Greetings,

Welcome to my progress log. This log if focused on tracking my progress from PLO200-PLO1000. This thread will be more focused on meeting goals, progression, struggles, thoughts, etc. Inspired by blogs I enjoy the most I will rarely, if ever, clog up thread with HH.

Background Poker:

I'm early 30's and just started playing full time in January. I live in the USA and play all online at the moment. I have played 2 years part time focusing on NL with occasional shots at PLO where I failed miserably. End of last year I made the commitment to go all in on PLO and haven't looked back.

Overall Background

I will give a brief background with not much poker relation here. This will have a lot to do with people who are struggling with mistakes or mental issues. I want to share this because many times my mistakes compounded due to belief; I had no hope. If you are struggling with similar issues or can relate, I am happy to answer any questions in the thread or you can PM me.

Much of my early life was a self-inflicted struggle. I got convicted of a felony 2 weeks after my 16th birthday (adult in my state), which remains on my record to this day. I abused lots of drugs and alcohol from age 15- 25. The drugs were mainly cocaine, Xanax, and alcohol. I was using an insane amount of Xanax too, like 10-20 milligrams per day.

I got pretty overweight at one point coming in at a skinny extra fat 200lbs at 5"10 height. I had many mental issues of depression and self-sabotage, some which I still battle to this day. I ended up getting locked up multiple times in young adult hood for random petty stuff like DUI, some marijuana plants, fighting, etc.

I was released from prison in 2016 with $40 provided by the state and 1 outfit of used clothes. Luckily, my stepfather allowed me to sleep on his couch in a 1bed room apartment. I went to work at Mcdonald's working the 3rd (overnight) shift. I chose this shift because I was so humiliated, I wanted no one to see me. I was 27 years old walking 1 mile each way to work at Mcdonalds for $8 an hour.

Once I had enough for a car, I had to pay off thousands to get my license back as well and go to classes. This took a year or so. I was able to get 2 jobs, I went into trade school for Welding Technology. Graduated top of my class making the President's list. This took me 2 years, then I went to work for a company for 2 years.

During this time, I have a girlfriend of 4 years, dog, nice apartment, nice truck, and I weigh about 160lbs. Been able to help younger family members financially. I've ran a marathon (i used to not even be able to run 1 lap around a track) and many half + 10k races.

Back to Poker

During these 2 years I got back in the mix of poker, starting at 10NL. I grinded up a roll which was actually the seed for my bankroll today. After 2 years I was at 200NL + 100PLO making enough money to feel confident and going full time. I set aside 6 months of expenses, a 100+ buy in bankroll, separate life roll, and took the leap of faith in January this year. There is also a massive shortage of welders in my country, so I was confident I would have no issue getting a job if I failed. Basically, if you can pass a drug test and show up on time, you will get hired. This is my fallback safety net.

I got off to a fire start and even crushed PLO500 for like 2 months at almost 10bb, but that ended quickly in May. I went on a massive down (much to my own awful play) and lost like 50+ buy in at 500 over 50-60k hands. I was on massive tilt, not breaking stuff or anything, but just not thinking clearly about decisions.

I had the roll to continue but decided to drop downplay it safe at 200 for a couple months knowing I had a lot of work to do. The downswing may have been a blessing in disguise. I have put in so many study hours since then and tweaked my routine to function optimally. It lit an absolute fire under me which I haven't felt since I was much younger.

Here I am today, getting close to jumping back into PLO500 mix.

Current Thread Goal:

1. Establish myself at PLO500 by end of year. To me this means having a 100 BI bankroll with 100k hand sample. Not much of a sample for PLO, I am aware, but I honestly don't think I can reach a bigger hand sample by end of year as I'm not ready to start 500 today.

I will follow up in my later posts with micro goals, share some of my routines, and graphs since the start of this blog.



This is for PLO200+ for this year 3.76bb/100. I do also play 1/4 or so volume on an untracked site, which I am up slightly overall, but no data to share. Hoping to post a monthly update in the thread.

Hey Discipulus, nice to see you start a blog as well
I subscribed and will follow with great interest. Also very interesting to hear about ur story. You got a real fighting spirit, its awesome to hear!

Holy **** where can I place futures bets on your life trajectory? Your story is an inspiration already, congrats on getting to where you are now after the unlucky events of early life. This is sure to be an amazing follow, your drive and work ethic seem off the charts especially given everything described.

How'd you get into poker/can you tell us more about your poker origins? And where are you playing in US for 500plo can't be ACR maybe Global?

