Sub'ing, good thread so far sir, keep up the good work.

im thinking about playing live as a side job whats the amount of money should i start off as my bankroll for 1/2 nl

6k

1k is fine for 1/2NL

5 buyins? What?

Its pretty light but I'd say anyone who drops 5 bi at 1/2 initially taking a shot considering playing for a living should seriously reconsider lol.

lol learn to read

Oops you pwned me. Same applies though it wont be a profitable side job if you drop 5 bi off the bat

I played solid today, only got in 4.5 hrs though. I've decided to tighten up a little postflop. I think cbetting weak draws like 2 overs is not worth it vs calling stations. I ventured out to South Point played a couple hrs there and watched Bourne Legacy. It was pretty good, I liked the whole series even though some stuff is recycled cliches.

TY sir!

I would just play with what you can afford to lose. You have a job so you don't really need a bankroll. I would just play with whatever money I had on hand and if you lose it all, no poker until you earn enough at the job to hop back in the fire. When I was 19 and learning to play nlhe at Jackson Rancheria I would frequently leave with an empty wallet (also played roulette and bj, but eventually I quit those -ev games) besides a few bucks for gas to get home. But I didn't sweat it because I knew I had another source of income and I would be back as soon as I could come up with a buy in. Obviously the more money you have set aside the less the chance you will be out of action. 20 buy ins would be a reasonable cushion, 30 buy ins is even better or you could probably do okay with just 10 buy ins.

August

Total hours played- 30.5

2012 YTD

Total hours played- 886.5

I played a hand badly where I c/r tptk on the flop and then c/c 2 streets when an over card hit. I think I should have b/f the turn or c/f river. Not too many interesting spots today just a lot of folding pf and and c/f flops.

August

Total hours played- 40.5

2012 YTD

Total hours played- 896.5

I finished off a solid week of grinding. I'm proud of myself for getting the hrs in but I made way too many mistakes and I have to work on that. Today I lost some key flips. I 4b jam AK 40bb deep at 2/5 and get it in vs QQ and QQ so I am in an awesome spot with over 50% equity plus there was some dead money. I 3b jam A10 on 986 and brick out vs top and bottom 2p.

I've decide to play mostly 1/3 full stacked or 2/5 with 40bb because my bankroll has dropped a lot in the past month.

Here is an awkward spot I got in-

I pick up AQ utg+1 in a straddled pot (1/3/6) open for 20, one mp caller, straddler calls. I have 410, mp covers, straddler has 240

Flop- 345
I lead for 40 into 60, folds to straddler who c/r to 100. I was sitting in seat 1 and he was in seat 9 so I made to mistake on not checking his stack size before the flop. I see he has 140 left and decide to get it in thinking I have about 40% equity. He snaps with 62 and I am drawing to a runner runner chop .

This a mistake I have been making frequently with draws, I have to discount my outs and consider worst case scenarios and not just try to convince myself I might have to right equity to call or jam. I also need to take a little more time with my decisions in big pots.

Board: 3d 5d 4h
Dead:

equity win tie pots won pots tied
Hand 0: 24.124% 21.64% 02.48% 14997 1721.00 { AcQc }
Hand 1: 75.876% 73.39% 02.48% 50861 1721.00 { TT-77, 55-33, 76s, 65s, 62s, 53s+, 43s, 32s, A5o, K5o }

meh, stoved it and I guess it wasn't that terrible just ran into the top of his range, I had just sat down at the table and had no reads on this middle aged villain.

Here is one more tough spot (5 handed)-

I pick up AQ in the bb and 3bet a btn 10 btn open to 40, btn asks how much I'm playing then calls, sb calls. I have 290 villains cover.

Flop- AK9
I bet 30 into 59, villain says "you have aces huh? I'm all in" and slides in a rack of redbirds. sb folds. It is 260 to win 379. I tank for a long time. I ask him "will you show if I fold?"

villain responds "I never show"

I say "pocket 9s?"

villain responds "you have AK don't you"

I tank for a while longer and then he says "ok I'll show you", he was also staring me down another sign of weakness so I make the call. board bricks out and he mucks what I guess was a fd.

Anyways, the lesson is: don't speak to people when you are all in, they'll get a read. I am guilty of talking when all in and it has probably cost me money.

By the way there is this neat little "Zombie Apocolapse" store just west of I-15 on spring mountain, it is worth checking out if you're looking for something to do in Vegas.

August

Total hours played- 50.5

2012 YTD

Total hours played- 906.5

Just got done reading the entire thread over a couple days. I've just started playing 1/2 as a side job and this thread is a big inspiration. Maybe I'll start my own thread.

Keep up the good work. I'll be in Vegas Sept 8th-15th so maybe I'll see you at the table.

Just finished 56 pages of this. Just wanted to say that I plan on moving to Vegas in about 6 months with about a 6K-8k bankroll. Using this thread as my inspiration. I really admire your discipline, your knowledge of the game, and the simple fact of how you are constantly trying to improve at all aspects of your life and your poker game. Good luck in the future. I'll continue to follow this thread closely.

I got in my 10 hrs today, I am feeling really confident I can hit 200 hrs this month despite getting a really late start. It will be a personal record when I do.

I have also realized that I sometimes start thinking negative thoughts when I run bad and there is no reason to. It is bad for focus. I am going to try to think positve no matter what and not take for granted that I can sit on my ass and play cards all day. It is so much better than working a ****ty dead end minimum wage job.

