About Me

I'm an early 30s live recreational player from the southeast USA. I've been fortunate to have a job in tech since an internship in college and never have played professionally. However, many fun purchases have been made with poker money.

My goal this year is to be perfect with tracking and recording hands and win/losses while putting in a bit more volume than in previous years. I'm hoping this PGC will help with that. Lots of volume will come over the summer at the WSOP so I'll lag behind until then. But I will try and keep an average of 25+ hours a month each month regardless.


2020 Poker Goals

• Play in bigger than 2/5 games when line-up looks decent/good

• Put in 500 hours at 2/5+ for the year
  0/500

• Put in 100 hours of study for the year
  0/100

• Profit 20k+ for the year
  0/20000

In addition to poker goals, I'd like to use this PGC to track other random goals that I'm working on in other areas of life.

I've always been a terrible runner but I've been working on improving over the last 6 months. I'm down to around 9 minute miles for 2-3 miles but we need to that lower. We'll set our first goal at a 25 minute 5k. In terms of fitness, I care more about function than weight loss or anything like that. But I'd still like to get down to a certain weight, as it will help running tremendously. I'm 218 now (6'3" so I'm not huge) and would be much more efficient at 200lbs. So we'll make that a goal.

I also have played guitar casually for years and I want to set a monthly study goal of not just playing songs I know but going through theory study (scales, arpeggios, etc).


2020 Life Goals

• Running Tracking
  1 mile time:
  2 mile time:
  5k time:

• Weight
  218/200

• Monthly Guitar Study/Practice
  0 hours/8 hours

Good luck out there everyone!

Good luck JD8, rooting for ya

Thanks! Good luck to you too. I’ll be following along your PGC.


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Session 1 of the year - 2/5

Hand 1

Hero - BTN - 2000
V1 - SB - 100 - loose passive tilted oldish guy
V2 - BB - 400 - horrible MAWW reg, huge station and tilts/complains after every lost hand (woe is me)


I open 9c9s to 20, SB and BB both call.

Flop (60): 2s5c6s

checks to me, I bet 35, SB jams 100, BB cold calls. I've already seen V2 call off with bad draws getting terrible odds. She raises 2p+ here and she's defending nearly 100% from BB, so overpair to 99 is unlikely.

I jam ~400 total and she pretty much snap calls.

Turn (900): 5x

River (900): 10x


I lose main pot to V1's A5o and win side pot vs V2's 78o.


Hand 2

Hero - BB - 1100+
V - MP - 800 - Straightforward MAWG, definitely a rec but not terrible


V opens to 20 and I defend T9o.

Flop (45): QcJs8h

V 30, I raise 115 and he calls.


Turn (275): 2h

Hero 200 V calls.


River (575): 5c

Hero all in, V calls and shows QQ. Nice little cooler.


Hand 3


Hero - BB - 2500
V - MP - 1500 - Solid middle aged reg


V opens to 20, 1 call and I defend with Qd8d.

Flop (65): 7c6d4s

V bets 25 and only I call

Turn (115): 7d

I'm trying to add some turn leads in spots that make sense. Here i think my floats that picked up flush draws and all my 7x seem reasonable for a turn lead that hits me more than MP. I lead 85 and he calls.

River (285): 8x

I check and he checks back with AA.


I like my line and it's one that I used to not even consider. But it allows to lead all my 7x in my BB defense range that MP will check back a bunch. And I considered following through on the river but I picked up enough showdown now beating 55, AK, A4s, and random Axdd, Kxdd.


Hand 4

I was only going to post 3 but I forgot about this hand and I really don't know if I played it right.

Hero - CO - 2000+
V - BB - 1000


I open 20 and BTN, SB, and V call.

Flop (80): Kh6c6s

checks to me and I bet 25 with AcKs, folds to BB who raises to 200 (?!). He's a young south american looking guy with an accent. He just sat down so I really don't have reads here. But I wouldn't peg him as the guy who can't bluff. I call.


