Hello all,

For those who don't know me. I live in Orange County, CA and I've been playing online poker off and on since 2008. I'm an accountant by trade and have an active CPA license that allows me to sign off on audits. In 2008, I deposited 600 dollars on Full Tilt and lost a little over half of it in cash, thinking it was rigged. I then found pocket 5s and really started to study, used the points I had left over and won 250 bucks off those token sngs. I tried cash again, but then found those juicy 90 man KO sngs on tilt and studied ICM a bit and push/folding ranges and started building up my roll playing mostly sngs but a little cash. Cash out a couple times for about 2k each time and I didn't play too much volume until late 2010 early 2011. I discovered single table sngs and was crushing them and just before I was gonna quit my temp job to go pro, Black Friday happened.

Luckily, I kept my job and didn't play as much on the US facing sites that were left over. I tried doing an early hyper sng pg&c back about 2 years ago on Merge, but the variance sucked and I got a new job. Well I got fired from that job in November 2012 (long story, but mistakes were made), and I didn't work for about 9 months until I got my present job in August that pays pretty decently but is so boring and I hate it and spend a lot of my time reading 2+2.

I've studied a lot about the game and plugged leaks and I feel that I'm always improving, however the ability to set your own hours and working for yourself sounds very appealing for me. I'm tempted to quit my temp job and move down to Mexico ie. Rosarito, TJ. and grind Stars and get coaching and stuff so I can grind out a few bbs/100 on zoom poker. I have about 33k in cash with another 12k owed to me by friends (I have presigned checks from them), and the 8.6k Full Tilt owes me. Obviously with the way US-facing sites are, I don't want to keep too much money, so I signed up on Bovada. Did the 1k deposit, but had to cash out. I have about 450 bucks on Bovada now. Will be mostly grinding 6-max cash and try to play >1000 hands a week 4 tabling I guess as sort of a trial run. Hopefully I can move up to 100NL in 2014. I bought the hand converting program so I will be able to post graphs on my progress. Wish me luck!

Do you have any commitments in your life other than your temp job?

If you left, took a year off, and tried to get a similar position, would it be hard?

If the answer to both of these is not really, I'd suggest you quit. Life is short.

Hey there, I don't know what you mean by commitments, but I don't think I do, but even if I do, Mexico is only a ~3.5 hr drive or so, so that wouldn't be an issue.

If I do quit this job, in my opinion, it would be tough to get a job back that pays around this amount, I have pretty poor work history. As I said before I was fired from a job before and it was hard explaining it to employers. After I got fired it took me 9 months to find this job. I know I have the experience and the talent to the job, but getting that shot is the hard part. I've learned that to get a job, your ability to do the job is at the bottom of what they're looking for. That's why I kinda like poker, I can just sit on a table and dominate. I don't have to rely on a person to give me a shot.

You gotta be making 50k+ if not more like 80k+/yr...theres no way you're going to come close to that figure on bovada. I wish you luck, but do not give up your job until something more certain happens for us/USA and we have a large site with a large player pool operating legally. This is coming from someone who went from 10-20k months to the 2-5k months I'm having now playing online from the US (and the only reason I make any money is by finishing in the top top of volume/rake promos)...wait it out, don't struggle for no reason.

Edit: man you're in cali go play live!

Hi Drone, thanks for the comments. Well, I would move to Mexico to play online, not stay here in the US, land of the uber rich. In regards to your live comment, I would play live, but I find it very very boring. I'm just too accustomed to multitabling/HUDs.

Life is so short to be in any job if you hate it that much, regardless of what you do with poker (especially if you don't have a family to support). Have you looked into sharing a place in TJ or Rosarito for super low rent and cutting down to part time work 3-4 days/wk and doing both? Just to see if you like grinding in Mexico. Commuting does suck though, I live in SD. You would have to get Sentri for sure.
How do you like the hand converter for Bovada?

Hello all, my DSL modem crapped out late at night on Christmas eve. I won't have internet till the earliest Friday. I am posting this from work.

