I just ran so brutally bad online it's amazing, and I somehow only lost like $25 or $30. In part because I cleared a few bonuses, so that's another 20-30 that I lost at the tables. But I would've crushed tonight if not for the runbad. I got it in with like 82% equity on the turn in a 400-450 BB pot with 58 against AJ on an AT58 board, and he hit the A. I got about 160 BB in with top two against an OESD, then paid it off when he hit cause the pot was so big. I got coolered a few times with two pair against two pair heads up. I played a guy heads up who was playing like a maniac and calling 3bets with any two and somehow hitting like 85% of the flops, just killing me. I got it in against him with a K high flush draw against a 7 high flush draw and he paired up.

Given his playing style I made some adjustments and kept clawing back, then read him right and stuck it in on the turn with JJ on a Q high board and he snap called me with the A high flush draw and hit in a 400BB pot.

That's not to mention the number of times this maniac heads up whiffed a flush/straight draw, but spiked an overcard on the river and bet into me. So it looks like a busted draw, I make the call, and he hit his other out. Or I was c-betting with air and he was floating with air, but paired up on the river and called. In a super aggro heads up match, that type of stuff can be brutal.

So, I got basically crushed for well over 1,000 BB of beats/coolers and only lost like $25 or $30 (ie 50-60 BB). That's how soft regulated online poker is... There are just so few games. Once I get that roll high enough for 200 NL, I'm going to basically be multi-tabling across 50, 100 and 200 NL, so then I should be able to 4 or 5 table. The issue is, I can 6 table 6-handed games, but these games constantly go short and you get heads up or three or four handed play a lot. I can't keep up with multi-tabling as well when I'm heads up, and the timers on the Delaware online poker software are pretty fast.

So hopefully they start marketing this sooner rather than later. I have very little faith in that, though, given that it's run by the lottery.

Oh well, survived a major downswing EV wise with minimal loss. Can't be too upset about that.

The online downswing continued. The online roll is down to $1,683. I took a shot at the 1/2 NL game online and was outplaying people pretty well and up about $50 when a cooler situation came up. I raised to $6 up front with AdKd and the button 3bet me for the 3rd time in like five orbits to $20. A blind called and I 4bet to $80. The button jammed for about $100 more, the blind folded and I obviously called. He had AA and I picked up a diamond draw on the turn as well as an OESD on the board to a chop, but bricked. I left the game after that because I was stuck a couple hundred on the session overall and didn't want to be in that game for over $300.

At the .25/.50 games I got coolered a couple times, missed some draws. Basically played aggro and now the regs are playing back at me more and calling down lighter and when I'm bricking, it's a bad combination. So I need to adjust my style a bit and begin that chess match. Fewer bad regs and bad players this weekend online. I think weeknights may actually be better games online here.

I'm a f***ing idiot.

Online Roll: $1,315. It was up over $2000, maybe over $2,100. Massive downswing. Getting murdered. Two outers in big pots, three outers in small pots, two outers to chops in monster pots, coolers, you name it. I've run AK and QQ into AA preflop in awful spots, flopped the nuts and gotten killed on the turn repeatedly.

Made some bad calls in there too, because I just couldn't believe that people could possibly keep turning the nuts after I flopped the nuts.

And, in a nice little throwback to my old school online career, every time I took a shot at a higher level I ran like a three legged dog. No more shot taking for a while, which sucks because those games are really weak. One of the "better" players is limp-calling and donking into the PFR like a machine and crushing people. I just could not pick up a hand against him, and he's super aggro postflop so you either need to play chicken or make a hand.

Are you able to use any type of a HUD on that American/Delaware only site?

No? I can't even track my own stats, which sucks.

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Some dude comes down to .25/.50 and talks a bunch of trash, cursing us out about how we're all scared and won't play higher stakes, etc. This was a few days ago. I go up, sit, take him for a couple hundo. Today he's sitting 1/2 waiting for players, I sit, he folds to two of my raises and sits out and calls me a psycho and refuses to play me. Continues to call me a f-ing p.... while refusing to play me!

Moral of the story? There are crazy people in online poker just like real poker.

