Going to attempt a $10,000 challenge playing mostly $1/$3 NL & may toss in some bigger games if appropriate. Winnings will be used to pay down some medical & credit card debt. Have a big year upcoming family wise and this injection of capital will be extremely helpful.

Writing down my thoughts will help keep myself accountable & motivated. Additionally looking to improve my mental game & general attitude which has been a big leak the last year. Tracking as much data as possible to re-evaluate and see if the challenge makes sense to continue.

Will also dedicate some time to study & improvement on the game itself. This will be done via low stakes online play, reading a few poker books & watching training videos. Plan on having significant waiting list time's for live games - Focusing on reading more books as a different means to study for this challenge.


Books on my list to read
-Metal game of poker
-Elements of poker
-GTO Poker Simplified
-Modern Poker Theory


Goals
-Win $10K
-Play few events in WSOP Hammond late February 2023
-No Slot's / No Black Jack or other forms of gambling
-Improve metal game & study
-Track as much data as possible

First session in the books. Went and played Friday night had to wait 2 hours 10 min to get a seat on top of an hour commute to the casino! Won $347 in just over 6 hours.


Will go over a few hands, thoughts and the notes im taking while playing. Not exactly sure how to structure this without it turning into a wall of text - any feedback would be good.

1)
First hand I sit down and see the following actions

EP raise $20 and gets 3 callers
QdJd5x - x, $40, call, or xraises to $180 MP folds (says he had AA after hand) and next to act calls.
Turn: 4x - OR jams for about $480 and guy hems and haws ends up calling

OR shows QQ for top set and the fishy guys shows Q9o drawing dead in about a $1,420 pot Just to clarify this is $1/$3 with a $500 buyin cap.

Feelings: after seeing this hand I'm feeling a sense of entitlement. How can you lose in this game? Need to curb that, no one deserves to win anything even though there are some mega fish here. Game is very good.


2)
some player notes:
@mega euro rec
- says to another guy I put you allin (for like $30 more) when he obviously has Aces. This is a pet peve of mine when but considering how fishy this guy was gave him a pass. Dealer clarifies rules to him and says thats not a valid action and he needs to put some chips out.

-calls a short stack jam allin Multiway for $75 w. KJo - leads into a dry side pot for $25 (main pot is $210) 78TK

@fishy guy (guy from hand #1)
-cold calls 3b on button
-just calls river bet w stone nuts (no one said anything)

@baller w. flashy ring
- limps AJo UTG in a btn straddle pot for $11, snap calls an LP iso raise for $75. Axx flop, xx, turn brick, snap leads $150 into pot and gets no action

3)
7:30PM - Feeling a bit tired and need to take ****.

9:20PM - card dead, lots of folding pre, can't catch a hand. Take a break and walk around for a bit. Table dynamic is changing with some new younger kids who have sat down.

Hand: Limped pot multiway to me and I toss in $2 from the SB with J7o
FLop: 89x - someone bets small and everyone peels including me
Turn: Tx - BB now donk leads for $15 into about $60, i x/r to $60 and he ships his stack for $105 Shows QQ
River Jx and he takes it down

4)
10:45PM - down a bit in for heaps at this point. Big hand incoming-

Utg $11 fish mp call, I 3b co KQss $35 both call.

Flop(pot $105): 6s7sAd x, x, I $50, call, fish (from hand #1) clicks to $100, call, call
Turn(pot: $405): As, x, fish $100, I jam $320, utg call less fish call off $1220 pot
Utg says he has a smaller flush, fish a9o, river bricks

Winning a bit on the session now

5)
Stack $1k
Pick off light bet (bluff?) w 88 on k6x9x vs A6o btn v BB

12am - Feelings: fish still has $250 stack playing every hand but I've been card dead. Room dying down and plan was to try and leave at 12am. Up a bit. Gonna play last orbit then walk around and re evaluate. Try to get out of here...

12:22 - last hand:
Open utg AQo in straddle pot to $20, fish calls from blinds
Flop: K3ccx, chk, chk
Turn: Ax I $20, he call,
River: Jx fish leads $50 and I just call, He shows A3o for 2pair

F that fish - time to bounce out

This caught my attention and I'm glad it caught yours. I've seen losing regs in my room make similar comments about how much they *should* be winning and I just shake my head. My approach to this situation is "omg look at much I *could* win. Look at the value here" knowing full well I could lose 500BB's in a couple of hours just getting unlucky. It's important to recognize a good game when you see one, but it's also important to recognize it wont always be good *for you*. Hell I've had to abandon ship while up in good games because 3 pros sat down and I never managed to get the god seat so it's no longer really my table anymore.

Following, good luck!

Session #2 in the books -$39. Headed out to the poker room after work - Weekday sessions are not ideal as I have to leave at a reasonable time.



Another 2 hours transit time (round trip) but only had to wait about 15mins to get a seat this time.

Recap:
Todays game was another great one - started off fairly good & got better as the night went on. I got into the game for about $800 and basically broke even. Was happy to leave at that point. Very disappointed I could not get any momentum but ran well towards the end of night to get back to even.


