Hi all,

My situation:

I’m 37 years old and from Ireland. I’ve worked in many different industries over the years but really want to take a shot at becoming a poker professional. I’ll be keeping a diary of my journey on this blog as it happens and I’ll be documenting every upswing, downswing, rush of emotion, broken computer peripherals and the rollercoaster of variance as it comes along.

My poker story:

I’ve been playing poker for a few years and started like most people, in a local game with some friends. I have just continued playing recreationally ever since. I’ve read all manner of books, tried loads of different strategies, read blog posts and forums over the years but it’s hard to find a cohesive plan when there is so much contradictory information out there and that is what brought me here to apply for CFP.

Why do I want to be a part of CFP?:

I originally found this site through a couple of really impressive threads on 2+2, namely Hansthegreat’s and Ilidek’s. That was when I decided to apply here and hoped that I could finally get that push that I needed, along with a clear plan of action on how to achieve success. So let’s get on with it….

Ah, it’s about time I updated this a little bit. Anyway, after a group session with Gordon on Tuesday, we are finally allowed to play some hands. I think that was the hardest part so far, not being able to play at all. The goal is to complete 10,000 hands by sticking as closely as possible to the No BS book and then uploading the database to have it analysed. I should be able to finish them off tomorrow evening after work.

Also, it’s taking a little time to get settled into a routine and trying to balance my work, poker, family and homework. I am making progress and should be really into the swing of things in a week or so.



I’m going to post some odd hands here, coolers or hands that I’ve played badly just for fun. So here are my first Horrible Hands of the Day:



The funny thing about this first hand is that when the BB 5bet shoved his small stack it wouldn’t let me reshove over the top so I had to end up calling and decided to shove the flop instead.



$0.02 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 145.5 BB (VPIP: 16.42, PFR: 14.93, 3Bet Preflop: 4.55, Hands: 67)
SB: 100.5 BB (VPIP: 17.07, PFR: 11.11, 3Bet Preflop: 3.85, Hands: 85)
BB: 30 BB
Hero (UTG): 142 BB
MP: 200.5 BB (VPIP: 26.67, PFR: 26.67, 3Bet Preflop: 50.00, Hands: 15)
CO: 109 BB (VPIP: 21.43, PFR: 10.71, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 30)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has A A

Hero raises to 4 BB, fold, CO raises to 7 BB, fold, fold, BB calls 6 BB, Hero raises to 26 BB, CO calls 19 BB, BB raises to 30 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 4 BB, CO calls 4 BB

Flop: (90.5 BB, 3 players) 8 T 6
Hero bets 112 BB and is all-in, CO calls 79 BB and is all-in

Turn: (248.5 BB, 3 players) 7

River: (248.5 BB, 3 players) 5





And hand number 2.. I actually laughed at the end of this hand because he could have doubled up if he had gotten it in on the flop or turn so he saved me some money, ��



$0.02 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 248 BB (VPIP: 26.32, PFR: 13.16, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 41)
Hero (SB): 186 BB
BB: 50 BB (VPIP: 20.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 5)
UTG: 111.5 BB (VPIP: 44.44, PFR: 33.33, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 18)
MP: 108.5 BB (VPIP: 50.00, PFR: 50.00, 3Bet Preflop: -, Hands: 4)
CO: 87 BB (VPIP: 33.33, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 3)

Hero posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Q 8

fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 2 BB, BB calls 1 BB

Flop: (4 BB, 2 players) 6 J 5
Hero bets 3 BB, BB calls 3 BB

Turn: (10 BB, 2 players) T
Hero bets 7 BB, BB calls 7 BB

River: (24 BB, 2 players) A
Hero bets 18 BB, BB calls 18 BB





Well, now for the not so boring stuff, here is my first 3 days graph:

In! Keep updating and good luck fella! If in stars I will see you on the felt.

@Galfondprodigy, cheers.

