I appreciate you stopping by to check out the blog.

Study

1. I've been working through the Solve for Y Poker out Loud which I think is excellent.
2. I'm continuing to beef up my Badugi and 2-7 Triple Draw game. PokerGo just released 8+ hours of a live mixed game content which I'm loving.
3. I'm wrapping up this blog of NLH studying to focus more on my PLO game starting mid month.

I've been busy but happy. I'm also working on a poker podcast called Stuffed Animal Poker. I'm not expecting any type of following, however, it will be small under 10 min podcasts to force me to talk through topics I'm working on myself. For example, limp raising AA,KK EP can make sense if I'm also adding in hands like A5s-A2s and some PPs depending on table dynamics.

MGMNH or Maryland Live

I have a comped room this weekend at MGMNH, however, after reading some of the statements from JohnnyGrooms from the MGMNH thread, I think I'll spend a majority of my hours at Maryland Live. He would rather categorize people as complainers/trolls rather than providing solutions to the very people that have helped steer improvements to the poker-room since the beginning. I'm reminded why I decided to shift a majority of my play to private games. Say what you want, but with the amount of competition (at least in my area), if your @#$@# isn't on point, players will vote with their feet.

Anyway, I'm done offering advice. If they think their broken comp system, nasty restrooms, slow servers, bonus deception and inconsistent dealers are at a premium level, I can't help them.

Great start to May.

4 hrs ## 2/5/10 rock ## $1490

If you've been following this blog, you know I've been focusing on cleaning up fundamentals. I forced myself to pay attention to as many hands as possible putting people on ranges and then rewinding hands in my head if it went to showdown. I was also playing a very aggressive lag style, experimenting with overbetting and stealing in marginal spots. It wasn't until the end of the session people started to fire back.


Games: 2/5+ and 1/3 casino (once a week)
Hours: 4
May Balance: +$1,490
Hourly: $372 hehe
Primary Roll: $16,928
==

Jan 19 ## $4,334 99 hours $44.21/hr
Feb 19 ## $1,077 43 hours $25.04/hr
Mar 19 ## $2,729 57 hours $47.40/hr
Apr 19 ## $3,358 39.5 hours $85.03/hr

Casino mix of 1/3 and 2/5

12 hours ## +$453

I'm not use to those marathon hours anymore but I'm glad I did. I'm taking off Sunday to enjoy a little mountain biking and gaming.

Played a mix of 1/3 and 2/5 at the casino. Life is good, I look forward to move a majority of my study bandwidth to PLO. I'm not big on $$ goals because there is so much outside or your control. My focus this week is 30 hours of PLO study and at least 55 hours of poker.


Games: 2/5+ and 1/3 casino (once a week)
Hours: 16
May Balance: +$1,943
Hourly: $121.43
Primary Roll: $17, 371
==

Jan 19 ## $4,334 99 hours $44.21/hr
Feb 19 ## $1,077 43 hours $25.04/hr
Mar 19 ## $2,729 57 hours $47.40/hr
Apr 19 ## $3,358 39.5 hours $85.03/hr

On the way home from the casino, stopped at a friend's house and lost $200 at a 1/3 game (1.5 hours). Had 5 limpers, I raise in the SB with AJdd for $30, 1 caller in MP.

9c9d4dKh

I couldn't get his A4o to fold and neither my flush or J came in.

Balance and Goal Setting

Balance is working great. I'm tracking everything from my workouts to how long I spend on drums/guitar. My professional life is daily/weekly/monthly goals in technical training so executing on personal goals has never been my sticking point.

Drive to MGM 4-5 hours

I started to add Saturdays (and part of Sunday possible) back into my poker game. Some friends have expressed it's nuts to play for 12-15 hours with a round trip drive time of about 10 hours. Here's what they are missing:

- 40% of my drive time is focused on poker podcasts on CLP
- 25% is audio books (non-poker)
- 10% music
- 15% audio poker tutorials I make for myself to study
- 10% reflection

Aside from the gas and car maintenance, none of the hours are wasted. I'm very deliberate on how I spend my time.

PLO

I'm still spending time on my NL game, however, I moved about 85% of it toward learning the great game of PLO

PSVR

I spend about 30 minutes in the morning around 5am playing PSVR titles. I'm enjoying Moss and Beat Saber.

Overall

Very fortunate and happy guy.

3.5 hrs ## +$605

It feels so good to be back at my Monday private game again. Win or lose, most people are really chill. I don't mind playing at the Casino 3 times a month, but beyond that, I'd go insane. So much whining, backpacks and grumpy grinder attitudes. Always cool people at a table, but in general, very different vibe. I made 2 big bluffs, one with an OESD and the other with middle pair and put the V on a capped range of an A. Including the -$200 below from yesterday:

Games: 2/5+ and 1/3 casino (once a week)
Hours: 21
May Balance: +$2,348
Hourly: $111.80
Primary Roll: $17, 776
==

Jan 19 ## $4,334 99 hours $44.21/hr
Feb 19 ## $1,077 43 hours $25.04/hr
Mar 19 ## $2,729 57 hours $47.40/hr
Apr 19 ## $3,358 39.5 hours $85.03/hr

Update:

I'm spending the night in the CLP PLO video series tonight. Both FreeLunch and Terphimself have some great content I'm trying to apply to my current newbie baseline understanding of the game. As I mentioned in a previous post:

1. I feel my skill-set in NL 5/5 and below is solid. I don't believe learning additional material will catapult my results, right now, I need to focus on the actual implementation of what I know and review hands.

2. There's PLO homegame opportunities here locally. I'd like to get as comfortable in my PLO game as NL. From my limited understanding, the amount of bad plays OOP makes me excited about sharpening the saw. I'm perfectly fine to admit I'm clueless AND teachable.

3. I'm also working on Badugi and Triple Draw on the side. One of my homegames plays Badugi late, once I get a better handle, I plan to expand my hours on those 2 nights.

4. I'm interested to see if Boston Encore spreads Stud games since it's closer to the east coast. If so, I'll start adding more time learning that game.

5. Ultimately, I'd like to be comfortable in mixed games. I'd also like to start playing PLO online 6max as my skill improves. I have no interest in online NL, but PLO catches my attention.

Life is good, plans are right on track and having an amazing time doing it. I love the balance of senior IT work, 15ish hours of poker playing / 10-12 hours study per week, mountain biking, guitar/drums, PS4 and friends is the right balance for me. I was looking back in January when I played 99 hours of poker along with crazy work demands, I was a very different person.

This might not be everyone's poker dream, but it's mine.

3.5 hrs ## - $65

Lost a big pot with KK vs AA. Crawled back up with only a minor loss.

I managed to find 4 quality hours of PLO study. I've been spending time working through FreeLunch's video series on CLP. Tonight is my last until later in May (travel). I'm adding Wednesday PLO 1/2/5 into my rotation starting May 22nd. I'll start at the PLO game and then shift over to the crazy NL game around 11ish on Wednesdays.

3.5 hrs ## +$245

I'll get all the totals updated when I'm back from break June 20th. Nothing too interesting to report in this session, thin value bets overcame some coolers such as 2pair vs FD. Life is good, happy with my play and excited to get some serious PLO study in over the next 1.5 weeks.

I'm on track for my best month of the year.

Wow, that would be a long break. I mean May 20th. I've also added in a 2nd PLO game into my rotation on Friday.

2 hrs ## -$280 ## Game broke early

I'm happy with my play, ran into better hands:

AQ vs AA
OESD no good
T4s vs T2s both hit 2pair

Stole a few small pots. My mental game continues to improve, some nights you are just going to run into better.

5 hrs ## - $410
13 hrs ## +$668

Life has been good. Despite longer work hours which is cutting into my monthly live playing, I've been happy. I've shifted most of my study time over to PLO, spending more time on guitar and even doing a little PS4 gaming here and there.


Games: 2/5+ and 1/3 casino (once a week)
Hours: 48
May Balance: +$2,506
Hourly: $52.20
Primary Roll: $17, 934
==

Jan 19 ## $4,334 99 hours $44.21/hr
Feb 19 ## $1,077 43 hours $25.04/hr
Mar 19 ## $2,729 57 hours $47.40/hr
Apr 19 ## $3,358 39.5 hours $85.03/hr

I'll update all the balances next post. I've been traveling for work for the last few weeks.