1)
1st playable hand:
3 limps I raise AQo $15 otb, all call
Flop ($60) 5h8h2d: x to me I $35 only utg calls
Turn($130) 2x: x, x
River($130) Kc: UTG leads $60, I call and win - utg shows A7dd

HH#2
I pop 3 limps in position to $15 w/ QsTs, 5 calls
Flop ($90) 9hTh2x: I cbet $40 and bb jams for $80 total, I call he shows 99 and scoops

HH#3
I overlimp CO w 44, btn raises to $15, all call 4 way to flop

Flop ($60) KJ4dd, x round - I considered donking into the pfr but he looked ready to bet so x
Turn ($60) Ax: mp leads $40, I raise next to $120, folds back to MP and...

I miscalculated his stack a bit and also he did this very weird hollywood act. Shuffles cards in his hands just in front of him but off the felt, he really seems confused and I thought he was just going to muck but then jams for about $300 total. I call off - River bricks out and he looks at me like his flush draw bricked but of course he has QTo says some odd comment that made no sense. Anyways that was like a $700 pot in the wrong direction.

Shoulda put more stock into his poor acting but ehhh I have a set. Disappointed how I played this one but I reload.

3)
7PM - Game is really good, super loose preflop players limp/calling 10x opens pre. Feeling frustrated with that last hand as my instinct was screaming after his hollywood act.

This next hand goes down, missed the fine details but the jist of it is:
EP (fish) limp/calls $20 pre.
Flop 678r: and there is some heavy action with a donk lead, a raise, and a call
Turn brick 2x: somehow EP ends up jamming and the aggressor calls off. Pot is about $700.

River Qx: EP proudly announces 2 pair and shows Q6o - the other dude mucks without saying anything.

4)
7:30pm seat change, table is dying with lots of people leaving and shuffling around. Table dynamics are shifting with new players and some regs coming in.

Thoughts: Seems like these $1/$3 players really have no strategy to win. They are just limping completely random hands and calling looking to hit. Basically zero 3b! and 100% limp/calls vs any iso. Seeing the strangest hands get shown down followed up by weird comments that make no logical sense.

Having a hard time really doing anything as I keep wiffing or going very multiway to flops where my hands shrivel up. If any check back is done for pot control or bluff catching the OOP player seems to ALWAYS bet out after. Its like they just float with trash and have the intention to take every pot away if shown weakness at all. Fine strat but they do it with hands that anyone who looks at a preflop chart would never even have in that spot.

8:30PM - seat change again for position on several loose guys

5)
Some reads & hands

Pickup KK vs very loose guy from Q6o hand. He seems to have tightened up since winning. I $15 utg 3 calls, including guy OTB
Flop Axx: I x/c $25 from btn
Turn xc: I x/c $40
River brick: goes x, x and btn shows AQo

9pm feelings- a bit tired and headache. Down bad vs the guys limp calling every hand. Keep wiffing. Planning to play a bit longer then I'm out


Thoughts: why do ppl raise to 11 using 3 chips vs 10 and 2 reds. Just slows the game down by dealer needing to make change all the time.

@tiltysunglass fish
Open limps MP, I $20 hj w/ 97cc, btn, sb, BB and MP limper call
Flop ($100) 356hh, I cbet $50, mp call,
Turn 7x: I jam $200 he calls and shows J6hh
River 4x and we chop. He than tells me I got lucky

-somehow he ends up losing the minimum with AA vs KK when there is a K on the flop

@hollister guy
-open limps ep weak and tries to steal vs any x
-v bad has limp called $500 down to $100
-he straddle btn, I open w ATo he jams $110 w a2o and we end up chopping


@newkid ontheblock
-He Opens $25 on my btn straddle, I flat QQcs and bb joins. 224hhd he cbet $30 I raise to $100 all fold

-He opens $15, 1 call, I 3b bb to $55 w aa, he calls
Flop($125) 557r: I lead $40 he Folds. I almost always check this OOP online and heavily considered it as he only had about $200 behind w $125 in pot already. Possible blunder here but don't think it really mattered as he prob had nada

9:50pm - feeling better picking up some hands taking a few smallish pots down

@ny hat guy
Limps utg qq straddle pot, utg2 $25, 3 calls, he lr 125, or calls
Axx flop he jams 150ish

6)
11:15pm decided to stay game is really good now. Got the murders row on my left, 3 guys who have called every single hand, usually limping or calling any open. Zero **** given.

I straddle btn - 6 limps to me I make it $30 otb, sb bb utg and co call. 5 way's
Flop KTxr: x round
jx turn x round river 8x, utg limper leads $80 I call he has q9o for straight

7)
Plz let me pick up some hands!

-I straddle utg, table limps to me I $45 9d8d, 3 calls,
KQxdd, I $110 all fold

-Btn straddle to $10 2 limps I $40 co, ako 2 calls,
qxx flop x round,
turn brick ep $50 I call,
river kx he jams $200 I call he has qx no good

I stopped taking notes at this point but I picked up a few nice hands vs guys who are never folding. Got to +$100 at some point but then lost a few small pots and called it a night around 12:30AM. Long drive home.

