As per the title I am going to make 2019 the year I start taking poker more serious as well as my life. I am aiming at becoming a better poker player and just better at planning out my life so I can enjoy it a little more in the years to come. I don't enjoy my job at all so I am currently trying to finish up my accounting degree so I can find a job I enjoy more, will also give me more freedom financially, and also one that gives more freedom in being able to enjoy my life with my little boy. I have been playing poker at a semi serious level for about 10 years now and am a small winner over the years. Having this journal I feel will help me with the support and guidance I need to succeed in my endeavors as a semi-professional poker player and taking control of my life so I can enjoy my time on this earth as much as possible. I have played approximately 500k hands of online poker and am a very small winner without much studying or effort. Last I looked on PT4 I am winning at a 3bb/100 clip. That's not that great but overall with how little effort I have put in I can't complain at all.
I am starting with a bankroll in poker of $3,000 which is separated from my life roll. I currently play 50NL zone on Ignition about 15 hours per week and also play in a 1/2 home game once or twice a month. I haven't been studying as much as I feel I should which has basically led me to a point where I feel like I am stuck in neutral in my poker "career". I use the word "career" lightly as I do work a full time job and haven't spent the time and energy into becoming a better player that it takes to make poker a "career". I am writing down my goals and plans to get it out in the open and hopefully gain the support needed to excel in my endeavors. I am aiming on updating this thread once a week with how I feel I've done sticking to my plan of becoming a better poker player and just overall happier in my day to day life of enjoying my little boy and all the joy he brings into my life. So, here are my poker goals and life goals for the year. I plan on breaking these down into monthly goals to keep everything more attainable and to hopefully keep the frustration level to a minimum if possible.

Poker Goals
1) Play 200k hands by the end of the year (20k hands per month)
2) Work my way up from 50NL zone to 200NL zone (win 30BI before taking a 5BI shot at the next limit)
3) Study a minimum of 3 hours a week of poker
4) Keep this updated weekly
5) Post bi-weekly updates on Youtube of my bigger hands and progress
6) Play live poker 2 times a month because the games in my area are so juicy!!!


Life Goals
1) Take my little boy on vacation twice this year
2) Finish 5 classes per term in school
3) Get into better shape mentally with where I'm at in life as well as where I am going
4) Use my calendar on my phone to stay more organized
5) Exercise 3 days a week to strengthen my core so my back doesn't hurt as bad

I didn't want to make anything as far as financial goal with poker because variance can be a dirty ***** for the most part so I figured making a plan to play X amount of hands seemed much better. I also don't have any plans of not working and playing poker full time however I do know it can be a wonderful side income compared to actually working a second job. Needless to say I am very excited about this journey and feel with the help of everyone here I can be successful this year in my goals and the challenges that await. Thank you in advance for the support and I look forward to this journey and crushing the year 2019!!!

See you all on the felt!
Flash

Well I played my first session of this little challenge I have given myself. It was a live 1/2 home game that is extremely soft. I have to get up super early (5am) so I only play around 2.75 hours and I won $202. I had 2 hands that went very well where I flopped a set and turned a boat vs a slow played straight. Then I had AA and flopped another set and the board ran out bad so I only got half the opponents stack in before he folded turn on a AJ3K board. I did make one call post flop that I'm not to sure about even getting the correct odds to call because if I do hit my gutshot or set on the turn I don't feel I probably make any money so it's probably better to just fold flop.

I had 6s6c in a single raised pot on a 2s3s4c flop and preflop raiser bet the flop about 75% of the pot where this opponent only Cbets when he has OP or flush draw. He showed after I folded turn he had KK so I'm not 100% sure I should even call flop.

BR=$3,200

gl man will be following

Sorry for the long delay on the update but I have been trying to get all my ducks in a row and haven't been able to put in as much volume as I would have liked. As I had said in my previous post I do have a little boy and work a full time job and they come first always since this little endeavor is just a part time gig and being a father is way better than playing poker. However, I did manage to put in about 4.5k hands online and needless to say I ran pretty well! I am going to post some pictures of my graph but basically I won right at 14bi in a a very short period of time. I'm not that far off my monthly goal of playing 20k hands but I'm not going to stress it if I don't make it this month because I have spent a fair amount of time studying and getting my grinding station up to par. I even ordered a new second monitor that I am stoked to get within the next week or so. I also didn't play anymore live as I had my little boy for a decent amount of time and was doing a bunch of poker studying as well as some school work. I did go out on Friday night and had maybe 4-8 craft beers so that was a nice release after such a hectic week. I really like this local beer made by Blackberry Farms that is called Fenceline and it showed Friday night haha.

