It’s a Baron Wasteland Out There

So the blog has been quiet, it’s been on a hiatus and for good reason. The reason being NOT A LOT BEEN HAPPENING.

I don’t like to just treat this as a ‘diary’ as such and would rather have something to report, a big swing, an interesting spot etc when I review my play.

Since Friday night when I saw the brilliant Arcade Fire in concert (literally one of the great bands that can be seen live, would highly recommend) I’ve basically just been in the Vic grinding it out.

Saturday - 5hr 15m +£600

Sunday - 6hr 10m +£815

Monday - 8h +£1525

3 solid sessions, leaves me down £7400 on the month still after some destruction in the Jacky games.

Last night my dad was in town from Manchester so took the night off to chill with him.

Live poker on the whole been super relaxing this week, I can’t fathom one interesting spot though in my mind that’s happened in the past 24 hours of live play. Games just haven’t allowed for it but the games have been incredibly chill and low variance and that’s been extremely satisfying after quite a spicy month prior. Gazzy (GazzyB123 fam) has been playing the Vic a bunch this week and it’s been great for morale, it’s nice to have a friendly face in the room to shoot the **** with even if we’re playing different games. Live poker often so boring that morale is highly underrated and anything that raises it is a bonus.

I sort of regretted missing Barcelona but it’s nice that I haven’t yet heard stories of any big and crazy games, so no FOMO just yet. I think perhaps going would have been good for the mind and soul however, to break up the monotony of the day to day grind.

Usually I don’t do rec’s but I’ve watched two things lately that have been really, really good. I watched that documentary ‘The Defiant Ones’ on Netflix and without hyperbole I’d say it’s one of the finest programmes I’ve ever seen. If you like music in the slightest it’s mindblowingly good.

I also really enjoyed (albeit yet to finish it admittedly) the Gman06 Joe Ingram Pod. I haven’t really watched my Ingram pods in the past few months, usually I’d only be interested in the PLO guys anyway but decided to stick the Gman one on whilst chilling one day and I loved it. I guess I can relate to a lot of the things he says being someone who’s also mainly focused on high stakes live play for the majority of the past 5 or years. His outlook towards life and the drive and commitment he finds is something inspiring to someone like me who often struggles for motivation. It’s helped me sit in the Vic the past week or so and just enjoy the fact that games are running and that there’s money to be made. It’s also got me to have a focus on the summer and to really plan and drive towards a big Vegas.

Outside of that I’ve been doing a lot of studying with my mornings and been seeing the changes, hopefully improvements, in my play. Even if it has changed my traditional style quite significantly, I expect my swings to be far smaller as the studying continues.

Defiant Ones is legit amazing, great recommendation.

I always enjoy your updates, even if there ain't a whole lot going on. More hand histories are always good too.

Defiant ones absolutely great. Had no clue I d enjoy it so much

Slumber Party

With a dearth of action live I made a return to the online felt yesterday with some 2/5 and 5/10 action. Everyone’s favourite instagrammer Gus Hansen made a few appearances at 5/10 early in the day, which was cool. Old Gussy does some interesting stuff pre flop, I’ll leave it at that. Didn’t see how he went in the Party bigger game later in the night but ya always gotta root for Gus, big time legend.

I did venture into the Vic briefly for a few hours, lost £1250, ran pretty sour vs one of the only spots in the game and then made a pretty spewy bluff late on when I had 97% of my attention in the United game instead so decided to just quit. The game was deathly boring anyway. It felt like I was doing community service the game was that boring. I was also doing my bean in a prop where I had to tip the dealer £1 every time I bragged, doesn’t seem like much but let’s just say those dealers had a damn field day.

- Let’s delve into some of yesterday’s premier winners & losers:

partypoker - $10 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: $1,777.08 (VPIP: 28.66, PFR: 18.11, 3Bet Preflop: 6.14, Hands: 3,940)
Hero (SB): $1,268.15
BB: $1,166.00 (VPIP: 30.38, PFR: 18.42, 3Bet Preflop: 6.45, Hands: 3,511)
UTG: $283.57 (VPIP: 29.19, PFR: 18.43, 3Bet Preflop: 5.91, Hands: 3,547)
CO: $1,200.50 (VPIP: 30.16, PFR: 18.43, 3Bet Preflop: 7.06, Hands: 3,844)

Hero posts SB $5.00, BB posts BB $10.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $15.00) Hero has T J A Q

fold, CO raises to $35.00, BTN raises to $120.00, Hero raises to $405.00, fold, fold, BTN calls $285.00

Flop: ($855.00, 2 players) 8 7 9
Hero checks, BTN bets $200.00, Hero calls $200.00

Turn: ($1,255.00, 2 players) 8
Hero checks, BTN bets $1,172.08 and is all-in, Hero calls $663.15 and is all-in

River: ($2,581.30, 2 players) 4

Hero shows T J A Q (Straight, Jack High)
(Pre 43%, Flop 94%, Turn 78%)
BTN shows K 2 T A (One Pair, Eights)
(Pre 57%, Flop 6%, Turn 23%)
BTN wins $508.93
Hero wins $2,578.30

Vs well known Stars reg, think pre is damn close and perhaps teeters on the border of too loose. Post I think is standard (from me), I guess given flop stab turn becomes a standard from him also, fortunate flop…or the dream as my buddy called it.

partypoker - $10 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (BB): $2,117.00
UTG: $940.00 (VPIP: 29.83, PFR: 18.83, 3Bet Preflop: 7.33, Hands: 3,286)
MP: $1,057.00 (VPIP: 27.17, PFR: 18.63, 3Bet Preflop: 7.23, Hands: 3,311)
CO: $1,017.00 (VPIP: 30.46, PFR: 18.47, 3Bet Preflop: 6.68, Hands: 3,223)
BTN: $1,850.94 (VPIP: 29.31, PFR: 18.62, 3Bet Preflop: 5.90, Hands: 3,197)
SB: $1,067.81 (VPIP: 30.01, PFR: 18.39, 3Bet Preflop: 7.25, Hands: 3,526)

SB posts SB $5.00, Hero posts BB $10.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $15.00) Hero has 7 6 A 8

fold, MP raises to $35.00, CO calls $35.00, BTN calls $35.00, fold, Hero calls $25.00

Flop: ($145.00, 4 players) 3 T A
Hero checks, MP checks, CO checks, BTN checks

Turn: ($145.00, 4 players) 4
Hero bets $142.00, MP calls $142.00, CO calls $142.00, fold

