The health abyss

Despite my best efforts, I knew deep down it was coming. I'd avoided drink shares, slept facing the wall and smoked half of each joint before giving it to her instead of the tried and trusted '3 toke pass' system. It was our work's belated EOFY party day and I knew right after lunch that the flu symptoms were going to come on strong. Kate had been bed ridden with a horrible dose and it had finally got its claws in just before a big night out. Probably unwisely I didn't let this deter me from going on a mad one and then paid a brutal price for the following 4 days. Bad times. This obviously meant I haven't played any poker since the illness hit so lost some valuable volume but it's all good.

Kind of a good thing it's out the way though and I feel fresh again and ready for some quality holiday time. Yeahhhh boy.

I stuck to my challenge of not checking results, it's definitely the way forward.

When I get back from holiday I think I'm going to make this a monthly thing as it keeps you focused on making decisions and eradicates a lot of results driven / variance influenced thinking which ultimately negatively impacts your game.

I knew I wasn't running great but wouldn't have been shocked if it was just a few buy ins under EV. The fact that it's so significantly under EV just further illustrates the benefits of not checking the results and staying zen.

Results:



EV $ would be nice



Last update for a while now as I'm away on holiday until the 18th August. I'm hoping to sneak in a bit of grind time when possible although I have a pretty slammed schedule with lots of friends and family to be catching up with and the little matter of this place to to attend to




Until next time, gl at the tables

“We’re not just here to take part….we’re here to take over.”

Much like the 6,737 dream chasers, my World Series grind started, as it does every year, in July. For me though, it’s a grueling 2 ½ month period of not being able to search anything poker related on Google and remove myself for conversations or situation where I could hear who makes the final 9. Giving my obsession for this game and passion for keeping up to date with the poker community, this is no easy feat! Watching the mammoth tournament unravel in a thrilling way that only poker could offer as variance administered through bad beats and coolers rear its ugly yet perfect head. Seeing the best players make a run or long time grinders looking to seize their day, it’s amazing to watch and without a shadow of a doubt worth going off the poker grid for. Hard to argue this year that Will Kassouf has stole the show so far. Love him or hate him, he’s been bringing some life to the show I enjoy what he brings to the table. I spent the whole first episode berating him and shouting at the TV, and I’m sure I’d find it hard to play with him and like him, but I’m beginning to adore him for entertainment value.

Been thoroughly enjoying the weekly 2 hour morsels and watching this special tournament unfold, I cannot wait to be having a crack at it myself! I’ve decided to make a conscious effort to work on my tournament game more this year and get myself in good shape for the series next year. First time playing a bracelet event will be incredible and it’s going to be an awesome experience so gonna ensure I’m well prepared. Having a crack at a few more tourneys has paid off recently with finishing 2nd in the big $33 on stars out of 660 for $2.5k and also beared fruit on the live scene too.

I played a $250 buy in donkament yesterday which brought in 126 runners and a pretty reasonable structure. I felt good waking up and really confident with my game and decided that making a video would be a cool story to make on snapchat as I hunted for the gold.

First Poker Vlog - You can watch my tourney run here…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVFt44Kmtm0

Cash games wise, there’s been some big changes after deciding to move to 888 and work on building a big role. The standard is noticeably softer but also brings in some adjustments and discipline to be bluffing less! Going great though and stayed strong on not checking the cashier for 3 weeks (apart from seeing one day’s results) and it is definitely the way forward! The plan is to check it once a month so going to really push for a full month this time as I had no idea if I was up or down and bad run outs etc left me zen rather than tilty and kept me on my A game a far greater percentage of the time.

It’s been awhile since updating here so going to post all the results during, post and since the 888 move. To quickly recap on life since the last pot, my holiday back home was quality, great to have some family time and catch up with mates. I went to Bath for the first time despite it being only an hour or so from where I grew up and I have to say it might just be the best city in the UK in terms of its architecture and general vibe. The Ibiza trip was like spiking a gutter 400 bb deep and getting it in vs the lower straight and then doing that 3 nights in a row. So good that it was that we managed to negotiate an extra night at the villa and booked new flights to keep the dream alive and attend DC10s aptly named event; ‘Paradise’. After 4 nights and 5 days of minimal sleep the dejected wolf pack dragged ourselves into a taxi and headed for the airport. As we neared the airport we noticed a sign that read ‘Cancel your flights, stay another night in Paradise’ with a picture of the DC10 night. Had we just been Derron Browned by some lordy advertising guru? Who cares, it was my 7th time in Ibiza but this time was unquestionably best having my best mates and little bro along was awesome and that extra day when we thought it was all over couldn’t have been sweeter.

It was a little hard getting back into the full swing volume poker and recruitment grind after such a fruit filled trip, especially with the stars tourney bink when i got back, but I did manage to get some hours in on holiday and it didn’t take too long to get back into more regular grinding.

Here’s a breakdown of results;

The few hours that I put in on holiday plus some stars grind when I got back.



