- have 3 days off from work next week specifically to play and enjoy life-- in no way am I planning on chasing hours this week. It will be a great chance to reflect on the first 100 hours, study some hands, but more importantly go over goals and keep reading this new book.

Cheers

Taking breaks is a huge thing for me. Everyone is different though...

I have learned from experience that playing consecutive 24+ hour sessions burns you out fast and you start playing sloppy or too fast.


Another thing I feel helps is being physically active! Jogging a few times a week, pushups, situps, and chinups at a minimum... This naturally gets your brain energized.

Played 2.5 at Twin last night for 6 hours and finished +1.

106 hours/ 2976 profit

Creating a pretty epic mission statement for my life as we speak. I have hit a lot of my goals regarding my life over the past 8 months and I need to continue with my pursuit of being the best version of myself.

Have been a little unsure of what to do with life moving forward-- I am leaning towards getting certified for personal training. What I do isnt quite personal training-- buts its semi close and I have really enjoyed the fitness industry to this point.

My poker schedule over the next week: NH Poker Rooms (Hampton Falls or /Manchester room) tomorrow night and maybe Sunday as well. Tuesday-Thursday I will be down in CT so Foxwoods and maybe Mohegan. Next weekend into Monday will probably be at Twin River. Let me know if you are there any of those days and want to meet a fellow 2+2er, seems SUPER+EV to me.

Going home this weekend before my CT vacation. A good friend of mine just got back from Iraq on leave and is having a big cookout with all my buddies. Lot of perspective when I think about his life. Whether I think I am having a bad day because I am dealing with tough clients at my job-- or maybe card dead at the table and sick of seeing Q3 off--- how can I complain about such trivial things compared to what a bad day is for you when that is your job? Crazy to think about.

I forget what drugs you were on and what not and I don't want to go back and look because I'm on an iPad. just curious how your day to day has been? don't want to bring up past demons but do you think about drugs ever? always enjoy checking in here and it sounds like you are doing well. I smoke weed sometimes, sometimes quit for short periods but I have never completely quit but it would be nice to. just wanted to hear your thoughts on your dad to day in regards to your current state of being and if you think about drugs in your day to day?

My day to day is actually pretty solid for someone 8 months removed from the lifestyle I was living. Flashback-I was an alcoholic who drank like 25 nips a day-- while going through a pretty average life of a 24 year old. Working a desk job with a solid buzz throughout the day-- balancing a lot of lies-- trying to hide my drinking from everyone and especially my ex.

I think my need to escape reality was rooted in the gap between the vision of who I wanted to be and who I was. My life was not fulfilling at all at that time- I was fueled with anxiety and all alcohol did was serve as my master and feast upon my insecurities.

My drinking was never big growing up because I had such an amazing life that I guess there was no need for me to escape reality besides the occasional weekend party. Sports were too big for me to put that in jeopardy because my high school had a somewhat strict policy about getting caught drinking.

Umass Amherst was what got me going. I had so much fun in those 4 years. I loved life and meeting people- it was the perfect situation with someone of my personality. Senior year was so bittersweet that I think thats when the reality of real life coming came in. I wanted to make as many memories as I could before I left-- Life in my eyes was ending and would never be as enjoyable as it had been in college.

The next two years between graduation and this current moment have been a whirlwind. Lost relationship, lost license, lost job, rehab 2x, put on 65 lbs of pure bloat. To sum it all up-- I went from Prom King to coming down to rehab on the Cape-- seeing a kid who I was friends with in high school-- and he said "I never thought I would see you down here"