Still not sure how best to properly format this as im basically just pulling notes from my phone wordpad.

glgl op, really glad you're documenting everything like tips and drinks and yes I'm being serious

can you do a post giving some background like when was the last time you played poker very seriously and at what stakes etc?

what general part of the world are you playing in?

I think you should adopt a 4x+1BB preflop raise strategy. Leaving too much money on the table.

H1 i think you need to barrel turn here. You stand a reasonable chance of extracting value from draws and even getting some random pairs to fold. A lot of players call cbets with 5x or 8x just to 'see what you do' on the turn. Resorting to trying to bluffcatch too much with ace high is a recipe for disaster since players do not bluff rivers very often and in fact will 'valuebluff' with random pairs. You're going to look really bad when you x/c and fold to 75o.

H3 ignoring the slowroll you seem annoyed that you didnt know you lost to a 4 outer? You cant put him on a straight just because he 3bet the turn. Also dont be tilted by the slowroll, a lot of times new players just do this for no particular reason. They're nervous, they dont understand showdown etiquette, they're just slow at everything they do, etc. Treat it as a sign he's a passive rec and go after him. And from a pure strategy POV, I prefer calling his turn lead instead of raising. We want to keep the initial raiser in the pot and since he checked the flop it's unlikely he has a big hand so we can keep his range wide by letting him in with all pairs that might want to peel for the river. When you raise here you're basically announcing that you slowplayed something so everyone is going to fold to watch the fireworks between you and the other guy.

Absolutely - I think self reflection is extremely important. Not only in poker but even more so in life. I value thinking about many things in a philosophical sense.

Thanks!

Thanks! I usually just document results in an app but never tracked this miscellaneous things. I'm extremely curious to see a large data sample. My round trip transit to the casino alone is 2 hours every time. Then waiting on average another hour to even get a seat. Add in the rake and tips ect. ect. and a small winrate might turn into something smaller.

I've always been aware of these things which really hinders my motivation. Right now in the short term I'm highly motivated by this challenge.


My background is fairly typical - got into poker around the money maker boom. Won a bunch online and even played "pro" for a little bit. I mostly focused on SNG's & MTT's back in the day. Enjoying the ability to multi-table tons of games at once. Once black Friday hit I kinda moved on with life. Although I do love the game and still play a lot - I would say im a serious recreational player. Online game selection is extremely limited for me - playing from the USA my only options are basically unregulated sites such as Ignition and Global.

I would say 50NL-100NL online & anywhere between $1/$2 - $2/$5 Live is where I spend most of my time these days. Occasionally jumping into some of the bigger monthly online MTT's if I can satty in or some of the live circuit stops in my area. Mostly just play for fun these days at stakes I find reasonable - weekend warrior style. I do find the online games now days to be extremely difficult and filled with good players. Live however is soft as butter for the most part. I still enjoy keeping current with modern strategy and try to study or learn a little bit more every week.

Playing from the USA around a major city, Chicagoland. Live poker is alive and well out here at the moment. The lower stakes games are thriving and there is a ton of action and guys with lots of money out there.

Thanks for the feedback! In general I agree with the 4+1 bb/limper rule however as this game has an odd number for the BB i'm not making it $12 or $17 pre using white chips slowing the game down. Maybe I can and should round up with redchips though. I am however going to try and focus on this next time by making my PF raises just slightly bigger to account for limps.

I find most limp/calls ranges to be inelastic and the true number needed to get a limp/fold is much bigger. With that being said most of the $$ is won postflop and many low stakes players have zero awareness of what betsizeing represents. Counter argument would be by raising slightly smaller I can raise a few extra hands while also keeping stack depth deeper postflop. I will lose slightly less post flop when I wiff most of the time putting no additional money in the pot but can still make up for it when I connect with larger post flop bets.

Also I was not involved in HH#3 - just a hand I had observed to illustrate how much crazy action there was in the game.

Weekend session in the books: +$663

This is going to be a long post, trying to think of ways to break up the wall's of text - will add a few photos. Tried taking notes on my phone in a new format this session - basically in a timeline style with #'s as I progress in the sesh.



Waitlist time was almost an hour and half. I will be bringing the books im looking to read with me and heading back out to the car while waiting. I find this a good use of my time while also keeping me away from the flashing lights of the casino slots looking to drain my bankroll.

Pregame: cigar and Elements Of Poker. Recently picked up some Cohiba shorts. Pretty tastey and strong.



As im reading some dude walks by talking on his cell and I overhear him say "the world is corrupt but that's not me anymore."

Plan: play till midnight.

Thoughts on Elements of Poker: Did Tommy Angelo create the word for the Cutoff position? A lot of this stuff in the first section I am already very familer with. Double checking this book is from 2007 so quite old but I know there is some gems in here. Its good to re-enforce some of these concepts I know to be true. Playing A game vs B vs C. Lop off the bad parts and focus on the good. Quitting is important to practice. One of my big issues with live poker has always been I feel like i've invested a lot of initial time up front to go play. Commute takes an hour to get to Casino, waitlist takes an hour to get a seat. Game generally plays very slow and I do actually enjoy playing so I want to maximize my time at the table. I only get to play once or twice a week so I want to enjoy myself as well. However, its always more fun to win than lose. OK book so far - was able to read about 2 chapters.

