General goals are great, but they will most likely fail unless you put in place a specific plan. For example, I will run every M,W,F,Sun when I get up in the morning, works much better than at least every other day. Glad you were unhurt in the accident. Keep grinding.

Im surprised about #3. Maybe cash players are a bit different, but I've met and talked to quite a few NJ regs and every one of them were awesome. I might be biased though because I only reach out to poker players via 2+2 and never the live scene.

Thanks Norm. I agree with you when it comes to random trolls but my friends irl don't start **** with me for no reason. People who think it's funny to get me going just because "it's the internet get used to it" aren't people I want to hang out with. I have enough people who care about me irl to make avoiding people who don't pretty easy. And don't get me wrong, those people will tell me to go **** myself when it's appropriate, but they don't do it solely for the purpose of trying to upset me. I know it's generally accepted for some reason on the internet but I don't have time for it anymore.

Thanks Jason, this is a really good point. I'll make sure to lock down concrete details of my goals before the new year begins.

Yeah don't get me wrong, there are certainly a lot of good people in the poker world, and I'll continue being friendly with everyone, but I just seriously have no desire to try to develop new friendships with people in the poker world anymore. Some of the people I got closest with in the poker world have tried to scam me, thrown random tantrums and treated me like an outcast over the most simple of problems, and hit my ex girlfriend up after we broke up with no mention of it to me (3 separate people). I'm sure trying to make new friends is not the worst idea for a lot of people but I've got no desire to try that anymore. But like you said, there are certainly good guys in the business and I don't mean to make it sound like everyone sucks. It's just how I've been feeling lately.

Running Worse Than I Ever Have

I think the last 2 weeks collectively have been the worst I've ever ran in my life. I think I'm playing pretty well and today I did a really good job of not caring about run outs, actually focusing really hard on not sub consciously rooting for any sort of result. I sort of scolded myself when I got excited about winning or bummed out about losing. I kept taking proper spots even if I was getting crushed using the same lines previously; if a line is good it's good, regardless of how it's been working in the short run. I currently have 3 small tourneys still going and am not going to punt them no matter what.

None of this stopped me from losing $2000 on a Tuesday.

It's just at the point where it doesn't seem to matter how good or bad I run early, when the money's on the line I'm stone dead. I lost a 4 starting stack flip in the $250 for a top 5 stack with 30 or so left; lost KK to JJ for a large chip lead with 6 left in $215 turbo and 3 paying ($1500 or something up top), lost AKs to AKo in a $100 tourney on WSOP, then followed that up losing AKo to AKs in a 7 starting stack pot in the Stars $100 (both all in pre). I could go on and on but obviously there's no point to it.

I can't really state how deflating it is for this to happen at the end of 2016. This year has been funny in the way that my real life and poker life have seemingly had their ups and downs at the same time. Basically, January-May was good, June-now has been awful, both for poker and life. I started feeling a little bit better at the beginning of this month when poker started going well, but when I started downswinging I started to feel like **** again. And the worst part is that when I start upswinging again, I don't want that to be the sole reason for my happiness. But I do think when I upswing I get that sense of self worth back, that sense that I am good at what I do and all is well, even if other parts of my life aren't great. As I wrote in my last post, I need that sense of self worth to come from outside of poker, but winning in poker is a nice little substitute until I figure that all out.

So in a year where I broke up my girlfriend of 3 years and effectively lost my best friend, a year where I watched my dad struggle due to cancer, a year where I learned that a lot of the people I really trusted as friends are scumbags, a year where I watched my country elect one of the biggest pieces of **** as the leader of the free world, and a year that started with me thinking life as a pro was going to be a breeze and ended with me getting hit in the face by the big fist that is reality, I got excited when the December poker grind started really well. **** me right? But if there's one thing I learn every time this happens, it's that it's going to take a lot more than a $7K downswing to make me quit this game. Probably more like a $27K downswing . I love the game. I love the lifestyle it affords. And I know things will turn. I'm just really frustrated with the timing of it all. But that's how the game works; it doesn't matter what you want or what's convenient, you are never immune to a downswing.