Back to current day: A good week for me looks like this--
Pray- everyday 5x, spirituality and faith keep me going
Work out- I lift pretty intensely 5x a week
Learn- I watch something inspirational/motivational every day
Meditate- Use the app headspace 6x a week
Nutrition- Being a vegetarian trying to gain muscle mass is challenging- always thinking about protein and getting enough nutrients
Friends/Family- Relationships are super important to me- we are put on this world to interact, love and provide positive energy and experiences to others
Basketball- Sports are huge in my life- I shoot around 2x a week, I shoot free throws at like a 85/100 clip and 3 pointers at 45/100... my first addiction was sports.
Writing/Reading- For the first time in my life I dont have a TV-- it has been awesome because it has forced me to develop my writing and I have a lot of time to read. Currently reading 1 poker book (Peak Performance Poker) and 1 lifestyle book ( The surrender experiment). This year I have read like ~7 books.
Sobriety- I haven't been going to as many meetings as I would like-- but have been doing work on myself and implementing a lot of AA ideas in my life. As far as urges go- I am pretty driven on progressing my life right now and alcohol would thwart all my progress at this time. I cant see anything "right" about drinking right now so its kind of an after thought.

A big thing I have been working on lately is living with a growth mindset-- highly recommend anyone who is struggling or in a rut-- or even doing well to give a quick read or youtube listen to the differences between a growth mindset and fixed mindset. Really incredible.

Can't believe I haven't commented yet. Love the thread Dave. It was great meeting the other night, and it looks like you are doing awesome - especially after going Super Saiyan on the whole table and cleaning them out.

"I think my need to escape reality was rooted in the gap between the vision of who I wanted to be and who I was. My life was not fulfilling at all at that time- I was fueled with anxiety and all alcohol did was serve as my master and feast upon my insecurities." - I think this is a great reflection and I have struggled with the same thing, but think that it is alright to have such a large gap between the vision of who you want to be and who you are, but you just need to keep in perspective that you set these possibly unattainable goals that are almost never reached, with the purpose of causing you to still work your ass off and achieve a still extraordinary result. And when you aren't able to step back and put it into perspective, we use things as crutches to cope with it.

Here's to many more good sessions and meeting up again in the near future.

Best,

Boris

Checking in from Foxwoods- day 1 of my 3 day vacation.

Boris awesome to meet you- we definitely have some similar outlooks on life and common interests. Look forward to next time we can crush some flops and grab some food. We will obviously be in touch and I loved your last comment above ^ +1 man.

Quick catch up-- had an extremely profitable 1.2 session over 3 hours at Manchester poker room last Saturday. Went up 770 over 3 hours at 1.2 while bringing one of my best friends to play poker for the first time.

Brings my total to ++++3746 over 109 hours.

Expectations for this trip to Foxwoods:
Relax, get 2 workouts in, 2 days at the pool, find time to meditate, enjoy time spent with my 2 buddies I am with, continue working on vision statement. As far as poker goes I havent really set expectations other than playing well and getting some hours in. I am planning on starting at 1.2 and playing pretty tight--- during poker trips I really try to set myself up to be successful by having a profitable first session and not finding myself in any holes. I was planning on writing out my main hands from this trip on the fly-- but we will see how it goes-- I really do want to relax and enjoy company but if I find the motivation to write I will!

Currently reading peak performance poker while grabbing lunch in the Fox Tower- headed back out the pool on this beautiful day and feeling very grateful for this vacation.

Pg. 46 of Peak Performance " Considering that our habits create our life, there is arguably no single skill that is more important for you to learn and master than controlling your habits".

Played 1.2 with my buddy last night and finished -57 at 1.2 after 6 hours- extremely slow table- I had 1 spew where I limp/ called aggressive little bit spewy mid/late 20s guy. I had j10 off and we went heads up after he made it 15- eff stacks were 350. flop aq10ss- I checked he bet 20- i reverse floated. Turn was a blank and I fired 40- he quickly flatted and I gave up on river- he bet 65 and showed top set of aces. Very disappointed with my play here, no need to pick this spot- was a good reminder that I play 1.2 to be betting for value and the reason I win in 1.2 is because I avoid spews that others make- while value betting and going for max value with my premium hands better than most.

Got a solid 7 hours last night of sleep- meditate this morning- checked out of Foxwoods room- out by the pool til later afternoon and plan to play for a few hours later. Id imagine 2.5 or plo 1.2.

115 hours and net 3689

Had a fantastic day today. Crushed the pool with my friend. Meditated this morning. Hit planet fitness for an arms workout. Played a few hours of Omaha. Doing a fantasy draft with some of my best friends whom Ive known since we were all like 6.

