LATE NIGHT CONFESSIONS

It's interesting how much of a stake the mental part of being a professional poker player can take on you. I have been doing this for a living for +12 years, and all of those years I have never made less than $100k(and never more than $300k a year.

This year (including live tourneys,rb,...) I am up north of $150k (not counting this challenge)... Yet i am doubting myself. From any rational perspective, I am well ahead of schedule on completing my challenge , yet after just 2 losing days, my mind starts to wonder.

'Do I really beat the games the way I think I do?'
'Maybe this is not sustainable'
'Maybe the games are dead just like people keep telling you'


What (if anything) meaningful can I say about this?

Variance is inevitable... Insert a good matrix pic... It is going to happen. . You can be the best player in the world, you are still going to have good runs and bad runs. You are still going to have days where you feel like every reg is just a phony, and days where you own DAT PONY. You will have days where recs, just this one day, have become Phi Ivey like players. Somehow your bluffs won't work. You're gonna click refresh on your poker balance hoping you're not down as much as you think you are, only to find out that you are.

Well... guess what!

1. Approach the game like a pro. If your bankroll covers the swings, you DO NOT NEED to check it daily, and especially not every session . A positive/negative balance for the day does not reflect being a good poker player.

2. Variance is going to happen. Nobody can avoid it, so you might as well embrace it. Find something to learn from, even when you think you can't.

3. If this is your profession, you should be in a position to not care about the daily ups and downs of your bankroll. If it does, move down. If it continues to bother you, a mental approach might help you more.

Second week is done... Some numbers:

+13404 in about 130 hours or $103/hr

Ignition: +3649 or +11.24bb/100. roughly 66 hours played, so about $55/hr
Bros: +574 in about 30 hours or $19/hr (not counting rb)
Global: +9506 in roughly 75 hours (hard to be exact as no tracking is available other than my own notes) or $127/hr

Played way less this second week than my first week, will have to be careful about that. This 3rd week should be an interesting one as I could potentially get close to the end goal. Going to try and put in a ton of hours and see if I can seal the deal or get close.

Have been playing more than 4 tables quite often, with mixed feelings. The results seem to speak in favor of me doing so, but I can sense that I am slowly getting too old to multitable and mentally anything over 4/6 is really affecting my focus.

For now I'll just continue to play 4-6 tables, but if i get close to the end goal I'll drop to 4 tables and hopefully avoid some potential downer.

Well done man, very impressive work ethic. You should keep watching masterchef with your wife though, cos that ground beef and spaghetti dish was straight to jail material

+14006/day 15

Some hands

IPoker, $1/$2 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 5 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

SB: $216.80 (108.4 bb)
BB: $208 (104 bb)
MP: $223.67 (111.8 bb)
Hero (CO): $199 (99.5 bb)
BTN: $200 (100 bb)

Preflop: Hero is CO with Jh Ts
MP folds, Hero raises to $5, BTN calls $5, 2 folds

Flop: ($13) 8s Ac 5h (2 players)
Hero bets $4.50, BTN calls $4.50

Turn: ($22) Jd (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $31.35, Hero calls $31.35

River: ($84.70) 4d (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $159.15 and is all-in, Hero calls $158.15 and is all-in

Results: $401 pot ($3 rake)
Final Board: 8s Ac 5h Jd 4d
Hero mucked Jh Ts and won $398 ($199 net)
BTN showed Qd Kc and lost (-$199 net)

IPoker, $1/$2 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

SB: $208.88 (104.4 bb)
BB: $151.81 (75.9 bb)
UTG: $221.77 (110.9 bb)
MP: $203.65 (101.8 bb)
CO: $226.87 (113.4 bb)
Hero (BTN): $244.55 (122.3 bb)

Preflop: Hero is BTN with Qc Qh
UTG folds, MP raises to $5, CO folds, Hero raises to $20, SB folds, BB calls $18, MP calls $15

Flop: ($61) 7h 9c 8c (3 players)
BB checks, MP checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($61) 4s (3 players)
BB checks, MP bets $28.98, Hero calls $28.98, BB folds

River: ($118.96) 9h (2 players)
MP bets $68.98, Hero calls $68.98

Results: $256.92 pot ($4.00 rake)
Final Board: 7h 9c 8c 4s 9h
MP showed Tc Ac and lost (-$117.96 net)
Hero mucked Qc Qh and won $252.92 ($134.96 net)


IPoker, $1/$2 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.

