Hey Guys,

I plan to document my journey and set personal goals along the way, I am currently grinding $2.50 + $4.50 180 mans + $5 90 man pko .

The goal is to crush these stakes for a good clip and gradually move up and start adding some mtts to the schedule in the future.

I have been playing poker for years,live and online as a rec but always wanted to play full time however, i could never find a proper productive way to study and improve so i was essentially burning money away.

I was extremely lucky to get accepted in to a stable on a stake and this includes coaching. since joining in February I have noticed many improvements in my game and i also discovered plenty of leaks i have, It has been such an eye opening experience up to date and I am really enjoying getting the head down and putting the work in away from the tables and learning new things every day.

Anyway here is a little about me,I am 27 living in my parents home with my wonderful girlfriend and our 8 month old baby ,doing the "saving $ for a mortage grind" and we plan to get our selfs on the property ladder within 2-3 Years. My life has never been better , a family of my own and finally a chance to get better at this card game that we all love. I am going to set personal + poker goals together in a monthly form as i know how easy it can be for us mere mortals to get tunnel visioned and focus only on one thing (improving at poker)and ignore the most important things around us(family + quality of life). I am aiming to create a perfect balance between the two i think this is very important.

enough of me rambling on, this is the first time iv ever written a blog/set goals so go easy on me!!

Poker Goals For May

-Play 800 sngs(currently averaging 500 per month)
-attend 20 group sessions within stable
-do 4 hand reviews with a friend
-mark 10 hands per session


Life Goals For May

-Bring my gf for a date night once per week
-Go for a walk 4/7 week days in the morning time
-Spend 3/7 week days with my family completely poker free
-Start to cut out **** food and eat healthy every day
-go for a swim 3/7 week days

This is My graph since February,its time to keep it moving up ! I will also post weekly graphs every Sunday going forward. LFG

Good luck!!!!! Look forward to following the journey!

Good luck!

Good luck! Looking forward to following that graph up

Good luck!

hey gl!with the baby, you have motaivation w/o end to crush I assume?

Thanks matt/chief
Thanks bro and the same to your goals.
Thanks simon lfg
Thanks man
Thanks man and yes,it can put life into prospective

Good luck and keep up the hard work

Now, I don't mean to be the first person to say something negative, so for that I apologize. I do hope you succeed. Now lets talk realistically... If you have an 8 month old child, and a girlfriend, and you are living in your parents house, shouldn't your first goal be to get a real stable career job that can buy you a house realistically instead of gambling on your future child's life, your parents patience, and the stability of playing poker 4 days a week starting at extremely low stakes? Your girlfriend will not be able to work often as she will be taking care of the baby the majority of the time if you are constantly spending hours grinding MTT's. What about all your other expenses? Car insurance, gas, food (unless your parents are paying for all of that) dates, meals on dates, any bills the baby may have, including hospital and food. If im being honest with you heart to heart, it sounds to me like you already are admitting its a bit of a pipe dream by titling this "this is not a pipe dream". It means you are aware that other people will see it as such.

How do you expect to pay all these bills in addition to a mortgage on a house? You realize if you want to move up stakes quickly you will not be able to withdrawal often even with huge wins. What happens if you go broke? You realize you will lose the house right? What happens if you have an extremely bad run or even a break-even run which is TOTALLY possible? Again, you will lose the house. If you ask anyone who invests in real estate, they will tell you to not buy a house and start paying for it unless you have a steady stream of income that is reliable and guaranteed. On top of it, imagine the arguments you and your parents and your girlfriend are going to get in if you start running bad. THIS IS TERRIBLE for your psyche when you are playing cards. You cannot play your best game when you are depressed, or going through emotional distress, and your job REQUIRES you be able to always play your best. I genuinely from the heart hope you succeed, but I would be terrified to be your wife, mortified to be your child, and nervous to be your parents if you undertake this as your sole income and expect to buy a house. It's just not realistic even if you run like god. Your stakes are too low, and you won't be able to move up fast enough even if you are wildly successful. I hope this has been insightful.

Your post brings up some issues that should always be considered by anyone with pretty much any income choice they choose to make, but even with that in mind - your deeply negative outlook essentially limits anyone from doing anything out of a fear of eventual failure.