All of the 888 grind so far:



Definitely happy with my decision to move to 888 and really focus on moving up limits and taking shots when the time is right. Although it proved to be an absolute nightmare using Neteller from Stars to 888 freezing my roll for 2 weeks then further issues when trying to withdraw to my bank account. In short, Neteller is not the one! I heard Skrill is a lot better and definitely will be getting my business for future transactions of this kind. Apparently they’ve also got a credit card which is directly linked and instant to your bankroll as well although I feel this could be a dangerous thing!

Feeling great about my game and going to work to make some big results happen over the next year. Everytime I see that hallway at the RIO as people excitedly walk to their stacks living their dreams, I get more motivated to experience that. It’s been almost exactly a year since I started grinding seriously and it’s been an incredible experience so far. I’m confident this year is really going to be special with the lessons learned and skill gained over the last 12 months. Until these big dreams form into reality I’ll keep working on my game, putting the grind in, and getting myself in a position to get lucky.

In addition to the $4.5k ship, I also landed a $600 tournament ticket to a big $100k GTD tournament with $50k up top in addition to seats guaranteed to the millionaire maker event in Vegas next year so buzzing to compete in an exciting live event and looking to strike while the iron is hot! As Conor the lord once said ‘we’re not here to take part, we’re here to take over!’.



Until next time, gl at the tables

‘And the winner, by unanimous decision, in the red corner...’


Been a busy few weeks since my last update. One of my key goals for the year was to get myself back in shape and test myself in the boxing ring again. There’s something quite unique and exciting about stepping in between those ropes and understanding that you’re on your own when that bell goes.

It had been over 3 years since my last fight so I was buzzing to get back in there and also proud that I’d stuck out some tough training and some unfortunately timed injuries to make it happen. With a big crew of support coming down for the night, the atmosphere was amazing when I came into the ring and throughout the fight.

After being told by the promoter that I was the 7th fight on I decided to head home after the weigh and relax. My relaxation basically consisted of 3 hours of Crash Bandicoot ‘Orient Express’ and ‘Midnight run’ time trials on the Playstation with my mate Louis that’s currently staying at ours. Been rolling back the years through the old playstation games along with some regular Mario Kart battles on the 64 - the golden oldies! Kate’s mate Lucy has also been living with us for the past month and is under the impression that hours of retro gaming is a regular occurrence in our house but in reality both the PS and N64 have mainly been collecting dust over the past few years.



Some Crash lord crushing the time trials - assuming this must be the WR? As much as it would be nice to chase, me and Louis have agreed a sub 15s time would be the equivalent without it taking an astronomical amount of hours lol

Anyway, so after some competitive Crash Bandicoot trials we made our way down to the venue. When we get out the Uber I’m greeted by two of the lads at the gym out of the front with looks of deep concern and disbelief on their faces. ‘Joe, what’s going on mate!’ *Aussie accent*, ‘you’re mad bro, you’re fighting in 20 minutes!’. WTF. By my reckoning I had at least an hour and a half before I was on but it transpired they changed the schedule and I had no option but to sling my gear on and start warming up. The great quote 'accept then act..' by Eckhart Tolle ran through my head and I focused on staying relaxed and started to get myself in the zone.

It hadn’t helped that I’d drained a lot of weight down and wasn’t yet hydrated properly or with enough calories in my belly but I was given some Thai redbull to give me a little kick in the right direction! As soon as I entered the ring, all pre fight nerves were non-existent and a state of calm kicked in as I focused on getting the job done. Following a debacle with the length of my hand wraps having to get changed and it was game on!

He was a scrappy fighter and employed the holding strategy relentlessly despite several warnings and 2 official warnings from the referee. It was hard to get a real flow with my work as my efforts were continuously smothered when I tried to put my shots together. I didn’t feel like picking him off at distance and using a more passive approach would be overly beneficial and could tell the punches were taking the wind out of him as I ripped to the body and head when in close. As a result I rolled with his clinch attempts and fought a rough and tough affair. Without going too McGregor on it, I’d clearly visualised the win multiple times a day and felt 100% confident in getting my hand raised at the end of the night regardless of what happened. This mindset I feel (and of course training etc) is what made me feel so relaxed and comfortable when i got in there. Having that hand raised at the end of the bout with so much support around me was awesome.




The slight drawback of the poker is the amount of time and energy it’s taken away from poker. The brutal blow was finding out the huge 100k GTD live tourney with seats to WSOP + huge $ payouts was on the same day as the fight. Because of this I’m undecided when / if I step back in the ring but will keep the training up regardless as staying in good shape and training and taking part in a regular sport that you're passionate about has no end of positive effects. I can’t remember every feeling as healthy and full of energy as I do at the moment!

So, based on my belief that checking the cashier more than once a month is detrimental to my game I’m not sure how I’ve gone online over the past few weeks. I would estimate a tiny amount of hands played, maybe like 5k or perhaps a little more. I didn’t play once the boxing week and very little the week prior to that.

I have put in some live cash grind though with 4 outings to Star City at the $2/3 - They now let you sit $500 deep which makes it extremely appealing to get down there more often and is certainly a part of my new grind strategy moving forward. A key goal will be an absolute minimum of 2 long cash sessions at the casino a week and for reasons previously stated I feel this is both financially and balance / enjoyment wise a beneficial move.

My results down the star since the last post are as following :

+$700
-$400
+$150
+$610


Leaving me a little over a $1k up from the live grind.


