Hello Everyone. Thanks for taking a look.

Story: So here is the deal I have played online live and cash games with friends from college up until now. I have a lot of fun with it and if I can make a couple bucks on the side while all my friends are sleeping because I work night shift I figure... well why not. Usually when I play live I play 1/2 NL with a couple shots in 2/5 NL depending upon the game. I am an average player but I do study the game and usually come out ahead... in poker and then either the alcohol or black jack sees my profits or original deposit. In 2/5 I pretty much broke even but handled my own when I did take the shots. The reason I decided to post this here is for a couple of reasons:
1) Community and motivation
2) information and insight
3) feedback on random hands
4) it is the most thorough and helpful sight I have seen for beginners through to aspiring pros.

I know alot of people post about HUD but I have no experience with anything of the sort. I plan on using pokerdominator to track my sessions. I find online play much harder than live just because of skill level. I do not have the patience to grind macros and find that on the site i play on (money locked on fulltilt I hope it comes back soon ) .10/.25 NL relates most to "actual" play. So I plan on putting a $200 deposit and moving up the ranks slowly. If I break even I will be happy. Just want to get better and more patient and not let TILT on blackjack watch all my BR go down the tube which has happened a few times.

Goals: To become a better player online and in prep for Live games
Control Tilt
Cash out once per month any excess of my bankroll and update my monthly results... prob till at least $500
Check in daily and post at least one weekly update on my blog... even if its just to say "I worked 7 straight days of overtime."
* There is a weight loss prop bet of $800 up for grabs that the weigh in is on Memorial day and that would be a nice personal bonus before a wedding I am going to in Hawaii.
No Reloading
Not letting sports bets or blackjack cut into any of my BROLL

Sorry I can not be as specific as play xx k hands or anything like that. This is mostly just a challenge i made for myself because of not having any of my usual friends around due to my work schedule so I will make something productive of my downtime. Again this is meant to be something I will be doing in the in between with my work schedule and summer coming up I have no idea how much time I will be able to dedicate to this weekly.

If anyone has any input or suggestions for level stepping and BRoll management I am all ears. That is probably my weakest areas.

This post give me two weeks to prep mentally and take all suggestions to heart. I am very excited to begin this challenge and see where it goes... or CAN go. I appreciate all the help and dedication of this site to helping its members. Even when browsing the forums the hand histories and explanations have been phenominal. So much so that I decided to begin my challenge.

I wanted to do more post wise... but who knows if anyone will even be interested. If anyone would like more info or details let me know. Hope to be an interesting story. Thanks for Reading now shuffle up and deal...

Hey bud, welcome to the forums.
Good idea on starting a thread, it's definitely a good start.

I play MTT's so I can't give much info in regards to advice, but will be following along and look forward to seeing how you go.

I'm not much of a tourney guy cause of the variance... I get enough of that with blackjack and roulette... Gotta stop doing that. But I would hate to be the bubble guy and not get anything after numerous hours.

I was just recommended MEntal Game of Poker for Tilt issues and control... so I will go pick that up later today. If anyone has any other suggestions I am all ears. Please let me know.

Alot of graphs and such I am seeing from the HUDs I am curious as to what does the graphing mapping and calculating. Is this something I should look into more before I begin my journey. I see alot of mixed opinions of it and am curious what all opinions may be. Also picked up Theory of Poker to go with the mental game of poker.

Well got some good news that I can get a little game on earlier than planned. Not online so it wont be counting towards the bankroll... however my buddies that are getting married in Hawaii this summer are going to have a double bachelor/bachlorette party in AC. With my schedule I will be off as well that Monday Tuesday and Wednesday. So I will be staying down from Saturday the 27th to probably the 29th or 30th just to get some live practice in. I stay at the Harrahs Resort for the fast bar service. I am close to platinum card status because of my degenerate blackjack and video slots... So I will probably do that for the comps for the rest of the year. And then after that I will try my hand at some poker. The games there in the morning fill up slow but on tuesdays after the pool clears out and the drunk lushes start to play alot of free money goes on the table. I would like to play at Borgata which is always more full and people say is easier money especially at 1/2 and 2/5. We will see what happens... any AC regs have any input???