Almost Saved the Day

Came really close to virtually breaking even with a late run in the $5K 10r on WSOP but couldn't close the deal. Lost a flip for CL with 4 left yawn. $400 for that cash with $1400 up top, so officially lost $1300 on the day after also closing out a $10 MTT with like 170 runners and finishing 2nd in a $15 PKO. Ran quite good in the small stuff yesterday! The cool news is that the win in that $10 and 2nd in the $15 on Stars are worth some legit leaderboard points since it seems like field size is the biggest factor in scoring a lot of points, rather than buy in.

I also emailed Stars a week ago trying to figure out how the leaderboard work because there would be times I'd score 150 points and it'd only give me 60 or something. I learned that only your top 20 scores of the month count, which makes the fact that last month's winner only had 3800 make a lot more sense (at the beginning of the month I had like 2000 points after 8 days or something and was really confused). With the combination of taking online off for quite a bit due to live poker and being home to help out my mom and bring my car to the shop, I actually fell all the way out of the top 10 before yesterday's stuff, and I currently stand in 7th. Given 7th-10th get $200 each and 6th, 5th, and 4th each get a $100 pay jump, so there's definitely something to play for. I'm going to take tonight off (and play a few smaller MTTs and spins now until tonight), and also going to take NYE off, so I've really only got Thursday and Friday to get it done. The way I've been persevering through this downer has me feeling like I'm going to have some results in one of those 2 days. Playing a few spins recently I did a really good job at not getting excited about winning or upset about losing. I'm noticing a real shift in how I respond to negative variance when I force myself not to react to the positive variance, if that makes any sense.

Anyway, screenshot of the December leaderboard. I'm not going to win but some big scores Thursday and Friday could potentially get me to 2nd, which would be an $800 pay jump from where I am now. Fingers crossed.

Mate, i feel you, but I am worry about if you can really figure out the right mindset. If you put all your energy on grinding, you wouldn't have the energy to find out whats your real subconscious mind. I think until you really figure out your subconscious mind, you will still get frustrated on the result which means your mindset will never close to optimal.


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You said on your post you want to meet certain buyin amount per day, and that's your goal, but rather you force yourself play x amount of game per day, have you ever review all the game report you played previously, like which game is more profitable and which is not, you don't have to force yourself play some not that profitable games to meet your X amount of buy in goal. Like if I play live cash and find out my table suck, I will change table, if I find out there's no good table in the room, I will take a break and come back later, as a grinder to play for money not entertaining, I have the option and freedom to choose the most profitable game to play, I treat it like a business, I won't set a goal that I have to play x amount of hour per day even the game is bad
Reason I mention this cus I think if your set too much goal for yourselves, you will have expectations on your subconscious mind, once your actual result not meeting your expectations, you will be tilted, might be some minor tilt that you won't noticed yourself, but it will definitely affect your game


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First of all, thanks for the posts grinder. I really appreciate when people give thought out responses to the things I'm writing; it can only help me.

As far as post #1 goes, I agree with you to an extent, but my question would be, how do I figure out my subconscious mind? I think the only way to do this is through trial and error. I should probably get back to doing some sort of meditation, along with running as I've stated a few times recently. I don't think I really put all my energy into grinding; in fact, a lot of the time I feel like I should be playing more. I took tonight off for example. But in the last 2 or 3 days, just as an example of some of the stuff I'm doing to try to work on my mindset, I watch every runout when I'm all in and "practice" completely disconnecting myself from the result. So when I get all in with AK vs AQ, I watch the runout and try to completely zone out, to completely focus on the actions I took prior to getting all in and analyzing if I like the line. I also force myself to watch every card come down; if flop is Q42, no reaction. If turn is K, no reaction. I don't want to be excited or deflated by anything; I want to be completely level throughout my session. The more I play professionally the more I start to understand why guys like LuckyChewy look like they've been practicing living under a rock in isolation from everyone. There's something almost spiritual about this complete disconnect from results you sort of need to be successful over the long haul as a poker player.