I had my first proper online day today although I’ve been playing random HUSNG’s for some easy cash when I’ve had some time to spare over the past couple of weeks. Cash wise I’m pretty sure I have been getting crushed online but I played a session today which is a definitely very solid. Now I’m free from big commitments I’ll be able to put more online grind in and as said really pushing for lots of live too.


Another poker Vlog link here from my cash session yesterday https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbd4IB2d9IE

I’m going to have a think about some goals this week to put in place for the next couple of months to keep me driven to ensure I’m in a position to get some big results.

The WSOP circuit events come to Sydney next month and the main event tournament is a 30k starting stack with a 2 hour clock so a key goal will definitely be to try and win a seat. There’s a decent smaller side event too so excited about chasing the gold in some really solid tournies.

Although the live grind can be at times invested with real characters, online poker also draws them in impressively too. Nothing funnier than a raging villain, as Griffin Benger would put it, ‘verbally abusing’ you in broken english after donating a few stacks into the dream living fund.


carabin1988
>>
str1ger


carabin1988
>>
ashole


carabin1988
>>
australian moron


carabin1988
>>
i *** face u mother bich

Reminds me of that line from the hangover from Eddie 'you cracking my balls man?'


Few spots from today;


Any thoughts here? Pretty hard for him to be double pot bluff shoving when my range is protected with Aces with A spades and AKo with A spades but the V was spewy. I’d caught him making moves and trying to bully every pot.


https://www.weaktight.com/h/58106bced3904350618b45fa#


Easy bet fold or too nitty? V is LAGy


https://www.weaktight.com/h/58106c02d3904334778b4623



Agro non-believer V - loves to call


https://www.weaktight.com/h/58106c57d390438a268b469c


Time to knuckle down and put some solid hours into the game both live and online and push myself to the next level.

Gl at the tables


J

Little vlog update from the Star yest :

https://youtu.be/mYZA0_yR5nU

Hands of the day:

Hand 1 at $2/3: EP, an aggressive fishy young guy limps, folds round to me in the CO with AJ I make it $15. The BB, an older loose passive gent comes along as does the EP limper.

Flop comes down KKQcc - the BB checks and the young guy leads for $20. I've seen him lead small like this multiway twice and both times he's won it with a barrell on the turn. I opt to call with the nut non pair hand and a gutshot and the bb folds. I'm assuming a reasonably wide range here for this small lead against this weaker player including some queens, JT combos, flush draws, perhaps weak pocket pairs although less likely and I'd also assume kings may bet more if deciding to lead over a x.

Turn comes 7h - again he leads a smallish sizing for a smallish sizing $40 and I call. Range wise, all hands still possible. Blocking bet donk lines make sense with a fish for queens that want to get to showdown and all straight and flush draws still in.

River comes 3s and he quickly bets $120. All straight and flush draws brick and I don't think he is betting this big with a queen if his plan is getting to showdown cheap. Basically trips or nothing, I call. He shows A 2 for a busted flush and I scoop a nice pot.

Hand 2

My imagine is laggy and 'internet player' opening a lot of pots and putting on some consistent pressure postflop.

Utg makes it $15 which is followed by 3 callers I slide my 3 $5 reds into the middle with with nice looking 67 on the button. SB folds and BB folds and we take a 5 way flop of 34A before its checked to me and I fire out $45.

MP, a straight talking Scottish guy that's a regular recreational player calls the $45 and and everyone else folds. I greedily hope for the beautiful non heart 5 ball on the turn to get some value from a well disguised straight but a 9c rolls off instead and this time I make it $125 which is matched with a 'call' before I finish my forward motion.

River comes the 3 bringing my a flush but also pairing the board. The pot is $400 ish and he lead shoves his final $375 in.

Basically beat nothing here and have to fold. That hand summed out the session really, I had straights outdrawn on the river in big pots and lost the minimum. I played A game poker but situations didn't play my way for whatever reason. I ended up a little up but was very happy with my play.

Going to put some more work into the tourney game with the wsop circuit events coming up. No sat seat to the main this time but many more opportunities. I feel a big live score coming.

Gl at the tables

Run better Vayo?

This guy....!!!



Josephy out! Then there were two!

You've gotta think skill wise that Vayo should have the edge here but there's something about that raccoon hat gambler . Seems to be playing completely on feel and just going with his reads, the momentum is definitely with him.

Vayo seems very aware of the cash involved and keeping it extremely solid. You gotta think he'll be trying to play small ball to break him down systematically and with the update from the stream, he'll be hopping for trappy / bluff catch spots should the raccoon blow up.

My feeling is that the momentum and fearlessness of Nguyen could be too much for Vayo.

Final 2, millions of dollars being rolled out to the table now. Gotta love the main event!!!!

Game on.

Taking shots

I had plans with kate for the evening so the plan was to head back from work at 2 as normal then put in a few hours online. I'd indulged in the new poker night in America cash Florida game video on Youtube with Jason Mercier and the urge to play some live cards was strong!


Despite only having a maximum of 2 1/2 hours to grind I took the 15 minute stroll from work in Sydney's CBD, over the Pyrmont Bridge by Darling Harbour and stuck my name down for the 2/3 game. It was busy for a Thursday afternoon and the long list combined with my time frame lead to a punt at the 2/5/10 game.

