Day 1 - Part 1

I took the 8:45 am bus from Cheesequake rest area to Atlantic City. As I look at the window, I feel scared. I lost my life. Lost my car and girlfriend. No job. Kicked out of my parent's house because of gambling. Dropped out of College. All I have left is my poker bankroll from grinding online and a dream. I will either use poker to get my life back or lose it all. The bus stops at the bus station. My name is Michael. It is time to start my journey.

Goodluck bro Ship it. Whats the br at? Also i'd try and get a job down their to decrease the variance and stick to only poker no degen or you'll fail. Goodluck

you got this dude. The fact tht you took the risk means you know how great the reward can be. Keep grinding

Good luck man you got a lot of balls and heart to do what you are doing. Don't let people tell you otherwise.

Gl

Play within your bankroll....

so dramatic, whats the bankroll at? where you gonna live?

I've never really had a serious job. I don't even know what I could do or even how to get one down here. In all honesty, I have the tendency to take risks like playing higher limits than I should poker wise or play table games with low house edge or slots with high progressives/jackpots. I know I can't do poker straight so I will have to control the degen as much as possible. Failure is not an option.

Thank you, highroller3

Thank you, brrrraat

Thank you, cap217. I will play within in my bankroll to start off but I am a risk taker. If I think I can play a higher limit, I will take the risk.

I wanted to answer the bankroll question at the end. I have 10k total for poker and other expenses. I have a friend who introduced me to this site. I have known since I was a kid but we are kind of distant now. He is my only friend right now. He said he could help me get rooms for cheap or I could owe him later. Without that help, I would stay up or find some place to sleep like outside, bus waiting area or something. I am hoping to build up my play so I could get rooms.

Day 1 - Part 2

I wanted to start playing right away. I took a jitney and headed to the place where I would technically live in and the center of poker in Atlantic City, Borgata. I went in the poker room and waited to sit down at 1-2 nl. I felt nervous so I played tight. Out of the time I played only two hands worth mentioning.

Hand 1 - CO raised to 10. I was in the small blind with AK suited diamonds. I 3 bet to 30. He called. Flop came Q 2 X with two diamonds. I checked with the hope of reraising. He checked. I bet the turn he folded.

Next hand after that I was on the button with pocket As. Few limpers and then I raised it to 12. I got 2 callers. Checked around to me and I bet like ¾ of the pot and everybody folded.

After that my friend texted me saying he was staying at Harrahs. I got up with my small profit and walked over to Harrahs. I met up with my friend and went to go eat at the diamond lounge. We talked a lot about the different aspects of Atlantic City. He said I could share his room tonight so I was happy that I had a place to stay and I would get him back later.

After eating, I went to the poker room at Harrahs and waited to play 1-2 nl. What really took me back was the increased max buy in, it was 500 instead of 300 like Borgata. I thought about just doing 300 but I always think about the ev of buying in max so I bought in for 500. I played for a while. Some notable hands

Hand 1 - I was in the small blind with 3 4 of hearts. 5 limpers, I called and BB checked. Flop was 3 J A two spades. It got checked around. Turn came a 4 of diamonds. Checked to me and I put in a pot sized bet at 12. 3 callers. River was a 4 of clubs. I put another pot sized bet but everybody folded.

Hand 2 - I had pocket Qs UTG. I raised to 10. I got 6 callers. Flop comes 5 5 Q rainbow. I checked hoping to reraise. It got checked around. Turn J. I put in a pot sized bet at 60. I got 3 callers. I made a pot sized bet on the river which was a blank but everybody folded.

I felt pretty good until this happened and I couldn’t believe it happened the first day

ALL IN - Hand 3 - Had J Q suited clubs UTG+1. UTG raised it to 10. I called. 4 others called.
Flop came 8 2 6 all clubs. UTG bets the pot. I put him on pocket As or Ks with one club. I thought the best move here would be to ship it. I go all in. Folded around to a guy who snap calls the all in. The guy UTG also calls. When the guy snap called I knew I was facing at least the A of clubs.
Turn and river were blanks. Snap caller flipped over 10 A of clubs and UTG had pocket Ks with the K of clubs.

