Hello. 30 year old professional currently living in the Indianapolis area. I am going to be starting to play a decent amount of live poker.

A little bit about me. I have a full-time professional job. M-F 8-5 type of job and make a pretty decent living. Not looking to quit my job anytime soon, but plan on taking playing poker seriously and hopefully be a winning player!

I currently have a $1,800 bankroll set aside strictly for poker. I plan on playing a 4-5 hour session on Monday & Wednesdays at a local card room, and taking a weekend trip at least once a month to either Horseshoe Hammond, or Horseshoe Cincinnati.

I do have family obligations as I have a 13 year old daughter, she lives with her mother about 2 hours from Indianapolis and I spend a lot of time with her. I also have a current long-term girlfriend whome I live with, and she has 2 kids that live here at home. She is fully supportive of my poker playing, which will definitely make things less stressful!

I will provide updates in this thread, along with stories from the past...about poker, and other life events, and pictures eventually!

Thanks for read!

Feel free to hit me up if you are also in the Indianapolis, Chicago, Cincinnati area.

Good luck! Are you playing 1/2 NL?

Subbed. Good luck OP!

I'm in Columbus if you ever decide to travel I-70 eastward let me know.

Thanks guys.

The Monday & Wednesday game plays as $1/3. $100min - $300max. So that'll likely be my main game for now.

I may play $2/5 on the weekend trips. I know by doing so, "going broke" with the $1.800 is extremely likely but I do have a good job with a good amount of disposable income to replenish my bankroll if needed.


I have never played at the Columbus casino. Always played at Cincinnati and before that, Lawrenceburg. I'll be sure to say hey though if I end up that way. My girlfriend has been wanting to go to the zoo there so we may make a weekend trip out of it sometime in the coming months.

February 27th 2016 --- Unplanned trip to Louisville/HSI

This weekend was my girlfriend & I's weekend with no kids. Happens maybe once a month, and she wanted to get a way for a little bit. So when her kids' father picked up the kids Friday night, we were wanting to get away. We were both too tired to leave Friday night so we went to bed fairly early, and Saturday morning we headed off to Louisville with no real direction on what we wanted to do there.

We get to Louisville around 2pm on Saturday and head to some underground cave/zipline thing that we had seen on a billboard on our way down there. For whatever reason, neither of us bother looked at the pricing online Once we get there, we see that the pricing is $80/person for like a 2 hour zip line tour. We stand there and contemplate on whether or not we want to spend that kind of money just for zip lining, we look up some other zip lining tour things in the area and see that nearly all of them are cheaper, but close a little earlier, so we put the zip line on stand-by for our next trip that way.

We eat lunch, go to an outlet mall and do a little bit of shopping, and then head to the hotel. We ended up staying at a little Days Inn about 15 minutes from Horseshoe Southern Indiana. It's definitely not the nicest hotel I've ever stayed at but it's got a pretty cheap weekend rate ($79) and I've stayed here several times during circuit events and such.

Once we get checked in, we head to the casino. It's around 7:30. I show her around the casino as she's never been here before, sit with her for a few while she gets a drink, and I head to the poker room....

I get sat down rather quickly, in a $1/$2 $100min-$300 max. I bought in for the full $300. The game is playing rather tight. I don't play a hand for 2 orbits and then pick up AQ UTG --- I raise to $10, UTG+1 which is a tight old man in his mid-to-late 60's 3 bets me to $35. I fold and he shows AA and complains about he never gets action. A couple hours go by and my girlfriend is getting hungry, I'm up $25, so we go eat at a burger joint in the casino. I don't remember the name of it but it was pretty good.

The girlfriend wants to keep playing her slot machines for a little bit, so I sit back down at another $1/$3game. There is a older guy with a Russian accent there raising a lot of hands, playing super loose. At one point he even tells another guy "These are plastic to me, and money to you...I don't care if I lose". About mid session I flop a set against the Russian guy and win a decent size pot. Around 1:30am, the GF is starting to get tired and wants to go to the hotel. I rack up around $145 up and we leave.

We get back to the hotel and she is passed out within 15 minutes of us being there. I tell her that I'm going to go back and play for a few more hours and she gives some kind of approving groan.

