Hi, my name's Darius. I'm 21 and live in Sydney, Australia. I've played poker as my sole source of income since I was 18 (other than 3 months dealing blackjack mid last year). After my first year I stopped taking as seriously as I should. I stopped doing almost any productive study and got stuck in pseudo GTO robot mode/unable to face and change my actual mistakes. End of last year after busting yet another <10BI roll I realised my biggest leaks are all mental. Self sabotage. Massive tilt/spew issues. Unhealthy urgency/investment in getting to mid/high stakes ASAP. I took a few months off. I'm doing it the right way now.

I've stopped using poker to procrastinate my life. Poker isn't the solution to all my problems. I've started taking care of myself properly for the first time in my life (I've been battling depression and anxiety my whole life). I'm eating better, exercising daily and reconnecting with family and friends. Health and relationships are top priority and I believe a happy, balanced life is the key to any sustained professional success. I've realised I'm capable of this and don't need to get lucky to make it happen. I'm extremely blessed to be in the situation I am.

Last month I deposited $80usd on Ignition and started grinding the Zone pools. Currently playing $25nl and the occasional micro MTT. I'm taking shots with a 15 BI and moving down if I lose 5 until I establish myself at 50nl where I can make enough money to sustain myself without dipping into my limited savings. My intention is to play 100k hands and evaluate my options.

The key to my success will be discipline. I have the resources and capacity for success in more or less any field I set my mind to. Historically I lack patience and have both a fear of failure and success. I'm still developing my process but the framework is pretty solid and I feel good about the rate of my development. Currently doing yoga most mornings, running 3x/wk, eating healthier, studying much more efficiently and enjoying putting in my target volume. Dedicating a lot of time to self improvement (cooking, meditation, housework etcetc) and cutting down massively on alchohol/drug use has done wonders for my energy levels and self esteem. I have a newfound sense of momentum that I can't imagine giving up.

Graphs below. Mostly zone. Throwing in 1/2 regular tables sometimes too.

5/10NL



25nl (all zone)



Tons of spew at 25nl so far. Lots of silly mistakes I won't make again. Was opening/3betting far, far too wide in a lot of spots first 1k or so hands. Plugged that now Learning a lot every time I review. 100% sure I'm a big winner vs population now.

Looking for a study group/partner I work well with so if anyone playing these games wants to hit me up I'm usually down to put some work in. Previously played $30 spins full time and as high as 5/10/20 rmb on apps if people care about street cred

Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for HH/results and maybe some food/life pics (heading to Japan in April). GL all. Peace

Glgl man, if you want to study let me know your skype name. Playing NL25 on stars.

Gl with the ignition grind. Zone is pretty soft but imo reg tables + converter is definitely better EV. There's just so much bs that comes with playing anon + fast fold and not being able to get reads.

Also playing ignition zone, gl from Melb

Good luck dude!