Waitlist time: 1hr 25mins

Was also sipping on this Monster called orange dreamsicle. I usually like to start with some sort of energy drink to kick of the session. Long day at work and need to switch my mindset to poker mode. It was tasty but probably too much sugar to be a good energy option.




@velvitsuit
#1Very first hand I buy btn, folds to btn who r $13, I call bb w 4s4d
Flop 556ss, I xc $20
turn 3s, xx,
river qc I xc $35 he show k3o

#2few hands later I $15 utg 4 calls including a poster and bb velvet suit.
Flop: Tcjcx I x, caller ep bets 75, bb@velvitsuit jams for 320ish, I rejam 360ish, all others fold.
Runout 9x qx and velvet suit says 2p, I scoop. He leaves

5:50pm stack $805ish after about out 15mins. Agroish looking kid sits w poker bros app and bag w chips. Immediately bluffs off stack vs guy who calls w bottom pair after power limping 23o ep. Kid has tjo on 9q2xx
He gets called for 2/5 and bounces

@mag grey hoodie euro
-v loose pf. Limps 23o, agro post with big bets.
-#3limp/calls 95o ep wins a good one on q55xx vs a reg

6:10 guy wins big pot and racks up. Says he's been here all day and his son let his dog out, and can't leave him too long...I think **why can't son let him back in?** What a random excuse to justify his hit and run. Just pickup and leave no explanation required.

#4 @mag grey hoodie
-he straddle btn, one limp, I $30 lp ajo, btn $120, I fold he show AA

#5very next hand utg open $15 i3b $55 w AA all fold. I show and we joke about passing cards around.

#6 I lead Limped pot w 55 on 456 all fold
Call down kto Limped pot mw on k23r my sb v bb, BB leads $15 every street w/ KQo

Thoughs: 6:30pm taking notes both distracts from game but also helping develop w stronger reads

#7@oldindy
I Open $10 w/ 99 utg, he call btn bb call 3 way
Flop 777 i $20, btn call
Turn 4x I $45, btn call
River 2x I x, btn x and I scoop - did I miss a river value bet? Would hate to have to bet/fold here

@oldindy
-seems v loose pre, limp calls 45 pre, will bet when x to.
-Lc 75o and wins a big one vs kk on 678a4, angle shooter? accidentally minraised river bet on this board and had to call floor

#8 next hand-@oldindyopen $10, I 3! $50 btn w aa He folds and leaves for 2/5

#9@badaznreg I $20 AQo ep v btn straddle. 2 calls.
Flop j7xss, I xc $35 bet from @badaznreg he has less than $100 left
Turn as, xx
River 5x I bet he folds

#10@mag grey hoodie
MP open I flat qjo OTB, @mag grey hoodie3b! $40 MP call, I fold
Flop 6c6c8, MP donks vill call,
Turn 4x MP leads big, vill call
River 2x MP jams vill calls 99v 67o about $600pot

#11straddlepot I open $20 ep ajo, 2 calls @badaznreg jams $55 total, I make it $155 all fold
K54x4
he shows k5o and scoops

#12 straddle pot 3 limps I $45 co ajcc, only @badaznreg limp/calls w $125 behind. Preflop he says bla bla bla I got action hand I have to call now - makes me think suited connectors or junky small pair
Flop Qxxhh I decide to commit vs him and cbet $75, he calls
Turn Kx he donk jams $55 I call,
River qx he shows TT and wins


Thoughts: 7pm feel like my image is getting too agro, I'm picking up lots of hands and raising over limps, winning almost every hand I open at showdown or with cbets. I really dont understand but there is zero 3! and zero open raises, zero check raises. Everyone just continually limp's and calls. Game is good. After more thought on this post session - I guess no one at this table even understood images though? Hard to understand what these fish are doing other than - "I haz 2 cards lets gambool"

#13straddle pot, I over limp co w 99,
flop q9ddx, old nit leads $6 into like a pot of $35 I raise to $25 all fold. I should have raised this one pf but again felt my image was too agro to keep doing it? No clue what the old nit was even doing with that bet.

#14 UPDATE
90% of pots start with multiple open limps. Game is so passive and weak. After putting so many hands in online this is almost unfathomable to me. Was at $900 but now at $700

#15@backhatdego
I strdle btn 3 limps to me x j8o
679ss flop @backhatdego lead $15 I call
Turn 5x he $50 I call
River 2x he $125 I call and chop w a8o
-open limps a8o oop, leads weak mw and continues to fire w no fear of 8T. Possibly I should have raised the turn w/my freeroll but he could easily have the nuts here.

7:15 thoughts thinking about that aj hand too much. @Badaznreg is now walking since he tripled up. Need to move on.

#16
@camobeard
-open limps ak utg straddle pot

7:30 thoughts: too many hands to record. Becoming a bit distraction and self conscious of people looking at what im doing


#17@bigboymasked
-seems v tight agro

#18@backhatdego
Straddlepot he open $15, 1 call, I call 66 otb, sb limp/jams $150ish. Vill calls w kjo like its the nuts? I fold. @backhatdego KJo does down in flames vs the QQ limpjam

Thoughts:
Bitcoin is pumping touched 20k!
How is everyone just limping in all these straddle pots? Game is so passive and no one is attacking

#19@camobeard
-zero smiles zero words, catchs a punt w JT on jtxt, and shows no emotion winning at $1200 pot. Good player but bad for the game.