Well, got my first step 10k hands all finished and uploaded to be scrutinised very closely so hopefully the errors were kept to a minimum (fingers crossed, 😉 ).. Here is the graph:







And here I’ll post another couple of strange hands.. Today’s hands are what happens when you make 2 misclicks during a 10k hand grind, 😆



Hand number 1, I should have gotten a lot of value here but this is what happens when the poker gods conspire to make your hand instruct your mouse to click the check button when you have the nuts, 😛 …



$0.02 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: 101.5 BB (VPIP: 26.60, PFR: 21.28, 3Bet Preflop: 10.81, Hands: 96)
SB: 72.5 BB (VPIP: 33.33, PFR: 11.11, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 9)
Hero (BB): 107 BB
UTG: 41.5 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 6)
MP: 95 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 3)
CO: 92 BB (VPIP: 53.85, PFR: 46.15, 3Bet Preflop: 50.00, Hands: 13)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, Hero posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 8 A

fold, fold, fold, fold, SB calls 0.5 BB, Hero raises to 4 BB, SB calls 3 BB

Flop: (8 BB, 2 players) 9 Q A
SB checks, Hero bets 5.5 BB, SB calls 5.5 BB

Turn: (19 BB, 2 players) 7
SB checks, Hero bets 13.5 BB, SB calls 13.5 BB

River: (46 BB, 2 players) J
SB checks, Hero checks





And hand number 2, I could have got some more value from this hand too but this time the all in misclick happened and it scared all my profits away…



$0.02 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (BTN): 139 BB
SB: 201 BB (VPIP: 17.07, PFR: 9.76, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 41)
BB: 100 BB (VPIP: 25.49, PFR: 13.73, 3Bet Preflop: 4.35, Hands: 52)
UTG: 47 BB
MP: 114.5 BB (VPIP: 8.33, PFR: 8.33, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 24)
CO: 395.5 BB (VPIP: 14.71, PFR: 8.82, 3Bet Preflop: 7.69, Hands: 34)

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has 6 Q

fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 2 BB, fold, BB calls 1 BB

Flop: (4.5 BB, 2 players) A 5 Q
BB bets 2 BB, Hero raises to 5.5 BB, BB calls 3.5 BB

Turn: (15.5 BB, 2 players) Q
BB checks, Hero checks

River: (15.5 BB, 2 players) 6
BB bets 10 BB, Hero raises to 131.5 BB and is all-in, fold

Time for another update. Yesterday I decided to bite the bullet and update my blogs once more and attempt to improve my blogging skills. It is still going to take a bit of getting used to doing this frequently as this seems to be the hardest task for me at the moment (Well, that and finding some interesting hands to post on the forums). I have never really been part of any forum groups or blogs and it is a little bit alien to me trying to write my own blogs, keep them updated and, most of all, try to make them slightly interesting and not have people falling asleep at their computers while reading through my ramblings. I have gotten a few good luck messages too (thanks for that by the way, �� ).


So, down to brass tacks. Got my second lot of 10,000 hands finished yesterday and uploaded them last night. It was a real test of temperament yesterday as it seemed like a full day of coolers, villain hitting every flop and suck outs. It didn’t really phase me at all though and I just continued grinding, knowing that that is the only way to get through bad patches, and that is to play through and outrun variance through sheer volume….. LEEEEEEEEEEEEEROOOOOOOOY JEEEEEEEEENKIIIIIIINS!!! (If that confuses you, youtube it, lol)

I really have to post this hand though because this one slightly annoyed me and made me chuckle all at the same time.. I think this guy would give Phil Ivey a headache, lol. (Disclaimer: In no way am I comparing myself to Phil Ivey, ;p)