Part of this post makes sense to me and part of it doesn't. Looking for the games that net me the highest profit and cutting out the ones that are least profitable makes sense to me, in order to focus on the other games or throw in a different game that is more profitable. But I don't really understand how setting a buy in goal for a day could tilt me. I'm not setting a profit goal; trying to make, say, $500 per day would be ridiculous because I might ignore ICM in my last tourney if only 1st will achieve that goal, or punt off MTTs when I realize the goal is not attainable for the day. But just making sure I keep firing tournaments, regardless of how the day is going, just seems like part of the job, so long as I'm in a good mindset and I know I'm not just gonna dust it all off. Maybe I'm misinterpreting your post. I do like you anecdote about playing for money instead of leisure and treating it as a business, only sitting in profitable games and taking your time finding games that are profitable, almost as if the time that you're waiting is simply an extension of your work day. But for me, I just have to register the tournaments I think are good, re-enter the ones I bust, and attempt to win every tournament I play.

This is very true. Honestly I can't even tell you anything about any hands from this year that are hands that the 'average' player would remember. Like for example, say I play my session and go to a bar to watch a sports game with a cpl other guys, they'll always have a few HHs they are talking about. Like 'Damn was F2Ts in the Big 109 and lost AK to 99 for overall CL, flopped an A but he 2 outer rebinked on me, was so sick!'

That right there is what I'm always hearing, just completely insignificant (in terms of strategy) spots that I really don't give a **** about. Like 'cool story bro, sucks doesnt it?'

Anyway, that's just one part of it. You seem to know exactly how much you win and lose each session and also more or less exactly what $ upswing or downswing you are on. To me, that seems completely insane (not saying it's wrong, just to me personally). I get on, grind, and usually wouldn't even be able to tell you if I won or lost $s on the day. I basically only know whether I've won or lost or been winning or losing when I update my PG&C thread because on a day to day basis, none of that really matters at all. Money isn't an issue, as long as I'm playing in profitable games, I can fire and fire and fire and fire and be losing my face off and it just doesn't matter. So I put my volume in, log out, study or talk over some spots with the few ppl I talk strat with, and that's it.

Poker affects absolutely 0 of my mood or emotions, while playing or otherwise. I still remember the day I lost 100k during SCOOP, we immediately left to go to a bar and everyone was completely shocked that I was laughing and having a good time, joking around with everyone, after finishing losing 6figs just an hour before that. Flip side is I also am not super excited or super happy after having scores, as again, that day I just happened to run pure and made a load of $, it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things in terms of the things that are actually important to me.

I can confidently say I never once yelled during a session, slammed my first on a table, slammed my mouse or keyboard, or anything like that, this entire year. My roommate bitches off and on all day, honestly is tilting and I end up turning my music up louder and louder to drown him out as it's absolutely insane to me that he's in there saying 'GOD DAMMIT.'

Obviously the way I put it sounds like it's super easy, which these days it is to me. But I used to get mad all the time back in the day pre BF and when I first started playing hypers. Just gotta be something that you try to improve on every day. But you must have the right approach or you're already ****ed from the start obv.



I'll quit rambling there, I know I basically just said 'Hey I do something way better than you do' and I probably sound like kind of a jerk, but meh. Hope you have a great 2017 broski, I do enjoy reading this thread and wish you all the best!

Definitely came off as a little braggy but I'm really glad you wrote it Josh. You hit upon a few things that most pros go through and hit on some things that I specifically have a tougher time than most. I think the biggest one is being aware of my daily/weekly/monthly results and streaks. Last year my accountant (standard, non-poker specific accountant) told me I needed to keep track of all of my buy ins and returns and not just profit/loss. This led to me setting up a system that has me manually logging every tournament I play and how much I cash for in it. It also has me writing my results down at the end of each day. I think I need a new system for 2017. Every day I'm looking at these results as if I've gone "forward" or "backward"; as if winning or losing on a day is a reflection of my progress.