#20 9pm @levijacket,
Opens $15 hj 96o, I call co 66,
Flop j7t he cbet $20 I fold and he shows. We chat a bit, nice kid but clearly a beginner with out a clue.

#21@bigboymask
I pop some limps in hj j9o, 3 calls co btn and one lmpr
Flop j5xhh, I xc $30 from @bigboymask in the CO
Turn Ax x,x
River 2h x,x. He shows TJo and scoops

#22weird hand: I open $15 ep, w/ 55 few calls
Flop 9Tss3, I x to MP fish who bets $45 and only has about $80 back. Next to act his buddy fish @levijacket jams $160ish. I fold, 1st flat caller @camobeard who calls off with w AA. Fish hems haws w 99 and calls off $80 more says he's worried about fd.
Turn 3x
River ax. Flopped top set vs 2 pair v AA and and AA scoops at the end.

8:30pm first dealer ever tells me I need to take my empty water bottle off the felt. Some reason this aggravated me - No more tips for her?

-last mega fish busts time to take a piss and walk. Stack $750


#33straddle pot, ep $16, I 3! $60 QQ from mp, next to act @bigboymask coldcalls. Ep calls.
Flop Kcjcjx - ep X, I X, @bigboymask jams for about $130, ep calls, I flash my QQ and fold
turn 7 river brick
EP shows A3cc and @bigboymask has 72o for the scoop lolz

What is going on?? This one was a real head scratcher. My read on the big boy wearing a mask was way off! He says some weird comment at the end before racking up and leaving shortly after, "better to be the agressor" uhhh.. wat? HU I call for sure but ep had me covered so was not sure about calling even w/ good pot odds

#34@camobeard
I straddle btn, limps 3 way I x k8dd
Flop T9xddh, @camobeard leads $10 I call,
Turn ah, he leads $20 I call,
River kc he $80 as a slight overbet I call. He has ATo. Prob should have folded this one but really he was the only other decent player and his bet was very polar. Well played sir.

#35@gooddood
10pm notes: dood next to me is a good guy talking about parlays and sports and ****. Ripping on @camobeard for no emotion. Trained sniper from the cia.

I open to $10 lp w T7dd, @gooddoodcalls next and 1 other call in bb.
Flop 7k8cc, x, I x, @gooddood $15, fold, I call
Turn Tx I xc $20
River 4x I lead $40 he calls w A7cc

#36@camobeard
I open $10 AQo utg he flats all other fold.
Flop ahthtx, I xc $20
Turn 5x I xc $50
River jx x, x he has AQ. Chop

10:30pm piss break. Playing good feeling good. Table is not that great anymore with camo hat guy on my left - hes good. Most of the limp/fish have busted. High point in stack about $1k - only in for my initial buyin of $300. Daily High hand room bonus is rolling over and getting big. Think I'm gonna grab some dinner, getting hungry and will re evaluate. Thinking about quitting per Tommy Angelo.... If I won more now it would not feel much better but if I lost at this point I would feel really bad. I still have a long drive home and things to do tomorrow.

Dinner at the steakhouse: Whitefish with mashed potatos and grilled veggies. Drink: stella artois - beer selection here is not that great. 9/10 stars - very good. Fish was amazing and perfectly cooked.



After dinner I decided to leave on a high note. Random Thoughts: Why does it smell like weed literally everywhere in this casino and parking garage?

oof - bad session. -$405

Stopped for quick dinner before getting my seat - chopped garbage salad. 7/10 very tasty but just had standard ranch dressing. Had some chopped prosciutto bits that were really good. Shrimp was OK. For a $25 salad I expected more. Will not get again.




Phone died towards the end of session but


Thoughts: Monday game much more agro but still lots of badregs. Players really do not understand hand strength on boards.

#1 utg limp, next @buzzazng 18, I flat TsTc otb, rest fold
flop:245ddd, xx
Turn:4x x I 25 he r60. I c
River:Ad xx he has kqcss

Thoughts: nobody respects the check in live poker

#2 ep limp @buzzazn 15 mp sb call I call 55 bb, ep jams 72 azn calls, f I fold
Flop 5xxat. I was about 180bb deep w @buzzazn should I be calling here?
Bzazn show t6dr, old donk has qto


#3 I open red aa utg, 5 calls,
FLOP: Kq3hh, I x, short donk jams $40, w k6o, next calls k4hh, rest fold - I xr to $160, donk2 only has $215 back. He jams the rest in.
Turn: kx
River: 7h

Thoughts: game is super loose to my left v tight to my right. Need to flop some hands and be able to xr, possibly should look to limpraise pre

Phone dies and I head home shortly after

Another session in the books +$541

Lots of hands again, but just going to go over some thoughts and pick a few key hands.

Got into the game for $1k and was down $700 at one point. Made a nice comeback and the end hitting a few key hands.

Made a table change after about an hour -

6pm table change. Was not at good one w nitty older guys and one beginner fish

There are some consistent **** dealers here. Why do they share tips?