Down 1 buy in, I felt so tilted. It is amazing how any little stress gets magnified when you are on tilt. I thought about my ex and failed relationship. I thought I have to face this. I would have to get use to playing on tilt. I rebuy for the max and continue to play. After this, I played super tight hoping to hit. It took a long time but I finally came on this hand

ALL IN - Hand 4 - Pocket 10s in the small blind. 3 limps and a raise from the CO to 10. Button calls. I 3 bet in the small blind to 30. Fold around to the CO. CO and button calls. Flop is 9 6 4 rainbow. I check. CO checks. Button ships it. I tank. He has me covered. CO also has me covered. I can’t get a read on CO but I think the button is full of it. I am thinking he just called the raise not reraised so I am thinking he might have hit a set or bluffing. My read on him was that he was a loose player. I go All In. CO tanks and then goes all in as well. Turn and river are blanks. My 10s somehow hold up. I heard one of them say later they had A 9 suited. I triple up.

Ended the night up +600.

I wanted to edit and say if anybody has any advice about how to live in Atlantic City or just any advice in general I am happy to hear it. I will also buy rooms for cheap if anybody has it available in the future if I need one.

I know it might sound ubsurd, but I envy the pure freedom you have atm.

I haven't been to AC in 2 years, but used to go there alot before, mainly played at Borgata. I feel the 2/5 there is just as easy at the 1/2 so give that a try if you want to take shots. Played at Taj and 2/5 there seemed tougher.

Not certain about your sleeping situation. It's getting colder, and probably already too cold to sleep comfortably outside without a heavy blanket. I would say just sleep in your car but you said you lost yours. I don't even think you can rent a car until you're 25.
Not sure about the real estate in AC, I took a drive around it when I got lost the first time heading down there and was pretty much slums on the outskirts. I would worry about your safety if you move into a place around there. You may be able to find a room for rent closeby like on Craigslist if they still have those postings. Renting a single room is fairly cheap. You might also be able to find a house for rent that might be cheap too. Search around. My suggestion would be to buy a POS car for cheap, get insured, and be able to use that to commute, unless there is public transporation reasonably closeby.

If that is truely your BR and you don't have any other income, then seriously stick with BRM. You move up, you GII good a few times multiway and you quadrouple your BR and never look back, or the most likely scenerio, you move up, get a few bad beats, and you will be more screwed than you are now and then you will have absolutely nothing and attempt to commit suicide but then screw it up and get brain damage and be locked in a mental institution for your whole life.
Don't be a ****** in an institution, stick to BRM. I wish you the best dude.

Day 2
Woke up and walked to Borgata to start grinding. Played all day. No notable hands
Was able to get a room for cheap at Borgata hoping to get mon and tuesday cheap or comped. Played most of the day left up 1 dollar. So I am up 601 so far.

better than a losing day i guess..assuming you have a smartphone take some cool pics, it'll brighten the thread up/ bring more views

What types of pics should I take?

I don't know what you use my comp dollars on yet. Is it worth it to spend on the cost of rooms?

If you are playing 1/2 at Borgata you won't make enough comp points to comp a room regularly. There is a food court near the poker room that I've spent comps on but its 2 comp dollars = $1 there and the food isn't cheap.

[QUOTE=fatNsweaty;40192325]If you are playing 1/2 at Borgata you won't make enough comp points to comp a room regularly. There is a food court near the poker room that I've spent comps on but its 2 comp dollars = $1 there and the food isn't cheap.[/QUOTE

I would never use my comp dollars 2 to 1. It sounds like a waste. I am thinking of either using it for the cost of rooms or the buffet or lounge when I hit black. It is around $59 a weeknight

I'm about to pass out. I played almost all day again. Feeling like pure crap. I quadrupled up at 1/2 and I lost a buy in at my 2/5 shot.

[QUOTE=mike.lam;40192465] Charge all food to the room then pay ur bill with comps. Room bills are 1:1. Problem solved

GL my man. Can you give us a little more background on yourself? How did you find yourself in this situation? Do you have any short/long term plans besides grinding? just curious...

