I'm an English teacher and translator, and August is always a slow month, so I intend to support myself by playing live poker for the month.

The Goal

The goal is to make €1K in one month playing €1/€1 cash (€50 min buy in) and small tournaments (same or lower buy-ins) in Košice, Slovakia. Although the 1M1K thread title is meant ironically, (a homage to 2M2MM - worth watching if you haven't seen it before https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8vSAi2QhKI), the average wage in Slovakia is slightly less than €1000, so if I can make the average wage then I can say I was a "pro" for the month. Minimum wage is €2.18 per hour so this is also 450x minimum wage. Anyway €1K euro is real target not a joke sum like it might be in some of the countries where this forum is read.

The Place

The two main venues will be the Olympic for tournaments and the Monte Carlo for cash, but that might get switched around (if cash actually runs at the Olympic I will play there, also I will play tournaments at the Monte Carlo if the Olympic is running something like a satellite to an out of town tournament). One other rule is I will be using a "PokerStars" day running 6am-6am European time so I can't go to the casino on 31 July and start playing after midnight, but I can keep playing after midnight on 31 August. I will also report results on that basis. I'm hoping to get 20 days of play in during the month anyway but more if time allows.

About Me

My online background is mostly playing reg-speed 45-mans on Stars, and I have beaten each level up to and including $3.50 - but with a low sample size as it's difficult to get a block of time to play in. I listen to poker content on the tram to work every day and also go through hand histories (mostly in the MTTSNG subforum) when I have a quick break between lessons, so my study/play ratio is probably about 3:1 in favour of study, so I'm hoping that might compensate my inexperience a bit.

Preparation

As regards the tournaments, 45 is not far off the field size in the nightly tournaments I will be playing in so I feel I have a decent background in this area. To prepare for the challenge I have started playing NL€4 online but I'm generally short on cash game experience. I have played live at these venues a few dozen times before so hopefully I won't do anything completely stupid but I am also reading Elwood's poker tells book to help with the live side.

Here's my online sharkscope http://www.sharkscope.com/#Player-St...ayers/lektoraj

And here's my tournament record at the Olympic http://www.olympic-casino.sk/poker/r...g.view.77315/4

And the programme of upcoming events http://www.olympic-casino.sk/poker/tournaments/club/31

Anyway, wish me luck - I'll post updates and also whatever important hands I can remember.

gl man

Good luck! I'm waiting for updates

01/08/2015

So the challenge started today with a jackpot €15 tournament at the Olympic. The price included €3 raked into a jackpot for the first straight flush (one card was enough) which i'm not really a fan of but there was €359 rolled over from previous tournaments so I thought I probably wasn't giving up much EV there even though I'm tighter than the field. The price also included a free 0.50l of beer (I think in cactu's country €15 gets you the beer without the poker tournament ) Starting stack was 25K with the first level 25/50 so 500 BB effective stacks to start but fast blind levels. I started in the 5 seat which I normally prefer but one of the female dealers was wearing very distracting dress this time.

In the early stages I didn't get many hands but I mostly won some small pots with medium strength hands and folded a few times when I missed. As we got shorter I won a 3 way all in pre-flop flip with K/J against QJ and 99 and also got to stack off with a flopped set in a limped pot.

I lost a lot of chips in one hand where I doubled a loose-aggressive player after I had called a 3-bet with 77 and saw a flop of J42. He had KK. I need to remember that it is possible for loose players to be dealt premium hands. I also wasted 10K in another hand with a check-raise bluff with KJ on AT3 the villain just pushed over the top of me.

The final hand was at the 600/1200 level I got about 20K all in pre-flop with AA against QQ and 99 and the Q flopped a set.

Tournaments
Today -€15.00
Net -€15.00

So I walk up the hill to the Monte Carlo to play cash. It's about 2km so it's good for clearing the head and resetting. When I get there it is full and there are about 50 players left in their €50 tournament as well with 3 nearly full tables of €1/€1 and a table of €1/€2 running. The bigger tournament has attracted more serious players (some from Hungary too) which seems to have an impact on the quality of play in the cash game. I get a seat at €1/€1 and buy in for €50.

The play was still pretty limpy in general though. I pick up chips gradually with c-bets and general ABC poker.