I ran extremely well at 1.2 PLO. Made 630 over 4 hours. Brings total total to 121 hours and +4319.

Lets go through some hands... BTW doing this mid draft- 10 teams with 1 keeper each-- I had 6th pick and keeper was Allen Robinson in 5th round. David Johnson Eddie Lacy CJ Anderson Randall Cobb Allen Robinson. Like it so far- a few guys I expect/hope to bounce back.

A few hands- pretty exhausted so player descriptions will be light.

Hero buys in for 200-- bleeds a little bit-- flops top set and obvious wrap completing card hits turn and it goes pot-pot- hero makes easy fold-- river wouldnt have filled. me up.

Hero adds on a $140 to buy-in full and moves seats to 9 seat. Start of super fun run good.

Hero HJ ($350) Has 5584A villain who has me covered Pots in it IN MP for like ~15 and it was the first time I had seen him pot preflop so I really put his range at strict AA and monsters. He seemed a little spewy postflop so I talked myself into a call IP- 1 other caller with a deep stack. Flop ($50) 1053. Check- Preflop Raisor bets 50- I make it $175 back and he snap shoves all-in- but there was definitely a little hesitation and nervousness on his face seeing what I was going to do. I really thought his range had more AA with NFD type hands in here- and I am getting 3:1 on my call-- if he had 1010 thats a tough spot-- and a good lesson for me preflop but I end up making what I think is an easy call. He flips over AAQ7. I believe I was 67% and the board runs out 83. And hero scoops what they said "was biggest pot all day:.

Hero ($700) Limps in OTB. Action is 7 ways. JJA5 OTB Flop ($12) J103 SB bets out $10 and 4 people call-- I decided to flat here.... Against the grain-- but I was planning on bombing good turns-- and I also wanted to fade one of the draws 1x-- eff stacks here were like $400 for several us. Turn is 7 ($52) Flop bettor checks and pretty tight guy bets $45- call- and I call- and 1 call behind from Flop Bettor. ($232) River is the beatiful 10 . Checks around to me-- I bet $125-- and Turn bettor tanks calls. I scoop pot.

(Ended up writing this last night) but had trouble with internet posting.

Update to current moment: Woke up this morning- planning on meditating- hitting planet fitness in Groton- getting some food-- and then playing at Foxwoods for a 8ish hours before driving back to the Cape. This little mini-vacation has been a blast- havent even played that much poker.

Upon reflection I think given stack sizes and all the bad turns possible that my flatting with top set was correct-- I was a 45-55 dog to a nut wrap with spades-- any flat call of my pot bet on the flop and then someone potting the spades or wrap filling-- would price me out of the pot because I would then be a 75-25 underdog to a made str8 or flush.

According to peak poker performance-- Cue+Routine+Reward=Habit

Waiting for premium hands is cued by me listening to way too much Eric Thomas-- which becomes routine-- which I get rewarded for b/c everyone pays off the 24 year old when he bets big= A nice habit because I really like winning chips

Enjoy the day 2+2

Before my session while leaving hotel-- listened to Jcole Love Yourz live on youtube-- it made me feel so gross/even dirty for my last post because I think that post would suggest that a lot of happiness can be created/lost by winning chips.

I dont want my happiness levels to be dictated by my + or -'s of my session. I am starting to develop a lot of "why's" to playing poker-- I will share my first sentence of my vision statement for my life-- a project I have been working on.

"Enjoy my life and create the greatest amount of positive energy I can- that will allow me to bring the most to both my existence- others around me- and those who I will never meet. Understand that I am human- I was born to make mistakes- but I can never lose because I have already lived."

And to quote J.Cole because he says it so perfectly-- " Always gonna be a bigger house somewhere but as long as those people in that house love you dearly. Always gonna be a car thats better than the one that you got. Always gonna be some clothes that fresher than the ones you rock. Always gonna be a girl out their on tours that is badder than yours. But you aint ever gonna be happy until you love yours."

Ran super cool on my day 3- had a blast the last few days- lost 500 today but laying in bed back on the Cape with a huge smile on my face in my basement apartment that probably has more spiders than the amount of doll hairs I lost today.

