Holy ****, heeeeeat! See you tonight my man.

Yep, never mind.

Faaaaaaaaaaark! Post some chip porn immediately!

Well done! Congrats on the nearly 14 k month

Duke... i ned teh pron

So I just arrived in Phoenix, Arizona a few hours ago and excitedly checked into my hotel. While I'm sad that I'm leaving L.A. for a little while, I am thrilled to be in a new city - this will be my third new city that I'll be making an extended stay in this year - grinding at a new spot. I've been a lone wolf on his own mission in L.A. for the last couple of weeks; it'll be refreshing to have a change by hanging out and talking poker with my buddy from Vegas, Pure Aggression, whom is accompanying me in this trip.

Tonight, I took off since I'm kind of tired from traveling and from crushing souls in L.A., but I'll be back on the felt tomorrow night. I should be playing just about every day that I'm here in Phoenix for - which is actually pretty stupid. I should have played every night in Los Angeles where the games were beyond terrific, and chilled a lot in Phoenix. LOL me...

I spent 23 days in Los Angeles and only put in a pathetic 15 sessions. Despite the disappointing output of volume, it was the best three weeks of my young poker career. In addition to the great results, I felt like I was coming into my own as a poker player. A lot of the things that I've learned recently and attempted to integrate into my game have finally started to work. 3-betting light, 4-bet bluffing, aggressive flop play, overbetting the river, getting maximum value, tilt control, table selection, seat selection, attacking weak ranges, barreling with equity, live tells, verbal tells, battling regulars... February was a bad month for me partially because I was trying to incorporate all of this stuff into my game which previously had been a pretty standard ABC style. But lately, everything is coming together - in addition to that, I'm running really, really well which only accelerates the process of learning how to work in new faucets to your game. The more quality volume I put in, the more that I notice all of these avenues to profit become ingrained into my procedural memory and my unconsciousness competence. The trip to Los Angeles, so far, has easily been the best decision I have made in my poker career.

Thanks, RobFarha for that recommendation in the chat thread

---------------------------------------------

Anyway, here is the stat-sheet for L.A.:

Los Angeles Trip (April 2-April 23)

Earnings: $12,054

Volume: 107.61 hours

Hourly: $112.02/hr

Winrate: +22.40 BB/hr

LOL, so sick... kind of reminds me of Barry Bonds from 2004 when he had a .609 on-base percentage.

----------------------------------------------

Aaaaaaaaaand time for some CHIP PR000000000N!!!

So I start my session off on a strong note by stacking this fish who bluffed off his stack with Ace-high vs my 55 on a 72233 board. Then, I end up bluffing off a portion of my winnings into a slowplayed KK. Disgusted at myself, I table change. At this point, I'm already up for $300-400ish on the night. But there are many fishies at my new table (which prompted the table change) - unfortunately I am forced to chip down to $500... a few hours later here's what I got:



So, I grab 4 racks planning to go home and get some sleep. Unfortunately (fortunately), as I'm walking back to my table, racks in hand, I spot a huge whale sitting at another table. I instantly request a table change and 15 minutes later, I've been forced to chip down to $500 - but I'm about to go head to head with the donation machine. I play with him, and two other whales who showed up, until 3 AM.

As Chris Webber would say, "FOR ALL YOU KIDS AT HOME", if you want to absolutely crush live poker, in my experience so far, table selection comes first. I spotted the whale VERY early. If I had been on my A-game and not planning on getting out of the casino, I would have spotted him even earlier. FAR before any of the other regulars. An hour after I am already at the table and $1200 deep with the whales, the table change list to get to my table is 10+ names long.

You gotta be fast. You gotta be decisive. Like a ****ing tiger. Like Heisenburg. Otherwise you'll find yourself 11th on the table change list. And you'll be stuck with whatever scraps I feel like leaving over.