GLGL looking forward to first update and learning more.

Subbed, gl dude.

Hey man, Subbed

Goodluck, I'd be interested in how you are improving your routines and what study you do to improve

GL

I got into poker years ago playing with friends online in college. We were all losing players. Later I would take shots like depositing $250-500 trying to run up rolls, but never applied myself and always busted. It wasn't until I was totally away from drugs and partying, had a stable job, life etc, that I began to see success.

I mix up sites basically all options for US players.

I am still tweaking this as far as study routine. I have studied up to 4 hours per day, but after research and reflection this is not optimal. Cal Newport, author of Deep Work, suggests 1-3 hours for daily study. Saying 3 hours is for elite and even when they go past this, they can see a negative return. Based on my experience, I agree with Newport on this. My September goal is 1.5hrs/4 days per week. If I ever do study that heavy again, it would be a day off where I'm not grinding.

As far as other routines: I think diet, exercise, and meditation are a must for any player taking himself seriously. If someone doesn't like meditation, they can try cold showers or breathwork as an alternative. I implement these as well. I try and get a workout or a minimum a yoga in every day. I work out from home to save time & money. I have a kettlebell (GTO for sure) and a pull up bar.

I'll further update my routine goals in a post for this month and see how it goes.

Posted are my results for Aug. This is 6 tabling reg tables across various US sites. I hit volume good, my overall play was very poor the first 2 weeks. Mainly PLO200 with some 100 mixed when I had to. I also quit for the month on the 26th to prep for a race and vacation.






I completely have been neglecting mental game over the past few months and it shows in my results. I started focusing more on mental and less intense study routines. I believe I was over studying, and it was hurting my game. I will be spending more time on execution and mental game from here on out. In addition, I hope to just enjoy playing the game and the journey of getting better. I was very tense last few months because of getting knocked down from PLO500, I was in an extremely negative mindset. I have worked on this the last few weeks and I'm ready for opportunities to exercise my mental game this month.

Also, days I don't exercise, I have the worst results. I will experiment starting every day with a light 5k run first thing. This will be in addition to kettlebell / calisthenics for strength.

I did complete a 20K trail race at about 9:30mile pace, which is fastest I've had at this distance. I followed that up with a break in the countryside for a few days to unplug.

1. 65k hands
2. run 5k everyday
3. study 90 minutes x 4 days per week
   [*}1 group or coaching session per week
4. get vpip/pfr higher by 2 points
5. go with the flow and enjoy the ride

amazing how much of my life i see in yours. been training for a marathon for a month now.

GL

Hey,

Glad to hear others have similar experiences. Best of luck in your marathon training, it will teach you a lot about yourself. It's a great feeling once you cross the finish line.

Had a great month until my last session in which I lost 20BI. I can say I handled it much better than I would have a month or so ago. Getting much better grasp on variance as I become more experienced.

I did get my vpip up and redline looking better. Trying to work on being less of a nit and less fancy plays. I did not hit my volume goal. I had to miss 3 days for being sick and take two 4-day travel breaks. I did hit my study goal pretty consistent.

I hit my 5k run goal 25/30 days. Going to focus less on running and more on kettlebell and strength training using what I have at home.

I'm moving in December and will finally have access to casinos nearby.(<2hr drive) I am pressing the gas to be stable in plo500 before then. I like to have 10BI for a shot take, so that is what I'm shooting for by end of the month.


October Goals

1. 60K hands of PLO
2. workout 5x per week minimum
3. study 1hr 6xdays per week
4. shot take 500 by end of month

I love those goals for this month. Subbed; best of luck! Although based on your general trajectory, luck hasn't really been a factor. Great read. Keep it up, sir!

Great blog, very motivating! What are the % you are aiming for regarding vpip/ pfr and 3 betting?

Nice Disco
And great results in september. Do you go to the gym, or what kind of workouts are you dooking? *looking for inspiration*

nice, i actually just started adding in running, usually just lift and do some light cardio. totally fkn blows in the beginning but you always feel great afterwards. gl on the 500 shot takes.

Yes, the runners high is very nice. I really liked doing local races, it's great energy and motivating to push for your PRs on those runs.

October Results. I had to take two 4-day weekends for travel, just got back from one and feeling fresh.

500 shot went bad, I lost almost 15BI. I was over EV entire month and hit way under during the 500 shot. I was about breakeven EV for that stretch. I'm not sure how I even feel about EV as there are many instances it does not represent. I also am not sure if it's even calculating run it 3 times correctly. I will still share it though for transparency. I usually run it twice to 3x with fun players and only once with annoying regs.