Hero (SB): $213.30 (106.7 bb)
BB: $268.77 (134.4 bb)
UTG: $262.43 (131.2 bb)
MP: $307.21 (153.6 bb)
CO: $306.18 (153.1 bb)
BTN: $237.32 (118.7 bb)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 9d Ad
3 folds, BTN raises to $5, Hero raises to $20, BB folds, BTN calls $15

Flop: ($42) 2c 6d 5h (2 players)
Hero bets $27.93, BTN calls $27.93

Turn: ($97.86) 5s (2 players)
Hero bets $32, BTN calls $32

River: ($161.86) Tc (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $56.28, Hero calls $56.28

Results: $274.42 pot ($4 rake)
Final Board: 2c 6d 5h 5s Tc
Hero mucked 9d Ad and won $270.42 ($134.21 net)
BTN showed 9h 8h and lost (-$136.21 net)

thanks for providing HHs in text format so people that don't live in USA#1 can view them!

two questions:
1. how will the people who bet against you be verifying the results?
2. what is your (alcoholic) beverage of choice?

+15595 / day 16

I mean just go for +$30k month at this point.

so online poker in the USA is still super soft then... lol

I really don't understand how someone like Rytoast exists. Terrible player with really weird style and I assume loses a lot but is in there multitabling every day. Gl on your challenge.

Hes not nearly as terrible as everyone thinks....I've played a few hundred hands vs him....he slowly loses money. He'll often berate and cuss out players for no reason.

Where to start... +14931 / day17

So two days ago I basically hit +16k and I as a curtesy informed one of the people I have the largest bet with that I was nearing the end and making a push for it throughout the weekend hoping to finish and take a few days off. This was met by him essentially accusing me of having rigged my results, and that it is impossible that I win at the rate that I claim I do. Given that he's a GTO/sim guy he apparently can not comprehend the idea that someone like me has a bigger wr than him and than 95% of other regs, so therefore I must be cheating. I showed him my longterm results, which I guess he also believes are all just fabricated. Rofl.

In a very hostile manner he has now demanded that I record every single session I play. This was not agreed upon beforehand, and it's a giant mindfuk for me to be grinding knowing at some point someone could possibly watch all of it.

I went into today deciding to just show him he can kiss my ass and put down a record day, but as we all know we can't choose these things. Instead, I took an extreme energy pill at 5PM and started grinding like a zombie after that. Hours later(now) I am unwinding and I have no idea what I was doing during my sessions other than just click some buttons. I've tried this approach before and I definitely can NOT function as needed when I take a stimulant. Either way that part is not his fault, I over compensated trying to show him he can suck it, and instead took a stimulant and grinded like a headless monkey for about 7 straight hours (small break). No big deal, but I am extremely tilted at this point and my every thought throughout the last 24 hrs has been about what BS this is and it's ***** with my mindset.

At this point it seems pretty evident that he will come up with any excuse necessary to not honor the debt if I make it, but whatever. I have started recording my sessions and will continue to do so.

No matter what happens, If I don't make the bet I will not blame having to record sessions for it and def pay my debt. I'll use today's backslide and small loss to get over it and get back to real grinding tomorrow.

I don't blame him for wanting to make sure everything is on the up and up. I always encouraged him to address any concerns he might have as I have nothing to hide and he is 100% within his rights to question whatever he wants. Having said that, I tried updating him daily from the start, and he said he couldn't be bothered and to just put it in a google sheet(which I did and updated daily). Throughout the challenge I have listed certain events and discrepancies ( I won 1k at anom tables bros which isn't tracked ) and told him at the time.Bros had an update recently and my emulators arent updating so had to make new ones. I had one account that I saved on the emulator, but can not remember the login info. I told him about this right away and asked what I could do to verify the balances on that account (I offered chat logs from my agent with balances etc, I had played the night before the update so they were accurate). He said not to do anything about it. Now we're 2 weeks later and he basically told me I have fabricated the results, and he wants explanations as to why my HUD reports are different from actual winnings. Just shoot me.

He's probably a small winner. Probably crushes fish, and most regs including myself often don't know how to adjust to his absurd style. His shoving ranges are somewhat unexploitable, so you can assume that he breaks even with that.

1. This one is kind of funny right now I suppose, just gonna leave it untouched

2. Hard question. I love wine,beer and mixed drinks.

White wine for day drinking/hot day/fish/pool/..
Red wine I prefer Cabs and blends.My wife's to go to daily wine is "Artemis' from Stag's Leap. Nothing beats a good full bodied Cabernet with a good steak

Beer...beer...beeer.... Can't go wrong with beer. I usually enjoy it with certain types of foods or on hot days in our pool etc.

Mixed drinks are the devil. I like them too much and they can really get me knocked out. Love everything about it but it's kind of my kryptonite.

I am not much of a straight up liquor kind of guy. I might have an occasional scotch or whisky or whatnot, but it's not really my thing. Having said that, it's probably the manliest type of drink so I'd like to get better at it

I'm PrisonMike Biatch!