Turn (480): 7h

he checks and I check back. Probably bet small here? It just blows to get check raised by an aggressive V.


River (480): Jx

He leads 300. I shrug call it off without that much thought to be honest. Nothing makes sense as his 6x should be leading the turn unless he's going for a weird check raise against my exact hand.

I win vs Th8h. Weird hand. It was the perfect turn for him to keep barrelling (assuming he check raises flop) and he checks, which leads me to believe he was check raising turn.

I feel like this is a hugely villain dependent hand. So here, I don't hate my call down.


Life Goals

I ran a 17:30 2 mile, which is trending downward. I'll be up in the mountains of Colorado for a while, so I'm going to get those sweet, sweet red blood cells. Gonna try and set some PRs when I get back

Re Hand 3:

Like the turn lead; would you ever consider check-raising here? Like you say we have 7's in our defend range; if we turn trips we would mix in some check-raises; we put fold out all Ax's, put 88/99/TT in a tough spot - don't mind getting called as we have gutter/flush draw. OK sucks if he reraises/shoves, but if villain calls we make a river bet look more like a legit hand if we have to bluff. Plus if we lead and he raises we have to fold anyway, right?

I think c/r bluffing turn is good too. But ultimately, we need to either target V's large hands (88+) or marginal hands (JTs+, QJs+, KQ, etc). c/r or overbet bluffing turn does better against his large hands and leading 3/4 or less does better against his marginal hands.

He c-bets flop small on a dry(ish) board which leads me to believe that he's betting 100% on the flop, so all of his random overcard combos are still in there. And having a Q and an 8 slightly removes more overpairs than random overcards. All in all, I think targeting his marginal hands is more +EV than trying to bluff out his overpairs.

Also, I don't see us getting raised (or 3bet if we c/r) nearly ever against ABC solid live Vs, especially against my TAGish image and us being 300BB deep. I mean, he had nearly the top of his range and called the lead/checked back river.

I've been traveling the last few weeks, but I finally got in session #2 for the year.

Session 2 of the year - 2/5

Honestly, things just went pretty... smooth. The game was a bit wild and waiting for spots just paid off. I took mostly straightforward TAGish lines and got there when I needed to.


Hand 1

Hero - CO - 900
V1 - SB - 1000+ - weak reg
V2 - UTG - 1000+ - spewy reg

I overlimp 2h2s after 2 limpers. V1 to 40, V2 calls and I call behind.

Flop (~130): 2dJc8c

V1 85, V2 call, I raise to 315 and both tank fold. I like my sizing not blocking any flush/straight draws or 2p combos but sometimes they just don't have it...


Hand 2

Hero - CO - 1700
V1 - SB - 1000 - whale
V2 - UTG - 1500 - same spewy reg as H1


V2 opens to 20, I 3b Ts9s to 60, V1 cold calls and V2 calls.

Flop (185): AhJd8s

Checks to me I bet 65, V1 snaps and V2 folds.

Turn (315): AhJd8s5s

I bet 275, V1 snaps again.

River (865): AhJd8s5sQc

I bet 300, V1 tanks for 3 mins and calls. I think the hand is mostly standard until the river sizing, assuming I choose to 3b pre. V2 is super wide from all positions, so a 3b is very reasonable.

I bet small on river to keep all his best 1p and worst 2p hands in. I think even a whale is going to fold to an all in. theoretically i think I should be bombing, but in this spot, I think I like my sizing.


Honestly, it was a pretty vanilla session. Not many hands shown down but still +1413 for the 7.5 hour session. I'll be in LA this week and will try and get at least 2-3 sessions in. I played commerce last time I was out there, so I'll try and get at least one session each at gardens and the bike.

January Wrap-up


2020 Poker Goals

• Play in bigger than 2/5 games when line-up looks decent/good
  Fail - but traveled most of January, so no worries here really.
  

• Put in 500 hours at 2/5+ for the year
  18/500
  

• Put in 100 hours of study for the year
  6/100 - Mostly RIO videos and HH reviews
  

• Profit 20k+ for the year
  3244/20000
  

Ahead of profit goal, behind on hours goal. But I always knew I'd start Jan out slow. I should catch up on volume in February.

