Glad to see February went well and looking forward to reading about the 100K challenge! Keep it up.

Sick fade with bottom two pair on a drawy board.

Crushed through The Alchemist in a couple of hours. I feel ready to take on the world now.

Paging ECGrinder for another recommendation.

How about, The Outsiders?

Tale of two cities by Charles Dickens

The Greatest Salesman InThe World

Everybody Poops

Slowly But Surely

"Life's barely long enough to get good at one thing. So be careful what you get good at."
- Rust Cohle

Started March off with a profitable week, although it could have been much better. Built up a nice cushion throughout the week money wise then had a total AIDS session on Friday night. Should have left about 3 hours before I did because I was the most frustrated I've ever been at the table and it would have saved me like a BI and a half. I need to get better at riding those long periods of being card dead without letting it effect how I play my hands. I find myself trying to force pots in my direction even if it's not the most profitable spot to do so which leads to me bleeding off stacks. Made a big dent in my Friday night losses on Saturday when I put 11 hours in for an even 40 on the week. I'm starting to consistently feel that when I'm thinking clearly, I am the best player at the table and as long as I don't beat myself I am going to make money every single night (obviously not possible due to variance but still).

Not going to put a hourly goal this week due to the tournament series starting here and I expect the wait lists to be insane due to only half of the normal amount of tables being available for cash games. Probably going to go down to Philly all next weekend and stay at a friends and hopefully put a session or two in at Parx.

Hitting a wall with the weight loss and might have to break out the juicer for a week or two just to keep up the pace.

I finished The Alchemist in only a couple of hours and really loved it. By the ending I actually had goosebumps that's how much it connected with me. Next book is going to be one of the ones suggested ITT (except for Everybody Poops).

Not many hands worth sharing this week but here's two:

Hand 1

Effective stacks 560
Preflop (7): Hero is in BB with 33.
4 limps, SB completes, Hero checks.

UTG+1 is a spazzy player. Definitely the target at the table. Hands start shaking when he has a big hand. Hands were shaking on his flop raise.

Flop (30): 7 7 3
Check, Hero bets 30, UTG+1 raises to 80, folded to Hero who raises to 165, UTG+1 shoves for Heros stack, Hero calls.

Turn (1140): Q

River (1140): 5

UTG+1 shows 67 MHIG

Hand 2

Effective stacks 540
Preflop (7): Hero is OTB with TT
MP1 limps, MP2 raises to 30, HJ calls, Hero calls, folded to MP1 who calls.

Flop (127): T 2 3
MP1 checks, MP2 bets 60, HJ folds, Hero raises to 180, MP1 folds, MP2 raises to 335, Hero shoves, MP2 calls.

Turn (1145): T

River (1145): 8

MP2 shows AA

Goals for week of March 3rd-9th
[40] Play 40 hours
[X] Write down all HH's where the pot is over 20 BB's and review them
[5/7] Gym 5 out of 7 days
[X] Stay under calorie goal daily while intermittent fasting
[X] Drink one gallon of water per day

Goals for week of March 10th-16th
[ ] Write down all HH's where the pot is over 20 BB's and review them
[ ] Gym 5 out of 7 days
[ ] Stay under calorie goal daily while IF'ing
[ ] One gallon of water per day

The calorie goal will be difficult being in Philly for the weekend drinking with my friends for St. Patty's day but oh well.

"100k in 100 Days" challenge update:



Figures in red on the bottom are weeks we were off our pace of $7,150 per week.

Keep it up buddy. I also just recently read The Alchemist, great read.

So you guys are on week 3?

Just completed Week 3

Bump deez nuts

At the Borgata for a couple of days for March Madness. Will update after the weekend. Profitable week streak still alive.

How's Borg action?

F***ing awful. There wasn't a table going past the bathrooms last night. Can't wait to get back to md.

When you coming through?

That's lame. I'll be getting getting a hotel at MDLive either Monday or Tuesday night and continuing to florida the next day. Have buddies from NY that will be there also. PM me your number and lets all grab some beers

Putting It All Together

“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
- Oscar Wilde



Warning:

Apologies if there are any errors in this post. The allergy medicine I took is kicking in and I'm extremely sleepy right now.

This past week started off with me stringing together a couple winning sessions earlier in the week which included me going down to The Borgata for March Madness. I got back to MD on Fri and started my session off up 1 BI pretty quickly but ended up losing it all plus a little more to put me in the red for the week (my loss was mostly due to one gross hand which I will post below).