$0.02 NL (6 max) – Holdem – 6 playersHand converted by PokerTracker 4
BTN: 117.5 BB (VPIP: 13.64, PFR: 13.64, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 24)SB: 58.5 BB (VPIP: 0.00, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 10)BB: 56.5 BB (VPIP: 33.33, PFR: 0.00, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 4)UTG: 109 BBHero (MP): 135.5 BBCO: 127.5 BB (VPIP: 13.33, PFR: 6.67, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 16)
SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB
Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has T A
fold, Hero raises to 3 BB, fold, fold, fold, BB calls 2 BB
Flop: (6.5 BB, 2 players) 2 6 7 BB checks, Hero checks
Turn: (6.5 BB, 2 players) Q BB checks, Hero bets 4.5 BB, BB calls 4.5 BB
River: (15.5 BB, 2 players) Q BB checks, Hero bets 11 BB, BB calls 11 BB


And this week’s graph: (A little disappointed with my volume should have at least double the hands)

Time to make an update of the past week. I am starting to get into a routine now of playing, doing homework and updating the forums and blogs. It’s not 100% perfect yet but I’m somewhat happy with my timetable and it is steadily improving and it shouldn’t be long before I have it neatly worked around family life and my job.



Anyway, last week went pretty meh and it was just one of those bad patches but there was a little sliver of light at the end of the tunnel and I still managed to bink a slight profit, though really nothing to brag about, 😐 . My volume is steadily increasing almost to the point where I am satisfied and the blogging is getting easier. So here is my graph and my luck bell curve for the week:

And another week of steady improvement has been completed. I’m getting really used to the standard lines now and know what to do in nearly all situations that come up. There are still one or two weird lines taken by opponents but they don’t happen very often. This week hasn’t been great volume wise, which I’m very disappointed about as it’s about time I was finding my feet here but I am really excelling at running badly, ;-).. So here are the graphs for the week and let’s cross fingers for a bit of run good next week..



Graph:



And Luck Bell Curve:

Weekly update:

Last week was another breakeven week for me but no worries, I have no doubt that the results will improve shortly. Spent more time on off table study and still trying to get the standard lines down. Didn’t get an awful lot of hands played because I missed the weekend when I took the missus off to Dublin for the Party Poker World Grand Prix of darts. Spent a couple of days there and really enjoyed it. Still recovering though, (Jeez I’m getting too old for this ****, :-) )



Anyway, here is the graph for last week:


And my Luck Bell Curve:

Well, totally poker unrelated but, I have to say that my grá for Germany and it’s people has significantly increased these past few days but especially Thursday. The result in the Euro 16 qualifier on Thursday evening was astounding and I’ll probably never see something like that happen again but I can still revel in it for the moment, �� , (sorry Gordon).. And, Jurgen Klopp being installed as the new Liverpool manager has also been a huge boost. The future looks pretty exciting.



Now for the poker stuff. Didn’t play a lot this week as I had an eye infection and was constantly putting ointment in so vision and concentration was virtually nil for a few days. I did play in some short bursts with only a couple of tables but it wasn’t pleasant and the volume for the week was low. On the plus side I am now playing 5NL, so one more step on the ladder and another step closer to my goal.

Well, weekly update time I think. I’ll start with the footie again, it’s only fair I suppose, lol.. Fair play to Poland last night in the Euro qualifiers. To be honest, over all the group games they have been the better team and so they did deserve their automatic qualification place. Would have been over the moon though if we had gotten the 2-2 draw that would have put us through, ;(



This week has been an absolute disaster poker-wise as far as playing or anything related to improving. I managed to get myself an eye infection and so was completely pissed off with my inability to play or read too much but I did get in a few short sessions until the blurriness became too much and it became like a new game, blind poker, which, by the way, isn’t fun at all, ;( . So disappointed in volume but no point dwelling on it so let’s just post some graphs.