I took another loss online today, -$85ish. I basically ran AKs into AA for a buyin, then heads up 3bet A8o and got called. Flop was T8Xss and I led out for like $5.5 into $8, he raised to $13.50 and I jammed and he tank called with QT and held. Grinded back about $10, won about $5 in my brief foray into 1/2 NL today as the other guy folded 3 hands and quit me.

February 24 - "This is the number one rule for your set, / in order to survive, gotta learn to live with regrets. / On the rise to the top, many drop, don't forget, / in order to survive, gotta learn to live with regrets."

Sometimes playing poker you've got to trust your gut and make moves, at least if you want to be a truly great player. There are a lot of spots that I find myself in, ready to trust my instincts and make a big call or a big bluff and I say to myself, no matter what, I'm not going to regret this because I'm trusting my instinct and read. Over the long run, I trust that my instincts will be profitable.

So I started tonight on a downswing, then I grinded my way back up. I was up a couple hundred, hoping that this would be the big heater to put this downswing in the rear view mirror. Instead, I ran the K high flush into the A high flush on a 3-flush board 200BB deep with an aggressive villain. I had played the draw aggressively on the flop, so it was a semi-interesting river spot. I felt like he could spaz bluff-shove given his penchant for aggressive plays, so with like $50 in the pot and $75-80 behind, I bet $30. He minraised to $60. I wanted him to shove, not minraise, so I immediately had that bad feeling.



I also wasn't going to let him leave the last $15 or whatever behind. I've got to be good more than 50% of the time with the K high flush right? So I basically told myself I couldn't fold or call, I had to raise and with the stone cold second nuts, I couldn't regret it. Ship it in, nice Ace high flush sir, enjoy my money.

I reload, run the $50 up to about 80, then run KK into AA all in preflop against someone with $65. So there's a 130BB pot to a cooler. God forbid I get coolered against a short stack, or something. No, eff that, let's do it deep stacked.

Somewhere before all that, I stacked a guy by turning the straight on him. He never folded to me and we were deep so I called a small flop bet to try to hit a gutshot, hit it, and stacked him. He immediately sat with me heads up on a table I was deep stacked on and I took 2 or 3 buyins off him. He then proceeded to cooler me or suck out on me a couple times and suddenly we were back to even, but very very deep - like $160-$170 at .25/.50.

Then a big hand came up. I had like K7o. I raised the button, we see a flop. It's something like:

Flop ($3): 2h3h6x

He checks, I bet $1.75, he raises to like $6.50 or something. He's been check-raising me a TON. Like on maybe 60% of my cbets. (Guessing cause there are no hh/huds.) I decide he's completely full of it and my read is that he's been doing it with draws and air, so I decide to float him and steal it on the turn.

Turn ($16ish): Qd

He leads out for $10.75. Standard for his check-raises. I raise to $35. He tanks a bit and calls. Weird. I trust my flop read, so I put him on a heart draw.

River ($86ish): Tx

He checks. OK, it bricked, so he should have air. I bet $55. He tanks and calls. QcJh. Yup, he check-raised me with air on the flop, I read it correctly, and he spiked it on the turn and called me down.

He then proceeded to:

a) Never fold a hand that flopped: any pair, any gutshot, two overs, A high, K high, backdoor draws, etc

b) Hold the deck over me

I grinded my way back up to about $100, but never got the rest back. Super frustrating because if I could have made hands, I would have been paid. At one point I counted 25 straight flops without flopping better than middle pair mediocre kicker.

At the end of the session, I was stuck like $15 just hoping to eek out a break even session as time was winding down.

4-handed on another table, I raise to $1.50 in the CO with 56o. The button tank calls preflop. I kind of instinctually felt like he was planning to make a move on me because I was running the table over and had come over the top of him once successfully. He's a pretty good player.

Flop ($3.57): Ah4dAc

I bet $2.50 and he called. I felt like he was floating to bluff me. My plan was to check-raise the turn. The way I'm opening pots and with my read on him, I think he'd 3B AJ+ preflop. Maybe even a few more aces. So I don't think there are a lot of Ax hands in his range.

Turn ($8.32): 5d

I check, he bet $8.75. Well, maybe I don't need to check-raise it now. Maybe I just have the best hand. I call.

