This is my night before Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years Eve and birthday celebration all rolled into one. I plan to drop some shrooms or high quality LSD for the show (I'll have both on me) and become totally immersed in the sound and experience. The times I have took LSD or Shrooms at a show I felt as if the sound was a container and I fit right in. Everyone in my party has agreed to leave their cell phones back at the hotel and "Embrace whatever random may come."

Can't wait to spiral out.

If your bankroll for $1/$3 NLHE is $3,000 and you sit down and run your $180 buy in up to $700 I would definitely cash out.

It's all about giving yourself more lives.

$3,000 is around 15 buy ins (lives) in the video game which is going to be your livelihood.

So, if you can increase your buy ins (lives) by a few if you cash out you definitely should when you're in bankroll building mode.

From what I can tell so far about you, you should not be buying in full, you should be buying in for 65 big blinds at a time until you have a better understanding of the game.

Follow my advice in the first five "Correspondence" session logs.

Thank you for the advice.

And I am going to go back through and read from page one this Thread.
Thank you for starting it

Have fun at the show and let me know what you thought of it

Oh, and are Deftones and or Primus the opening act ? Primus opened for Tool here

Primus.

Seen em a few times with my Grandmother actually.

She is a sucker for Les's slap happy bass playing.

Yeah, the Bass grooves are insane

Hoping to go to a few good Shows this year.

I've already got my Ticket for the 10 Year Anniversary show of Underoath ..... stoked for that show

Next one I am doing is Guns N Roses "Reunion" shows in Las Vegas, but it's not a real reunion unless Izzy and Steven appear on stage and play some tracks with Axl, Slash, and Duff. My favorite Guns N Roses song of all time is "Coma." I've really identified with the lyrics at certain times of my life. I've looked for many spots to put it within my writing over the years to pay homage but just really never found a place where it fits yet. So, I'll leave it here for you all to enjoy now.

I'll give it a listen , Thanks for posting it

LotGrinder,
Man I must say .... One of the Best Threads I've read
You're description of the Hands you played and then the Follow up as to why you did X , and or looking back in retrospect you may do next time in a similar Hand situation , really helped me in grasping the thought process of someone as yourself who makes a Living at Playing Live NL

So a Big thank you to you for This thread

I went through the entire thread , and made some notes/questions I wanted to ask you on particular hands/situations ( But I will submit those this upcoming week )

For this Post, I wanted to Run by you and ask you some particular questions that just came to me while reading this thread, as well as Questions that just popped into my head in General

Questions as follow....

1. I have a $2,000 Bankroll as we speak ( which is the amount of Bankroll you mention in this thread of starting out with ) ....
Given a $2,000 Bankroll and playing $1/$3 NL ( where the majority of the games where I play are wayyy Fishy )
What amount of Buy-In should I start out at .... 60 x the BB ?

And how should I Progress in the Increase of the Buy-In amount as my Bankroll grows ?
Once I'm up to a $2,500 Bankroll ...... Buy-In for 19 x BB ?
At $3,000 Bankroll ..... 20 x BB

The Max Buy-IN where I play is $300 and minimum Buy-In of $100 on the $1/$3

And there is NO max Buy-In at the $2/$5
It's a $200 minimum Buy-In
Unfortunately .... the $2/$5 ONLY runs on the weekend ( down here at Tunica,MS )


2. Regarding Pocketing are Winnings ( so that we LOCK IN an Extra TWO Buy-Ins )....... Do you recommend getting up from the table and cashing out when we are up 2 X what we bought in For ?

Example: We Bought in for $200 .... So Cash out when Are Stack is at $600 .... Put that $400 in are Pocket ( so 2 Buy-Ins ), and then re-buy back into the game for $200 again ?


3. Do you Ever RAISE ( Bet ) Pre-Flop when you have a Pocket Pair of 22 -99 , Or do you recommend Limping in with these hands ( No matter your Position ) ?

If In Late Position .... Should we ever Raise with these hands, depending on how many Limpers there were before it gets to us ?


4. Regarding playing Ax ( suited ) hands Pre-Flop ..... Do you ever Advise playing these ...... Limping and or Raising with these type of hands, depending on Position?

With Ax ( suited ) , could we play these hands as we do the hands of 22 - 99 ..... Limp in with these and either hit the NUT F.D. on the Flop ( or hit a Set on the flop with the 22 - 99 hands ) , and Fold if we miss to any Aggression ?


5. Transitioning from playing $1/$3 to playing $2/$5 ...... From what you have seen , what are some of the Biggest differences in the way that opponents play at these different stake levels , and what adjustments to your play do you suggest when playing at $2/$5 ?


6. I have heard of getting " STAKED "
I am assuming that this is when someone Gives ( Loans you ) their actual Money , and you Buy-In and play using their money ?