There was a wild guy at this table, running really well. Was jamming pocket 2's on the turn vs a guy who bet 75% of stack, and obv called off vs the jam with like 2nd pair and won.

He reloaded and ran his stack up bringing up this hand:

I open MP w/ QTo to $10, 3 calls.
Flop AK3cc Wildman x, BB $20, I peel, LP Calls, Wildman clicks to $40, everyone calls
Turn Js Wildman leads $100, BB call, I jam about $200, Wildman & BB call off
River 6c I lose to Wildman 95cc (bb shows K3o)

Reload $500!

Wildman racks up with $1,400 shortly after and leaves

Table change again.

Notes: most tables seem like **** right now.

People do not seem to understand absolute hand strength. Betting with weak pairs into mw pots. Need to reel back on bluff catching and start bluff raising. Bet sizes don't make sense always offering attractive odds to a caller

Need to stay focused. Make sure not playing passive and keep killer outlook. Must battle vs the fish weak ranges.

btn straddle $10 on, 3 limps to me, I $50 co w/ TdTh, btn calls we go 5 way
Flop ($250)
J74r donk short stack lead jams his last $65, folds to me I min click to $125 btn folds a J and we fade 85cc.

Notes:game is really deep most stacks between 300-1k. Most rounds are 1/3/6 occasionally 1/3/10

Make a $45 blunder calling down in a limped pot vs a fish with 3rd pair

Need to tighten up from ep-no one folds their trash and I'm oop making decisions difficult

So many punters need to catch one. Guy just punted $600 on a2x as a bluff

I open $20 ep w/ KK, 2 calls,
Flop qtx, I cbet $40, btn f, sb calls
Turn Tx sb x, I $60 he says well you probbably got me and jams $200 I call and fade vs his AQo

Weird hand here vs guy running really HOT

straddle pot, guyonfire $21 mp, new guy flats, I $80 ahkh, fire guy calls
Flop($180) kc2h5h, fireguy leads $100, I call

I've got the board crushed here so not sure i need to raise. We're both deep about $1k effective. I don't really understand what kind of hand could donk lead here in a 3! pot?

turn 7x ($380) he leads again for $100, I call

Again I've still got the board crushed and im really confused now - his betsize is odd.

River $(580) bricks out Tx - Now he slows down and checks - I consider my options but make a weak check back. He has AKo and we chop

Dealer is tilting me always chatting not following action. Not announcing straddle and allowing out of turn actions. Watching the game and spacing out. Can't tip him

Rake is $6+$1 almost every hand. Anywhere to analyze the effects of this on the game?

I strdl btn, ep guy $15, I $50 QQ otb, he clicks back $100. I call.
Flop Q94 he $100 I call
Turn 7 he x I jam $250 eff he calls
River 9x and i scoop

What app are you using to track?

currently using pokerbase app to track live then enter results & other data in a spreadsheet I made.

Another sesh in the books +$313

#1
I strdl btn, 2 limps, MP $20, CO call, I call btn w/ ATo, 1 limper calls
Flop ($86) AhQdJd - x, kid $40, CO call, I call, fold
Turn ($206) As - kid x, CO x, Hero... x
River ($206) Tx, kid $150, CO call, Hero... calls - anyone find a jam here? We scoop vs underfull & unknown hand. (Kx?)


#2
Ep $21, 1 call, I peel IP ThTd and call -
Flop ($63) - 782ddx - EP $40, call, I raise to $140, EP folds , next guy calls
Turn ($383) - x, I $175 and get the fold. Says he folded an overpair

#3
I open EP $20 akdd, 2 action guys call HJ & Btn
Flop ($60) A27hh - I x, ag1 $42, ag2 c, I call... considerd an x/r but we're fairly deep and im OOP - these guys are spazzy also
Turn ($186) Jx - I x, ag1 $69, f, I tell him thats my fav number and call again. My plan is to just let him blast off here.
Turn ($257) Jh - I x again, and ag1 bets $42, I sigh call and lose to A3hh
Doubt he was ever folding that hand

Currently upstuck and decide to quit shortly after having hit my target end time.

Games are good.

I think hand 1 is a jam. We're only beat by 6 combos: AQ and AJ. We beat and likely get called by: AK(4 combos), KQ(12), KJ(12), KT(8), K9-K5dd(5), QQ(3), JJ(3). 47:6 or about 8:1 we win hundreds more dollars.

I play a lot of cash on Ignition and I'm learning to make adjustments like this. I see Villains call jams with with basically junk in big spots like this live whereas on Ignition players are very cognizant of the potential boat here.

I agree with this. In the moment I felt I might have been cooler'd, if I jam I would never expect worse to call but defiantly gave way too much credit here.

Another session in the books +$457

Trying to finish out the month strong and get an extra couple sessions in. However, im begining to lose a bit of the motivation - travel to and from Casino & waitlist time is really starting to add up. Spending some time thinking about things such as winrate, rake, ect.

