TLDR - scroll to bottom for cliffs

THE BACKGROUND
Hi everyone, I got into poker in about 2007(8)? Started out grinding FR NL10. Quickly gained a decent BR and was well rolled and grinding NL50 and soemtimes 100 through most of this period. Through profits and RB was able to maintain a good lifestyle through this period as a student. Never really pushed myself to higher stakes even though I should have. I was withdrawing regularly and spending everything I made anyway so would have been difficult at the time.

I stopped playing in 2009 due to some issues. I was becoming more and more obsessed with volume. I was spending my evenings multi tabling FR and was thinking about rakeback constantly. The time spent at the tables started to impact on my grades and my relationship with my gf of the time. I eventually made the call to quit the game. I wasn't progressing as I was withdrawing so often and wasn't spending time studying the game as I saw this as a waste as I could be grinding.

In the end it was a good decision. My grades picked back up, the girlfriend left me anyway a few months later but that was also for the best.
As of 2012 I've started to get back into poker. My reasons sfor this are multiple. I've moved into a house with an old grinder friend. The sickening thing is we were playing the same games in 2009. He's made the switch to PLO and plays as high as PLO1000. back in the day, we both agree that I was the better "poker mind" if you like between the two of us. However things change, he knows infitely more than me and every poker conversation I have with him is educational in one way or another.
Anyway, after moving into his place with him and another grinder I got back into poker. initially we had a prop to grind up from micros. Didn't work out but the other guys bought out of the bet anyway so I profited.
Since then I started grinding my old game FR NL50. I've been doing ok. Games don't seem any harder. I suspect that the majority of poker talent is attracted to 6max these days or PLO. I've also been slowly getting into some PLO. Just PLO10 and 25 at this point. Relatively breakeven so far but lol volume.

In my other life I'm a trained musician. Yes, that pretty much means I don't have a job
I work part-time tutoring piano or guitar and periodically pickup session work here and there. I sporadically do some pub acoustic-ballad sh*t on the side when I get really desperate for dough.

At the moment I'm pretty much free-wheeling. I'm also a qualified teacher and could get a full-time job as a teacher or music teacher pretty much with a snap of my fingers. I still haven't really decided if I want to do that yet. I've always had it as my fallback plan, but reality is it might be the best move for me.

THE PLAN
To spend the next few months makign whatever $ I can from music while grinding, this time with a view to moving up. I'm only going to withdraw RB at this point as my focus is on building a healthy BR and start taking some shots.

CLIFFS
ex- pokerplayer/musician/teacher/dreamer back at the tables for another round.

Oh yeah, graph and stats so far.
There's prob another $100 or so from earlier this year at nanostakes but started a new database.

Haven't played as much as I'd like. Updating of thread is even worse. I'm going to set myself some goals for this month.

[] play 30k hands in September
[] min. 15k hands of PLO
[] post weekly results and graphs (minimum)
[] 20hrs of HEM review


Have started switching focus more to PLO in the last week so a drop in average stakes. Moving from NL50 to PLO25 and some PLO10. Mainly to cope with the swings due to PLO swingaments and my limited (perhaps nonexistent) edge at these games compared with NLHE.

Total graph so far. Breaking even for 18k ish hands, bleh.

It seems anyone who starts a PG&C thread even ends up on a heater early on or runs massively under EV. No surprises here then. Happy with volume, not much else at this stage.

In other news. I've decided on my next purchase. If poker gets better between now and Christmas I'll reward myself with this....

Will update now as have a busy weekend and will not likely play or be around the house much. There have been some significant changes lately.

I've dropped FR NL and switched to 6max.
My friend has been helping me with some PLO related things. We've gone over a few hand HHs, he reviewed my stats and a few discussions on some concepts I wasn't really getting. Overall my game feels a lot better. I'm not just being results focused as I'm digging my way out of the hole from early in the month. I'm finding a lot more correct decisions are coming easier, not having to overthink hands so much which was resulting in quite a bit of river spew as well as some ridiculously tight folds on the flop or scare turns etc.

Loving PLO regardless even though I'm basically breakeven. I don't feel like a breakeven player at PLO25, although with some of my early spew gone, hopefully that's fairly accurate. Way swingy though, in bb I've had a 18 buyin downswing and recovery in PLO alone this month. Thankfully holdem has been profitable and much smoother.

Below are stats by game for this month and combined NLHE and PLO graph for the month. Still way under EV.

Lates graph for the month.



Decent recovery. My transition from FR NL to 6max has gone well. I feel comfortable in the games and can feel my postflop game developing.

I have mixed feelings about PLO. I'm like $85 up after 25k hands total. 17.5k at PLO25 and 7.5K at PLO10. I know volume is not much, basically I've crushed the smaller stake and I'm breaking even at plo25. I feel like a winner but the bad beats are pretty tilting. It's not just the bad beats it's the losing of flips. It's obviously a game that involves a lot of 50-50, 60-40, 40-60 etc flips. That's just the nature of the game. The number of these flips that can be lost in sequence has actually surprised me quite a bit.

