Mint setup :')

You might be a great poker player but you are a piece of **** as a human. You are bragging about committing felonies? Picking out a smaller guy and bringing 2 friends with you to beat him up and rob him?

Youre lucky he didnt bring a gun and shoot you in the face the second time.

I’m kind of surprised it took this long for these type of posts to come along. That was literally kids stuff, it happened when I was a teenager. When I go back and read some things I wrote it’s quite cringy to me. I tried my best to recount events as well as I can rmbr them. I do not have any formal training and the highest level of education I received was 12th grade. I can understand how someone would think I have no remorse based on my writing style but trust me this couldn’t be farther from the truth. In recent years I’ve really dedicated myself to self improvement and making positive changes in my life. The person I was 10-20 years ago is nothing like who I am today.
I agree that I have done some truly awful things in my lifetime. I wish I was a better writer and could get these things across in a way that didn’t come across as bragging to the reader. I have a lot of things to be proud of but my past discretions aren’t one of them. You’re right I am lucky to have lived through that part of my life without being hurt or killed. I would say if you’re around this kind of thing you do get a sense for who actually carries guns and will use them. This was suburbia after all and there just isn’t a lot of violent crime in general. It’s not as hard as you think to just avoid messing with the small % who will retaliate with violence. I’d say being around my friends who had loaded guns when they were using tranquilizers was a much bigger threat to my life, if you’ve ever used those types of drugs you’d understand what I mean. The reason I bought a gun in the first place was to protect myself in those situations. It would have been impossible otherwise.

don't see the story as bragging,op just wrote what happened without any proud or remorse,like he told all the other stories..

don't agree with what he did,but wouldn't judge him only because of that single story from his (past) life..

Save your wishes for something else, like morality I suppose (sorry, not caught up ott). You are an exceptional writer.

OP you're a brilliant writer??? Or at least you tell stories really well. I thoroughly enjoy reading your write-ups here. Not to mention you are also the GOAT @ savers.

Hey man, been a big fan of your threads on here ever since you started posting here. I was just wondering, of a player of your level, where you find study material that helps you develop your game further than it already is. I imagine that you find it difficult to find adequate study material to help you improve much further than you are.

I don’t agree with what I did either. It’s hard to justify the actions of a teenage boy in my situation. I just wrote those stories from my perspective at the time to the best of my recollection. Some things I can remember vividly, others I forget even happened until something reminds me of it.
Very nice of you to say. I would say at somewhere around the age of 16 or 17 I had a complete lack of moral fiber coupled with a drug habit. When I got sober I improved in this area immediately Bc I no longer had this expense of drugs and alcohol looming over me at all times. Since then I’ve slowly made strides over the years and pride myself in this today. I live my life in a way that I never have to lie to anyone and I expect the same from the people that I interact with. If I found out someone I know lied to me I would no longer want anything to do with them.
tyty
I’m not sure what I’ve written to give you that idea. For MTTs I credit almost everything I’ve learned to two different backers I met through these forums starting in 2012. They are both still poker pros and playing online MTTs as their main game with success. Live poker I essentially neglected study altogether for 4 years. If I had the opportunity to do that over again I’m not even sure what the correct approach would be. I started studying 6max sometime in 2016 with the hope that I could learn some things that I could then apply to live FR. I’d say that worked somewhat but moreso just prepared me for what I’m doing now. The majority of the off the table work I’ve done has been doing HH reviews with a Pokerstars regular who’s a much better player than me. He had a popular thread in this forum and used to be a RIO coach. The only training vids I’m currently working through are focused on software. I’m so green at six max that I feel like I could probably benefit from any sort of current study material tbh. I’ve been at this for 10 weeks and I def haven’t run into an issue with having too much time to study and not enough material to absorb.

Good poker players don't study. They just review hand histories and work on weak spots by themselves and then run it by someone they trust. Most people don't actually know how to review hands properly so they're stuck watching training videos trying to copy and paste.