I did start studying a fair bit more and I can tell I have some MAJOR leaks on the river that i plugged somewhat. I still have a ton of work to do obviously but just by looking at my graph toward the end you can tell I made some minor adjustments with some great results. Basically people at 50NL just aren't bluffing the river hardly ever. I mean they do but it's far and few between that's for sure.I also can tell how much tougher the zone tables are than the regular tables especially since I can use PT4 on the regular tables and tell who are the fish vs the regs. Playing exploitable poker against these guys really makes a huge difference and I can't wait to get to 100NL and just play 4 regular tables. Even though my hands per hour will suffer I think my EV will go up a ton. On those zone tables it's pretty easy for those fish to just fold where they have a harder time on the regular tables.

Well here is a couple of graph pics for everyone. I wish everyone the best of luck at the tables. Let's just say variance was on my side during the last little bit.

https://i.gyazo.com/6269697ed097897e...d8a8fc7c24.png

50NL regular tables

https://i.gyazo.com/782eecbb5b7fcd79...cad51c8b5e.png

50NL zone tables

If someone could tell me how to just get the picture to post I'd be greatly appreciative seeing as how I am obviously a NOOB at this.

Also just want to say thanks to anyone who gives me good feedback or just simply cheers me on in this endeavor since I don't really have many poker friends at all. I only know a few people who play online and not a single one of them live within 2 hours of me. Sometimes this can get a little bit rough going at it alone for those of you who do have poker friends. Essentially any support is much appreciated. See you all on the felt.
~Flash~

I absolutely can't wait to post some of these hands from the session I played tonight!!! Sadly it will have to wait a couple of days before I can get them downloaded but needless to say they're interesting. I certainly didn't win them all by any means but for a 3 hour session I did play fairly well I felt so that's always a plus. HH coming soon and an update. Probably Thursday so stay tuned!

Finally had a losing session last night even though I felt I played very well. For the first time that I can remember in a very long time I feel I played very well and my mental game was extremely strong. I stuck to my 3 bi stop loss and felt great stopping knowing I’ve had such a wonderful start to the month and played as well as I did. Basically I lost 2 all ins to preflop 5 bet all ins that were bluffs. I had AK vs A7 and villian hit a 7 on me and another one the villian ripped it in with A5s vs my AA and hit the wheel. I didn’t get all tilted as I normally would have after a few of those in a row. I just kept staying focused and playing as best I could. I’m super proud of myself for that and it makes me feel so much more confident in myself knowing all the studying on the mental aspect of poker and all the work off the table studying is paying off. For once I’m embracing the grind and just sticking to my volume goals of study and hands played per month. I am trying to get some updates posted but am struggling to find the time so we will see if in the next few days I can get some hands and graphs posted.

Well I had a meeting first thing this morning at work that was lame as usual but it only lasted an hour or so so I had about 2 hours to kill before coming back to work for another 9 hours to finish out the rest of the day. I did use that time wisely though and had a filling breakfast and reviewed a view hands and marked some hands I want to review with someone or just post in here soon to get some feedback. They were just spots I’m not to sure about and would like to get some insight on. I did play some for about an hour or so and won back 2 of the buy ins I’d lost last night at 100nl so I’m feeling pretty dang good about that for sure. Anyway it’s back at the real world and I hope the next post is one about hands and where I stand currently and what my next goal is.

Sorry I haven't posted an update of my month so far everyone. The games have been great lately and I have been super busy but I'm off work the next 7 days and plan on catching up on my promise to make a Youtube video and update where I stand with hands played this month and financial results. I did get my new monitor in today and new mic so I should be good to go as far as everything I need to get this show on the road! Update by the end of the week I promise!