Trip was awesome- great to get away and spend time with my buddies. Finished +73 over like 17 hours. Total poker is 128 hours for +++3819. More importantly I made it to the gym 2/3 days, ate pretty well, got some interesting people at my tables to talk to, and got meditation in 2/3 days.

The last hand I played today was pretty interesting and will post later on- thanks o-money for looking over it via text for me.

Eric Thomas- it's not who you think you are that's holding you back- it's who you think you are not.

good updates except for that j Cole butcher

I tried to make it family friendly--- which I am not sure why since this is a site for people who spend time in Casinos and online poker rooms.

I will level myself here-- My mom would be happy at how I reworded the lyrics

Thanks though!

Yesterday was tough session cards wise-- went in to play 2.5 NL to start the day. Lost 250 over 3 hours- had 2 hands were I committed >$30 to the pot.

Hero's image was probably pretty ABC-- didnt do much-- didnt spew.

Hero opens to 30 JJ MP+1 ($450). Older white guy behind (1100) flats the 30. Everyone else folds and we go heads up. ( Villain 1 Winning- has made a few plays- seems to be a regular). Flop comes k93. ($65) Hero checks. Villains bets 35. Hero thinks for a second and calls. ( I dont like giving up her after 1 barrel because I dont think this particular villain has a high frequency of double barrels, and I would imagine would check a flush draw on the turn if unimproved. Turn is 5. Hero checks, Villains quickly bets $65 and Hero thinks for a few seconds and folds. Villains shows AK.

Hero has K2 in BB ($400) Limps around to hero who checks. Flop comes K52. Hero leads 20-- Villain 1 ( 50 year old guy who seems recreational and just lost a BI calling an AI on a J782 board with AA and losing) flats and a younger guy- 30ish- seems to be a regular and play tight ABC-- flats as well. Both have hero covered. Turn is 9 ($80) Hero checks- V1 checks- V2 bets 30... Hero flats. V1 folds. ($140) River comes Q. Hero misses K flush draw-- hero checks and V1 checks and instantly flips over KQ and rivered HIGHER DOS pairs. I had his spade beat too

Hero put in money preflop with a few pocket pairs 22,55, 77 and that was really the only significance to that session-- didnt win a pot

Hero switches to 2.5 PLO-- 1.2 was not running.

Buys in for $350. Cap is $500 and I felt okay with 75BBs at a table that was opening.

Hands of significance--

AKQK

V1 is a reg who has me covered- opening a lot- makes it $20 UTG ( We were 7 handed) Hero 3 bets OTB to 70 ($340). V1 calls and we see flop heads up. ($145) Q710. V1 quickly bombs pot-- and just a really gross flop for Hero. Hero thinks for 30 seconds and folds. V1 flips Q108 x over.

AQQ9 ($275) UTG+2 makes it 25 and there are like 5 callers ahread and I flat OTB. Flop 643 Checks to me- I pot it and take it down.

K98k UTG+1 ($350) Hero limps (not sure what to do here would love thoughts) UTG+2 makes it 20 (Mid 20s white reg who is pretty LAG) has hero covered (500) CO ($800) Woman who is mid 50s seems to be extremely experienced PLO player from AC area flats-- and hero flats.

Flop comes 1064 ($70) checks through. Turn is A. Checks through. River is 7. Hero bets $35 and is called by V2 Woman who calls quick and says sucker straight and Hero wins.

The final hand of the trip AJA6

Hero had gone card dead for an hour and starts hand at $250

UTG+1 makes it 20 (Super laggy mid 20s white kid who plays semi pro and doesnt have a job (3k). 4 callers and Hero pots it to $150-- however math works out I cant remember exactly-- but I know pot was $150-- V1 laggy kid calls-- and another caller comes a long who seems to be another reg (late 20s white guy). Flop ($510~) KQ9

V1 pots- V2 calls- Hero---- is SOOO PRICED IN but is like almost drawing dead to a lot of hands here-- FOLDS...... Thinking only non spade tens are the only way he can scoop/chop pot. Gets up to leave with his last 100 bucks and turn is 10 River 2. V1 shows KK76 and V2 mucks. YIKESSS.

