BACKSTORY:
i don't really feel like sharing much at this point. maybe it will be revealed intermittently as this thread progresses. but, since it seems rather standard for a first post... i have a decent number of hours logged as a moderate winner at 1/2 (4 figures for hours, north of 5bb/hr for winrate). i have just under 400 hours logged at 2/5 at about break-even (down a couple hundred overall).

FINANCES:
my monthly nut is about $1.9k
i have a passive income stream of about $1.1k/mo
so my monthly nut is about $0.8k

i like to be conservative, so im keeping $10k for a "life" roll (12 months nut)
that leaves $15k "bankroll" for poker.

THE POKER PLAN:
i will be starting out at 2/5 with 30 buy-in bankroll. if i lose down to $9k, i will drop down to 1/2. i think im good enough to beat 2/5, but maybe im wrong.. let's find out!

i will be putting in around 1000 hours this year.

NON-POKER GOALS:

• Mindfulness: daily reading, daily meditation
• Physique: diet plan in place, exercise plan in place
• Finances: mindful spending, diligent tracking
• Balance: dating, kids, entertainment, recreation, hobbies

that's it for now. will be posting weekly goals for sunday(10th) thru saturday(16th) tomorrow. (got the idea from a thread by some dude named "cuserounder").

weekly goals: Jan 10-16

[ ]: weight/waist starting weight/waist is 193.8lbs/35.6". Goal is to be < 192lbs/35.3".

[ ]: daily reading: 15 pgs/day, 105 pgs/week. Starting at pg. 19 of Waking Up, Sam Harris. Goal to be up to about pg 124 by end of week

[ ]: daily meditation: 15 min/day

[ ]: exercise: lifting 2x, cardio 5x, stretching daily

[ ]: diet: as planned (I may get into the details of my diet and exercise plan later if there's interest)

[ ]: poker play: 30-35 hours logged, notes taken, disciplined/mindful play

[ ]: poker study: 7 podcasts, 7 videos, through page 96 in Pokers Postflop Course, Owen Gaines

[ ]: balance: go on a date, see my son's basketball game, have other son for sleep over, afternoon with daughter

[ ]: finances: mindful spending, diligent tracking

HH 1:. 1/2 with 300 effective. Utg straddles. First to act folds, I open to 16 with black queens. MP player calls. Btn is very interested in pot even before action is to him... Making sure pot is straddle and double checking action to him. Decent/tight player. He 3bets to 50. Folds to me...? I thought for a few seconds... "How likely is JJ or AK in his range? With the read of his interest level and his tight image, I didn't think he was wider than KK+ very often here. Needed to call 35. Maybe enough to set mine? Thought it was close, but I made a very nitty fold. He showed black Kings.

HH2:. 1/2 with about 200 effective. Btn limps, sb raises to 6. I call with JTss in bb as does Btn. Td6h4h flop. Sb leads 12, I call, as does btn but grudgingly. Turn Kh. Sb checks looking disgusted. I bet 40. Btn folds. Sb tank calls. River is 5c. Sb quickly checks. I ask to see his stack. About 140 left. "I'm all in". He folds saying he had a very big pair.

3 more hands to post. But tomorrow bc I'm falling asleep now. Goodnight.

Subbed! Make sure the kids tick box is always ticked, all the best

back from first casino trip this year. ran like god. nice way to start 2016.

1/2: 16 hrs, 35 min at +$1,992 ($120/hr).. i had a MONSTER session with a funny story that will be reported.

2/5: 17 hrs, 7 min at +$2410 ($140/hr)..

total: 33 hrs, 43 min at +$4402 ($130/hr)...

i have several hand histories that i noted during the week that i will post here. its nice to run good, but that doesn't mean i necessarily played well. would love to get some feedback/constructive criticism on hands/thought process. not sure the most efficient way to go about that... for the rest of this post, though, i will share the funny story from the monster 1/2 session (+$1700 in 3 hours)...