I sat down with a $1k stack and settled in for the 6 handed 'warm up' until my name was called. This is probably the third time I've sat in the bigger game and it's something I've taken a lot of confidence from. There are some players that appear decent don't get me wrong, but the general standard is still quite bad and the almost easier to play against given the slightly more advanced knowledge of the fish and average players as opposed to the wider and unpredictable ranges of the sea creatures that swim around the 2/3 pond.
Without going into too much detail I sat for around 45 minutes and picked up some nice spots with solid poker and finished a little over $100 up before my name was called over to the 2/3.


As I sat down at my regular table with a healthy $500 stack, the heat starting to come in. As I'm sure people can relate, live poker can at times be a real patience test of sitting for hours without too much action but the next 30 minutes were like 6 tabling 6 max online not a 10 handed live game.


First hand I pick up JT in MP after one EP limper. I make it $20 to go, a middle aged chap in business attire quickly calls and it folds around to the BB, a fairly solid old solid grinder in the BB before the initial limper completes.


The flop comes down AA8 and I opt to check. Although I'm of the opinion that you should be cbetting more often in these games, particularly on paired boards, 4 way is a little too loose here without any BD equity and the flush draw out. Turn comes the J and the older reg makes a small lead of $35 into $80ish, EP limper folds, I call and business shirt comes along too. River bricks a 4h, it checks all round and they both much after I show my JT picking up a small pot.


I'm dealt the pretty enough looking K9 next hand and open the pot to $15, business shirt insta calls as do 6 others! The dealer dishes out a 752 flop and I make it $65 to go, again being insta met by business shirt with everyone else getting out the way. The turns brings the K giving me top pair + a flush draw and given how quickly our friend calls on the flop I felt he's going to fold a lot of his range OTT and checking would be a better line. Our villain quickly bets $120 when check to and I think for a little before tossing my black $100 and 4 red $5 chips over the bizarrely positioned out of reach betting line on the new felt at the Star. The river comes the Q and he insta bets $165 before I call and he flips over the A2 for a weirdly played one pair.


The next hand I squeeze out the lovely ladies and make it $15 to go before our business shirt wearing friend and a new player flats behind. The flop comes down K76 and it’s checked all the way around. The turn comes a 2 and my $30 bet is flatted by mr business before the new player raises to $125. Despite all the draws out there and the perceived weakness of my range I’ve been taking a ‘give them credit’ until we have information to prove they are capable of otherwise line which sounds easier in theory than in practice! Anyway, so I pitch my queens, business shirt folds and the new guy flips over KK for a flopped set! Somehow I lose the absolute minimum with queens vs kings - pretty active first few hands!


Literally a couple of hands later I open up the pretty 76 from MP to $15 and am met with 6 callers with the whole table suspicious of my constant activity. The dealer that seems to have fire pouring from his every move rolls out the dreamy 345. With some big stacks in the pot combined with my image and a lot of call happy villains this was shaping up for a monster. It’s checked around to me and bet $65 which business shirt beats me into the pot with and the action sits on the Hiro Nakamura doppleganger in seat 7. He ponders for at least 2 minutes squinting his face in a ‘I’m not sure what to do here kind of way’ which wouldn’t get the part in a low budget 1950s soap opera. He’s strong and I’m pretending to be calm as I wait for his obvious raise. He obliges and makes it $240 (he’s sat on $900, effective $750 stacks). To my dismay a vocal semi regular kitted out in sunglasses and more gold chains and bling than Lil John announces in his strong aussie accent ‘I’m all in brothers!’ and ships his $720 into the middle of the felt. Being careful not too overdo my own hollywood audition, I think for 30 seconds and calmly announce I’m all in. Business shirt laughs and sticks his last $400 in, everyone folds round to Hiro Nakumura who tanks for 2 minutes continuing with his squinty face and pained expression. Maybe he wasn’t hollywooding, maybe he did have a genuine decision! As thoughts of him begrudgingly calling with his set go through my head he says ‘OK I call’ and flips over 76 for the ****ing nuts. ‘Tough decision there was it’ I ask him, he just smiles and shrugs. Lil John shouts a few expletives and berates the dealer while tabling his A2o for the wheel and drawing dead hand with business shirt keeping his concealed.


Before they roll the turn and river the dealer wants to work out the side pots and make sure everything is calculated. There’s so many chips in the middle it’s unreal, an absolute beast of a pot! I tried to sly a pic which you can sort of see, but my camera is average at best so it doesn’t really do it justice. Finally the dealer is ready to crack on and puts up the vile T OTT while Hiro nearly hits the celing as he shouts something that could have been any language and fist pumps the air. ‘SPADE’ ‘SPADE’ ‘SPADE’ he shouts as he freerolls for thousands of dollars. THe river rolls off the 8 and busines shirt leaps in the air too, ‘yes!’ he shouts. Great, flop the nuts get brutalised by a redraw sweat then have to give away a huge portion of the pot to some poxy flush draw! Turns out though, our good time having slightly drunk business shirt wearing tablemate was just winding everyone up as he tossed his cards into the muck and leaves for the day. Definitely the kind of man I’d like to see again! We chop up a very healthy pot and the madness began to settle down after that. I ended up running top top into Q8o two pair on a Q87 flop against a half stacker and a few other little pots but played really solid and finished up a tidy $675 for 2 and half hours of power.