Then Saturday and Sunday happened. Saturday I got my first taste of 5/T poker with a pretty soft lineup. I played for 3 hours and won 230BB until the game got crappy and I went back down to 2/5. Sitting at 5/T was honestly nerve wracking at first. The amount of money in the pot compared to what I was used to at 2/5 was hard to wrap my head around but I eventually settled in and was able to hit a few flops to make my debut a successful one. It's crazy that a couple of months ago I was making a $400 a week paycheck after taxes and this night I shipped a pot worth two months salary at that job. I'm very humbled and grateful for this opportunity given to me and I'm not going to stop working to get better anytime soon. I AIDS'd up one hand where I lost out on about $300 worth of value and I will post that hand down below.

5/T chip porn:


After moving back down to 2/5 Saturday night I proceeded to completely steam roll my table. Unfortunately for me the fish I was busting weren't reloading and the game eventually settled down to "meh" status. Won 270BB in the 7 hours I played 2/5 Saturday night so this was by far my most profitable day while on the stake.

Saturday 2/5 chip porn:


Sunday I was ready to jump back into it again and grind. Got to the casino ready to play 5/T again but the lineup got really awful by the time I got there so I put in 8 hours of 2/5 and again steam rolled the table for 355BB. It's an amazing feeling to just settle into a zone and feel like you're by far the best player at the table and it's just a matter of time before you scoop a majority of your opponents chips. I'm getting better at identifying spots to profitably bluff vs. certain opponents. It's important to know whether or not they have a fold button and how much they value top pair type hands. Once you identify a profitable target it's just a matter of waiting for the right time to get their money.

Sunday 2/5 chip porn:


So all in all the weekend was an absolute dream for me and I put 45 hours in on the week which I am proud of considering my problem with volume. I know the reason I haven't been consistently winning is because I'm just flat out not putting the required amount of hours in and hopefully this week is the starting point for me consistently putting in 40+ hour weeks. I look at other PG&C's of my peers and they're having no problem putting in 40+ so I'm especially motivated now.

Effect of the weekend of my giraffe (year to date):


Pretty weak total amount on the left but this is due to me putting in 25 hour weeks in. I need to just buckle down and sit my ass at the tables for 40+ hours a week and I will continue climbing.

Confident I can hit the weight loss goal in time. Just going to be a matter of discipline. I've impressed myself at the gym with how strong I've remained over the years of not really lifting too heavily. I can put up 255 twice on bench and my peak in HS was around that amount so hopefully after I strip this fat off I can become a 6'5" 230 lb lean mean poker crushing machine.

Some HH's since my last update:

Hand 1

Effective stacks 500
Preflop (7): Hero is MP1 with AJ
Hero opens for 20, BTN calls, blinds fold.

Flop (47): J 4 2
Hero bets 25, BTN raises to 65, Hero calls.

Turn (97): 5
Hero checks, BTN bets 40, Hero calls.

River (177): 5
Hero checks, BTN bets 55, Hero calls.

BTN shows TT MHIG

Definitely could have played this a lot more profitably. I really didn't know much about BTN as this was like the first orbit at a newly opened table.

Hand 2

Effective stacks 500 (BB has 250)
Preflop (7): Hero is OTB with 99
One limp to Hero who raises to 25, BB and HJ call.

BB is a SUPER OLD dude who takes forever with his decisions and plays way way way tighter than your average OMC.

Flop (75): 7 7 6
Checked to Hero who bets 50, BB calls, HJ folds.

Turn (175): 9
Check, Hero bets 90, BB shoves, Hero calls.

River (525): J

BB shows AA MHIG

Hand 3

Effective stacks 730
Preflop (7): Hero is UTG+1 with TT
Hero opens for 25, MP2 raises to 65, folded to Hero who calls.

MP2 is a middle aged Asian guy wearing a scarf who seems recreational.

Flop (137): T 3 3
Hero bets 85, MP2 calls.

Check raise might have been the better play here. There's no way he's not cbetting here.

Turn (307): K
Hero bets 130, MP2 tank calls.

River (567): J
Hero shoves ~460, MP2 snap calls.

MP2 shows KK

Ouch.

Hand 4

Effective stacks 500
Preflop (7): Hero is UTG+1 with AJ
7 handed. Hero opens for 20, folded to SB who calls.

