I put in 7 hours today and won $158. Off to an acceptable start. Played one interesting hand:

Pot is opened for 8, I 3bet to 24 with AK from mp which is called only by original raiser. I have 300 villian covers.

Flop is 345 villians checks, I bet 30 into 50, villian raises 50.

I had 3bet this same villian recently and he paid a buck for me to show QQ after he folded to my flop bet. He should know my range is pretty tight, I figured he could have a hand like 10s or Js. I tanked for a while and considered reraising 100 but my inner nit made me muck and villian flashed QJ.

July 2011

Total hours played- 7
Pace- 5
Average hourly winrate- $23
Winnings- $158

2011 YTD

Total hours played- 309.5
Average hourly winrate- $20
Winnings- $6329

I put in 4.5 hours today and won $95. Nothing exciting just a lot of folding today, there is a reason it's called grinding.

July 2011

Total hours played- 11.5
Pace- 10
Average hourly winrate- $22
Winnings- $253

2011 YTD

Total hours played- 314
Average hourly winrate- $20
Winnings- $6424

You are doing great so far! I was wondering, at what point do you plan to make the move to vegas? What size BR are you waiting for, and how much are you saving for living expenses? Do you plan to wait till you have had solid hours at 2/5?

I enjoy the thread very much. You seem to be running pretty good as well. There is a variance in live poker as well, it just comes around when you least expect it and seems to bit you in the rear end every big pot for a period of time. Good luck and keep up the posts.

Thanks! I get off of probation in June 2012 so I have about a year to get prepared. I want to have a minimum of 3 months living expenses saved. I approximate I'll be rolled for the 2/4 400 max buy in game at my card room in 4 months, sooner if I run good later if I run like ****. That would give me about 8 months at the new limit to gauge my success. If all goes well I think I'll have a 10k+ roll by the time I take the plunge.

I have to admit to running well since I came back from my trip to Vegas for new years, 2011 has been great for me. 2010 I played a ton of poker in various formats but ran relatively bad. I have come to accept the variance involved with poker and just focus on the things that I can control which are putting in volume and making good decisions. I have given thought to how bad I could run. The worst downswing I have experienced online was about 15 buyins up in smoke. The worst downswing I have experienced live is 7 buyins down the drain. I have messed around with the tools at evplusplus.com that can give you a pretty good idea of how much variance affects winrates. In the worst case scenario I could work some temp jobs to get by but as of now I am pretty comfortable with the bankroll I have to grind 1/2.

keep up the great work!

I played 7.5 hours today and won $116. The tables were good today gunna go back tomorrow. Looks like I am a little behind pace gunna grind a lot the next few days to catch up.

Thanks bro!

July 2011

Total hours played- 19
Pace- 26
Average hourly winrate- $19
Winnings- $369

2011 YTD

Total hours played- 321.5
Average hourly winrate- $20
Winnings- $6540

I played 6.5 hours today and won $233. Pretty solid day played a few big pots:

I'm in lp with KK mp opens for 10 one call and I raise it to 60 total. OG in the small blind goes all in for 90 more the rest fold I call. Board runs out 108J97 He flips QQ for the higher straight nh sir.

Second hand I was in the big blind with 46 5 way limp to the flop.

A46 I check mp leads for 10 into 6 one call from lp. I raise 45 more mp folds lp thinks for a little while then calls.

turn is 6 I bet out 75, I sized it to set up a river shove the lady makes the call again. Pretty possitive she has AJ+ here and is going to look me up.

river is 9 I bet 100 to put her all in, she snaps and tables A9 ship it!

Going to continue the grind tomorrow.

July 2011

Total hours played- 25.5
Pace- 31
Average hourly winrate- $24
Winnings- $602

2011 YTD

Total hours played- 328
Average hourly winrate- $21
Winnings- $6773

I played 8 hours today and lost $48. Tables were a little tight today. Here are a couple hands:

I've got AA in the hj, one limp to me I make it 8. This is the just about the smallest I ever come in for, I usually raise bigger with premiums but I wanted to disguise my hand and there wasn't a huge field of limpers I needed to price out. bb calls limper calls.

flop was JJ8 checks to me I bet 12 into 20 both call

turn comes 3 checks to me I bet 50 into 56. I thought that one of them likely had a J and I might be able to rep the flush and get them out, if they come along I've got boat and nut flush outs. bb folds, limper calls.

river was 5 villian checks, he had less than 1/2 psb left I check behind he flips J9 nh sir

Second hand:

I'm in the sb with A8 one limp from mp and a raise to 7 from lp. I hadn't been very active so I thought it was a good spot to 3bet and hopefully take it down without resistance. I make it 25.

Folds to lp who ships for 45 more, I'm getting close to the right price even though I'm possibly dominated so I make the call.
villian flips KK and it holds up. nh sir

Back on the grind tomorrow.

July 2011

Total hours played- 33.5
Pace- 36
Average hourly winrate- $17
Winnings- $554

2011 YTD

Total hours played- 336
Average hourly winrate- $20
Winnings- $6725

Hey i see you play at the oaks! congrats on doing so well and crushing the game! I play at the oaks every once in a while, but mainly the 6/12 game there. I was curious as to how the spread limit affected your strategy. How different does it play than NL? are there certain things i should look out for before i dive into 100 max?

Thanks! It plays just like NL. Unless you are battling super deep you will be able to get all in by the river no problem. I only recently started buying in 100bb, I had been playing 50bb for brm reasons so I effectively was playing nl. As far as things to look out for, I would just say watch who is calling down to showdown every hand and never ever bluff them.

These two hands both have some needless spew. In the first hand there is definitely no point in trying to bet someone off of a jack. I know you have some outs but there is almost a zero chance of anyone folding a jack there for a pot sized bet. Also you will not always be good if you make the nut flush on the river and then you are in a crappy spot even if you hit it. In the second hand the guy opening has a very small stack so there really is no reason to be 3betting A8s there and honestly there is rarely a good reason to be 3betting A8 oop. gl on the challenge and congrats on the great start.

Yes I played both hands bad. First hand I should have raised more pf. As played I should have just checked the turn because I could have been c/r by a j or made flush and just take a free river hope to improve or maybe have the best hand already.

Second hand I think the 3bet was ok given my read but I should have made it smaller like 18 so that I wouldn't have committed myself to calling his 4bet shove.

nice job!! i am following along as well!!

I played 3.5 hours today and won $192. Looks like I'm close to being on pace to hit my goal this month just have to keep it up.


Right on brother!

July 2011

Total hours played- 37
Pace- 41
Average hourly winrate- $20
Winnings- $746

2011 YTD

Total hours played- 339.5
Average hourly winrate- $20
Winnings- $6917