I can't reconstruct the exact hand history but there was one pot early on where I got fairly lucky after I c-bet QT on 942. The turn comes an 8 and I decide to 2nd barrel after I have picked up equity. I shove my last 45 euros into a pot of 60. The other player lifts up his hand to reveal he has two euros left in his stack so obviously he calls. The river comes a J to make the straight. He doesn't show but he says he had a one-pair hand and my Q and T were also live. So I get to over €100 at this point - I also tip €1 which apparently is the convention after the dealer saves you in a big pot. I later lose some chips limping behind 96 on the button and calling two streets multi-way on a 9 high flop (the winner had K9).

The final hand before I am due to get my bus I am UTG 7 handed with €83. I look down at QJ and raise to €3. I get 3 callers and the flop comes JT3. I c-bet €6 and one player who covers me calls. the turn is the T - probably the worst card given they don't tend to raise draws here. I check and villain checks behind. The river is A and I check to Villain. He bets €10 and I call. He turns over KK leaving me with €64 in my stack and a net loss of €1 on the night (I wish I hadn't tipped now ).

Cash
Today €15.00
Net €15.00

Total
Today -€1.00
Net -€1.00 - so my first day as a professional starts with a loss of one euro.

Not playing today. Next play on Monday, report on Tuesday.

Hi Lektor AJ,

Really liking the style of your posts, and looking forward to more updates. Can't fault any of the MTT hands you've posted. One hand which I do want to comment on is the 9h 6h hand. In a vacuum, I would fold top pair no kicker in a multiway pot to just one bet on the flop, even more so if it was a dry board. "Some top pairs are made better than others", a quote I constantly have to remind myself of!

Anyway, looking forward to more updates!

BigMoney964

Good luck

I reall like this challenge, it seems like something lots of us could do for a bit of fun and hopefully a bit of money. Good luck.

One question though, not wanting to be a doom monster or anything do you have a dedicated bankroll you are willing to risk, a stop loss if you like either for the challenge as a whole or on a daily basis or both?

The daily stoploss is really just the tournament buy-in plus two bullets in the €50 euro cash game - I only take €100 to the cash game because I think if I lost that I would be affected and not really able to continue to play as well as I would like.

I don't really have a stop-loss for the the tournaments - before the challenge I had won there 4 times out 30 (the field size is around 20-30 so I was only due one win really) as well as a load of other cashes so I know am plus EV there and I also take the attitude that I am playing there with previous winnings. For the cash game I will pull the plug if I get €500 into the red. I feel pretty confident about the cash game though too, I moved up to NL€10 online this weekend after running well at NL€4 so I feel more like I know what I am doing in cash games.

I can do about €20 per hour teaching or translating so a €500 loss would not be the end of the world.

To continue, I am keeping track of bankroll but starting from zero during this challenge. The funds remaining at the end will become my actual live poker bankroll.

There was one hand which I emailed myself on Saturday from my phone but have found now.

Our stack is about €70 and most people cover us. We don't have many player specific reads at this stage.

Hero is UTG+1

BTN posts a €3 Mississippi.

Hero is dealt 99

Preflop (€5) SB calls €2, BB folds, UTG folds, Hero raises to €12, LJ calls, HJ folds, CO calls, BTN folds, SB folds

Flop (€42) 766r Hero checks, LJ checks, CO checks

Turn (€42) [766] 7 (bringing a flush draw) Hero bets €15, two folds

I wasn't sure if this was the right way to play this OTT. Maybe I should have checked again and bluff-catched.

Tonight there is a €13 tournament with 30K starting stacks. The trouble with this is there won't be many re-entries so the prize pool will be relatively small. I will post results tomorrow.

03/08/2015

I entered the €13 tournament today at the Olympic. It started with 600BB stacks (30K chips at 25/50), so the first level had blinds worth about €0.01/€0.02. I was teaching till late so I got there at the start of level 3, which was the 100/200 level. I was the 19th entrant to arrive out of 20 (three get paid) but as there were early eliminations they played 2 tables the whole way. I think I may have to review my strategy here because the hourly at these blind levels must be well below one euro.

There was the same crowd of players who are there literally every night. I think one or two of the regulars displayed tells described in Elwood's book. Once I spotted them and observed them I could predict if they were weak or strong and I won one small pot from that. The female dealer was there in the same distracting dress again but for some reason I wasn't distracted this time, I was just thinking "Ok, I already saw those on Saturday." I got some hands in the early stages and built my stack up to about 100K - one eventful hand was when I coolered J6 with my 64 on a Q6469. In this particular tournament they were also offering a €3 free spin on roulette for making a full house - but that didn't hit (if something like that does though I will count it towards the challenge).