Poker theory and strategy is actually really simple. Anyone can memorize ranges and understand most poker strat vids in a single viewing. What separates the average pro and a great poker player is how they apply the strat and theory. I don't think that can be taught

Feb Update

I went into Feb. in a 40k downswing with the idea that I would drop down to 5/10 and restrict myself from playing 10/20 unless I could get a seat when certain whales were playing. This only lasted about a week however. I got out of downswing and was adding 10/20 tables again after not too long. I experimented with playing as many tables as I could and only started timing out once I got above 10. Playing some untracked sites with janky software no hotkeys, autotopup, autotimebank I think prob 6-10 tables is about right. I ended up having my biggest month online so far despite taking almost a week off.

Here’s my tracked results this month idk hm of my total volume this represents but I’m assuming less than 25%. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for me to play those sites primarily, there’s less action and the games are worse.



I did fine with all my current goals. I did notice that I have a tendency to treat the day I have allocated to study as a sort of 2nd day off sometimes. I find myself busy doing other things and don’t get around to getting on the computer until late sometimes. This is a habit I picked up at the beginning but I would always just make it up before when 10/20 action was slow. I could study and monitor lobbies at the same time. Now that I’ve added sites and started playing 5/10 too I always have 6+ tables to play anytime I login. Overall I don’t think this is that bad, my concentration tends to taper off after a couple hours of study anyway and I don’t get as much out of it. Maybe this will change as I dedicate more time to it or maybe not we’ll see. I might be trying to overdo things by forcing myself to play 5 days a week and study in addition to that on one of the other days. The way I’ve always operated is plan for 6 days a week of poker and then stress will sometimes force me into additional days off or obligations outside of poker. Seems to have always worked ok for me so I’m sticking with that for now.

I changed my morning routine and I think that’s been positive overall. Having a set routine to help you start your day is a welcome change and prob a big reason why my results improved. Before I was always staying up late, sleeping in and hopping online immediately. I will check the lobbies when I wake up and make sure no whales are online. If I don’t have to hop on right away I’ll do some stretches. I got a yoga mat and just doing some youtube things someone recommended to me. I’ll get breakfast after and go to gym. After I come home I’ll get lunch, shower and play a session. I take a break for 1-2 hours have dinner then play a 2nd session until games get bad or I’m too tired to play anymore. I really hate eating meals in front of the computer but I’ll do it when game conditions are so favorable that I can’t giveup the seats. Sitting with my feet reclined and watching vids while eating my meals is much more enjoyable. I have mini fridge and microwave right next to computer for those special cases but it annoys me to have to use it.

NSFW:

Nice month dude!

Good to see you dig your way outta that hole and post a solid month. WP.

March Update
Played a bunch on sites where I can’t track the results, won small amount. Took a week off and I think I played over 30k hands. I noticed some complacency start to creep in. There’s a lot more distractions at my house than in the casino and I find myself making excuses to do anything besides poker. Live poker makes it kind of easy in that you get in your car, drive to casino, leave when game breaks and rinse repeat. I need to really focus on getting more structure and limit how often I deviate from my daily and weekly routines.

I’ve sort of settled into two different modes of playing. One where I get a bunch of 5/10 games up and game select 10/20 really hard. Another where I just play a few 10/20 tables and wait for fish to bust to end session. I think I can comfortably play 6-8 tables now and above that can be hectic. I might’ve went a little overboard lately since the ~15k hands of tracked results for March had me -EV bb/100 and I did some 12 tabling. Good to see where the breaking point is and most of that was 5/10 so not a huge deal.

I got a pair of computer glasses like I had before when I played online full-time. It doesn’t really make a noticeable difference for me but I guess it should be better. I also grabbed an air purifier for room I’m grinding in. Seems like something important to have in a room you spend 16+ hours a day in. I’m also an allergy sufferer so hopefully that’ll be better this year bc of it.