River: ($571.00, 3 players) 5
Hero checks, MP bets $426.00, fold, Hero raises to $1,846.00, MP calls $454.00 and is all-in

Hero shows 7 6 A 8 (Straight, Seven High)
(Pre 57%, Flop 88%, Turn 80%)
MP shows 9 6 J 2 (Straight, Six High)
(Pre 43%, Flop 12%, Turn 20%)
Hero wins $966.00
Hero wins $2,328.00

- [ ] This one was pretty damn funky vs some reg/rec thing. Fortunate river but obviously gods line (trademark BenA, sorry for the steal) from villain, would suspect that my turn donk is questionable to say the least. Got an A though init…

partypoker - $10 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (BB): $3,527.00
UTG: $1,512.48 (VPIP: 29.89, PFR: 18.93, 3Bet Preflop: 7.27, Hands: 3,324)
CO: $1,000.00 (VPIP: 27.30, PFR: 18.65, 3Bet Preflop: 7.15, Hands: 3,374)
BTN: $1,000.00 (VPIP: 30.28, PFR: 18.42, 3Bet Preflop: 6.68, Hands: 3,297)
SB: $1,000.00 (VPIP: 29.98, PFR: 18.36, 3Bet Preflop: 7.21, Hands: 3,577)

SB posts SB $5.00, Hero posts BB $10.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $15.00) Hero has T A 6 T

fold, CO raises to $35.00, fold, fold, Hero calls $25.00

Flop: ($75.00, 2 players) 4 4 9
Hero checks, CO bets $20.88, Hero raises to $91.76, CO calls $70.88

Turn: ($258.52, 2 players) T
Hero checks, CO checks

River: ($258.52, 2 players) Q
Hero bets $255.52, CO raises to $873.24 and is all-in, Hero calls $617.72

Hero shows T A 6 T (Full House, Tens full of Fours)
(Pre 56%, Flop 68%, Turn 100%)
CO shows K 9 8 Q (Two Pair, Queens and Nines)
(Pre 44%, Flop 32%, Turn 0%)
Hero wins $2,002.00

What happens when two bad regs collide, spewaments.

partypoker - $10 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: $1,022.00 (VPIP: 27.79, PFR: 17.63, 3Bet Preflop: 6.15, Hands: 3,704)
Hero (UTG): $1,159.00
MP: $1,215.57 (VPIP: 27.24, PFR: 18.64, 3Bet Preflop: 7.19, Hands: 3,359)
CO: $1,000.00 (VPIP: 30.31, PFR: 18.42, 3Bet Preflop: 6.71, Hands: 3,281)
BTN: $1,190.16 (VPIP: 29.34, PFR: 18.58, 3Bet Preflop: 5.96, Hands: 3,252)
SB: $1,488.32 (VPIP: 30.00, PFR: 18.38, 3Bet Preflop: 7.17, Hands: 3,562)

SB posts SB $5.00, BB posts BB $10.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $15.00) Hero has A T 7 J

Hero raises to $35.00, fold, fold, fold, fold, BB calls $25.00

Flop: ($75.00, 2 players) Q 3 K
BB checks, Hero bets $72.00, BB calls $72.00

Turn: ($219.00, 2 players) J
BB checks, Hero bets $216.00, BB calls $216.00

River: ($651.00, 2 players) 9
BB checks, Hero bets $648.00, BB calls $648.00

Hero shows A T 7 J (Straight, Ace High)
(Pre 41%, Flop 55%, Turn 74%)
BB mucks 2 J T J (Straight, King High)
(Pre 59%, Flop 45%, Turn 26%)
Hero wins $1,944.00

PLO is a simple game, ya get a good hand and or good draw and just fire out pot on every street.

partypoker - $5 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: $673.72 (VPIP: 27.81, PFR: 17.62, 3Bet Preflop: 6.14, Hands: 3,705)
Hero (BTN): $483.55
SB: $500.00 (VPIP: 27.23, PFR: 18.64, 3Bet Preflop: 7.19, Hands: 3,360)
BB: $218.20 (VPIP: 30.30, PFR: 18.41, 3Bet Preflop: 6.71, Hands: 3,282)
UTG: $551.00 (VPIP: 29.34, PFR: 18.58, 3Bet Preflop: 5.96, Hands: 3,253)
MP: $744.78 (VPIP: 29.99, PFR: 18.37, 3Bet Preflop: 7.17, Hands: 3,563)

SB posts SB $2.00, BB posts BB $5.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $7.00) Hero has A K J J

fold, fold, CO raises to $17.00, Hero raises to $58.00, fold, fold, CO calls $41.00

Flop: ($123.00, 2 players) 5 3 2
CO checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($123.00, 2 players) 5
CO bets $90.00, Hero calls $90.00

River: ($303.00, 2 players) 9
CO bets $300.00, Hero calls $300.00

CO shows 7 6 7 3 (Two Pair, Sevens and Fives)
(Pre 36%, Flop 36%, Turn 20%)
Hero shows A K J J (Two Pair, Jacks and Fives)
(Pre 64%, Flop 64%, Turn 80%)
Hero wins $900.00

Being stubborn as a mule with some pretty ugly blockers.

partypoker - $5 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: $1,413.41 (VPIP: 28.06, PFR: 17.86, 3Bet Preflop: 6.25, Hands: 3,799)
BTN: $500.00 (VPIP: 29.78, PFR: 18.90, 3Bet Preflop: 7.32, Hands: 3,407)
SB: $603.00 (VPIP: 27.41, PFR: 18.69, 3Bet Preflop: 7.24, Hands: 3,506)
Hero (BB): $799.57
UTG: $548.00 (VPIP: 29.41, PFR: 18.56, 3Bet Preflop: 6.08, Hands: 3,379)
MP: $522.15 (VPIP: 29.95, PFR: 18.26, 3Bet Preflop: 7.07, Hands: 3,688)

SB posts SB $2.00, Hero posts BB $5.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $7.00) Hero has 6 Q T 9

fold, fold, CO raises to $16.00, BTN calls $16.00, fold, Hero calls $11.00

Flop: ($50.00, 3 players) 3 Q 7
Hero checks, CO bets $38.00, fold, Hero raises to $99.75, CO raises to $190.00, Hero raises to $617.50, fold