My original goal was to average about 15/hrs a week playtime - hard to do averaging 2 sessions a week with one coming on a weekday where my time is limited. Additionally if I say my (conservative) winrate is about 10BB/hr or $30/hr we're looking at 333 hours of required play time. 15hrs a week that is like 22 weeks or 5.5 months of play. Ideally would like to get the winrate up to $50/hr but not sure if that is possible at these stakes.

Anyways... on to the session.

First table was pretty trashy with not much action. Almost zero pfr's and just a bunch of passive stations who were hitting everything while i kept missing. Stayed way too long and lost way too much vs these guys when there are tons of tables to choose from.

I wish there was a better way to convey or illustrate the swings within the session but this one was super swingy. I was in for $1k down to my last $250 or so - switched tables and made a nice comeback.

Towards the end of the night the action really picked up. There was a guy shoving $280 pre without looking at his cards. There was kid who sat down with a buyin & a beer but literally had no idea what he was doing. Lost it all in about first 10 mins playing every hand.

Start of my recovery:
HH#1
I open $15 UTG, 1 call, actionguy 3! $45, next to act cold call's, back to me and I jam my last $215, ep caller folds, actionguy rejams covering me, coldcaller says lets gamble and calls off last $300 or so.

I have AcKc
Actionguy has A2o
Coldcaller has TJhh

Board runs out A77Tx and I triple up to begin a nice comeback.

I get upstuck playing KQo in a limped pot when a guy turns a gutshot and I have to stack off on river vs his small jam on Q9xJx

Stick around for an extra hour as game is still really good. Theres some spazzy guy who a baccarat player and keeps talking about the patterns he can see and how much he has won playing the game. I take a couple pots off him and he finally leaves. After that I call it a night shortly after.

Can you call ahead and get on the waitlist during your drive?

Where I play, they'll do that if you'll be there within 30 min.

my play time in the USA is very limited but most places I've played in allowed you to call ahead to get on the list

and dude, sick bb/hour

no calls in at this room although supposedly will be in the future. And probably running a bit hot with big blinds/hour but I have to think 10bb/hr is attainable at LLSNL

Does anyone else include your commute + idle time in your winrate calculations?

Just for reference I added a "True $/hr" stat which is calced as = (profit + total tips & other) / (session time+transit time+waitlist time)

Stopped in one more time for last session of the month +$548

Will go over some thoughts I had during the session then a quick month end summary. Going forward I think I will only be posting max of 3 HH's per session. Best played/worst played/most interesting spot.

There are definitely some spots I need to study up on. I am still making some mistakes here and there which are costing me often big pots. So many pots are multiway with me being out of position.

Study spots:

-going for value in Limped pots on river with medium strength hands. Should I be Bet/folding more often? I.e. 2 pair on 3 flush board. A4dd on 49cc2TAc when limped multiway. Is that river a valuebet?

-research how to deal with loose/passive tables where everyone just limps. I hate being the guy providing all the action

-To help keep focused in passive game --> start counting what my pfr size will be 4xbb+1bb per limp before I look at my cards

-when I iso raise in position vs fish limps and board comes down Ace high- usually I'm cbeting a high freq with range advantage and my size would be small online. OK to do this live multiway?

-need to punish limpers on my btn straddles. Just like online smaller bets with range advantage on flop big punishment on turns

-am I missing value with choosing to play a more defensive style? Ie flat calling ATs, and just calling down on akxjx board? Guy bets turn and river v small compared to pot size. Doubt he knows what a block bet is but was doing it and froze me - just betting his hand strength?

-When im out of position multiway im almost always checking - is that too defensive vs a super loose passive table?

January summary:


Results would indicate im running a bit hot at the moment but its really a small sample size for now.

Goal of 60hrs --> Played almost 54hrs so very close. Played 8 days this month so thats an average of twice a week which is good.

Idle time: 23 hours - seems like a lot of time. Almost 1/3rd of my total time spent im driving or waiting for a game. Not really much I can do about this though.

Money taken off table: $178 -->That comes to an extra $3.30/per hour or 1bb/hr. On top of the $6+$1 rake - seems like a lot but again not sure what else can be done here.

On to February!

2 more weekend sessions
-$379
+$619



Waitlist was almost 2 hours last Friday night - insane

Some Strategy considerations I need to reinforce --> Attack limped pots on my straddle vs weak passive players. I've always been of the mindset that the money comes from value hands at the low limits but feel like I need to turn the aggression up in these straddle pots. I see such trash hands limping then playing fit or fold very passive.

too many hands to recall but I'll try to get a few out without any reads:

Worst Play's:
EP AA♣♥ HERO raises $10 - 3 Calls
Flop 774r - BB donks $26 - HERO Call - SB Call
Turn Jx - sb chk, bb chk, HERO $50 SB Call, BB Fold
River Qx - SB donks $70
HERO Folds

Best Play:
EP opens $17, I 3B! $45 AKo next to act, one kid cold calls lowjack, EP Folds (he accidentally reveals his hand which was pockt 8's)

Flop: 493r - x, x
Turn 8x - hero x, villian $50, call
River brick - hero x call $60 and beat ATo

Interesting hand:

UTG Limp, Hero $15 KQss EP - 4 calls
Flop($75) Ts8xQx - X to Hero who bets $40, BB calls, UTG raises to $125, with about $600 effective
Hero folds, bb folds, UTG shows 9c

2 more sessions
+$204
+$630



Played a random weekday session and ended up at a dream table. One mega fun player ran $50 up to $1500 and he seemed basically clueless. At one point there was 4 to straight on the board and he and another player go allin. Both had the nut straight with 1 card in hand and he legit thought he won because his kicker was higher?

