Open Side Menu Go to the Top
Register
The journey to 50nl The journey to 50nl

08-12-2015 , 08:01 AM
Hi there 2plus2, my name is David, i'm 22 years old and from the U.K. and im incredibly lazy. This is actually the 2nd attempt at making a thread to track my own progress and hopefully inspire a few people along the way. The first one lasted about a week until the usual lack of motivation kicked in and I found my self in the spiral of procrastination which I've been stuck in for about the last 6 years.
This is it now though. I can feel it

A Little about me
First started playing poker when i was 16 at college (english college not university, so i guess highschool in America and other parts of the world?) Ended up skipping a decent amount of lessons to play these live cash games which were only 1p, 2p games but alot of fun none the less. Subsequently i ended up dropping out of college (probably shouldn't have skipped all those lessons) and haven't really done much since.

Online history
I've been playing online poker on and off with no significant results. Money wise i'm probably breakeven at this point. There was a stage where i'd play like an utter donkey thinking i was good, and play far too high stakes (25NL with a $50 roll). Thankfully those days are well behind me, and i've managed to run by bankroll up to a solid $150 from about $80, with the help of some nice welcome bonuses. Current Graph:




I moved up to 5nl at around 11k hands, as you see by the wild swings that start happening around this point. Honestly i've not really taken poker particularly seriously until this point. Sure i'd signed up to a couple of training sites in the past, but i'd always find myself passively watching them and not really taking anything in.

This thread/My goals
I currently work at one of the UKs various banks part-time (24 hours a week), so that takes care of my living expenses and leaves me with a very decent amount of time to put towards poker. (Roughly 20 hours a week). If i'm being honest, the real objective here is to finally give something 100% instead of plodding along giving everything the minimal amount of effort required. Poker wise, the target is to hit 50nl as quickly as possible; A goal I know is easily achievable with some effort. I've set the following targets to help me along the way:
  • 15 Hours a week at the tables
  • 7 Hours a week studying
  • Full focus maintained throughout playing and study sessions (TV off, phone on silent etc)
I'd like to set some targets away from the tables too which I feel will improve my quality of life, as well as the quality of my poker. They are as follows:
  • Exercise 3 times a week throughout the rest of 2015.
  • Practice meditation every morning
  • Read 1 book a week.

I might post a few strava pictures if anyones interested (strava's an app which tracks your runs via GPS for those wondering) I'll also post my thoughts on any books I read along the way too.


Summary
As long as I can look back and say I fulfilled these objectives to the best of my ability i'll be a very happy man. Hopefully I can inspire a few people with chronic laziness to take some action too. I'm going to be streaming a lot of my sessions over at http://www.twitch.tv/norris_is_godly, so feel free to tune in
The journey to 50nl Quote
08-12-2015 , 09:15 AM
Nice OP, will be following! glgl
The journey to 50nl Quote
08-12-2015 , 04:15 PM
When can we see you twitching?
The journey to 50nl Quote
08-13-2015 , 03:13 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by PandaLife
Nice OP, will be following! glgl
Thank you kindly!

Quote:
When can we see you twitching?
First streaming session will be this saturday, around 3pm UK time.

About to head off to work now but i'll pop home on my lunch break and post some hands from yesterday
The journey to 50nl Quote
08-13-2015 , 08:27 AM
Ok so an interesting hand from yesterday



    IPoker, $0.02/$0.04 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 5 Players
    Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite. View Hand #37068996

    CO: $4 (100 bb)
    BTN: $4.33 (108.3 bb)
    SB: $4.04 (101 bb)
    Hero (BB): $4.68 (117 bb)
    MP: $4.07 (101.8 bb)

    Preflop: Hero is BB with Q Q
    MP folds, CO raises to $0.12, 2 folds, Hero raises to $0.36, CO calls $0.24

    Flop: ($0.74) K T 6 (2 players)
    Hero checks, CO checks

    Turn: ($0.74) 4 (2 players)
    Hero checks, CO bets $0.51, Hero calls $0.51

    River: ($1.76) 3 (2 players)
    Hero checks, CO bets $3.13 and is all-in, Hero calls $3.13

    Spoiler:
    Results: $8.02 pot ($0.53 rake)
    Final Board: K T 6 4 3
    CO mucked and won $7.49 ($3.49 net)
    Hero mucked Q Q and lost (-$4 net)



    Get the Flash Player to use the Hold'em Manager Replayer.