Hero wins $854.50

Got a Q init…

partypoker - $10 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

MP: $845.00 (VPIP: 28.92, PFR: 18.12, 3Bet Preflop: 6.06, Hands: 4,060)
CO: $1,000.00 (VPIP: 29.62, PFR: 18.75, 3Bet Preflop: 7.41, Hands: 3,586)
Hero (BTN): $980.42
SB: $5,025.24 (VPIP: 30.28, PFR: 18.33, 3Bet Preflop: 6.37, Hands: 3,598)
BB: $1,820.75 (VPIP: 29.08, PFR: 18.51, 3Bet Preflop: 6.01, Hands: 3,672)
UTG: $1,657.25 (VPIP: 30.33, PFR: 18.61, 3Bet Preflop: 7.23, Hands: 3,980)

SB posts SB $5.00, BB posts BB $10.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $15.00) Hero has 8 9 K Q

fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to $35.00, SB raises to $115.00, fold, Hero calls $80.00

Flop: ($240.00, 2 players) 2 9 4
SB bets $237.00, Hero raises to $865.42 and is all-in, SB calls $628.42

Turn: ($1,970.84, 2 players) A

River: ($1,970.84, 2 players) 3

SB shows K 4 T A (Two Pair, Aces and Fours)
(Pre 52%, Flop 33%, Turn 95%)
Hero shows 8 9 K Q (One Pair, Nines)
(Pre 48%, Flop 67%, Turn 5%)
SB wins $1,967.84

Reg being aggro and getting there, pretty standard all round. JNandez taught us we should be potting these flops and in JNandez we trust.

partypoker - $5 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

MP: $454.90 (VPIP: 27.91, PFR: 17.77, 3Bet Preflop: 6.16, Hands: 3,772)
CO: $596.85 (VPIP: 29.85, PFR: 18.99, 3Bet Preflop: 7.25, Hands: 3,374)
BTN: $345.40 (VPIP: 27.38, PFR: 18.71, 3Bet Preflop: 7.23, Hands: 3,461)
Hero (SB): $500.00
BB: $517.20 (VPIP: 29.42, PFR: 18.62, 3Bet Preflop: 6.14, Hands: 3,345)
UTG: $213.90 (VPIP: 30.06, PFR: 18.36, 3Bet Preflop: 7.13, Hands: 3,650)

Hero posts SB $2.00, BB posts BB $5.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $7.00) Hero has 6 A K 8

fold, MP raises to $10.00, fold, fold, Hero raises to $35.00, BB raises to $115.00, fold, Hero calls $80.00

Flop: ($240.00, 2 players) A K 4
Hero checks, BB bets $78.21, Hero raises to $385.00 and is all-in, BB calls $306.79

Turn: ($1,010.00, 2 players) J

River: ($1,010.00, 2 players) 3

BB shows A 6 A Q (Three of a Kind, Aces)
(Pre 64%, Flop 70%, Turn 85%)
Hero shows 6 A K 8 (Two Pair, Aces and Kings)
(Pre 36%, Flop 30%, Turn 15%)
BB wins $1,007.00

Not really sure what else was gonna happen except villain fold after I jam (prolly makes it a bad jam ducy) but still one of the coldest flops in 2018..

partypoker - $5 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB: $245.00 (VPIP: 27.86, PFR: 17.70, 3Bet Preflop: 6.19, Hands: 3,718)
BB: $660.70 (VPIP: 29.88, PFR: 18.92, 3Bet Preflop: 7.27, Hands: 3,325)
UTG: $500.00 (VPIP: 27.29, PFR: 18.65, 3Bet Preflop: 7.14, Hands: 3,379)
CO: $1,308.99 (VPIP: 29.39, PFR: 18.64, 3Bet Preflop: 6.15, Hands: 3,275)
Hero (BTN): $488.00

SB posts SB $2.00, BB posts BB $5.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $7.00) Hero has 8 T 9 A

fold, CO raises to $12.50, Hero raises to $44.50, fold, fold, CO calls $32.00

Flop: ($96.00, 2 players) 5 4 8
CO checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($96.00, 2 players) 9
CO checks, Hero bets $46.50, CO raises to $199.02, Hero raises to $443.50 and is all-in, CO calls $244.48

River: ($983.00, 2 players) 4

CO shows J T T 7 (Two Pair, Tens and Fours)
(Pre 54%, Flop 66%, Turn 53%)
Hero shows 8 T 9 A (Two Pair, Nines and Eights)
(Pre 46%, Flop 34%, Turn 48%)
CO wins $980.00

Clinging on like a legend vs reg, to then realise I still have an equity disadvantage. Doh.

Other than that I’ve just been enjoying this very, VERY rare sun we’re enjoying in London. Will be soaking myself in it today. Thursday is traditionally a very poor live poker day so I won’t be holding my breath for any fireworks. Will likely fire in a party session in an hour or so.

Feeling the Heat

It’s been an unprecedented heatwave in London the past few days and whilst it’s mainly kept me out of the house and away from cards that heat has made it’s way onto the online felt in the short sessions I’ve played. Whilst my hours of study have been certainly helping my recent online results they’ve perhaps been damaging my life ones as I still struggle with the adjustments that need to be made. Yesterday was no exception and it led to some lively and questionable hand histories to say the least.

Online and feeling fine…

partypoker - $10 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB: $1,491.25 (VPIP: 29.42, PFR: 18.50, 3Bet Preflop: 7.11, Hands: 3,782)
BB: $1,051.00 (VPIP: 28.00, PFR: 18.63, 3Bet Preflop: 7.02, Hands: 3,943)
Hero (UTG): $715.24
CO: $1,465.12 (VPIP: 29.34, PFR: 18.67, 3Bet Preflop: 5.79, Hands: 3,870)
BTN: $1,167.12 (VPIP: 30.22, PFR: 18.46, 3Bet Preflop: 7.03, Hands: 4,102)

SB posts SB $5.00, BB posts BB $10.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $15.00) Hero has 7 T J A

Hero raises to $35.00, fold, fold, fold, BB calls $25.00

Flop: ($75.00, 2 players) J 6 T
BB checks, Hero bets $23.76, BB calls $23.76

Turn: ($122.52, 2 players) 4
BB checks, Hero bets $119.52, BB calls $119.52

River: ($361.56, 2 players) 5
BB checks, Hero bets $358.56, BB calls $358.56

Hero shows 7 T J A (Two Pair, Jacks and Tens)
(Pre 46%, Flop 72%, Turn 63%)
BB mucks 3 8 K K (One Pair, Kings)
(Pre 54%, Flop 28%, Turn 38%)
Hero wins $1,075.68