So I got theory of poker about two days ago and I am done about a quarter of it. Just the general idea of taking what you would do if you knew what they had and playing differently as a loss is new to me. I feel as though I put too much focus on the monetary end of it. I know I am still new and doing this for consistency and developing my skills as opposed to making money. Alot of the people on here are tracking their $per hour which I guess is important and when I see how low mine is... thats when I get sucked into the black jack... take that buy in and double it in 30 seconds. Sad thing is I click that button while telling myself... I shouldn't be doing this. So I really hope that other book The Mental Game of poker gets here so I can resist that tilt and urge. Although its not just in a gambling sense I feel like that filter has never been in control. My impulse control. I want to go abroad. Plan a trip and be in the UK for 17 days. No real planning just touring. I know poker is more disciplined than that and I can do it... for a while. I guess it just comes down to how long or what you put the motivation and drive on. I would rather blow the money for a CHANCE of it increasing than lose the TIME and INSURING it does something. But now since I work nights and there is literally nothing to do social wise it is imperative to change that stance. So hopefully like I sad that is something I can control.
I took a hit when a buddy wanted to go to VF casino in King of Prussia. Video Slots... but it was more for fun. I just wish they didnt charge you for drinks which is why I am so much more excited to go to AC for the bachelor party the 27 of April and then be down there a few days to get my mind off work and really just refocus and enjoy myself because I have been working wayyyyyyyyyy too much recently. Plus I want to be mentally ready once I do begin the online challenge. From other US player I have on question would you rather play on Lock or Bovado???? I know you can actually use HUD's on Lock but that was one reason that I wanted to stay away from there. To me I have no experience with them. Any suggestions? Alot of people say they are necessary to playing online. Does it just track opponents and such???

Mental Game of poker finally got here today and to be honest I haven't been able to put it down. I mean when you sit back and think about it there are alot of *facepalm* moments that I have been guilty of. I have been practicing new bluffing techniques and timing on Bovado and someone recomended I check out Carbon Poker.
I still do not use HUDS or anything like that but tried it there and like the variety. Bounty SNGs and just more overall traffic. So with what I was practicing from theory of poker I built my roll up to 233.xx and will be moving that over to Carbon. Plus no foreign transaction percentage fees and a more accurate deposit history.... I still dont know how much my degen BJ cost me on Bovado.
There was no OT except for Thursday so I am hoping tomorow and Wed to get in some volume and continue technique practice for very small stakes and maybe do a couple SNGS.

Initial Roll from Bovado 200
Current Roll 233
Net +33 and Practice and Knowledge.

Take it from me ask the site for a self ban from the table games ect.

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Yea oak thanks for the tip. I just think of how much more xp I could have gotten if I didn't piss away multiple rolls chasing $. That's one reason I wanted to start the blog and get mental game of poker which I am hoping should keep me in check. I know I haven't gotten fully rolling yet but the community will really keep me motivated and pushing to get better. Can't wait to post pics from Ac live this weekend

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Subbed, looking forward to the progress reports, gl sir

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hey mate, got a msg off you but mustve accidentally deleted it or something cause I can't find it now to reply to. But yeah, DEFINITLY look into getting a hud. and very good choice with theory of poker and the mental game. They were the 2 I was going to recommend but I see you beat me to it haha

to put it simply, my HUD wasnt working for a few days a couple weeks ago, rather than playing without it I just skipped entirely even though i REALLY wanted to play, it's just THAT essential.

You buy those right or subscribe to them???? What exactly would you recommend for micro stakes and such

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HUD free and still going strong... I want to do more research on that before I begin to use it. I have been doing a couple tourneys as well as .10/.25. Would be up more but lost with A8 to A9 when we both hit our ace on the river for what i thought was a good win. But I didnt push all in so I am getting better with not focusing on the buy-ins won or lost per play but just solid play. One toruney I was ss of about 11:1 came back and placed second. Pretty solid play today. AND no black jack temptation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Roll- 317.xx
Initial- 200
Net- 117

theres 2 main ones, Hold em manager 2 and Poker Tracker.
up to personal preference, both do the same thing, but I think most tend to go with HEM2 especially if there computer can easily run it.
You can get a small stakes version of HEM2 for cheaper than the full version, it'll cover cash up to .50/1 (I think...) and MTT's up to around $30.

Hmmmm I will be checking into this more often IF I see continued success. I was riding a pretty solid heater so took a step up and lost 2 buy-ins quick not that I would have changed the way that I played them. First I took a hit on top two pair to a set off the flop... He only raised 3x the blind so when it went back and forth I knew all he could have was a set... I was HOPING for an over pair on a pretty dry board. Second a guy beat my trip Q's with a 4 draw straigh with 89off. I raised 6x the blind... Guess there was no forcing him off that hand. However I am still up. I was up to about 450 when I took the jumps up but when I fell to 400.xx I called a stop.

BR 400.xx
Initial 200
Net: +200.xx

So just a fast update... I played really well on some hands that would have busted me. I did make one bad call on a top pair but using the board as my kicked that cost like 35 in a hand. Ran Qq into AA and lost with Aks to Ajo.

I have been trying to improve my game with the books and such pot odds etc. So here is the hanf I busted on.

I have k8 suited diamonds and the way the game was going everything was called... So there is raise to 13 five callers. Including myself. My stack is only 120 after coming back from the ak to aj loss crushed... I played really well short stacked... Imo.

