subd glgl

TRTC up to .55, I bought it at .345, so it's up 60% from when I purchased it.

This is where I'm not really sure how to handle these kind of situations. That is an amazing profit, and it's very tempting to lock it up, but on the other hand I wanted to wait until the dispensary launch on the 20th and see how things went before exiting as my original plan.

take profits.

Sold 2300 shares at 0.58, bought at 0.345, so a 68% return for a profit of $540.50 minus $14 in fees = $526.50 profit in one week. Nice result. I'm sure I'll feel annoyed if it continues to climb, but I was planning on this being a short term speculation anyways and I wasn't investing based on long term belief in the company but moreso on hoping the short term hype would fluff the price, so even if it continues to grow I accomplished my goal and will feel good about the result.

Cool thread.
Do you have a pre game routine that you follow in terms of mindset prep?
Like your idea about in session bell to bring back awarness.

Subbing. GL.

where do you guys learn/ understand all this digital currency stuff? is there a website? Sounds pretty interesting!

I'm playing the main and selling action:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/18...25-mu-1618097/

For a quick update, I moved to Las Vegas and I am doing some part time work sports betting, along with the usual poker routine (albeit new live games obviously). My preferred spot has been 5/10 at the Wynn. Things were very busy getting ready for and completing the move, hence my absence from this thread, but I'm all settled in now and I hope to get this thread back on track soon. Everything is great out here!

Awesome to see you're back. Good luck!

Since you're such a good writer it would be nice to see you updating more frequently during the WSOP. Good luck in the ME and other games.

What is real name of benjamin barker?

Yes. I do a set of pushups then splash cold water on my face. Then I sit with my eyes closed and do some deep focused breathing and visualize myself calmly shaking off bad beats and remaining upbeat and positive. I sort of imagine my KK going in preflop vs AA and losing and watching it from across the room and I sit there and it doesn't bother me one bit in my mind's eye. I imagine a powerful yellow glow emanating from me (I read somewhere that it helps ha). Anyways, this mini meditation session lasts for only 1 or 2 minutes, it's not an extended thing. Then I read my pregame warmup document, which is just a text file where I have a couple current growth focuses written down to remind myself what I'm working on. Lastly, I open my journal document and set a target goal for my session length, and note my session start time, then go ahead and fire up the tables. Each time my timer goes off, I write a very short note in my journal chronicling my current mental state. It's only a few words, but it helps me stay objective about my current state, and I also reread my warmup document (which is brief).

There are tons of places, but the reddit bitcoin and ethereum discussion boards are where I usually go.

Thanks!

Thanks!

This is easy enough to find if you really try.

I've been lacking clear goals lately, not only in poker but in life in general. One analogy that comes to mind is hopping in the car and going to the grocery store. When you have directions to the store (clear goals), you get in the car and drive straight there. With no clear goals, you are moreso getting in the car and driving around aimlessly and hoping you eventually come to a grocery store. Sure, you very well may get there eventually, but it's a hell of a lot easier and more efficient to set a clear path for yourself. I'm mostly doing the right things, but some areas are starting to slip, and I want to set some clear targets for myself in terms of specific actions I want to take.

With the move to Vegas and taking on a new part time role betting sports, my schedule has been in flux and my sleep hasn't been great and I haven't settled into a great routine. However, I've definitely been here long enough that this is no longer an excuse that I can be using for falling short of the mark in various areas. On the whole, everything is going great. I love it here. My new house is very nice. I'm happy with my work both with the stable and with sports betting, my earning potential is great, and I love having access to the live cash games at Bellagio/Wynn. However, I'm starting to get too lax in a variety of areas and I want to nip it all in the bud.

Poker
I like giving myself the flexibility to play both online and live as my general mood and preference dictates. I think lately I'm finding a healthy balance between the two. However, one thing I have been quite lazy about is setting fixed session lengths. Way too often I am sitting down and playing for an indeterminate amount of time, and letting my results dictate my session length. This is a poor mindset, and leads to playing long hours when stuck, which is especially poor because being fatigued and frustrated by variance is obviously not an optimal state to be in at the tables.

My goal is to get back to proper session structuring. This includes setting fixed session lengths, proper pregame warmup, ingame journaling, and postgame grading. I know what I need to do, and I will discipline myself to take these steps, and as a result of this self discipline I will provide myself a higher hourly earning expectation and also generally feel good/proud of myself.


Health
I'm not going to sugar coat it, I've been eating like a pig. I've gained 15 pounds and I am up to 195. One thing I've found is that when I'm short on sleep and tired, I get especially weak in my mental resolve to avoid excessive snacking at night. I'm going to limit myself to 2000 calories per day, and begin detailed tracking of my daily caloric intake again. I put up a whiteboard on the inside of our kitchen pantry door to do this.

