I'm really impressed with your approach to taking shots at higher stakes, particularly with the history you've had. I think there is this common misconception that the risk is in taking the shot itself, but its really more in your ability to move back down afterwards. If you are to do this then you will be able to keep setting yourself up to take more shots in the future and eventually move up to where you want to be playing regularly. Your def on the right path brother.

Ya, thanks. Speaking of which I'll have to drop down for awhile. I hit a downswing and then withdrew 1/3 of my roll. So I'll be grinding 2/4-5/10 for awhile until I get back to where I feel comfortable taking shots at 10/20. With the removal of HU, i'll have to game select a lot more at 6-max If I want a higher win rate and less variance.

Hey guys,
Been awhile since I updated this. A lot has been going on, and I've been trying to get back into routine after Dublin. I feel I've finally accomplished that, and it's going well again. I'm studying a decent bit and i'm also putting in solid hours. Putting in solid hours I think is one of the more underestimated things you can do as a poker player. Playing when you're focused and ready, I imagine does wonders for your game, and your win-rate.

I'm still rebuilding a bit after a large downswing/sending my friend quite a bit of money, but I feel like i'm on the way back to playing some 10/20+ plo soon. The games keep getting harder and they recently they just removed deep ante tables and made them ante tables at 100bb which will increase the gamble. It makes sense for the rec player as they will have a better chance when the SPR is lower, unless they are over-folding in which case it would be way worse.

SCOOP is around the corner, and that means the mixed games will be good which is a good time for me to start studying them more in depth again. I will still be playing PLO, but I think the action is much better at mixed right now, and it will cross-over when I play the SCOOP tournaments and WSOP.

2016 so far for 2-6 handed PLO
Not as many hands as I'd like but I feel like i've put in a lot of solid hours this year. 2/5 is probably the stake which I put the least solid hours in, and need to work on playing well at my lower stake that I play. It can be easy to not take it as serious sometimes.

Subbed! Nice to see the update, will be checking back on the progress.. where do you put in your studying time mostly do you find? online resources? books? hand histories? combination?

0.09ev 14real

Not bad huh, **** variance.

Hey guys,
Last few months have been tough for me. I find myself quitting most sessions feeling defeated and not in the right mindset to be a professional. I think the big losing day in Dublin took a big toll mentally, and I've continued to downswing since then, which has been even tougher. I feel the need to bring more balance back to my life and to be able to focus on playing well, not the results. I think dropping down and getting on the grind is the way to achieve this. Taking shots is great, but when it starts to have long term effects, it's not just taking shots, it's throwing me off my game as well. So for the near future I think i'll be focusing on 2/4-3/6 PLO and 20/40-40/80 8-game until I can build my roll back up to where i feel comfortable playing 5/10-10/20 PLO and 100/200 8-game. It will be tough to stomach playing lower for awhile, but I thin it's the right play, and I don't want to dip below a certain amount in my BR, as it will definitely weigh down on me even more mentally if it happens.

I'm still in a pretty good position as far as living expenses etc, and I don't have much to really worry about in the near future as far as that goes, so I shouldn't feel such an anxiety to build my BR as quick as possible. One thing that does cause some anxiety tho is the new rake changes yet again. I'm afraid if it keeps heading in the direction I won't be able to grind. So hopefully the changes stop, and the company chills out for enough time that I can build my BR to my goal.

Subscribed!
It looks like you just need to grind with a really safe BR where daily swings wouldn't affect you. Obviously that would extend the grind to the highest stakes but at least mentally you would feel better.

GL with the grind!

ya, i think this is exactly what needs to happen. it's hard for me to drop down after having playing 2k and 5k PLO down to 500 PLO, but the reality is it causes me a lot of stress playing at the ends of my BR.

Can't believe I missed this pgc for so long. Do you grind many of the live mix games around the wsop or just random wsop events? glgl, downswing sounds large and tough but you'll dig out eventually.

I definitely feel empathy irt running bad in amazing spots and also over long stretches. Just the way it goes I guess.

Actually think playing lower is better especially if you don't have amazing opportunities lined up outside of poker...not just because of your current mental state but also because the future of online poker is not looking good.

ever thought of selling some action of higher stakes? dunno but as soon as you feel you beat the game I'm sure there's enough potential investors out there and it'd take the stress away.

will follow, glgl.