I sit back down in another $1/$3 game and this table is a wild table, and there are maybe 2 short stacks of <$200 but everyone else have $400+ in their stack. 3rd hand in this happens.

I'm UTG+2, $300 effective stack w/ KK.

There was a $6 Straddle on the button.

SB/BB complete. I raise to $25

An Indian lady to my direct left calls, as well as the button.

Flop ($81) comes AK3r

I check, Indian lady bets $25, button folds, I call.

Turn: ($131) 6x I check, she bets $25. I call

River: ($181) Qx I bet $110, and she frustatingly folds.

I'm assuming she had something like AJ or AT? I think she is calling with AK or AQ.

About a hour or so later, I'm tired, have my headphones in, and playing on my phone. Not a good combination. I get involved in a hand, sort of on accident and got pretty lucky.

I have about $400 in my stack. I'm in the SB with 69. It gets around to me and I flick in $1 to complete and announce "call". I hadn't seen there was a $15 raise behind me so I'm forced to call (I didn't make a fuss about it as I know it wouldn't have changed anything) ..... We end up seeing a flop 5 ways

Flop: ($71) 36Q

I check, Original better (Indian lady from the previous hand ITT) Bets $35, 2 people behind call $35. I elect to raise to $155. I thought maybe I could push out bigger flush draws and end up heads up against Indian lady who had the effective stack...(Best case scenario...I know) .....

Indian lady goes all in for $212, and someone just flats behind her. I complete the $212 and see a turn.

Turn: ($707) Brick (I don't remember)

I check, Villain checks.

River: 9.

I don't think I'm getting called by worse....and I put Villain after he just flatted behind on a set or a bigger flush draw....when he checked the turn I figured bigger flush draw....

Indian lady shows KQ, other villain folds and claims to have a bigger draw, which I believe...and I scoop the pot. I definitely butchered that hand and got extremely lucky!

I play for about another hour with no real big significant hands.. I did lose about $200 as I was chasing a nut flush draw in position in a 4 way pot...I didn't get there and folded river.

I end up cashing out for $760.


BIG LEAK

I wish I could say that I went straight to my car and left being up an additional $360, but I stopped by the dice table and put $160 on the table...Got down to about $50 and it was my turn to shoot so I pulled out another $100....ended up crapping out and had $40 left....cashed out and left.

This is definitely something I need to plug. It's not that I don't have the money, it's just super -ev to be gambling in the pits and if I'm building this roll, it's super important that I'm not playing in the pits when I'm going to a casino for poker!


Bankroll

Starting roll: $1800
Current roll: $2,210

Cash: +$630 --- (1 session - 6.5 hours)
Tournaments: 0 (0 Tournaments -- 0 Cashes)
Pit: -$220 (Last played 2/27)

Session from 2/29 ---- Optimist lines

Knights of Columbus in Indianapolis --- $1/$3 (Later $2/$5).

I show up around 5pm. By 6pm I was down $100. Nothing significant --- lots of raising and then folding on bad flops. (Exp. AK on a 9TJ board...TT on a AQx board)

I switch seats as the 2 seat had a leg to the table in my way and I couldn't get comfortable. I'm in the 5 seat, and undeniably getting a little bored/tilty from not winning a single pot....I decide to take a bad/optimistic line on this hand......

I have QTo (Q of clubs) --- I make it $8 in MP. An older guy makes it $20 behind me and we see a flop 3 ways.

Flop: ($64) A8c3c

I check, Villian makes it $25, other guy folds, I raise to $60. He calls.

Turn: ($184) Tc

I lead for $100. V tanks a bit and calls

River: ($384) Ax

I shove for $130ish

He calls and shows AJo to win the hand (he didn't have a club) -----I thought I did a decent job repping the flush draw but this guy wasn't really a thinking player....so all in all, it was an EXTREMELY bad play by me.

I buy back in for $300 and start running a little better and I'm back up to around $550

The button is an overly aggressive guy. He straddled the button for $10

4 people call. I'm in the CO with QQ and raise to $60. The straddler goes all in for $220 and I call. He has AA. I lose.

I hover between $300-$350 and not a lot is happening....I see there is a $2/$5 seat open and a lot of money on the table. I take the seat.

