This thread is sick. As someone who is your age and enjoys shot-taking deep 2/5 and 5/10 despite being under-rolled, I know the enjoyment. Look forward to seeing where you go from here.

and vegas eats another bankroll......

I feel like we may have played together early in your trip b/c I remember talking to an asian dude about where he was from and stuff and he told me Seattle but my memory is kind of hazy.

OP, hang in there and have fun. Sounds like you have the right mindset to enjoy the rest of the trip. Live is a different speed and takes some time to adjust to...

Enjoy.

Hey guys, sorry the past few days I've been busy being social with friends, actually have another friend (non-poker) coming to visit me for a few days

I will compensate with a longer writeup and my thoughts.

My friend Alec who is a Stars MI 200NL+ reg as well (we both mainly play 200NL/500NL) came with me and is mainly playing Venetian MTTs, is going to play day 2 tomorrow of the $400 rinkadink. Wish him luck! He's been crushing Wynn 2/5, Bellagio 5/10 as well, must be nice... I guarantee you, most tournament regs (who generally are staked) and probably miles deep in makeup probably would kill to be in Alec's position where they can just crush midstakes cash games instead (both online and live). Blows my mind that he chooses still to play tournaments, you need like 200 ABI to play them properly rolled (100 min)

Also played some League of Legends over at the HyperX esports arena at Luxor, streamed some of the gameplay too -- I also do happen to stream some poker gameplay over at stars MI too, albeit with a 5 minute delay o:

Anyway, played some Wynn 2/5 the past 2d and did pretty well, won a $1K pot w/ some Indian whale (3 of them were speaking to each other on table between hands/during hands), blasting off with a missed NFD on a paired board & me calling down with trips LUL

Also stacked a very likely 2/5+ reg who cold 4B out of the BB when I held KK UTG, ended up flatting and flopped top set on a fairly dry board (for 4b pot), he barreled all 3 streets in which I obv Hollywood a bit on flop and turn, river more or less beat him to the pot w/ my black chips after verbalizing "all in" and immediately turn over KK which very likely coolered AA/AK (99% sure it's AA given that I open 20 UTG, UTG+1 3b to 65, NUTTed BB cold4 makes it 185, I flat instead of 5b given that I basically narrow my range to AA/KK only against a good reg). This was actually the last hand before lunch break, my friend got to take some pics which I will highlight below in a photo section.

"Sir, how many miles away are we from Hollywood?"

I'm happy that I chose to take this trip and even though I did lose roughly $15K (can probably recoup that in 1-2 months), I'm actually not really sweating it and taking it as some learning lessons. I'm confident in my ability to still crush games up to ~200NL on stars MI over a larger sample size, and have multiple staking/CFP offers/discussions for when I return back to Michigan if I do choose to continue playing poker. Looking back though and also from some poker hands from the last 2d, I should have just asked myself internally the question: "what would I do in pokerstars MI/online in x or y spot", ingame on 2/5 or 5/10. Prior to that I've made some calldowns live that I never would make online, and the worst part is that even though I call, I know I'm beat literally every time...

Sure does losing a lot of money suck? Yeah, of course it does. However I took a realistic shot while I'm still young and can afford to take this hit ON MY OWN DIME and not from my parents or anyone else, something many others won't ever get the chance to do or get to experience and learn. Not to mention, I've created a really solid network of full-timers and have made a few really solid friends along the way that I know I will keep in touch with over the years.

However, hearing that some of my graduate friends in software engineering that are making $170-$180K+ at AMZN or other FAANG companies such as FB or Google really does make me not want to pursue poker much anymore, I feel like I am wasting my own potential knowing that the effort & time I would put into running sims w/ PIO and interpreting data/scripting/pop. analysis/nodelocking/etc (I already beat 200nl without pio!) vs. me just studying data structures & algorithms in CS would probably pay dividends more in the long run. I will likely only limit poker to a thing to the side or a hobby in the future, given that I do want to ultimately provide for a s/o or family in the future and have a stable and happy life. I really want to be a family man in the future, and the only notable personality I can think of that fits this criteria for the ENTIRE population is Trevor Savage. Everyone else...not so sure...