I played one hand where I rasied pf, bet 2 streets then the river brings a 3flush and I check. Villain fires 2/3 pot and I use the "will you show if I fold" thing. He instantly agrees to show. I fold, he shows the flush. Wether they answer yes or no I just try to figure out their intentions. It is also nice to get free info.

Only other big pot I played all day I flop the nut flush lead for 2/3 pot and get minraised by a tight guy so I think it over and 3bet enough to price out fh draws. He jams I snap, hold up.

Right on, gl with that. If you want to say what's up when you're in town shoot me a pm.

Props to you for reading the whole thread. I have definitely put a lot of effort into improving poker wise. There are some other areas in my life that I really need to work on though. I know if I focus as hard on those areas as much as I do at poker I can accomplish a lot. I have had a lot of big failures in my life but I really feel good about what I have been able to get out of this journey so far.

Some advice- save up as much as you can. Even though I came here with 6.2k, that is very far from ideal. The more cushion you have the better.

August

Total hours played- 60.5

2012 YTD

Total hours played- 916.5

play full stacked 1/3 and crush!

congrats on 900 hrs this year, siiiiiiick!

I think I played alright today. I hopped around a lot and was at some horrific tables but eventually found a great one.

Here is a hand I played-

I pick up KQ otb and squeeze a 10 open and 2 callers to 35. Everyone calls... original raiser has 600, caller 1 has 97, caller 2 has 220, I have 465

Flop- J105
caller 1 donks for 20, I raise to 100, folds to caller 1 who makes the call with 98

Turn- 2

River- 7

nh sir

I'm pretty tired but I think I am getting conditioned to grind long days. I just have to take consistant breaks and eat some snacks and drink lots of water.

Thanks man!

August

Total hours played- 71.5

2012 YTD

Total hours played- 927.5

I made some pretty good laydowns and ran decent. Had my biggest winning day all month, nice to actually play long hrs and have something to show for it.

I was walking down flamingo and passed by none other than TBC. If you haven't heard of him, he is low stakes grinder like myself with a pretty epic blog. I didn't stop to introduce myself but should have.

August

Total hours played- 79.5

2012 YTD

Total hours played- 935.5

I figured since I am building my bankroll back up at 1/2 and 1/3 I should use the opportunity to work on my poker chip collection. I played at 2 poker rooms I've never played before- Ellis Island and Palms. I've got 39 chips in my collection now. I think I've played every room on the strip beside Circus Circus, I tried a couple times but all they had running was 2/4 limit and I despise playing limit. There are a few off strip poker rooms I need to check out still.

The session went smooth and I found really good tables and actually made hands in the right spots. I folded AK pf when someone limp/6xed me. I think I have over played AK and QQ in the past month so I am going to take my foot of the gas unless I have very specific reads.

August

Total hours played- 89.5

2012 YTD

Total hours played- 945.5

Where is TBC's blog?

Some of the 1/2 and 1/3 games have the same or more blind money in pf than normal reg infested 2/5 games because the straddle is on most hands at a good table. Some places even allow straddles bigger than just 2x the bb. I virtually never straddle. I will agree to a round of staddles as long as everyone else does it, but someone usually goes back on their word.

I was reading Bart Hanson's column in Cardplayer. He made 2 great points. The average player doesn't value bet the river nearly enough. My first instinct is to want to check back medium/strong hands when a scare card hits, but I need to b/f more often. Players will very very rarely c/r bluff the river.

He also talked about when someone bets or raises small on the turn when there are straight and fds on the board they usually don't have a nutted hand. Most players will bet big with their nutted hands on the turn and bet small with tp type hands. I see this all the time.

I didn't quite play 10 hrs today, I'll have to make up the hrs somewhere down the line. I am going to reward myself at the end of the month for hitting 200 hrs by burning some comps to check out Aria's buffet. I'm just about half way there.

http://www.allvegaspoker.com/forum/v...hp?f=19&t=7262

http://sevencard2003.blogspot.com/

August

Total hours played- 96

2012 YTD

Total hours played- 952

I've been happy with my play this week. I've been getting the chips in with the best of it. I'm exhausted though, taking tomorrow off. I'm going to bust my ass the rest of the month and make it happen.

I've been reading Analytical nlhe by Thomas Bakker. It has some interesting diagrams with a line representing range on 2 axis strong/ weak hands and frequency. It is a new perspective and is thought provoking.

August

Total hours played- 103.5

2012 YTD

Total hours played- 959.5

just got done with the ENTIRE thread....... needles to say i was not very productive at my $#!+* job!

EPIC THREAD/JOURNEY. stay on the grind and ill stay on your thread.

Awesome thread and congrats on your success. I've been to Vegas 5x I love it but how do you like livin there ? And also do you ever get sick and tired of poker ?

thats not where my blog is, its been moved to sevencard2003.proboards.com please do not give out the wrong information, also u most definitely shouldve introduced urself, are u the guy who said TBC as i walked by who i had no idea how i knew u?

u need to discuss what kind of bankroll u have in here. im sure its far better than mine, ive ran so bad lately im not much over $2000. whats going to break me is NOT the poker, its the other games ive played outside of poker, and the $300+ a week in rent, food, transportation, and misc expenses. thats NOTHING for $1-2. ive been shortstacking the $1-2 NL game at hooters 2am to 6am for $150 aces cracked, u should come check it out. and ive NEVER ever seen a game go at ellis island. no one really cares about how many hours uve played.

once NV online poker is up and running, $2000 will last u forever online and can be grinded to $5000 and up within a few months, problem is only surviving til then. ive never in my life seen anything so beatable and easy as $20 don sngs on merge. for some reason they are much easier than the $5 and $10 sngs.