Played 2/2 at live for a change the lists at mgm were way too long, didn’t really play many hands of note except for AKKQ8ds ssdd iso $40 a million callers flop K63ss! Someone bad donks I raise small to $350, cold call, donker calls, turn A, jam last $550, they both call?), river 6, scoop a nice $2.7k pot. Left for 10/20 limit big o after a while since the plo game dried up, called an open with A8652 nut clubs and flop J75cc, flop the world, bet, callers, turn 9, bet, callers, river 2c, bet get one caller and scoop. Next raise AA432ss in a kill pot, flop 678ddh, bet two callers, turn 2s, bet, call, call, river 4d. Checks through and I win half with my low. +$100 big o +$1600 plo.

Lost $500 in the mix while waiting for plo, 345r in badacey went nowhere and the blinds were enormous. So a small loss there. Made $800 at 2/5 plo dsAA held three ways when I made the nut flush. Mix broke and became 10/10 plo so I joined the game only to get it in in squeeze spots with dead money and not get the desired result as it did not go iso/heads up with an overlay, instead everyone called. Or someone iso’d and everyone called anyway. First was KJT98ds second was AKK43ds a-high k-high and lost both. 3! an AA and got out flopped by both players, 3! AQT75ds and chopped, lost close to $3k and called it a night. My buddy lost more and he’s a really good player. What a game.

Shorter session to be less sleep deprived for morning meeting, was doing well with nut flush draw in 3! pot back door straight draw got there but then lost with dsKK against two a-highs and lost qj976ds in 4! pot (tight 3! and cold 4!). Lost $170 on the session.

Made $950 in a few hours, uneventful run good until gii AJT95ds and ran into AKK in a $20 blind raised pot for 25bb eff. Animals always help.

Ran fine, lost a 3! bluff spot and all my super premium AAs in 3! pots, made $500-$600 on the session anyway. AAQJT and AAJT9 didn’t hold. Sad! Q9876 lost to whale’s A-high garbage too. A spot I probably didn’t have to take tbh oh well. I don’t mind giving him action though. Cbet A-high turned wrap gii and didn’t get there against A7642

I’ve been researching schizo and sleep and work lately, seems like most of us don’t even have a job and sleep disorders like circadian rhythm issues are common. I’m really quite impressed I’ve been able to be as productive as I have been. But also recognizing my limitations like stress tolerance. Feeling really crappy today for some reason. :/ Even small changes in sleep really get to me.

At least the s&p is doing well. Glad I got QQQ and SPY when I did.

Anyone out there wanna say hi? Happy to discuss just about anything. It’s a rough mental health day for me and I don’t know why. I got 8.5 hours of sleep but I feel completely exhausted like I’m in some sort of mind purgatory. I might grab a piece of clothing to cheer myself up.

Hello. You play tons of poker considering you have a job. Not sure how you do it!

Thanks for chiming in.

I really think poker acts as a stimulant that eases my mental health issues. Today I was feeling awful all day and after an hour of playing I feel somewhat better, although not 100%.

I went to the store after work to cheer up and found nothing I liked and they would not validate my parking (“with transaction only”!). I almost took off my pants and returned them since they were from the same store. (They said transaction, not purchase.)

I used to be a big drinker before I started taking meds. Maybe now that the meds bring me down I need an upper to counteract that sedating feeling, hence the poker. Who knows.

All I know is that now that I have to find new work to keep our project moving and to keep myself and three other people employed, I am more stressed out than usual which normally does not bode well for my mental health. :/ maybe someone else less constrained by a disability should take over and I should go back to part time work.

Don't sweat the small stuff, they say. Would be nice to be able to not sweat anything, but the parking thing is pretty small pickings at least. I know it's tough sometimes though, when I overpay for something it can bother me but it seems you do well enough that it won't break the bank.

Yeah they really gouged me - $7 for the first hour! Yes I can afford it but it seemed like an unnecessary expense and I didn’t want to buy something I didn’t want simply to save $7 and spend even more. I am really trying to save as much as possible for when I have rent AND full med expenses etc. down the line. I wish I was more frugal in my poker dealings too. Lately I’ve been getting it in with Q and k-high more often than I care to admit.

Sometimes I think I need a peer mentor who knows what it’s like to give me some advice.

Feeling much better today! It was probably just sleep-related. Made around $600, then called for 10/10 plo5 late and sat, but not long before busted player showed back up and offered to pay my time flop ($80) if I’d give up my recently acquired seat. He’s action and was probably in for a lot so I gave it to him. It was really late anyway and I needed to rest. Left doing a good deed. I am sure the game organizers appreciated it too. Maybe I’ll get an invite one of these days.

Your opponents always get to decide what plays work vs them. If they won't let you squeeze because they call it means you don't squeeze you just push your very good hands for more value as you know they call.

I want to congratulate you on how willing you seem to be to look at your issues even when you are winning. Controlling your self makes life a great deal more enjoyable and successful. Keep up the good work and realize that there will be days like yesterday but don't let one bad day effect you the next day.

Thank you. I am winning but this month has been rocky. Not winning a lot but enough.

It’s hard to find the right balance between discipline and fearlessness.

If it was easy everyone would do it. Trite but true.

Dylan Weisman talks about calibration in one of his videos. He says that he reviews opening ranges before each session. Whether that's actually true or not, I definitely find that if I don't brush up some strategy at least a couple times a week I tend to become too loose and erratic. One of his more helpful pieces of advice.