In terms of exercise, I've been OK about going to the gym, but one thing I haven't been doing is weight training. I'm doing half an hour of cardio three or four times a week, but I will return to doing daily exercise and getting back to weight training regularly.

I also have been lazy about brushing my teeth before bed. I find this goes hand in hand with bad night time eating habits, and really also with exercise and generally valuing health and well being.

It's very easy to use the excuse of being busy, and let your resolve weaken when you are tired, but those are simply excuses and rationalizations. Valuing these things and working hard on them creates a snowball effect of positive momentum and makes everything easier, but in that same way building poor habits can also become a negative runaway train in the wrong direction.

It's funny how sometimes we all know what the things we want to do are, and know that we will feel good after we do them, but yet we don't discipline ourselves to simply do them.

Even writing this post was something that took me some time to get around to doing. I knew I wanted to write it and start wheels in motion of getting back on track, yet procrastinated several days. Finally I had to remind myself I simply need to attack the situation head on immediately, so despite being tired and having a busy day today, I'm happy that I valued the process of writing this, and I know that I will feel good when I routinely track my progress here.

Really good journal man. I can relate a lot to the mental game stuff and the battle with downswings and entitlement tilt and mistake tilt and all that stuff. Just yesterday I had a rough session where I lost 1100 playing 2/5 not a huge loss or anything, but I have been running bad lately and had a lot of swings and the game was pretty soft and I expected to win big, but nope, the poker gods had other plans and I was pretty card dead, lost a flip,
not many good spots came up, had to make some folds after putting in a decent amount of money in the pot, and I still played decent but caught myself being annoyed and I was also tired and tilted and stayed much longer than I should have... now taking the day off because I didn't sleep much and not up to grind today. Another lesson learned.
I noticed you haven't updated in a while, how's the grind been going?

subbin

Hi Guys,

It's been a while! First of all, I want to say thank you to everyone that has read and posted and provided feedback in my various PGC threads over the last few years. The last 3 years of my life have been great. I'm very proud that I've been able to improve myself and my quality of life over this time frame, and using these PGC threads as a goal setting tool and as a vehicle to collect and organize my thoughts and life strategies has been immensely valuable. I'm hopeful that some other people have been able to benefit from my learning through these journeys as well.

2016 has been a banner year for me, and has seen a lot of changes. I now live in Las Vegas. I have a new occupation as a sports bettor that occupies at least half my working hours. I still of course play poker, and I am still managing and coaching for Imawhale Staking. It was quite a leap to make the move to Las Vegas, but now that I'm here I'm so glad I came. Handling the logistics of moving myself, my girlfriend, and our pets cross country was quite a bit of work, but all ended up being more manageable than expected once we dove headfirst into the process. I think a lot of "scary" things in life end up feeling that way - once you start putting one foot in front of the other the journey seems less daunting. Thanks a lot to 2p2ers skraper, imawhale26, and rockstarrossi for being friends and helping to make the transition easier. There was definitely an adjustment period for me to get settled into a new lifestyle and new routine, but now I'm locked in and firing on all cylinders.

I work a lot of hours these days. I average over 70 hours per week of work between sports betting, poker stable management, coaching, and playing. It's a grind, but I'm doing what I love and I'm hungry to accumulate some wealth so I'm glad for the opportunity. I'm 36, and spent my late 20s and early 30s mostly goofing off, so I feel like I'm making up for lost time in some regards. The sports betting is interesting, and although I don't want to go into too much detail regarding the methods I use, the general concept is simple enough and based on looking for good/outlier prices in the various markets that are available here in Nevada.

Regarding poker playing, I play quite a bit of live poker these days. I typically am in front of the computer for sports betting and stable management and coaching for 7 hours a day, so when it comes time to play poker often I find that the more relaxed pace of live play, social environment, game quality, and simply not being at a computer are all appealing to me. I am at the Wynn about 4 days per week, so feel free to come say hello. I play a mix of their 5/10 (1000min uncapped) and their 2/5 (1500 max buy) depending on game selection. I will sometimes play at Bellagio, Red Rock, or Aria as well, and once in a blue moon Caesars or (gasp) Venetian.

I am finishing 2016 with 851.25 hours played for a profit of $56,756.84. I didn't reach the 1100 hours I originally set out to hit, but given my change in life circumstances I'm satisfied with my effort. I do still play online some, but most of my hours are live. I'm planning on refocusing on online play a bit in 2017, although I will continue to play quite a bit of live poker simply for quality of life and burnout avoidance. For someone trying to support themselves simply on poker income, I would still strongly recommend focusing on online cash games. I still enjoy coaching, and find the process of helping guys improve their earnings and move up in limits to be rewarding, and also helps me to keep my own skills sharp.