ANYWAY, here's what I had at 3 AM (white is $100, yellow is $5, blue is $1):





------------------------------------------------------

2014 Stats:

+$17,112 in 275.82 hours (+$62.04/hr) +13.98 bb/hr

Also, I'm just going to get over the embarrassment and shame I feel and come clean:

I may have degened off like $3k in sports bets on Monday night. I started off by losing a number of small bets that seemed harmless at the time because, "meh, its just $50, its just $100, whatever..." but then that ballooned into more... and that turned into tilt... and that turned into chasing losses... and suddenly I was a whole new person who couldn't control his impulses, couldn't deal with the fact that I was down a lot, couldn't see the big picture and my goals in that moment... and just desperately wanted to win the money back.

Suddenly, my 5dimes account which had $3300 on it (which I was waiting to get home to Philly to cash out because they need like 43 different documents to send a ****ing check), has $265 left with a $1200 parlay currently pending.

I feel really disappointed in myself. I feel really stupid and was pretty depressed the last few days because of what I did. Its not really just the money - its the fact that I'm risking my potential livelihood that is causing me so much disappointment in myself.

I don't really think of myself as a "problem gambler", but I definitely have certain tendencies in relation to sports betting that someone who DOES call themselves that also has. Its kind of funny that I have never in my life stepped foot in the pits despite being at casinos 40+ hours a week and never have had any desire to either - but I just get some crazy degen thrill from sports betting and can't even turn the TV on and watch a game without needing to bet on it.

I made a committment to myself a while ago that I wouldn't make any more sports bets - 99% of the time, I don't bet sports or think about betting sports. But, 1% of the time I just think a $100-200 bet isn't going to kill me, and it'll be fun.

But its never ****ing fun. Ever.

I lose, then I tilt, then I chase, then I lose more, then I keep chasing until I win. This cycle has happened maybe two or three times since the start of the new year - eventually I was going to lose big. Eventually, I have to learn my lesson.

Maybe I'm just one of those people that always has to learn the hard way.

On that note, here are some pics I've taken recently. Not sure why I felt like turning this thread into my own personal instagram...

This is the **** I miss about living in the ghetto in Philly:



How Indian's store their cereal:



**** you see in California ewwwwwwwwww why does he even wanna touch that????:



My boy Pure Aggression conquering the wilderness



Young Duke before he was a hustler... I wonder what this kid would think of 2014 Duke...

at least you were eating Captain Crunch.....prolly better switch to them crunch berries since you're movin up tho!

That's not that bad. Playing five days a week would get you 15/21, so you basically took 2 extra days off while traveling to a new city, which I think is fine. 107 hours over 15 days is solid too, about 7 hours a day. You could do a tad better, but I think we all tend to focus too much on JUST hours spent grinding, kind of like a contractor forgets that they have to spend time doing the books, finding clients, etc. As poker players, we need to spend some time keeping records, studying, and booking travel/hotels/whatever. Don't get me wrong, you could play a little more, but it's not like you were lazy.

Uh oh, Duke on PEDs in this thread.



Sick session, well done, you're a regular Ron Francis! Let's see if anyone in here gets that.

Sorry to hear that you slipped up on this, but I do have some advice from my own sports betting experience, which is limited fortunately. You and anyone reading my thread know I'm a sports broadcaster, so I know a lot about sports. Hence, logically, I always thought I must be an awesome sports better. So I tried in college a bit... Always just losing back some poker winnings so it was "no big deal." I probably only lost a few hundred, but in college that's like a few weeks of partying money... I told myself I'd just bet March Madness every year cause that was so much fun, but I lost $200 the first year I made that deal with myself, so I stopped all together by reaching one simple conclusion.

Ready?

I, the sports broadcaster who knows sports, am a -EV sports gambler. Since I came to that conclusion, I've stopped betting sports all together, because I have only made like 5-10 bets in my life that were knowingly -EV:

1 & 2 - My friends had a tradition of putting $5 on the roulette wheel on a specific number every time they went to the casino, so when I went with them I did it with them so as not to spoil their tradition.

3-10 - When the Powerball or Mega Millions gets really really big, I'll buy a few tickets. This happens a couple times a year, and I've never done all the math but I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of them were actually +EV based on the odds. This obviously isn't a big deal.