Hi Peppergirl, I have done some research into Rosarito/TJ. I've also read and posted in the Travel forum to ask a few questions. I'm not sure how the commute is, but it is something to think about. I don't know if there is ample opportunity to work part time and still get around the same pay I'm receiving in San Diego. I am looking for a full time position in all of Southern California which does include San Diego. I would love to move to San Diego, it has the feel of Southern California, with very few of the negatives. I love the Bovada hand converter. It's awesome to see my stats from Bovada. I bought the full program just in case I play the other games, but it's worth the money.

Let me get this straight : you're an accountant with CPA designation, but you want to play poker professionally in the state it is right now instead? Lol please tell me you're high.

ktnxbye, even though I have the CPA designation, it hasn't helped me land a permanent job, not even interviews. I have a few years experience, but employers look at my work history and don't want to even interview me. If you can find me a good permanent job let me know, I'm open to relocating to a few states. In the meantime, I have a temp job that I don't enjoy. The pay is ok, but well, the pay can only get you so far in terms of happiness. The freedom is also huge plus, setting your own hours, when to play, when to no play etc. The satisfaction of working for yourself. Depends, on what you're looking for.

I am an accountant too (just tarting) and would probably kill for cpa license. It is, however, a lot harder to get it here - in Canada, than in states. That is probably why once you get it, you're basically set for life employment-wise as firms will hire you regardless of your past. I am not sure why it is so difficult to get permanent employment in the field of accounting in USA.

If you still considering going somewhere where online poker is legislated - consider Canada. Living cost here is much higher than in Mexico, but you will probably find a job relatively easy, as your license is recognized. Winnings are tax free as well.

I would love to move to Canada, specifically Vancouver area. I'm a huge hockey fan (Go Ducks!), and like my weather to be cooler. The CPA designation here is a lot different in the US than worldwide. We're a certified public accountant here in the states, where worldwide it's a Chartered public accountant (or something like that). Worldwide uses IFRS (International financial reporting standards), the US uses GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles). While the US is slowly transitioning over to IFRS, I haven't learned anything about it, but from what I've read is that the differences relate how each respective accounting principle handles certain concepts. I am wondering if I could get a job in Canada though with my States' CPA designation. Wouldn't mind at all moving to Canada.

PS. Having no internet at home seriously sucks.

Yeah, we used to have CGA/CMA & CA as professional accounting designations, but they decided to merge into CPA which stands for chartered professional accountants. I am pretty sure American CPA is also recognized as a lot of people from Canada go and license themselves in USA as the tests are a lot easier to pass. You can start looking for a job in Canada online. A lot of recruiting firms bring professionals from States and cater for their work visa. I work for that kind of firm myself, but we're in IT. We placed quite a few people from USA here in Canada.

That's cool didn't know that. I will definitely look into this. Having access to Stars again would be a great perk. Also, I'm hoping to have my replacement modem today, so hopefully I'll be back playing tonight. Longest week ever.

I finally have internet at home!

Here's my Dec graph, I could only play 10 days with the hand converter since my internet went out for the past week. Been running very good, hope to keep it up in the new year.

Happy New Year to everyone! Stay safe and don't drink and drive.

Good morning everyone, hope everyone celebrated New Years safely.

Hi

I was considering joining Bovada, what is your opinion of the site?

What cash games do you play ($1/$2 or higher?) and what is the rake like?

Do they offer small buy in tournaments, such as $5 per entry?

I have heard they charge a fee to make a credit card deposit, how much is this fee?

I've been playing tiny stakes on subscription sites for 2 years, I think it would be fun to deposit $100 on Bovada and try it out.

Hey Steel, if you check out the internet poker section of the forum, they have a long thread that answers these questions. However I will answer them for you.

Right now I play 10NL, moving up to 25 NL possibly starting tonight.

The rake is your typical 5% and the max differs based on # of players. For example 6+ players is a max of 3 dollars.

They offer a bit of mtts for less than 5 dollars, if it fits your schedule is another question. I don't play mtts very often.

I believe the fee is 4.9%, but they waive the fee for the first deposit. I've never deposited via credit card so I don't really know the answer. I'm sure the bovada website can answer the question.