This wasn’t all the pot but a good chunk;







Cash stackidge;







Also little snap here from Return to Rio festival - amazing weekend for anybody that lives in Sydney. Absolute carnage and plenty of broken souls after the long weekend of it but well worth it! We went as the fruits! The actual picture is a close of a polaroid that was taken - everyone was too scrambled up to get many snaps and it’s in a field in the middle of nowhere so phones were near enough useless out there! Good times!






Last month I didn’t play a huge amount online as I’ve been loving the line scene and lacking that real drive to sit and grind the monotonous smaller stakes on the computer. Because of this I haven’t checked my results since the last graph I posted but I think the fact that it hadn’t been going amazing online also contributed to more live and lack of motivation on the virtual felt. A very positive byproduct of playing live though and throwing around thousand $+ pots is getting used to the money factor and becoming a lot more comfortable playing my A game and dealing with swings when more cash has involved. As a result of this I’ve been really hungry and playing lots of online again the last couple of weeks and am pushing to play a lot more 200nl with at least 50% of my volume at 200 now. There’s been some good days and bad days but overall I’m feeling very comfortable in my game at the limit and with a volume goal I want to hit this month I’m confident I can rack up some very strong results.


My goal was to hit 70k hands before 23rd December when I go away to Bali / Gilli islands for Christmas and New Years. I expect at least 50% of this volume to be at 200nl. The buzz is well and truly back with poker and making the cut at 200nl is where the possibility of quitting my office job and focusing on 100% dream living becomes an absolute reality. Exciting times!


Here’s a breakdown of my live results since the last full update;

-$400
-$250
+700
+12
+675
+425
-300
+ 100

= +$962


Few hands from online recently;


Levels vs very solid reg


https://www.weaktight.com/h/58377c7fd3904317338b481b




9 high like a boss

https://www.weaktight.com/h/58377c27d390435b3e8b48db




Spewy reg


https://www.weaktight.com/h/58377d43d3904317338b483e


I actually wanted to post some more hands here, some tougher spots that I got in but I can’t access them easy enough without risking looking at my results on Hold’em manager. I need to get into the habit of instantly copying hands into a notepad or something while I’m playing so I don’t have to access via reports when writing the blog updates.


Although I’d like to post more hands, it’s more important for me to avoid focusing on results and just keep playing my game. Particularly at the higher limit so I can get a real solid sample of hands under my belt as I’m very confident I can thrive there. Bluffs are more respected, the game is a lot more enjoyable and the money of course is now really worth going after.


My next post will show me hitting my 70k hand goal and posting some serious results and a big tourney score.


Today though, I’ve got the WSOP opening event to go and tear up. It’s a $440 buy in 1200 runner tournament with a huge prizepool and life changing money.


I had my first bullet yesterday in day 1 flight C so the final shot is today.

You see a breakdown of yesterday’s shot here in my Vlog;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmF7N6aszRE


Gl at the tables I'm off to collect the WSOP ring and a huge payday!


Joe

Awesome thread! Really like the pictures also Nice for an impression. Keep em coming.

One question, aren't you concerned about the high rake on 888?

Opening K9s from EP is baaaaaad

perhaps, but with most players sitting super deep and the benefits of creating a lagy image against fishy players with big stacks and big wallets I prefer opening more than the limp call nut peddling although I think both options can be profitable.

Folding would be terrible

lmao

Rake is high on 888 especially when you factor in the new non existent RB system. In my opinion though the increased number of average regs + lots of fish, more than makes up for it

I think folding is a mistake for these reasons;

- huge implied with deep stacks when we hit a king high flush
- implied when we hit a straight
- most players can't fold a pair and thus we get value from a ton worse 9s and worse kings too

As said, I lean towards raising as creating a looser image pays dividends hugely in these games and it's easy to get away from our 1 pair hands against the largely passive opponents.

Do you play much live? Interested to hear your reasons on folding here

Cheers

It's just not profitable from early position. There are reverse implied odds from both flushes and straights. You make ****ty pairs vs much stronger ranges. You have to fold to 3bets pre. For a full ring game this is 100% burning money.

Don't know what your live games are like but 3betting pre basically never happens unless they have the top 2% of hands so it's not something that is going to be exploited.

K9s is borderline but there is significant implied odds still vs this player pool.

Online games I absolutely agree, I fold K9s EP.

'making ****ty pairs vs much stronger ranges' - for reasons mentioned, the ranges are so wide that this isn't true. A significant portion of the players come to the casino to gamble / have fun / the thrill of chasing some cards and have very little idea about constructing ranges. We are talking snap calling hands like K7o after callers in the pot plus all suited kings regardless etc. The perception of ranges that you're assuming are not relevant to this player pool.

Think about when you and a few of your mates that don't play poker crack out a few beers and you decide play a sit and go or whatever. Nobody has a clue what they're doing and ranges can be ATC. These games are not dissimilar.