So my suggestion is to acknowledge that you don't have edge betting sports, and that will hopefully help you stop.

Plus, you can find other ways to make games a little more interesting without really going full-fledged sports gambler on them. Fill out a few brackets for March Madness - those if you are smart are +EV anyway. Do a box pool for the Super Bowl... Get in a Masters pool... These ways the games are more interesting, but you're not dealing with a sports betting account or bookie, and you're just doing like $5-$20 a few times a year.

Oh man, that makes me miss living in NYC in Astoria, Queens. I loved that neighborhood so much and hitting up the corner store late at night was nice, since it was 24/7. Plus it just put me in a grinding mood being in the city.

Just read through your thread man... Sick ****ing grind! Keep it up, it motivates guys like me who are the same age and want to take the same path. Good luck in your future sessions.

back to back record sessions! sick... congrats!

Hey Duke, congrats mate! Excellent run you're on.

Great that you're incorporating new concepts into your game and they're working for you. It sucks about the sports betting, ultimately we've all got our own leaks that we are constantly trying to work on to improve. I would say try not to dwell on it too much, overall you have been extremely successful thus far and it's all part of the journey good and bad. You're a young bloke so are bound to have these kind of hiccups; most importantly you recognise it as something that is negative and you are focused on stopping it, it would only be a cause for worry if you didn't have this realisation.

GL

this video really choked me up when i first saw it and thought it might interest you. they don't really go into his troubled sports betting too much (mention it once), focused mostly on his drug addiction. he had many leaks off the table but was crushing NLHE tournaments and cash games before the NL cash games dried up in the 90's.



anyhow, i also have leaks off the table that i struggle to plug. hopefully we can learn from his mistakes.

Thanks for the kind words, everyone.

I was too tired to post any hands last night, but I'll post a few from Wednesday's session with my analysis and you guys can comment:

Hand 1

Reads: Villain is a loose fish. $460 effective.

Preflop: AJ EP. 2 limps. Hero raises to $35. Villain in CO calls. SB calls. Limpers fold.

Flop: ($115) AAJ SB checks. Hero checks. Villain checks.

I have the board absolutely smashed here so its hard to get value from much. I could also let Villain in CO bluff or allow someone to catch up on the turn.

Turn: ($115) Q SB checks. Hero bets $75. Villain calls. SB folds.

River: ($265) J Hero bets $350 all-in. Villain folds.

I decide to make a big over-bet shove here because he's probably never folding Ax or Jx. QJ is a hand that just got there and will never fold. If he has a missed flush draw, he's not calling regardless of what I bet and might not even bluff at it if I check to him. Because I have the board so smashed, and most of his range that even considers calling on the river has so many hands with good absolute strength, I think over-betting is best. In addition to that, there is a small chance that he could hero-call with KQ, QT, or Q9 since I can represent two missed flush draws.

---------------------------------------------

Hand 2

Reads: Same Villain from Hand 1. Loose fish. I have seen him donk-bet a couple of times in the last hour or so but nothing has gone to showdown. $410 effective.

Preflop: 55 CO. Hero opens to $20. Villain in SB calls. BB calls.

Flop: ($55) 722 Villain donk-bets $50. BB folds. Hero raises to $150. Villain calls.

His donk-bet range should be something like flush draws, 7x, weaker over-pairs like 88-99, and air. I think I can bluff him off 7x, fold out his 25% equity when he has air, get value from flush draws, and possibly barrel him off 88/99 on some run-outs. When he flats, I think he has a FD or 88/99. 7x is still possible but he probably will fold some combinations of that hand.

Turn: ($355) 3 Villain donk-bets $200. Hero raises all-in to $240. Villain calls.

I don't think he'd ever play 88/99 or 7x this way. I think he has a flush draw here a lot so I just put the money in.

River: ($835) 3 Villain tables AK MHIG.

--------------------------------------------

Hand 3

Reads: Villain is an unknown older guy. $1200+ effective.

Preflop: AJ CO. Villain limps MP. Hero raises to $30. BTN calls. BB calls. Villain calls.

