The $25 tables were pretty dry today so we tested out a couple 50s to see how the water was. Ended up a buyin and a half in a short session and even at our 25s.

Not jumping to 50s consistently yet but was worth testing against some good table action. Happy with the results and am now at my highest point for bankroll.

Looking to keep the momentum going for the last week of the month and not repeat July's tilt fest.

A fairly up and down session followed by 10 minutes of good spots to finish out the session on a positive note.

We had quad kings called on the river and qualified for the jackpot which dropped an extra $15 to our stack and then out flopped AAxx with JJxx in a single raised pot and got the money in.

We got away from 3betting as much during our run good and a bit complacent. Need to continue working on identifying 3bet opportunities and not over calling in 3bet pots with marginal holdings simply because of position.

I did sit at another $50 table for a bit last night with another positive result. Still not looking to make this a habit but will continue to dabble a bit if the 25s seem stagnant.

Definitely not the end we were looking for as I self destruct again with a bad session followed by some bad decisions to sit higher.

The self imposed stop loss was not adhered too and I was spewing chips at the regular tables and then sitting at a couple $200 tables. Played well early but predictably as has been the trend when I play above my means, I get an AA hand cracked. This time it was AAKJss cracked by KJT8ss when he flops T97 and I have less than a pot sized bet left. Not a bad beat, just the nature of PLO but without a suitable bankroll to handle these moments it just turns into a crippling blow. Bankroll still over 40buyins for the $25s but a major setback both to the bankroll growth and our personal growth as a bankrolled player and overall goals.

If I can't adhere to my own guidelines it doesn't matter how large the bankroll gets, I'm one session away from a major setback. This needs immediate attention. I definitely do miss the Pstars feature to lock out higher tables. I can't say I miss Stars but I do miss that. Definitely saved me from hitting the self destruct button.

Small setback but not the end of the world. Growth is an ongoing process, just need to continue to work on my mental game as it is clearly the current weakest link in my overall poker game.

Played around with some short stacking from a shot taking perspective just to see how it went. Sat with a 20% buyin on a 200, 100 and 50% on a couple 50s

Pretty bland results on the 100 and 50s but managed to sit with a 91 VPIP player on the 200 and seemed to be the only player will to play with him. Should have been up $140 on the table when I left but he sucked out on me on the river. Still managed to leave the table up $80.

Not planning on abandoning a full stack buyin at the tables we are rolled for, but might do a bit more short stacking at the 100s and 200s once the roll is suitable for the 50s.

gl mate!
GG Poker probably the worst site for paying rake ever...

100% agree

Can't say that I'm crushing it, but I enjoy 6max more than Zoom so not being on stars and being able to play regular tables with some softer players and never having to worry about there being no traffic is worth it to me.

Just had a look at gg poker and there is a cap now since august 2020 - so keep on grinding :-)

The roller coaster ride continues as we get crushed in a few sessions and only seem to win large pots when we bad beat someone but seem to lose all the pots when we are ahead lol.

My favourite (25 PLO) was flopping a straight on a T96 rainbow board with 8734 in CO after raising and calling a 3bet IP against a 95 VPIP who hadn't 3bet to that point. Flop had $12ish in it and BB bet near pot to which we raised all in for $20ish. BTN calls all in for around $19 and then BB calls off the rest. AAxx (BB) and JT47 (btn) and of course the 3 out 8 hits on the turn lol.

I also had one that I should have gotten away from. $25 table
Flop KJJhh and we have AAxx against 2 players.
Turn is Ah
River is air

SB leads out for $10 , BB raises all in for $20 . We call $16 with a bad feeling.

SB flips over QT hearts for the royal
BB turns over JJ for quads
We turn over AA for Aces full of Jacks and a lot of regret lol

Just how it goes, no complaints as we've had a lot of good spots and some bad spots,

Pretty crappy month overall as I think we're sitting up around 10 buyins. Will post some graphs later today. Graphs definitely not indicative of the spots we've been in as I'm sure it will say we ran over EV. We really seem to get into some ugly spots with good holds that just don't hit or are behind.

Case in point having KQT8 on a A729 board and being up against AAxx. Hard not to get the money in as I feel like we give up so much equity if we just call a turn bet and lead out on rivers we hit and check rivers we miss. I might be wrong on that though.

Keep the grind going, keep the review going, keep trying to get better. Short term results are not worth worrying about as long as they don't point to major spew and poor play.

subbed!

On a similar situation, my daughter is 19 months old and we are pregnant again, wife is due end of September (28th).

Will be trying my luck (my skill) sometime soon, trying to get at least an hour a day!

GL GL!

Congratulations!

I am usually the one dealing with the babies waking up during the night so thats when I'm able to put in an hour or so. Once my wife is asleep I fire up a couple tables and have the baby monitors right next to me. Definitely lose a little EV when I have to leave in the middle of a hand to attend to one of them but thats just how it goes

So I decided to add a little more to the bankroll since we are at the end of the month and the expenses are taken care of. I originally had invested around $700 US and was fully prepared to invest the additional $300 US to bring to an even 1K if it was available.

