Just finished tonight's session which lasted about 6 hours. When I arrived I noticed the 2/5 table looking pretty enticing, all with around 100bb stacks. I consider sitting, but decide not to, due to there only being what appeared to be 6 players there. I take my usual 300 to one of the 1/3 tables, and am forced to the 7 seat. I sit patiently for about 20 minutes, feeling the table out and looking for targets. This is dull, I thought, as I notice the lack of clay on the table. Most of the stacks are under 50 bigs, with two players having about 800-1k, but the other table is full so it looks have to stick around. No, fuhk that. I rack up my close to even stack and go pickup 200 more at the front desk. I'm playing 2/5 tonight.

I take the 10 seat, my favorite, 8 players total. Nobody here intimidates me. I've only played with one of these guys before and he wasn't anything out of the ordinary. I notice another guy who I saw playing heads up PLO without any knowledge of the game once, I hope he'll pay me off. I've got an aggressive spew to my right who spares no time when he turns the nuts on me for a decent sized pot, Cool. I notice the five seat, a sunrise colored shades wearing older man limp with QQ and lose to 32 off.

Another target, I think, as I look down at QK of clubs on the button.
Action starts on UTG+2, the shades fish after a straddle, who calls and I raise to 30 when it folds around. Straddle, a tilting gambler who just lost a big pot with an ironic missed flush draw calls, as does shades. The flop brings a nice Q Q 8, two hearts. UTG checks as does shades, leaving me to bet out 85. UTG raises to 190 and shades folds. I shove my remaining stack of about 330 over the top. He tanks for about 20 seconds and states, "Well, I'm already stuck 600 what the hell I call", and I already know he has hearts before the 3rd hits the turn. The board doesn't pair and he proudly flips up his K7 of hearts, for the flush. Superb move.

-500, but level headed, I head back to the front and collect another 300, as I tell them I'm moving to the 1/3 table. It doesn't take long for me to become table captain, as I push my aggression and start running over the table. The table has balanced out by now and I recognize a few bad players with around 200bb+ stacks, relieving me of the bad beat I suffered moments ago. I played pretty strong for about 4 hours there, bringing my stack up to 657, before the table breaks, leaving me -143 for the night and +193 to end the week. Oh well, tomorrow I'm coming in hot. I need to do better than this. I will do better.

Nice updates - you write well, Mr Coconuts

This new drake album flows through my head as I get a good workout out in, pre sesh. If you haven't yet, check out "too much", Definitely one of the better songs of the year. Going to blast my arms and follow up with a Mediterranean grilled shrimp salad. I've been eating like **** lately, drinking quite a bit of coffee, and I want to get better substitutes in rotation, so I'm going to grab some of those crystal light energy packets before I go play 8-10 hours. This week I'm going to try only playing five days, 8 hours, with Wednesday and Sunday off. I think a midweek break will be very beneficial, and seeing as how I run as if I'm glued to the casino carpet on Wednesdays, I won't miss them. Vegas is close! Can't wait. A week from today starts a big week of shot taking. Excited is an understatement.

I try to make it as visual as possible, thank you!

interracial kings, I lol'd.

Lol I'm glad somebody enjoyed that as much as I did while writing it.

subbed, best of luck!

Thank you sir!

Not winning this week. On the plus side I'm managing the downswing pretty well, the money doesn't piss me off as much as it did before. It's more so losing, especially when I play my A game, and lose as a favorite. Outplay me, please, I'll learn and I'll adapt, but it sucks when chance beats your best playing. Typical variance I guess, can't be affected. I lost a 1k pot today with the nut straight to the A on the turn to a rivered boat to finish my 8 hour session, and leave me -600 for the week so far. PLAY BETTER.

Took today off to relax and clear my head so I can come out refreshed and book a winning week. I went out for some drinks, trying to sway away from poker entirely for the evening. Me and a friend ended up meeting a couple girls which turned out fun. Now break time is over, and I'm 1/4 the way through "The Elements of Poker" and so far I'm loving it. I can relate to so much of this, and I'd definitely advise it if you haven't read it yet. Going to get back to action early tomorrow.

I started today around 4:00pm, normally a little early for me, but for good reason. I was eager to finish in time to go out and celebrate the beginning of Halloween weekend with some drinks and debauchery, but not until I played at least four hours. The women in this town are ridiculously gorgeous, but it comes with its appropriate bitchiness. My "can I be your boyfriend for Halloween line" wasn't really cutting it tonight, and as I struck green with a +715 session today, I struck out with the nightlife. Although, the weekend hasn't officially started yet, and I'm happy enough to book my best winning session so far and get back in the groove after a bad start to the week.