Higher risk ventures can be undertaken if they are done with the proper strategy and understanding of the dynamics involved, and your feedback essentially ignores whether this process has been done, and in fact assumes it has not been done at all, perhaps because that is the way you have made similar choices in the past.

Doing something one loves is always a great start for picking a job/career etc, and in many cases with some guidance and patience and professionalism this can lead to a much more satisfying and productive result than simply taking any minimum wage job with little upside due to the "stability" of that.

Pursuing a dream, within reason, is reasonable, and if a person never tries this they just end up years later regretting that they never tried.

I wish the OP luck and success in this venture.

I wasn't going to reply to this as there is so much negativity in your post and your assumptions are just crazy. But i will reply anyway.

1. I was really hoping your post was going to be creative criticisim.

2.this is gambling on my future child's lifelmfao.please explain how? you have no idea of my financial situation,my past or my future plans for my child.

3.ok,so you suggest i should start at 55s,109s,215s and above to be successful?nice.

4.again another assumption.fantastic stuff!

5.should i title it,"a dream that im going to fail at miserably and not be successful.
I dont see anything wrong with a little self believe!.

6.why would i want to move up stakes quickly,i am happy to grind these for as long needed to see if i can be a proven winner .

7.what happens if you get fired from your job??

8.man,i lold at this one.

9.Thats ok buddy because i have a nice loving family . with your attitude tough,id be ashamed to even be your pet cat.

10.slow and steady wins the race buddy ole pal.

11.thanks for your input.greatly appreciated.

"4.again another assumption.fantastic stuff!"

Sarcasm is the Dane Cook of conversation, it makes me cringe a little. I don't know all the 'ole pal' and 'buddy' responses, but to each their own.

I like the fact you are setting goals that seem to have a good balance between family, health and poker. I wish you the absolute best and look forward to following your journey.

OP does not have these things. If he did he would not be living with his parents and his girlfriend at 27. Someone in that situation is either doing it because they are broke or doing it because they are trying to save money, and renting would hurt their savings. It is very reasonably cheap to rent an apartment with shared rent with the girlfriend. Also, most people decide to get married BEFORE having a kid, and most people dont have a kid and still live in their parents house with their girlfriend. OP has demonstrated already a lack of planning and is receiving coaching at low stakes which implies he is not exactly a seasoned veteran. You are also nit picking my argument, and putting words in my mouth I never once said a minimum wage job, that is something you made up. I said a career job, i.e. coding, programming, basically any job with a salary. This will be my last response to you as you do not argue logically or fair and it is a waste of time addressing those inconsistencies.

This post was not meant to be negative. If you see realistic concerns of doing this as negativity then hey, I hope you can live in a house that is built on optimism. I fully and completely embrace and encourage an optimistic mindset, but that doesn't mean being realistic should be thrown out the window.

I can see at the slightest amount of devil's advocate (which is a key tool for starting any kind of venture in order to avoid or foresee potential pitfalls) you are defensive and resistant. This is not a good sign. Most poker players who are successful are always open minded to hearing about how they can improve their situation, what pitfalls to look out for, and things that can affect their success. They do not see constructive criticism or warnings as something to defend against, but rather something to consider. You also have less than 10 posts on your account, which means you most likely unless this is a smurf account, have not ever posted hands on 2+2 which is a vital step to your success and improvement.

Please understand I am not attacking you personally, I am telling you things you should consider if you undertake this. I do not know you, but I do know life and what certain actions in life mean. For example, if you have a kid, and a girlfriend with the kid, and she is not your wife, it is very possible your kid was unplanned. Most people decide to get married before they have a kid, unless the kid was unplanned.

Most people who have sufficient financial situations do not live with their parents, especially if they have a girlfriend, especially if that girlfriend has a child with you.

Even in Colorado where the rents are getting higher, two people could share a VERY nice one bedroom place for about 750-800 each per month, and if you went the economy route you guys could be splitting a nice studio for about 500 a head per month.

The fact that you are living in your parents house instead of doing this when you have a child means you are trying to save money, or cannot afford this. Someone who was considering buying a house should at least have the financials to be able to split an apartment with their girlfriend when you guys have a kid. How many people above the age of 23 do you know personally who live with their kid and their girlfriend at their parents house? because my answer is 0. This is not meant to be mean, it is meant to put things in perspective for you.

If you live in New York City, Or San Francisco, or Laguna Beach or somewhere else with excessively high rent, then this is a little more understandable, and definitely negates my argument a bit.

