Hey all, most of you know me already as I've had a few other PG&C threads including my last one here

For those who don't know me, my name is Josh and I dropped out of college in April 2010 as a freshman to start playing poker for a living. I moved to Vegas at the beginning of February and it was fun and okay while it lasted, but I moved home last Saturday and honestly I feel better now at home. I was missing my friends + family, and hell, even my dog, quite a bit.

So, I left my last PG&C thread off in quite a bit of MU and I closed it because I needed a break from 2p2 + wasn't grinding all that much. Well, since last Friday, a lot has changed and now I obviously cannot play on FTP or PS for the time being. In that time, I've been playing a little bit on Doyles Room (omg this site is so awful) as I had a bit of money on there, and Ive made a bit but theres not much action on it and I haven't played that much.

But, I did just sign a 100k hand contract for backing on BlackChipPoker, which is one of the Merge skins. I'll be starting up at 10nl for the first thousand hands just so I can get used to the site and then moving up to my normal starting stake of 25nl and hopefully crushing it up in my spare time when I'm not grinding live.

Before we continue, since the next part of the post will be about me being an LOL live pro, lets look at my giraffe for the yr so far...its pretty awful



So, now the fun part of this PG&C thread, I just finalized a deal with my MTT/SNG backer to continue playing under him live, starting at 1/2, 1/3 playing in chicagoland with the Rockford Charitable Games. I owe my backer ~9k in MU right now, so we've worked out a deal where a majority of profits go back to MU, but I'm getting to keep a % for myself so I can live off it. The RCG is more or less a traveling casino, playing in venues all around the chicago suburbs and out by me in Rockford 4-6 days a week, and I'll be traveling right along to quite a few events.

My plan is to play 3-5 days a week pending locations as I don't want to drive to the 2 hr away venues, and playing 6-12 hour sessions pending how its going. So far, with the RCG, I have probably around 40 hours of playtime, and the games are definitely beatable for a good rate, but until I get out of 1/2 and up playing the 2/5 games that run every event, I wont be making that good of an hourly ....so thats a goal of mine, do well enough to be able to shottake 2/5 by the end of summertime.

So here's my schedule for the next few days and a link to the RCG website, I'll update after every live session with hands/how it went/etc and then also update my online play in those posts.
-4/22/2011: Forest Hills Lodge, Rockford IL (15 mins away)
-4/23/2011: Holiday Inn Express/Victoria Banquets, Rosemont IL (1hr 10 mins)
-4/25/2011: Indian Lakes Resort, Bloomingdale IL (1 hr 10 mins)
-4/28/2011: Allegra Banquets, Schiller Park IL (1 hr 20 mins)
-4/29/2011: Giovanni's Banquets/Big AL's Bar, Rockford IL (10 mins)

http://www.rockfordcharitablegames.com/



Hopefully this goes well, would be nice to make a decent bit of money going into the summer. Honestly, right now I'm not sure where my life will be this fall, a lot is riding on how I do this summer playing and also the state of online poker. I might be continuing to play for a living, or I might be going back to school this fall, going into possibly a trade school. Theres a ton of ways this could play out, I'm just keeping an open mind and I'm going to attempt to do my best with whatever I end up doing.

Next update will probably be tonight/tomorrow morning, thx for following along and don't hesitate to ask questions and critique me on hands I post itt, both online and live, we're all here to improve.

Josh

Best of luck man. Going to be giving Live a go as well, probably starting up this weekend.

GL man, crush it

GL

gl Matt, are there good games around you?

tyty guys, appeciate it

_______________________________

Session 1 Update:

Just got back from playing a 4 hr live session. Quit way before I wanted to as the table was dying down with not much action and I had everyone outstacked by quite a bit, only 1 other guy was sitting 100 or more bbs deep and he had a clue on how to play. So I just called it a night and figured I'd rest up for a big session tomorrow as I have to drive a little over an hour to the venue. Finished +260 tonight.

The only "big" pot I played went as followed.

-8 handed, I cover the table.
UTG fairly aggro Hispanic player who was a reg (dealers calling him by name) and seemed like he knew what he was doing opened to $7 (sitting with 150ish), flat in front, i flat OTB with 9 9, 2 folds behind.
Flop: 79Q rainbow: UTG checks, flatter checks, I bet $20, UTG flats and 3rd player folds.
Turn: 2c, 2 clubs on board: UTG checks, I make it $35 and he shoves for ~$120 total and I snap.
He flips AA and I hold and scoop the ~$310 pot

And this lil table below is gonna be how I track my overall live play; will attempt to remember to include it at the end of every post.
Live Winnings: +260
Time Played: 4 hrs
Hourly: $65

Anyway, thats all I have for now; looking forward to playing tomorrow and might get in a quick online sesh in the morning; gonna see if the PSN is working so I can play CoD...****in things been down over a day now

in b4 reading

subscribed, gl

gl Josh! Sucks a lot of people are leaving Vegas now, including ph1shman. Sigh.

