The 1/2 game where I live has a $40 min/max buy-in
So lame.

Are you playing full time? Is poker your only job?
Your doing well. Good job.

40 min/max as in that's the only buy in you can have or that's just the minimum and you can buy in for 200? I'm kind of in a weird moving phase right now so no job at the moment, just playing online/live when I can. I'm going back to NJ in a week or two to get my stuff, then coming back out here in OH. Once I'm settled in I'll get something that's regular just for safety until I really build up my roll. I'm not sure if this is too nitty of a plan, but was thinking of going to vegas or canada once I got like 50k in the bank with at least a 10k bankroll.

The buy-in is $40
So you start 20bb deep. Lame.
That is 1/2 NL in Southern California.
Kinda kills your implied odds...

As for Vegas I would keep doing what your doing.
Keep playing live and see what happens. It kinda makes sense you would really like live play, since you like focusing on one table at a time. Make sure to keep track of all your live sessions by hour so a year down the line you know what you are capable of.
Post your live hourly stuff here to help keep you motivated.
If you want...

Yeah good idea. I'm playing 2 more sessions today and tomorrow so I'll post stats afterwards.

+ $300 on another session. I was really tilted from some hands and was actually +$750 at one point, but made a terrible call I never make and gave it away. Anyway live roll $1600

Realyl cool that you are crushing live play.
Keep crusing and gl , keep us updated

Yeah I'm actually really shocked at how soft live play is. I mean making like $1400 in 3 days of play?? I may just continue to play online to improve my game, but grind live for an actual living. Theoretically if I play every day of the year and win at least $200 each session, that's 73k a year at 1-2...

Don't forget to start logging your live sessions by the hour.
I think you should play more live too.
Who knows. Maybe you won't need a job...

played another session. we went to motor city around 12am and played for a bit. I doubled up early, but wasn't really catching much afterwards so the 5 hour session turned break even. After that my uncle dropped me off at hollywood casino around 6am and I grinded until about 5pm. Session was good, I was up $350, but didn't catch much for awhile. Ended up + $262. Just a noteworthy hand which shows I'm really getting used to live. Few limpers ahead of me, i call with 7h8h. Few other limps behind, flop is 4d6d10h. X'd to me, i bet 2/3 pot, get rr to about $20, I flat. Turn is 2h giving me a fd to go along with my double gutter. I x, he bets for about $40 (heads up pot now) I call oop. River is 3d completing the diamond flush. I tank for a bit and decide to really sell the nuts. I reverse tell and start making these really heavy sighs, shaking my head in a really bad, obvious somewhat over acting way. After several seconds of "hollywooding" my 8 high, I meekly shove my stack in. I wasn't scared to pull the trigger because I know how high a % this play will work and he never has diamonds, pretty much 2p and sets only. After several seconds of him being in the tank, he mucks and I show the bluff. Anyway just wanted to say how comfortable I'm getting at the live tables. It's really easy once you get into things and get some confidence in your game.

Made about $1562 in 4 days of playing, this is for sure what I'm switching to.

Live roll: $1762

I've been keeping tabs on my live game for records so yeah have that covered (thanks for the idea). I'm strongly considering reg grinding 1-2 until I'm rolled for 2-5 live which at this pace should be soon o.0 I just don't have enough money yet to completely support myself through poker so I'll need to save up and just play when I can.