When villain is thinking of hands he wants to hero on the river here I’m pretty sure this ain’t the one.

partypoker - $10 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

UTG: $1,268.80 (VPIP: 28.99, PFR: 18.11, 3Bet Preflop: 6.03, Hands: 4,086)
MP: $1,982.00 (VPIP: 29.63, PFR: 18.78, 3Bet Preflop: 7.37, Hands: 3,603)
CO: $995.75 (VPIP: 27.89, PFR: 18.55, 3Bet Preflop: 7.12, Hands: 3,788)
BTN: $1,211.50 (VPIP: 30.21, PFR: 18.29, 3Bet Preflop: 6.41, Hands: 3,618)
SB: $1,032.00 (VPIP: 29.06, PFR: 18.51, 3Bet Preflop: 5.96, Hands: 3,699)
Hero (BB): $1,000.00

SB posts SB $5.00, Hero posts BB $10.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $15.00) Hero has 6 7 5 9

fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to $35.00, fold, Hero raises to $110.00, BTN raises to $335.00, Hero calls $225.00

Flop: ($675.00, 2 players) 7 6 8
Hero checks, BTN bets $672.00, Hero calls $665.00 and is all-in

Turn: ($2,005.00, 2 players) A

River: ($2,005.00, 2 players) 2

BTN shows Q 6 5 4 (Straight, Eight High)
(Pre 57%, Flop 6%, Turn 4%)
Hero shows 6 7 5 9 (Straight, Nine High)
(Pre 43%, Flop 94%, Turn 96%)
BTN wins $7.00
Hero wins $2,002.00

So this is the 4bet brigade nowadays huh…flopped me some good equity.

partypoker - $10 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

UTG: $1,230.36 (VPIP: 28.99, PFR: 18.10, 3Bet Preflop: 5.99, Hands: 4,110)
MP: $1,978.00 (VPIP: 29.55, PFR: 18.70, 3Bet Preflop: 7.32, Hands: 3,634)
CO: $1,088.19 (VPIP: 27.89, PFR: 18.58, 3Bet Preflop: 7.09, Hands: 3,811)
BTN: $1,345.85 (VPIP: 30.25, PFR: 18.29, 3Bet Preflop: 6.37, Hands: 3,641)
SB: $1,000.00 (VPIP: 29.08, PFR: 18.47, 3Bet Preflop: 5.92, Hands: 3,725)
Hero (BB): $1,998.00

SB posts SB $5.00, Hero posts BB $10.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $15.00) Hero has 6 5 7 7

fold, fold, CO raises to $35.00, BTN raises to $120.00, fold, Hero calls $110.00, CO raises to $485.00, fold, Hero calls $365.00

Flop: ($1,095.00, 2 players) K J 3
Hero bets $1,092.00, CO calls $603.19 and is all-in

Turn: ($2,301.38, 2 players) 3

River: ($2,301.38, 2 players) 8

Hero shows 6 5 7 7 (Flush, King High)
(Pre 46%, Flop 15%, Turn 33%)
CO shows T 6 9 K (Flush, King High)
(Pre 54%, Flop 85%, Turn 68%)
Hero wins $488.81
CO wins $2,298.38

Straight whaling pre, not for the first time that day.

Played for such a short amount of time that there wasn’t anything interesting going on and that was the pick of the bunch.

Chilled in the sun for a while and then played a little live poker in the evening.

- [ ] Got into one meh spot where I’ve 4bet HJ open of Q987ccss and I’ve received two calls behind and then a squeeze from the button, he’s 5b jammed and I’ve called off and lost both runs to AKJTcchh. Pretty random spew from me and meant I ended down £2000.

More of the same today I suspect!

How miserable is the Vic on a hot and sweaty Thursday evening?

Haha damn miserable enough that me and #2 had to call it a day in a decent game and go for a few pints 🍻

whats up with those partypoker lineups they look like 6 killers didn't know games like that ran

Non Non Non..(story telling from a night of 2/5)

After basking in the Friday sun I had the itch to play live poker and was pretty much content to fire at whatever was running at the Vic. Alas I arrived at the casino and my desire to play cards would have to be satisfied with a non reggy 2/5, certainly not ideal but not the worst spot to be in ever.

The game was pretty decent actually, couple of high morale characters and some less morale ones but the table banter was good and it’s nice to not see the same old faces of the daily grind.

And then it happened…

The Incident

So a spot arose, involving rules, outside involvement, potentially me angling as always (without meaning to).

So this French geezer was playing in the game and I think he thought he was a bit of a hot shot poker pro (was wearing sunglasses so naturally I’ve instantly hated him). Anyway he opens and I 3bet him to 50 with JT99 (cos you know, screw this guy) and this noob reg who trying to make a move up the stakes over calls the button and this French dude folds.

Flop comes Q65r. I figure that I’ll probably go ahead and bet here and prepare to unleash the gods of war on later streets. I go to pick up my bet and I noticed the guy has already picked his chips up behind, signifying he’s going to call, a classic thing some guys do live. I decide that with this new info that bloke is definitely not folding that I’ll just check and give up, so I go ahead and check. Now the guy on btn (the dude with the chips in his hand) decides he wants to check too (fine by me) but kinda bumbles this bet of 65 into the pot as he says check. We agree to go check/check and the turn comes Ax. I bet full pot and the dude is about to muck when we hear…

‘Non Non, the action must go back to the flop and his (my opponents) bet must stand’. Now if he’s said this on the flop I can get on board with it cos the geezer has kinda dropped a bet in, either way the dealer at the time hasn’t seen it that way and now we’ve proceeded to the turn. This French guy (baring in mind still that this breh isn’t even in the friggin hand) insists that the floor are called and such so the game is stopped for the floor to go off, look at the camera and make a ruling. In classic Vic fashion they come back with the most ridiculous ruling and say I have to do my bet as I had the chips in my hand, I still don’t mind tho cos I’m gonna barrel this turn Ax big anyway and win but they then decide that the turn has to be shuffled back into the deck. I mean, that ain’t the rule. Ya know what tho, it’s a sunny Friday evening and I’m playing fairly bowl stakes so I just stay quiet and let them get on with their nonsense.

Hand plays out: Turn K, I see again the geezer now is reaching for chips before I’ve done anything is loving this turn so I check my wrap. He pots it and I guess I did let the situation affect me as I make a check call just planning to outplay this dude on rivers. River is 7x and I bet a crap bluff using my 99 blockers init, dude snaps me off and I lose a big pot but ya know turn/river play is just poor poker by me. The ruling before hand is decently laughable and obviously at this point I’m not loving this poindexter French guy.