GL josh I was wondering how you and some other ppl were doing w/ the recent news about the DOJ....

Sucks that you have to drive so much to get to a casino.....aren't there other casinos you can go to? I'm sure if there were you would go but just wondering.

gl with said reading

i wouldnt

yea for sure; I left last saturday, phishnit is leaving soon, did flute leave the flux house too?

Yea, theres casinos around but there's none any closer than what I'm doing now. I'm also not 21 yet, I just turned 20 last month, but that could obv be fixed with a fake ID. The closest "casino" to me is the Elgin Boat but its more for gambling and they don't get that many poker games going. Once every few months the RCG that I play through is hosted on the boat, and I've gone then, because its all poker.

So yea, I really don't have any casino options near me, the closest physical casino to me (not a river boat like in Elgin) is the Potawatomi Bingo Casino which is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is about 2 hours away.

Its not that bad, my average drivetime is going to be something like 45 mins which isn't the nut worst, I'm planning on just playing longer sessions to compensate for the more time driving.


edit: forgot to include this with my liveaments update

Yea flute is back home now. The other guys there may be leaving as well besides Joe.

Solid stack, what's the buyin range there? Hopefully it's 300 max, since your stack is rarely at risk at 1/2 and u have more money to double through fish obv.

Hey man glgl, you seem to play pretty much the same games as me, I play 25-50nl online and £100nl+ live cash games, hope all works out for you with these DOJ problems and your transition to live pro works out!

Ah that blows, this whole thing is messed up. And yea, its 200 max at some places and 300 at others, the tables do get pretty deep a lot, just didnt happen yesterday.

Tyvm, did you play FTP/PS or Euro sites? Or a combo of both? And how are the games now if ftp/ps; softer?


________________________________

Grabbing lunch with mah friend Lori, then on the way out to play, hoping for a long session

Gla today if you're playing

Gogogo!

Yo, check your skype about RCG Monday.

woot

didnt get the message, pm it to me imo

________________________________________

Started off today wonderfully with a call from mah bff Lori asking if we could get lunch and see another one of our friends (it involves free starbucks because said other friend works there ) and I readily agreed and got ready. So we went and got our starbucks and saw our friend at work, then we headed over and went to Red Robins. For those who don't know what that place is; its a burger joint that serves awesome burgers + these steak fries that are bottomless, free refills ITT . Lori (yea, the blondie in a ton of pics in my last PG&C thread) ended up out eating me, and it made me feel like a nit .



Food was damn good though and after that we went to the mall for a bit to return some shiz she got for her bday that didnt fit, and then we saw her sister who works in the mall for a few mins which was fun; got to hit on said older sister (who looks ****in bangin even after having 2 kids) . Anyway, enough of the IRL ramblings, here comes the pokerz

So played a 6 hr session today, was down ~$425 at one point but damage controlled down to -$80. Was a really rough session with me winning exactly 0 20+ BB pots with JJ+ today. I had a sort of tough table too, 6 guys were "regs" around the area as I had seen them before (and i drove over an hour in today) but none were very good, just std old/nitty live pro's where its hard to get money out of them. Had a spewy kid at my table for maybe 3 hours but he was cardracking and running like god, finished up like 600 in those 3 hours.

So yea, started off the sesh going KK<AA to a 80 BB stack AIPF, goes from $8 to $160 pre and I call with KK obv and he flips AA and i laugh. Then after that, I reload another and this hand comes up.

Hand 1:
Hero: $210
Villian (BB): $350

2 limpers in front, I make it $14 OTB with KK, BB makes it $35, limpers both fold, Hero makes it $80 to go and BB shoves and I snap call.
KK vs BBs QQ
Board runs out xQxxxx

And boom I'm down like $450 within an hour, now on to some more hands from during the session.

Hand 2:
Hero: $190
Villian (SB): $375

Folded to hero in MP with Q Q, hero makes it $8, SB clicks it back to $14 and hero calls
-I put villain on a big hand, QQ+, yet I end up ****in this hand up

Flop K T 4
Villian checks, Hero checks behind

Turn: 2
Villian bets $15, hero calls $15
-Idk, flat here seems okay maybe, even tho I think his range is always QQ+ here, could just muck it and make it ez.