    Really gross hand. Right at the top of my range for checking flop and turn here so if im not calling here, im folding 100% to the overbet. I guess betting turn might be better here. Definitely doing some more work around this hand though. Interested to hear others opinions on the hand
    The journey to 50nl Quote
    08-15-2015 , 02:45 AM
    Oh boy, can't wait for the stream!
    The journey to 50nl Quote
    08-16-2015 , 02:50 PM
    Hi there everyone, time to make an update.
    So the last week of poker has been very average. After consistent results at 2NL i find that currently about -3 buy-ins at 5NL which is absolutely fine, its just my play/work ethic that im currently concerned with.
    Had a chat with my coach and he has rightly said that if i dont start putting in the effort required then we should go our separate ways which i 100% agree with.
    I've identified a few reoccuring problems and a few ways to fix them
    Firstly i'm always tired, and stuck in a place of extremely low motivation for not just poker, but life itself
    Secondly, when i do commit to a session its always very half arsed. Im either simultaniously browsing youtube videos, or stuck inside my own head thinking about other things. My coach reviewed one of my sessions yesterday and had to stop 15 minutes in because it was clear i wasnt applying knowledge that i'd learnt right at the start of our coaching arrangement. Opening hands which i shouldnt have been, randomly min opening etc. The funny thing is i didnt even realise i was doing it, i'd just switched into complete autopilot. I find that when i rewatch my sessions i have no memory of almost all of the hands.

    Lately i've been smoking quite alot of weed, and eating an extremely poor diet. Chicken, wholewheat pasta and broccoli isnt nearly as appealing as a dominos pizza when you're stoned, and when you're stoned the majority of the time we have a problem on our hands. The thing with getting stoned is it makes doing nothing a bit more fun and when you're very lazy by nature and doing nothing is what you do best, getting high seems like a great idea. Now i can browse r/videos with my friends all day and have an even better time than usual. Then spend my time sober very lethargic, and guilty at the fact that i havent done anything for the last 3 days. One way to solve that. Get stoned

    I find myself reading alot of self help books in my spare time, fantasising about how much better my life would be if i applied the principles in the book, only to go out, get stoned, and do nothing other than browse youtube and twitch for a week. Oh and passively play poker, AKA breakeven at 5NL because im not concentrating.
    This is turning into a bit of a monologue on self help so let's bring it back to poker. The following points are going to be my action plan over the next month to get things back on track.
    First is going to be the implementation of a pre game routine, to get me warmed up and get those poker juices flowing. This will consist of a detailed breakdown of at least 3 hands from the previous session. I spend nowhere near enough time reviewing my own sessions so this will help with that and also aid in getting me into the zone.
    I'll then spend 10 minutes meditating and then get straight into a session. Every 15 minutes of my session a meditation bell will go off. When it goes off i'll ensure that i'm 100% focused. If im not, i'll take a 5 minute break and get myself back in the zone
    I'll spend 1 hour studying each day, starting right back at opening ranges. My knowledge of which hands i should be opening with in the SB is poor so that'll be the focus for the next few days. I have a spreadsheet which i'll fill in before every session which will include how long i'm going to play for and what my focus that session is going to be. After the session is over i'll rate my play and concentration out of 10 and note down any areas im struggling with.
    Step 2 will obviously be to stop getting high all the time, along with taking steps to improve my diet. I imagine this'll have a huge impact on my concentration levels.
    Step 3 will be to read through 'awaken the giant within by Tony Robbins, and actively apply the principles. Each week i'll give myself a rating out of 10 on my effectiveness on applying the principles i've read

    I'll start another stream session on tuesday around 1pm UK time which my microphone plugged in. Hopefully a few of you will join me for that. I know i'm not the only one struggling with these issues, so hopefully by fixing them myself i can help others fix them too.
    I'll continue to update the thread regularly too of course
    The journey to 50nl Quote

          
    m