SB is an OMC with a fold button.

Flop (45): K 8 6
SB donks 10, Hero calls.

SB has been doing this with weakish showdown hands. Usually top pair crap kicker or a draw as a blocker. K9 or KT seems right up his alley when he makes this move.

Turn (65): J
Checks through

River (65): 3
SB bets 30, Hero raises to 100, SB angrily folds.

I knew my J was never good here so I had to make a move with the nut blocker when the BD flush gets there. He was making anger folds all night long and I had a pretty clean image.

Hand 5

Effective stacks 400
Preflop (17): Hero is UTG+1 with KJ
Straddled pot, Hero opens for 40, BTN only caller.

Flop (97): J 6 4
Hero bets 65, BTN calls.

BTN took a good amount of time. It wasn't hollywoodish either.

Turn (227): T
Hero bets 120, BTN again takes a while cutting out and playing with his chips and calls.

River (467): 8
Hero checks, BTN checks.

I checked here because I didn't know what hands I would get called by so I elected to try and bluff catch instead.

BTN shows 78 MHIG

Hand 6

Effective stacks 400
Preflop (7): Hero is in MP1 with KQdd
Hero opens for 20, HJ and CO call.

HJ is a pretty bad reg. Super passive and just never bluffs.

Flop (67): K T 6
Hero bets 40, HJ calls, CO folds

Turn (147): Q
Hero bets 80, HJ raises to 180, Hero shoves, HJ calls

River (827): 3

HJ shows AA Thanks for shoveling the money in after I ran down the aces that you chose to play slower than molasses

Hand 7 (Very first 5/T HH ITT)

Effective stacks 1975
Preflop (15): Hero is in CO with QQ
HJ opens for 35, Hero raises to 140, HJ only caller.

Flop (295): KQ5
HJ checks, Hero bets 200, HJ calls

Turn (695): 6
HJ checks, Hero bets 550, HJ calls

River (1795): 3
HJ checks, Hero bets 785 (leaving 300 behind...AIDS), HJ calls.

MHIG

Pot size being so big and nerves definitely came into play when I didn't shove the river. I could feel my hands slightly shaking as I put the river bet out because of how much money it was but I think I'll be fine in this regard from this time on.

That's all for this past week guys. Will post a 100k in 100 days challenge update pic tomorrow. Only goals this week are to eat well, go to the gym at least 5 times, and put 45 hours in on the felt.

Feel free to follow me on Twitter as well. @RandalGravesNL I don't tweet often and when I do it's meaningless anyway but if you're up for it go ahead and I'll follow you back.

Very nice weekend, killin it! Don't stop doing your thing!

Awesome. Absolutely awesome. Makes me really motivated to get back down and study/grind. Nice week.

Your graph does not do enough justice to your early struggles. It's really nice to see things starting to click. FWIW, you should have been putting in less than 40 hours of play early, and should have been putting in a decent amount of hours off the felt studying. Now you're at a point where the study hours will be much smaller and the grind hours the vast majority.

Watch the money pile up, you're going to make 6 figs this year, and I know that because of this...
And I know this is true.

Had a quick question here in regards to this hand.

At what stack depth are u calling 3 bets against typical recreational unknown (assuming- non maniac/no real reads)? Are you calling pre with 100bb stacks? Are you calling just to set mine? Whats your plan on 225 flops or flops with one overcard like J52? And lastly, will u call to setmine with 22-99 as well?

Postflop- did u consider check/calling flop? Check/call seems to win some from his random spazzes and he will continue to barrel off with overpairs as well (could be totally off here, just thought it was a line to consider)

Just noticed pot sizes are off in hand 1. My bad.

I think with these stacks TT is too strong of a hand to fold here. I told myself when I called to just play it super cautiously.

Never gonna check call here. I just want to shovel as much money in as possible after flopping gin.

Check raising with TT there is likely better than donking because you are losing out on a ton of value when he cbets AK.

If less than 200xbb, or if villain is on obv really bad, I tend to prefer folding pf just because our implied odds are cut and it's hard to get value oop without a loose spewy image.

That's not to say that I don't think calling is okay just that I prefer to fold marginal decisions oop and call ip (this is normalized by position since flatting here pf ip is 100% right).

Yeah it was borderline for me to call it pre. Check raising would've been the optimal move also agreed.