Do you then Split the Profits 50/50 usually

Or is it more of a 70/30 split ... With you Keeping 70% ?

This seems kind of like a Hedge Fund but for Poker

And how do you Find people who are willing to Loan " STAKE " you ??


7. Lastly ..... Have you ever played at the Casinos in Tunica,MS ?

If you're ever headed that way , definitely let me know

And Lastly , 2 quick things please....

1. Are you a fan of the band GlassJaw and have you seen them Live ? 9 one of my favorite bands hands down ) ... Well them and the band The Chariot

2. I saw that there was talk of you publishing your book " Correspondence "
Is that Book available ? And is it/will it be in both Paper Back and E-Book ?


Again, Fantastic Thread
Thank you for starting it and continuing sharing Your hands played....Learning A lot

LotGrinder,
How was the Tool show ....... Incredible light show and visuals huh?

1. I have a $2,000 Bankroll as we speak ( which is the amount of Bankroll you mention in this thread of starting out with ) ....

Given a $2,000 Bankroll and playing $1/$3 NL ( where the majority of the games where I play are wayyy Fishy )
What amount of Buy-In should I start out at .... 60 x the BB ?

Yes, $180.00.

And how should I Progress in the Increase of the Buy-In amount as my Bankroll grows ?
Once I'm up to a $2,500 Bankroll ...... Buy-In for 19 x BB ?
At $3,000 Bankroll ..... 20 x BB

Gradually work your way up towards buying in full when you get your bankroll to $6,000.00. Do not bother with the $2/$5 game until your bankroll is around $10,000.00.

2. Regarding Pocketing are Winnings ( so that we LOCK IN an Extra TWO Buy-Ins )....... Do you recommend getting up from the table and cashing out when we are up 2 X what we bought in For ?

If you bought in for $180 and get to $600-$700, yeah it's time to cash out and lock in a win when on a limited bankroll unless the table is just full of droolers.

3. Do you Ever RAISE ( Bet ) Pre-Flop when you have a Pocket Pair of 22 -99 , Or do you recommend Limping in with these hands ( No matter your Position )?

Not when my bankroll is only $2,000. These are hands we add to our raising range once we have a bigger bankroll and more experience at the table.

4. Regarding playing Ax ( suited ) hands Pre-Flop ..... Do you ever Advise playing these ...... Limping and or Raising with these type of hands, depending on Position?

Not when your bankroll is so low. As your bankroll grows, yes, these are hands we add to our raising range.

With Ax ( suited ) , could we play these hands as we do the hands of 22 - 99 ..... Limp in with these and either hit the NUT F.D. on the Flop ( or hit a Set on the flop with the 22 - 99 hands ) , and Fold if we miss to any Aggression ?

The pocket pairs are must limps/see flops. The Ax suited you can limp or fold.

5. Transitioning from playing $1/$3 to playing $2/$5 ...... From what you have seen , what are some of the Biggest differences in the way that opponents play at these different stake levels , and what adjustments to your play do you suggest when playing at $2/$5?

Not important to discuss here. Contact me when your bankroll is at 10k and you are ready to shot take at $2/$5.

6. I have heard of getting " STAKED "
I am assuming that this is when someone Gives ( Loans you ) their actual Money , and you Buy-In and play using their money ?

Do you then Split the Profits 50/50 usually

Or is it more of a 70/30 split ... With you Keeping 70% ?

This seems kind of like a Hedge Fund but for Poker .

And how do you Find people who are willing to Loan " STAKE " you ??

Don't take a stake for a $1/$3 game, if you can't beat it on your own bankroll you suck. If you don't have a bankroll to play $1/$3 get a real job and save up until you do.


7. Lastly ..... Have you ever played at the Casinos in Tunica,MS ?

Not yet.

Tool show was lights out, incredible, I saw them two nights in a row.

I never listened to or seen Glassjaw live.

You'll be finding more excerpts to "Correspondence" on my offical website which is pretty easy to find.

I'll probably start selling the E-book when I have it over 50% complete. You'll get what I have done and obviously owed a finished copy once it's 100% done.

Going to see these guys tonight.

Guttermouth

They were the first punk band I ever went to go see live.

They were opening for Face to Face back in 1994 at St. Andrews Hall in Detroit.

Mark Adkins hilariously obscene lyrics had me hooked the first time I gave a listen.

