Hey everyone,

I want to preface this journal by first talking a little bit about myself. I've always played poker as a hobby since college (specifically just NLHE cash). Once I graduated I started losing interest and haven't played really since working full time.
Just around this time last year in 2022, I had this random itch of wanting to play poker again. So, I created an account on GG and started up some NL cash games. I was definitely a fish at first, as I was focusing a lot of my time on playing NLHE cash games, but with the combination of boredom and wanting to find a better edge elsewhere (albeit this is arguable imo), I started to play PLO cash.
I started taking the game very seriously in the beginning of March 2023, and haven't looked back since. Currently, I'm battling it out on the PLO10 streets with okay-ish results.

I've struggled a lot with what other players can relate to: mindset, tilt, and having a healthy study/playing habit. i.e I would get into the youtube rabbit hole of initially wanting to find good educational poker videos but end up watching content that was really just a nice dopamine fix. Creating this journal will help me not only be accountable to myself, but it will give me motivation to do better and stay disciplined.

As an American who is currently working and residing in Vietnam, it's really difficult to find like minded people (let alone anyone that plays poker). So, I also hope to be able to find myself in a community with like minded people and to also give back in some way. Just yesterday I had a +10 BI downswing in one 4 hour session. It was pretty difficult for me to handle it both emotionally and mentally. And to not be able to talk about it with friends that can understand what I go through just sucks.

Last year, I took almost a year off of work to initially spend time at home with friends and family, but during that time I invested so much of my time and energy on poker that I feel like I HAVE to make this work or else it will be all for naught. Ultimately, I dream to one day use poker as an income tool to give me the freedom I value. I'm passionate about the game and more than ever-determined to get where I want to be.

Here are my personal/poker goals for the end of June 2023:
- Meditate 15 minutes before every session
- Go to the gym twice a week
- Cut out cigarettes (I have the habit of taking a drag from a housemate after a tilting hand/ cooler )
- No weed or getting drunk on the weekdays
- Watch 4 RIO videos every week and take notes
- Find a poker discord/ community and participate actively
- Have a positive winrate in PLO10 reg tables
- Play 40,000 hands

Year end goals of 2023:
- Have a positive winrate in PLO25 reg tables
- Enjoy the journey


I currently have a BR of $510 (withdrew a good chunk recently for life expenses). If I find an interesting hand or have food for thought, I will update the blog in the middle of the months, but I will 100% update the blog after the end of every month to reflect on the results. I hope you guys will be able to ride along the journey with me. LFG!

I updated the thread title as requested. Let me know if I misunderstood what you were looking for.