The Revenge

So to add fuel to the fire my morale was high because a) Legend of the game and all round bad man GazzyB123 was in the building and b) me and him had decided to start firing some beers down (a basic must when grinding out lower). I’d explained that earlier situation to Gazzy and he’d embodied my rage at this French guy. A hand pops up..

- [ ] There’s a 10 straddle on and I open a good looking AJ88ccdd to 35, French man 3b’s to 100 and it folds back to me and I’m like well f*** this guy and sling 300 out there and the dude does a little chip dance and calls. Gazzy asks for a little sweat from the NL table, I show him, he calls me ‘a mad bastard’ and we proceed to the flop.
Flop is a gentle 742ddc. Decent. French villain is playing 2k or so and I cover by bajillionz and I decide that in this spot I can bet/fold and expect I should just win anyway a lot so instead of going full pot I bet 325 and my man here decides to call. Turn comes Tx and look, I’ll level with y’all, logic dictates I should pot here, for many Strat reasons I won’t bore with but ya know, I was enjoying my pint and felt this guy was perhaps a little more nutted and trappy here than he should be and planned to c/f to his turn shove. Alas, he doesn’t shove though, he cuts out 495 and plops it in and leaves about 1.25k back. I start seeing this discomfort in his being and realise he’s probably here on one bullet, 1.25k is a fine amount to continuing play a 2/5 game with on a visit to the big smoke. I say to my new foe ‘well, with that size I guess you got some bet/folds and slide a covering stack into the middle. Gazzy asks me what I have and I announce ‘a pair of 8s’ loud enough so that I know villain can hear, it’s not smart but I needed the revenge to be cold. He keeps bumbling about and cuts his stack down about 3000 times and then fires his cards into the muck. I slam my hand over and tell him to go back to Paris…I am of course kidding, I would and will never be this douchey or racist but I do show him the bluff and our small battle rests in the dust.

After that hand me and Gazzy sank a few more beverages and I was able to pick up some good hands and some good spots, made a few snazzy river calls, did a lot of table talk and had an enjoyable evening.

Booked a £3.6k win. Was a good day. The End.

Oh bonus Online hand from the morning….you can’t bluff a fish…

partypoker - $25 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 2 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (SB): $3,086.10
BB: $2,683.06 (VPIP: 30.64, PFR: 18.74, 3Bet Preflop: 6.71, Hands: 3,850)

Hero posts SB $10.00, BB posts BB $25.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $35.00) Hero has K 3 7 5

Hero raises to $75.00, BB raises to $225.00, Hero calls $150.00

Flop: ($450.00, 2 players) 5 7 6
BB checks, Hero bets $148.17, BB calls $148.17

Turn: ($746.34, 2 players) J
BB checks, Hero checks

River: ($746.34, 2 players) 8
BB bets $428.50, Hero calls $428.50

BB shows T J T Q (One Pair, Jacks)
(Pre 53%, Flop 25%, Turn 25%)
Hero shows K 3 7 5 (Two Pair, Sevens and Fives)
(Pre 47%, Flop 75%, Turn 75%)
Hero wins $1,602.34

Lolol classic frenchies doing Frenchie things great post

Fired up my week playing a little Party Poker session after doing a study session in the morning. Was in a groove and cruising in the early session but then really just let my mind go and played some choice stuff, to say the least.

BEST OF THE BUNCH

Find a strong hand, play it fast

partypoker - $5 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: $617.77 (VPIP: 29.29, PFR: 18.28, 3Bet Preflop: 5.96, Hands: 4,477)
SB: $1,285.00 (VPIP: 29.39, PFR: 18.65, 3Bet Preflop: 7.16, Hands: 4,029)
BB: $1,390.04 (VPIP: 28.47, PFR: 18.80, 3Bet Preflop: 7.16, Hands: 4,130)
UTG: $393.53 (VPIP: 30.53, PFR: 18.70, 3Bet Preflop: 6.92, Hands: 3,984)
MP: $469.73 (VPIP: 29.21, PFR: 18.34, 3Bet Preflop: 5.66, Hands: 4,102)
Hero (CO): $914.25

SB posts SB $2.00, BB posts BB $5.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $7.00) Hero has J 2 A A

fold, fold, Hero raises to $17.00, BTN calls $17.00, fold, fold

Flop: ($41.00, 2 players) 9 2 A
Hero checks, BTN bets $28.04, Hero raises to $96.85, BTN calls $68.81

Turn: ($234.70, 2 players) T
Hero bets $79.34, BTN raises to $469.72, Hero raises to $800.40 and is all-in, BTN calls $34.20 and is all-in

River: ($1,242.54, 2 players) 5

BTN shows A 9 5 Q (Two Pair, Aces and Nines)
(Pre 34%, Flop 5%, Turn 18%)
Hero shows J 2 A A (Three of a Kind, Aces)
(Pre 66%, Flop 95%, Turn 83%)
Hero wins $296.48
Hero wins $1,239.54

Bahahahahahhhahahah hahahah haha ha

partypoker - $5 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB: $500.00 (VPIP: 29.25, PFR: 18.16, 3Bet Preflop: 5.89, Hands: 4,551)
BB: $500.00 (VPIP: 29.18, PFR: 18.51, 3Bet Preflop: 7.11, Hands: 4,084)
UTG: $500.00 (VPIP: 28.55, PFR: 18.90, 3Bet Preflop: 7.20, Hands: 4,182)
MP: $779.02 (VPIP: 30.57, PFR: 18.70, 3Bet Preflop: 6.79, Hands: 4,056)
Hero (CO): $600.64
BTN: $439.78 (VPIP: 30.40, PFR: 18.58, 3Bet Preflop: 7.01, Hands: 4,360)

SB posts SB $2.00, BB posts BB $5.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $7.00) Hero has 6 3 A A

UTG raises to $17.00, fold, Hero calls $17.00, BTN raises to $75.00, fold, fold, UTG calls $58.00, Hero raises to $307.00, BTN calls $232.00, UTG calls $232.00

Flop: ($928.00, 3 players) J 9 2
UTG checks, Hero bets $293.64 and is all-in, fold, fold

Hero wins $1,218.64

Whatever I did here I think was not good..