The 3rd hand I sit down to is AA and make about $150, 2 hands later I pick up AA again and win another $150-200

I hit a flush for another decent pot and I'm up to around $1,000 and this hand happens.

I'm on the button with KQo and there are 2 limps.

I raise to $25 and get 2 callers

Flop: ($84) J97r

First to act leads for $40. V2 calls, I call

Turn: ($204) 6x

First to act bets $75, V2 calls....I call

River: ($354) Tx

First to act bets $150, V2 shoves for $500. I call. Other guys folds showing an 8, V2 shows an 8, and I scoop the $1,500 pot

That was the last big hand of the night. I ended up cashing out for $1885, I was in the game for $700

A few chip porn pics from recent sessions.

3/2/16--$1/3 Indianapolis KOC

Bought in for max $300, first hour ran it up to nearly $1k thanks to getting AA 3 times in first hour and them holding up each time.

Got in a set over set situation and lost $250....went card/flop dead and left early as I wasn't in the mood to play.

Still booked a $290 win over 3 hours

I'm at the horseshoe casino Hammond Indiana this weekend for the Chicago Poker classic. Playing event #1 Saturday morning. Currently playing $2/$5 if anyone is here and wants to say hi.

Lost $400 playing $2/$5 at Chicago/Hammond.

Felt like I played well.

1st decent size hand I get into, I called $20 on the button against an aggro fish. With J9s. Flop came J93, he bet $40, I raised to $85, he shoves $200 total and I hold.

A few hands later I raise UTG to $25 with AcQh, 3 callers.

Flop comes KhQc8c

I bet $55 and 1 guy calls.

Turn is Tc. I check and he checks.

River is 5x. I think for a and put out a bet of $175 and the guy folds KJo.

I lost $300 to another fish my QQ vs AA. I bet $20 pre. He limp called from early position. Flop came J high and he leads the flop for $20. I raise to $75, he shoved and I called.


Then the hand that bust me....

I have AcKs on the button.

UTG+1 opens for $15. HJ makes it $55. I raised to $140. Both players call.

Flop is QcJcTc

1st V checks. 2nd V makes it $100. I raise to $340, V1 tank folds and V2 tank ships and has me covered. I call off my last $250ish. Turn is 7c and river is Jx. V flips over QQ.

I put Villian on a set on the flop. Maybe KKc? I still like my play, just got unlucky!

Tournament starts in a little over 6 hours! Getting some rest!

What casino is that with the colorful chips w/ no denom on them? Pretty cool! I assume yellow is $100 there?

Not a casino. It's the knights of Columbus in Indianapolis. A charity gaming ran room. Unfortunately yellows =$1

---Late update: Busto in Chicago

Finally felt like it was time to update the blog.

Chicago didn't go so well for me. I played 1 cash game session and 3 tournaments (cash game results were posted in my last update.)

Event#1.$360 BI. I had planned on firing 2 bullets if I had to, luckily made a deep run on 1 bullet. I played the Saturday noon flight and it had 580 entrants (I believe). They were paying top 63 and taking 45 to day 2. I went to the dinner break with 110K, average was 70K. There were a little over 100 left?? Once I got back from dinner I immediately doubled up the 3 short stacks. 1) 99<1010 for a 20k pot. 2) AK<JJ for another 20k pot. 3) QQ<KK for a 80k pot.

Next thing I know I find myself with about 15BBs with like 75 people left. I folded all the way down to 8BBs and get 1010 on the button and it folds to me. I shove and the BB wakes up with KK to know me out on 68th.

I played Evemt#2 which was also a $360 BI. I fired 2 bullets and eventually busted with about 20-25 people from the money. (They paid 55 people).

I played the $600 6 max tournament on Wednesday and started off decent. Started with 20k in chips and by the first break 2 hours I was up to 30k. Once I got back from break and ran into set over set twice and made the nut flush on the turn to be rivered by a boat. I was out within the 4th hour of the tournament.

All in all I lost $1680 in tournament buy ins and $400 in the cash game.

Poker roll is Busto but I do have a good job with quite a bit of disposable income so it won't be long before I'm playing regularly. I've played in a couple weekly tournaments since the CPC but have yet to cash in a tournament in 2016. (I've only played 7 total?).