Crazy sun run yesterday!!! I binked a small $10 tourney for right at $475 and won $775 at the cash tables tables 100NL and some 200NL at a really good table. This is the reason I am having such a tough time getting up a video and complete update as to where I am at this month or actually even who I am and what my plan is for that matter. I look forward to getting a video out by Sunday evening of my tourney win in the $11 2k guarantee and my graph for this month. I will also be introducing myself and what my goals and challenges are going to be for the rest of 2019. I honestly suck so bad at all this video editing thing. I'd almost be willing to pay for someone help me get this stuff done or setup!

https://i.gyazo.com/5329d4e599740893...ae645736a7.png
I still don't know how to get just the picture to show up but here is the tourney bink total

So I have just really started taking poker serious again about 4 months ago and needless to say all the studying plus sun running is paying off! I've won right at around 4k in the last 3 weeks playing 50NL zone and 100NL regular tables. Adding in a couple of good small tourney runs and winning a small one last night it didn't seem that hard. Man it's nice to just run amazing. I have been working very hard on my game so it's always nice when it feels like that is paying off. Not that it should ever work that way it's just nice when it does.I am only able to get in around 400 hands/hr which makes getting my goal of 20k hands not easy. I'm pretty happy with my results and the fact that I am on pace to hit my hands played goal this month and so far I am winning at a 13.03bb/100! It's the first time I have ever just sat down and said "OK... I am going to play X amount of hands this month." Man I am so glad to be doing so well when my original goal was to not bust my online roll!! Obviously this will not continue as far as the sun run goes but I am going to enjoy it while it does and hopefully continue to pad my online roll since I keep it separate from my live bankroll. Anyway I just wanted to talk about some of the success this forum brings you when you study what these coaches and people are talking about. I plan on being a little more active in the forums rather than just lurking like I have the last 3 months. Full update coming soon on Youtube! haha

I plan on giving a full update here soon but here is a picture of my graph for March so far!
https://gyazo.com/a2247d2966d6bdb2d43a4e6ea0473634

And here is a picture of how many hands I have played and my bb/100
https://gyazo.com/fa53ca9be9b4b8043630b36277609da3

Well I had to get new internet today after getting disconnected twice yesterday in massive pots. One I had the nuts on the river with an all in in front of me and a call.The second I flop a set of 9s in a 3 bet pot on a rainbow flop with a fish betting big into me on the flop and I'm in position. Couldn't call I will post a video of the hands on here so you can see the sadness that I felt as I couldn't call due to the software being terrible and my internet not being the greatest. Basically today I called and got really good internet! I didn't know it was only $20 a month for 30mb speeds so I feel like a massive noob.

I also should add that this is all happening while I am taking a shot with a backer playing 200nl and 500nl...Lost 3k the first day running bottom set into quads and 2nd nut flush to nut flush and such. Needless to say it was pretty terrible and then I won it all back yesterday and called it quits just being even. Felt like I'd won 5k haha! Just wait till you see this crazy graph at the end! Some of it was played at 500plo and 200plo as well that won't show up but I did get back to even that I promise. It was a great experience because I got to see how tough those guys play at 500nl and how they aren't amazing at 200nl. I don't think I am far off from being able to play 200nl and beat the game if not beat it right now. Maybe the graph and results will show for themselves one day? Right now I know I'm winning but it's over a small sample I know. I would like to add I did get over 20k hands this month evewn though I got a late start. This was all due to being on vacation this week but whatever. Back on track here... I feel pretty confident I am not a losing player in the 200nl streets game that's for sure. Maybe am wrong but I do think I would probably have to play regular tables and not zone tables because the games are so much softer there and I know I can improve my game much quicker playing regular tables at that limit because when I get up to those stakes the game plays much different which I enjoy. Doesn't hurt you can actually make a pretty durn good side income either! One reason I like the regular tables more than zone is that I will be able to think more about the tougher decisions you get put in and have some reads on opponents. Also I will be playing at a stake that you can make a pretty good side income playing 4 tables of 200nl on this site so the quality not quantity is going to be my approach for as of right now. I don't think I am going to set a hand goal for the rest of the year and set more of a time played goal instead. Seems better since I can then just know I put in good quality time and not just going through the motions to get a set number of hands in. Especially since I am going to be focusing my time more on regular tables anyway. I will be going from getting in around 450 hands/hr to around 275-300 hands/hr. I guess now that I typed it out it's not that big of a deal if my winrate can stay on up there! Basically my end poker goal is to be beating 1000nl which I do know will take a ton of time and work but I do believe I have the patience to get there. Well, back to the 100nl streets and maybe throwing in a 200nl if I can find a good spot every now and then. My bankroll could stand a 5 bi shot at 200nl right now so I wouldn't mind giving it a good effort since I did play at that limit already and it didn't feel to uncomfortable playing that limit knowing I can drop back down and still have 30bi for 100nl and play some 50nl zone which is my bread and butter to build my roll back up if need be. I would really like to break through and become a reg at 200nl. NOT a bad reg but a good reg! Well wish luck at the tables mates and that my first shot at 200nl goes according to plan!