I think the thing that you have maybe more of than any poker player I know (and I think you've had this since the first time we skyped...maybe 7 years ago now? jesus) is confidence. Confidence that you are good at the game, confidence that things are going to work out, confidence that no matter how big the downswing or what the results look like, you are a good and winning player and things will eventually start going your way. Most of me admires that sort of mindset. But there's a part of me, and even a small conscious part of me, that thinks that's terrifying and almost reckless. There's a part of me that feels like if I go on a significantly extended downswing, that it has to be on me, and I've got to be honest with myself about that. There's a part of me that has the mindset of every non-poker player who thinks they know better, that "but what if you lose it all!" voice in the back of my head. And I want to show that voice and all those people behind it that I do know what I'm doing and that I am a winning player. So when the downswings get big I start to panic a little bit, and I'm desperate to prove to myself that I really can do this.

A lot of it has to do with me using 100% of my own money. It has to do with the fact that I know that my risk of ruin is non-zero. If I can get 2 outtered on the river then I think it's possible I can end up broke by the end of all of this. The hurdle for me is getting over that fear and realizing that worrying about it isn't going to help anything. I feel like I had more of a point to all of this when I started writing but I guess to wrap it up, it's fear and a lack of confidence that leads to me acting the way I do. When I win, there's a part of me that says, "see? You know what you're doing and all of the bad stuff that happened was abnormal." And then when I lose, that same part of my brain says, "well...maybe this really is how it is! Maybe the good stuff was the abnormal part!" The more money in the bank, the more comfortable I feel, and the more comfortable I feel, the easier it is for me to shrug off the negativity. But when all of it is going awry I start having those minor freak outs when I get unlucky.

But yeah anyway I appreciate you taking the time to write some thoughts down, I think I'll definitely reference this post in the future to help me remember the way I should be thinking.

The being on your own money definitely seems to be a big part of why you react so strongly to the variance. I don't blame you, it seems like you are playing on a somewhat short roll. Possible I've misunderstood earlier posts but it seems like you are grinding on maybe a combined 30-50kish life/poker roll? Granted fields are smaller in NJ obv so you don't need as big of a roll but I'm a pretty firm believer in being overrolled if possible when you are a poker pro these days. Edges getting smaller and smaller as rake rises/rakeback decreases/high variance games are pushed on us. If you can find a decent cut and maybe access to great players minds being staked can for sure be worth it. Keeping 100% of profits is obv nice as well though. Anyways, hope you turn it around asap. I've been going through a gross ev downer myself as well and it definitely tests your mental fortitude. You seem to have a good head on your shoulders, just keep focusing on taking each hand as it comes and playing it the best you can. gl in 2017!

Really appreciate that Tyman. Yes, my poker/life roll has probably been in the 30K-50K range the entirety of this year (maybe a little more than 50 but never under 30). After the big heater I started the month on I was starting to break out of that zone but 10 days into the month the downer started and it's back to square one. I seriously considered accepting an offer for staking/coaching from someone whose game I probably respect the most in NJ but splitting my profits seems too costly in such a small market where the ceiling is already somewhat low. Still, it might be something I need to further consider down the road. I look back at this downswing and there are just a ton of key hands where I'm flipping or ahead for what could easily be 4 figures in dollar equity and I just have not really won any of them, so I guess I shouldn't really be panicking. That self doubt always creeps in though and it doesn't get much easier when the roll starts getting lower than you're comfortable with.

Best of luck hopping out of your downer as well and thanks for the post!

Splitting profits isn't going to help you achieve your goals. The only way to achieve your monetary goals are to work harder(play more tournaments at a given ROI) or to increase your ROI. At a given ROI, the smaller market helps you, since it lowers your variance in comparison to larger fields with the same ROI.