You have to be bad postflop to burn a lot of cash with a top pair type hand. If you're against a nit you can easily play more cautiously and let it go if needed but against most you can still get good value vs their ranges and get paid when we hit our monsters.

Either you don't play live or you're playing in a lot tougher / more skilled games than the star casino Sydney.

Strike 3, you’re out


As I shoved my remaining 18 bbs during level 7 of the $1k six max WSOP circuit event our villain didn’t take too long before announcing ‘call’ and slides in 90% of his remaining stack. I sheepishly turn over my A2o with a ‘good luck’ expecting to be in a real bad shape. To my dismay he flips over his KJo and I’m ahead. My tournament game knowledge is relatively basic when it comes to ICM / +EV shoving and calling ranges but this seemed like a crazy call to me? Anyway, the flop rears it’s ugly King head and the board bricks off to send me packing and 0/3 in the WSOP for my final bullet. A wise man once said, ‘be brave, take risks, nothing can substitute experience’ which has been a mantra of mine over the last month. Time to stop chugging around the micros and grinding out a consistent but uninspiring profit and test my skills in the bigger games. Unfortunately, it’s not really worked out as I’d hoped.


After the tourney bust out yesterday, I was back onto the cash grind this morning and feeling a little dejected about recent times. A good friend of mine Tommy that I grow up with back in the UK left Aus yesterday after nearly 4 years out here so I probably wasn’t as on point to play my best poker but it feels like there would be zero volume if I opted out every time I felt less than 100% sharp. I’ve stayed strong on not checking the cashier since the last graph I posted but a huge up followed by a huge down day last week and a disappointing day at the tables this morning lead me to crack and take a look.





They aren’t the kind of results I was hoping for. I held my own at the 200 snap tables which was half of the volume eeking out a minimal $500 profit but 100nl both snap and reg were awful and the limited volume at the regular 200 tables also less than desired!


VLOG of 3rd strike in the WSOP ;


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ay0uBFtfqjM


Having steamed through a good portion of my live role on tourney buy ins for the WSOP, the main event is on the weekend and it feels like there’s absolutely nothing to lose going into it. Great structure, 30k starting chips at least $1 million prize pool GTD.


My overall results since joining 888 is less than thrilling when you consider the time invested and the stress of the ups and downs that accompanies. Feels like a good time to work on my game rather than be putting in a lot of volume at the moment so going to put some solid work in off the tables and go through my database to look for consistent leaks. I’ve linked up with a poker mate of mine that crushes the 200 tables on 888, a really nice guy that’s very knowledgeable and I’ve always found the theory work we discuss to benefit my game immensely. He’s been sending me a few videos recently so going to go through them and make a few more of my own to dissect. Also toying with the idea of CFP program but unsure if there’s a huge amount of value playing at the lower stakes and might be something that is worth exploring when I’ve reached the next level of my game.


Since joining 888;





I’ll put an update after my 4th and final bullet is fired at the WSOP ME, time to run good.


Gl at the tables

Buy the ticket, take the ride

Fourth and final bullet at the WSOP circuit. If there's one to run good in, it's this one, the main event!

Here's my VLOG of the experience:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JN1hbvs2LRk

Game on.

Big weekend of UK boxing this week with the Chisora Whyte fight, Anthony Joshua headlining and some other cracking world and British title fights on the undercard.



Dillian Whyte looks pretty chill considering there's a table being launched at him lol should be an awesome card of boxing with some legit grudge fights and 50/50 matches.

Biggest day of my poker career on Sunday! Time to seize that moment.

Gl at the tables

'Ah, he was a kid with a dream'


WSOP Circuit Main Event day 2 VLOG:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1Lskfm-TH4


Gutted is probably an understatement. The key hand I lost the majority of my stack on keeps running through my head. It just seemed odd to cbet such a huge size on a non scary board, felt more like overs that were trying to show strength by the illusion of commitment. With the spr after his bet I opt to make the shove with my red 9s which is met with a groan and call as he flips over his pocket jacks. although we spike an 8 on the turn for a redraw, the river couldn’t deliver one of the remaining two jacks or 4 sixes in the deck and my stack was crippled. I went with my gut and stuck with it, sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. We move on.


So after a month full of unsuccessful shot taking, both online and live, it's helped me reflect on the last year and a half since that trip to Vegas which ignited my drive to go after poker again. To say I'm glad that the WSOP events and shot taking went the way it did would have to be a lie as of course I'd rather have crushed online and have $360,000 tax free monies in my bank account, but the disappointment that forced me to really question what I'm going after here has been very empowering.


I've learned a lot both on and off the felt this year since pursuing my passion and the experiences I've had that make you want to get up out of bed in the morning and have a purpose to push towards has been invaluable.


Articles like this one (http://www.flushdraw.net/news/height...stralia-future), outline the very real and concerning possibility that Australia will soon join the long list of other countries where online poker becomes illegal. If you listen to top online crushers review today's poker economy it's largely very bleak and whether it be Amaya controversy or seeing top online crushers like Doug Poulk focusing their efforts more on building an online brand / business initiatives than actual poker, it doesn't paint a great picture for somebody chasing a dream from the smaller stakes online.