GL BRO-ski

I do, i always play a lot of the mixed tournaments, and on my off days play the live mixed at rio/aria. Thanks, i feel confident I can rebuild!

playing lower has a lot of benefits, but my goals are to play the higher stakes, so getting my feet wet is important!

Ya I sell action from time to time, but mostly don't like dealing with the process.
tyty!

any tips for how someone can approach becoming more of a mixed games player? I really enjoy playing mixed games and would say I'm decent overall in most games although def weakest in stud/stud8. But there is basically no normal ladder the way there is for the big bet games in order to work your way up the stakes. I grind 400nl-1000nl for my living and am in the US which obv makes it even tougher, but even on stars there's not a clear progression up the stakes. Grinding small 4/8-10/20 and then the next step up being 50/100+ isn't very attractive.

Subscribed.

Would be real interested in hearing out how you feel your game progresses. Like What kind of studying do you find to be most effective for you, and where you feel your improvements are coming.

I would say learn one game at a time. Eventually you'll be a mixed game player Working your way up anywhere in online poker is going to be very tough, you'll have to pick and choose spots to shot take after building a roll. If it doesn't go well, you'll have to drop down, so it may pay to be conservative with your roll.

My game never really progresses in a linear way. I often work on different areas of my game, and it could be how to play vs a missed c-bet on turns to just looking at my pre-flop game again. Whenever I can find new information I try and soak it up and apply it to my game. As of right now I'm very theory oriented in everything I do.

Hey guys,
Sorry I haven't updated this in awhile. A lot has been going on. I just got back from a 10 day trip to Iceland, and it was amazing. I'm glad I did it. I chose to slowly get back into poker instead of rushing as I normally have done in the past. By rushing I mean jumping back into high stakes, and playing a lot of tables. In the past when I've done this I end up playing bad, and making a lot of mistakes. Hopefully the slow transition will help me continue to focus on bettering my game, and not worry about the money. Also playing lower stakes for awhile is the plan, as there is a ton less stress there, and more ability to focus on my game.

I'll be focusing on 500PLO and working on my game until I build up my roll to start shot taking at 10/20 again. This year has been going well for PLO, and I Hope to continue to play well and study so I can maximize my opportunity to keep the positive win rate going!

It's crunch time!
After getting derailed for awhile with vacation and video gaming, I feel it's time to buckle down again. I'm going to start focusing tomorrow on poker, and hopefully give myself some good opportunities over SCOOP/WSOP. I feel happy, and some good life things are happening, so hopefully i'll be in a good mindset to ship some tourneys!

Had a session today where I was super tired. I had just gotten back from the gym, and my energy levels were very low. Playing under this circumstance is generally a bad idea, as I played bad, and my thought process was very slow. I'll need to pick and choose better spots to play according to my energy levels. Also understand when the best time of the day is for me to play.

well right away i fked up hard. I lost 25% of my BR. I got excited for scoop and jumped into high stakes when i wasn't ready to lose the money i even bought in for. I wanted to lose 2.5k max today and i lost 20k. This fks me up for the whole scoop, and i'll have to skip all the big events until i get my mindset back. fk me.

How did that happen? Sorry to hear.

gl bouncing back

I logged on and there was 7/8 players at a 100/200 HORSE game so, naturally it being my best game, I joined. I ran bad in it, and played pretty bad. Then it compounded by me tilting and looking for another game to play, a 75/150 game which I also ran bad in, etc... Finished the night playing CTS HU at plo, and won back some loses, but overall I ended down 17k, which is 34 buy-ins at 500 plo. I was willing to lose max 10 buy-ins today.

I rushed playing, I sat and immediately was playing 5-6 tables, and I didn't do anything that I planned to do today. Rough lesson.

I know where my sweet spot is for tables/games etc... It's:

• Playing at 11am-5pm
• Playing max 2-3 tables
• Playing within my bankroll, 500plo, 1kplo, 40/80 8-game and shots at 100/200 8-game if it's really good.

My first mistake was playing too many tables.
My second was not quitting after I lost 4k at 100/200 (my shot)
My third was firing up more tables and tilting. (should have quit)

If you don't mind could you give your thoughts on taking 20 big bet shots in soft big games like that. I always figured it was a waste of time for me to take a shot at a game if I didn't wanna fire at least 50-75 big bets as obv 20 bets could disappear very very quickly with a couple rough hands at the start.