It's not easy, but if you stop focusing on "heaters," "win streaks" and "downswings" and just focus on playing more tournaments you will be much better off. There isn't much point in wondering what might have been if you had won a particular hand, only wondering how you could have played it better. Speaking from experience, the self doubt part isn't easy, takes a lot of work and might always be kicking around in the back of your head someplace, when things aren't going great. Like all other things poker, it's not going to be perfect, but you can do it better.

Yeah giving up a % of profits would only make sense if the coaching he was getting raised his roi significantly or if his current roll wasn't allowing him to enter worthwhile tourneys.

Yeah 50/50 is def something you shouldn't take seeing as you're an established winner. Do you have to skip many tourneys due to the buyin being too large that you feel you'd have a good roi in? The self doubt will always be there I think. We all deal with that. Just gotta make sure you're always being honest with yourself and be able to know where your edge is coming from.

Thanks!

Yeah I for sure need to stop with all of that type of thinking. I did a pretty good job in the last week of "ignoring variance" while I was playing, but when it was done I'd feel upset that I'd seen another losing day. I need to get better at doing, well, nothing. I need to improve on completely ignoring it all and not feeling good or bad about results. Complete focus on how I'm playing will lead to better results. I'm certainly going to need to stop recording every tournament to allow this to happen; the mental drain of having to update the spreadsheet every time I have to re-enter or bust a tournament is not helping me in any way. I had a friend who also plays professionally in NJ let me know that he just records how much he has on each site each day and that's enough for his poker-affiliated accountant. Maybe I can talk to mine and try to do this and potentially just estimate my buy ins or something like that for next year. I can already realize how much less stressful that would be for me, just playing whatever I want when I want and not worrying about logging all of it.

Stars and Party each have a weekly $500 that I only hop in if I've sattied in or, like in this weekend's case on WSOP, there's some big overlay. WSOP has a monthly $500. Other than those I play everything, so no, I'm not really skipping any tourneys. My situation probably isn't nearly as bad as I make it out to be on here. For the sake of bettering my mindset going forward, no more complaining on here, no more talking about my downswing. I'll have to pull out a bunch of money to pay rent, utilities, student loan, taxes, and living expenses in a few days, but even after that I'll be alright, even if my roll is lower than I want it to be.

Thanks for the input guys. I really appreciate when people are critical and respectful--I never mind someone setting me straight when they have my best interests in mind. It's stuff I need to hear and I need to continue to improve my mental game to ensure I make it long term in this profession.

Since this is your mindset, and always has been (and I think it's actually been 8 years since the very first time we Skyped :O, Nadiva and I were talking about it the other night actually haha), I always am quite confident that everything will work out just fine for you. You approach most everything in a great way imo, better than I in some ways w/out a doubt

Hope you have a great NYE if you have anything planned and best of luck with everything in 2017. Hit me up on Skype sometime. Know you said you're not really on there a lot, but would be fun to chat given the fact you're one of my earliest poker acquaintances

Browsed last page of thread. Looks awesome. Subbed!

Best of luck in 2017!

-Josh (bsauce33)

Thanks man, I think things are going to work out well too, sometimes I just get a little down about it all and I like to vent it all on this thread. I'm not going to paint my life as being amazing all the time; rather, I want this to be a genuine detailing of how it's going, not just a documentation of all the good stuff. Keep kicking ass in 2017!

Thanks Josh! I still think about your QQ bluff in that Parx tourney and laugh...it's so sick to try to make live fish fold top pair but I think you somehow pulled it off! Hope you had a great New Year and all is well!

New Year's

Went to New York and had a really fun time. It ended up literally only being me and my roommates along with our friend who lives in NYC. To be honest, I think I often have the most fun with the small groups of my closest friends. I was bummed that our 5th roommate from college couldn't make it the full five but we'll certainly see him again soon.

The short version of New Year's is that I started drinking around 4PM on the 31st and sobered up around 4PM...on the 2nd.