Getting this in on 95-98% of flops-- but I think this had to be the worst flop ever for my hand-- and the POT and call to create a $1500 pot made me think I might be ~drawing dead against a set and a j10xx type hand.

Okay with the fold as against a straight/flush draw combo and any set I am like 9%-- but it was a stinger as a card I didnt think was an out would have scooped me a big pot. But thats poker-- we do it for these crazy interesting spots.

Playing at these games is always fun- and to be honest it is very much recreational to me compared to playing 1.2 at Twin River-- which is really my most comfortable/profitable game. I would call yesterday a semi-shot taking kind of day-- I had the very profitable day the day before at 1.2 PLO which made me feel okay doing this.

Very happy to have had such a good trip and finish up a few bucks at the poker table.

Lotta 2+2 respect here for you

For what's money without happiness?
Or hard times without the people you love
Though I'm not sure what's 'bout to happen next
I asked for strength from the Lord up above
Cause I've been strong so far
But I can feel my grip loosening
Quick, do something before you lose it for good
Get it back and use it for good
And touch the people how you did like before
I'm tired of living with demons cause they always inviting more
Think being broke was better
Now I don't mean that phrase with no disrespect
To all my ****** out there living in debt
Cashing minimal checks
Turn on the TV see a ***** Rolex
And fantasize about a life with no stress
I mean this **** sincerely
And that's a ***** who was once in your shoes
Living with nothin' to lose
I hope one day you hear me
Always gon' be a bigger house somewhere, but ***** feel me
Long as the people in that mother****er love you dearly
Always gon' be a whip that's better than the the one you got
Always gon' be some clothes that's fresher than the ones you rock
Always gon' be a bitch that's badder out there on the tours
But you ain't never gon' be happy till you love yours

Played 2 sessions this weekend in NH- one at Hampton Falls (-37 5 hours) and one at Manch Vegas 1.2 (-221 5 hours).

Had some tough suck outs at Hampton Falls, got it in flush vs top 2 with a short stack for a 275 pot and he boats on turn. Later in the night flop bottom set and get it in with a guy whose overpair rivers a higher set for 375. Overall was pretty happy with my play that night- just had some tough run outs.

The second night was a different case- I again had tough run outs- but I played really poorly preflop. By the end of the night I was a little poker drained which lead to some self evaluation.

After the weeknd my total is 138 hours for net profit of $3561 =$25.80 hourly. August was probably the best month I have ever had results wise--- net profit was 2120 over 73 hours.

Taking a 2 week break from poker-- including study and 2+2. Optimal time for a break is right now before a "B" game due to complacency and boredom sneaks in and robs some of my BR. I enjoy breaks from almost anything- gives you an opportunity to step back and evaluate your reasoning and passions/lack thereof for anything you are devoting a lot of time/effort to.

Will be doing a 14 day stretch of character challenge.

Baselines of that challenge:

-20 minutes of meditation every day (up from 10) Headspace
-16 gym sessions over next 14 days (currently at 5x week)
-create a bodyspace page (same idea for gym as 2+2 is for poker-- accountability and motivation factors)
-compliment 15 strangers in the next 2 weeks and write about experience
-anytime I complain it needs to be written about- aka stop complaining
-tell 15 friends about some of the great qualities they possess
-10 yoga sessions on youtube- can be short 10 minute ones
-200 g of protein 6x a week
-no unncesseary eating after 9:45
-5 minute journal exercise (Tim Ferriss)
-Share at 3 AA meetings ( I am at 8.5 months sober-need to keep working on myself and give back to newcomers)
-Do some out of the box thinking ()

Pretty excited for this challenge and opportunity for further personal growth.

Anyone who has read my challenge to this point knows how much I love quotes- no matter how overly sensitive or cliche they might be...

"Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

Still hitting it Monday Sept 19th for Monday Madness?

Yessir planning on it ^

Do u live on the cape?

I do- I live in West Yarmouth currently

Have not played in a single home game on Cape Cod

Nice. I live in plymouth. I play around twin river occasionally