River ($24.94): 2h

This may be the best card in the deck for me, because I feel like he doesn't have the A, and he probably wouldn't value bet a pocket pair against that board, plus I have zero concerns over him pairing up his air to beat me. I check. He overbets it - $26.25. I tank. My instincts say bluff. Like, what hand is he value betting here? He's totally polarized. I don't think he overbets the turn with a boat, or with any A. Plus as I said, I think he 3bets his big aces. Does he even valuebet like A8 on this river? A2, A3, A4, A5 all beat him. If he did have like 88-TT, he probably checks behind right?

So all I can put him on is a big bluff. I tell myself that I'm not going to regret this, because I trust my instincts in these types of spots and over the long run, it'll make me money. I call. He shows 4c5s. I assume he put me on like 66-KK by the turn and turned it into a bluff? Why basically pot (slightly overbet) the turn with 45 on AA45 with 45 for value? Nothing you beat is calling. I guess on the river he figures I may fold out pocket pairs or weak/middle AX hands. I don't know what he was really thinking. Like I said originally, I think he decided to make a move on me before the hand even started.

So, anyway, I had like a +$25 session. So, not the end of the world, but my downswing continues basically. It's extra frustrating too, because when I used to run bad online I'd nit it up for a while and play fewer hands but more tables. With the limited games in Delaware, I'm lucky to 3-table. Usually it's like 1 table and a HU or short handed game on the other, so if I see like 1,500 hands in a day, that's a good day. You can go on some crazy 3-5K hand swings online. In the old days, that'd be like half a day and you'd just grind right through it. In this environment, it takes a few days and becomes more mentally frustrating.

I'm looking forward to some live play this weekend to break up the monotony. I basically traded playing live at Delaware Park for playing online because it's easier and the games are so soft, but the trade off is the frustration of low online volume. Maybe I'll even hit up DP tomorrow or Wednesday.

So tonight online I call a big raise IP preflop. The PFR leads out, I put in a reasonably big raise, we're deep stacked and he tells me his hand - I 100% believe him, it has me beat. He jams, I snap call. As expected, he had what he said. I'll explain that story tomorrow. We've snapped out of this downswing though and we're starting to make up ground, so all in all not bad. However, I got set over setted twice (both times we boated up before the money went in) and ran QQ into AA in a 3-handed game blind vs blind. So it could have been a much bigger comeback, but oh well. Full report tomorrow...

February 25-27 - "The Gift and the Curse"

Diving more and more into online poker in Delaware has been a gift and a curse. On the one hand, I can grind well within my bankroll without leaving home. On the other hand, I'm not leaving home much. It definitely kept me from hitting my monthly volume goals for live play, although I played a lot of volume online. At least a lot of volume relative to the available games.

If I'm going to play as much online as I did this week, I need to make sure I'm getting out to the gym and such. There are so few games I never want to get up when there is a big fish playing. My online roll is around $1,500, give or take. I forgot to jot it down after my last session.

February 28 - Part 1 - "How could you call me with that?"

I got out to the Borgata late last night and crashed, planning to play a short session today, watch the 'Cuse game, then play a longer session. In my short session, I only played a few hands of note. I limp-raised 55 when the button made it $20 with a bunch of limpers. I made it $65 and he tank folded. It wasn't the plan when I limped, but he was abusing the button so I played back at him.

I was playing a basic TAG style but I realized my table wasn't going to be all that profitable that way since it was loose-weak pre-flop (aside from two players in the 3 and 4 seat, I was in the 7) and weak-tight post-flop. Thus, I decided to start attacking the limpers.

Four limpers to me, I make it $12 with Q4o in the CO. Three calls.

Flop ($48): Q56tt

One check, villain bets $20. He's an asian kid who is a bad aggressive player and is donking with wide made hands, like any flopped pair or draws. I raise to $65. He tanks and calls.

Turn ($175): 4

He moves all-in for like $150ish. I call, river bricks, he says two pair and turns over 46o, I say, "Queens and 4s." Dealer pushes forward the 4 and the 6, and goes to push the pot and I have to stop her and say no, Q4. Then she gets it and ships it the right way.

Later, I play another hand against the same player.

