I'm still watching, just get updates once/week. I agree with above, you have to sprinkle in a bit of of what you're working on personally off the felt to really draw in readership.

You're a great writer, just bring in some more depth to the conversation and more people will start reading.

I took a week or two off from posting. I felt like I was playing very well, and I just wanted to focus on continuing to get the hours in. I enjoy using this thread as an outlet to get my thoughts out on paper, which will typically be when I need advice, or things aren't going great. In a few hours I am leaving for Vegas through Sunday. I plan on getting in a ton of hours, and I'd be happy to meet up with anybody out that way! I'm always down for meeting other 2p2'ers.

I just finished January on a really strong note, and the whole month was great. I played 1/2 200bb the whole month, and things really clicked for me. Below are my January results, and also my last 9 sessions.








Here's a hand that I'm happy about, I think it shows I'm thinking a bit deeper than I used to.

Villain: I had this pretty decent dynamic going with this kid I've never seen before. He knew enough that he should be 3b'ing people that were opening light. He was Iso'ing pretty often. He knew more than most people, but just wasn't great at applying it. (I feel like that's dangerous against good players). We had a few hands where I 3b him very light from the blinds, and took the pots down with either a double or triple barrel.

He opens UTG+2 to $12, I call in the CO with 44. He had been opening pretty light from all positions.

Flop ($25) 863

He bets $20, I call.

Turn ($65) A
He bets $45, I call.

I expect him to barrel an ace here pretty much no matter what, with our dynamic; I know he didn't want to just let this one go. So he has aces in his range, but I know I'm good a % of the time against his wide opens, and I think I can take the pot away on the river against his show down value hands.

River ($155) :3

Pretty sure he's going to bet his strong aces, and also his bluffs. So I'm planning on evaluating the bet size. He checks...now I think he has some sort of weaker SDV like 77-KK? I think those hands are pretty decent bluff catchers, but I think I can pull it off enough times to make it profitable. I bet $130. He calls. I sheepishly show 44, he shows KQ Thanks? Pretty poorly played by him. But I think I should be getting a lot of his SDV to fold.

But anyway, feels good to post again. Like I said, I'll be in Vegas tonight through Sunday. Really looking forward to it!

-Bob

On my layover...flight delayed in Denver. Everybody is wearing orange. Any thoughts on where the games have been best lately in Vegas? I don't really have much of a plan when I get there. I figured I'd just hop on Bravo when I get there.

Nice results Bob! Good luck in Vegas!

In the above hand I think we can very profitably raise the turn, with the intention of barreling the river. 99-KK hates that turn and even Ax definitely doesn't want to get raised there since our range will be flopped sets, 2 pairs, and some bluffs. I think he's pretty capped at AK here (except for the few times he flops a set), and I think we can fold out most of his range.

How did Vegas go?

"Discipline is the refining fire by which talent becomes ability.

Got this in a fortune cookie the other day. I liked it, and it's message is what brings me back to post today.

Obviously I've been away from posting for most of February. I truly had one of the best months of my young career, and I wasn't questioning my play. I didn't feel like there were many interesting spots to post, and I focused to the point where I didn't have many captivating stories to share. It was just poker. But I'd like to get back to posting more. When I was writing, it provided an extra dimension to this journey...there was on the felt, and off the felt. Balance between poker and life hasn't been an issue, but there needs to be more of a balance within poker, and writing gave me that.

First, I want to post my YTD stats. It's a fairly good upswing for mostly 1/2 with a spattering of 2/5. I don't believe its sustainable, but I do think it's feasible to remain in the neighborhood of these numbers with a $400 max 1/2 game, and mixing in some $1000 max 2/5.





I'm a picture fish...When I resize the uploads, they get blurry. Sorry.

Last night I had my first losing session in about 8 sessions. It feels worse though. It's hard to keep things in perspective, and have the mental strength to view your month as a snapshot, and not just consider the most recent session. It's hard.

Did I play bad? Did I get out played? Is this the start of a downswing? I need to win next session. -- These thoughts creep into my head, even despite having a brilliant month. I need a stronger mental game after losing sessions. In game, I believe I'm fine. The fact that negative feelings have staying power during an evaluation period is alarming. BUT HEY, sounds like using this thread can be very useful for things like this.

I want to post about yesterday's losing session, but I gotta take my son out for lunch. I'm trying to take him out to noisy places with a lot of commotion at least twice a week. Not sure how many parents read this thread, but I'm hoping that he'll get used to these situations, and it will help him cope with it as he gets older. He's about 4.5 months old.

I'll be back to post about the session. I got angled, but it was mostly my fault that I fell for it. It was so stupid, and it has me pretty frustrated. I'd say it was 75% my fault. I'll explain later today, and I have a fun hand from a few days ago.

Thanks for reading.
-Bob

Great results Bob! Glad you recognize the mental leaks early and have a plan to address them. Best of luck in March!

Awesome read, keep it up you tell a good tale

Thank you, I would imagine the live poker PCG's tend to tell a little better story than the online journeys...I'm just happy people are reading


And it looked like a painting I once knew, back when my thoughts weren't entirely intact.