For me, I think it's a break down of risk / reward and staying true to the reasons I'm chasing my dream, and that's to do something I love. My goal was always to get as good as i can online, use it as a proper training ground to learn key fundamentals and then smash up the live scene. Myself and Kate plan to move to Vegas for at least a year with the goal of me crushing the hold em games while she crushes the event sales game for one of the major casinos. that dream is still very real and attaintable. Although I'm not smashing the mid stakes online like I wanted to be before moving live, I feel more than competent that I have a strong edge at the 2/3 and 3/5 games live and rather than sit in my room on my own making hundreds of decisions an hour until my brain is frazzled, I'm going to focus solely on live poker. With the industry so squeezed online, it's going to take a huge amount of work to get to the level where I'm earning enough money online to live well from poker and who knows, in Australia at least, if Black Friday comes and they hold your cash ransom until an investigation has been completed like they did in the states, my whole life will be put on hold.


At 28, with no dependants, I'm in the perfect position to continue to dedicate myself to this game and push myself to see what I can achieve (and ensuring I'm having fun doing it). I'm very grateful for having the courage to go after poker and the rewards I've experienced have made this last year unquestionably the best year to date. I've achieved goals such as dropping 10kg of weight and competing in the ring again which I never felt was a realistic possibility. Reflecting on the poker skills I've developed is an incredible feeling, the hard work I've put in is clearly evident every time I breakdown a poker problem or talk through my thought processes with other people. The days of trying to fumbling through an explanation on how and why poker is a game of skill or explaining my reasoning to behind decisions is evident of my understanding of the game and the increase in knowledge.


With all this said, although I only have the equivalent of $6k AUD left online in my bankroll I've made the decision to withdraw completely and become a full time live player. It's what I'm truly passionate about, it's where I have the biggest edge and it's the environment that I get the most satisfaction from. I'm going to operate with a 15 buy in bankroll strategy sat with $400 in the 2/3 games and take it as it comes. I'll be eating, sleeping and being live poker. Ever since I realized you could make a living out of poker the dream was always to be a live pro and I've now got the opportunity to make this a reality.


So 15 buy ins, one shot, if I bust I'm out, no rebuys, if it works out then this could just be the beginning of the journey. One last role of the dice.


Gl at the tables

TL; DR

Over 7 years since the last post...!

They say you become a new person every 7 years (quite literally regenerating trillions of human cells) and constantly in flux, changing and adapting.

It feels like I've lived a full life since that last post in 2016, moved from Australia back to the UK, built a business with my pal from Uni that's generated over a million in sales starting with just a £10k investment (life roll!) back in 2018, got married to my childhood sweetheart Katie and become a father to an incredible little girl Elsie, the light of my life.










Fast forward to 2023 and the business has been super tough the last 12 months. We work with tech companies (primarily start-ups) to help them hire software engineers in the US, Germany and UK and all markets have been hit with funding issues and key clients slowing down with reliable new biz tough to acquire.

The business now costs a huge amount to run so a bad 6 months can rip through the business bankroll pretty rapidly and it's squeeky bum time as we try to navigate through the storm!

Chuck in the mortgage increasing 3x and expensive childcare and general living outgoings and we find ourselves in quite a precarious spot financially for the first time since the first time since setting up 5 years ago.

So it's fair to say that I am a new person in many ways. A crazy 7 years filled with special memories and fantastic life experiences. I've matured, grown up and become a much better version of myself and moving in the direction towards the type of man want I want to be.

One constant that looks like it's here to stay though; poker! I assume like many players, poker is blood in, blood out for me! Even when it's been parked way in the back seat of life there's always been something there. A deep love of the game and all of its dream chasing allure .

After playing lots of live back in 2016 in Aus I did OK but wasn’t crushing and didn’t see many great role models to aspire to. The interactive gambling amendment bill was passed in Australia shortly after which made online poker illegal to Aus.

As a result I took a job back at my old company and when the opportunity to set up my own business back in the UK with a good friend of mine I jumped at the chance. It turned out to be a good decision. We’ve had some amazing times travelling the world after starting out grinding the first year dead broke to both buying ourselves houses in and around the London area of UK along with affording a great lifestyle for our new families and a fun work environment to enjoy the ride.

Poker remained in my mind though and often after a few pints late at night I’d be rolling into either the Vic Poker room or Hippodrome casino for some splashing around at 1/2, 1/3 and 2/5.

Although my volume was minimal and often alcohol fuelled it felt great playing live poker without any stress of needing to make money. Just focusing on making good decisions and enjoying the game.

Although I didn’t keep a record of the results I would estimate I earned £25k+ in those games over the past few years playing a couple of times a month on average. Running hot but also just crushing the super soft live games and having a great time doing it!

I basically played zero poker online during this period but did have a mini flurry at the micros at the start of 2022 but with Elsie being born in March, becoming a dad and balancing the biz meant online poker really was something that had to be put on the back burner.

So why am I writing this?

Like I said, finances are savage atm and I need to bring in some extra income. My wife and I made a decision to a few months ago to see if I can play 20 hours of live poker each week to help tide us over with bills and keep the wolves at bay. Instead of me getting glared out for rocking in at 5am after a poker session after drinking beers all night we have a common goal to make this work and it's instead fully supported. 'Team hustle' as we call ourselves.