River: K
-Villian bets $13 and hero calls again cuz LOL pot odds even tho I'm never good imo

Villan flips KK and wins with quads


Hand 3:
Hero (SB): $180
Villian (UTG): $320

6 limpers, SB completes with QT, BB checks

Flop: Ax Q 3
check, check UTG makes it $8, folds to button who calls, Hero calls, bb mucks.

Turn: 6, 3 clubs on board
Hero checks, UTG bets $10 and looks weak, button calls, Hero makes it $35, UTG calls $25, button folds, HU to river.

River: 2x
Hero makes it $105 and UTG mucks A3 face up.


Hand 4:
Hero (Button): $325ish
Villian (EP): covers

5 limps, Hero limps OTB with T5, sb completes

Flop: A35
UTG bets $12, 1 call, hero makes it $50, UTG calls $38, other guy folds
-I put UTG on a strong ace here, fig'd he thought I also had an ace tbh as I was betting big OTF to protect my hand

Turn: J
UTG checks, Hero bets $100, UTG calls

River: K
UTG checks, Hero jams $173iirc, UTG tanks for srsly about 5 mins and calls with 62, Hero wins the ~$670 pot

edit to this last hand: My bet sizing seemed ****ed up, I need to be setting myself up to bet more on the river amirite? I mean, I'm shoving most rivers here, rarely just giving up (prolly on an Ace OTR), my sizing seems awful

Live Winnings: +180
Time Played: 10 hrs
Hourly: $18


Anyway, thats all I have for now, put in a short sesh online last night and lost maybe a buyin, off to bed here soon as I have an Easter lunch to go to, then prolly will get in some hands online.

Sizing in hand 4 not awfulbad, $128 in pot on the turn and $273 in your stack, maybe $75-85 to make your hand look uber strong and then have around $200 to put in on river.

Hand 2: If read is that strong that opponent would never click it back without a big hand (JJ+) then only thing you're beating here is AcQx and JcJx. Tell yourself you could have lost more against a good reg who would have 3-bet you with better sizing and live and learn.

GL in this thread, subscribing.

Just got back from an awesome Easter Buffet with my family; best part was clearly when the Easter Bunny did a faceplant when a kid basically tripped him; was laughing my ass off.

Anyway, time to get on the grind, gl to all playing today

Josh

how'd the day go?

Didn't play live sunday, played a bit online before the Blackhawks game and broke even, finally have my HUD working on the merge network tho so thats good.

Getting ready to go in a bit atm, picking up BAEventures (good read of a PG&C thread btw ) on my way in as hes only about an hour away and then we're gonna grab a bite and then head over and grind it up.

Will have results later, gla today

Go Hawks!



Josh

Picked up the ole BAEventures today at his house and then we went and grabbed Portillos...place is the nizzles and you are unlucky if you dont live in the Chicagoland area as there literally is nothing better in the world in the hot dog industry. Anyway, from there we went over and played some LOLLivaments where Blake crushed, and erm...well, not so much over here.

Was the most absurd session I've ever had live, was stuck ~$750 about 6 hours in and when the place shut down at midnight (lol at midnight being the time it closes, but w/e) I was 10 hours into my session and I brought it back to only being stuck $325, so for the 2nd straight session, I did some damage control, but pretty absurd I'm starting every session down piles. The only positive (lol at it being a positive) is that I'm doing well enough keeping my composure to make back some money and not just tilt off more, I am glad I dont have to quit after being stuck a couple BI's live....I just keep grinding it out.

Anyway, lets get right into some hands, got quite a few hands that I texted to my backer as updates; that actually does help me remember action though which is handy for updating this thread . Fwiw, this table was really ****in deep all day long, there was money flying everywhere.

Biggest Losing Pots

Hand 1:
Hero (SB): $175
Villian (CO): covers
Note: I've already topped up about $100 at this point, lost a standard hand double barreling AK in a HU pot then checking back river and villian flipping over a set after I show my AK

UTG raises to $8, 4 callers, hero calls SB with Q9, BB calls, 7 way

Flop: Qx53
Hero checks, checks over to CO who makes it $40, hero jams $168 over, folds over to CO who tank calls with QTo

Board finishes off running T9 and hero loses pot



Hand 2:
Hero (Button): $220
Villian (CO): $125, huge huge huge huge fish, finished -1200 on the sesh, was lawl bad

4 limps, hero makes it $26 OTB (yes, $26) with AxQx , 1 call

Flop: Q77
Hero bets $30, villian shoves $100, I call

Villain flips 75 and holds




Hand 3:
Hero (button): $225
Villian (EP): covers

4 limpers, hero limps OTB with 7T, sb completes, bb checks, 7 way

Flop: Q9x9
one of the limpers bets $14, call in front, i call OTB

Turn: 5
guy barrels $40, fold, I call

River: Tx
Guy bets $50, I call but am not all that happy.