I also started the 500 shot take to record a session for my old coach, which he ended up no showing. I don't think I'll have access to him moving forward. He kind of stood me up that session but did apologize claiming personal issues. He was moving away from the game, and I am grateful that he made time for me the other sessions. The standing up with no notice did kind of sting as I was a fan of his poker career, but oh well. I only wish him the best.

I did see major mistakes at 500 and I'm confident I'll be beating them soon. I know there are very few at these stakes with my work ethic when it comes to improving off the table. This includes technically and overall physical/mental well-being. I will always be trying to improve, even when I reach my goal at PLO1000. When these regs are slacking, I am inching closer and closer to my goals.

I started with a new coach and first session was good. Will be working with him several times a month for the time being. I do lots of research before I hire a coach. I can't believe they allow players to post 100K sample (especially PLO) and offer coaching. It's not a relevant enough sample IMO and players should beware. It would be pretty easy to get steered down a wrong direction by a bad reg who is on a heater.

I hit kettlebell workouts almost every day. I didn't keep track, but I never took more than 1 day off. For November I will be doing 2 days kettlebell - 1 day cardio on treadmill or elliptical really focusing on pushing heartrate up for 20-30 minutes.

I have no trips planned other thank 1 day for Thanksgiving. Girlfriend also moving ahead of me to stay with her brother for her job until our apartment is ready. I will have 3 weeks of house to myself and be on the grind.

I've also been watching a lot of live vloggers just for the lolz. The majority of them are so bad it's unreal. One "pro" putting TT99r in 4way 200bb deep because," it's his lucky hand." They claim to do ok results wise because of how bad the real degenerates are. I can't wait to have access to these games.

November Goals:

• 65K hands winrate >4bb
• no off days - kettlebell 2x - heavy cardio 1x
• no cheat days for diet (except thanksgiving)
• study minimum 1 hour per day - only 1 off day per week

Probably won't shot take 500 again until I move, I just don't want to stress and no telling how quickly I will be setup at new spot. I have to be prepared to not be able to grind for a week or so in December.

Good luck to everyone. Don't make excuses, make it happen!

Hey,

I do not go to the gym. I bought a kettlebell and just grab workouts off YouTube. Lately, I've been using Lebe Stark YouTube channel. It's all free they are a kettlebell gym out of Switzerland with great content.

IMO, the kettlebell is the GTO workout option, especially for people at a desk majority of the time. So, I am giving it 90 days of hard kettlebell workouts and do some personal evaluation in a couple months. I'm thinking transition into a BJJ/MMA gym when I have a better muscular frame.

I never had great experience at the weightlifting style gym. Waiting for equipment, driving out there, people staring, girls thinking you are staring at them, etc I'm just not a gym bro lol. I don't think it's necessary unless you're going for a bodybuilder look, which I find unnatural and personally going for more athletic physique. It's also a HUGE time saver to workout at home.

Year end for online 4-card PLO.

I didn't get the results I wanted, but I don't think this is bad results for a first year full time player. I self sabotaged myself with awful play for a few months in late spring early summer. I know I won't make the same mistakes in the coming year.

I have now moved to where I have access to live games. The game of choice for the area is 5-card PLO. After some test runs I have decided to focus primarily on 5-card. In addition, the American sites are starting to add 5-card as well.

Moving was stressful. We had a hard time finding someone to accept us on a lease so we had planned on Air BNB monthly hopping around, but at last second an apartment sent us a lease agreement. This was like a week after they verbally denied us over the phone, so we were surprised. We are still in a Air BNB until mid January. We are isolated in the mountains, so it's kind of hard to mentally get in a routine. I've definitely been slacking in the exercise and diet department. I have been able to enjoy exploring the area, grinded live a few times, and spend time with my girlfriend and her family.

I'm working on my 2023 goals, but already know I want to commit to no alcohol for the entire year. I've never been full blown addicted to alcohol, I only drank like 5-8 times last year. My issue is that when I drink, I DRINK. It makes me depressed, I have the worst anxiety the next day, it's just not worth it anymore. I drank a couple nights before Thanksgiving for my girl's going away party and got blackout. Even though it was a fun time, I was depressed for like 3 days after. I just have no more interest in alcohol.

After Christmas play time is over and I am turning it back up on the routine. This includes diet, exercise, reading, and overall mental improvement (meditation, cold showers, etc.)

I'll be focusing on PLO5 from here on out. Will update new goals and gameplan for 2023.

Hey man!