There are two limps, including him. A bad semi-tight, I don't know how to describe him but he's bad, player, raises to $6. I estimate he's doing this with like broadways, suited connectors, mid pairs and never a big pair. I have AQo on his direct left in the CO and make it $20. My only caller is the villain from before.

Flop ($45): QT8r

He checks, I bet $30. He calls.

Turn ($105): 8

He checks, I bet $65. He shoves for $179 more. I tank. I think he would have donked a Q, or any pair really. I'm putting him more on a draw, and if he limp called a 3-bet preflop with some random 8 in his hand and then called $30 on the flop with it, good for you buddy. I think I'm good, so I call.

River ($593): Q

I turn over AQ as soon as the Q hits and he slams the table in frustration and shows an 8 - I think it was 86o, but the dealer turned them over pretty quickly. He turns to his friend... "How could he call me with THAT? How?" Then he turns to me and very sarcastically says, "Nice hand buddy. Really nice hand." I don't even respond to that.

Right before I was getting ready to leave, I called a $15 raise with 99. A short stack behind me moved in for $65. The raiser folded and I called. He had AKo and made the A high flush on the river, but a flip is a flip.

End result: +$390 in like 2.5 hours I think it was. I'll update my stats and all probably tomorrow. Currently watching Syracuse/Virginia in a huge game. Go 'Cuse!

March 1 - Part 2 - "Lucky lefty, I expect a seven / I went through hell, I'm expecting heaven." - Jay-Z

A little typo yesterday, that was March 1 Part 1, not February 28. So today I played the early session, watched 'Cuse get blown out by Virginia (don't get me started), then went back to the tables for another session. I got the same table, but it was almost an entirely new cast of characters. I got stuck a couple hundred and bought another $150 in chips to top off to like $260-$270. The table was good, but not entirely soft. There were 3-4 soft spots, though, and I felt like moving was probably neutral EV. The soft spots weren't flat out giving money away, but they were overplaying hands and misplaying hands. We were seeing lots of multi-way pots, so the style was to try to flop a hand and get value or punish the limpers in position.

Eventually, the player on my right raised to $8 and I called with A6. We went six ways to the flop.

Flop ($48): A76 rainbow (one club)

He bets $45, and I think for 10-15 seconds and flat call. There aren't enough draws that I'm worried, his hand is well defined, and I'm happy to slow play it. There's one call behind, for a total of $19 all-in.

Turn ($105 main, $52 side, $157 total): 6

He checks. Effective stacks are about $150-$170. I decide that he has a big Ace, and as long as I size my bets right, I can get all of the money in. I decide that 65/100ish is the right play. I bet $65, he calls pretty quickly.

River ($105 main, $182 side, $287 total): 9

He checks, I move all-in to cover him (turns out to be $85). He tanks, asks me if I have AK. He asks again. I respond, "Can you beat AK?" He tanks about 10 more seconds and calls. Says he had AQ.

A while later, I raise Q9 in the CO to ISO a MP limper who is bad and weak post-flop. The button calls, a blind calls (solid reg) and she calls.

Flop ($48): JT7 rainbow

It checks to me and I bet $25. The button raises to $50. No real read on him. He's relatively new, just stereotyping and based on his mannerisms, he's bad - but I don't know what kind of bad. The guy in the blinds calls. My gut says bad player min-raises, he's got a big hand (or thinks he does), so jamming here isn't going to have enough fold equity to be worthwhile. I am, however, getting 7-1 on a call, so I call.

Turn ($198): A (puts a diamond draw out)

Reg in the blinds checks. If I put the button on a made hand on the flop - KJ, AJ, two pair, set, what am I putting the blind on? Maybe a similar range, minus the KJ. I'm kind of thinking he had like an AJ hand and wasn't sure where he was at on the flop. Regardless, I am not betting here. I check. Button moves all-in for $160. Blind tanks, and tanks, and tanks, and calls. Wow. I was folding, but now my thought is that if I hit it, I'll have $210ish behind, the blind will cover, and he probably can't fold. I can't imagine a hand he plays this way and lays down for $210 into $680ish. I call the $160 after tanking for a while.