partypoker - $5 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 4 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: $567.83 (VPIP: 29.23, PFR: 18.10, 3Bet Preflop: 5.89, Hands: 4,735)
CO: $532.10 (VPIP: 29.33, PFR: 18.66, 3Bet Preflop: 6.94, Hands: 4,241)
Hero (BTN): $493.00
SB: $213.36 (VPIP: 29.29, PFR: 18.36, 3Bet Preflop: 5.58, Hands: 4,254)

SB posts SB $2.00, BB posts BB $5.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $7.00) Hero has 9 4 A Q

CO raises to $15.00, Hero raises to $52.00, fold, fold, CO calls $37.00

Flop: ($111.00, 2 players) T Q 3
CO checks, Hero bets $57.00, CO raises to $280.00, Hero raises to $441.00 and is all-in, CO calls $161.00

Turn: ($993.00, 2 players) 7

River: ($993.00, 2 players) 4

CO shows 5 6 3 3 (Straight, Seven High)
(Pre 43%, Flop 88%, Turn 100%)
Hero shows 9 4 A Q (Two Pair, Queens and Fours)
(Pre 57%, Flop 12%, Turn 0%)
CO wins $991.00

Found some good blockers..

partypoker - $5 PL Hi (6 max) - Omaha Hi - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: $500.00 (VPIP: 29.11, PFR: 18.17, 3Bet Preflop: 5.91, Hands: 4,849)
Hero (SB): $430.15
BB: $515.50 (VPIP: 28.59, PFR: 18.94, 3Bet Preflop: 7.50, Hands: 4,456)
UTG: $465.92 (VPIP: 30.33, PFR: 18.51, 3Bet Preflop: 6.74, Hands: 4,325)
MP: $706.52 (VPIP: 29.32, PFR: 18.36, 3Bet Preflop: 5.57, Hands: 4,401)
CO: $465.57 (VPIP: 30.52, PFR: 18.70, 3Bet Preflop: 7.31, Hands: 4,635)

Hero posts SB $2.00, BB posts BB $5.00

Pre Flop: (pot: $7.00) Hero has T A Q 8

fold, fold, CO raises to $17.00, fold, Hero raises to $56.00, fold, CO calls $39.00

Flop: ($117.00, 2 players) 2 K 4
Hero bets $36.85, CO calls $36.85

Turn: ($190.70, 2 players) J
Hero bets $59.65, CO calls $59.65

River: ($310.00, 2 players) 6
Hero bets $277.65 and is all-in, CO calls $277.65

Hero shows T A Q 8 (High Card, Ace)
(Pre 56%, Flop 0%, Turn 0%)
CO shows 9 5 J Q (Flush, King High)
(Pre 44%, Flop 100%, Turn 100%)
CO wins $862.30

- [ ] After that I was excited to get back into playing some live poker and fired over to the Vic hungry for action. Once again I think the Vic has a bad system in place when trying to run the games and I’ll try and explain….

- [ ] So we started a 5/10 PLO and it was fine, like no fireworks but basically me and 5 guys who couldn’t win whilst it remained 6 handed. I was cruising along and the game filled up and looked like we’d have a game going throughout the night. Then after a few hours they decided to open a 2/5 PLO, now of course this is fine, and it was undoubtedly incredibly soft, like any 2/5 would be. Most of the regs decided to jump ship from the 5/10 into this softer 2/5 and inevitably the 5/10 went onto break shortly after. I ended up not having any game to play as did a few other guys who opened the 5/10 and I think the system is a little skewed. Like I think in that spot they should ask the players if they either want to make the 5/10 a 2/5 main and use that softer table as a feeder or they should offer the 2/5 seats in order of the 5/10 list when we came in, doesn’t seem fair to punish the guys who start tables day after day and battle short handed tough games to keep the prospect of bigger games going. Basically the table starters get punished and the bumhunters get rewarded and I know that’s the way it’s been in poker for a long time but it’s doesn’t mean it’s right. What do you guys think?

Little live hand history (cos we all know that’s what the fans want..right, riiigghhtt?)

- [ ] So with the 5/10 and 2/5 debacle happening we ended up 5 handed and this spot arises. I have btn and my degenerate and exceedingly wealthy buddy decides he’s slide a straddle on.

Pre Flop: Folds to me and I open btn to 60 and villain in the 10 3bets to 210. Folds back to me and I defend QJT6cc. Not a great spot but we’re deep and I have positional and skill advantage.

Flop: T96r with one club. I expect villain to check a lot here, probably 80%+ but to my surprise he bets out 300. He’s playing about £3100 behind and I have a decision between raising/calling. I decide to raise/call and make it 950 and he jams and I call it off? How do we feel about this? I end up in a 58/42 situation in my favour but run bad and lose both runs to go from winning to stuck.

The game breaks about 20minutes after that pot and for the first time in a long time live I found myself having to dig deep in my mental game. I was already perturbed by the 2/5 5/10 situation. I was absolutely cruising in the 5/10, probably like +1500 and obv go on to lose after running bad in that big showdown pot. I felt a little pain, I mean it was a big pot for the way game had been playing previously but in general its not that big a pot so shouldn’t have caused any pain but I think that’s live poker for ya, theres’s a hundred ways for tilting things to happen. I think if the game doesn’t immediately end and the whole table jumping scenario doesn’t go down then I brush that off and it doesn’t even register but it was just a collection of events that made it hurt a bit and made me feel pissed off. After that I went home and decided that rest and relaxation > grinding a party session and I think that was a good decision. Will try and get them next time.

Football today and then it’s a dealers leaving drinks (not drug dealer) in the evening so not sure what the grind will be like, probably non existent.

With these types of hands, if not extremely deep, I prefer to play them fast. We have two pair and a straight draw, but if we just cold call, what is our plan if the villain bombs, for example, a deuce turn? Or an A for that matter? Folding would kind of suck, getting it in would kind of suck, calling would probably suck even more, right? On the flop, either our two pair is good or we are drawing very live with decent equity (sure, once in a million he will have something like QJTT but then we just backdoor the quads, right?) plus from a balancing point of view we want hands like this in our range as well, not only sets/wraps. So I like it.

Sometimes I wonder if floor staff have even played poker before....

If you don't mind me asking, what's your study routine like?

Yeah fair analysis, I wouldn't say something like a 2x would be a disaster for our hand, it's true though that there are a lot of turns that sully our action or make it a fairly gross spot if we face heavy fire. I think given the amount of KQJx stuff out there combined with us blocking the sets makes raise/calling not terrible as evident by the hand we ended up against.