In terms of fitness, not a ton changed for me in 2016. I'm a bit stronger than when I started the year due to weight training. My body weight is about 190 pounds, which is similar to where I started the year. I am more satisfied with my body image with each passing year. After losing a lot of weight a year or two ago, I'm glad to spend a period of time basically keeping my weight mostly the same and settling into a more long term sustainable life routine with my exercise and diet. I'm on a "normal" sleep schedule, waking up about 630am every day. I have a healthy diet. I have about a year left on my braces. I'm really looking forward to getting them off, and also very happy that I decided to do it. I already feel a lot better about my teeth and smile, and it will feel great when I finally get the braces off and get the teeth whitened up. I'm totally done with smoking weed and have been for quite some time, and really have no desires or cravings on that front.

On the whole, life is great. I'm working harder, I'm healthier, I'm more financially secure than ever before. Most importantly, I'm happy and enjoying being alive. Thanks again to everyone for reading and commenting - the community has been very helpful to me on my journey. On to my 2017 Resolutions/Goals in the next post.

Congrats on the solid 2016! Good luck in 2017!

2017 Goals / New Years Resolution

Ahhh, the New Year. The "fresh start". The time of year when although we all intuitively know we should be setting and tracking goals all year round, we often redouble our efforts to do so. Here are some areas I will try to improve in 2017.

Number One
Upbeat Positive Attitude: My number one goal for 2017 is to actively maintain and upbeat positive attitude at all times. Although I'm not a negative person, and already feel I'm positive on the whole, it's something I want to improve. When I think of people I want to emulate, or people I want to be around, they almost all seem to always have an air of positivity about them. I want to be interested and present when I engage people, and maintain an optimistic mindset and fun attitude about even minor activities throughout the day. I find this really does make a difference in my mood and happiness, and also makes things a little nicer for those I'm around.

Poker

- Playing more online: I've been playing a ton of live lately, and although I plan on continuing that, I do want to increase my online hours so that I stay in good touch with the games and the meta for coaching purposes, and to keep my skills sharp. To get the ball rolling, my goal is to play at minimum one online session every week.

- Using fixed session lengths: Almost every time I have a session I'm not pleased with, it goes hand in hand with not adhering to a fixed session length goal. When I sit down with the intention to play for 3 hours, it's much easier to focus on doing my best for 3 hours and detach from variance and make the most of what is in front of me and feel good about my effort. When I become more focused on results, I end up ignoring session length goals, and ultimately end up playing worse. Sticking with my process of session length goals and journaling on my timer ALWAYS helps me to play my best, and breaking away from the process ALWAYS puts me at risk of playing poorly. The goal is to adhere to the process every single session, and recognize that that the times I do get off track it's a new opportunity to immediately get back on track either by breaking and regrouping or simply quitting wisely.

- PGC: Using this PGC thread has been a great help to me in the past, and I want to get back to updating on a more regular basis. The goal is to post once a week.


Health

- Avoiding Night Snacking: The number one thing that hurts my diet and ability to fully lean down is night time snacking. I'm particularly vulnerable on days that I am tired, as when I'm tired or frustrated or sick or otherwise in a generally weakened state my resolve and self discipline tend to slip. The goal is going to be no eating after 830pm.

- Bench Press: I struggle to increase my bench press. I want to improve my chest musculature, as a strong chest looks good. I can currently bench press 165x8x3. I'm not really sure what my max is. My goal is to be able to bench 185x8x3 by the end of 2017, and also be able to bench 225 at least once. I of course want to improve my strength in other muscle groups, but this one is particularly important to me. I also want to be able to do 50 pushups (I can currently do 30).

- Posture: I've been actively working on improving my sitting, standing, and walking posture lately. Sometimes my head tends to crane forward instinctively from too much computer time peering at the monitor. Sometimes I get slouchy in my chair when working on the computer or playing cards. Sometimes I get slouchy with my chest and shoulders while standing/walking. When I have good posture, I feel more energetic and upbeat and confident and overall simply feel better.

- Flossing: It's such a hassle with my braces, but I want to have nice teeth and I want to have healthy habits and it's something I need to refocus on. Also, I find that good dental hygiene before bed goes hand in hand with avoiding poor night time snacking.


General

- Put the phone away while driving: I've gotten bad with checking my texts while driving. It's unsafe and irresponsible, and I could end up hurting myself or others. The goal is to stop using my phone entirely outside of hands free operation.

- Eye contact: Sometimes I'm bad with maintaining eye contact during a conversation. Other times I will make eye contact with a stranger in passing, and instinctively look away. It's a bad habit leftover from childhood. I've mostly gotten over feeling uncomfortable about it when I actively think about it, but it's something I want to pay more attention to.

- Picking my nose: This is a gross and offputting habit. It's a little embarrassing to admit, but I do this too often, and it needs to stop.