1- this is not "creative criticism" it is constructive criticism, and to even call it criticism is a bit of a stretch. These are simply factors to consider in order to have the highest chance of success at what you are doing. Over 90% of people who try to play poker for a living fail ultimately, (read posts of people on 2+2 and you will see this is the general consensus) and with a dynamic like that, it is vital to take every step you can to avoid potential pitfalls. What you see as negativity, I see as practicality.

2. If your goal is to buy a house, how are you going to create a college fund for your child? Realistically, You will be paying off this house for a long time unless it is a trailer or a home under 160,000$ which is an EXTREMELY conservative number. Realistically - unless you live in north dakota or somewhere desolate with very low propertly value, you are looking at about 265,000 on the low end, and about 500,000 on the high end for a decent home in the United States. Look at the property values on Zillow for your area. Even a bank foreclosed home is going to set you back about 120,000-180,000 in the United States and thats not including the amount of money you would need to put into a home like that.

How do you expect to be able to save money for your childs college fund if you are going to spend the next 15-20 years paying off a house?

3. I have been personally given a few lessons from the professional player David "Bakes" Baker, and yes, he started me in my very first tournament at a 55$ buyin for 25k prize pool. You can look him up on hendon mob and see from his winnings he clearly knows what he is talking about.

So to answer your question, YES, you should definitely start at a much higher stake with a much higher bankroll if you are serious about this. The competition in higher stake tournaments is SIGNIFICANTLY stiffer than the micro stakes you will crush with coaching. Remember, you will have downswings, you will have to cash money out to pay for things pretty regularly. You can't be beating the game, you HAVE to be crushing it in order to be able to make enough to pay for expenses AND move up stakes AND maintain a proper bankroll for each stake.

4. It is an assumption that you will have bills and unexpected expenses? No it is an actuality.

5. I think you are in a bit of denial about this. You would not have chose the words pipe dream if you did not think it would be seen in this light.

6. You have to move up quickly because it is not easy to make mortgage payments on 300-800 dollar wins (and thats assuming you can repeatedly finish first, which is a terrible assumption because MTT's are extremely high variance games) When your buyins are low, 2, 4, 5$, that means even when you make final tables and finish in 8th or 9th, even though you are making profit, in terms of mortgage payments, these are peanuts. a 9th place finish in even a large tournament (which is still a final table finish) is going to pay out like 80$ if youre lucky. Each tournament takes a few hours to several hours depending on the player pool. This means in order to be successful you must be able to play multiple tournaments at a time and still be able to finish in the top 3 consistently. Variance alone makes this extremely difficult.

7. If you get fired from your job, if you have learned a career trade, IE programmer, coder, plumber, electrician, etc. You can get another job relatively easily as there are always demand for a job in which you have a trade certification.

You also completely decided to not address going broke or running breakeven which is a very normal possibility statistically even for a good player. This is also a bad sign as you are optimistically leaning towards this not being likely to happen.

8. Im not sure why you think this is not a legitimate concern, as the mental game of poker is equally important as the fundamentals if you want to be successful. People who dont play poker a lot (not talking about you) don't necessarily understand variance or swings and may be quick to be negative about your success if you hit a rough patch even if you are playing great. This inevitably leads to arguments which can affect your feelings, mood, and psyche. (The Poker Mindset is a book that delves on the mental aspect of poker and is a great book to help with this)

9. Again- these are not personal attacks, you do not need to feel the need to defend yourself or attack me back. I am just saying based on your planning so far, it can be scary to see your outcome, especially from someone elses perspective who is not you and doesnt understand poker or variance on the same level as you.

10. You need to be able to move up stakes so that you can have money to pay for the house, 2-3 full months of expenses set aside as a "**** happens" fund, because **** DOES happen unexpectedly. You also need money to set aside for your child, in case he has any kind of medical issue growing up or any kind of cost related expenses that were unforeseen, i.e. a bike accident when he is older, an impacted molar, braces, it could literally be anything. Its called a safety net and is different then your "**** happens" fund for yourself. Again what if your child is extremely smart and qualifies to get into Julliard or something like that, you'd want to be able to send him or her there. Im just saying while a child is wonderful and brings immense joy into your life, they are also a price tag, it comes with it. There are lots of expenses for a child. In your defense, By this time, your gf/wife will have worked for a while though, so that will help too.