Funny Story:
the second i sat down, this guy bigger, buzz cut guy was playing horrible (straddling, bluffing, throwing chips around like a typical maniac fish type) and also being very loud and mouthy. criticizing everyone's play. constant running commentary on every hand as it was going on. berating everyone. i mentioned to the kid next to me.. "someone is getting those chips. hope its me!". dude was being a complete *******. very loud.

i brought his fury upon myself early when i opened AQ in ep and he defended his BB.. it checked through to the river on something like a 8769T runout. on the river he started bitching about how he let me get there.. blah, blah.. im such a luckbox.. blah, blah.. how i was dominated but now we are chopping.. blah, blah.. so, i decided to cut out chips to about 1.5x pot and stuck it in. "really dude? you are so terrible. you obviously have the J but you're too stupid to bet an amount i can call. nice hand, *******!" as he mucks flopped two pair up... i flash my cards to the kid next to me then toss em face down. he DEMANDS to see.. "show one, show all!!!!!". so i grab my cards and flip up to expose the bluff. set him off and i was a target of his wrath from then on.

so for the next 30 min. he is berating me. then, another well known 1/2 fish shows up and sits at a neighboring table. my dude asks for a transfer to that table and the second he gets one, i also ask for a transfer. 2 hands later i get seated to my guy's immediate left at the new table. GOLDEN!

well, i happen to get into 2 huge multiway pots against the jerkface and others.. and i scoop both. he starts going on and on and on about how bad my play is. how clueless i am. starts getting personal though "you must have no friends, dude" and even threats of violence, "how about we meet in the bathroom and talk about it where there's no cameras".. etc..

so, i unleashed a bit on him (first time in years of play ive ever said a word to anyone... i don't bitch when i lose... i don't gloat when i win)...

as im stacking up 2200 at a 1/2 table after 3 hours of play vs. him... "you didn't think that was a good call? huh. i thought that was a good call. in fact, why do you think i followed you to this table? think it could be because i knew id be stacking your last $600? i coulda gone to any table in this room. but i specifically asked for yours. why would i want to sit next to the biggest ******* in the room? think about it! ill give you a few minutes while i finish stacking your chips into my pile!"

many hand history notes to come soon....

ty.. best advice.

Oh hello TeamKB, good luck to you.

I have to agree with you on this. I usually just tell them that I cannot hear them and to wait until I get done stacking their chips

HH3: 2/5, 500 effective: 4 limpers, i complete sb with K9s. BB makes it 30, 2 limpers call, im closing the action. call? fold? i call. K82tt flop. none of my suit. i check. BB bets 60, BTN makes it 160, everyone folds. BTN shows K8s

HH4: I open to 20 in ep with KhJh. 4 callers. I lead 60 on KT5cds flop and get 2 calls. Turn pairs the 5. i lead 180 (with about 220 behind). everyone folds. not sure i like this turn bet. no flush draws. what am i value-betting against? QJ/K9s? not much. check/call? not sure best line there. maybe smaller size?

HH5: AQhh in sb. mp opens to 25. 4 callers to me. i called. wasn't sure if 3betting was a better play. starting with 500, a 3bet would be a committing play, i think and since AQs plays nicely multiway, even OOP, i decided to call. bad decision? BB calls also. 7 to the flop ($175) of 962rb, one of my suit. checks to pfr who bets 55. decent, but aggro/gambly guy on btn calls and its to me. i look left and see that both BB and ep limper are disinterested and poised to fold, so i considered that i was effectively closing the action. the 55 bet was soooo small that it appeared weak, and i thought my price was just good enough to peel one. in retrospect, i don't like my relative position being sandwiched here. but i peel, getting 285/55. turn is As, putting a bd spade draw out there. i check, pfr bets 100 with 350 behind and btn folds. i now have top pair. pfr was not a reg and didn't seem like a seasoned player. could tell by his hesitancy on the 55 flop bet that he was unsure/weak. and could tell by his confidence on the 100 bet that he felt strong. 100 was a big bet to him b/c of absolute size, despite that it was less than 1/3 pot. i decided to call and evaluate river. there's now $540 in pot and only 350 behind. river is a Q. i briefly considered checking again, but thought the possibility of him checking back AK/AJ was too high since fish like showdowns more than triple street value betting. so, i decide to lead river. how much? i considered all-in b/c its only 2/3 pot and any hand he calls less with he should call that with.. ie, he SHOULD have a fairly inelastic range to call with.. but... my read was that he was going to be hugely sensitive to the absolute size. i thought 350 was too much. i bet 225.. he tanked for 2-3 min. then called. never saw his hand. especially want thoughts on if my flop peel was overly optimistic/standard/spew?