2020 Life Goals

• Running Tracking
  1 mile time: 7:54
  2 mile time:17:29
  5k time:N/A

• Weight
  218/200 - No change
  

• Monthly Guitar Study/Practice
  0 hours/8 hours - On the road again... This one is tough to accomplish in travel months. it should slow down in April-ish and I can refocus here.
  

There's nowhere in this world I like more than the mountains. There's a certain zen-like feeling when you're 13,000 feet above sea level and all you can see in any direction are mountains. I haven't missed a winter since I was probably 12 and likely won't again for a very long time.

Vail/Beaver Creek, CO.








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Session 3 - Commerce Casino 5/5 500 cap

Ran pretty pure again. Heaters are fun to go on.


Hand 1

Hero - CO - 500
V - SB - 500 - looks like Drake, early 30s aggro looking


I open JJ to 30, over 2 limps, V to 120, I jam and he calls. Board runs out 10 high and I'm good.


Hand 2

Hero - MP - 1000
V - BTN - 600 - Big early 30s grinder looking dude.


I overlimp 3h3d after 2 limpers, V limps and we go 6 ways.

Flop (30): Ac3s4h

I bet 15 and only V calls.


Turn (60): Ac3s4h2c

I check, V bets 50 and I call.


River (160): Ac3s4h2c2d

I check, V bets 120 and I jam. He tank calls and MHIG.


Hand 3

Hero - MP - 1400
V - SB - 300 - middle aged asian lady


I open 9d7d to 20 and get 2 callers including V.


Flop (65): 9c9s5h

I bet 15 and V raises to 115. I call.


Turn (295): 9c9s5hTc

V jams and I call it off and MHIG vs JJ. She just sat down and the player profile says that I'm not ALWAYS good here, but I think I've done well over the years not to fold trips to random people, especially with 60BB stacks. She ended up being quite a bit more spewy than my initial read.



Hand 4

Hero - BB - 2000
V - UTG - 320 - Youngish guy. Saw him flat 73cc in MP from an UTG open. No other information.


V limps, UTG+1 raises to 25, 4 callers and I call TcTs in BB. Yes a squeeze is standard but I chose to flat here. Probably a mistake. V limp-jams for 320 total, everyone else folds and I end up calling it off. In game I wasn't sure here, but for 60something blinds with a bunch of dead money I figured it was profitable.

V shows KK and we don't get there. Meh... I'm still not sure on this one. I could probably flip a coin here.



Commerce is a pretty big shithole. But with LA traffic it's so much closer than the alternatives. I'm still going to try to make it somewhere else, but I really hate fighting the traffic out here.

I played 3 more sessions of 5/5 last week in LA. Overall, I got around 35 hours of poker in. The first two sessions were weekdays at Commerce. Ran bad, played mediocre and lost both nights. The games were actually quite nitty besides a couple of LA gamblers that I lost money to in clear +EV spots.

The third session (Friday night at Gardens casino) was quite insane. It had to have been one of the crazier sessions I have played in my life. I sat down at 3:30 PM and the table was mediocre at best. Mostly younger Gardens regs who knew each other. Fast forward a couple of hours and we've turned the game into 5/5/10 with an occasional 20 straddle.

We also played the 15 dollar button game where every BTN puts 15 bucks on the actual dealer button. If they win the hand, they collect the money. If not, the button is moved and the next BTN drops 15 bucks on it, so it escalates. Several times this got to be 200$+ and once was over $300, which changes the dynamic of the game completely. We had the floor brief new players on the game before they sat down and they had to agree to the craziness. A couple of... VIPs passed through the game and provided the Gardens regs plenty of money.

Unfortunately I ran terribly to start (-2200 at one point) but ended up clawing back to a +800 night. There were so many times you had to just hold on to your hand for dear life because some whale is blasting off against your TPTK or overpair. Sometimes you're good, sometimes not .