I don't normally get too carried away with Ev graphs, but I can't stop looking at mine in PLO. It's actually closed a little but the scary thing is how short a period it can happen. See hands approx 10,000 to 16,000 below. That's 19 buyins in 6k hands below EV, wtf?!!





This thread is in obvious need of a threadsaver

Volume will be low this week as I'm heading on a short working trip interstate for a few days this week. I'll take a laptop but not sure I'll be playing much if at all.

On which site do you play?

Nice one GL!

Gl OP, love the gitar

What site are you playing on?

Got back home last night after a few days away. Got in 1600 hands since then at Nl50 for -$150. Still running bad in all-ins.

KK cracked by AK allin pre.
AA cracked by QT. He hit two pair on turn, stacked off, might have been a fold but prob close.
These are standard but the one that annoys me was spewing 3barrels on an AxxxA board.

For those asking volume is split between Stars and Party as I have money on both. At some point will likely cash out Party and move all action to Stars.

I've hit 30k hands for the month and got my 15k of PLO in. I'll doa full monthly review in a couple of days as hope to get a lot more hands in before month end.

I'm a bit torn at the moment in terms of deciding how to proceed in terms of game selection. There are a number of things going on in my head.

I believe I can pretty much auto-pilot NL50 6max or FR and build a decent bankroll without too much variance and hopefully move up. I have friends and room-mates playing higher who've reviewed my game. They're pretty confident I wont have any trouble at NL100 and potentially NL200 with a few plugged leaks.

Basically, my NLHE game is fairly solid and I'm able to adapt and exploit fairly well.

The problem is I'm often bored while playing ring game NL. I have a much greater interest in playing PLO 6max or NLHE HU. Problem is I'm not particularly great or experienced at either of these forms. I've only played PLO to 0.10/0.25. I'm not doing great but as per above graphs running terribly. I feel I'm a winner but not sure of the learning curve for PLO moving up to PLO50 or PLO100.

I have enough money online to make a move next month in terms of moving up and game selection. The options I'm pondering are.

Current Games
Currently playing NL50 6max after moving from FR
Playing PLO25, have dropped PLO10

Option1: Stay at nl50 and add in PLO50
Option2: Move up to nl100 6max, continue with PLO25 or drop it entirely
Option3: Stay at nl50 and plo25 and add in HUnl50

I've spoken to some friends who's opinions I value and received different responses. The most successful of my friends is heavily advising to start playing headsup. He mainly plays PLO now but attributes his fast rise from similar stakes NLHE to midstakes with HU poker. According to him the postflop edge you develop in marginal spots is more beneficial to ring games more than most people understand. It makes sense to me and I'm leaning towards option3 at the moment.

I'm hoping to close out this month strong and set myself some new challenges for October. I'm more than likely to break up with my girlfriend in the next few days too, so the good part is more time to spend at the tables. It's probably why I'm feeling in a fairly reflective mood at the moment.

September Graph


All Hands Graph


All Hands in bb and EV


This month I'll start experimenting with some headsup play at nl50 and plo50 6max. I'll allow a few buyins and see how I go. If it doesn't go well I'll just drop those games and grind nl50 6max until I have enough for another shot.

I've changed my mind re game choices. I'm going to stick to NL 6max for a while. I'm up a few buyins so far this month and think it's time to take a few shots at nl100. If I'm serious about using poker as a main or supplementary income I need to be beating games at this level minimum. Spreading myself thin across too many forms of poker is probably going to be counterproductive. I'll still throw in some plo sessions here and there to mix it up however. I hate zoom poker so absurd volume is never going to really happen for me. The profits at nl50 aren't going to really cut it. So time to test myself at a bigger game.

I'm going to grind out some more nl50 tonight and tomorrows session will add in 1 or 2 nl100 tables and see what happens. I'll keep playing it until I either lose $500 or make profits. If i lose $500 I have no issue with moving back down. I've been warned to expect much tougher competition at nl100, I guess I'll find out. Time to run good FUUUUUU EV

thanks, for anyone interested these guitars are amazing.

I've played a few Gretsch guitars over the years but not owned one yet. They play amazingly are incredibly versatile and not anywhere near as heavy as they look. If you're looking for something that's not the usual Fender/Gibson the Gretsch White Falcon would be an excellent choice. It's a real guitar players instrument if that makes any sense.

I'm not a stooge for this or any other company by the way.

Do you play the jazz music?

yeah. I play pretty much everything on guitar these days. Mainly rock, jazz blues etc.
I studied classical (piano) as a child, jazz and education at tertiary level, mainly guitar.

Volume has been weak as piss so far this month. Will need to step it up. Have taken some shots at nl100 usually just 2 or 3 tables. Up approx 1 buyin so far after 1500ish hands. Running breakeven at nl50 over about 3.5k hands this month.