2018 goals

[x]250k hands of 6-max at 1kNL+-This is gonna get smashed looks like
[ ]Do not open chat box under any circumstances-Actually opened it a couple times in March and someone was cussing me out. I gotta revisit this, I can only imagine this being helpful if I end up playing HU games at some point. Gotta just not read it
[x]Do not watch vids when playing-Got this totally under control
[x]Before I buy anything ask myself two questions, Is it necessary? Can I postpone this purchase?- Pretty happy with my spending habits so far this year, no complaints.
[x]Update thread monthly-I’m removing the stipulation of posting the monthly graph. The climate has changed since I made that post and I don’t see the point in putting it up when it represents a small portion of total volume. Maybe I’ll put smth here at the end of the year for all sites where I can track the results for. If things change I’ll start it up again.
[x]One day per week where I do nothing related to poker-Maybe some small exceptions to this but overall I’ve had no issues. If anything I’m taking it too far and not spending enough hours playing.
[x]One day per week where I dedicate time to off the table work-This has been happening. Without formal coaching atm I’m def more layed back but I have enough things to work on by myself I don’t think it’s a big deal. If and when this becomes an issue I’ll make a standing appointment with someone prob weekly.
[ ]At least one week of vacation where I do nothing related to poker-took two weeks off already this year but couldn’t really call it a vacation. Prob plan smth in the next 6 months.
[ ]Add 3 new goals for 2018-I’ve got one to add: Start playing as many 10/20 tables as possible every day with 0 game selection at some point during 2018. Only add 5/10 games as filler when I need tables.

NSFW

April update

Played almost exclusively 10/20 this month and did well results wise. Had -30k downswing at one point but recovered some recently. I estimate I played 30-40k hands.

I’ve cut tables and instituted a hard cap of 8 but trying to keep it ~6 for the most part. It was quite stressful for me to try and make a lot of hasty decisions. When I did HH review of when I tried 12 tabling it seemed like someone else playing other than myself, just inexcusable stuff.

I’ve identified another problem I have which is checking my poker balance and adding up all the money I have on the tables to see hm I’m +/- during the session. I’ve started to make a conscious effort to stop doing that entirely. Honestly all it does is tilt me and I don’t see any benefit. Even if I’m up a lot I get attached to that # and get upset when I lose some back. My plan is to only check when I enter my daily results into the spreadsheet before bed.

[ ]250k hands of 6-max at 1kNL+-on track
[x]Do not open chat box under any circumstances-
[x]Do not watch vids when playing-
[x]Before I buy anything ask myself two questions, Is it necessary? Can I postpone this purchase?-really excelling here. Being away from the casino environment really has me viewing spending through a completely different lens. I spend so little money staying home all the time its ridic
[x]Update thread monthly-
[x]One day per week where I do nothing related to poker-I’m going to amend this “One day per week where I do as little as possible related to poker”. To execute this the way I originally intended would be v costly and I don’t think adds that much value to my life.
[x]One day per week where I dedicate time to off the table work-This is going well. Standing appointments are good way to keep yourself accountable and anyone who is struggling with this I highly recommend giving that a try. If I don’t play 5/10 I can also find some hours here and there throughout the week to sneak in some more time. When 10/20 is slow or I feel too emo to play is a perfect time to do it.
[ ]At least one week of vacation where I do nothing related to poker-not yet
[x]Add 3 new goals for 2018-I’m going to add two rn and just knock this out. I’ll just continue to add more as I see fit.
-Do not total up $ to see results while playing. Aim to only do this once a day at the end of the session when you enter into spreadsheet.
-Journal once a day at the end of the session. This is smth I did early in my career and was quite helpful for me. I started to notice patterns and could identify areas for improvement.

NSFW

lmao I feel this on a spiritual level

+1. Huge problem for me too lmao.

Time for some more asian booty, I mean update?

May Update

Biggest month online so far, played almost no 5/10 at all. I cut tables severely and never played more than 6. With these sites available to me offering no RB I think it makes more sense to focus on increasing WR and once I get more exp to push myself to play more tables.

I’m going to stop playing online MTT’s for now. Being stuck to the computer on Sundays after playing long hours the two days prior was putting me in a bad mood. Whatever EV I'm forfeiting is not worth what it was doing to me. I've spent enough years of my life having to wait for sync breaks to use the bathroom/eat. That's crazy town.

I finally got rid of that old desk I was using and replaced it with a Vortex Series standing desk. I use the standing feature maybe once per day tops and don't really feel that strongly about it. The desk itself is quite nice and seems like well worth the money. I also stumbled across some post somewhere about using velcro tape to keep your monitors together. If anyone has multiple monitors and can't fig out a way to keep them from overlapping or being uneven try this out. I got a pack of 4 strips and put them on each corner of my main monitor, problem solved.