- Gambling budget: I enjoy playing some table games when drinking and socializing, and although I recognize it's -EV the amount of EV I lose while playing the passline, odds, and placing 6 and 8 at craps or playing Pai Gow is relatively small for a leisure time activity. However, as many poker players or sports bettors know, when you are accustomed to wagering relatively large amounts of money, sometimes betting $20 feels almost silly. There have been some times I've gambled bigger than I want to, and I need to nip this in the bud. What's really silly is not making small table bets, but actually throwing away money. My plan is to start January 2017 with a $500 recreational gambling bankroll, and each month add $150 to the bankroll. All sessions and changes to the bankroll will be tracked in an email thread to myself. This ensures the most I will donk off next year would be $2150, which is an amount I feel comfortable with.

- Cooking: Neither myself nor my girlfriend can cook, and it's something I'd like to learn. I plan on signing up for a meal cooking delivery service, like Plated or Blue Apron, and cooking at home at least one night per week. During the summer, I'm going to work on my outdoor grilling techniques.

There we have it! A pretty long list, but all manageable and attainable goals. I will use this PGC thread to track my progress on these goals, and keep myself focused as I tackle the upcoming year.

Well done. Here's to a great 2017!

Love your thread, Dan! I can relate to a lot of what you write about. Looking forward to more updates!

I am happy to hear about your success in 2016. I wish you continued success going into 2017!!

Strong and busy year! Glad to have been a part of it, and looking forward to an amazing 2017! Appreciate all you do for the stable (specifically spending time on HH reviews with me) and your commitment to 1 on 1 even when I know how many directions you are pulled on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. Your poker results are always a motivating factor to keep me plugging along in the direction I'm headed, so thank you for sharing so many details of what gets you there daily/weekly/monthly.


Awesome to have you in town for non business reasons alike, and hoping for a fun filled year on that note as well. A little -EV goes a long way in the +EV of life column.

A "seven out", here or there, or letting the girls yell "BINGO!" every once in a while is hugely +lifeEV. If we can't let loose and have some fun along the way, what then would the point of it all be!

I'm in for the ride that is 2017 right here with ya! Thanks again for sharing!

Thanks guys!

I'm getting over an ear infection. I had a lymph node in my neck swell up, and was dealing with being sick. No big deal, but it did wear me down a bit, and I also unhealthily used it as an excuse to enable some poor behaviors.

Got spewy at the end of a live session recently where I was running poorly. Looking back, really the main problem was I had some extra grinding time available and was going to play until "whenever" instead of a fixed session length, which led me to want to book a win on the session instead of simply playing 3 optimal hours, and I got chasey at the end trying to erase a loss. I've done this before, and I understand the reasons, but I really need to learn from this and become MUCH more diligent about adhering to fixed session lengths. Anytime I feel like I've grown "above the law" so to speak with adhering to my rules and processes, it always inevitably bites me in the ass. Sticking to the procedures that enable me to stay on my best game is a big part of what makes me a winner, and I need to never lose sight of that.

I had a good mental game session of live earlier in the month. There was a recreational player who was really going out of his way to try to annoy me with his table talk, and I did a good job of staying on my game and not getting annoyed. It's important to realize that when these things come up, it's nothing to do with me, but moreso a reflection of that guy's insecurities or issues and to not take it personally. (One of the "Four Agreements").

On the fitness front I've been bad with my night time eating. It's really tough when you're sick to get fired up for healthy eating, especially when worn down at the end of the night. I still managed to keep up with exercise in the mornings, but nonetheless I need to improve. Instead of using being sick as an excuse and an enabler, I should have recognized that to improve my self discipline, I need actual adversity and resistance to push back against to grow stronger - just like you need resistance lifting weights to grow stronger. Doing well when things are going well is easy enough, but the times of adversity are really the opportunities for true growth, and I missed the mark on this run.

Oh well, not an optimal start to the year for me, but we all stumble, and pick ourselves up off the mat and dust ourselves off and move forward and try harder.

why do you feel night time eating is a bad thing? if you're into calorie counting, just eat a bit less during the day so you can have some calories saved up for night

Good luck in 2017!

In regards to night time eating- I had some similar issues before. I would recommend this:

-If you are 'hungry' at night and looking for a snack, you're likely not really hungry-just dehydrated. Be sure to drink some water before deciding if you really want to eat or not. I generally find that I'm not nearly as hungry after I drink a decent amount of water.

-If you can help it, try to do something that takes your mind off food and gets you closer to bedtime. I play some video games or read a book to take my mind off any temptations. Then, when it's time to go to sleep, I just do it.

-If you do eat, try to eat something that isn't chips or really bad snack food. Not that this isn't the best food for you, but I like eating an apple with a little peanut butter or something along those lines if I do eat at night. I still get a little sugar but they aren't total dead calories like chips or cookies or ice cream.

I still have some issues every now and again but am generally much better with the late night binge eating/ bad foods. I don't keep any bad food in the house that I snack on (sweets, etc) and that's helped a lot.