another session worth talking about. Started the session down about $300. First $100 was just not hitting anything, other 2 was from kings vs aces. Night started off really really slow. The first longer game started (i was at 2 tables that broke earlier) at around 10pm and died down at around 4am. Throughout that time I wasn't getting much to play with, stayed pretty break even and got a little tilty from the dry stretch. I was in about $500. $300 from the loss, and $200 on the table. The guy across me had a mega stack around $1000 and he was hitting so many sets and straights it was just ridiculous. Played tight and mostly folded until around 4am. At that point the table started breaking and the mega stack was actually spewing chips (eventually he'd leave with only like $75 which was crazy). 4 handed I thought it might be better to just leave, but figured **** it I'll try it, I usually play shorthanded anyway. This is the part where I got super super paid. This guy who came in around 3am was a total fish and you could just sense the derpiness in his voice. He was calling down with underpairs, Q high etc on flops he shouldn't and I started actually hitting boards. Eventually I turn the $200 into $700 (the fish just kept rebuying after calling me all the way down and telling me how it was just a bad beat when in actuality he was overcalling me on rivers where I'm never bluffing). This other guy who I've seen several times in the games starts calling me the bank and that I'm "reaching into the reserve" when I take chips in preparation to bet. Table had a good vibe and the big stack was so tilted that he'd lost all his chips he was just bleeding it all away to me. Anyway it's morning and the table starts filling and cards start running cold for me again so I decide to cash out. The fish was down about $1100 at 1-2 and just telling me how I never call when he has it lol. I take a break and get my comp meal, watch the table games and slot machine players for a bit, then come back to the tables. This one guy who looks like a laborer keeps dumping money into the table and is drinking as well. I was kind of the one to start it, but it was crazy because eventually the whole table was around 300bb deep each because of the drunk fish who spewed around $2k+. It was actually really interesting to watch because most of the players there were regulars and it was as if the sharks had gathered to feed off this one poor guppy. The regs aren't even that great, but you're just not going to get full value out of most of them. Here's the hand where it started for me.
I raise to 7 ep AsQs get called by the drunk fish and a reg. Flop comes AcTs9c. I bet, fish calls, other folds. Turn is an 8d. The drunk fish plays a lot of garbage so my thought was that he could have a potential 2p by this river, but I'm going to bet for value anyway. I bet, he reraises me to like $90 or so after I bet $35 ott. I tank for a bit and prepare to muck because generally rr ott is strong for general population read. Then I decide instead of just going based on lines, why not just talk to him? I ask him what hes got, if he's got qj, at, the fd etc and get some info with how passive he is and unwilling to answer the question. I also picked up on a bit of a tell that whenever he's got a monster he'll just shove all in with it, wasting no time. Anyway finally asked him if he'd show if I fold and he said yes... Ding, that generally means weak if they say yes so I tanked for a few more moments leveling myself, then called. He showed QT with a flush draw and I held up. There was another very similar hand in which I stacked him again and brought my stack up to around $650. Anyway I'm really tired so I'll continue tomorrow with the rest of the experience.

You should definitely keep playing live. You are doing great and your super happy about live play. I kinda sensed you were the live type when you talked about liking to single table online.
Keep up the good work.

What i wanted to say was last night I really felt like a cash game player. For the most part I had been playing really nitty, always coming to the flop with strong broadway and raising strong with my pairs pre and betting for value. This sesh I was calling more with bottom pair because I was picking up on villains tendencies along with live tells I had picked up. I started speculating and calling raises pre with suited connectors (no longer scared money because the 86s didn't have set potential). What I'm saying is my live game is much more comfortable than it was before and my decision making is a lot clearer than when I first started. I have more intention when I'm in a pot of who I want to be playing against and why I do x y and z.

Live roll: $2,362

so considering ending this thread and starting a new one. Online is great, but think my destiny lies in live games where there's more of a living to make. I'll continue playing online solely to improve my game, but think I belong at the live tables. Thoughts?

edit: by the way the story earlier with the drunk guy, i shoved with tpgk instead of calling and he called me.

You can ask a mod to change the title of this one to something that better suits your growth as a poker player.
This allows readers to follow a more complete story.

Or just start a new one...

Sweet, good to know and thanks again man. Anyway an update... I played another 24 hr session and started down about $350. Entire night was just running super cold and missing every flop. I was on tilt at one point and could barely stay awake at the table. Anyway... Eventually the session turned into even money, to +200, +400 +600. I'll tell more details in a later post, but i'm so ***** exhausted right now, just going to sleep.

Live roll: $2900 in 6 days of play

so was tilted last sesh and didn't want to post. The day started off pretty bad flopping bottom/middle set twice vs top set and getting it in. Amazingly I was only down $100 after those 2 hands. After that I kept playing and did really well. from being down $100 i worked up my stack to about $900 (I was in for about $400). Left the table since everyone decided to nit up vs me and came back. I worked my stack at the next table up to about $650. One hand I had called a limp with pocket 6s, guy bumps it up to about 15 and almost the entire table calls. Flop a 6 he bets out for 45 i flat with no other callers. He x turn prob with suspicion of 2p+ so I make a tricky x ott to bait in his overpair to bet river. He bets 75 otr and i tank for a bit, then shove for like 65 on top I think. I made a mistake here and told him I'd show if he folds in which he just says "oh you made it easy" and folds. I tried to get him to call thinking I was weak, but as I suspected he was a thinking player so he knew I was reversing it on him. Earlier that day someone asked me if I'd show if they folded and with a little holywooding I quickly said yes and began to gulp and shake. The guy shoved and I showed him the nuts. I also made about $200 from the new table making a risky call with just tpgk kq on qt8 double suited board. I raised pre and bet flop, guy shoves and tells me he's got me and just stares me down. I considered folding in that spot because of how quickly he acted (generally pretty strong at these stakes and they give it away with timing tells). Also I've noticed a lot of times when people have acted strong they were really strong, but I asked if he'd show if I folded and said yeah so was really confused on whether he had it or not. I unwillingly called and he showed a fd and my tp held. Also later during that session this guy tried bluffing me on a really dry river after i was pfr with ajs. I bet flop he insta calls i x turn he x, i x river he bets out for like 1/3 pot. figured he'd have a small value hand like 2nd pair or so, but also knew he was capable of bluffing rivers based on how he was playing. Called with ace high and was right and from that point on at the table ppl said they didn't want to be in a pot with me lol. So i was up about $900 for the day, but made the same mistake of overstaying. Cards were running cold for me and I was really really tired. I just came from a 24 hour session and was doing another 24hr session and just made some really bad calls/hit no boards. End of the night i was up about $200, but tilted because I should've just left and gone to sleep. Anyway you learn from your mistakes and never again will I overextend myself. Gotta take care of yourself if you want to be a long term winner. Anyway, I'm still happy with how things have been going for me. in the short time I've been playing there I've gotten a lot of comments about how much ppl respect my game. I started getting to know the regs and they give me a lot of praise which really boosts my confidence. Feels good to be recognized