The longer version is that I drank a bit at Greg's (NYC resident) place in the afternoon before we all got ready to go to Slate, a place on 23rd Street in Manhattan. We'd all paid for our absurd $100+ tickets a few weeks before, which entitled us to entry plus an open bar from 9-2. At some point Greg and Kyle (one of my roommates) got separated from me and Tee Dubs (my other roommate), so each duo headed out on their own missions together. It was one of the first times I can remember not feeling any guilt or regret or any of that about talking to other girls since my ex and I broke up. I'm still a little gun shy but Tee Dubs, being my best friend and NYC being one of his favorite places to be, seemed ready to take me under his wing. I was surprised at how smooth he was in getting conversations started lol. Nothing landed but I don't think there was one time anyone told us to get lost or anything like that; we'd usually just talk a few minutes, dance a few minutes, and then a friend would come and pull the girls we were talking to away, or they'd politely excuse themselves, or boyfriends were involved, etc. But I felt comfortable and happy the whole night so that seemed like a really good sign.

Anyway, we stayed out til 4 or 5, hopping around a few different bars. We went to a place called Belfry that's a fan favorite of my friends and I've been there a few times as well. It's not huge but at one point I sort of went off on my own because a girl who I assumed was just a standard bartender started eating fire. She then started having other bartenders eat the fire, and eventually came around the bar to let customers try it. It was probably 2 or 3 at this point, I was drunk but not obliterated, but I was completely in awe. The main thoughts were, "this is sick...I can't believe they aren't afraid of a lawsuit...I NEED TO GET IN ON THIS." So I'm wandering around by myself trying to eat fire at 2AM in a NYC bar on New Years. It got to the point that the person standing right next to me got to do it, and I'm literally walking around with my mouth open and my tongue out trying to get her attention. It didn't happen and I was sad. But that **** was crazy!

We then went across the street to a place called Beauty Bar (we were on 14th at this point, I think between 2nd and 3rd). I don't really know how to describe this place. They literally have the chair in there with the overhead things that women put on their heads in salons. It was very pink. And somehow it didn't feel weird being in there and it was really really fun lol. I danced like an idiot and eventually danced for like 10 minutes with this girl. I don't think I touched her once lmao I was just vibing to the music and she seemed like she was too. Eventually I start talking to her and she has this thick accent and says she's from the Czech Republic. Again, nothing came of it, but she was really nice and it was just fun to be talking to people again. I think I need to just keep doing that kind of thing to get out of the funk I've been in the last few months.

We woke up the next day around 2:30 and went to a brunch place and got food and $15 1 hour unlimited Mimosas. We each had 4 or 5, then hit up Belfry on the way back to get a Bentley Shot (pickleback shot with sriracha or something, they're amazing). The bar is virtually empty, and I realize I recognize the bartender. "You were here last night right?" "Yeah." "You ate the fire right?" *Sorta surprised I was there and remember* "Yeah!" "And didn't I stumble over to you and give you a high five while everyone else was following the fire girl?" "Oh yeah I do remember that!" It was amazing because none of my buddies remembered the fire incident at all and they were very confused about this encounter.

We went back to Greg's and drank some beer, eventually going back out to Belfry and Beauty Bar. We got back in the 3-4 area and Tee Dubs and I just stayed up talking until like 7 or 8. Eventually I went to sleep and woke up around 3 and went home.

I'll talk about some New Year's Resolutions and other goals, both poker and non-poker related, in the next post. For now I am going to attempt to stream on Twitch in the first time in forever!

Twitch Stream!

Gonna try it out again now that I have a Surface Pro! I have no idea if it's going to work properly but I spent some time today trying to format it properly so hopefully it works. I'll only run a few games this first time...I'm thinking 3 Stars tournies, the Super Tuesday, 10K, and probably the $50 6 max followed by the $100 2nd Chance.

Twitch Stream Link: https://www.twitch.tv/redsoxnets5/

I'll be starting around 7 so come check it out!

Scratch the Twitch part, doesn't appear the computer could handle it (or I've got a setting messed up or something). Might try again another day.