RESULTS through March. I can't believe I am still at a 9bb/100 after playing such higher stakes!!!
https://gyazo.com/9884841c00d4e7f7167a62c17d8cf50f

GRAPH :/ I did make it to the 20k hand mark I wanted to for the month so that was nice
http://https://gyazo.com/757fd558f96...d1e6fef26bccb4

PokerStars - $5 NL FAST (6 max) - Holdem - 3 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (BTN): 85.94 BB
SB: 229.68 BB (VPIP: 28.78, PFR: 15.40, 3Bet Preflop: 7.39, Hands: 21,002)
BB: 185.41 BB (VPIP: 32.49, PFR: 6.75, 3Bet Preflop: 6.29, Hands: 21,020)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 2 2

Hero raises to 2.5 BB, fold, BB calls 1.5 BB

Flop: (5.5 BB, 2 players) 2 A 7
BB checks, Hero bets 4 BB, BB calls 4 BB

Turn: (13.5 BB, 2 players) 7
BB bets 3 BB, Hero raises to 16 BB, BB calls 13 BB

River: (45.5 BB, 2 players) 4
BB checks, Hero bets 63.44 BB and is all-in, BB calls 63.44 BB



This is that hand I had 22 on and lost with bottom full house from my last post!

Bout to start my biggest tournament day of my small career. I guess as far as total tournaments played in a day. I’ve played a few $500 events with a backer back in the day but that shouldn’t count as far as today goes because I’m my mind this is my biggest tourney grind I can remember. I’m playing some of the BDPO on Ignition today because I saved up for some tickets and am getting into the Sunday 30k guarantee which is $55 and the nightly 10k guarantee with a $20KO which is $75! This is basically just means I have a little extra to spend so I’m going all out today and leaving myself pleasantly happy with my month of March. April will be back to the grind here soon at the 100nl and 200nl streets so let’s get a win today and pad that bankroll!!! I’ll have the tourneys I end up playing and the totals at the end of the day maybe tomorrow if we run deep. I am playing the Sunday $162 108k guarantee as well so let’s get it!!!

Well my day went pretty well at the tables. I only played tournaments and had an amazing day! I had my 2nd biggest online score ever of $3250! I finished 6th in the 108k guarantee that is $162 on Ignition! 19.8k up top though which is how we always feel when we don't win right?!?! Obviously I am very grateful for the nice run of cards and the good luck I had to make it as far as I did in the tournament. I feel I played very well too which is always a plus after how some of my other tournament knockouts went down. That's poker though.

Picture of the score to the exact penny.
https://gyazo.com/07ca96ce464f0f7e7a4fc55823d5f972

Finally have fast internet again!!! It's insane how good internet can almost make you feel more confident in your poker game... Or maybe that's just knowing you won't be disconnected in a massive pot!

Well the sun run finally ended. I played really terrible as well which I can easily admit. Played to high and played way to bad to win. Lost about 3/4 my online bankroll or more in the last week or so. As well as in the last week winning $1500 in live games then going on fully monkey tilt and losing $1500 the very next night. My emotions definitely get the better of me sometimes. I have a good friend who made a good point that some people don’t know why they do things but I do yet I still make that same mistake time after time. I’ve got to learn from this if I plan on going anywhere besides up and right back down to where I started. Chin up though I know I can play well it’s just putting your head down and doing it.

This leads me to my next challenge which is to play the next 10 days everyday that I can leading up to WSOP Cherokee NC. I’m playing the first event the 10th of April and taking a couple days vacation up there. I’m going to be playing 7 times between now and then in live games and my goal is to play well and not tilt like I have been doing. I’d like to get in 40 hours of play and just get readjusted to live play before getting back at it in the WSOP. I’ll keep everyone posted.