River ($680ish): 8o

Well, we've got the second nuts. The guy in the blinds checks. I wait about 10 seconds and move all-in. He thinks for like 20-30 seconds and folds. I scoop a $680 pot, but I'm kicking myself for the turn call and not getting the river call. Some post-session math showed that even if he does call 100% of the time, it was still a bad turn call.

As I'm stacking chips, the woman across the table says, "You can smile ya know, I've never seen anybody look so calm while winning such a big pot. Aren't you happy?"

I contemplate my answer to this. First, I take it as a compliment. I decide to just be honest. "Well, I'm kicking myself for calling on the turn because if he folds the river when I hit, it was a bad call."

Blank stares coming back at me. Yeah, honesty was DEFINITELY the wrong line to take here. I try to back track. "And, you know, I just try to be even keeled. I don't get too upset when I lose or too happy when I win."

More blank stares. She says, "What are you, a pro?"

I hesitate for a second "Nooo, no, no.. I play a lot, but no."

Her, "Because you see those pros here sometimes."

Me, "Yeah but not really in a 1-2 game, this is just a fun game!"

Not my greatest conversational moment, but oh well. All in all, I was able to engage the 1 seat, 2 seat, 3 seat, 5 seat and 7 seat in conversations from the 4 seat and had most of the table talking and friendly and loosened up for most of the session... So I was happy with that. We touched on Philly sports, New York sports, True Detective, Breaking Bad, poker stories (not so much hand stories, like crazy things you've seen), and presidential slogans for $500, Alex...

Also a weird moment when this guy from England is talking about how he likes to go back and he's really into trees. Like looking at trees. He passes me his cell phone with a picture of a tree.

Him: "Isn't that the most beautiful thing you've seen? Such an amazing tree!"

I look at it. I see a tree. There's some branches, it's kind of wide and big. It's dead, it's in the winter. I mean, it's a tree, ya know? I'm not an arborist. But he has a look on his face not unlike a mother showing someone pictures of her newborn.

Me: "Yeah man, that's pretty cool. Awesome!"

Him: "It's the shape of it, it's so majestic."

Me: "It kind of reminds me of the tree in the beginning of True Detective."

Him: "I don't watch that - I don't have HBO."

5 Seat: "Oh man, I keep hearing great things, I want to watch it."

Me (to myself): "THANK GOD WE AREN'T TALKING ABOUT TREES ANYMORE!"

Later, I raise to $12 UTG with ATo. Three players call. One is the good reg, one is an average bad recreational player who's kinda tight and not awful, but still bad. The other is a bad weak player.

Flop ($48): A67ss

One check, I bet $30. One call. The recreational guy calls. Other player folds.

Turn ($108): 8o

I have his range as basically any A and spade draws. He's got about $170 left. I decide $70 is a good number and fire away. He tanks for a while and has his cards up off the table shuffling them. Thus, I suspect he is close to folding. I also tend to lean toward drawing hands here. He tanks, counts out the $70, shuffles his cards some more in the air. He then suddenly shoves the $70 in, resolutely calling. To me, this is spades a vast majority of the time.

River ($248): 8s

The nut worst card for our hand. Spades got there, 89 got there, 45 was already there. I check, he thinks for about 5 seconds and moves all-in for $96. I tank, because I want to call. I am, after all, getting 3.5-1. But I can't name a hand I can beat. Other Aces probably shove the turn or check behind. His range is now 100% ahead of me. I fold. He says he had spades, and I believe him.

That was the last big hand I played, and after 7 hours, I cashed out up $243. On the trip I was +$633 in 9.5 hours. We'll take it.

Live Bankroll: $4700

I found out that because of a snow storm I have to go into work tomorrow at 5 am, and am getting put up in a hotel tonight. So instead of breaking down stats, goals, etc today - we'll get to that tomorrow or Tuesday.

Love that latest JayZ line. Nice update.

Here's the bankroll picture from earlier today...



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Wow very nice! subbed

First of all, no True Detective spoilers in this thread until tomorrow night... I won't be able to watch until at least tomorrow afternoon!

Second, an update on some of the smaller goals...

1. Process the withdrawal of the $500 on BlackChip Poker this week. I got that done, I guess it was last week, I'm waiting on the check to arrive.

