Ok here goes nothing.

Young professional working in a city. Found a local 1/2 game, and have become a semi reg over the course of the last year. In the past 3 months, I have started logging hours and results. So far, not bad - 17.50 over 159 hours.

Goals:

1. Work - Would like to enhance my professional career first and foremost. Sometimes poker is a distraction so I would like to try to do a better job of putting my real job first.

2. Personal Life

(a) Girlfriend - have a great one, have to keep that going. I think she is slightly concerned with poker when I talk a lot about it, but she is okay with me playing.

(b) Fitness - The combo of a full time job and poker has made me, well, sort of a fat ass. Would like to eat healthier, stop smoking, and improve my exercise habits. Goal: Lose 20 pounds by January 1.

and finally:

3. Poker

Going to stick with the local 1/2 game. Casino is too much of a drive to make it worth it and I dont think the action is as good. The local game is uncapped and generally plays closer to 2/5 by the end of the night with most people straddling. Avg stacks usually around 700-800.

My win rate isn't bad, but I think it could be better. My goal for the year is to average 20 hours a month (less than I am playing now) and to spend the other 20 hours I have been playing reading, studying, reflecting etc.

Would like to get the winrate up around 22-25.

This might be a somewhat vanilla thread, but there should be some interesting hands to post from the local game. Going to try to post once a week or so.

GL

Pretty unfortunate night grinding last night. 1/2.

Tried to experiment with buying in for 100bb only. I usually buy in for 250 - 300 bb.

Table was playing very aggressively. There were already a few 400bb stacks when I arrived.

First hand: KK UTG+3. Two limps to hero who opens to 17. 5 people call including limpers.

Flop A33 - checks to hero who checks. Straightforward player on my left bets 55, hero folds.

After a few more orbits hero reloads to 100 bb.

I noticed that after making it 17 with KK that I probably would be having a hard time trying to iso given the way the table was playing. There were two players in particular who had a strong propensity to 3 bet, especially against small opens.

Second hand: (200 Hero opens to 9 with AKhh, 1 call and 500bb stack V1, with whom I have a great deal of history and know to be extremely aggressive, makes it 35, V2, who limped originally who likes to gamble a great deal (who I had just seen lose two buy ins) flats (note, V2 is only 55bb deep)

Given that I have seen V1 3 bet hands as weak as non-suited one gappers, I figure this is an easy jam. They both call, V1 rivers set of 8s. Nh, sir.

Still feel okay about that shove.

Third hand. 100 bb.

Hero makes it 12 with AK from MP, three calls to villain short stack, who shoves in 95, hero reshoves everyone else folds. Loses to JJ. Nh sir.

Fourth hand:

Hero (140)

UTG makes it 10, entire table calls, hero otb with KQs... probably steaming a bit here, but hero makes it 75 and calls off to jam from UTG who has QQ. Hero misses everything.

Final hand. (210) Straddle pot, hero is in bb with AJcc. 6 limps to hero who makes it 40. Super LAG villain limp/jams from button. I don't see how this could ever be a real hand. Hero calls. AJs << A6os. Nh sir.

-300 bb night. Hourly rate down to 13.20. Was definitely a case of play bad run bad. Table kind of played weird last night. Need to work on steam control. Also, I think the 100 bb buy in strategy is pretty bad when the table plays this way. You essentially are never deep enough to call preflop and are simply looking for spots to squeeze. I don't really like playing this way and think I am only going to play 200bb deep from now on.

Poker can sure be frustrating on nights like this. Notwithstanding, still booked a small win for July after a pretty bad June and a great May.

Hopefully August yields better results.

On a non-poker note, I went swimming two out of the last four days and feel pretty good. I haven't been smoking either and am trying out nicotine gum. It tastes like ****, but if it keeps me from smoking, I guess that is fixing a good money/health leak.

Family reunion with the girlfriend's family this weekend. Should be interesting to see what her extended family is like. 6 hour drive, so I will have a lot of time to reflect on what I need to do to snap out of this slump.

GL everyone.