Flop comes out 3d 7d 8c. Bet is to fifteen 3 callers 4th raises to 30. 2 fold and 3 call the 30 including myself.
Turn 4s. I am still really hoping for a diamond so I can shove. With a meager stack now of only 80 and change I bet thirty five.... Guy behind me calls and the third reraises..... To put me all in. At this point don't I just have to call by default. I mean top pair is probably beat but a flush wins like a 300 dollar pot. You can't push out 60 % of your stack to fold unless your dead in the water. So the dude behind me acts out of trn and goes all in. So I know he is in.... So I push.... Needless to say I lost but was that the right move for a pot so big and with the potential to have the nuts hand???

There were no trips... The two other hands were two pair and a straight

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Well everyone who maybe interested I am back from the debacle in AC. IT was a great time for the bachelor party and boy did AC kick my ass. Not Poker... You can see from the above hand I posted into from the table after busting once. I bought back again and cashed out once I was even... then I headed to Black Jack and Roulette and got beyond raped... I still cant sit down. I did however meet my goal of getting platinum status... So that should be good come winter time when I have won some buy ins off of online and can head down to do some 2/5. I actually didnt go to the Borgata much except to chase some skirt and get some decent food. The harrahs resort food really sucks and tony lukes and panda express actually felt like digestable meals compared to that garbage. I am hoping to get some photos updated to make this a little more personable... I did not even think of taking chip stack photos. On a side note we did hijack a limo and it pulled up to bare exposure with a giant inflatable dick hanging out the window... So I thought that was a rockstar moment worthy of sharing for a laugh.

When I was down there I wanted to play with my friends who were playing blackjack and roulette... so it really wasnt all because I just didnt want to play there. But maybe I gave the live guys too much credit. One guy would shove with 2 blinds in the pot... Others would constantly play suited connectors on the button and fold to a hard reraise 7 hands in a row. It was good to practice the bluffing. I got discouraged though when I saw an old regular who I remember from multiple sessions there just get dealt winners. Not that he is a bad player he is actually very good but within and hour of sitting down he had 800 and would call a 200 all in hoping for runner runner for his straight and make it. I didnt stay to see the end but I know he was only a stack of red birds from that pretty orange chip.

So when I came home I was more motivated to try some new strat out on the internet tables which like I said there is a much more skilled talent pool at least I like to think so. I have no hand histories but can boast some pretty solid play. I try the strategy in the double up games because you can really learn timing when people are getting swallowed by the blinds. I placed 2nd in the 20 SNG bounty and collected four of the bounties. Went in ahead but lost the when my A7s was beat by A6o. He caught his 6 on the turn but it was a PFAI. So I did get it in good. After all my reading and mental prep I do feel more settled behind the screen. Live I think I still had a couple tells. Like calling possible ranges outloud or just looking pissed when my set gets four draw straight or flushed on the turn with 3 other callers.... I mean it really blew me away how loose people were playing.

No HUD yet still looking into it.

Internet BROLL 765
Initial Deposit 200
Net + 565

Side Note.... they keep telling me that my document uploading is inadequate... I have sent different pictures and I am not sure if I need all three I sent my license and a statement from my bank. I know I am not the most tech savvy person but if anyone has any tips it would be much appreciated. Hoping to take my first payout in may at the 1k mark

Any other tips or suggestions keep em coming. I feel like I will be making a couple attempts in .5/1 tables while I am playing in the bounty SNGs and double ups.

Hey everyone... I know I haven't posted or even played in a while so today I came home and played some cash... and also did some degen blackjack. Karma must have been with me after my beatdown in AC. Because I got my roll up to 1500 and took a deep breath and said to reward myself.... or make up my AC losses. So I cashed out 500. So now that I consider myself "Starting" as planned I am going to see what I can do with this roll. I haven't done much other than play basic ABC and double up tourneys for 10 and 20 dollars. The bounty tournies I really like the 9 man much more than the 6.

So I want to make this thread more personal and have it feel more like a sense of community and everyone else taking the trip with me. I dont know how to make all these cool graphs and such that everyone else has and I'm sure that at this whole process I am more than a total nOOb... beyond noob scrub noob. But I did find a tracker called poker dominator... that I will work on keeping up to date. I will not have much time to play this month as the 2 weekends I have off will be attending weddings before Memorial day. Sucks that its during the poker maximus event.