2. Lose 17 pounds by end of February (from 242 to 225). Major fail, I totally flatlined on this one and stayed at 240. I'm considering: juicing on Joe Cross's plan, Bulletproof rapid intermittent fasting, or some hybrid of the two. I have been drinking the bulletproof coffee and I love it. Tried it a few days ago.

3. No fast food or soda between now and 2/18. I am still going on the no soda, so that's a major success. That week I didn't have fast food, except a breakfast sandwich at like 4 am on my way to work, so pretty close.

As for some of the bigger goals...

Goal #1: Bankroll at $4,000 on 1/23

I was there briefly if you recall, then fell below so on 1/23 it was not over 4K. I got it there in late January/early February.

Goal #2: Bankroll at $8,000 by March 31

We're in the mix for this, and I'm leaving this as the goal for the live bankroll only. I basically need to put in like 110 more live hours this month and average $30/hr.

Goal #3: Winrate of $30/hr over first ~300 hours

We're in the neighborhood. I'm at $27.58 before calculating breaks and it's through 168 hours. My unofficial goal was 100 hours each in February and March. I only had 59 live hours in February, but I have to think I had well over 40 online. Never the less, these bankroll goals are live, and thus my volume goals should be live too. I still want to hit that average. That means 141 hours in March. I've got 10 down, and I've got a room at the Borg 3/7 to 3/12. The goal will be 65 hours in that stretch... 3/12 I won't be able to play, I'll be checking out and going to work really early. That also means 3/11 I need to be in bed very, very early. But that will get me to 75 hours, with about 2.5 weeks to get the last 66 in. I'll have a shot at it.

I'll be setting some new goals and planning out the rest of the month's schedule early this week. Preliminarily, it looks like...

3/4 to 3/6 Online Play
3/7 to 3/11 Borgata
3/12 to 3/23 Broadcasting (with some possible poker 3/15 and 3/16, as well as 3/19 and 3/20)
3/21-3/27 TBD, hopefully heavy on poker
3/28 Broadcasting

Tomorrow I'll have fill you guys in on my interactions with a bachelorette party in the hotel at the Borgata this weekend.

Thanks man!

Thanks! I'm a righty and I caught an 8, but it applies. Plus I think the second line applies to a lot of people in a lot of situations. We've all been through our share of struggles - some more than others (but I'm a big believer all of that is relative), and I think the more you can be positive in your future expectations, the better. Gotta catch up on your thread in the next couple of days. Hope things are going well.

Should have asked if he liked smoking tree

Not bad, but I thought your text was way funnier. Of course, asking a 60+ year old English guy about smoking tree would have been pretty epic.

There was also this exchange about an old guy at the other end of the table who kept falling asleep.

Me: "Do you think he looks like anyone in particular?"
Old English Guy: "Not really... [Names some singer or something].."
Me: "No, an actor."
OEG: "No idea."
Me: "I think he looks just like Andy Griffith."
OEG: "Well he's dead."
Me: "Yeah, well before he died of course, although this guy does keep falling asleep at the table..."

March 1 - Part 3 - The Bachelorette Party - "I love girls, girls, girls, girls / girls I do adore. / Yo, put your number on this paper cause I would love to date ya / holla at you when I come off tour."

So I hop on the elevator to head down for my session Saturday, and there are four girls on the elevator dressed up to presumably go clubbing. They're all hot, but not like over the top. One has a sash on that says "Bachelorette." In my head, I'm thinking, "Wow, four hot girls in AC to have a wild night. Awesome." But, unfortunately that is followed by, "Yeah, that's never going to happen." I smile, and turn around as I enter and face the door.

They are debating because the one girl is not happy with her hair. Then the bachelorette taps me on the arm. "What do you think of her hair?" She says.

Me: (Debating, because she's cute, but her hair is kind of messed up. Yeah, definitely not taking THAT approach. We'll bluff.) "It looks good. I like it."
Bachelorette: "See, I told you! You look great!"
Hair girl (to me): "Thanks!"
Me: "You're welcome, but don't upstage the bachelorette... Remember, it's her weekend!"
Bachelorette: "That's right! No upstaging!" (smiles at me)
Me: Frozen. Nothing to say, elevator ride ending... I step out, turn back, and say... "Congratulations, have fun!"

