Played 10 sessions since my last update. I am up a modest amount in that time span. Been really busy with work (more money, more stress, and less poker). Feeling a little burned out from life in general.

Started to track of all my workouts (running, lifting, biking, and stationary ) in hopes that I will be more active. Still eating whatever tho.

Might try to play at the Borgata some time.

The Other Side of Variance

I’ve been experiencing run-bad in my last few sessions,

-Losing all-ins with the majority of the equity
-Running into the top of my opponent’s ranges,
-Making the wrong decisions in close spots

Although I did feel absolutely terrible on my drive home each time while reflecting on my sessions, I have more or less gotten over the EV that was not realized. Running worst that my EV has made me appreciate how much grit a true grinder must have in order to making poker a viable source of income. I built up more tolerance to the sickness of the game and I have been harder on my own self-analysis.

I was in one spot yesterday where I thought the correct play was probably to fold. But then I discussed it with shrewsbury91 and Parallelflux and they brought things I completely missed. Def an eye opener.

Been watching more of chicagojoey’s potcast with Btech and timex. They are the absolute nuts in terms of quality.

i know it's been a while and that you only played a couple of sessions there, but how does Ocean's 5-5 game compared to your regular 2-5 games?

For starters the 5/5 at ocean's plays much deeper (1500 BI vs. 500 (Foxwoods) and 800 (mohegan). Deeper structure means wider ranges pre-flop and more FPS post-flop. The 2/5 at foxwoods is much more straight forward. Mohegan probably somewhere in the middle.

The 5/5 also has a smaller player pool 2-3 5/5 tables on the weekdays and pretty much full of regs. For the most part the regs at ocean's were pretty solid. IDK though I probably need to play at least 10 sessions before I get a reasonable feel for the game.

Last session recap

I walked into the foxwoods poker room on a busy Saturday afternoon. There were 8 or 9 2/5 tables going and I got a seat within 5 minutes. My first table was just ok. I spotted an action player with some big stacks at the table next to mine. I obviously ask for a table change and was able to move right over to the direct left of the action player. Nothing really materialized as the action player is playing much more nitty than usual and taking frequent breaks. I decide to table change back to my original table. Played for a couple with hours with nothing really happening. Got dinner with parallelflux discussing some hands and strategy during the break. Came back to a really good table and ran well too. Had a +$1400 upswing over a couple of hours. Lose 1,000 back after giving out 4 double ups to short stacks. Swap some run bad stories with shrewsbury before he leaves. Seriously debated just leaving myself, the time was 1 AM and I was getting tired.

A whale sits down to my DIRECT right. I decide to stay until he busts or quits. I lost another 500 after he sat down but that was the end of my run bad for the day. I go on a heater playing anything resembling a hand with the whale. One reg even remarked on how I had the best seat in the house. I was fighting both fatigue and hunger for hours. I told myself I couldn’t quit while the whale still had money. Eventually after 20 hours of playing (and being awake for over 30 of them) I called it a day. Went to bed at 4 pm with a nice profit.

Balance

The last session I played was a perfect example of unbalance. The only thing that mattered to me during that session was maximizing my +EV and playing poker. I sacrificed sleep, food, exercise, and pretty much everything else because I was in a great position to make money from poker. Doing this once a while is probably ok but doing this constantly would surely wreck my life.

This brings me to my next point regarding my job. I can say without any doubt that I hate my current job. I think about quitting pretty much everyday and I always tell me co-workers that my current day a work is my WORST DAY. It was a great job after I graduated because it allowed me to pay off my loans and make good money so I could travel and make support myself. Now I feel like there is nothing to gain from my job other than the paycheck. In theory quitting would remove me from having to work like a slave and all the other BS I have to deal with at work. But in reality my job does bring a degree of balance to my life. Waking up at a certain time and having something to do most days is very important to me. The guaranteed income I have from work is important because it brings me peace of mind. I’ve come to realize that I need a job no matter how much I hate it.

A perfect example of doing something really important that you don’t like is grade school. No matter how I hated going to school in 6th grade I know I would be A LOT worst off if I didn’t go.

I am currently looking for other employment and even another year of training. I would actually be delighted if go got a training position even if was to make 25% of the money I’m making this year.

Update:

Took a 2 month long hiatus because of real life stuff. Played 9 sessions of 2/5 in March at Foxwoods since coming back. Ran above EV despite getting stacked (and re-buying) 8/9 sessions. Right now FW is the go to place for 2/5 because Mohegan lowered the max buy-in from 800 to 500. And despite having a 2/5 table max and 5/T (these games never run).

Besides the superior action at Foxwoods, I’ve also been getting a $30 coupon on Saturday (poker players are comp sensitive).

Right I have tentative plans to travel to Las Vegas, Miami, and maybe borgata.

PS I have bought the really spicy Korean ramen (from all the YouTube challenges). In case anyone wants those results lol