Weekly Graph:


And Luck Graph:

Mid week update time. Don’t think that I will complete all of my goals this month because of certain circumstances. I have moved up to 5NL and it’s going pretty well, so fingers crossed it stays that way. The standard lines are getting much more automatic, which again, is a big help. The 100k hand month doesn’t look like it’s going to happen though because of eye problems last week and today I had some trouble when I updated PT4. The HUD wouldn’t open on certain tables, all the stats on the HUD when it did open were all white and when I refreshed my graph it equalised my all in and all in adj lines which really annoyed me. Anyway, I spent some time trying to make it work and then just went and found a slightly older version and reinstalled it. Hopefully the rest of this month will go smoothly and I can bink a nice profit, :-)



Week so far:

Time for an update I think. Had a really great day yesterday and ran really well. It was one of those days where I got action when I had a big hand, which hasn’t happened much lately, and I cracked AA with my KK once too.. It’s nice when these little runs happen and I don’t believe in just posting when I run bad and whinge about it, 😆 , so I won’t complain and hope it lasts for the rest of the year at least, 😉



Todays graph:

Weekly update. Well, it’s the end of another week and it didn’t go too badly. Was actually having a pretty good run this week until yesterday, of course, when I hit stop loss. Anyway, here are my 2 graphs for the week.



Weekly Graph:


Luck Graph:

Another week over and another week closer to success, :-) .. Had a very poor week volume wise but I did a lot of study as we are getting more and more material. I had a busy week work wise too and some other things IRL.. Anyway, next month should see a big increase in volume because I’m not too happy at the moment. So, without further ado, here are my 2 graphs:



Weekly Graph:


Luck graph:

Ok, time to have a round up and see how October went.

October Goals:

1) Play 100k hands – only managed half

2) Move up from 2nl to at least 5nl – Yes, success

3) Improve my knowledge of the standard lines – Yes, definitely improved and added some exceptions

4) Crush! – Meh, not exactly, :-)



Ran a little above EV this month for a change and managed to break even, lol.. That was before rakeback though so still made a little profit. My goals success was pretty mediocre and I’m not too stoked about it but, hey, it is what it is and I don’t live in the past, so onwards! I only managed half of my planned volume because I dropped a few tables to focus on quality. I did however manage to climb up to 5NL and stay there, (go me!).. I also improved my standard lines and have gotten my office space set up with charts to keep me on the right track. Didn’t crush but didn’t fail spectacularly either, 😆 So let’s bring on the graphs:



Month Graph:


Luck Graph:


Now to set some goals for November.

November Goals:

1. Play at least 100k hands
2. Move up to 10NL and stay there
3. Keep improving and adding knowledge
4. Crush… ahem..

It’s the end of another week so i guess that it’s time that I made another update. Where to begin? I am quite content with my volume this week for the most part but it would have been quite a bit higher had I not had to quit due to stop loss, on not just one day but two. Oh well. It was a bit disheartening after starting the week so well but then the weekend hit, BAM!!! Friday I hit stop loss quite early, after only 1,763 hands, and then again yesterday it hit. It seems to be just one of those spells where people had the top of their ranges in all ins, villain calling down with second best hands and hitting a miracle river or getting raised huge on the river after betting all the way and having to fold. It’s something that everyone here has already experienced or will go through at some point, so i’m not going to whine too much about it. Anyway, here is my not so lovely graph, :-(

A little update here for the week and still on that downhill trajectory but looking for the handbrake, 😛 .. Not really happy with volume this week but real life stuff has taken it’s toll. Still going to get 100k hands this month, no excuses.. Here’s this weeks graph so far and so pretty, ha ha:

Another week, another breakeven type of graph, lol.. Really poor week volume wise as my internet was shocking and unreliable and a bit of overtime at work. Will be upping the effort this week and can still manage 100k hands before the end of the month,

Weekly Graph:

Well I’ve reached the end of another week. I have mixed feelings about this week. On the one hand I actually made some profit but on the other the volume hasn’t been great (wasn’t helped by power cuts yesterday, :roll: ).. Still though, not too bad. Won’t be making the 100k hands this month but did manage 100 hours of playing time, not including my off the table study and attending webinars, so relatively pleased about that. So here is my graph for the week:

Midweek update and a little graph. I finally made it to NL10 yesterday and got in a few hands so hopefully I can manage to stay there and not slide back to NL5, :-) .. Next stop 100k hands at NL10..



The week so far: