Hi, all. I can't believe I'm finally making one of these, but I think it's time. Long time lurker and student of the game. I've been lurking 2+2 since even before I had an account, maybe as early as '07. So I'm happy to finally be contributing! Here it goes!

My Background

I found Party Poker in '06 and didn't know anything about the game at all except the rules. In the good ol' days, I had some sick heaters but I was an overall loser. At the time, it seemed like I was always running into people who were up for a home game and people would stop what they were doing to see a WSOP hand at the bar.

I have always been very curious and a reader, so I wanted to know everything about this game. I got obsessed. I read books as bad as Play Like the Pros, but eventually found 2+2 and the better books, then my game improved and I started actually thinking about what I was doing.

I lived close to Biloxi, MS so I would make the hour drive to play live. I always liked live better than online. My mindset had always been that, even pre-BF, if you wanted to play online poker, you first had to know a little about computers and then care enough about the game to get your money online. That automatically draws more competent players. Any drunk idiot can put cash on felt.

I was a cop as a profession for 6 years and single. So every other weekend I was at the Beau Rivage. I played uncapped 1/2 until they changed it to 1/3 about 2011. I hated that job and I quit it in May 2012 and played poker full time. I moved to Biloxi in January 2013 and grinded 1/3.

I never kept records until I got a smart phone. For the period between July 2012 - May 2013, I ran @ $21/hr over ~1400 hours. This includes a -$1400 losing streak right before I moved that really hurt my confidence. I still played online during this time period on SealsWithClubs for bitcoins. I don't know how to explain the stakes, but I remember it working out to something like $3/$6. I took Isildur1 for ~$5k heads up on that site. He paid for my last semester of school. Thanks, Viktor!

May 2013 I graduated college and moved to Nashville, TN with my then-fiance-now-wife. Not much action here. Since I've been here, I have played one bar tournament, that I won for $280 ($20 bi). And I found a juicy $.25/$.50 home game, but it runs like once or twice a quarter. All the guys travel for work, so it's hard to get everyone together.

I still dabble at bitcoin poker, just to stay in practice, but for peanut stakes.

The Challenge

So Nashville has been great, but I had to ask my wife one day, "Are we trying to grow old and die here?" because if not, I'm not really trying to punch a clock or live that corporate life, working some job that is slowly killing me inside. Her answer was no, so we are moving to Florida to be near some action. I may reveal specifically where in the state in the future, but for now I don't know how anonymous I would like to stay.

We have booked a trip for March to look for places to live. Our lease is up in Nashville on June 18, 2016. That will be the real beginning of the journey for me. I'm starting my challenge now and setting goals to lead me to have a smooth start back on the felt after being away for 3 years. My wife is super supportive. She is excited about living in Florida. She has seen my results and she trusts me.

So I have goals in mind for through 2018, but I won't get ahead of myself. I will share my most immediate goals with you. I just wanted to get the ball rolling and say hello. So here they are:

GOALS

1. Single table at least 100 hands of NL10 and NL25 a day between now and June. Post at least one hand to discuss with you cool cats. I know that is like LOL volume, but I'm grinding a IRL job hard to save up the money for this move. I'm not terribly concerned about my results or moving up online. I'm just using it as a tool to start thinking about poker heavily again.

2. Re-read some classics to get back to fundamentals. Currently on like chapter 3 or NLHE T&P. Wanna also re-read Professional NLHE and Small Stakes NLHE. Will discuss thoughts on these texts here as well.

3. I am going to Biloxi for Xmas. I want to report on those sessions and get acclimated to the casino again. I would like to score a decent win to get my confidence up.

BTW I'm a bankroll nit. Here's hoping this thread grows 100 pages long over years! HOLLA!

Session #1 in the books. I ended up a +188BB winner. I want to try something new. If it is a terrible idea, let me know. But instead of posting the hand without results and asking what you would have done, I would like to post the whole hand and then walk you through my thinking afterwards.

Session 1 Hand 1 (NL25)

Hero is BB with 86 Effective stacks: 100BB

PF: V1 CO (blind) checks, SB completes, Hero checks (Pot: 0.75)

Flop: A85
SB check, Hero check, CO bet 1.00, SB fold, Hero call (Pot: 2.75)

Turn: 8 check check

River: 9 hero bets 1.74, V calls. V mucks, Hero wins 6.07

In retrospect, I should have donked the turn. It's hard to put an 8 in my range. It's a confusing bet that gets called by aces and flush draws. The flop call was questionable and I only made it because V had posted blind. I was not expecting him to call the river.

