Like I've said elsewhere, I ss at tougher tables and play deeper at softer tables. The 2/5 isn't always good; 5/10 is only on occasion. (FWIW, I don't ss at 1/3 anymore.)

Down $140 today, up a little at 5-card, down $90 at 2/5 and 1/3 apiece. Just getting no hands, although made a comeback at 5-card after losing AATTK+nfd against bottom set HU and dsAA234 AI pre against KKds (same suits) after I 4! dsAA over action tilted V's 3! ad got two caller and flopped the nut flush, so not entirely unhappy with this outcome.

Talked some more with my poker "crush" and in the course of our conversation found out indirectly that despite working on (largely gay) cruise ships in the past, dancing as a hobby, and having a FB photo of himself with a dude with his arm around him and a comment below it that says "what a cute couple (of guys)!" that he's straight and yet hasn't been in a relationship since his gf of two years ago. Oh, and his best friend is gay. Smh....

probably doesn't want to hurt your feelings

Home game tonight with friends. Will see how I feel afterwards.

Even if he's not gay, at least I now have a potential friend. They're hard to come by.

Well and if he has gay friends, pretty sure your dating pool just expanded anyhow...

True. Plus the fact that he has gay friends means he won’t be weirded out by me.

Up about $100 today between home game and a little 1/3 with friend Dennis afterwards. Just as I was leaving these two good high steaks players sat down and according to my friend terrorized the table. I was exhausted having gotten less sleep than usual the night before, plus I'm pet sitting, so I didn't stick around to watch the spectacle unfold. (Thankfully the dogs left no gifts for me on the kitchen floor.) Gonna try to get back on a decent schedule tonight.

Now that I know for sure that I'm not getting laid by this dude, reached out to an old OKCupid fling. Thankfully, he was responsive after losing touch for several months. We agreed to "drinks or coffee" (sex) soon. Sent each other some recent photos. He looks better than I remember.

For the first time in a while I can say that I have absolutely zero motivation to play today. None.

Gonna drive over there soon....

Up $430 at 1/3, didn't want to do anything too high-variance or mentally taxing today since I really didn't wanna play to begin with. Flopped a set of 3s, got the double, then won a medium pot with AA. That's pretty much it. Called it an "early" night.

Couple hands from last night plus some stats after fiddling around with my filters.

Ordering food over the phone when I am dealt AsAh UTG1 with UTG straddle on. Somewhat distracted, I limp, continue to place my order, SB min-raises and I elect to just call going three ways. Flop: J-T-5sxx. SB bet $20, we both call. Turn: 2s. SB $50, call, BTN folds. River: 8s. SB x/I am not completely paying attention to the hand and didn't realize BTN folded, so I check. SB has KJo and MHIG. Probably should have bet $100 otr, especially with As.

Then my food arrives and while I'm eating an inactive V opens to $16. IME in my 1/3 games these sizings are consistent with large Ax hands. I have AJdd and accidentally muck face up. People are surprised and I chalk it up to "I'm eating." Nothing to see here....

Unsurprisingly, my 1/3 game has improved drastically. Last 200 hours I'm 8.5 bb/hr. Last 400 hours I'm 6.7 bb/hr. Overall I am still in the mid-high 3 bbs/hr. though. 1/3 fish!

I have cashed in 55% of my sessions (444/802) over 2,800 hours. You don't have to have a high winrate to make good money. I think winrate is overrated tbh. Also, it can be artificially inflated or decreased depending on what you count as a session and whether you leave soon after being up during a session. I don't put too much weight on this metric. Hourly is still the best metric of success in this game. This month so far I'm at $33/hr. over 120 hours (and counting), on course for a good month.

This month I have purposefully played less 5-card (while also playing more 5/10) because, tbh, the swings in Omaha are just too brutal and stressful. Last month I went from being up $6k in my first week to just $1.5k a week later, then up $7k in the end. It was a roller coaster that I didn't enjoy at all. Quality of life/longevity is important when doing this full time. I bet if someone did a study of mortality rates due to heart failure the rate would be much higher among Omaha players compared to HE players. So this month I am back to a lower variance BR management strat. Less 5-card, more 1/3, some higher limits when games look good. Maybe I will kick it back into high gear in December.

Up $1,750 tonight, most from 2/5/10 AA AI pre five ways against AKhh A9dd QQ and 88 - and I held! Won a couple smaller pots with top pair. My new friend says it’s because I decided to eat vegetarian tonight. If so, I’m gonna see how going vegan works out for me!

Rungood: I held! http://www.propokertools.com/simulat...AhKh&s=generic. I won a flip!

Up early to reply to a work email, decided not to hit the snooze button afterwards, and I have dinner plans with friends tonight, so I think it makes sense to put in a dreaded morning session for a change. *Cringe.*

From yesterday:

Stuck to the plan, played during the day, mostly 1/3 for just a few hours, made $40, then enjoyed some bronzino fish with friends, now off to early night's sleep. It's OK to take it easy once in a while.

Made $100 today, $240 5-card, then 2/5/10, didn't really go too well the first hour so just left for 1/3 the rest of the night where I lost another $30. Should probably have stayed at 5-card, it was a pretty good game, just wasn't feeling the high-variance game tonight after doing so well this month so far. Up just shy of $6k now, hoping to break the $8k mark for the first time this month.

Late start, gotten be up early tomorrow for work day trip in NYC. Will be my first time in the new World Trade Center, so that's interesting.

Told my mom about my results this month (she appreciates updates from time to time lol) and she said I've been working hard. That was awesome validation I definitely enjoyed hearing.