During the first break a €0.50/€1.00 cash game got running and I bought in for €50 and sat in it for 15 minutes. Here was the key hand from this session:

I had €49, all other players cover us and we are 5 handed.

Hero (SB) posts blind €0.50
BB posts blind €1
Dealt to Hero(SB) AA

Preflop (€1.5) HJ raises to €3, 2 folds, Hero raises to €9, BB folds, HJ calls

Flop (€19) K32 Hero bets €10, HJ calls

Turn (€39) [K32]7 Hero bets €30 and is all in, HJ calls

River (€99) [K327]Q

Hero shows AA pair of aces
HJ shows KQ two pair, kings and queens

That was painful - actually the dealer gave me a suprised look because I think he's used to getting abuse in that situation but I hadn't reacted, just reloaded calmly. The very next hand I got AA on the button and again got a caller for the 3-bet but this time he folded on the flop.

So I returned to the tournament with about €64 of cash chips in my pocket.

In the next session I got up to about 150K chips (out of 600K in play) before losing 75K with a three barrel bluff with overcards and a straight draw into the nut flush which had got there on the turn.

Over time more and more players went out and I was back over 100K and one of the larger stacks at the final table, so I got the chance to do some stack swinging with only shorter stacks in the 3 positions to my left. I built my stack up to about 180K before I lost another flip at around 6 handed (blind versus blind K7 < QJ)

At 4 handed, the blind level was 6000/12000, and there was discussion of whether or not to do a bubble prize. Normally I am against this but the suggestion was to make it mostly from the 1st prize and the chipleader with 300K chips was fine with this so I went along with it as I was more likely to finish 4th than 1st at that moment. A few hands later:
CO folds, BTN raises to 24000, SB fold Hero raises to 120K and is all in with KQ BTN calls with AJ which holds up

So I min-cashed in in 4th for €24. Once the fish (i.e. me) was out the others agreed a chop a few hands later

Tournaments
Today €11
Net -€4

So I returned to the cash table with my €64 euros. We were 5 handed and I wastwo seats to the right of a player who 2x straddles UTG/HJ (i.e. my button) and on the button (i.e. my big blind) I think this works out well for me overall (harder to defend blind but double size pot when I am on the button) but I don't know much about straddling. Here's a straddled hand (CO didn't restraddle any other hands though earlier in the evening he had been straddling UTG).

SB posts blind of €0.50
BB posts blind of €1.00
HJ posts a straddle of €2
CO posts a restraddle of €4
Hero (BTN about €65) is dealt AT

preflop (€7.50) hero raises to €12, SB calls, BB folds, HJ calls, CO folds

flop (€41) AK9 hero bets €18, 2 folds

It was past 2 am now and one or two of the players were looking worse for wear as shown in this hand:

SB posts blind of €0.50
BB posts blind of €1.00
Hero (CO €80) is dealt JT

preflop (€1.50) HJ folds, hero raises to €3, BTN calls, SB raises to €9, BB folds, hero calls, BTN calls

flop (€28) 943 SB checks, hero bets €9, BTN folds, SB calls

turn (€46) [943]7 SB bets €10, hero calls €10

river (€66) [94372] SB checks, hero bet €25, SB calls and shows J8

SB kept looking at the board and shaking his head as if he thought he had lost flush over straight.

One thing I am noticing as I write these up is how badly I am calculating the pot size as I play along. The flop bet of €9 was supposed to be around half pot - I'm not sure how I messed it up so badly. I wasn't sure if I should raise the turn donk bet but I thought there was a good chance the drunk guy would pile river if I didn't.

Eventually I got QJ all in against this guy on T82T - from gameflow and live reads I was pretty sure he didn't have a T and I thought would have decent fold equity even against him, but he had A8 taking all but €9 of my chips.

Cash
Today -€91.00
Net -€76.00

Total
Today -€80.00
Net -€81.00


So that's pretty brutal. I do feel though that I still a net overall winner in cash games and tournaments (pretty narrowly in cash as this is only the 4th time I played), so this is still a downswing rather than loss. I'm still playing with previous winnings. Also if you just change the river card on the AA hand then I would be in the black for the whole challenge so that's just live poker variance.

So, not much volume in the first week - my work habit was interfering with my poker job.