Villian shows K6 and wins

Calling there thinking theres enough of a 9x range to make a call profitable but honestly not so sure about that anymore, I think I need to fold that one OTR.




Hand 4:
Hero (BB): $200ish
Villian (EP): covers

Limps all around, Hero checks Jx8x in the BB, 6 or 7 way

Flop: QT9 rainbow
I lead $10, 3 calls

Turn: 5x puts 2 hearts out there
I lead $40, 2 calls

River: Tx
I check, Villian bets $55, fold, I call
-I prolly should just muck this river, but the guy had bluffed a river before and showed.

Villian shows QT and wins




Hand 5:
Hero: $200 (button)
Villian: covers (CO)

5 limps, hero raises to $16 OTB with QQ, 1 call

Flop: T26x
Hero bets $35, 1 call

Turn: 2x
Hero bets $85, 1 call

River: 8

Villian checks, Hero snap checks behind and is pissed because he knows villian got there

Villian tables 95 and wins




This hand was just pretty LOL so ima include it
Hand 6:
Hero: $350
Villian: $29

Hero raises $8 UTG with AK, EP shoves for $29 total, 1 guy tank calls for $29, another calls OTB for the $29, hero shoves $240 total over the top, first villian tanks forever and folds later saying KK, other villian folds QQ faceup

Board runs KJxxT and another cool story, villian has Q9 and wins




Biggest Winning Pots

Hand 1:
Hero (SB): $300ish
Villian (MP): covers

4 limps, hero completes SB with K4, bb checks

Flop: 9x73
Hero leads $10, 2 calls

Turn: 4x
Hero checks, MP bets $40, 1 fold, hero calls

River: A, villian looks up quickly as that ace falls (made me think he hit it)
Hero leads $120 for a PSB OTR, Villian tank calls and mucks saying he had A9




Hand 2:
Hero (button): $500ish
Villian (MP): $275ish

4 limps, hero limps OTB with KT

Flop: A59
-MP bets $10, hero calls, BB raises to $25, MP reclicks it back to $40, hero jams putting MP on QX, MP calls with said Q3 and is drawing dead


Live Winnings: -145
Time Played: 20 hrs
Hourly: -$7.25

Anyway, may or may not be playing Thursday, but will def be playing Friday.

Lunch date with a friend tomorrow, and then online session in the afternoon before the Bulls game and the Hawks game. Might post some online hands tomorrow at some point

Gla

Josh

Couple of rough hands in there. Live is rigged imo

You been putting in any time on Doyle's Room? How is it?

Great thread with very nice writeups. Will follow!

Lol yea, it rlly is rigged

And nah, I haven't played on DR since I signed my contract on Blackchippoker. Doyles is pretty awful tbh, everything about it; and on top of that you cant use a HUD which is pretty redic as well. I'll either withdraw my rlly small roll soon or just shottake a high game and try to run like god and just degen it up .

If you want to play anywhere, I'd suggest BCP, its part of the merge network. I like the layout of it though more than carbon, though I haven't played on carbon in a while so they just may mirror each other in look now.


Tyvm . Trying harder this time to make better posts than in previous PG&C threads I've had.

Comment on my awfulness as well as much as you'd like
_______________________________

Woke up rlly late today, missed my lunch date, put in a cool like 150 hands online so far before my computer crashed, gonna just wait til after dinner and maybe put in some hands before the Bulls and Hawks start.

Gogogo Chitown

Oh Jesus.. i know what its like to lose big money to live fish...
Had a trip few weeks ago to WPT Vienna and also played the livegames there...sickaments!

I had the feeling of its been waaaay more rigged than online... holy crap..
Dunno if its helpful, but its like burning money if u have a hand like 97ss and there are so many limpers in front of u and u basically HAVE to call, cause u r gettin so nice odds...-imo.
On the other side, i was doing really really well by just valuetowning them with strong top pairs on dry boards or even made hands like sets...
Even though they really dont care about betsizing so much, so just barrel your ass off.

Think most of the things are quite "standard" and known.. but its not that easy not to go with tabledynamic and spew in limped pots...
Maybe try to keep in mind that most of the players are VP/IP over 60

GL 2 u and keep it updated pls.