Less personal risk to BR, more willing to ride the variance train knowing it’s not a 100% loss if I lose. These games can get quite large. Don’t really want all of myself if possible. My BR is in good shape but would prefer more cushion.

Not a whole lot, got one-outted with top boat last session (V rivered straight flush), checked turn pretty much locked up after potting the flop, and ooph! Not a whole lot otherwise, just some typical runbad.

Went to Van Gogh exhibit with sis, very inspiring. I forgot how mentally unwell he was - schizophrenia/psychosis. Amazing what he was able to do in spite of / because of his illness. A reminder that society cannot overlook the gifts that even mentally ill people can bring. Some of his art has sold for tens of millions of dollars! Really cool visual effects, a 360 of his art with music and light show. Worth seeing if you are in the DMV area.

Date night with ex, might be going somewhere more serious...told him I was looking to settle down now and just chill, now that I've made enough $$ for the time being. Playing less and less, feels good to rest more in general.

Very happy with my focus on quality of life lately, gym and yoga with friends today, followed by free poker with friends. Really proud that I am finally taking better care of myself.

Sigh of relief.

After a few days off from the grind, played a little session. Very uneventful plo5 with threats dude at my table whispering to a reg while glancing at me out of the corner of his eye, ignored it but didn't like the vibe so I left for 5/T(25) and booked another win there. Ran good, made one bad laydown with top/top when the front door flush came in but made it back with a jammed 88 pre (flopped quads) and QQ in a 3! pot. Much friendlier atmosphere at 5/T compared to plo5.

One interesting hand:

Hero opens AQ $65 LJ, btn, BB, straddle call.

Flop ($260): Q94. Hero $90, btn and straddler call.

Turn ($440): 5, hero $250, only straddler calls.

River ($940): 5. V donks $550 eff. (all in for me). V has bluffed river earlier IP this session for $700. Recreational, I think....

Another night off, this time with sis and ex. Went to jazz joint downtown this time, fun lively live music. Not putting much volume in this month but not worried about it either.

Did all right last night, gambled with an aggro maniac pre once with ds AA and lost, the same same with dsKK and lost (again, but this time multiway), still booked a good profit.

Earlier on, called pre, bet turn on 2569, player says he couldn't call, I said "Well, when I call pre with quad 7s, I gotta bet that turn." Got a lol.

Lately there has been a bird flying around the poker room, and the dealer made a comment about it potentially swooping down at some point and hitting someone in the eye. "That's why I wear sunglasses," I chimed in. Some smiles and chuckles. Brought me back to my stand up comedy days. Good times. Caught up with some friends, old and newer. It's not so bad to play less; it actually makes the experience more pleasant when I do play and less of a grind.

Didn't have to travel to Florida to play 25/25 PLO5...it ran last night at MGM! I didn't have as much on me as I would have liked so my buddy lent me a buy-in for some cushion (thank you...). We ended up playing 25/25/25 since I don't think everyone was keen on a $50 straddle. (The $50 was on and off towards the end of my session.) Made up with "stfu"/needling dude at the start of the session and we shook hands. I've been starting to make up with the few people I've had a negative interaction with, don't want any grudges and frankly better for my mental health too. As far as the session, ran ok, was card dead a lot and booked a decent win, but nothing outrageous for these stakes. Someone else was up over $20k when I left. I played solidly overall, tends to be much easier when moving up for me. Also, surprisingly comfortable at these stakes now, which is fantastic...! No more jitters at all getting it ai pre with ds AA for $4.2k for instance (held versus a bad ssAA and T-high rundown...phew).

Photographic evidence of the above events:



^^Year of the tiger...rawr!





^^The view from Van Gogh's asylum.