Setting off for a 12 hour session today at the Monte Carlo. Cash then tournament then more cash.

so the cash game that they supposedly had 7 people registered for didn't run. Played a freeroll to the evening tournament but mostly hanging around. I should have brought a tablet to play online lol. Evening tournament starts now.

Fired two bullets in the evening tournament but didn't cash - standard all in pre flop stuff. After my first bullet in the cash game I got up and went home as I wasn't feeling it.

Tournaments
Today -€38.00
Net -€42.00

Cash
Today -€52.00
Net -€128.00

Total
Today -€80.00
Net -€161.00

Now I've noticed that the evening's games the Monte Carlo has on its front page always show some number around 7 registered players, just the game doesn't start.

I don't feel too moralistic about this. I do essentially the same thing with my (6-max) English language groups on my school page - they say "full", "1 free space", "2 free spaces" or "at least 3 free spaces" - because nobody wants to be the first to register if they think the group might not run.

12/08/2015

I went to play cash again on Wednesday night. I got there about nine thirty and there was a game running, but it was €1/€2 with a €100 buy-in and I din't fancy playing that high. The manager said a €1/€1 game would start when the tournament went on break. So I waited around a bit and got a beer and he came over and asked if I wanted to play €1/€1 heads-up rake free. Obviously I snap-called (relative to other players of my general level I consider myself to be good at heads up from playing 6-max SNGs and 45s online).

The other player had just busted the tournament and was inexperienced playing heads up. I got rivered twice and lost a buy-in to him before his girlfriend called him home, so I was back to sitting and waiting.

Then the tournament went on break and I played 4-handed with some guys for 15 minutes and again back to waiting.

Finally another villain came to play heads up and we had a match for nearly an hour with swings going both ways. He was checking (i.e. not raising, remember the SB and BB are the same) every button and I was raising most of mine to €3. At one point I was down to my last €20 but eventually I got it back up to €67 before I went to catch my bus (it was nearly 1 a.m. and I had work today).

There weren't so many memorable hands - I don't want this thread to be just me posting bad beats - and the hands I won were a lot of incremental gains, pot controlling middle pair, taking it down on the river with the bottom of my range etc.

There was one 3-bet hand where the board came
477 and the villain bet, continuing on a 7 turn but checking behind a 2 river - I called down with AK and he showed AJ he seemed psychologically crushed after that but the hand itself was standard enough.

Cash
Today -€33.00
Net -€162.00

Total
Today -€33.00
Net -€204.00
(in the very first post I didn't deduct the the euro tip from the cashgame result but did from the overall result. There is also an error in the total net figure in the post above - maybe I would be doing better at poker if I wasn't so innumerate )

I was only able to get 90 minutes at the table in about 3 hours. I looks like this pro thing might run into the problem of not enough games (also my work is busier than I thought so I have not been out so much). I'm down nearly 4 buy-ins - online this would just be getting warmed up but live playing part time it's half of the month - and it also now makes me a lifetime loser in live cashgames (I won €150 in three sessions before I started the challenge) . Strangely though even after losing again last night I feel pretty good about this live poker thing now. I felt I was playing better than the others and I will be able to get the money back.

Long weekend doing a translation into Sunday night. Finish at 1 am and see online there are two tables running at the Monte Carlo with 5 and 6 players. When i arrive they have just broken them down to one table of 9. Nobody leaves for the first hour until I go and get my bus - so no action had this weekend. Need to call ahead next time.

In the second half of the month I only got to play one more time (2 hours with lots of swings ending 3 euros up). The initial premise that my regular job would be slow during this month turned out not to be true - which is good for me, but it has killed the challenge a bit. Final results are

Total
Net -€207.00 over 20.75 hours of play.

For interest I will keep recording my results and I will bump this thread again when I get to 150 hours (roughly what I expected to do in one month) and let you know how I did over the original expected number of hours.

So, challenge failed

sorry that what looked like a fun idea did not turn out better but it seems game and time availability killed it.

Yes. Actually now the summer is over there is a lot more game availability - cash games running every day in the Olympic. I am even busier with work now but I sat in it for three quarters of an hour on my way home from work today and picked up another 66 euros - more than one buy-in. I have cut my losses down to just over 100 euros now.

I've also got a pass from my wife to play the Polish Poker Tour when it comes to town later in the month so maybe I'll bink 8.8K