Backstory: A month ago, I had a poker bankroll of 8300. In one bad weekend, I dropped down to 2300. I pulled 500 out of the bank, and started back to start the climb back up. I also left my wife. I had jokingly called my 8300 bankroll my "divorce fund". Now that I'm really getting a divorce, or at least in the pre-divorce stage, I needed to recoup some losses. Last month was absolutely horrible. I made some bad plays, no doubt about it, but I also got hit in the face by variance. I couldn't hit a draw to save my life and every draw against me came in. Bad play + bad luck = $0. Paycheck came in, gave my wife the child support and had an education expense for the kids of another 500. I had 600 to my name. I withdrew it and managed to drop it all. Fortunately, it took me over a week to do that, so next paycheck comes in and reload for $600.

This $600 has to last me two weeks until the next paycheck and it is also my living expenses. I'm living in casino hotels, either comped rooms or spending my reward points. Food is comped from playing poker, so I'm okay as long as I'm playing poker. I didn't pay a couple of bills so that I'd have a "slush fund" to get a normal motel room if I busted again and ran out of comps. That money CANNOT be used for poker, period.

So, $600 reload on a Friday, playing 1/3 NL live. Instead of my normal max buy-in of 300, I had been buying in for 200. Min buy-in is 100, so I have six min buy-ins until busto. Gameplan is super-nit. There have been a few instances where I have a pocket pair, but it's raised pre-flop and my implied odds are < 15x, so I just toss them in the muck. I'm being extremely patient and sometimes folding what is probably the best hand, just to avoid variance.

8/1/2014 - Reload of $600 mentioned above as my last chance for a couple of weeks. Poorly-timed bluff, down one buy in. Sucked out on, down another buy-in. Really good second-best hand, down another buy-in. $300 left. I can beat these guys. Last buy-in for the night. $400 in the game total, cash out after 14 hours for 582.

8/2/2014 - $782. 12k guarantee tournament, buy-in 160. 4:45 and I bust out, didn't cash. Off to the cash games with $622. Buy in for $100, nit it up like a bandit and cash out for 425 after 3:15. Rules are that if you leave the game, you must wait 2 hours before coming back with less money than was taken off the table. I have to change hotels anyway and need to do laundry. After about 3 hours, I come back for $100. Raising with hands like AQ and missing, I'm down to around 35. I bring up another hundred. 2 hours later, I leave with 462. Total 1309. I cannot tell you how much I HATED to leave this game. There were a few really, really bad players in this game. However, My bankroll is so tight, I need to book the wins and not open myself up to variance. With a better bankroll, I'm not even considering leaving this game. It was one of those tables you dream about.

8/3/2014 - $1309. End up buying in 5 times at $100. A ton of missed draws, a bad bluff attempt, a cooler or two. I have capped myself at this point. NO MORE BUY-INS. Go broke and go home. Enough is enough. A player gets moved into the game, he is super aggressive. I beat him and doubled up, he beat me for a good lick, and I got him once more. He spewed well over a thousand into the game. He finally gets dragged out by his girlfriend. The table started off super-nitty, and he changed all of that. As soon as he left, the nitfest restarted. I can't catch a hand. After 10 hours, I cash out for 420. Net loss 80. Total 1229.

8/4/2014 - $1229. Buy in for 100, raise 20 pre-flop with kings. 3 callers. Jack high flop, all-in. Beaten by flopped set of 3s. Rebuy! 4:30 later, I cash out for 433. I'm going for pocketing double-ups and trying to rebuild my bankroll. Need to switch hotels again, so I'm out for a few hours. I come back in for $100. Raise pre-flop with AJ, two callers. I'm first to act on a j93 rainbow flop, bet 25. V1 calls, V2 raises to 50. I get married to TPTK and shove the rest of my stack, after starting the hand with a touch over 100. Two callers. Turn 8, River J. I flipped my hand over on the flop as V1 was a little under my stack. V1 mucks. V2 yells "you've got to be ****ting me" and rolls over pocket 3's for a flopped set that got uber-counterfeited. V1 and V2 leave. If I had any sense, I'd have left too. I just tripled up in a very short period of time. Stupidity wins, and I keep playing. Finally, after 5 hours, I give up for the night. Cash out for 423. Total bankroll $1785.

Good luck! Always like to see these challenges succeed!

Man bro good luck.. I'm so tempted to go to vegas and make a run for it with a 10K bankroll. Only problem is that I don't think I'm good enough of a player, but it sure sounds fun. Good luck

It appears I cannot edit the first post, so let me just admit that this is more of a self-journal, and ramblings should be expected.

8/5/2014 - 1785. Not "feeling it" today. Generally tired, somewhat comatose, just "checked out" of life after work. Figured I needed to eat something, so I left my room. I had $70 in "freeplay" which actually cost me $6 when all was said and done. Down to 1779. Ate, tried two hands of freeplay blackjack and lost both, and then on to poker. Played an hour and a half, bought in for 100, cashed out for 313. Total $1992.