[ ]250k hands of 6-max at 1kNL+-Gonna remove this, no earthly idea hm hands I'm playing. Don't see that changing anytime soon.
[x]Do not open chat box under any circumstances-
[ ]Do not watch vids when playing-Actually slipped up here. I've had some instances where I feel obligated to continue playing bc the quality of 1 game is so good but I'm also too tired to add tables. I need something that will occupy my attention but doesn't take me completely away from the game like videos do. The best solution I've found is podcasts/music.
[x]Before I buy anything ask myself two questions, Is it necessary? Can I postpone this purchase?-
[x]Update thread monthly-
[x]One day per week where I do as little as possible related to poker-I did play 10 days straight during June but was totally justifiable and I took some extra days off and more downtime afterwards bc I was burnt out. Seems fine.
[x]One day per week where I dedicate time to off the table work-Keeping up with this. I think studying 1 hour for each 1 hour played wouldn't be a bad idea since I've only been playing these games for 6 months and I have a lot of room for improvement. Not always possible but smth I’m open to now.
[ ]At least one week of vacation where I do nothing related to poker-not yet
[ ]Do not total up $ to see results while playing-this is quite difficult.
[x]Journal once a day at the end of the session-kept up with this. I'm usually v tired when I do this so there wasn't much there at first. Getting better as I've gotten into the habit of it.

NSFW

June Update

Very close to breakeven month, won a buyin. I went on 15 BI downswing right away and didn’t feel like playing much. I game selected a lot and played no 5/10. Once I got out of downswing I started game selecting less but never really played more than 4 tables even on the weekends. I got a fair amount of study in with mix of HH review and vids.

I started recording in OBS and reviewing the vid in 1.5x. I got the idea from some podcast Pads was on. It’s more time consuming than looking at hands in database replayer but I think it’s good and I’ll probably continue doing it. One thing I’ve noticed is that the quality of my play drops severely after 4+ hours without a break besides just going to the bathroom. I think 2 hours is about right and I feel very refreshed after sitting down to eat a meal and coming back. Will still make the decisions to continue playing based on game quality but I won’t play past 4 hours straight without a very good reason.

I finished both Jared Tendler audio books which I think are ok. One big takeaway for me was discussion of how many tables to play/adding tables and so forth. I’ve decided to play a minimum of 4 tables everytime I sit down to play going forward even if that means playing some 5/10 tables. When I have less than that I start surfing the web and chatting more and I’m just less focused on the games in general.

[x]Do not open chat box under any circumstances-
[ ]Do not watch vids when playing-Watched some random youtube stuff when down to 1-2 tables. Adding tables should fix this.
[x]Before I buy anything ask myself two questions, Is it necessary? Can I postpone this purchase?-
[x]Update thread monthly-
[x]One day per week where I do as little as possible related to poker-Been able to do this. Going forward I’m going to have one day a week where I do not turn my desktop on at all.
[x]One day per week where I dedicate time to off the table work-Still have standing weekly appointment so a couple buddies holding me accountable.
[ ]At least one week of vacation where I do nothing related to poker-Not yet
[ ]Do not total up $ to see results while playing-Still can’t get this under control. I’m going to have to think of some way to motivate me to do it.
[x]Journal once a day at the end of the session- Been doing this everyday. I’ve been doing it after I’m done playing for the day right before sleep so it hasn’t been very detailed. Needs work still.

NSFW

July Update

Had biggest month so far online and used v little game selection. Mostly 6 tabled and never played less than 4 even if I had to add lower stakes tables.

Went to vegas and bricked Main Event. That’s the first time I played live poker this year and outside of losing 10k I enjoyed it. Went on vacation for a week also and was in peak upswing right before leaving so was prob in a better mood the whole time bc of that.