So my May goals:
[ ]16 hours a week.... Sorry thats all I can see myself having time to fit in right now.
[ ]Updating poker dominator for cash sessions and being able to learn how to post a graph.
[ ]1500 br in time to cash out another 500 come next month. More would be fantastic... but I am not greedy.
[ ] Not lose motivation: One reason I started this thread was for the sense of community. I find myself especially when sitting at a stand still trying to make moves... Or taking shots at blackjack out of boredom... THIS IS BAD. Me bored leads to very bad things. So I dont want to piss away this Broll especially when I have been playing pretty solid lately.
[ ]Try a couple MTT's. I have had pretty solid success in the SNG's the double ups and bounties and even the few hyper turbos here and there when I am bored. I want to see if I have it in me to grind out a long tourney and even if I dont cash have it not in me to go tilting and degening at BJ or changing my style of play to "make up" my loss
[ ] Look into a HUD and learn how to post graphs.
[ ] Non poker related but the weight loss weigh in is on Memorial Day. I havent been doing much but changing my workout to be less lifting and more cardio. So far I am down 13 lbs and the leader is down like 18. With a little extra work I think I can catch him. My goal is to be 250 or lose another 10 lbs. I think it is very possible considering how much I could swing weight for Rugby in college. So I am going to take this more serious and hopefully hit 250 by May 27 the day of the weigh in. >3lbs a week shouldnt be too difficult.

Happy May... and if anyone has any other tips or tricks or just general ideas to help me out I am all ears. This has been the single greatest learning opportunity I have been able to experience and I am very thankful I found 2+2.

GL with this goal, hopefully a big year for ya!

Got drunk and degened 500 on BJ. So I force withdrew everything... and will be taking a break. I need to seriously learn impulse control. It makes me so made knowing I was up about 1500. now its only 800. Why do I do this to myself??? Do I want to see the big cash right away??? Do I think I am that good??? I cant even answer the questions myself. I know it is mostly out of boredom. I just cant control myself. All the work that you sit there for setting up and its gone. I need to seriously Read and reread both books. I think it is for the better.... this forced withdraw. One it is almost summer time. And two I am not the most focused with all these weddings and spring fever. I know I need to work on my impulse control... desperately. So I will take out my chunk and put that towards the Hawaii trip. With only luck afterwards I will be more focused and driven. You know all the work and grinding I have been doing in the past month disappeared over the course of 3 hours. That is the sickening thing. And its not even what I was studying or working on. I was developing my game to be better at poker. Not blackjack..... I am so disappointed in myself. I think I have lost myself sober.... Any help or tips. I need to find something to control this before I begin. That will most likely not happen till after June. Untill then if anyone has any Broll mangement tips (besides me being stupid anmd spewing I know) like what levels to start at... When to withdraw etc etc. I feel I was really getting to be a competent player. Not great but just ABC odds player eval hand ranging etc.

unlucky mate. don't let it get to you. Worse thing you can do now is get in a mindset of "well I just blew part of a month's winnings, **** it" and make more mistakes.
Good decision on withdrawing.
Give it some time and come back when you're more focused.

If you really want to quit just self exclude yourself from whatever site your playing BJ on. Focus on the fact that you know with good play and good study that poker CAN be a profitable game that you can somewhat control, whereas BJ is just degening money away and HOPING to get lucky. You seem to know you made a mistake and that's good, atleast your not making excuses. Chin up

Yea I mean I have been reading and studying a lot. Sad thing is I was playing really well. I am reading and rereading Tendler's mental game of poker and that is one of the reasons I decided to post on the goals forum is for motivation.

My problem is this: I used to have a side business with my new job and schedule I had to be bought out... So I have all this time where I am off on a tues wed Thursday with nothing to do. No more store to work at... Nothing to put my extra time into. And like alot of the other posts I read I am a social creature so I can't just do this poker thing and work all the time. So I train for rugby and getting myself into better shape etc. I guess I just havent found the balance. Again I know I am still pretty new to the forums and don't know how to graph and such but when I see people talking about their win rates I fall into the trap of wanting all the glory right away. One thing I did read in the book is no athlete makes money in the gym. Jordan didn't Dawkins didn't Lewis didn't... That's where you pay your dues. And in the gym with regards to sports I do work harder than anyone and I have not been blessed with a lot of natural athletic talent. I worked myself to be an all American candidate. I have to be able to keep that mindset on the poker grind. Not being able to expect winning every session. Just playing good poker.

Also my mind isn't fully on poker... Its on the upcoming buyout case for the business which will be resolved in July. And my stomach churns just thinking about the drag out case this is going to be with people I still consider good friends. And I will do anything to get my mind off of it. Even if it means pudding away personal money... But the issue is still there. I don't want to make excuses I know how stupid what I did was. I just want to not keep traveling in circles... Building a roll and blowing it out of greed or poor decisions. Especially when I feel my game is getting better and better. I have been putting in the time to study and work and would be nice to be able to experience the benefits for once.

On a side not who knows if I win this weight loss competition I told myself I would take half the winnings and usr it as a bankroll to start the grind. The reading and studying continues my breakdown and mental profile from mental game of poker osvvery thorough. I will hang it up over my computer playing area when I begin again.

Big thank you to all the 2+2 ers and support this community has made me a. Better but most importantly a more responsible player. I can't not thank all the subscribers and contributers enough