Not to mention the bad hours, lack of healthcare/retirement/exact opposite of any sort of prestige that being a full time professional poker player carries. I didn't exactly have the best upbringing, I'd like to change that and really set myself up to become a good parent in the future if possible. That being said, I plan on returning to school come this summer semester or fall, & will stream some stars MI poker on twitch from time to time. If I am to become a professional, I think after experiencing LV and how much of a grind live poker is and how it's made me kinda miserable (tbh) it would only be thru playing online.

As for Las Vegas, I feel like specifically for me it kinda was a waste of time for me to play here and moreso a vacation, given that I average $75/hour playing 6-12 table 200NL on stars MI. To be honest I'm considering to even self disassociate for a 5-10 year period for the Las Vegas region, just so I don't do something stupid such as leak $2K into blackjack again or get myself caught up in a casino environment 24/7 which is really easy to do for me.

I don't have any desire or need to play the WSOP events, nor really play any live cash game poker during WSOP time. I already have a pretty good private 1/2/5 rock game back home, as well as another 5/5 2K min. private game. Vegas also made me feel like it made me a bit more quieter overall at the tables, can tell that usually over 1/2 the table are silent players who are pretty serious about trying to win and are the grinder type players who don't really appreciate lightening up the atmosphere at all (nothing wrong with a silent table tho)

Doesn't mean I will quit poker though hah, there's already quite a bit of a sunk cost with the system I built specifically for PIO and I do have a PIOsolver 2 edge license :P

Most likely this will be the last poker related entry for the Las Vegas trip as I feel like I haven't had a proper time to actually enjoy myself, for the past 60 days I've logged 50-60 hours/week on average of nonstop grind. On stars Michigan, I have about 135,000 hands logged total over 45 days of play. I also want to make sure that my friend has an enjoyable time while she's at Vegas as she hasn't really ever travelled before on her own/with friends, despite being a few years older than me. I know she's been going through a rough time as well lately overall, and is a close friend to me.

If anyone has any questions however, I'll be happy to answer them. I may have some updates with some more pictures maybe, albeit without any poker stacks or updates of myself -- maybe on my friend Alec (with his permission)? We shall see. Until then, it's back to Michigan where I will likely grind 40-60 hrs/week on stake until school.

Obligatory Shoutouts

-Alec for being the one guy I've ever met that I consider to be a good reg/plays League of Legends & shares a lot of common interests while playing poker, he is more dead set on becoming a professional player (for live & online) than I am.

-Brokenstars for being my online poker coach, pretty much all credit goes to him for my online game after watching his 200z/500z streams for years off/on and learning from it

-DC for being a mentor to me overall, not afraid of telling me on when I'm being a moron (which is often), and giving me a realistic outlook on things. When I need an honest opinion or someone to drop me back down to earth, he's my guy.



Photos!

Vibin at the MGM pool



Wynn Room







Lunch break w/ da boyz (Red 8 @ Wynn)



Various Chipstack photos







Alec crushing the 5/10 at Bellagio (think he's up ~$10K on trip)



Directly after KK > probable AA in 4bp



Replying to comments


Haha, yeah that's what I've been mostly doing past few days



What about Macau? In terms of the light calldowns, yea....flopped a flush w/ KJhh and got called down by two spots after betting turn/river w/ 75% & full pot sizing. Wasn't the aggressor that hand so did not collect 3 streets.

we gon be back in dem online STREETZ

oh how supportive >_>

Uhh I'm from Ann Arbor, Michigan o:

I graduated from Michigan in 2010, played poker full time for about a year when Black Friday hit, and I thankfully entered the work force in 2011. Had a job in sales for a year that I absolutely hated, then found my way into derivatives trading in Chicago and have been doing that for the last 9 years now.