Now I'm trying to decide if I bump my buy-in back up to 200, leaving me only 10, or if I grind up to 3k on 100 buy-ins.

I'm in hotel #2 right now, so I don't "have" to play poker to stay in the room. However, I'm back to the main casino hotel tomorrow for a few nights, so I "have" to play poker steadily the next several days or learn to pay for rooms .

nice read. good luck

Are you in AC or Vegas? Somewhere else?

I'd recommend cutting down on the bluffing. I'd probably just buyin for the $300 as well. BR management out the window. You are missing value.

Pretty sick, GL!

life's bad beat. I actually COUNTED my bankroll and I'm off by 100 somewhere. Oh well, total $1892. I'm not in AC or Vegas. The area is filled with regs, so telling my location would "out" me, and I don't want to do that.

I don't bluff much, mostly because at 1/3, you run a huge risk of being called with ace high. It makes it GREAT for value betting though.

I cannot go back to max buy-ins yet. While I hate playing short-stack, it is what I have to do until I can run the bankroll back up.

Good luck man!

pretty sure this post is wrong since you wouldnt have a full house here-

"Raise pre-flop with AJ, two callers. I'm first to act on a j93 rainbow flop, bet 25. V1 calls, V2 raises to 50. I get married to TPTK and shove the rest of my stack, after starting the hand with a touch over 100. Two callers. Turn 8, River J. I flipped my hand over on the flop as V1 was a little under my stack. V1 mucks. V2 yells "you've got to be ****ting me" and rolls over pocket 3's for a flopped set that got uber-counterfeited. "

anyway gl man, nice to see a true degen thread

You are correct. J83 otf.

8/6/2014 - $1892

Bought in for 100, seems to be mostly hovering within $15 of start. Limp preflop, I have QTo in the cutoff and limp as well. Flop KJx. It is checked to me, I overbet the snot... like 78 into 16. I figured even someone with a bad king would fold, and I've got equity even if called, with the OESD. One caller, KJo for two pair, board runs out clean... aw crap. REBUY! 100 more. I'm up to about $350 when I'm dealt pocket kings in the SB. I raise to 20 and get 3 callers. DAMN! Flop is KQJ with two clubs. I bet 50 and get called by 1 player. Turn is an off-suit 10. 180 in the pot and I check. My opponent shoves for around 70. I figure he's got the ace, but I've got 3tens, 3jacks, 3 queens, 1 king and 3 aces to either tie or boat up. ~26% with one card, I'm getting the right odds, so I call. River bricks, v turns over ace deuce of clubs. WTF did that fool call 20 preflop for? Oh well, back down to about 200. I flop a couple more sets and get paid about 100 on one of them. In the game for 200, cash out for $476 after 8 hours.

In addition, I've got a couple of freeplay coupons, so I play two hands of blackjack and turn the $30 in freeplay into $30. That pretty much washes out from tips for the week, laundry, and laundry detergent.

Total $2168

Plan for the rest of the week. Nit it up for Thurs and try to get some good value from Fri and Sat. Being able to make a hundred here and there on weekdays is pretty good, IMHO. The weekends are where things should heat up a bit. If I can avoid variance, I should do okay. I'm hoping to pick up 300 on Fri and 300 on Sat. Thurs is planned to be very conservative, so breaking even is fine. If I can pick up $160, I'll buy into the Saturday tournament. In 5 days, I've managed to pick up 1500. I'm reasonably proud of myself. If I can keep that pace up, I'll be back to a good bankroll soon enough. I just hope I can sustain this momentum.

I need to run it up to 10k before I feel "safe". Then $2k comes out for attorney fees and filing fees for divorce. Once that occurs, I'll have 8k and will take another shot at 2/5. I've had pretty good runs in 2/5, except for the absolute beating I took which started this thread. I usually can pick up 500-1000 here or there in 2/5, but the variance is high. There is a LOT more thin value betting. People will bet middle pair hard on a 3-flush flop. It's hard to know exactly where they are. It's either weak or nuts, but I haven't found an easy way to determine which.

8/7/2014 - Starting bankroll $2168.

Huge lack of motivation. Hotel called me to tell me to pack my crap and move to another room (smoking instead of non-smoking, ugh). I get down to the front desk and the manager said to leave me where I was (without me even asking). Get a new keycard and stuff my crap back in the same room, and off to play poker.

Buy-in for $120. Super-tight nit mode, run it up to about $360 and got bored. I started playing too many hands and hanging on too long. Dropped it back to $200. Pulled head from ass and started playing correctly again. Cashed out after 4 hours for $524.

Ending bankroll - $2572. I am happy going into the weekend with this bankroll. I figure I will buy in short early in the afternoon and build it up by the time the rec players show up (or top off if needed).

Life variance is kicking in. There is a convention in town and free hotel rooms are possibly out for Fri/Sat, so I may have to dip into the bankroll to fund my addiction to showering, shaving, and sleeping. I've been eying a local motel that rents monthly, but obviously free beats paying, so I've been putting it off. Tomorrow may force my hand. If so, that's $550 gone in a flash, but I know where I'll be living for the next month, which brings the perks of settling in somewhere for more than a few days at a time.