Yeah, some choice decisions. I drank with some of the staff last night and I can sympathise with the supervisors a bit as they told me their hands are tied by the strict rules in place, so I'm gonna try and rag on them a little less in here from now on. My study routine mixes between using a well known solver on the market for PLO, running through hands I've played the day earlier and then using a mix of Nandez site and solver to try and work on spots I struggle with (gg profit in the games when the regs read this, doh).

Goodbyes and Good Games

We played football yesterday so I was kinda tired as hell afterwards, I figured I might just crash and take it easy. Alas, we all know the poker world doesn’t always allow for that and it turned out one of the main remaining fun players was in the club so I decided to be a good ‘pro’ and fired in there.

The game was really, really good. Good atmosphere, good banter. We all had a big (+EV) bet on Liverpool, so there was a great rail for that and morale couldn’t have been higher.

I felt like I was playing pretty good, really solid, copping the usual crap for being too tight etc. I could definitely have loosened up and given I had the Jesus seat in the game perhaps I should have made the adjustment. I can’t help but just feel that 9handed taking any marginal hand is going to be a crazy dust though.

I played two hands of interest, both vs the fun player.

Hand1#

First one he limps and I decide to limp behind QJT8dd in the HJ, I envisaged picking up a ton of passengers behind and felt like my hand would play reasonable enough as a limp. Couple of limps behind and we go to a flop.

Flop: Q95dd. Fun Player bets out 50 and I decide to raise utilising the fact I have a Q. Folds back to him and he calls to go HU to the turn.

Turn: Q953dd. He checks and I go ahead and pot. I think sizing is tricky here, on a 3x he’s unlikely to fold if he’s ahead but I can definitely have the best hand here and I don’t mind building a big pot in case I need to bluff river, big bluffs are usually harder to call right? (See previous blog posts to see this probably isn’t true). He surprises me and pots to 1600 with 900 behind. I think at this point he’s got a set basically all the time given his aggression frequencies. I’m preparing to call and try and hit my huge draw but I can tell the fun player just wants to fire the rest in now and he likes to run it twice a lot etc. So given this I say to him what my hand is and explain that we can just fire it in now if he’d rather run it twice vs facing river decision . He, of course, agrees. He has 99 and I brick both boards. -2700

Hand2#

- [ ] Much smaller hand but shows the importance of knowing your customers and being tuned in on the game. Fun player opens CO to 50, 25 straddle on this hand. I made a loose but I think fine defend with AJ77ss nut spade. We go 3 way to the flop.

Flop: JJ6ss. So we flop enormous, fun player bets full pot 165 and I decide that vs that sizing I’ll flat. HU to the turn.

Turn: JJ63ss. Fun player pots again and now it’s a ****ty spot. I know that his aggression factor is low. It’s really easy for him to have a whole host of combo’s that inc a J here but I had a fairly solid suspicion that he used different sizing for non boat Jxxx stuff. We banter back and forth a bit as I tank with him asking what I have. I tell him a very strong hand and he says ‘yes but not the strong hand right, I have the strong hand’, on the back of that I suggest I’ll fold if we show each other our holdings, he obliges. I show him AJ and he shows me 66xx so I was super happy with the fold and concrete read, - 215.

In the end I managed to come back a bit and win 600. Bit annoying to win so small in one of the very few great games we have had in a while but as Phil Laak once said ‘realising that any win is super valuable is so important to being a pro’.

I didn’t really want to leave the game but I remembered that one of my favourite dealers was leaving that night and was drinking across the road. I looked at my phone and he’d left me a bunch of messages playfully calling me a bastard and whatnot for not having gone over yet and ya know sometimes life > money. He’s a great bloke so I headed over and sank a few pints with him, gl Gabor and all the best fella.

really bad fold, stop being so results orientated

Subbed!

‘The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one’

I inadvertently got onto a bit of hiatus from blogging recently, I guess I didn’t think there was much to report. I’ve had a bit of a change in mindset lately, I’ve done a bunch of reading and I’ve been settling into a new life. I read the book Catcher in the Rye (about 15 years too late, I know I know..) and within it there is this quote that a teacher tells Holden (the protagonist) and it resonated strongly with me and particularly in with my place in poker and overall poker career. I’ll divulge..

I had a weird entry into poker. I was basically fortunate to have the right friends and got some epic opportunities as a result. I basically went from playing low stakes on Euro’s back in 2012 into being thrust into £50/100 and £100/200 blind games live. This was, unsurprisingly, a shot to the system. I all of a sudden had an identity, I was a high stakes poker player. I was backed, sure, but primarily my day to day was to go down and play high stakes poker games. With this you get inundated into a world, a society of high stakes. I went from browsing 2p2 high stakes and watching high stakes poker to playing with the best of the best, dining with them, drinking with them, discussing poker with them and so on. It affected my mindset and personality, gave me a false feeling of grandeur, without doubt and it warped my opinion of what achieving something in poker meant to me.

Fast forward to the present day and it’s something that’s probably poisoned and affected my mind for a long time. I remember when I came to London, I had a good reputation, a fierce one (again probably unwarranted and build on perception) and I had a attitude that the game was too small for me, too pigeon. I longed for greater, bigger things, felt that it was beneath me and that I should be thrust higher than it. I won’t bore, those who have read previous threads know what happened and the inevitable crash to earth and perhaps beyond that followed, it was inevitable.

I’ve worked hard to get back from the depths to where I am now but I was still plagued by the same mental blocks. I changed my approach to poker, I’ve stopped being happy to be the game and using that side of my personality to generate good spots and high variance high reward spots and decided I’d never again be the game. I started studying hard and I started making it my goal to learn the game properly, be solid, tough and profitable in every line up. Earlier in the year as my bankroll had swelled I decided to take this work into battling the higher stakes again. I played a bunch HU vs Deldar, I battled multiple tables of high stakes on party, I basically fought for lobbies and played any 5card game for a while on Stars. It was exhausting, it didn’t feel enjoyable despite some good results in spells.

Now, we’re at a crossroads in London. The action, it seems for now, has died. The games are essentially gone and whilst this might be a temporary hiatus and not a worry it’s certainly the reality of where we’re at right now. My initial impression was to start thinking ‘well let’s bring the retirement forward, I didn’t play all those huge games in my life to be 31 having 2/5 live as my only viable live grind option’. I was panicking and thinking is this is, is it time to move on. Once again I had started feeling like I was ‘too good’ for something again. Then I read that quote, that book and it got me thinking…

I didn’t go to Barcelona, I say it’s because I got food poisoning on the day of my flight but that was just a stall, I didn’t have the hunger to go and chase it, I think my mind was probably making the decision that ‘I’ve been printing these lower games why go crank up the variance’, while I think this was probably healthy thinking from a professional standpoint I believed again that it was a sign, a clear sign that the poker player in me was dying.