Slogging through another Nandez 10-week transformation module now (they are so boring and his voice to monotone!). Will probably ditch it 6.5 weeks through in favor of another course. Spent $500 on it so far, don't think given my pace it's worth another $500.

A little 1/3 tonight just to pass the time before coming home to get some sleep before early wake up for train to NYC in the morning. Up $130, AA v. KK AI pre held, KK v. A8ss AI pre held, and that's pretty much it (lost a couple pots calling and missing with 77 too). Considering I've only been up since 4pm, I guess I'm about to try to take a mid-day "nap" now...? Had rolling thunder beef to go when I got home, always a good way to sedate myself, hopefully will do the trick.

Any hooker stories bro?

No, and no venereal disease stories, either.

On subway back to get train home already. NYC was cool to visit for a couple hours. Presentation went fine, although I started off a little rocky. Haven’t given a presentation in front of strangers in a while. Gained confidence pretty quickly, finished strong. This girl from my undergrad creative writing class was in attendance. Small world.

The “new” WTC is awesome (even though I was in WTC7, not the main building). Photos later.

Gonna hit it early today after getting a great night's sleep. Oh, and as promised:

No Borgata?

No sleep. No time. No way no how.

-$230 2/5, -$90 1/3. 2/5: open QdQs BTN, blinds call. Flop A-9-Tdd. Checks through. Turn: A. SB leads $25, BB folds, I call. River: 6d, SB $45, I call this 1/2 pot bet, SB has A9. Limp/call 66, miss, raise AQdd, miss v. 88, open QJ, get 3!/fold. Open QJss, x/f 979 flop to $40 bet from inactive player IP.

1/3 AQ misses, called one small donk bet, then basically bled down. Then some free bar poker. Now early night in bed again. Wasn't feeling very well today, perhaps lingering side effect from the lack of sleep a couple nights ago combined with lots of travel and the stress of the presentation. Hopefully will feel better tomorrow. Didn't really run well today though, that's for sure. Flopped one set, didn't get paid off (donk bet on Q94cc, I raised with red 99 as pfr, folds). Saturday continues to be my worst day BY FAR out of all the days of the week. Didn't help that today was a promo day and a bunch of players were just taking up space hoping to hit the lucky table, not really splashing around, just playing conservatively. Plus day games tend to be much worse to begin with. Not a good combination. Back at it tomorrow.

Feeling better today, got plenty of sleep, now coffee and probably a walk downtown while it's nice and sunny outside. It's hard to tell whether my "blues" are due to illness or something like not getting enough sleep one night. All sorts of stuff trigger feeling down, I never know what. Thankfully it happens less often and doesn't last as long as it once did. But I have been reflecting a lot lately on how far back it really went. Pretty far back, now that I think about it. Never really classified my symptoms as "mental illness." I just always thought it was generic depression or sadness.

There's this photo taken when I was just 8 or 9 years old at the kitchen table. We baked cookies as a family. I'm holding up two chocolate chip cookies I made on a baking sheet, one smiling and one frowning. Kinda sums up my life, actually. Strange I would suddenly think of that photo. I haven't seen it in years. The brain sure is a mysterious organ.

It's kinda a double-edged sword to be open with people about it, too. There's a lot of misunderstanding and ignorance surrounding mental illness. I told my OKCupid date about it and he asked "do you think I'm bipolar? I'm moody, and I get angry really quickly sometimes." I told another long-term friend and acquaintance who I used to see about it as well and he asked "did you ever do drugs?" Thank you, Nancy Reagan, for your informative ad campaigns showing "your brain on drugs." You see, all us sick people, we're just former crack heads who fried our noggins and have no one to blame but ourselves. :O

Lost $200 today, -$500 5-card (AA77J 4! to $215, lost to J933x who flopped bottom set against my nfd and two overpairs) and won $300 between 1/3 and 2/5. 1/3 flopped bottom set against top pair. Was up a good chunk at 2/5 after flopping top set JJJ against an OP but then bled down, mostly due to missing with ndf against a set (V would have paid off if I hit, and he bet very small ott). Kinda rough session as I was very preoccupied mentally for a while, just not feeling well, but thankfully things turned around eventually. Would have been nice to book a win but oh well.

Up $560 today, $330 2/5 and $400 5-card, down $170 1/3 where I was missing a lot, got raised once otf with 7d7s on 6h6s2h six ways, let it go even though unblocking hearts and this V has tried to bluff me in the past. I gave him credit multiway this time.

At 2/5 early going was no good, I tried desperately to get involved in as many pots as possible with fun player to my left VPIPing anything suited, alas it wasn't meant to be as I didn't make it happen before she left for the pit. Eventually table broke, I iso'd 9s9c UTG1, four callers including UTG older Asian man unknown but hasn't really gotten out of line. Flop A74, checks through, turn 9d bringing bdfd, checks to me and $55, only UTG calls. River: Ac. He checks, I think it's gonna be hard to be called by worse since diamonds missed (I have no diamond), as did 56, so who knows maybe I induce betting small, so I go $50, he tanks for a while and c/r to $175. I am not sure I can be called by anything less than aces full if I raise here so I call and he has A2 for trips somehow. I heard muttering by a couple regulars at the other end of the table, seems like they might have though I missed value. Maybe I did. I certainly wasn't completely focused on my game today, just trying to get by, Also got plenty of value from a big donor, iso'ing him huge and value betting postflop, the usual. Double barreled JJ on Kc-Tc-4s-6d (no club), checked A river and MHIG. Against this V it's a mandatory bet ott.

Yeah, was not feeling great today again, down/sad/stressed, powered through it though and booked a win. Hopefully all this will subside soon.