Going to end the month with just over $1500 to the roll and up around $300 on the month and $500 since we started back. Slow burn but we said that would be the case from the beginning. We've got nothing but time and nowhere to go.

Lots to work on from a mental perspective and skill perspective. Hopefully we can stay the course until the end of the year and not let the tilt monkey get on our back. That has and always will be our biggest challenge and opponent.

Only put half the $300 I originally was going to add on as I had a good finish to the month with a +150 day so I will hold the $150 in reserve until its required or hopefully not.

A surprising end to the month but hopefully some momentum heading into September.

Have moved to short stacking 50s (70%) as this is a stack size I've used in the past with a lot of success. Play at the 50s has been pretty bad, even from the tighter players which is nice. The love story with double suited hands regardless of gaps is amazing. 3bets from any position lol.

Unfortunately not the storybook ending to my first session (3 tabling) and lost AAxx on the same table 4 times, and had to reload 4 times. Once to KK89 when the flush draw hit after being allin on the flop for a pot sized bet (20ish), once to QQT6 when I got 6 outed on the river for his gutshot outs (allin again on flop for pot sized bet of 20ish) and then a T875ds hand decided to call off half a stack PF (i had around 25 at the time) and hit running hearts against my overpair, TP, NFD + GS and then some other random hand beat us up as well. Oh well, such is plo life

Overall happy with my play and only ended up down around $60 which after losing over $200 in buyins across the 3 tables was an accomplishment in itself. Hopefully I can hold a few more of my 65 / 35 and 70 / 30 spots because I will be in good shape. Back at it tonight and have committed 10 buyins to this shot. Hopefully won't need to drop back to the 25s but can only control the outcome so much.

End the session up $70 and add a $110 jackpot for a straight flush on top of that. Nice boost to the roll and possibly some retribution for losing all those AAxx hands yesterday

On to the night shift. We'll see how the girls sleep tonight. The last few nights have been a bit wild.

Our little girl has been quite the handful the past few nights as well. Maybe something in the air lol

Think we figured out that they both have some teeth coming in. First one for the baby (not confirmed yet, but seems logical), couple new ones for the 20 month old.

Reese (baby) also has decided to be wide awake at 3am, fortunately she passes out again around 4am.

Good times lol.

Its been a few days since my last post but the wheels have not fallen off and the roll is not crushed.

After winning that jackpot I was hit with a series of unfortunate beats and dropped a few buyins. Got fortunate in a few spots over the last few days and have gotten back what was lost and a bit more. Still playing the 50s on a shorter buyin and finding some success.

Football season is nearly upon us and the last couple nights have been devoted to drafting although I did just come off a short session tonight. Will see how my teams end up. Got a C from Yahoo in my first draft, which is par for the course for me. My strength is finding sleepers and picking up waiver players at the right time, not drafting how Yahoo likes lol. The draft tonight is a deep keeper league and I'm fairly happy with who I ended up with. Likely another C from Yahoo but thats just how it goes lol.

Definitely got a C on both my Fantasy Football drafts. Yahoo apparently does not see the same value I do lol.

Games have been ok so far this month. Dropped 3 or 4 buyins at the same table last night but was up on my others and ended up around $15 bucks which is pretty good considering that I was getting crushed on one table. Had AAxx hold up against my wrap + FD, then lost nut straight against the 80 VPIP guy who had the same nut straight but outs to the flush which obviously hit lol. We just couldn't do much right on that table until the end when we clawed back a buyin on our way to a postive day.

Bankroll sitting around $1750 and just grinding away. Hoping to be making the transition to 100s for November 1. Lack of time for volume is going to be one of the biggest hurdles that I face throughout this challenge but I'm still happy with my progress. Just keep grinding away slowly.

Been about a week since the last update. My wife had thyroid surgery so I was taking care of the girls for the past few days and didn't really have much time to play. Its been a rollercoaster since my last post with my bankroll dipping down to $1200 at one point and now sitting back at $1725. Had some bad beats, some coolers some bad play and just really didn't get much going over the past week when I could play. I jumped up stakes like a moron and had some success that kept me stable but also had a few bad beats that could have crushed my roll had I not been lucky enough to hit a few great flops.

I've switched to Rush N Cash for the time being as the player pool seems pretty soft right now. Playing under rolled at the 100s and adding 50s or 25s if they are running. Not trying to do anything special, just play solid poker. We will see what happens as I am hoping that I break through the 2K barrier by month end.

Well predictably (???) the wheels fell off and we crushed our bankroll.

Had a pretty big fight with my wife and ended up playing later that night which did not go well. Had top set drawn out by an open ender at a $200 Rush table and it all went downhill from there. Basically saw my emotions get out of control and my roll go from close to $1900 to $650ish.

Pretty pathetic in my opinion but a very good lesson that emotion needs to stay out of poker and that self control needs to be applied so that I don't play when I'm not in a good frame of mind.