A few pieces of advice:

1. Especially at your age, poker is a good job, it's a shitty career. You touched on a bunch of this in your last post so I think you deep down know this. In most careers you gain prestige and build a resume that allows you for damn near free to get better opportunities, higher pay, higher job security. Poker offers none of that. Your reward for moving up and playing higher stakes is to play higher stakes with higher variance against tougher competition.

2. Poker will always be there. You can choose how to fit poker into your life as you want. The best part of playing poker as a side hobby is so simple: If I have a year where I make $0 playing poker, I'm totally fine. If a professional has a year where they make $0 playing poker, it's a disaster.

3. As you get older and if you want to find someone to start a family with sooner, being a professional poker player is such a tough sell to so many women out there. Having a normal job sucks for a while because having a boss and responsibilities is really shitty compared to poker, but the upside is that you actually get to go out and have fun when all of your friends and social network is doing the same. The Friday/Saturday nights that you have to grind online because that's when the drunk droolers are playing are suddenly freed up for you to go join your friends in doing fun things.

Best of luck in whatever you choose. If you want any networking/career advice I know plenty of people from Michigan and elsewhere in the CS and other fields. Feel free to PM me and reach out.

OP, I was about your age when I made a go at being pro. Lasted all of six months before I came to the same realization that you did - my talents could be better spent elsewhere and poker was becoming unenjoyable.

So I went to grad school, got my doctorate, got married, had two kids, bought a house, and have a well-paying job and soon to be private practice. All the while, I continue to play poker as an educated hobby and make a WSOP run every year. Giving up on the pro dream was a fantastic decision and I never looked back. My life has more meaning and stability now than I ever would have had playing poker AND I find the game enjoyable again! In fact, I get butterflies in my stomach again now when I sit down for a major tournament. I had lost that during those six months of grinding.

You did well and I think you’re 100% making the right decision. But if you do keep it as a hobby, make sure you continue to study the game and stay on top of it as it evolves. You still want to be a competitor even if you do consider it a hobby. Good luck!

Nothing cured me of wanting to move to Vegas and give it a go as much as spending 2 weeks there in the summer for WSOP.

What Zimmer says is great advice... whether you're a full-time pro or have a great job and are more of a weekend warrior, the great thing about poker is you can choose your level of involvement. For most people your age, it's much more +EV to get started on a career track, and you'll probably enjoy playing more as a hobby anyway.

+1, listen to zim

and try not to wear a hat in restaurants, i know that's not a big deal in the midwest or west coast but that's a very big deal on the east coast and east coasters are constantly movings west so we're everywhere

every time you do that there's at least there's at least one guy in the restaurant having a get off my lawn reaction

enjoying the tr, glgl

Thanks for the write up, I'm glad you enjoyed your trip

I live in New Hampshire and have never heard (or imagined) this hat thing.
Could you elaborate? Do you mean NICE restaurant? Like 50$+ entrees? Do you mean like NYC? Atlanta? Boston? How would I know? And more importantly, Why would I care? ESPECIALLY in Vegas?
I wouldn't go into a 5 star rstaurant with a baseball cap on, but basically anywhere else I wouldn't even think once let alone twice about it?

I would recommend ignoring rick's fashion/etiquette advice. In Vegas this is totally standard.

Roger.
Thanks.

as a fellow new englander,there's a non zero chance new hampshire doesn't have any restaurants, if they do it's like a 99 frnanchise

you guys want to wear hats in restaurants, go ahead and wear hats, photographic evidence and posting itt clearly shows nobody will stop you - but poker players in general are pretty unaware of social norms which makes sense given that they chose such wild career paths

just be aware it's a major class signal that you may not want to be shining in certain situations - mostly said it because talk was about careers and a lot of recruitment happens over casual dress meals

i'll stop the derail and go back to enjoying the tr and wishing kid icarus some of that rungood

Unless you’re Turtle, don’t wear a hat in any restaurant with cloth napkins seems like pretty standard advice. I was taught generally never wear any hat indoors, but that ship has long sailed...