Second Meme I Ever Made:

The Chronicles of Swine

Excerpt #1

Swine caused a lot of trouble when he was growing up. Swine primarily kept his thoughts on life, politics, religion, and social issues to himself. A lot of teachers told swine, “I hate kicking you out of my class. You’re so smart. But, I have to do it. You just don’t listen.” Swine never believed them. Then fifteen years later Facebook was introduced and Swine got to see first hand how uninformed the average person is and how incapable they are of thinking for themselves or forming any arguments or stances on anything based on sound logic or reasoning. Swine was so sad to see discussions on such important issues reduced to the kind of argument you seen in the movie Idiocracy where a man was being tried in a courtroom and the prosecuter said, “Common your honor, just look at em, you know he done did it.” Swine thought, “It was better when ignorant people didn’t have a public forum to speak out in. Their strength in numbers actually makes them believe they know what they are talking about and it is scary.” It was then Swine knew how atrocities like the holocaust or the slaughtering of the Native Americans was possible and it was then swine knew his teachers were right.

Poker rooms should have drinking only poker tables where each player sitting must have a $50 minimum bar tab by the time he leaves in order to play. To sit at the poker table the server runs his credit card for a $50 deposit. This would help cut down on the amount of green tea drinking vegan poker fgts ruining the game for all the people who like to have fun and gamboooool. Imagine getting off work to come gamble your hard earned money and having to listen to some snot nosed kid bitch that there's not enough flavor or honey in his green tea. It's no wonder many fish are going back to the table games. Perhaps I'll draw up an official petition. Thoughts?

I know you're a midwest guy.

LG you need to make your way to Florida, if only for a long vacation.

Some of the tourney backpackers exist, but cash is alive, well, and intoxicated.

Thanks so much for the reply , helped answer alot of my questions
Very much appreciated

"Issues"

Excerpt #1

This will be a twenty to ??? series of short memoirs or stories that introduce a number of characters I've met over the years in all my travels playing poker.

Issue #1

Starting to feel the creative juices flowing again and I don't want to limit myself to just $1/$2-$1/$3 NLHE stories and strategy right now.

I am on a $20,000+ uptick at $1/$3 PLO at MGM Detroit casino, about 400 hours ever logged.

The next excerpt I will post will be from "Correspondence" though.

Where you playing at sonn? Lets hit the tables in Hawaiin shirts, order beers, and snort some high quality peruvian flake out a bullet in the bathroom while we stuff some backpackers and scarf wearing fgts in the back of the trunk. I really need to finish this damn book so I can go on a mini promotion tour.

A few more Questions please .... I'll keep them Brief and straightforward

1. If a Really good player can make say , $36,000 a year playing at $1/$2 NL,
What could we assume an Average Yearly rate would be for this same player at $1/$3 NL ? $48,000 ?


2. If an Opponent is Shortstacked .... Will they often Tighten Up and " ONLY " try and get it All-In Pre-Flop in hopes of Doubling Up when they have a Premium Hand ( AA,KK,AKs,AKo, and maybe even QQ and JJ ) VS an Opponent that is well stacked ( Deepstacked ) will play a bit Loser both Pre-flop and Post flop , as they have more Chips they can " Safely " spew off , and can therefore see more Flops with Marginal hands in hopes of hitting ?


3. For Bluffing and Semi-Bluffing ...... Are there certain spots that you will look to do one or the other ?

Say for a Full on Bluff, if you get Heads up come the Flop and the Flop is Wet, you will C-Bet, Double Barrel the Turn ( no matter the card ) and then look to fire the Third barrel and apply max pressure on the River ( All dependent of course what your opponent did on all three streets )

4. SlowPlaying ..... Is there ever a Time to SlowPlay ( Pre-Flop ) a hand like AA - QQ and AK ( both suited and un-suited ) ?

Maybe Only SlowPlay a hand like this if you know for certain there will be a Max of 1 -2 players come the Flop ...... You're the BB and there's only 1 -2 callers by the time it gets to you

5. When Set-Mining with hands like 22 - 99 do we set are selves up for having a Bigger Pair than ours having us crushed , by just calling Pre-Flop , as if we have 22 - 55 hand , a hand like 66 - TT could be willing to SlowPlay and try to see a Flop for Cheap and hope to too hit Trips .

I guess the more Players to the Flop, the higher the chance that are Trips could be crushed. S if 2 players see the Flop and we hit Trip 4's , we're probably good , vs if 4 -5 players see the Flop , and the Flop comes K 4 T , we have to think Long and hard about Re-Raising someone who raises are 3/4 Pot size Bet with this many players seeing the Flop

As always , I appreciate you taking the time out to help me out and answer questions.

Fantastic Thread again , Thanks for starting it

1. If a Really good player can make say, $36,000 a year playing at $1/$2 NLHE,
What could we assume an average yearly rate would be for this same player at $1/$3 NLHE? $48,000?

$40,000 to $48,000 as in some $1/$3 games there are actually better players than in typical $1/$2 NLHE games.