^^Blackbirds off to the right are for shuffling...I can shuffle up to 6 chips now! #semipro

Some beats as of late:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um7pMggPnug katy perry...ignorance is bliss

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_IUc8fBOXs tiesto remix of a cannons hit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AoyZf5oih4 jazz, jazz, jazz! so calming

Game night with friends was dope, played betrayal on haunted hill (?), exploding kittens, and a pictionary-type game where you get points for best guess/drawing/etc. with a telephone element (pass it on and next person tries to guess based on the last drawing). We had a blast with this last one because my buddy can't draw for crap.

On track for around $100/hr. so far this month at lower volume. Quality>>quantity. Sweet! I decided in honor of a new lifetime profit milestone I ought to upgrade bags again...been seeing lots of beautiful leather going around the poker room lately among some winning regs - Ferragamo, Louis V, etc. Mine contains none of those names emblazoned on the bag, much more understated (and cost-effective!). Cheers.

Rumor and official word has it we are turning the corner on this pandemic. Woohoo! Spanish flu of 1918 lasted a couple years too. #progress.

Continuing to grind, just a yawn normal session yesterday - a mix of rungood and bad - followed by a date. 5/5 went for like a down or two before breaking. I am practicing my betting patterns so I don't give away any live reads. I like Venice's suggestion of cutting out and pushing past the betting line, pretty easy to replicate without much thinking.

I do look absolutely ridiculous doing it, however.

Happy Valentine's Day!

You planning on going out to WSOP?

Maybe...I hate flying though. Would like to hop into some plo cash games around that time for sure, especially when the bigger events are running.

Not much had been going on lately until last night. Ran good at 5/5 (annoying reg kept stepping on my shoe so I changed seats because I asked him to stop and he started mocking me and I couldn't stand him anymore). Then a while later someone new wanted to be the only one putting on the button straddle and angled another player (a whale). He did the "pump fake" bet where he quickly slid out chips but didn't release them, inducing the player in position to "call" (bet) out of turn, then suddenly decided he wanted to check. I've been on the receiving end of this one too. The floor should have committed him to a minimum bet at least, but oh well. The "chip release rule" enables people to pull this off. Maybe we should just go by a betting line.

I wasn't feeling it anymore so I left for 10/25 for second night in a row where I bought in deeper than usual and got the double with KK AI pre. On track for another good month somehow, playing less and higher hourly too, what I've been aspiring to do for a while now. Night before I won a decent pot with A9dd on 7TJdd, 8 ott, Qd river. Finally beat this reg I'd been running bad against for a while now. Actually, variance seems to be turning around in general in the bigger hold 'em games lately, finally. Probably helps that my 5c experience has gotten me used to playing bigger games comfortably.

There are some really good players in my player pool, especially hold 'em. Pretty cool to play amongst them all and finally run decently too. Someone who plays higher actually said I was a good player...lol.

Been watching these high stakes online replays especially of 5c: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmgEiHxk9_4.

This Rihanna mix is pretty good too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBUO-fuo3s0.

Edit: masterboy's colors of the night...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtVj-GImpZ8.

There's a player who's been hitting on players at the table lately...and the player's a guy! Early 60s dude with thinning gray hair, very jolly, has a few too many drinks in him. First night he offers to suck someone's d--- if he'll give him his hat, sticks his fingers in his mouth and sucks on them, the next night he complimented someone's "hot" hairstyle. What a hoot. Everyone took it well though and laughed it off. I guess once you reach a certain age you let your guard down and just go for what you want?

Ran bleh yesterday but clawed back from a bigger losing session to a more ordinary one by the end of the long night. Was called Darth Vadar by this (again drunk) whale who wanted only the Asian players at the table to win lol! I told him I was his father. Then he almost got into a fight with another player for not giving him enough respect as his "elder" (cultural thing).

Also chatted up a pro who said he normally plays at Parx Tuesdays where PLO gets really good. There were two really good players at 5c this time who I tried to pick up a thing or two from. Main takeaway is preflop starting hand selection, obviously. It's been really nice to see the poker ecosystem heat up the last week or two - lots of people I have not seen are starting to play again, games that typically don't run are. Is covid finally reaching its last hurrah?