Bovada has very quick payouts. The main complaint about Bovada is that there are no screen names so you can't save the notes you make on players for future sessions.

I had a pretty good session last night winning a little over 2 buy ins. I also got poker indicator, having a little bit of information about player types goes a long way to help with profitability. Will post some hands later tonight when I get home.

Here's some hands from last night's session.

PokerStars - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: $9.27 (VPIP: 32.57, PFR: 12.78, 3Bet Preflop: 3.11, Hands: 5,511)
BTN: $18.77 (VPIP: 40.55, PFR: 15.48, 3Bet Preflop: 3.84, Hands: 7,371)
SB: $9.50 (VPIP: 43.77, PFR: 8.99, 3Bet Preflop: 3.93, Hands: 7,547)
BB: $9.42 (VPIP: 27.34, PFR: 6.45, 3Bet Preflop: 4.30, Hands: 7,723)
Hero (UTG): $18.16
MP: $9.85 (VPIP: 32.90, PFR: 13.56, 3Bet Preflop: 4.11, Hands: 7,314)

SB posts SB $0.05, BB posts BB $0.10

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has A K

Hero raises to $0.30, fold, fold, fold, SB raises to $0.70, BB raises to $9.42 and is all-in, Hero raises to $18.14, SB calls $8.80 and is all-in

BB was a spazzy player splashing around, either played or raised 4 of the last 5 hands pretty aggressively.

Flop: ($28.42, 3 players) 7 4 Q

Turn: ($28.42, 3 players) T

River: ($28.42, 3 players) K

SB shows 9 9 (One Pair, Nines) (Pre 54%, Flop 71%, Turn 79%)
BB shows 6 A (High Card, Ace) (Pre 10%, Flop 4%, Turn 0%)
Hero shows A K (One Pair, Kings) (Pre 36%, Flop 25%, Turn 21%)
Hero wins $27.00

BB special, almost folded too because SB was fairly solid.

PokerStars - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: $9.52 (VPIP: 32.97, PFR: 13.62, 3Bet Preflop: 4.07, Hands: 7,380)
BTN: $9.39 (VPIP: 40.47, PFR: 15.46, 3Bet Preflop: 3.83, Hands: 7,440)
SB: $10.00 (VPIP: 43.82, PFR: 9.08, 3Bet Preflop: 4.01, Hands: 7,618)
Hero (BB): $10.00
UTG: $10.54 (VPIP: 32.10, PFR: 13.86, 3Bet Preflop: 3.60, Hands: 7,750)

SB posts SB $0.05, Hero posts BB $0.10

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has 2 T

fold, CO calls $0.10, fold, SB calls $0.05, Hero checks

Flop: ($0.30, 3 players) 3 2 T
SB bets $0.30, Hero raises to $1.00, fold, SB raises to $3.00, Hero raises to $9.90 and is all-in, SB calls $6.90 and is all-in

Turn: ($20.10, 2 players) K

River: ($20.10, 2 players) 6

SB shows A A (One Pair, Aces) (Pre 83%, Flop 31%, Turn 18%)
Hero shows 2 T (Two Pair, Tens and Twos) (Pre 17%, Flop 69%, Turn 82%)
Hero wins $19.10

Almost folded this too, but I figured it was a busted flush draw.

PokerStars - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

CO: $9.49 (VPIP: 33.04, PFR: 13.65, 3Bet Preflop: 4.04, Hands: 7,428)
BTN: $3.82 (VPIP: 40.46, PFR: 15.46, 3Bet Preflop: 3.84, Hands: 7,486)
Hero (SB): $10.10
BB: $9.90 (VPIP: 27.39, PFR: 6.44, 3Bet Preflop: 4.25, Hands: 7,843)
UTG: $9.70 (VPIP: 32.12, PFR: 13.87, 3Bet Preflop: 3.57, Hands: 7,801)