When I played recreationally, I could come here for a weekend and play 30+ hours straight. 4 hours was taxing today. I'm getting burned out, but my hope is to cut down a bit on the hours I play to stave off having to take an actual break.

8/9/2014 starting bankroll/liferoll $2572.

Bad start. Bought in for 120. Picked up asqs and raised to 15. Agrofish called two streets with middle pair. Add another hundred. Next hand. I flopped top pair and tried to isolate the agrofish but isolated a shark instead. Oops! Reload for $200. Agrofish leaves table for 2/5. 2/5 game is full. Damn. Flop a set of 3s and get paid off. Currently at 327. Still playing.......

Up to 592.. asked to move to 2/5 to lock in win. Will buy in for 200 and nit it up for 2 hours and move back to 1/3.

After 4 hours, cashed out 394 ahead. Went to 2/5 and promptly lost two buyins. Ended up with 1000 in the game, had worked 200 up to almost 500 when the following hand hits. Qhth in the hole, 15 preflop 4 ways. 8hjhqc. Pre-flop raiser bets 45 into 60. I re-raised all in for 478. V tanks and calls. No problem, I am ahead of aces, so I am happy. turn is a q. River is an ace. naturally, v has aces for a boat. FML. Gone to dinner after 4 hours. Back on the 1/3 list. I almost quit at 500 and now wish I had. F'ing variance. Of course, if I didn't want him to call, I shouldn't have bet. F me.

ouch that was brutal


hey have you thought about check raising the flop to like 150 or so instead of shoving? A shove looks weaker and an over pair might put you on a draw and call. If you raise to like 3x the bet, you can also rep a stronger hand like a set, 2 pair, etc. Then once the Q comes on the turn you bet again and an over pair might fold thinking hes drawing to 2 outs.

3 hours at 1/3 for a $91 profit. Add $20 to that from a freeplay blackjack hand and I am down 491 for the day.

Liferoll $2081. It will drop tomorrow as I am going to spend time with my kids.

It is a sticky situation. If the turn bricks, my equity drops substantially. If the turn brings the flush, he almost has to fold. It was a huge overbet and frankly, one that is almost impossible to call. If I had like 150 in my stack, his call is easier. I got my money in as a 58:42 favorite and I am glad he called.... well, until he won anyway.

It is really a tricky hand to play that deep. I am not sure what the best line here is. Off to llnhe for advice.

8/9/2014. -- spent a few hours with my kids, plus 6 hours of travel time. $-200 for lunch, gas, activities with kids.

Only played 2 hours due to having had a busy day already. Bought in for 100, cashed out for 444.

Liferoll +144 for the day.

8/10/2014 --- starting bankroll 2225. Played 13 hours. Bought in for $400, ran it up to 800 at one point, but ran a set into a straight. Finished the night at $305.

Ending bankroll 2130. Kinda bummed. Was card dead for the last several hours and just kept trying to get something -- anything and couldn't.

8/11/2014 --- starting bankroll 2130.

Played for 6 hours on one buy-in of 100. Cashed out for 653. Also won in a $10 freeplay on blackjack. Ending bankroll 2693.

I hovered between 80-200 for 3 or 4 hours. I picked up kings twice and aces once and won a couple of decent pots without having to show.

My game has really solidified in the last couple of weeks. I'm playing WAY fewer hands than I used to and releasing good, but beaten hands, much earlier in the hand. Aside from my -$1000 at 2/5 a few nights ago, I've had a pretty decent run, even having a few card dead sessions.

8/12/2014 - what a night. BBV is this way. Bought in for 100, ran it up to 350. Flopped the nut straight on the flop. Checked the flop, bet 2/3 pot on turn. Opponent shoved all in on the river. Board was 9tj5k. Bastage rivered the nuts. I knew that was all he could have was aq, but foolishly called. Back down to 100. Dropped down to about 50 and changed tables. Added 200. Got felted with something bad, forget what happened. Pull up another 200. Ran it up to 500. The table was super aggressive. One player was down about 4k and was raising every hand he played preflop. He played about 70% of hands. Everyone was calling superlight.

I am in the bb on a stradle to 6. Agroguy raises to 44 preflop. He gets called by 3 players and it is back to me with aqo sitting on 463 at the time. I raise it to 225. Agroguy calls, another player calls and the sb calls all-in for less. Flop comes q34. I shove for 238. Agroguy calls, next player raises all in. Agroguy calls. Turn is a 6, river a jack. No flush possible. Agroguy has tt, sb has 55, and I lose to queen freaking 3. Idiot called 225 preflop with q3 sooted. Fml. Rebuy for 300 and currently sitting on 199 out of 800. Ugh!

I finally left after 6 hours. Down 1k. Aq<73s for 200. Aks<jts. I wish I didn't have to work today or I would stay at this fool ass table.