Mixed Feelings About Tonight's Session

Just finished up the session and I think it was mostly a good session. It was very strange how wildly different it felt when I wasn't writing down any tournaments I played, how many I re-entered, how many I busted, how much I was up/down, etc. It felt great to be quite honest. I didn't feel stressed when I lost, which is how it should be. I fired 3 bullets at the $250 Super Tuesday and the last bullet was pretty brutal but I handled it quite well. I'd entered the third time with about 5 minutes left in late reg (I'd just busted bullet 2) so I only had 13BBs or so. Won 22 over AQ and then had some big swings, eventually losing AK to QQ and 88 for heaps. That left me with like 6bbs which I was able to spin back up to a workable stack before busting 19th with 15 paying. HOWEVER, every time I was all in, I forced myself to just repeat in my head, "result doesn't matter, result doesn't matter, result doesn't matter." I forced myself to not react, win or lose. I've noticed that if I get excited when I win, then it's only natural I get frustrated when I lose. No more reacting. I did a good job of this in the Super Tuesday. I couldn't help but feel frustration after busting, but I forced myself to put it behind me and focus on other tournaments.

The Good:
--I handled myself well and did a pretty good job of not reacting to results. I think if I consciously practice not reacting, eventually it will become second nature.
--Not recording results had me feeling super relaxed. I won the $50 6 max on Stars and got 2nd in the $30r 10K on WSOP and looking at the numbers I won meant next to nothing to me compared to the feeling I used to get. I'd be so happy to write a positive number on the day. Now it's just a number, and the complete focus is on how I played. I am hoping though that this won't mess up my accountant and that when I tell him other players have told me they don't record total buy ins that he'll have a different way of doing it. But the way my mental game went today I need to do it this way so we'll have to figure something out one way or another.
--I elected to max out at 6 tables rather than throwing as many as I could on my screen and I felt so much more comfortable. I think dropping tables when the mindset isn't perfect is a good way to go and it worked well tonight.
--I had 60K from 10K SS in the Stars 10K and ran pretty bad to bust before the money. I also played 9 handed (a pretty strange number to get stuck at) for maybe an hour in the $100 second chance on Stars before finally being the first one to bust at the FT after losing a 75/25. Those frustrations hardly bothered me at all and I did well to remain focused on the WSOP 10K and not tilt.

The Bad:
--I had 1 million of the 2.2 million chips in play in the WSOP 10K with 7 left after coolering a bunch of people. I'm not happy with how I played from then down and actually got really fortunate to come 2nd, given I was 3/4 and 3/3 for quite some time. I felt rusty and it's clear I need to continue studying.

Today was a good day and I feel like I am not being results oriented. I have no idea how much money I made today--I know I cashed for $850 in the 6 max and $1850ish in the 10K along with the $200 mincash on Stars, and I was in for $750 in the Super Tuesday along with a bunch of other $100s, but I don't know the exact amount. And I think that puts so much less pressure on me. Winning and losing is irrelevant if the bankroll is right and it's time to start focusing on the right things. I started the year off with a $25K roll (exactly--I elected to take a bunch of money off to pay for a bunch of stuff so I rounded it out) and while I was playing today I considered making $100 the max buy in for anything. It'd take so much pressure off the relatively limited bankroll and re-entering things a ton if necessary wouldn't be an issue at all (re-entering the $250 a bunch can eat at the roll faster that I'd like it too but I feel confident I'm going to get back to winning again before the roll gets in too desperate of shape). That being said, I think I'll continue playing the $250s since they're only Tuesday, Thursday (where there's no re-entry), and the really good Sunday tournaments.

That's all for tonight, I'll get my 2017 goals down in a future post.

:P

I was sure it was going to work at the time. That being said probably a wee bit out of line in that field/structure.

You should consider firing the Sugarhouse $230 100K. Super super super super soft tourney and its only a 2 day guy.

Sounds like there was a lot of good in that session, especially in terms of mental game and the accounting related stuff, glad to hear it and keep it going broski!