If you are not in a position financially where you guys can split the rent somewhere right now, how do you expect to make mortgage payments that are about the same or a little less as rent in your area? on top of all these other things?

11. If my input was greatly appreciated, you wouldn't be childish and sarcastic and emotionally defensive in your responses. People who are successful often try and fail over and over and over again before they are wildly successful, and are always open to hear about ways they can avoid failure or learn from mistakes others have made who are doing similar journeys. They are not emotional and defensive at the slightest poking of a hole in their plan. This is not a good sign for you.

Nonetheless I have tried to shed as much light for you as I possibly can from the dabbling in playing for a living I have done myself when I was much younger, and from the success and knowledge of someone I know who has already made several million from tournaments.

At the end of the day people are going to do whatever they want to do, but perspective is invaluable, and should never be disregarded even if you do not agree with it. I will not be posting further on here, as I do not feel like you are taking me seriously, and frankly that is not worth my time.

I do however hope I am wrong and I come back to this thread many months to a year later to hear you have closed on a house.

Good Luck.

Go start your own thread please. I cant even be bothered to read past the david baker i clearly know what i am talking about comment. If one thing is perfectly clear its that you have no idea what you are talking about.

thanks dude i appreciate it

Played 137 games this week. 2 wins in the $5 90 mans and 1 win in the $4.50 on demand and a handful of fts. ran pretty well overall this week.we finished roughly +$380 for the week and brought trough 10bb to scoop $2.20 phase 2

counting down the days to may the 1st to eat healthy as there was plenty of Easter eggs consumed today and a bit of **** food during the week , im enjoying my last few days of food freedom because man i love chocolate.

thanks for reading.

bring on next week!

Good start, keep crushing!

Maybe you should learn how to read period. It says "he" knows what he is talking about.

Agreed this is a great start, also keep an eye on your time spent and hourly wage as you progress, when you do well this will make you feel even better.

good luck don't let no one discourage u from doing something that you're passionate about.

quick update for this week, Just after finishing the sunday grind.

I had a bad week however we managed a few scores today to shorten the blow and leave us -$130 (roughly 37 buy ins) my avg buy in is $3.49. Made a good few deep runs so plenty of hands to be reviewed.I will go over them tomorrow and will be back playing on tuesday.

April has been a profitable month over all with +$623 (178 buy ins) so I cant complain

i have been adding some extra tables in over the past few weeks and i should comfortably be hitting my 800 game goal in may as we can play 9 with 100% focus now where as before we could just 6 table with 100% focus.

Tomorrow i will be officially starting my challenge and im looking forward to making a lot of lifestyle changes and getting back into exercising. I will be setting a weight loss goal as well ,that should be up next week.

Thanks for reading glgl

This Week

April

Had a good group coaching lesson yesterday and then 1hour solo review of my hands marked from sunday before firing up the tables yesterday.We were having a horrible session yesterday, I was running with my doom switch on for hours but managed to turn it into a profitable session of +$150.72 for 63 games played.

Day off today to spend time with family.

update on weight loss challenge,i stepped on the scales this morning and im weighing in at 18 stone 7.5 pounds, (117kg).

I am going to set the challenge at a loss of 2 stone 7.5 pounds (16kg) and i have untill my daughters birthday to loose it,29th july.lfg

Quick update on the week.


confident i will hit 800 sngs this month if i keep up this momentum.63 games played Tuesday,aiming to get same in today,same tomorrow and then 70-80 on Sunday should be good enough for 200 weekly average.

had a study group session Tues,wed,this morning and another 1 in 2 hours so we are on track for hitting 20 this month at this rate.

I have reviewed 0 hands with friend,was hard to find time so far this week but hoping to fit it in somewhere

currently marking 10+hands per session to get into the routine of auto marking spots im unsure of for review.



Date night to be confirmed for this week,we will probably go to the cinema Saturday night if there is anything good on show.

1/4 walks done for this week, i will go for one this evening before my grind and fit the other 2 in before Sunday.

completely cut out **** food and i am enjoying this healthy eating again,buzzing for this weight loss challenge now and feeling good.

0/3 swims this week.Its looking like will only get 1 swim in this week on Sunday early morning so i need to work these in somewhere, I will probably try fit them in the mornings next week.