Flop: ($120) AT5 BB checks. Villain donk-bets $100. Hero calls. BTN folds. BB folds.

Villain's range should be something like Ax, KXx, and then some premium hands like TT, 55, AT, and A5 - however, I think he might slow-play TT/55 sometimes. Against this range, I think calling is best.

Turn: ($320) 2 Villain bets $100. Hero raises to $325. Villain calls.

When he bets the same amount on the turn as he did on the flop, I can be pretty certain he has a weak ace or a flush draw. I think a bigger hand would have bet more to protect on this wet board. I decide to raise for value. My goal is pretty much to give him bad odds to chase a flush draw. If he folds, I don't really mind because I never expect him to bluff if he misses.

River: ($970) 7 Villain checks. Hero bets $225. Villain folds.

I think a lot of people miss value in spots like this by just flatting rather than getting value when Villain defines his or her range.

-------------------------------------------------

Hand 4

Reads: Villain is a bad-aggressive whale. He is playing literally 100 VPIP and 100 PFR. $1700 effective.

Preflop: 33 LP. Villain opens to $20 UTG+1. MP Whale calls. Hero calls. BB Bad-Aggressive Fish 3-bets to $60. Villain calls. MP calls. Hero calls.

Flop: ($240) A43 BB checks. Villain checks. MP bets $15. Hero raises to $110. BB folds. Villain calls. MP calls.

Turn: ($570) T Villain checks. MP checks. Hero bets $325. Villain raises to $840. MP folds. Hero raises all-in to $1565. Villain snap-calls.

River: ($3700) Q Villain tables A3

So, no real strategy in that hand... flop a set against a whale and get your money in the middle. But I just wanted to post the biggest pot of my career.

I was actually slightly scared when he check/raised the turn because 44, TT, and 52 are all possible... but so is A3, A4, and AT... so I put the money in.

---------------------------------------

Back to the grind tonight. Going to focus on playing my A-game tonight... I had a couple of bouts of tilt-spew on Wednesday night because of outside circumstances that I posted about... but hopefully I'll get that cleaned up tonight and play a solid session.

Bankroll: $19,400

Getting quite close to having a big enough bankroll where I can finally buy a car. I'm going to look into doing that when I get home to Philly.

Buy a used Honda civic so you can put on **** tons of miles

Yea I need something that is reliable, fuel-efficient, and can endure long road trips without crapping out. Traveling would be so much easier for me if I had a car.

Honda civic 100%, then you can easily hop from Foxwoods to Borgata as your heart desires

Or a Subaru Imprezza, if you're gonna be in any snow it has AWD.
If you're not in bad weather civic is probably better

I don't plan to be in any cold climate for a loooooong time

Worked at papa johns back in high school. Used to really like their pizza and now I think dominos is way better . Not that it is saying much. Pizza Hut is the nut low

I used to think pizza hut was terrible but whatever their new crust is is really good.

Old crust = soggy greasy sponge
New crust = good

+$2,174 in 7:00 tonight at Talking Stick Resort in Phoenix.

Obligatory chip pr0n:

[Spoiler]

$125 stacks. Greens are $25. [/spoiler]

The poker room was incredible. I loved how modern it looked and how friendly the staff was. The action wasn't bad either. Probably not as good as Philly, definitely not nearly as good as LA, but much better than Las Vegas.

Everything in this city is so modern and the locals here seem so much more classy than the ones in LA or Philadelphia. Its only been a day for me in Phoenix, but I honestly think this would be a pretty cool spot to live. It is easily my favorite city so far that I've visited - except for maybe Lake Buena Vista in Florida where I lived for a few months.

That said, I didn't really do anything yet besides walk around the Fashion Square area in Scottsdale. Eventually, I'm going to check out the Phoenix downtown area, Scottsdale downtown area, a hiking trail that's right by my hotel, and obviously the Grand Canyon. So Phoenix still has a long way to go to win me over

He's on fire! - NBA Jam voice

Btw your chip porn pic didn't load properly.

Try it again I just edited it