I know you probably feel like your in a tough spot right now but in a way I think a lot of us are envious of you. You are completely unencumbered to go anywhere you want, whenever you want and focus 100% of your time on improving your game. If you haven't already, I would highly recommend reading Mike Wolf's "Living out of my car in Florida.." thread as he started in an almost identical situation to you and is now crushing it. Im not too familiar with the comp system in AC, but maybe try finding a ****ty sublease or somewhere on airbnb to stay within a bus ride of the casino.

A big part of your success is going to come down to controlling your emotions and dealing with tilt. You already mentioned a time where you got stuck and started dwelling on your broken relationship, etc. Just be prepared for a day where you get coolered three times and don't know where your going to sleep that night. Not that you cant handle the downswings, but the life your committing to will experience crazy variance, which im sure your already aware of.

All of that being said, I wish you nothing but the best of luck. Even though you think your left with nothing- no place to live, no money, no girl. Take comfort knowing that you still feel alive and can hold on to your dream. That's a lot more than most of the people drudging into work tomorrow morning can say.

[QUOTE=Themaestrony;40192631] Which food are you talking about? Cafeteria food? Can you charge those to the room?

Hmmm, what can I say background wise. I'm asian. My family was poor.
I went to school and was a nerd. I didn't really do much school wise and
was sub par with my grades. I started playing poker back in high school
since I didn't go out much. I always tried reading poker books
but having adhd I couldn't focus too long. I played online poker for a
while and was able to move out and start a life on my own. It was good
for a while then after going through a lot of emotional turmoil it changed.
I ended back at my parents house with no job and dropping out of college.
Still playing online poker. My gf left me and then my parents got tired
of me and it was either I go back to school and stayed in the house
or left and kept gambling.


Goal wise, I only have one goal right now. To survive. I want to focus
on having a bed every night so I don't have to sleep outside or in a
bus area. Once I am sure that I will be fine for living, then I will start
making goals.

I have been looking at rooms at places other than casinos but is it really
worth it to stay outside the casino? I don't have to worry about much
since free utilites and no need to drive unless I am taking the jitney
to MCDonald's or subway for food.

My weakness is my emotions. I am a emotional roller coaster. I have to
learn how to control them

Day 3 and 4

Day 3
The hands from yesterday that made me quadruple up at 1/2 and lost a buy in 2/5

1/2 nl hand- 6 8 suited spades on the button. It gets min raised to 4. Two callers. I called. SB min raises again to 8. We all call. Flop 5 7 K rainbow. First raiser bets pot. One call. I decide a rainbow board with my straight. If I hit, I will scoop a ton if not hopefully nobody calls. I ship it. Everybody took some time but they all ended up calling. I was like wtf. Huge pot. Turn is a 4. River 3. I scoop it all with my straight.

2/5 hand. I have pocket Ks. A few limpers. I raise about pot sized. Everybody called. Flop J 3 5 rainbow. Check to me. I bet pot. All fold except one person who thinks and says. I think you have A K. He reraises. I ship it. He snap calls. Turn 8. River 6. He flips over J 6 off. I lose a buy in.

So after all that madness. I am up 1.3k

Day 4
I felt like crap and didn't want to even play. I knew that I had to to build my comps and hours though. I ended up taking a ton of breaks and just playing an hr at a time. Ended up losing like 100.

Total = +1.2k

Yes, the food downstairs can be charged to the room. Then pay the room bill with your comps.

like everyone said, the food downstairs is $2 to $1 comp dollars

but no one mentioned the food on the 1st floor is mostly $1 to $1

go eat at the Metropolitan or Noodles of the World (their roast pork is awesome).

if you want a great burger, go to Wolfgang Puck, sit at the bar and get the burger there. it's like $17, but comps are 1 to 1. if you get a burger at Fat Burger downstairs, you're gonna pay like 14-16, which ends up being 28-32 in comp dollars and the Wolfgang Puck burger is way better

good luck man, i'm sure i'll see you some time.

Chip porn always works in a PG&C. Sub'd and gl

I do not think charging to the room works. Are you doing it now and it is working?

Good luck man. Posting to subscribe and I'm down in AC a lot maybe I'll see you down at the Borgata.

Will do a day 5/6 update soon. I am trying to figure out what I should do for my lodging situations on the weekends. Anybody know of any options?