I've started working on taking more breaks, at least every 90 minutes or so, to take a walk and refresh. My bet sizing was sick today, I pulled off all of my value bets, and on one particular hand managed to turn my flopped top pair into a fake flush miss draw, reverse flush hit, if that makes sense. I'm dealt JK of in the cutoff, and it folds around to the hijack, who makes it 12. I decide to flat in position, and we go to the flop heads up. J 8 5, two hearts, one club. HJ bets out 20, and I raise to 45, trying to disguise my hand and rep the hearts. He calls, and the turn brings the 6 of clubs. He bets 35, I call. River brings the perfect 10 of clubs, disguising my hand perfectly, and villain bets out 75 with about 190 behind. I pull out to stacks, making it 200 total, assuming I'm getting called here by AJ, 10J, or worse if he thinks I'm bluffing my missed heart draw, and he's folding if he was drawing. He thinks hard for about 2 minutes, and eventually makes the call, and I scoop up a very nice pot. He mucks J10. Going to get another 4 hours in tomorrow before getting my costume all ready and prowling for slutty dressed women. Needless to say I'm pumped.

Ready, set, Vegas

"The way to win at poker is to make better decisions than your opponents do. The way to improve at poker is to make better decisions than you used to". I Closed out my 5th week yesterday, which ended as my first losing one. An 82 spade flush spiking the river finished off my top two pair and left me with a -500 session and -385 for the week. My head was foggy from the previous night of extreme toxicity and alcohol abuse, and I just couldn't seem to focus, let alone think. I probably should've taken the night off but I wanted to get a good session in to end the week, although it didn't turn out as planned. I folded my way to a bad beat, in which I missed a bet that ended up costing me dearly for an $800 pot. Oh well. I see the spot, I see the error, and I won't make the same mistake again. In a week jam packed full of dead money and missed opportunities, it feels nice to relax and finish the "Elements of Poker" on my day off, and prep for my flight tomorrow.

I'm so excited to start a clean week and put some long hours in during my week long venture in Vegas. I've decided on an extreme shot taking endeavor, in which 2/5 will be the lowest I'm playing, and depending on results, no ceiling. I can't wait to experiment away from the low stakes puke that is whiffed flush draws, and folding. I love the idea of not knowing where I'll be or how high I'll be playing. Life is about adventures and experimenting with the peaks, doing exactly what you want to do, and sometimes more than you think you're capable of. If I'm going to be able to do this long term, and to the most of my ability, it's going to be proven this week. -BC

Big games and bigger titties

Feels great to land. My Bose QC15's cushioned an already relaxing flight, as I watched Crazy, Stupid, Love and downed a few cocktails. Last time I was here I wanted to be a magician. I was around 10 or so and we saw a Lance Burton show, which I thought was amazing. The Cirque show was fun too, but all kids think magic is pretty cool at some point or another, I think, and I was no different. Although, this trip withholds another objective. I've long since given up trying to make people's cards disappear, and I now have the desire to make their money vanish. Interesting how people change as they grow, isn't it? We arrive around 3pm, and I'm eager to explore the city a bit before clocking in my first session. My friends probably most excited about hitting the local In-N-Out for the first time, and I can't lie I am too. We scavenge through two double doubles each, and I can't believe it's taken me 21 years to try one. Shame on the Midwest.

So here we are, exploring the strip on a Monday evening and shading the sun through my new Oakley Frogskins. I don't think I've seen a pair of real tits since we've landed, which is disappointing. I wouldn't say I'm a big boob type of guy anyway, but especially not fake ones. We make our way to the Bellagio and look through the tables. My friend is a recreational player, and he decides to sit at the 1/3, while I have my eye on the 2/5. I sit with 500, and notice a fairly young table. Seems like everybody loves looking like a professional poker player, but I need to find out who plays like one. First hand I play I'm dealt the black 99 in the cutoff and it's opened by UTG+2 to 22. Next to act calls, hijack calls and I call. Flop brings Q 8 7, rb, and the opener continues his line with a bet of 65, one fold and hijack flats. I announce "raise", as I make it 135 to go. Raiser calls, hijack folds, and the turn brings the 10, making it two clubs. The raiser, a younger guy with beats bets out 185, leaving him about 700 behind and I consider my options. I'm thinking he's got TPTK or better, but I decide the board is textured enough for me to sell it, and I push all in for my remaining 360 or so. He's not pleased as he lets out a sigh, and soon after tosses in his QA face up. Bingo.

I cashed out +1120, after a 4 hour session, a great start to a great trip I hope, and proceeded to explore with my friends. Decided to exclude all winnings/losses from my 20k challenge during the trip. Clowning it up now in the city with no idea of what's next. Exactly the way I like it.

Excellent - you made it out there! Should prove interesting to see how it works out for you - good luck man! Solid start....

Thanks bro! It's been a great time so far, I'm pretty pumped!

Sick heads up battle in the main.. No poker today, but tons of excitement around town!