And that's that. So, basically, I walked onto an elevator with four attractive women out to have a fun night and check-called. I should have come out firing. That was a spot for a bet/get it in line to maximize profitability. I check-called. Even a check-raise could have worked, but check-calling was the nut low. Unless I check-folded, which I guess would have entailed pretending to be deaf.

So I was one step above pretending to be deaf, but yeah, poor job from me. What line would you guys have taken there?

I do have plans to improve my game away from the tables, but that may take some time.

Should have asked if she liked smoking tree

wpwp

First, try to stop using poker lingo for everything lol. At some point, it will slip out in a non-poker situation and people will look at you as if you have 2 heads. Your line wasn't too bad. I think sort of light insult would have been ok as well. I wouldn't know what to say either at the end, I suck .

As to something I understand a bit better, let's discuss the A6cc and Q9ss hand from your latest session. For the A6cc, hand is definitely well played. When the table talk initiates on the river, I really like your response. It makes opponents confused. When villains are flustered, they're more likely to just spaz call IMO. For the Q9ss hand, I think a turn fold is correct. You're getting ~3.24:1 so you need about 23.6%. If all your outs are clean, you have about 16%. But that's a big if IMO. Best case 2 is 2 pair+ hands. But there's a decent chance that someone holds an 8 or diamonds. Plus, the K or 8 puts a 4 to a straight out there so you likely won't get paid if you hit.

Sorry to not have kept in touch, been swamped with work/poker. Glad you've been doing well recently. Hopefully, we both end up at the borg next weekend and we can catch up a bit.

I virtually never do that in real life, I just do it on here where people can relate to it.

Normally a neg would be ideal (am I speaking another language now too?), but normally you neg the highest value target, and if I neg a bachelorette at her own party, that could blow up in my face... And I can't neg the girl who's already got confidence issues with her hair. I think the right move was to engage as soon as I got on the elevator, then semi-ignore the bachelorette - maybe playfully ask the other ones who was single and could actually have real fun that weekend, then see how they all reacted...

Thanks... I agree. In fact, lately I've been looking for spots to flip one card when heads up with my opponent tanking on the river to my bet. I am getting pretty good at sensing that split second before they fold, and a couple times my instinct was to flip a card, and I was like which one, how will they react, etc... But it was already too late. I definitely want to start manipulating people more and trying to induce more calls when I value bet.

I agree on most of that. I screwed up my guesstimation of the math, for sure. Even if the second opponent calls me 100% of the time I hit, I'm not getting the right price and should fold. I do think he pays off a lot more often than he doesn't, though. I think his range skews more to made hands and he's not going to think the 8 helps me, the K will be tougher to get paid on.

No worries man - I hear you. I should be there, hit me up if you end up there.

March 4 - "What's fifty grand to a motha****er like me, can you please remind me? Ball so hard, this s*** crazy, ya'll don't know that don't s*** faze me."

OK, so fifty grand is something to me... But fifty bucks is not.

I crushed it online tonight for about $300... Despite taking several bad beats. I got it all in on the turn with T9ss vs 23o on a T522 board and he spiked quads on me in a 250-300 BB pot. I also got two outed twice, and got it in with trips versus a flush draw on the turn and lost. A buyin here, a buyin there. Oh, what's that? I just jammed all-in the hand after losing a buyin on a big, bluffy looking overbet? Yeah, you think I'm tilting? Let me show you the nuts... Cause...

Ya'll don't know that don't s*** faze me!

Despite some rough waters, I managed to grind back and exploit the situation and my image a bit... So I still booked a solid 6-buyin win, thanks in part (about $125 worth) to a reg going on drunken monkey tilt. The guy never gets out of line, but I pick up AhAx and raise to $1.50, he 3bets to $5, I 4-bet to $12, he calls.

Flop ($24): Kh8h5h

Effective stacks are like $60. He bets $12, I raise to $30, he calls.

Turn ($84): Xh

I have the nuts, he shoves, I call. He shows Q7o with the 7h. Spewage for him, shippage for me.

He then proceeds to reload a few times for $25-$30 and just tilt it away. Got it in preflop with 56o vs my AK, with like Q5 vs my AQ, and shipped a couple buyins to others at the table.