Yeah, me too. Out of habit, I take off my hat when going in the grocery store or whatever. Always the only person I see carrying a hat indoors.

A habit I should break. It doesn't mean anything.

I'm back in Vegas with a one way ticket to here!

Hey all, just updating that I've transitioned from playing online 200NL on pokerstars MI to playing live 2/5 $1,000 max and 5/10 $2,000 max. I've been doing pretty well at that given that I have a $60 hourly rate there, over a 200 hour sample size. Relatively small sample size but only time will tell if I can keep that up.

My backer for live NLHE games wanted me to play the wynn mystery bounty $1600, so I will be playing that as he provides the buyin, and I keep 20% of the prize. A pretty good deal if you ask me, however he did use a portion of the staking profit to pay for the MTT buyin. For cash games I get 60% he gets 40% with makeup added. He also intends to increase my percentage if I do well in the MTT or continue to perform and have solid results, so looking forward to that. I do have an online staking deal that went fairly poorly though in which I chose to exit out of sheer guilt and shame, given my poor results and the rest of the field getting better/me kind of running into it...

This time around I'm looking to save up a $50K bankroll before I go off on my own. I want to take the approach of being a bit on the safer side of BRM, but I'm not going to be a total nit and still buy in for the max in every game available in Detroit. I honestly think I'm a top 3 reg (if not the best reg) at any given day, barring one or two close contenders. I game select aggressively and always try to maximize my edge where it makes sense and is possible, and will plan on returning to school in the fall. This time around though, I've been considering nursing -- I'm a people person, I like to socialize and help people whereever possible. Also, having 3x 12 hour shifts/week doesn't sound too bad for poker...


PLANS:

-Wynn $1,600 mystery bounty MTT (day 1B) (on stake)
-Wynn 2/5 $1,500 max (on stake)
-Aria 2/5 $1,000 max (on stake)
-Bellagio 5/10 $1,500 max (on stake)

Glad to have you back and posting from Vegas!

relegades: why vegas instead of LA?

Being a fireman with 2x 24 hour shifts is a pretty sweet gig for having a 2nd career also. Plus, my buddy that's been a fireman forever says that they play poker at the firehouse every day, lol. And good food!

Alright I just woke up finally from having a good day of sleep for once, here's the gist of what happened since I arrived at Vegas based on my poker session tracker:



The caesars 5/10 actually was a 5/10/20, was texted about the game by a Vegas reg I'm friends with that the game was really good and I needed to get my ass down there ASAP. It was indeed a good game, however ended up buried 2K early on in the session with some card death and some standard flop & turn x/f's. Pretty happy with how I played there myself, I'm learning to click the fold button in live poker a lot better whereas it's super easy to do in online as I'm typically playing 6+ tables if I can.

If I've learned anything in this trip, it's that I'm too young and impatient & too used to cash game live poker to be playing MTTs. There are too many pros or serious recs that take the tournaments a bit too seriously and literally take 10s for every action they do that doesn't involve folding. Like bro, it's obvious you aren't folding and you've been pure 3B or fold man...

TL;DR: busted out of the $1600 for my backer, lost a bit myself because I bought back 10% for myself at 1.2, but up in cash. Current plans for today are to grind bellagio 5/10, wynn 2/5, and aria 2/5.


I have comps at Las Vegas so COL is basically free for a limited amount of time, intend on going to LA in the future!

Thanks

good food....i do like food

Which app is this screenshot from? I like the layout.

Didn't know you had a thread here but was fun chatting in the 1600 the other day

Gl and ggs

You could become a travel nurse and hit up lots of casinos/rooms, plus make good money. Buy an RV Ah, to be young again.

GL in Vegas!

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