I’ve realised however, it’s the opposite. I reflected, looked at my options, looked at that quote and looked to piece it all together. I am a professional poker player, it’s my job, it’s my identity. I still enjoy it, my hunger might not be for the biggest games anymore or the huge swings, but it’s there, it’s there in the desire to wake up and study for hours each morning, it my desire to go in and play whatever game presents itself to my at the vic, even if that is currently capped at 2/5 and to give it my all, respect the competition and try and play and perform at the best of my abilities.

One of the readers of this blog, Sol Reader, is someone I discuss poker with a lot, I’d consider him a friend and appreciate his thoughts and advice. I was chatting to him about these thoughts and feelings and he succinctly pointed out that he felt I was always looking to be the hero and that from an outsider perspective he could see it was exhausting. We discussed that my career options are pretty limited and whilst that might appear negative I should be very grateful to still have a job where I can still make 3 figures an hour at even when the games are considered at their deadest. We discussed how just being proud and happy of that and being happy that whatever has happened in my poker life means I still have this opportunity and how privileged that makes me.

I think viewing it positively in my mind will be enormous in reducing the stress and worry that’s plagued me for years. The truth is, I will play big again, probably soon. I am enormously fortunate to have a great friend and backer for the bigger games, he’s supportive and he will always back my ability as long as I’m working hard and keeping the right balanced mindset. I still intend to go to Vegas, I still intend to get after it but I accept that it doesn’t have to be as a be all and end all and that poker goes on regardless and being a poker pro encompasses many different games and levels.

Since my last blog I’ve just been grinding live with the following results:

25th - LOST £2425 - easily my worst session, I ran very cold post but was super lax with my play, pre flop was far too speculative and got punished at showdown as a result

26th - WON £855

27th - WON £1815

28th - WON £980

29th - WON £660

Speaking of balance, I actually played the past 7 nights live, probably the first time I’ve done this since my days in Macau/Vegas. I didn’t mind, it was a spell where I didn’t have anything going on socially so it felt productive to put in the hours; Last night I could feel it taking it’s toll mentally though and I think whilst I might play tonight I’ll definitely be looking at having a night or two off this week.

With live poker in London you never know what will happen and without doubt anything could kick off at any moment, however it is to be the 2/5 grind everyday again then so be it, I’ll be in there giving it my all so my opponents will have to turn up with their best games too.

See you on the felt.

Not really, being able to make a good exploitative big fold in a live game makes you soooo much money.

I respect the humility to say “f*** it, I have a job to do.
I am in my chosen career and I’ll be the damn best at what I do!”

I think, a lot of us get caught up in playing the character that everyone expects us to be.
We have an expectation placed upon ourselves mainly by ourselves, because we feel like living up to our character is what makes us successful, pushing the boundaries of what that it is that defines us, in your case high stakes.
I think that, to chase that for fames sake, comes at a cost and it’s important (as you have done) to evaluate those costs, because it damn well might not be worth it.

I’m motivated to grind some more this week because of this post!

Woo shoutout!

Glad you're enjoying the grind. I think it's important to find enjoyment in what you do, and if it's low-midstakes poker, then so be it. There's no shame in that; after all, you're not the kind of person who'd make fun of someone who has a low paying job, so why do the same to yourself?

You're right though, chances are you'll playing high stakes throughout your life, maybe often, maybe intermittently--that's where the money is after all, and you're trying to make money. You just gotta let those opportunities arise, and, in the meantime, do what you gotta do. Like by all means prepare, pad your roll, do your studying, so when it does arise you'll be ready, but there's no use obsessing over it.

3 figure winrates are no mean feat. I imagine a huge majority of high stakes players have much MUCH lower overall winrate lifetime when you factor all the neutral or minus EV battling they do to secure their place. There's a time and place for that, but 3 figure winrates is so very far from slumming it I think you're silly sometimes for scoffing at it!

Look at a player like Durrrr, before the Isildur stuff, he was the king of the hill, but actually if you look at his bb/100... and if you remove all the money he made off Guy... not that great. And if you look at those of a lot of other 2+2 legends who were known to be the best... a lot of their ptr bb/100 were abysmal, some of them losing players even.

Sure they battled it out and had all the glory when nobody knew anything about poker, but where's their glory now? Many of them are retired and can't even beat 1/2 online. Over here, you're beating 2/5 zoom on stars without even playing in the pool for that long. It's all a matter of perspective, but as far as I'm concerned, that deserves more respect.

If you earn three figures an hour on average and enjoy your job, it sounds great. Hard thing is to remember this when you are feeling down/bored/depressed whatever, but it is the same no matter what you do and in those moments the grass always feels greener on the other side.

I like this blog and your writing style - especially the parts about life and live play.

Really nice introspection, man. I've known many great poker players crippled by the need to live up to their own legend.

I'll be in the Vic Wednesday night, if you fancy grabbing a beer HMU!

I find it very hard to believe 3 figure hourlies are 1. Sustainable long term and 2. Worth the variance / BR requirements.

If 3 figure hourlies were in fact possible long term, wouldn't even the mediocre online regs from 4+ years ago and ones currently grinding be in these magical games? If they were easily attainable then why are there so many damn euro regs living 3-6 months in LA per year?

Because in LA (or Florida) the quality of life (and games) is much better and the UK sucks especially over Winter. I played last month at Commerce whilst I was in town and whilst I'm no longer a pro, the games were great (I lost), and you can see it being a profitable thing to do.... but boy - if you had to grind there everyday it would be absolutely incredibly depressing, its an utter **** hole and the people are the nut worst. I literally hate the place. But each to their own, I played with some English 'pros' who basically sucked but were clearly doing as you mention and grinding there for 3-6mths. Can't be bad thing to do if youre in your mid 20s-30s have no responsibilities and at the beach everyday, eating at great restaurants and playing fish at night - if thats what they're doing.

Good post op, I would think playing Vic as your home and maybe mixing in traveling to places like Miami/LA/wherever 3-4 times a year would be a good balance though.

loved the quote, never heard it before.
really nice post too man, I enjoy your updates!