Hero posts SB $0.05, BB posts BB $0.10

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has A A

fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to $0.30, BB calls $0.20

Flop: ($0.60, 2 players) 8 8 Q
Hero bets $0.40, BB calls $0.40

Turn: ($1.40, 2 players) 6
Hero checks, BB bets $1.40, Hero calls $1.40

River: ($4.20, 2 players) 7
Hero checks, BB bets $7.80 and is all-in, Hero calls $7.80

BB shows 9 K (One Pair, Eights) (Pre 18%, Flop 2%, Turn 0%)
Hero shows A A (Two Pair, Aces and Eights) (Pre 82%, Flop 98%, Turn 100%)
Hero wins $18.81

Here's a hand I'd like to discuss, Ace high board fairly drawy, you guys play it any differently?

PokerStars - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: $12.50 (VPIP: 27.13, PFR: 6.44, 3Bet Preflop: 4.27, Hands: 7,444)
UTG: $3.03 (VPIP: 32.14, PFR: 13.57, 3Bet Preflop: 3.54, Hands: 7,405)
MP: $12.49 (VPIP: 32.87, PFR: 13.46, 3Bet Preflop: 4.12, Hands: 7,058)
Hero (CO): $9.95
BTN: $3.60 (VPIP: 40.48, PFR: 15.27, 3Bet Preflop: 3.70, Hands: 7,108)
SB: $5.54 (VPIP: 43.58, PFR: 8.82, 3Bet Preflop: 3.80, Hands: 7,276)

SB posts SB $0.05, BB posts BB $0.10

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has Q Q

fold, MP calls $0.10, Hero raises to $0.45, fold, SB calls $0.40, fold, fold

Flop: ($1.10, 2 players) A T 6
SB checks, Hero bets $0.55, SB calls $0.55

Turn: ($2.20, 2 players) 7
SB checks, Hero checks

River: ($2.20, 2 players) Q
SB bets $1.60, Hero ???

I realize I'm turning my hand into a bluff on the flop, but I've seen some wacky calls post flop from c bets OOP by Bovada players ie. gutters, naked flush draws, players wanting to see next card with nothing hoping to hit. Turn completes a gutter and puts another flush draw out there, at this point I'm not sure where I'm at which was a problem from cbetting flop. River improves me but puts out a flush. Villain donks out and I have very good showdown value. Had I played this hand over again I would check back flop, bet out turn, and reevaluate river.

Please ignore stats as it is a summary of how every opponent so far on Bovada has played against me and not the actual players I was playing against.

Some hands from last night's session.

Run good

PokerStars - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB: $11.40
BB: $7.11
UTG: $10.00
Hero (CO): $12.14
BTN: $12.80

SB posts SB $0.05, BB posts BB $0.10

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has Q Q

fold, Hero raises to $0.30, fold, fold, BB raises to $1.05, Hero raises to $2.40, BB raises to $7.11 and is all-in, Hero calls $4.71

Flop: ($14.27, 2 players) 3 J T

Turn: ($14.27, 2 players) 2

River: ($14.27, 2 players) Q

BB shows K K (One Pair, Kings) (Pre 82%, Flop 90%, Turn 95%)
Hero shows Q Q (Three of a Kind, Queens) (Pre 18%, Flop 10%, Turn 5%)
Hero wins $13.56

People like handing me money.

PokerStars - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: $6.13
UTG: $4.79
CO: $3.26
BTN: $4.95
Hero (SB): $23.56

Hero posts SB $0.05, BB posts BB $0.10

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has Q J

fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to $0.30, BB calls $0.20

Flop: ($0.60, 2 players) 7 J J
Hero bets $0.40, BB calls $0.40

Turn: ($1.40, 2 players) 4
Hero bets $1.10, BB raises to $5.43 and is all-in, Hero calls $4.33

River: ($12.26, 2 players) Q

BB shows 5 K (One Pair, Jacks) (Pre 56%, Flop 0%, Turn 0%)
Hero shows Q J (Full House, Jacks full of Queens) (Pre 44%, Flop 100%, Turn 100%)
Hero wins $11.65

Picking off obvious bluffs

PokerStars - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB: $3.63
BB: $15.27
UTG: $5.96
MP: $10.23
Hero (CO): $22.94
BTN: $9.29