Online Roll: $1,820
Live Roll: $4,700
Check in Mail: $500 (300 into roll, 200 to cover initial Delaware deposit)
Total Roll: $6,820

We're trending upward. Gotta love it!

March 5 - "Same old s***, just a different day. Out here tryin' to get it, each and every way. Mama need a house, baby need some shoes. Times are gettin' hard, guess what I'ma do? Hustle, hustle, hustle, hard. Hustle, hustle, hustle, hard."

Just another night online in Delaware. Ran pretty bad, at least it felt that way, but I just kept grinding it out. My favorite beat had to be the guy who raised/4B/called off 100 BB w/ 62 vs my AA and flopped a deuce and rivered a 6. There was also the guy who raised to 8 BB and /4B all-in with QJ and I snapped him off with A3 but he got there - not a bad beat percentage wise (at least not that bad), but frustrating given the stupidity of how he played the hand.

My favorite hand of the night, though, had to be this one... Against the guy who pulled the QJ move (although that one actually came later on another table). I'm in the SB with KQ.

UTG limps, MP min-raises, I call, BB calls, UTG calls.

Flop ($3.80): Q78

Checks to UTG, who fires $1.50. I raise to $7. He calls.

Turn ($17.10): 4

I bet $14, he calls.

River ($43.70): 3

It felt like he was drawing, and if that's the case 56 is going to raise me and 9T and spades are going to fold if I bet. If I check, I let him bluff his misses and maybe he value bets smaller than I'd bet my hand with his straights.

I check and he tanks... and tanks... and tanks. Into his added time... Then he types "I think I have u... I really do."

Then he tanks about 10 more seconds and jams. Whaaaat? I've never seen this guy type in the chat in a big spot before. I tank. Would he really give off info like that with a made hand? I don't think so. I decide it's a missed draw and call. Sorry buddy, but your 95 is no good!

Oh and that annoying guy who always likes to sit heads up and quit as soon as he's up a couple bucks... He did it to me once, then sat again and I took him for like 4 of his short-stack buy-ins ($20), maybe more. He usually talks a ton of trash so I gave it to him pretty good and genuinely enjoyed and savored felting him over... and over... and over...

So all in all, a solid night. Got the online roll up over $2,100, so I think we've moved the total needle over 7K, which is nice.

March 6 - "And it's still all good. And if you don't know, now you know."

I had a pretty smooth session online tonight. I don't think I was ever down more than a buy-in and I won about 6 buyins, for a +300ish night. No interesting hands, only a couple of even remotely difficult decisions. Snapped off a couple bluffs. At one point I had five tables going, which I had trouble keeping up with. Back in the day I could like 8-table six max with no issue. Now I get up to five and I struggle. We'll fix that soon if the volume continues.

Online Roll: $2,400
Live Roll: $4,700
Check in Mail: $500 (300 into roll, 200 to cover initial Delaware deposit)
Total Roll: $7,400

Plus, I'm hearing people say the NJDGE may resolve the Borgata Winter Open Event 1 investigation, so who knows, there could be $565 coming my way soon. If not, no big deal. We're going to crush it this weekend. At the Borg tomorrow through Tuesday. Check out very early Wednesday AM, but that's still five solid days of grinding.

The possibilities are endless.The total roll could be pushed into five figure territory...

I took $400 out of the online roll to shift to the live roll. I've got 40 buyins for $50NL online, so it is better used in my live roll. It's all the same anyway and I need to start getting into that mindset. Here are some goals for the next week. I'll be at the Borgata soon and there through Wednesday (checking out very early Wednesday AM)....

Goals by 3/14
[ ] Play 60 Hours Live
[ ] Finish reading my book on poker tells
[ ] Eat clean every day (let's call this like 90% natural foods without refined sugars)
[ ] No soda
[ ] 10K steps a day (I read a book suggesting 6K a day is a key factor for weight loss. Let's aim higher.)
[ ] Do self-hypnosis/meditation daily
[ ] Drop weight to 235 pounds
[ ] Go to the gym once (can't in AC through Tuesday, and I work double shifts Wed-Fri - so once will be an achievement)
[ ] Catch up on non-poker to do list

I'm hoping to get my roll up to like 7K live/2K online. Really, 10K total would be awesome.