It was a difficult night in terms of timing - I left and the game at 5/5 got better. I switched seats at 5/T and the dude who took my seat won $7k in the next two orbits with KK and AJo against the whale's $2.5k jam pre with 44 and $1k jam with Q8o. Ayee! Add to that some missed royal and other draws at plo including a bad l/rr with bad AA an yeah.... Still on track for a good month!

Nothing really the day before President's Day, just a typical yawn session where I basically broke even except for a small loss in the big limit mix game which I sheepishly played for all of five minutes before being called for 2/5 (thank goodness). I raise folded A46r in otb in stud 8 after a pro 3! me . . . I was showing a 4 and he was showing a 6. Not knowing what I was doing, I just quietly let it go. I had 45% against KK but someone told me it was a good fold so whatever. I'm gonna work on my limit mix game.

Witnessed this visiting pro collect all the chips in the 1/2 plo game like a vacuum cleaner. Always annoying to have another really good player win practically everything at your table.

One of a few good 90s euromixes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8korIbTaE0w

All masterboy all the time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiuWGlqq7tw

Easy call IP with 3 low and an Ace. Gotta see 4th my man.

Thanks, BobbyPeru. It did seem like a decent hand to raise, just didn't know how I fared against a 3!...V showing a 6 (I showed a 4) I figured he was made, so I was drawing and I wasn't that interested in battling the reg. Interestingly, I had a 6 in the hole so he probably didn't have rolled up 6s...maybe AA or 456s.

Totally unrelated note, read an article today about covid affecting the heart...interesting read, might explain some of my chest issues (which have subsided, thankfully).

Another rough one, lost TT AI pre at 5/T, lost with bad AA in 5c in 4! pot three ways, V flopped top set of course (TT) but spr was 0.5, then lost with middle set versus a draw, waited until brick turn to get it in as I should and V rivered the nut flush anyway with nfd+OESD. He made a break-even call ott, I made a +EV jam, which I am happy about. I think the worst decision was to GII with TT 6-handed versus utg open, I 3! CO, V 4! jam $700 eff. Had seen V 4! as light as A2s but not sure if he is pulling the trigger frequently enough against my 3! of his utg open. Even throwing in some wheel aces I was not profitable, needing 45% (had 40%). Throw in AQ and I increase to 43%. V would need to 4! jam 99 to make this profitable. I know I did not play this one well because I snap called and was probably a little annoyed because I'd been 4! jammed on already in the session and may have leveled myself that people were jamming lighter against me because I was short, discounting my tight image, which was a mistake. Oh well.

Hand |Pot equity |Wins |Ties
TT|39.71% |194,827,134|1,996,719
AA,KK,AK,QQ,JJ,A2s,A5s|60.29% |296,319,699|1,996,719
[/table]

Played ultra nitty, 3! AAJT8ds and lost to AKQJxds, GII HU AQJJ8hh versus ? on Jh-Th-3c and won. Ended down a smidge.

Mask mandate lifted locally where I live in businesses, it's beautiful spring day, hot yoga part II later, new tinder flame. Woohoo!

In interesting MGMNH news, a fairly regular player is demanding MGMNH pay him $3M not to release a video he has of the high limit poker players eating and playing without masks. I think at the height of the pandemic this might have been a big deal but at this point with mandates being lifted everywhere...?

Hopefully if published the video will at least be redacted to protect the players' privacy.

(Copied from venues and communities/MGMNH.)