SB posts SB $0.05, BB posts BB $0.10

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has A K

UTG raises to $0.35, fold, Hero raises to $1.20, fold, fold, fold, UTG calls $0.85

Flop: ($2.55, 2 players) 9 6 7
UTG checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($2.55, 2 players) 3
UTG checks, Hero checks

River: ($2.55, 2 players) 5
UTG bets $1.47, Hero calls $1.47

UTG shows A J (High Card, Ace) (Pre 31%, Flop 17%, Turn 7%)
Hero shows A K (High Card, Ace) (Pre 69%, Flop 83%, Turn 93%)
Hero wins $5.22

Tried to get cute and it cost me.

PokerStars - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB: $4.75
BB: $12.52
UTG: $6.62
Hero (CO): $14.65
BTN: $6.74

SB posts SB $0.05, BB posts BB $0.10

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has K K

fold, Hero raises to $0.30, BTN raises to $0.90, fold, fold, Hero calls $0.60

Flop: ($1.95, 2 players) A A J
Hero checks, BTN bets $0.90, Hero calls $0.90

Turn: ($3.75, 2 players) 7
Hero checks, BTN bets $1.47, Hero calls $1.47

River: ($6.69, 2 players) 5
Hero checks, BTN bets $3.47 and is all-in, Hero calls $3.47

BTN shows K A (Three of a Kind, Aces) (Pre 30%, Flop 99%, Turn 100%)
Hero mucks K K (Two Pair, Aces and Kings) (Pre 70%, Flop 1%, Turn 0%)
BTN wins $12.95

Tried going for a river check raise

PokerStars - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: $13.00
Hero (SB): $17.38
BB: $10.00
UTG: $17.13
CO: $13.51

Hero posts SB $0.05, BB posts BB $0.10

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has A J

fold, fold, BTN raises to $0.25, Hero raises to $0.85, fold, BTN calls $0.60

Flop: ($1.80, 2 players) 5 K 7
Hero bets $1.10, BTN calls $1.10

Turn: ($4.00, 2 players) K
Hero checks, BTN bets $2.00, Hero calls $2.00

River: ($8.00, 2 players) T
Hero checks, BTN checks

Hero shows A J (Flush, Ace High) (Pre 61%, Flop 54%, Turn 32%)
BTN mucks 8 7 (Two Pair, Kings and Sevens) (Pre 39%, Flop 46%, Turn 68%)
Hero wins $7.60

Soul read or spazzy call you decide.

PokerStars - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: $4.74
Hero (UTG): $21.25
CO: $8.87
BTN: $17.34
SB: $13.02

SB posts SB $0.05, BB posts BB $0.10

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.15) Hero has K A

Hero raises to $0.30, fold, BTN calls $0.30, fold, fold

Flop: ($0.75, 2 players) 5 2 7
Hero bets $0.37, BTN calls $0.37

Turn: ($1.49, 2 players) 2
Hero bets $0.84, BTN calls $0.84

River: ($3.17, 2 players) 9
Hero checks, BTN bets $2.00, Hero calls $2.00

BTN shows K 8 (One Pair, Twos) (Pre 28%, Flop 19%, Turn 5%)
Hero shows K A (One Pair, Twos) (Pre 72%, Flop 81%, Turn 95%)
Hero wins $6.82

BR at 545.86, will play 25 starting on Monday with stop loss when br hits 400 dollars. Wish me luck.

Good luck, but surely you can't be serious about turning pro when you're only beating NL10 right now??

Poker has changed a lot since BF

I'm merely practicing the habit of playing a lot. I'm mainly trying to grow a roll. Once I have figured out what I want to do, I will use this roll on Stars and use my cash savings as well to fund Stars. I will also use the money for coaching and the like to further my game.

Played for an hour or so at FR last night. Lost a BI when I had KK 3 handed on a dry T 8 4 flop, got it in on flop vs pocket 8s and T8 off, obv didn't improve. Other than that nothing new.

didn't play tonight guys, tired from work.