Either way, this was all orchestrated by a single reg (thanks M, if you're out there). He made the game huge, recruited multiple VIPs and honestly was great to play with.

February Wrap-up (I won't get to play until March)


2020 Poker Goals

• Play in bigger than 2/5 games when line-up looks decent/good
  One session of 5/5/10 and one of 5/5 uncapped
• Put in 500 hours at 2/5+ for the year
  66/500
• Put in 100 hours of study for the year
  15/100 - Mostly RIO videos and HH reviews
• Profit 20k+ for the year
  5465/20000

The year is pretty much on track for everything poker-wise. I'm definitely running over expectation (83/hr in 5$ BB games), so it looks like I'll easily get my profit goal... but that can always change.

I also booked Vegas/WSOP for the Big 50 weekend through the weekend after, so 11 days. A lot of my volume comes from my summer trip out there, so I'll catch up then.


2020 Life Goals

• Running Tracking
  1 mile time: N/A
  2 mile time:17:47
  5k time:28:25
• Weight
  218/200 - No change
• Monthly Guitar Study/Practice
  0 hours/8 hours - Still no guitar practice

I played a session at home this weekend. I started out card dead and had to force a couple of spots. But ended up winning on the session.


Hand 1

Hero - BTN Straddle - 800
V - CO - 1500- Young kid. Seems timid and hesitant to put money in


6 limps to me and I check with 52.

Flop (~75):86x4x. Checks around.


Turn (~75):86x4xKd. V leads 75 and I raise to 210. He calls


River (~500):86x4xK10x. V checks, I jam 580 and he tanks for 7 minutes and folds. Not the perfect bluff candidate holding, but probably the perfect bluff candidate V. He was nitty so I showed and he left shortly after.


Hand 2

Hero - BTN Straddle - 1200
V - CO - 1500 - MAAG rec. I've seen him overvalue 2nd pair for value (seemly) when he was never good.


A few limps and MP opens for 65. 2 callers (including V) and I call on button with KT.


Flop (~250):A105 Checks around.


Turn (~250):A1056 V leads 200 and I jam 950. He tank folds an ace. He shows up with a weak ace here a majority of the time. And he's not one to put in 1k with one pair. If he happens to have A6s, whatever.

A couple interesting hands from this week...

Hand 1

2/5 - 800 cap

Hero - BTN - 1200
V1 - UTG Straddle - 900 - Oldish guy, dressed like Elvis... very strange and erratic
V2 - MP - 750 - 50s guy, seems pretty straightforward


3 limps (10) to me and I raise to 65 with AA. UTG calls and MP calls.

Flop (~210): J23. Checks to me and I bet 150. They're sticky and I'd probably bet smaller on this texture against good regs, but I like sizing up in this situation. They both call.

Turn (~660): J23J. Checks to MP who jams for ~540 or so. I'm not sure if we should be calling it off here. If it were heads up not holding the A I think we should definitely call, but multi-way in this situation it's quite a tough spot.


Hand 2


1/2/5 PLO

Hero - BTN - 1800
V1 - BB - 1400 - Middle eastern dentist. Not too out of line so far
V2 - MP - 600 - MAWG. Typical loose passive live PLOer


Limps around to me on the BTN with QT86 and I limp, BB completes.

Flop (~30): J92. BB leads for 25, MP calls, I raise to 130 and both BB and MP call.

Turn (~420): J924. Checks to me, I bet 350 and the BB jams for ~900 more. MP tank folds. For some reason, I thought this was a close spot in real time, but it's really a snap call. It's a huge pot for this game but there's no way i can fold a 17 out wrap with the bad flush draw, against a pretty face up top/middle set. Even if he somehow has AJ5J or something (worst case scenario) we're getting better than 3:1 to call it off. So the money goes in...

And the beautiful 8 comes out on the river.

Good thread so far man. What does MHIG mean btw I see it a lot and don't know

Thank you! I’m doing my best to keep it as organized as possible.

MHIG is “my hand is good”. Basically, I win .


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