Stud Hi/Lo Simulation ?
600,000 trials (Randomized)
Hand Equity Scoops Wins Hi Ties Hi Wins Lo Ties Lo
A64 45.07% 154,635 228,248 725 236,748 3,759
6s5s4s 54.93% 213,788 371,027 725 210,156 3,759




Stud Hi/Lo Simulation ?
600,000 trials (Randomized)
Hand Equity Scoops Wins Hi Ties Hi Wins Lo Ties Lo
A64 36.29% 92,224 112,826 91 270,541 697
AA3 63.71% 256,540 487,083 91 82,448 697





Even against these hands we have way more than enough equity to continue. And villain can have all sorts of other holdings we are quite competive against, like 662 or w/e. Raise fold on 3rd isn't really a thing unless you are really stepping out of line imo. A64 is a fairly strong hand imo, three low in general is a bit iffy and depends on the dead cards but having the ace is really critical.

Thanks for the stud feedback, studs.

Great date night just now.

I’m posting this hand for giggles and because I’m bored playing 5c….

5/T hero opens KK utg $30 sb reg calls.

Flop (65) J53r. X/ 1/3 / call.

Turn T x/x.

River ($110): 2 reg $25, hero tanks $210. Reg snaps. Mhig. Loved the levels, timing tells, and bet sizing tells (reverse and actual) going on in this hand.

Judged a law school mock trial: defendant (fertility doctor) charged with murder for secretly using his own sperm to inseminate a woman trying to have a child with her husband so that their daughter, who was dying of leukemia, could have a chance at a donor match from another biological child of theirs. Cringe-worthy facts, but a hard case to prove.

Good 5c session after getting more serious with an ex...played well, not too many tough spots. The usual wait for value and 3!/try to GII pre. Action player who "hates money" graced us with his presence again...fun times.

Favorite hand: limp 678TQds and we go five ways to 457cc, I bet flop and turn (As), bringing bdfd, and on board-pairing 4 rec V leads out, announcing $375, about 4/5 pot, but he actually puts out more than that and awkwardly takes some back. I tank a minute or two and cut out chips and by the end of my tank it was even clearer to me he was bluffing so I called and got the "good call" from him. It as my first time tanking all night. Unfortunately, action player who I'd been bantering with all night said he almost quit the game because I took too long to call such a small bet. I said I'd speed it up in the future. (He was soon called for a bigger game anyway.)

At one point, sirens went off in the poker room nonstop (normally they go on and off...this time, it was one continuous blaring) and I heard people say there'd been a shooting downstairs. Turns out it was just fireworks? Made for a tense several minutes for sure. Be safe everyone.

Edit: thoughts and prayers for the people of Ukraine.

Rounding out the month with a very short session, put in less volume this month and made less as a result, but better quality of life. Still a really good hourly and frankly, didn't run particularly well at the lower stakes so I am perfectly happy with the outcome.

Yoga is fantastic, went to my buddy's gym again and enjoyed the sauna too. Going to keep it up at least a couple times a month.

Latest date turned out to be a recovering drug addict who lives in a sober house . . . probably going to let him get further into recovery before moving forward. Not judging, just an honest assessment. Ideally both people should be pretty stable before considering a relationship.

I was told "excuse me, sir" by this high school kid outside the entrance to the men's locker room the other day . . . *speechless.*

Waited all night for the 5/5 seat to open up, finally got one and proceeded to lose two l/rr AA in less than an hour, once where I flopped top set with spr .5 and lost to a small flopped flush. That's poker!

Fun non-stress night of poker and steakhouse with a friend, she was sitting next to me so I got lots of compliments on my game and she got lots of male attention, it was really fun! Not a huge winning day, lost wrap+tp+nfd against naked top set in 3! pot, but posted small wins across all games I played anyway. Florida trip is postponed, dad was supposed to come but his knee is acting up.

Huge brawl/fight in poker room last night, dude wearing "let's go brandon!" trump face shirt with middle fingers was threatening a bunch of people in the poker room, kept repeating "I'm from Cali, biches!" "I DGAF!" and was promptly taken down by security, whereupon his girlfriend started filming the fracas and screaming "he has a broken leg!!" Always unsettling to witness, but this guy really left them with no choice once he rushed the security guards.

Seems like someone better off on the hustler live stream.