HH6: 1 limper, i raise to 25 in lp with AQss, sb and limper both call. flop is Ad9h8h. sb leads 50. never played with him before, but in the short time at the table, he wasn't afraid to bet weak top pair hands like they were the nuts, but i hadn't seen him betting/bluffing any draws. limper folds, i decide to call. turn is Tc. sb leads 120. i decided to fold there. too nitty? only Ax i beat is AJ.. AK/AT/A9/A8/98/88/99 all got me. i guess if he's betting draws i should call one more?

HH7: KK in bb. straddle on who frequently defends by raising. action player looking to put chips in middle. 2 position players call the straddle as does the SB. i throw in an extra $5 as well. straddle decides to do what he does and raises to 40. all 3 players call. now i bump it up to $210. everyone folds. they say they folded 88/AJ/AQ respectively. could have raised less, but i still gave an attractive price, i think? they have to call 170 for a pot that is now 330.

several more hands to come.. next post

HH8: ep limper, i make it 20 in CO with KK (btn was poised to muck and limper only had 300), only limper calls. 965tt flop. i bet 30, he calls. Turn was a 3r. check/check. river was 4r. he is poised to give up/muck once he sees me reaching for chips. so, i made an absurdly small bet of 30 and he decides to call with A6. terrible play by me checking turn? and terrible to bet so small on river?

HH9: utg opens to 25, i 3bet KK to 70 in next seat. only utg calls. flop of AT4r checks through. turn Qss. He leads 75. i call? river 7 completes the bd flush. he bets $150 and i fold. guess im just asking about the turn peel?

HH10: i open J9s in mp to 20. decent sb calls, BB fish with 400 3bets to 50. i talked myself into a call b/c he's a fish, i have position postflop and the 3bet was so tiny that my price was good. decent call? or muck it? sb folds. heads up to flop. 954 flop (toppest pair.. yay!). he leads 75, i call. turn J (toppest two pair.. yay, yay!). he check/folds to a bet of 125..mucks AK face up.

HH11: black AA on BTN. 2 limpers, i make it 30 and both limpers call. K96 two hearts. ep leads 30, other limper called. wasn't sure what to make of this. i called. probably should have raised here? turn 7r. ep leads 30 again, other player folds. this is way too weak to be value. i assume he's trying to draw to his flush/straight for cheap. i raise to 85, he calls. raise size was pathetic? river 8h, completes straight and flush. he leads 85 now.. and i just folded, despite the great price.

HH12: 2 limpers, co has been very active opening lots of pots. he raises to 25. i decide to 3bet for value as i think his calling range will include plenty of weaker hands. he calls. K-rag-rag rb flop. i cbet 85, he calls. turn is a blank and i gave up. in retrospect, this is a double-barrel, right? river is another blank. he fires 125 and i fold.

HH13: 2 limpers, i make it 30 with AA and both limpers call. 973 flop. aggro guy leads 45, i call, other limper folds. turn is 7. aggro bets 80. i call. river brick. aggro bets 160. i call. mhig vs. T9o

HH14: straddle is on. couple of calls. new to table young/flashy jewelry/well groomed/baller watch/ guy just sat to my immediate right. he raises to 25. i called (should have 3bet?). sb calls, straddle calls, both limpers called. 5 to the flop of 864tt. pfr bets 60 into 125, me and another decent reg call. 3 to the turn. 4r. pfr bets 120 into 300. only i call. river is an 8 making board double paired, 86448. he insta bets 225. i think for a second. could he have AA/KK? nope. too small of an open preflop... and those hands would have to at least consider i might have hit trips when the board comes runner-runner double paired.. i call. he shows AJo.

Subbed! Good luck, I'm also a 2/5 player, lots of money to be made!