2. If an Opponent is Shortstacked .... Will they often Tighten Up and " ONLY " try and get it All-In Pre-Flop in hopes of Doubling Up when they have a Premium Hand ( AA,KK,AKs,AKo, and maybe even QQ and JJ ) VS an Opponent that is well stacked ( Deepstacked ) will play a bit Loser both Pre-flop and Post flop , as they have more Chips they can " Safely " spew off , and can therefore see more Flops with Marginal hands in hopes of hitting?

All villain dependent. If villain is an overly loose donk with 100bb, the fact that he gets down to 40bb does not mean he is only going to shove with premium hands. He may shove with Js10s or 9s6s because it's his "favorite hand." You just never know. But, if you raise to $12 pre from UTG with QJ suited and a seemingly loose, donkish player ships in $75, it's not good to call there. A lot of the times you'll be behind. We are looking to consistently get our money in with 65%+ edges and playing $1/$2 NLHE gives us a lot of those opportunities. It's a travesty to give fish those sort of edges against us.


3. For Bluffing and Semi-Bluffing, Are there certain spots that you will look to do one or the other ?

Say for a Full on Bluff, if you get Heads up come the Flop and the Flop is Wet, you will C-Bet, Double Barrel the Turn (no matter the card) and then look to fire the Third barrel and apply max pressure on the River (All dependent of course what your opponent did on all three streets).

Double barreling and triple barreling wet flops with air would be moronic. Good chance you will get called or shoved all in on as villain will want to chase their draws. So, it's best to fire one bullet and give up on really wet boards. If they call once they are most likely calling again. It's really all villain, situation dependent and I'd need specific hand examples and all pertinent information to go along with it.

4. SlowPlaying ..... Is there ever a Time to SlowPlay ( Pre-Flop ) a hand like AA - QQ and AK ( both suited and un-suited ) ?

Maybe Only SlowPlay a hand like this if you know for certain there will be a Max of 1 -2 players come the Flop ...... You're the BB and there's only 1 -2 callers by the time it gets to you

No. The point of poker is to make as much money as possible with your premium holdings against inferior holdings. Therefore, we start to escalate the size of pot immediately with premium holdings. Limping them is wrong in most cases.

5. When Set-Mining with hands like 22 - 99 do we set are selves up for having a Bigger Pair than ours having us crushed , by just calling Pre-Flop , as if we have 22 - 55 hand , a hand like 66 - TT could be willing to SlowPlay and try to see a Flop for Cheap and hope to too hit Trips .

I guess the more Players to the Flop, the higher the chance that are Trips could be crushed. S if 2 players see the Flop and we hit Trip 4's , we're probably good , vs if 4 -5 players see the Flop , and the Flop comes K 4 T , we have to think Long and hard about Re-Raising someone who raises are 3/4 Pot size Bet with this many players seeing the Flop .

Worrying about getting set over setted is a waste of time at NLHE. It will happen to you four or five times a year. Deal with it. The times it doesn't, print money by over-pairs and two pairs calling off against your "All in" on the flop or turns.

Update:

On a $35,000 uptick at $1/$3 PLO and $2/$5 NLHE. So, I decided to give back to all the people who supported me over the years investing in my staking packages and I bring you "The People's Freeroll," plus my first 2016 World Series of Poker stacking package here.


Also, "Correspondence" is nearing completion and I haven't quite decided what I am going to do with the book yet. I am seriously considering opening a $1/$2 NLHE stable here in Detroit and I may just share the information in it's entirety with my horses and close poker friends for a while. But, obviously continue to release rough draft excerpts here and there for followers of this thread. If all goes well, maybe I'll win a big donkament soon and a poker book publishing company not full of dripping wet pussies will decide to put out what I have in a no holds barred uncensored format.

If that doesn't happen, I'll try to have a finished .PDF version or MS word document by September first, and I'll just distribute those for contributions to a GoFundMe account for a limited time, no official paperback, and hopefully what I've put together can become the holy grail of poker as it will only be obtainable through me or by piecing together free excerpts that I plan to post all over various poker forums moving forward.

At this point I've decided the most reputable way to make money off the felt in poker is by offering staking and coaching to those you stake anyway. Put your money right where your mouth is, giving the information away in books, training videos, coaching sessions, etc really isn't worth it in my opinion. But, I have promised you all one book and this will be it. It will be a definitive guide on how to take $2,000, $4,000, or $6,000 and run it up to $15,000+ at $1/$2 NLHE so you can be properly rolled for a shot at $2/$5 NLHE, no more, no less.

I promise you that.

Lot,
Thanks as always for taking the time out to reply to my questions .
I really appreciate that.

And please put me down for an order to purchase your book, once you release it. I would love to have a copy

Updating here all the way up to and throughout the World Series of Poker.

My first four horses here in Detroit are about to get a first hand look at it.

I've backed/staked player since 2005. I've had the least success and most thefts/wrongdoings against me in live cash games. Don't do it. You'll regret it