Live roll: $3100 (this roll is a rough estimate actually and might be less than what I've made. I've had to pay for taxis and overpriced cigs + waitress tips so it might be off about $150 or so)

It is cool how you write about live metagame.
Its making me want to build a roll to start playing live.
Nice work.

thanks for the comments. You've been commenting on my thread for quite awhile and I really appreciate it. Winning is important for me, but recognition also means a lot. I recognize that I haven't "made it" yet, but I really enjoy people seeing my journey and knowing I'm not just another degen lol...

had a short session online and did pretty well. I was going back and forth and had brought the online roll back to $580, but worked it up to $706 in about 2 hours or so. I switched to 9max so I could practice my live game and I'm happy with the results. It's slower paced in comparison to 6max, but the game is pretty soft.

Online roll: $706 (still got $525 on my nj account)
Live roll: $3200

had another live session today and did pretty well again o.0 up another $429. It was actually pretty cool because I played at a table with all regs who were calling each other light because they knew each others game. I had played with all of them before, but usually we're sitting at a table with a bunch of the fish to share, but because of the casino rules we couldn't break the table and join the others so we were all stuck with each other. I started out the session down about $100 and a little upset with myself. I felt like I was only good enough to take money off the bads and when it came to the regs I wasn't really decent enough to play. Things changed though in one hand where I bluff cr shoved ott. That moment I remembered the lesson I had learned time and time again. The game is no limit texas holdem and you can do whatever the **** you want. There's no rules, you don't have to x back your underpair or bottom pair which is something the safe nitty side of me is prone to doing. I have set up a template for how I play, but to actually succeed you need to constantly adapt. You can't play the same game over and over and expect to be making all you potentially could. So I got hyper aggro. One of the guys who's known as an action player that they kept calling "fat greggy" (yeah I know...) actually started to nit up and back down vs me because he just didn't know where he was at. usually he would be the type to shove at any chance and bluff any street possible, but he just completely shut down. I got one of the regs tilted in which he said "I forgot it's just ****ing impossible to bluff you huh?" I was making super thin calls that were good A high or bottom pair type stuff vs triple barrels. Once again I came away from the session with even more confidence in my game. I know what I can do and I know I'm a force to be reckoned with at the table...

Online roll: $706
Live roll: $3629

Live roll $3629

Alright did another session from like 8pm to 3pm the next day and made... $28 bucks QQ... The session started off really bad -$400. First 3 hands at the table and I run AK into AA and the flop is AK2... 2nd buy in I flopped the bottom end of the straight and based on the action I knew no one had the top end. Board was TJQ I had 89. Basically gii 3 ways and river is a 9 giving both the guys who had a pair + oesd with a king the K high straight. Anyway later that night this guy spewed a bunch of money to me trying to bluff me out of pots when I had 2nd pair on A high flops and another time I had top 2 vs top and bottom 2p and I held up. After the sesh I took the greyhound back to nj so I can start packing my things to head back to Ohio

made $70 playing 9max cash online multi-tabling 25/50nl in an hour session. Just working on my 9max game and will probably main that from now on to prepare for more live 9max. Currently want to go to live cash games, but don't have a way to get to the casino.

Online BR: $770
Live BR: $3629

Just me playing some 25 and 50nl. Wanted to post a pic since I haven't posted a graph in awhile. Bovada hands take a day or so to come so I'll post it when they're ready.

Nice.
I can't wait to start playing on bovada.
October 6 and I will have my roll to play.
I am going to be mostly playing 25NL full ring.
We will probably play together.

How does 25NL differ from 50NL ( full ring)