[x]Do not open chat box under any circumstances-
[x]Do not watch vids when playing-
[x]Before I buy anything ask myself two questions, Is it necessary? Can I postpone this purchase? -
[x]Update thread monthly-
[x]One day per week where I do as little as possible related to poker-
[x]One day per week where I dedicate time to off the table work-
[x]At least one week of vacation where I do nothing related to poker-Did read a little bit of one of Tipton’s books but I’ll still count it.
[ ]Do not total up $ to see results while playing-going to have to come up with something creative
[x]Journal once a day at the end of the session-
[ ] Start playing as many 10/20 tables as possible every day with 0 game selection at some point during 2018. Only add 5/10 games as filler when I need tables-still game selecting some

NSFW

Aug Update

Only played 3 weeks out of this month bc of vacation, did ok. Practiced v little game selection and prioritized 10/20 tables over 5/10 whenever possible. Used hard cap of 6 tables, if I had to add another I would sitout any 5/10 games or choose a 10/20 game to quit. The only time I played 7 tables was when I knew a game was going to break soon.

Did a fair amount of study when action was slow or I didn’t feel like playing. Most of it was spent doing HH review of my own hands or other people I talk poker with.

I played 1 live MTT and bricked. That was the 2nd time I’ve played live poker this year and I kind of enjoy these little trips. MTT’s have to be the softest form of live poker and if you play main events only there’s a lot of recreational players in the games. I might do some more just for a change of pace. It's kind of nice to break up the monotony and get out of the house.

I started watching the free Yale game theory lectures they have on their site which someone linked me to a couple years ago. I looked at getting the textbooks but I can’t imagine having time to go through those anytime soon, maybe one day. Pretty interesting subject matter. I don’t know if watching them all would help you make more money playing poker or not but either way I like it so far. Here’s a link for anyone who’s interested:

https://oyc.yale.edu/economics/econ-159

[x]Do not open chat box under any circumstances-
[x]Do not watch vids when playing-this is really tempting sometimes when it’s late at night and I’m too tired to play more than 1-2 tables, just waiting for one guy to bust. I might be better off just quitting in those instances regardless of game quality.
[x]Before I buy anything ask myself two questions, Is it necessary? Can I postpone this purchase? -pretty happy with himself in this area. V little wasteful spending going on here. I think playing live poker I just spent so much time on my phone and naturally gravitated towards looking at things I want to buy. Mostly when I’m on my computer I have too many tables up to be surfing the internet as well.
[x]Update thread monthly-
[x]One day per week where I do as little as possible related to poker-been keeping up with this. Sometimes I’m tempted to take a 2nd day. I think maybe 1 week out of each month where I play 1 less day is a good idea. It’ll prob happen on its own just from lack of motivation and downswings.
[x]One day per week where I dedicate time to off the table work- no issues in this department.
[x]At least one week of vacation where I do nothing related to poker-
[ ]Do not total up $ to see results while playing-actually did improve some here but still need to work on it.
[x]Journal once a day at the end of the session-been keeping up with it but again it’s still really short entries I do before bed when I’m tired.
[ ] Start playing as many 10/20 tables as possible every day with 0 game selection-at some point during 2018. Only add 5/10 games as filler when I need tables-I’m headed in the right direction here. I am playing 10/20 with no game selection and using 5/10 as filler. I did play multiple sites and peak at ~15 tables when I played MTTs so I know I’m capable of doing more. I’m just going to continue to add tables as I feel comfortable.

NSFW

Sept Update

Sat out for a week bc I got a cold. Played 1020 with no game selection and won 20 buyins gave a bunch back and got emo. Played a lot of 510 the last week with extreme game selection in 1020

[x]Do not open chat box under any circumstances-
[x]Do not watch vids when playing-
[x]Before I buy anything ask myself two questions, Is it necessary? Can I postpone this purchase? -
[x]Update thread monthly-
[x]One day per week where I do as little as possible related to poker-
[x]One day per week where I dedicate time to off the table work-
[x]At least one week of vacation where I do nothing related to poker-
[ ]Do not total up $ to see results while playing-might offer freeroll
[x]Journal once a day at the end of the session-entries are still v short with minimal detail
[ ] Start playing as many 10/20 tables as possible every day with 0 game selection-at some point during 2018. Only add 5/10 games as filler when I need tables-when I’m in substantial downswing I lose interest in battling 10/20 reg games

NSFW

Oct Update

Got sick 3 times in Oct. ended up taking ~2 weeks off. Did a lot of game selection at 10/20 until I felt 100% then went back to regular approach. Had around 2 hour stretch where I lost over 20k as soon as I started playing most lineups again. Did very little study and mostly layed around the house watching TV, ended up having ok month anyway.