Calibration is real. I review hands before every online session, then take a bit of a break to rest - and go back with head in the game. Unsure what the live equivalent would be

Thanks for the feedback everyone! I really appreciate the encouraging words and advice. I do the same for mixed games before we start each oribit, I just take a quick review of my ranges. It really helps since I am still pretty new and it can be easy to forget. I am getting better at remembering what's good in all 10 games. Help to already know plo5 and big o decently enough.

Speaking of mix, it saved my session yesterday. Some rough ones at plo (dsAA losing all three side pots and main to crappy KK, AKJ97ds losing to QT643 in 3! pot on T76 both my backdoors), left for mix as the fun players were up there, as I joined the table someone said "here comes a world class player." Not sure if he was trolling but hey, it felt good. Was doing well until lost AKT44ds A-high K-high to two loose V's worse in capped pot ($750 cap for big bet games), was card dead so I left, back to plo for a while, but plo game broke, so I came back to mix and started by losing A642 dugi to a rivered A, giving my opponent drawing to a 345 a better badugi. Rough one. Re-bought, started making good hands in 2-7 and badeucy, an 86 held in 2-7, won a four way with AKKJ2ss in plo5, I iso'd, min-3! and someone who said they wanted to gamble their last few hands capped it, a third person cold called (tried to raise but it was already capped...lol), and I called (closing the action last to act...pretty f it gamble), K-high flop and held, against dsAA and ??, made over $2.6k in mix, lost around $900 in plo, for a good profit on the night.

Spring time is here!

I could not find anything about transitioning from mid to high stakes so I figured I would post something about it here since that’s what I’ve been doing over the past year or so.

Know your limits and don’t overextend your bankroll.

Push your comfort zone but not so much that you play worse. Start buying in small and gradually increase that.

Play in good line ups.

Avoid the worst line ups. Avoid the worst line ups. Avoid the worst line ups!

Keep playing your bread and butter bankroll building stake so any losses when playing higher are not as impactful.

Play super tight at first until you start getting a ready on the regulars. Playing against unknowns for lots of money can be costly if you don’t have a good feel for the table.

Befriend the better players and try to share hands and talk strat away from the table. Avoid toxic regs.

Convey a relaxed vibe at the table. Comes with experience.

Handle losses and wins, especially big ones, with grace.

Study more.

Study your competition. Look for any leaks or tells.

Know where most of your money comes from and play with those players. Take your spots against them even if sometimes marginal.

Remember your long term and short term goals. Hopefully this helps you play better.

Learn different games to keep poker interesting. Diversifying allows you to play the best game in the room on any given day. (See avoiding bad games above.)

Get used to losing thousands of dollars in a hand and not think twice about it. Learn not to care about the money.

But be very frugal in life. (Lol.) Money spent on unnecessary expenditures is money that can’t be invested into poker to build your roll.

Believe in yourself. Many people will be threatened by your self-assurance but don’t let the haters drag you down. Your results speak for themselves.

It’ll turn around. Don’t let a downturn deter you from playing. If you’re feeling burned out take a break.

Stick with your pre session ritual. Don’t play tired or stressed out.

Any other thoughts from people who have made the transition are welcomed.

Don't be ashamed of failing at the bigger game. Move back down and analyze why you failed.

Your opponents get to decide what works vs them not you. This means you need to be able to play different styles to exploit them.

In contrast to what Dumbo posted diversification is nice but requires you learn the game strategies first and recognize that most of the new games are about sharks that have done the work feasting on fish that haven't and that is the actual purpose of the new game. Don't be the fish.

And I forgot to add great list! Especially like the focus on opponent selection.

Thanks PolarBear.

Tonight was a lesson in humility I suppose. Won a little off a pits player AKdd all in pre against QJcc and I held at 2/5, but that's where the run good ended as I left for 5/5 where it seemed like nothing could go my way. Lost a big one with AAJT9 on A67 to the nut flush draw and low wrap (456) plus second nut flush draw, wrap scooped, lost KQT87 in 4! pot (I 3! got cold 4! and called), lost another AA top set to turned nut flush, lost another AA all in pre to KK, missed with a bunch of other hands I cannot recall, got it in with top and bottom and either a gutter plus flush draw or overs plus nut open-ender and lost both to action players with mid set or top pair plus nut gutter. A couple spots were close but I took them given the opponent(s). Friend said higher variance but more EV to go with it. The rundown I 3! could have flatted instead given I was in a relatively early position. Whatever. -4,600 on the night. As my friend said, brutal.

Played plo while waiting for 5/5, got a double with AAT87ss, cold 4! ripped flop and held. 5/5 seat opened up and I got a seat to the left of this Orthodox Jewish dude who was VPIP'ing 95% with all sorts of trash and getting there. Got AA a lot but whiffed, 3! a couple hands and chopped, lost a four way $575 3! pot by me, rivered a wheel and side pot checked through but board was paired and I thought I was good since there was no side action, but alas QQT53 rivered 3s full of 5s. :/ Lost $500 or so on the night.

I was thinking it's remarkable I am still up this month given how poorly things have gone lately.

Have been feeling agitated at work lately, very stressed out and bad mental state. My friends over lunch yesterday thought it wasn't a bad idea to quit and look for something else.

you played plo while waiting for 5/5, but that was also plo?

so they were both 5 card plo just different stakes?


I think it's hard for us to know how good or bad we've been running live poker, other than we can have an hourly and somewhat ponder if it's sustainable.

If you need someone else to give you permission to quit I'll do it. Gotta make your own choices!