So I began the rebuild and moved some funds around and am sitting with a $1500 roll again, up around $300 since the emotional downswing. Playing 25s and 50s again and not touching 100s or 200s until I hit a certain threshold. My results at the 200s have been very positive (outside of that one night) but I don't have a big enough roll to handle a few buyin downswing so its just stupid to sit even if the games are soft. I've adjusted my bankroll strategy to be a bit more aggressive and let me shot take sooner and so far it looks like it might be a viable plan.

Recently sat a listened to a JNandez youtube vid in which he talked with a member about his poker roadmap. One thing that stood out near the end was a short section on changing habits and why its hard to change mindset. If I truly want to build my bankroll and make a jump to a level that is higher than my current one I need to stop seeing poker as simply something that I enjoy. If I don't take the building process more seriously, adhere to my rules and change my habits I'm never going to be successful. Even if I am, it will likely be short lived success and I will find myself back down at the 25s. This is pretty much the pattern I've had since I left the ipoker network years ago.

We will see if I can adopt a more sound mindset because I feel like I am capable of longevity at the higher limits I just need to get the BR to be able to sustain the swings. I certainly have had no issues with the current level of competition at those tables.

A week later and we are rolling along sitting just below 2K for our bankroll. Haven't touched a 100 or 200 table and am now playing the 50s full time, generally 3 regular tables and a rush table if rush is going.

My mental state is solid right now, although not entirely fixed I'm sure. The key to overcoming it is constant application of sound principles and rule adherence. I've adjust my stop loss to 3 full buyins at the 50s and have not had to apply it yet.

I'm hoping to be at a point where I can shot take 100s (70% buyin) starting in November. I adjusted my move up requirements to be more aggressive, but still with strategic drop down thresholds. We are on track to be shot taking 200s by the end of the year and playing consistently at the 200s was the original goal so we are back on track, hopefully.

Will likely share some graphs at the end of the month, unless of course I go nuts and bust my roll

Started a little shot taking at the 100s earlier than I expected and probably earlier than my BR is ready for. The competition is fairly soft so results have been decent. Small sample so could just be positive variance. So far mostly just Rush n Cash volume will add some standard tables once my roll is a bit larger.

Just downloaded Jnandez's new Ebook as I have enjoyed his content online and its been a while since I read a poker book. Once complete I'll probably post a bit of a review.

gl m8

Went Dark since October, rough BR times my friends.

I don't recall the exact specifics but my luck on GGpoker was unbelievably bad and I couldn't win at 100s, 50s or 25s. Left GGpoker with a bit less than a 1K roll and headed back to Stars to grind a bonus.

Okay results for Stars, cleared the bonus but lost a bit in the process. Ended up making $400 or someting over Nov and Dec playing Zoom. As per usual I just run bad and get outdrawn there, so moved 1K back to GG after Christmas and cashed out a bit.

Rebuilt $50 to $300 on stars, then dropped to $200. Cashed that out and moved it to GG.

Rebuilt the 1K to 1700 at GG during January and added the above Stars money.

BR currently sitting at 1900 and playing 50s.

So far mental game is much stronger and just rolling with the ups and downs. Will see how Feb goes.

Almost 3 months since the last update.

GGPoker ended up a bit of a disaster. Couldn't control myself and eventually split my roll moving half back to Bodog. I don't recall the exact amount but I think it was around $500 to Bodog.

I love GG but there is something that seems to tilt me or I just start trying to get rakeback I don't know what the deal is but I ended up cashing out my roll from there at around $700.

Bankroll rebuild started in early to mid March with the following:
Bodog: $500
Offline: $700

Started playing $25s on Bodog but once I cashed off GG I jumped to the $50s with a 70% buyin. Had some up and down play but generally positive results and am now shot taking the 100s for a 70% buyin.

Current roll:
Bodog: $1550
Offline: $700

My play is dictated by the following:
30 buyins at 70% of the max dictates where i can play.

30 buyins at 100% of the max and I generally start buyin in for full.

I have a 2 - 3 buyin stop loss for each session and when I shot take (ie. 30 buyins at 70%) I move back down once I lose two of those buyins.

I don't have +10 buyin winning days so it is unacceptable for me to allow myself to have -10 buyin losing days hence the stop loss. This is part of the mental improvements I am making as I find myself playing much more optimally when I limit my losses each day.

I am still working on the mental game and have chased losses a few times even having my entire Bodog roll sitting across 3 x $500 tables with a mental mind set that whatever happens will happen and even chased some losses at 5/10. I have been fortunate to avoid ruin in these moments but luck runs out and I'm working hard to stop this destructive behaviour. I generally lose because of bad luck or bad beats not bad play. This should be a positive sign that games are good and I need to work on not letting it tilt me.

I can honestly say I feel as though I'm playing my optimal game most days and if I can adhere to the rules I have in place success should be attainable. I have goal of moving up limits every two months and hope to be at 5 / 10 by year end. My secondary goal is to be a reg at 1/2 so if I can achieve either one I will be satisfied.

I'll check back in in a month or two