[x]Do not open chat box under any circumstances-
[x]Do not watch vids when playing-
[x]Before I buy anything ask myself two questions, Is it necessary? Can I postpone this purchase? -
[x]Update thread monthly-
[x]One day per week where I do as little as possible related to poker-took tons of days off due to health
[ ]One day per week where I dedicate time to off the table work- did next to nothing, canceled two appointments for HH review
[ ]Do not total up $ to see results while playing-was thinking about this today. I might start withholding things from myself if I don’t make a change here or incentivize myself with some reward for doing it. If that doesn’t work might try hypnotherapy session aimed to change my behavior.
[x]Journal once a day at the end of the session-
[ ] Start playing as many 10/20 tables as possible every day with 0 game selection at some point during 2018. Only add 5/10 games as filler when I need tables-I don’t think this is realistic or even the best approach given current climate in the games I have access to.

NSFW

Nov. Update
Played quite a bit of hands but ended up playing some games as low as 400 NL to get enough tables at times. My main site was quite slow for 5/10+ and I would pretty much just play whatever was available when I sat down and had one of my better months this year despite this. Been contemplating adding sites but US online poker landscape is sad. I played a v long session and when I woke up the next day my computer didn’t work at all. Dropped it off for diagnostic and just bought a new one since it was Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend. Three days later the new computer wouldn’t start so I just walked into some local repair shop and guy charged me $100 to replace the fan, won’t be going back there. When they finally called me about the old computer they said motherboard and processor need replaced so just gonna trash it after I get harddrive out of it. Upgraded my task chair from Steelcase leap v2 to the Steelcase Gesture with headrest, got it for ~$1100 on sale for -15%.

Been reading meale’s PGC, I know he’s posted itt some. I’ve been reading these forums since prob ~2004 ish and just wanted to say that it’s prob one of the better threads on here ever.

[x]Do not open chat box under any circumstances-
[x]Do not watch vids when playing-
[ ]Before I buy anything ask myself two questions, Is it necessary? Can I postpone this purchase? - new task chair feels spew, esp since I already owned a 1k chair. I think the headrest might make a huge difference when I play these super long sessions but we'll see. Doesn't seem right to give myself credit for this, def can't describe this purchase as necessary and I certainly could've held off so.
[x]Update thread monthly-
[x]One day per week where I do as little as possible related to poker-Doing fine with this. Going to actually amend this to be “do not turn on poker computer unless absolutely necessary at least 1 day/week”
[x]One day per week where I dedicate time to off the table work- this is np. Like I mentioned I’ve had a lot of downtime so I’ve been able to sneak in a bunch of study here and there that I wouldn’t have normally.
[ ]Do not total up $ to see results while playing- Actually made strides in this area finally. I can’t quite give myself credit for sticking with it for the whole month of Nov. but this is the closest I’ve come since I started playing 6max and I actually might have this problem licked in the v near future.
[x]Journal once a day at end of the session-
[ ] Start playing as many 10/20 tables as possible every day with 0 game selection at some point during 2018. Only add 5/10 games as filler when I need tables-I at some point during 2018. Only add 5/10 games as filler when I need tables-I’ve been thinking about this and for this to happen I’d need to play 3 or 4 sites in order to do this right. 2 of which allow players from all countries and I’m not certain what the game quality at these stakes is like. I think that if I continue to improve it’s a realistic possibility for me to try and approach poker this way sometime next year. Having money on those sites would even give me access to some bigger games that I could super game select.

NSFW

I cannot tell you how pleased it am to hear this! Fwiw, I consider you to be the 2+2 GOAT storyteller and I've somewhat tried to emulate your style in my thread.

Also the GOAT at threadsavers. God I love Asian women! <3