Im creating this thread as a place for me to track and update my poker playing in the next year.

I am not a professional, im a serious-recreational player who hopes that poker can bring me in extra money to live a better life along with grinding my full time dead end job.

My poker background is iv tried the last couple of years to run up a bankroll from next to nothing up to playing in games where i could make some life changing money...but i never really managed this (mainly playing on stars). Dabbled in cash games, dabbled in sngs, dabbled in mtts, i think i have kind of given it all a shot, spending stretches of time focusing on specific games ether zoom 6 max only, or mtts sngs only etc trying to go from the bottom to the top. But more or less sitting at the bottom barely beating the micro levels. I have played a little bit live here and there and have always seemed to do really well as i enjoy playing live at the moment and also im usually against really bad players who couldnt beat 2nl online and think they think they invented the game because they are 10-30 years older than me.

Because of my lack of results online the last couple of years im now going into this year with no where near as much willingness to put in lots of volume and hours online anymore and maybe play live more.

Live Play
I live in a small city with no casino and there is a smallish poker community with 4 or 5 a nights a week there low buyin mtts in local pubs/clubs. Last year over the space on 6 weeks i tried to play as many as i could face playing as i had a bit of a drive to play live, buyins ranged from £5 up to £14 weekly games and £28 monthly games. I played 20 tournaments and profited around £350. Running good but the fields where possibly as soft as you could imagine.

Even crushing those small live mtts I soon get sick of it and dont want to play any for a while! There is some private weekly cash games £1/£1 or £1/£2 i have heard talk about which i am going to try and get into as it would be against a lot of the players i had played in the tournaments with so im sure i would have a massive edge against them.

So yep im just going to try and get into these private games and play them hopefully built up some money maybe some of the bigger tournaments now and then if i feel like it , if things go well maybe i can travel to casinos in other citys for cash games or some tournements with bigger buy ins but we shall take it one session at a time and will update here.

One day i would like to be able to play in the WSOP and winning a bracelet is a dream right now. Thats all that is right now.

Online

I will play on 2 sites

Pokerstars
bankroll is at around $170. Because of my lack of success in the past and also because the games are at there most competitive and hardest to beat on here (for me anyway) i have decided to stick to super strict brm but allowing myself to play what ever type of games i want.

Basically i restricted myself from depositing so going broke isnt an option.
I can play any tournement so long as i have 200BIs+ so i can play most mtts under $1 to start the year.
I can play any Big bet cash games NL and PL so long as i have 5000 big blinds or 50 buys ins assuming im buying in for 100BB. So I will be starting out grinding 2nl.
If i chose to play any limit/mixed games i must have 750+Big Bets so 0.10/0.20 at the moment.

William Hill Poker
I am terrible at sport betting and dont plan on doing any again anyway after chasing some loses i found out i lost £700 over the space of maybe 12-18months on william hill online. I decided i had 3 options...chase my loses but i know i will get even more stuck if i keep betting on football so planning to avoid that. I could of course just forget about william hill altogether which most likely is the best choice. I however decided to yes leave the sport betting and deposit £300 onto it just for poker. Bringing my lifetime investment on william hill to £1K. So im sticking to a 100 buyin rule for playing mtts on here to try to get my self able to cash out £1k plus this year. I played a few sessions before new year and im at around £370 now. Iv less stict brm on this site as the games are more softer than stars id imagine and there isnt as much traffic.
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Im not going to be playing every day, only when i have time and i feel like it.
Every time i do play Live or online i will update on here.

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If i have to give some sort of targets for poker only not mentioning other life stuff like get fit or what ever. Here is what i would be happy with.
First goals are what i think it is achievable at the very least, the 2nd goals are possible if i catch some breaks, then a 3rd goal that is probably unlikely and if i get even near it id be delighted..

Live Poker
[ ] profit £1000
[ ] profit £2000
[ ] profit £3000+ play in a major event (ukipt or something)

Pokerstars
[ ] be rolled for 25nl
[ ] cash out $2000
[ ] be rolled for 200nl

William Hill
[ ] cash out £1000
[ ] cash out £2000
[ ] cash out £3000+
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Anyway I haven't played a hand this year online or live. I can play tomorrow in a live tournament which is £55 to enter, which is a lot to me at this time of year so i shall see how i feel. If I do chose to play, it will be mainly so i can find out details on cash games that i can try and wiggle my way into. Also this is kind of a one of 'New year special' that will start early and last all day and buyins wont usually be this big. Im not sure i want to start the year of losing £55 on one mtt but at the same time it will be good value. I shall see.

starting of my first poker of the year, just playing 3 mtts on stars in bed!

$0.55 hotter
$0.50 360man sngs x2

that is all...

Planning if i can get out of bed in time to play £55 live freeze out reg closes at 11.45am likely a 12+hour tourny at the least looking at the structure as its quite a deepstack format to start at least.

Thanks

busted those 3 mtts, sleep.

Turned up for the live tournement after the registration had closed, iv basically just got out of bed! Good preperation i know but luckily they still let players in. quite a large turn out for this mtt, no doubt a decent first place prize. this is the biggest live mtt buyin iv played £55 might not seem a big deal you most but i really dont get the chance to play anything this size often.

41 runners
£55 buy in (no idea what rake is)
25000 starting stack
blinds to start 100/200

First break down to 13400 played very loose...going into 200/400

2nd break have 10000 blinds to go to 500/1000

This isnt fun...