Why the **** is nobody posting here!? Just finished reading the whole thing and I love it, the writing is great. Keep trucking OP, you're doing it right!

following!

great read, gl.


Wondering what stakes were u playing before shutdown ?

Thanks for reading man! I was mostly grinding anywhere from $13 and up 6 max sngs along with 1/2 2/4 NL

Haha this is awesome to read! I'm a newbie, HTF do I subscribe!?!?

P.S. Your writing skills are envious

Thanks for the kind words my friend!

Just click 'Thread Tools' at the top of the page & in the drop-down box, click 'Subscribe To This Thread' & then you get your options on alerts...

" Vegas baby, Vegas "

Oh Wednesday. Why do you hate me so much? Since the beginning of my challenge I'm -1800 on Wednesdays alone, and I'm pretty sure I have yet to have a winning one. Today is going to be different. I'm going to break this curse, I thought confidently, as I woke up drowsy yet surprisingly refreshed from the night before. Eager for a shower in our Palms suite, I grab a bagel and can of Coors light so I could simultaneously eat breakfast. I love this place, which is easy to say when you're doing well, I suppose, but like they say " losing always feels worse then winning does good ". Fcuk that. I'm not losing today. I feel the need to kill Wednesday. End it. I'll no longer be the neglected stepchild of the poker room, with my siblings and fellow grinders getting rewarded with profit as I bask in the endless missed flops and dead hands.

I don't know if it was the Main Event, or the glamour of the city, but I want the adrenaline. I want the challenge, I want to see if I can beat these games and I didn't come here to skimp by. The night before, I overheard a few players at the Rio talking about the Main. "If I got deep I'd just try to stick it out as long as I could". No challenge, no meaning, no purpose. Aim to win, I'm not skimping by for ****. I'd rather bubble than soft play into an extra couple grand. The hungry win, and the weak skimp by. I'm playing 5/10 tonight.

I arrive at the Bellagio, excited to try my skills in which could very well be the biggest game I've ever played in. I call about a half an hour in advance, and I'm pleased to see I'm second up. I wander around for a bit, actually checking out the scenery of the casino a bit. The first time I played here I think I was so zoned in I couldn't even fathom any of my surroundings un-poker related. I'm nervous. I'm over thinking everything. What if I can't succeed in playing a game that measures success on another's failure? Poker is real.

I'm up. I grab a healthy $1500 stack and take my seat in between two grouchy looking regulars who look happy to see me. The majority of the table is probably 25-30, with a few rock looking 40+ fellas. I'm fairly certain I'm the youngest. I notice one of the older guys has about 5-6k, with the average being about 3-5. I sit patiently for a few orbits, examining, stalking. The older gentlemen seems to be an aggressive maniac who I've watched over- barrel into missed draws and get snapped off by mid pair twice before I even pick up a playable hand. I've got position on him, noted. Younger guys are playing like aggressive internet kids. I'm familiar with your style, noted. I pick up my first fun hand in the hijack when I look down at 910 of spades, and I open it to 35 in an unopened pot and the big blind, online kid, makes it 85 to go, in a "test the water" type of manner. I call and the flop comes 4 4 7, one spade two hearts. He bets 210, and I just call. Turn is the 8 of spades opening up the world to me and after his small 450 bet I jam for my remaining 800 or so and he tank mucks after telling me he's certain I have jacks. Fcuk money. I need to make profitable plays with zero regard for cash whatsoever. Fearless.

Next interesting spot I'm dealt AJ of diamonds and I repop the action to 175 after mid position maniac opens for 65, all others fold, he calls. Flop comes K4Q, two spades. He bets 330, I call. Turn is another K and I check behind. River brings the blank 8 of hearts. Maniac checks and I bet 620, in which he states "all in" almost immediately as my chips enter the pot. What. My initial thought was 10J, Q10 or maybe a small pocket 77-99. But then I recalled the first few observations of this player when I first sat down a few hours ago. He fires his draws hard. Too hard. I ask him if that 8 helped him, he's stoic. I ask if he'll show. He's stoic. I ask if he's turning his spades into a bluff jam and he slides his cards out a bit in front of him and folds his hands up by his mouth. I don't have ****, but he doesn't either. He's got me covered and I've got about 1900 behind. "Call". He sits there waiting for my hand after letting out a loud disgruntled sigh. I don't budge and the dealer tells him he has to show. He flips up 62 of spades and my ace high is good for another double up. I'm shaking.

I scoop up the biggest pot of my life like I knew exactly what was going on, while one of the kids asks me how I call there. " You just put chips in the middle" I chuckle, as does the table. I played another couple hours or so and ended my first 5/10 session +6.2k, a career high on my previous worst day of the week. Fcuk you Wednesday.

Great update, really like the way you write!! congrats on the good score on a wednesday