May 11 hours -$410

June 23 hours +$710

Played 2/5 and 1/2/5 PLO for 15 hours for a profit of $1175. With MGM NH having a max buy-in of $1000 for 2/5 and local games uncapped, I don't see myself moving out of this limit any time soon.

I'm proud of the progress I've made in PLO. I've been putting in the hours while traveling for work and feel like I'm getting a little more comfortable each day. I'm still a really bad player, but not the worse in any lineup.



June: 38 hours +$1885 == $49.60 /hr

I played in a deep stack 2/5 game for 6.5 hours tonight. Ran into some coolers early on, however, managed to put a lot of pressure on capped ranges and got paid off on a flopped straight (89o) vs a set.

6.5 hours == +$2,005

June: 44.5 hours +3890 == $87.41/hr

My goal is to fit in another 26 hours this month bring my total to 70.

Thursday = 5
Saturday = 16
Sunday = 5

50-75 hours a month seems to be the sweet spot balancing 190-200 hours of work + flying. I'm finding time for quick workouts, mountain bike, PS4, guitar and socializing.


==

Jan 19 ## $4,334 99 hours $44.21/hr
Feb 19 ## $1,077 43 hours $25.04/hr
Mar 19 ## $2,729 57 hours $47.40/hr
Apr 19 ## $3,358 39.5 hours $85.03/hr
May 19 ## $2,096 59 hours $35.52/hr

2/5/10 (rock)

I was down a few buy-ins within the first 60 minutes:

AKs vs KQs
QQ vs AKs
AQs vs JJ

and a 3 barrel bluff that the V was capped to 1 pair and made a hero call. I fought back the next 2 hours and was +$80. I meant to stay another 2 hours but some BS between players occurred at the home-game and decided it was best to leave.

June: 47.5 hours +3970 == $83.57/hr

==

Jan 19 ## $4,334 99 hours $44.21/hr
Feb 19 ## $1,077 43 hours $25.04/hr
Mar 19 ## $2,729 57 hours $47.40/hr
Apr 19 ## $3,358 39.5 hours $85.03/hr
May 19 ## $2,096 59 hours $35.52/hr

2/5

I ran into some big hands. Rather than tilt off, I decided to cut my session early and enjoy my Saturday stress free. 1 more day of playing in June!

5 hours == -$930

KK into AA
Flopped 2 pair into 3 outer better 2 pair
Top 2 vs set

Not much I could have done differently so "that's poker". It's been a good month, no complaints. I've very fortunate to have a senior IT position, I need to often remind myself this is just a hobby. Losses aren't fun, but they have 0 financial impact on my life. It's easy to forget that in the moment.

June ## +$3040 52.5 hours $57.90/hr
2019 ## +$16,634 350 hours $47.52/hr
==

Jan 19 ## $4,334 99 hours $44.21/hr
Feb 19 ## $1,077 43 hours $25.04/hr
Mar 19 ## $2,729 57 hours $47.40/hr
Apr 19 ## $3,358 39.5 hours $85.03/hr
May 19 ## $2,096 59 hours $35.52/hr

2/5/10 ## 7 hours ## -$370

June ## +$2670 59.5 hours $44.87/hr

July Day 1
1/3/6 3.5 hours +$215

After another failed attempt at a 3 barrel bluff when I knew his range was capped to one pair, I had to take an honest look at my leaks. Here's the biggies:

- 3 barreling assuming players are going to fold capped ranges. I'm often amazed how Vs can call down TPWK.

- Playing gapped suited connectors in the wrong positions

- Playing SCs with the wrong odds

- 3 betting far too much against tight ranges

Another 3 barrel bluff for $440 ish today was a wake-up call. Over the last few months I've been amping up my aggression, it's really time to pull it back a bit.

==

Jan 19 ## $4,334 99 hours $44.21/hr
Feb 19 ## $1,077 43 hours $25.04/hr
Mar 19 ## $2,729 57 hours $47.40/hr
Apr 19 ## $3,358 39.5 hours $85.03/hr
May 19 ## $2,096 59 hours $35.52/hr
June 19 ## $2670 59.5 hours $44.87/hr

I'm taking a bit of shot tonight:

Half No Limit (2/5/10) Half PLO (2/5/$10 rock)

Upcoming Schedule:

July 2nd HO game
July 3rd OFF
July 4-6 Casino -- Mix of 1/3 and 2/5
July 7th 2/5 NL