Since I have no plans to play on global anymore....and since rytoast has a horrible tendency to cuss out recreational players, etc. i dont really mind telling you Rytoasts leaks. He is definitely not a small winner...he is breakeven or small loser. He often makes huge overbets with nut hands, killing his action where he can only get called by a nut hand. He is fairly easy to play against, you just won't exploit him for much no matter what strategy you use since he is so tight post flop. I've played him alot for last couple yrs, took a long time to figure out his exact leaks since no hud on global, etc.....

He limps and plays alot of hands but folds very often to big bets pre and folds very very often to big turn bets. In other words, he limps alot, but when hes facing a big bet at any point, hes folds way too often to pressure and basically needs the nuts to call down unless he's up against a maniac. And when he puts in a big bet pre or post flop (especially an overbet) it's almost always a nut hand. He does occasionally bluff in big pots but not too often.

So the most +EV way to play vs him is basically iso his limps wide, barrel flop and turn alot betting close to pot (with outs). Fold often when he's the aggressor as he doesn't bluff much. Basically, dont pay him off in big pots but bluff him alot in small and medium pots. Be careful if he calls a big turn bet, as his range is much stronger than it should be once he calls turn.

He cusses out alot of the fish too, so he's scaring away alot of recreational players with his racist rants, etc. Just bad for game in general. Again, you won't crush him for much since he's so weak tight post flop but it's fairly easy to play against him.

He’s been chatblocked for +3 months FYI.

To be fair your win rate over this challenge is just complete insanity. Hey I’m thinking about dabbling in global some next month, you had any issues with cash outs or anything?

Quick update on my challenge:

The guy I had most of my bet with has accused me of cheating, based on zero evidence. It's basically a combination of my results being too good to his expectation, and that it would somehow be impossible to play this many hours or that I have never really played this many hours ergo not possible.

He mentioned that he sold half of his action to a global regular, who he stated also believes that I have just fabricated my results. If you happen to read this, whoever you are, feel free to contact me.

I am beyond tilted. My wife has warned me a few times in the past years about me being a poor judge of character/being very lacksy daisy when it comes to money, and she is proven right once again. I have talked to this person for years, shared really personal stuff, and considered him a real friend. I guess all this time he thought I was just a non-gto fish and he was freerolling me for this challenge. Very disappointing and I'm pretty shook up quite honestly.

I try to look for positive things in shitty situations, and I will do the same here.

I hated the idea of recording my sessions, because it makes me feel watched and like I'm under a microscope. I hated the idea of HIM watching my videos because I know theoretically he is far more advanced than I am, and while playing I felt like all my decisions would be questioned by him.

'Is this move good enough'
'How would a GTO guy play it'
Etc.

At this point, I am going to embrace the idea of recording (most of my) sessions. I will upload them daily and you can all enjoy them if wanted. I will NOT record my global sessions, because the player pool is extremely small in there and I feel like that would really leave me exposed. So it will be bros and ignition. I might just do Ignition because I like the anom nature of things and I'm somewhat big on anonymity.

So, I will continue the challenge and grind out the 20k profit and post recordings of sessions. Maybe this time I will learn my lesson about people and it will benefit me long term.

zero issues regarding cashouts. Small (personal) issue with my last 3 withdrawals not showing up in financial history.

You seem like a good guy. But yes your wife is 100% right. When it comes to money, especially big money, you shouldn't trust anyone (except for your bank, etc). Many MANY horror stories out there of wives stealing from husbands, relatives stealing life savings from grandparents, etc....Many if not almost all of these situations are avoidable though (separate bank accounts, dont brag about money, security keys from your accounts, do not let ANYONE use your computer, etc) . I've even been freerolled off a mere $40 bet years ago from someone I thought was a friend, MANY many people will do super scummy things even for a few grand... I wouldn't make any gambling side bets with anyone at all, just way too many angles out there. He basically freerolled you since if you lost, he obviously would expect to get paid. Look at Daniel Colman, he's one of top poker players of all time winning millions of $$ in his 20s yet he still got scammed earlier this year for over $1mil by doing some sports betting with another guy in a spot where the guy was in a position to easily angle and cheat Colman out of lots of $$. Completely avoidable situation for Colman and for you tbh. Hope you learned your lesson.....Not trying to offend you. I'm guessing you only lost a few grand at most (assuming you dont get paid), thats a very very very cheap lesson in long run if you learn from your lesson. Yes we take the risk with poker sites like betonline etc, but avoid super risky apps like pokerbros, etc. Avoid making deals where they can easily angle you. Etc etc.