I’ve been playing a mix of 1/2 and 2/5 at the Hippodrome casino and 1/2 at Luton Grovesner with some solid results. Katie has been recording them in an excel but may transfer to a proper app so can share the results more easily, I’m up over £8k with an hourly around £65.

The long late nights on top of being a Dad (with baby number 2 due in January!), running the business etc though is not really sustainable so I want to keep this blog to hold myself accountable for online poker volume and improving as a player.

Becoming a winning player online combined with 1 day a week live would be a much more achievable as a long term side income.

I believe the big swings of running the business has given me some strong resilience and mental tools that I simply didn't have before while playing poker. I also understand how lucky I am to be playing a lot of poker again, a game that I am so passionate about. These factors combined should serve me well while I try and be a profitable online poker player.

The games are much tougher than 2016 online but putting in some work in my game and with such a big drive (family!) to succeed I believe I will hold my own and improve quickly.

The first 50k hands with about 40k at 50nl and 10k at 100nl below, no doubt running good but perhaps the a beginners luck principle working again and giving me the drive and belief to really get after this game again. Moved up to 100nl, more graphs and updates to follow. Feel probably have a small edge at 100z but hard to say yet, the goal is to get better and play with better players regardless so I can get to a point where I'm making a nice side income online and then who knows!

Any resources, advice on how best to improve in 2023 would be hugely appreciated.



Gl at the tables
Joe

80k hands under the belt online

Got fairly crushed the last 30k hands, probably one or two late shiraz fuelled sessions that didn't help but overall I thought I played pretty well.

Been a challenging stint to keep playing and losing but I'm more focused on improving and playing with good players at the moment.

Although it's disputed I like the essence of the word crisis meaning the same as opportunity in Chinese. Plenty of learning moments and feel I've improved while getting solidly beaten.

Had a chat with one guy who plays at the tables that seems really solid and starting some coaching with him. Feel like there's a lot I can learn from him so looking forward to our 1st session on Monday.

Played some live 2/5 at the Hippodrome, a couple of sessions and ended up winning £1650+ and had a great time playing with my mate and not taking it all too seriously.

Business picked up a little and flying to Munich tomorrow to see a client who we've worked with before so looking forward to a few German beers and capitalising on the opportunity to get a couple of deals in before the Christmas break.

Goals before December 31st
- 50k volume (try to play as much non zoom as possible and really focus on the decision making)
- Develop and effective study plan with the coach and commit to an agreed study schedule







Gl at the tables

Joe

Lessons from 100k hands of online poker ������





��
Earnings / results:
+$542.54
+$1,250 (Rakeback)
Total
+$1,792.54

My takeaways:
- 100nlz on Stars is much tougher than 2/5 live
- Variance is high (win rates are thin, even by the level crushers)
- You need to develop a sound theoretical knowledge against better players but copying a solver is fruitless and misses key exploits / leaves money on the table
- Against the general player pool at low / mid stakes online it’s better to lean on the agro side than vice versa. For example, cBet more than GTO (people don’t adjust / defend enough with check raises etc).. until villain shows they can adjust it’s better to be the aggressor and put the pressure on. This was my natural style but when I started to think too much about being balanced I became too passive postflop, particularly against bad players where there was no need for balance.
- Convenience of playing online vs late night casino trips is a huge plus and essential for a family man!
- Despite smaller win rates, earning potential online is massive with the volume you can hit if you’re good enough

If it’s going to be worth the squeeze online then the biggest ROI feels like study over playing right now.

Rakeback grinding long term doesn’t appeal and I need a better theory baseline if I’m going to improve quickly and become a solid online winner.

I’ve invested in a coach and for January I'm going to challenge myself to spend all the hours that would typically be dedicated to playing and use them studying. I’l throw in a little live poker for enjoyment too where possible

Then the goal will be 50k hands a month for Feb and March.

Gl at the tables! ��

Best of luck with your January study challenge and the subsequent volume goals in February and March.
May your efforts translate into success at the tables!

Thank you study going well so far... A little boring drilling preflop and learning a lot of basics again but feels good to get a better grasp on ranges and how this impacts post flop sizing and frequencies.

Analysing some hands with my coach I was playing too trappy with monsters vs the population in a lot of spots. Keeping it simple n betting for value more unless I have reads that they will go bananas will be a key adjustment that should bear fruit!

Gl

Sent from my Pixel 7 Pro using Tapatalk

Was great to get back playing in Feb.

The studying helped to sharpen the tools and think more clearly about the decisions.

�� Results in Feb ��

�� Online -$127
�� Rakeback +$1,080
⚖ Total = +$953

��*♂️Live
⚖ + £1085

Solid month volume wise. Rough patch online but a big learning month and finding a groove with my own style of play that leans into a more creative and aggressive approach but backed up with more theory.

Battered the live winnings on the last session with a monster overbet shove OTR vs capped range but happy with the play.

Understanding the importance of mindset has been pretty eye opening too. Feeling very confident!

Just short of the 50k hands goal in Feb but close enough, we aim for the same in March (on track so far..)

Let's go ��⚾️��

Documenting a lot of the live poker casino shenanigans on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/518_and_a_dream/