Drooler at a couple of my tables (nl50) today. He was playing something like 50/30 aggro spewtard. He was playing about 4 tables and on this one me and the reg BTN had him 3 handed for a while hence our stacks. Just letting him bet into us and calling down light. On another table he busted my KK vs his AA allin pre then spazzed off his 180bb+ stack less than an orbit later with TPTK to a turned set of deuces.

He started going apes**t in the chatbox and raising every hand and this table insta-filled with regs. A little while later this hand came along.

Big pair UTG. Drooler in BB playing vpip 100% from blinds pretty much and tilt 3beting every second hand.

After this hand I insta-ragequit all tables and left the house for a while.

I will bring this hand to you with the help of Mr. Jack Nicholson who is much more capable of showing the vast range of emotions a single hand can create.

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DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

SB: $41.25
BB: $50.92
Hero (UTG): $83.36
MP: $58.75
CO: $50.00
BTN: $91.31

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is UTG with J J



Hero raises to $1.50, 4 folds, BB raises to $5, Hero raises to $12, BB calls $7






Flop: ($24.25) J 9 3 (2 players)





BB bets $11.52, Hero calls $11.52


Turn: ($47.29) 6 (2 players)
BB bets $27.40 all in, Hero calls $27.40







River: ($102.09) 5 (2 players - 1 is all in)




Final Pot: $102.09
BB shows 8 7 ( a straight, Five to Nine)
Hero shows J J (three of a kind, Jacks)
BB wins $102.09
(Rake: $3.00)

Yeah man Gretsch guitars are awesome! I play in a band and currently use a Fender Mex Strat through a Marshall Class 5. Not a bad rig, but I have pretty bad GAS (gear acquisition syndrome) and constantly feel the need to buy new stuff. Where do you live btw? GL with the pokerzzz

Thanks mate. I'm from Australia.
I know what you mean. You should see how much gear I have. This place is a mess and back at my parents I have boxes and boxes of crap. guitars, keyboards, cables, amps, pedals, boards etc. used to gig a lot so have acquired and inherited a lot of extras over the years. I sell some stuff every year usually but it often gets replaced with something new.

Mexican Fenders are nice. I've got a mim Tele with a few upgrades and it's still a beast. The Gretsch is def my next major purchase. After that I'm hoping to be done for a while as I spent a tonne on a Maton808 acoustic and Maton-mini this year already. Hoping to shift a mustang bass and an sg soon which should probably cover the Gretsch. Would cover it easily if the sg wasn't in such bad nick (it has seem some pretty serious degen action).

My brother plays drums and keyboard so our place is packed full of equipment haha.

I find Fender are pretty hit and miss. One year they will produce a great batch but you can buy the same model the following year and the build quality will be no way near as good. My mex strat is a custom shop one and i thought it played better than some of the basic American models.

The maton thing explains your username! I bought a Martin 000-15 a couple of years back, it plays lovely

Music is fun, hoping to record an EP in December.

Upload pics when/if you get the Gretsch please!

Yeah no prob. Will def upload pics when it happens.

Agree with the hit/miss for pretty much all makers, which is why I wont buy an instrument online. I need to play it first. Guitars are expensive over here, but bringing one in from overseas unplayed is way too big a risk. Friend of mine dropped a bundle on a Les Paul he got through an overseas contact. The thing is genuine Gibson but it's a piece of crap. Every musician and guitar tech we know has had a go at sorting it out, different actions, strings, pickups etc. but it frankly still sucks. Les Paul's are obviously beast guitars but something went really wrong with this and nobody can figure it out. At the moment it's a really expensive but beautiful tobacco-burst decoration.

pretty sh**** month so far. Volume has been crap

I've been doing some fillin teaching 5 days a week most of the month. I'm pretty rusty and dealing with a classroom of kids has been knocking me around a fair bit. The school are interested in offering me something perm next year as I'm pretty chummy with a couple of teachers there from uni, but I'm going to have to sit on that for a while. Don't need an answer anyway as nothing concrete just talk at the moment.

While working at this school, I've developed an insane crush on one of the teachers there. I'm getting signals but need to see her away from work for more info. My work finishes next week, talk of drinks with a few staff that Fri night. I plan on tuning her that that so just need to make sure she comes (pun ftw).

back to poker......
Volume sucks, only 16k hands running at a small loss. Partly from working, partly from taking nl100 shot and getting smashed.

Down $460 at nl100, no big deal really. However I was up approx $400 at one point so downswing was pushing $900, not much fun
Don't really feel that the game was beyond me, I just made some bad mistakes and played what was probably my C game. Found it hard to pull the trigger at times and was a little bit stationy at showdown.

Up nearly $300 at nl50 so month is actually pretty breakevenish at the moment.

Plan on getting decent volume in before the end of the month and will post graphs etc then.

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Threadsavers for the run goods





No really....