Famous poster on here once said (and he was right): "Trust, but verify." You can't really go through life not trusting anybody, but you can be very, very careful at taking anything or anyone at face value. 99% of the people are out for themselves 99% of the time, and if this means sticking a knife between your ribs, they'll do it and laugh at you for thinking they might even hesitate.

And last note: friends/family and money dont mix well. Dont loan $ to anyone ever for ANY reason. Dont go into business with friends. Keep things separate..Just way too many horror stories out there. Do a basic google search for the stories.

And yes ive used to be just like you, just too nice of a guy, had to learn things the hard way.

If you have to make a bet with someone, only do it for a tiny amount, like $50 or less......this way if they cheat you etc its whatever (also obviously much less chance of being cheated). Don't loan $ ever, if a friend needs $ i'm happy to give $20 here and there but that's like $50 is the most I'd recommend. If people need you to give them more, they have issues you won't be able to fix and many people (often times our own relatives and friends) will lie through their teeth for easy $$.

Honestly I already would have been worried about getting paid from anyone dumb enough to lay ~4:1 against someone making 100 buyins in a month. Any time you're behind pace you can just up your volume so it's more of a question of how miserable you're willing to make yourself to win than whether or not you can win. 10BB/100 for 100,000 hands is not something that's impossible to do, and you can do this with a lower win-rate than that because you only need to win 20% of the time to be +EV at 4:1, and like I said you can always grind more hands to improve your chances. Anyone who thinks this isn't possible is not familiar with these player pools or just isn't very good.

I would never make a bet for this amount without using escrow. I dunno how hard it is to find a trustworthy party to do that though.

As the great 50 Cent once said...

Forget your enemies and think of what your friends'll do.

GL OP, I'm rooting for ya!

True story. Went to concert of 50 when I was a kid and he took off his sneakers and tossed them into the audience. My friend caught one of them.

It's a shame that things have turned ugly over the bet.
Your friend probably thought that winning 100 BI in a month was going to be extremely challenging if not impossible. When he saw you were on pace to complete the challenge in 20 days God only knows what was going through his mind.

I can well understand you not wanting to show your play on Global because of the screen names and small player pool.
On the plus side you can just change your screen names on PokerBros after the challenge and as Ignition is anonymous you have nothing to worry about on that site either.

Have you uploaded any of your sessions yet?
I would be interested in watching them. It's rare that you get to see a 10bb/100 crusher in action.
GL for rest of the challenge.

had a monkeytilt session that I mentioned earlier on Friday, followed by basically not playing at all until Tuesday. when I told my wife about the bet not going to be honored. she asked me if I could take some time off to celebrate Labor day weekend etc. In addition to that, we are also house hunting, so been going out looking for our new home. The housing market really sucks where we live, and prices have basically increased easily by 50% in the last 12-16 months. This seems to be a general trend in the US though.

I've been recording my Ignition sessions but I basically always ended up doing something in the screen that would reveal too much personal info. I also decided to definitely not do bros, as it's against the T&C (not to mention can't officially use emulators there) and I don't want my accounts to somehow get frozen. Moving forward I will make sure that for the next 10 straight days(normally) I will upload a 2hr vid of me playing Ignition. I'll just have to come up with system where I make sure I turn off all my chat things and browser etc. I've essentially been on monkeytilt over this whole BS accusation of rigging my accounts, and up until today lost all motivation to continue posting. It's not the first time that I have been let down in a similar way, and it just reminds me of how toxic the poker community can be. Sure, there are great things about it, but between the scams, scum personalities, ego nonsense etc I've grown very tired of it. It tilts me extremely hard that I now somehow feel that I need to proof my results because most people would assume they are made up. I'm getting too old to care about stuff like this.

Having said all that, The next 10 days will be 2hrs of me playing Ignition(in addition to 6-8 hrs on bros/global)which will results in roughly 20 hrs of play time. I'll share the links daily and anyone can feel free to look at it. I've always said that my WR on Ignition is 10bb/100 or higher, and certainly should be 10-15bb/100 (EV corrected if in my favor) if I just stick with 4 tables of it. I get about 295 hands/hr, so I should get around 5500-6000 hands. At 10bb/hr this will be $1100-$1200 or roughly $60/hr. (This is another reason why I prefer 4tabling Global btw, I probably get about double the amount of hands hourly 4tabling. I would be very surprised if my profit is not (quite a bit in $) more than this $1200, but whatever. We'll see. I will come up with something to do if I don't make this 10bb/100 result and do like a $500 freeroll for people reading here or something.

Enjoy watching my vids, there will be plenty of non-gto sim stuff in there and plenty of mistakes. To all of you morons thinking I rigged my results, sincerely eat a bag of dicks.