3rd break and i have 18500 blinds will be 1000/2000, 18 players remaining

Final table 8 handed 113000 thousand blinds 3000/6000 soon, top 4 are paid

GL

thanks

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Bubbled in 5th!!! ah it has been a while since iv been in a situation in a poker game where the money at stake put a lot of pressure on me. 1st place would of been my biggest winning day ever online or live. Its brutal played for around 11 hours minus breaks and all i can say is i lost my £55. 4th was £300 and the winner was £800. If i busted earlier in the day after 5 6 hours i could of at least played in a £0.50/£1 game which started running with the bustouts it looked great value instead i nursed my short stack all tournament to the final table. Never had a stack until the final table. Once at the FT my aces lost a race vs jacks to cripple me so actually thought i was more or less out. managed to just move on and hold on towards the end. in the end on the bubble i shoved the button with 99 and small blind took a few mins to call with jacks and im out.

So what my Aces lost to Jacks, im not bitter at all its just more the fact 11-12hours of play have been for nothing, a whole day built up to one or 2 hands at the end which didnt work out, never played as long as that live before. I will go get some food and sleep! found out a little bit about possible cash games in future but nothing local or regular which sucks.

ah live poker, i wish i brought ear phones!
a very disappointing end.

after a day where i couldnt of scripted a more gutting end iv decided to get some food and head to bed but to take my mind of things i think 8 mtts online should send me to sleep...

4 on william hill (just busted one stud mtt first hand late regged for)
and ill play 4 360man $0.50 games on stars too

feels nice to play a million times smaller online after todays live game..sort of.

played some 2nl zoom was up about $10 but managed to spew it all back.

Not playing any higher until i have over $250 then i can play up to 5nl

I dont plan on playing much poker in january, maybe live cash if i find a game and just a couple of sessions online as im struggling for time the this month. Also im not enjoying online right now i used to not mind the fact im kind of isolating myself from the world for an evening or most of the day to grind some poker but now i really hate it. Still like to play and still will but its not my priority and will play a good session when and only when i feel i have the time and i am motivated.

played some online mtts tonight but no joy at all kind of broke even, did make 1 FT in a small field mix of nl and plo but busted out first.

I wont really be playing at all during the week in January. Ill maybe get 1 or 2 sessions a week online at weekends fridays-sundays if i have time that will be when ill try to squeeze in some play.

I haven't played any live since my heart breaking bubble early in the month. To get into a cash game that i know that runs, (which is actually within a few miles of me) i need to get speaking to the guy who runs it who i have played with in the past. There is a local £10 buyin tournament tomorrow probably only will be a couple of tables but i know this guy is likely to play in it. So im mainly going to go so i can speak to this guy and get in there cash game...even if i have to dust of my chips to him in this tournament i don't mind . I found out from going to the mtt earlier this month this guy sometimes runs a game and he is just awful. He hasnt ever played online, the kind of player who thinks online is all bingo and live play is much much harder etc etc also he gets attached to rag hands eg 9-2 because its his birthday. never folds it preflop. I heard its a £1/£2 game so it would be great to get in there against him.

about to grind some tournaments online

may decide to not be so strict with brm with my roll below 1k.

have decided not to bother playing any cash games just MTTs.
will play any mtt i want under $5 (roll is only ~$150 on stars)
as im not playing too often im gonna have a somewhat loose brm i guess with a roll under 1k, yes i could bust $150 but a $50-$100 top up if needed say once a month would be better value for me than forcing myself to play so strict with my roll when the roll is so small. it may of taken for ever to get from $0.50 mtts to $2 games by sticking to 200BI rule as im not playing everyday.

may decide to use twitter to update my results rather than on this but i shall make the odd post here

Best of luck mate.

Doing something similar myself

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/17...t-way-1406978/

gl
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Well I began playing with a fresh approach on the 17th, allowing myself to play any MTT i want under $5 with a roll of ~$150 (mainly $1-$3 mtts). Played a good session on the friday and managed to go deep in a few tournys. Going deep in a lot of them really doesnt matter unless you get a top 3 or 4 place in the tourny. Thankfully i managed to make the final table in a $2.20 buy in and finish 2nd for a little over $800 dollars. My best cash on pokerstars to date i believe, I was however disappointed that i couldnt take it down as 1st would of been over $1k (it would of been my first score over $1k also that is one of my goals i want this year to make a 4 figure score) but i cant complain. I played a few other mtts on sunday (today) mainly 180 player sngs profited about $100 after i bricked everything except got a 3rd in a 3.50R.

So on Pokerstars my roll is a few dollars short of $1k hopefully i can have a big year this time!

William Hill however im losing, as i was masstabling a lot on stars i decided i could only manage a few mtts on WH so decided to make them slightly higher buyins than usual, havnt managed to make much happen there so i may drop to smaller games for now.

Live im away to play a local £10 mtt only 2nd time ill of played live this year, hopefully can get cash game details.

I have created a twitter account that im using to update after my sessions, even if i dont get any followers at least i can use it for have a record of my results.

The guy incharge if the cash games played tonight who i planned speaking to but he busted first hand lawl. so guess ill just have to win this mtt. it plays like a super turbo i guess started witg 3500 chips, first break im at 5000 going into 150/300 or 200/400 next. more runners than expected at 26

Final table 8 handed with 10800 blinds 600/1200, top 3 paid

GL Mate, Great job so far

Thanks

3 handed with 29500 blinds 3000/6000 lol

Finished 3rd for £50 so that nearly erases my -£55 from the tourny i played at the start of the months.

Never spoke to the cash game dude as he busted early but his wife at the final table she passed on a text to him so he will be in touch but ill have to play live again to see him

With TCOOP coming up im just debating what to do, half tempted to let it all ride and buyin to about 10events with my roll but that isnt to great brm . To win a major online mtt is a life poker goal i guess so im going to have to take a few shots in the series im sure we shall see.

Incorporate some of the smaller satties to these tournament.

Some decent value to be had