HH15: playing 5 handed. 2 limpers, i raise to 25 with QcJc. only decent winning reg calls in BB. 789ddc flop checks through. turn 8c. reg bets 40, i call. river Ah. he checks, i bet 95. he folds.

HH16: i open to 20 in the CO with JJ. BTN flats. QT3cdc. i cbet 30. he calls. turn Q. i bet 45.. he raises to 100. i call. river A. i check, he checks. he has AK for best hand.

HH17: 2 limpers, i raise to 25 otb with AQo. 1 limper calls. heads up. flop is J42tt. i cbet 30. he calls. turn 9o. i bet 80, he calls. river 7os. i bet 200. he calls with 88. in retrospect, the double barrel should probably have eliminated most pairs weaker than Jx, so his range to get the the river has a lot of Jx. maybe it was ambitious of me to think that Jx would fold there and it was time to give up? at the time, i thought that Jx could fold a decent amount plus if he happened to have some pair +fd combo that missed, but was better than A high...

HH18: i open to 20 with AKo. same guy calls in BB. "im not calling cuz i beat you. i have a good hand". 942tt flop. i bet 30. "gotta see one more" as he calls. turn pairs the 4. i bet, he folds.

HH19: straddle pot. 2 callers. i bump it to 45 in sb with JJ. straddle and both callers call. Flop is AT4tt. checks through. turn 4 putting double flush draw on board. checks to first limper who bets 75. other limper folds, i call. straddle calls. river is a blank and it checks through. mhig vs. whatever straddle had and T8s of other guy.

where are you playing?

Mohegan Sun in CT

Thank you! Where do you play?

Thanks bob. I'm playing my hours at Mohegan. If you're ever interested in sliding over there sometime to meet up, let me know!

not even half as boring as I intended to imagine it

Glgl

I'm from chicago so mostly the Horseshoe. Although I've been spending a lot of time in florida and also play at the dog tracks there. Florida games are infinite times better

Sounds good. I've never been to Mohegan because Foxwoods is a bit closer, but I'll make an exception.

cool. i still need 100 hours before march 22 (heading to vegas for 2 weeks) to get Ascend (status level at mohegan to get lots of free rooms each month), so ill be down often. ill pm you my schedule as i know it and see if anything works for you.

still playing LHE? 4/8? 5/10?

I booked a losing year for 2015. Didn't play much and haven't played at all since September. The no limit holdem homegame tourneys and online poker helped to fuel the fire, but it was a pretty bad year for me as far as poker goes.

GL

being a professional, to me, means taking the game seriously. this includes both in-game and out-of-game aspects.

the out-of-game part of being a professional poker player can be broken into 2 main categories:

1. Poker Study
2. Life Balance/Health

you have to put in the time to learn the game. constant improvement. and you also have to put in the time to be well-rounded and healthy. it stands to reason that, all else being equal, a person more physically/mentally fit will be able to focus better and for longer.

the in-game part of being a professional poker player can also be broken into 2 main categories:

1. Playing in the right game
2. Playing in the present moment

playing in the right game means things like: putting in the required volume of hours, playing the right times of day, playing within your bankroll, playing at the right table with regards to relative skill level, etc..

playing in the present moment is key to playing each decision point to the best of your technical skill capability. this includes things such as being observant, taking notes, thinking through each hand for purposes of ranging villains, thinking through all bet sizing options, etc.. some things that can take us out of the present moment are: drinking, playing hungry/tired, being preoccupied with other life things, being distracted with conversation, tv shows, hot cocktail waitresses, and of course, being on tilt.

in fact, imo, tilt is just a particular subset of non-present moment play. my definition of tilt is playing while attention/focus is split between the present moment and either the past or the future. we take a bad beat and we get riled to the point of thinking about what just happened. or thinking about how we won't have a winning session. etc..

ill post more about my strategy for playing tilt-free and for improving at the above listed factors that define professional play in a later post. i think that someone with average technical skill could probably be a winner in most small stakes games by being professional with their decisions though. one thing that i aim to do is to slowly increase my skill level, while never setting myself back by playing in the wrong games or by playing distracted/tilted/mindlessly/auto-pilot.