This guy along with another fun player agreed to go allin blind without consulting the table, so guy #1 in EP open raises to $50 w/o looking at his cards, then some guy who decides to run the fun looks at his cards and goes allin for about $200, the next fun player who was in agreement goes allin w/o looking at his cards and first fun player calls w/o looking.

Guy who looked at his cards ends up showing A3o - lol, fun player #1 shows 77 and fun player #2 has like Q5o or something. A3o ended up scooping a $600 pot with an ace on turn.

I was up about $600 at one point and decided to stay until the fun player left - ended up losing a bit back as he went on a tear and could not miss. He ended up leaving after dealer told him he must take his chips out of the rack if he wants to keep playing. I left shortly after as it was already getting late.

Weekend game started off a bit rough as it looked like a bunch of younger grinders were at my table and most pots were open raised. I lost a pot vs a whale when he 3b! A3o and I stacked off on the flop pretty light vs him. Was defiantly a bad impatient play by me.

Ended up switching tables and turned out to be a good decision. I was in for about $1k when I switched tables and ended up making a nice comeback. Few funny hands:

HH:
Limped 7 way, I'm otb w 89o and overlimp
Flop 788dd, checks around to me and I bet $10, UTG mega nit calls, Russian guy raises to $30, I call, UTG now just grabs a handful of chips but first says "what's out there I can't see" after the dealer reads the board to him he makes it like $120 or whatever he grabbed, Russian calls, and I fold.

Turn Tx - UTG nit now just open jams huge and Russian shows 86o and mucks - UTG shows everyone 77 and is very proud

HH2:
2 limps to me I open $20 ksqc, 2 calls
FLOP Kctc5x, check, check, I cbet $35 both call
TURN 4x, ep donks $35, next guy calls, I pop it to $160, ep folds, villian calls again
River Ac, villian now donks $320 allin, I call and he says good call
I had some good reads here and villian was previously spewing hard - the Qc swayed my decision here

HH3
Couple limps I open $20 87ss, sb calls
FLOP Kx9s3s, sb x, I $25, sb calls
TURN 6s, sb x I go small $30, sb calls
River Ks, SB donks $100 and I just fold meh. should have went bigger on turn but prob just lose vs his call anyways

Pick up shortly after and leave

Update?

Played two more sessions last week
+$250
+$197

Games are so good it honestly blows my mind sometimes. My strategy for now is to focus on value betting, reduce my bluffing to almost nothing & let the bad players just blast off with weak holdings vs my check's. I'm mostly playing a very defensive style as every pot is multiway and players just don't seem to understand absolute value of their hands.

I was upstuck in the first session and got a little tilty during my second session. Friday night I waited for 2.5hours to get my seat - once I was sitting my patience seemed to wear thin. I saw several people get kicked out of the room for fighting and there just seemed to be negative energy floating around.

I snapped at some old rec player who decided to reveal his hand in a spot where he is never calling and then went on to Hollywood as if he might call. I was not out of line calling the clock but not something I usually ever do. He was pretty much just an old cremudgin nitreg who does not add any value to the game and he really got under my skin on this night.

Another kid was playing pretty much every hand, but ended up in spots where he always had a big decision and would tank for. ev. err.. I had to call him out and ask him to play a little faster, reminding him that this was 1/3 and not the WSOP. No cameras here sir - he did not like this and yelled at me before leaving.

On the weekday I ran my AA into an action guys KK and held up for like a $800 pot. I open EP, he 3b! to $40, I 4b! to $125 and he jams

This got me out of the hole as I was mostly card dead for the night. At one point I was playing 4 handed vs 3 mega fun players and one action guy. Unfortunately I just could not catch a hand.

HH (not mine)
4 handed action guy is straddling his btn to $15 - a couple limps and he raises it up getting one call. Flop is T7x and limper check/raise jams HUGE vs his cbet for like $450. Action guy snaps him off - limper has T8o & action guy has ATo.

On Friday night I was in the game for $1.3K - usually im setting a stoploss at about $1k but the game was so juicy. There were two action guys one who had a $2K stack and was playing every hand. He was just super systeming the table with pure aggression and no one was standing up to him. I made a few light calldowns on the river and won but really just could not find a good spot.

Emotionally I was a bit tilted as I could not catch a hand but was able to take a walk and cool down. Game was insanely good as it always is.

There was one spot where I was able to catch a double up and regain my composure. I had straddled the btn, and defended going like 3 or 4 way to the flop. I hit a gutshot on the turn vs two guys, one of which decided to just overbet jam his stack multiway with what appeared to be a naked overpair.

Once the action guy racked up I decided to call it a night. Played for too long as it was anyway.

I don't think I'll be returning on Fridays due to the long wait - will try out Saturday/Sunday and maybe try a few more weekday sessions. Really wish I had more time to put in at the tables.