Okay so here's what happened last night. Looking back, I realize how bad I got duped. And it's seriously so stupid. I'm better than this, but I guess in the moment I could see how it happened. I've been so frustrated thinking about it today.

Theres a young kid who's been playing a lot, we'll call him Nan, and he's not good. He's kind of a wannabe baller...reminds me of a jersey shore type of guy, but skinny and Portuguese. He talks a big game, I guess he's generally pretty nice, but its all shallow...you can tell deep down he's pretty selfish. But whatever, its all beside the point. I've honestly never seen him win. In the 10-15 hours I've played with him, I've seen him lose at least 2k in the 1/2 game. Well, last night he was up a lot. Probably around 1k. Since this a rare occurrence for him, mixed with his over the top personality, he was pretty intolerable. He kept yelling to the floor guys to get their attention, and when they would look over, he'd just point to his stack. He thought it was super baller he had the massage girl for like 90 minutes. I don't know, stupid stuff that makes you go . He made 2 straight flushes against the A high flush, and quads vs AA....so thats pretty much how it happened.

He plays pretty passively...he'll make small bluffs, but if he shows any sort of extraordinary aggression, its always the nuts. He's basically a station. So it's late in the night and most of the table is formed around the idea that Nan is undoubtably going to dump his stack.

Then this happens. Button straddle to $5, Nan is first to act from the SB. I didn't watch the cards being dealt, but a few seconds after the dealer deals the cards, Nan says "okay guys, i'm only going to look at 1, if I like it, I'm raising big". And he made sure everyone heard him, and made it a big deal.

*you all see where this is going already. I feel like an idiot just typing it out*

So of course Nan looks at 1 card (I guess we're all suppose to assume he hasn't looked yet), and he makes it $50. Folds around to me and I have AJ. I know there's a decent chance he looked at both right away, then started to do his song and dance. But he's also kind of a splashy gambler type, so I did feel like there was a chance he's actually only looked at 1. I also block AA, so theres also the chance he's angling with KK, and I can just play the hand pretty straight forward. So I call. I'm the only one.

*now he "looks at both"*

flop: J83

lol pretty much worst case for the situation. He bets $75, I call

turn: 9

He bets $100....this is where i should have 100% realized what was going on and folded. I call.

river 7

He gets scared of a straight, and checks. I check because this hand is already f***** up and I'm frustrated. He shows AA and happily scoops the pot. I'll spare you the conversation that was had afterward. Basically I let him know that this sort of thing is typically viewed as pretty scummy, even though its not against the rules. But I quickly gave up, because he vehemently denied angling, and said he "swears to god" he only looked at 1.

I mean...the odds that he chose a completely random hand to look at 1 card, raise it to $50 (something he hasn't ever done), and have it turn out to be AA is like 0%. Which are all reasons that I was stupid to even play the hand in the first place. If he said "yeah, I looked at both, I just wanted to get some action with AA"....I'd probably be annoyed on the inside, but at least he wouldn't have known what he did was wrong. Continuing to try and sell the story just insults my intelligence even more. It was also a losing battle, because all of the old timers at the table were like "who cares if he knew, lying is part of poker"....which okay, sure. It's not against the rules, and I should have known better, but it's just kinda scummy. It doesn't help I already didn't like the kid, and that he was being a douche all night.

If I were better at poker, I'd just ship $300 on the river and fold out literally his entire range of hands, essentially turning my hand into a bluff. But I didn't.

I'm even more disappointed in myself, because I pretty much spelled out to him why theres 0% chance he didn't look at both, and it put him in an awkward spot, so he racked up and left. Which is just bad by me. I can't deny that. So pretty much a s*** situation all around. I need to forget this, move on, and think extra clear during my next session. If I let this hand linger, I'll pay dearly for it.

Dude, those are some sick ytd stats. I'm pumped for you, man!

As far as worrying about the future and feeling pressure it's a totally natural feeling, but always remember that it accomplishes nothing to worry about something you can't control. Try to focus all your energy on playing well, and whatever's meant to be will be. Also, you should definitely read Mental Game. I'd reccomend it to anyone.

Keep crushing man, I'm pumped to read the next update.

Thanks Water! As I'm realizing now, even good players are allowed to run good too. That's all part of it. I took yesterday completely off from playing, studying, texting...so I feel like my last poker session is long gone. Ready to move forward.

Man I wish I had the means to play live, for times just like you described lol.

We only have 1 rinky dink casino in central Illinois with like maybe 1 cash game running throughout the day. Don't sweat the wanskta, laugh it off and take his chips every chance you can with a smile!

P.S. Keep up the run good!

Thanks for the support! I saw your location was Midwest...its a bummer you live in a spot that doesn't have action, because the Midwest is typically pretty decent for poker. Maybe you can find some time to pop over to Indiana?

I'm hoping to see the kid again tonight. There's a 100% chance he'll approach me and tell me he promises he looked at only 1 card. I already have it planned out to pretend like I have no idea what he's talking about, and just keep playing.