Very impressive thread and results! I am currently also going through the process of changing from 4card to 5card and trying to grind out a living. Would you be interested in a joint study session? I study 5card for 2 hours every day but would be good to talk through real hands with someone in a similar boat Shoot me a message if interested. Otherwise...

GLGL

Overall Update:

My routine has gone to complete garbage this past month. I still grinded out a profitable month playing a few live sessions.

My last live session was swingy and it ended badly. I don't really tilt from bad beats, but I have an issue with mistake tilt. I made a HUGE mistake calling a recreational woman who literally would never bluff for 1:1 pot shove on river for 400bb with J9 on QT4K2 no flush on board.

Preflop was out of control multiway as usual with live poker at 1/2/5 5card. I had TTJ98ds on flop QT4r > I bet 3/4 she calls we go heads-up to turn > Kd turn she snap pots for $500. >This gives me the Dx flush draw as well, I call. Brick river, she tanks then shoves like 800 into 1k and I call it off with 2nd nut straight, WTF this is the worst donkey play I've made possibly ever. In theory it's probably an okay call but vs rec live player this deep I wanted to smack the **** out of myself. Ended up losing over $1,500 in the pot. I had to think long and hard on what caused this blunder.

As soon as I sat down that day, I got a text from my Dad saying my Grandpa had passed. I should have just left right then. I had made the drive and decided I would stay. Players all day were being disrespectful. Being already emotional, their behavior got the best of me that day. They would announce I have aces every time I opened, tell other players to fold, and just berated me non stop for 4 hours or so. If I didn't get the bad news that day I doubt it would have bothered me so much. I believe this led to my major punt to the recreational woman.

After the recreational stacked me she immediately racked up. Then she came back 2 hours later with shopping bags full of items and showed them off to her girlfriend who was still at the table. Can only laugh at that salt in my wound. She was a nice lady though, so I am glad I punted to her vs some of these bad reg degenerates.

My next day of the trip I just kept shipping it in marginal spots trying to run short stacks up and couldn't hit. I was still flustered from the day before and should not have been playing. I was making preflop mistake after mistake. I would never normally make these mistakes. Then I would be "committed" getting like 3 or 4 -1 multiway preflop and just ship it in short stacked.

I also think having no routine with diet and exercise made me exceptionally vulnerable to emotions. I'm still in an AIR bnb until Thursday and I can finally get back on my routine. I can see live poker takes a different set of skills.

Well, lesson learned. I'll be back to the live felt in a couple weeks with my mindset on point and those bums are going to have a problem.

I am enthusiastic with 5-carD PLO. With live access and online growing, I'll be focusing 100% on 5-card from here on. This means I'm starting over at 5cPLO - 100 online and 1/2 live.

While my currently hourly may be higher live, I think it is long term worse EV to focus on playing live. The rate of improving online is exponentially greater than live. Online gives provides several other benefits offering greater overall life EV. Live is also capped a 2/2 with $5 bring in , 5/5 seems to be rarely running in my area. I will be looking to battle at 5/10 eventually.

I will still go play live a couple times a month. Live poker requires a different skillset than online. It takes much more patience and not letting negativity bother you. It is also a lot less overall strategy IMO. Most pots are 4+ to the flop where you can't make too many moves.

Diet and exercise has been complete garbage. I'm weighing in at 182, which is probably 15-20lbs overweight for my frame. Starting to look a little sloppy got to tighten up. With moving and holidays I've had a lot of stuff going on. I wasn't able to stay consistent with a routine. Today is my last bad food day. I've signed up for a 10K trail race in March and my apartment has a tiny gym. Turning 34 this summer, want to be the healthiest in my life. Committed to zero alcohol for the year.


2023 GOALS

1) Be shot taking 5/10 by end of year. I'm pretty settled in life now, my primary focus for 2023 will be poker and health. Coincidently better health will improve my poker game.

2) I'm 183lbs will get down to 165. Complete minimum 3 races: 2x 10Ks + 1x half marathon.

3 Meditate first thing every morning for 20 minutes.

90 Day Goal

1) Grind 80/90 days

I will allow 1 day breaks when needed, but want to get this done as quickly as possible. Guessing I will take a day off every 6-9 days. I will commit to this exact routine for each working day. In order:

> Meditate
> Exercise
> Cold Shower
> Study 1 hour minimum
> Diet on point
> Play 8 hours broken up into multiple 2-3.5 hour sessions.
> Read before bed

I won't play unless I've completed all the above. Will report every 2 weeks.

This looks healthy and attainable! GLGL this year.