Session 1 Hand 2

Hero is BTN with AQo Effective stacks: 200BB

PF: CO raise 0.75, Hero 3! 2.24, V calls (Pot: 4.83)

Flop: 777 V checks, Hero bets 3.24, V calls (Pot: 11.31)

Turn: K check check

River: 9 V bets 7.34, hero folds

V wins 11.31

I hated giving up on this one. Villain is a competent reg who is the only person at the table I don't want to tangle up with deep. I really feel like I got out leveled here. I hate feeling like I folded the best hand, but I was not going to get into an even bigger pot. Does a turn bet take it down? I don't see how.

Session 1 Hand 3

Hero is CO (60.57) with 97

PF: UTG (20.15) limps, Hero raises 1.10, V calls (Pot: 2.55)

Flop: 852 check, check

Turn: A V check, Hero bets 1.74, V fold

Hero wins 2.55

I had been hammering V for several hands. I was raising and 3 betting and no one was stopping me. I check flop because a 6 gives me the nuts. I like keeping my turn decision easy and giving my V a chance to stack himself.

"Live casino poker" followed by a bunch of online HH's



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Session 1 Hand 4

Hero (61.93) is CO with 56

PF: (5 handed) UTG (61.53) raises 0.75, Hero calls, BTN (20.69) 3! 1.25, SB (64.94) calls, BB folds, UTG calls, Hero calls (Pot: 5.25)

Flop: J63 SB bets 3.75, UTG fold, Hero call, BTN call (Pot: 16.50)

Turn: K SB checks, Hero bets 15.69, fold, fold

Hero wins: 16.11

The not I have written on BTN is "called 3! with AJo oop". The initial PF raiser is the tricky reg from the 777 hand. I was playing implied odds wit dem stackz. Then when it came back around, I was last to act so I couldn't resist.

I liked where the hand was headed on the flop. I was planning to fold to a BTN raise, but I didn't think he could bluff both of us. With the added flush draw and SB pumping the brakes on the turn, I didn't want to let them get to show down. I am willing to peel one vs the short stack, and the turn check was just so weak from SB.

Did you read OP? I'm only playing this in preparation of playing live full time. I don't have a casino around and would like get back to it. I understand live and online are two different games, but the logic is the same.

Session 1 Hand 5

Hero (72.19) is BB with JJ

PF: CO (57.44) open limps, SB completes, Hero raises 1.35, CO call, SB call (Pot: 4.05)

Flop: AT9 SB checks, Hero bets 2.24, CO calls, SB folds (Pot: 8.53)

Turn: T check, check

River: 4 Hero check, CO bets 4.00, Hero calls (Pot: 16.11)

V shows A3, Hero wins 16.11

Same villain that donked the flop in the OESD hand. When he called the flop, I thought he had an A, which ruled out a higher flush draw than mine. I actually didn't believe he had a spade. The river bet was real weak, like he was just hoping I didn't have a spade. I think with K or Q, he makes a bet that I have to think about. Given the odds, I like my call.

That's all for tonight. I'm about to meet some folks out for drinks and then I'm going to see Trombone Shorty at Marathon Music Works. Have a good night all!



Sessions: 1
Hands: 100
Net: +188BB

The concert last night was so-so. We left before it was over. Today was a good day. I studied, played my session, and won.

I read about the threat of future bets today. I learned why it is easier to call a big all in on the turn than it is to call a big turn bet with money behind. This is due to reverse implied odds and is magnified when you are out of position. I also learned about bluff sizing.

I played NL10 6max today, but a lot of the time it was 5 and 4 handed. I was in a lot of pots. There was a lot of 3! and 4!

There is one hand that I found interesting. The straight math says I made a bad call, but I haven't accounted for V's entire range. We were 4 handed at the time.

PF: Hero (12.46) is BB with AQ. UTG raises 0.29, BTN folds, SB (7.11) calls, Hero 3! 1.00, UTG folds, SB calls

Flop (Pot: 2.29): T98 V checks, Hero bets 1.74, V all in 6.11

I'll leave that one up for debate.

I ended the session +99.6BB, so you might say that I regressed to the mean lol. This includes losing with AK when I got AJ all in PF for $7 or so.

I went and saw Chiraq tonight. Good movie, if a little preachy. Nice concept though.





Sessions: 2
Session Hands: 100
Session Net: +99.6BB
Total Hands: 200
Total Net: +287.6
Winrate: 143.8BB/100

I feel good about today. Took it pretty easy. Studied some over my coffee. Crunched some numbers from yesterday.

Today's game was short handed. Played about half of the hands 4 handed. Very aggressive. I feel like I was in too many pots, but I may feel that way just because it was a losing session. I did lose one buy in flopping set under set, so without that hand, I would have won so I feel good about it. The game was just short and tough and high variance even without the set hand.



Hands: 100
Net: -70.7BB
Total Hands: 300
Total net: +216.9 BB
Winrate: 72.3BB/100

I may feel like playing another session later on tonight, depending on the action.