Thanks, appreciate the support. I saw you just started a thread also. Good luck. Poker can be great, it's a lot of work. I wish you the best bro...

gl at wsop

Another, Another Kid, Another Dream - Vegas Story and Beyond - March 1st

I glanced around the unfamiliar, fully tricked out and decored Encore/Wynn Suite, while racing thoughts of last night were wildly and somewhat vividly running through my head like, "Where am I?", "Am I at my hotel?", "Am I in my room?", "****ing Idiot Tyler... Really?", "Again?!?", "it was kind of worth it, though", "ya it was definitely worth it", "I play poker for thousands of dollars a day, what's a few thousand spewed on fun and entertainment?", "I deserve to have fun one night", "where's john?", "where's my money!?!?"...


With one eye sealed shut with sleeping dust, I glared over at John, passed out, but coming into consciousness himself. Looking like something that spawned between hell and the middle earth, John turned over and he looked at me and just started dying of laughter. "that has to be a good thing if he is laughing", I was thinking to myself. I had no idea if it was a great night or a ****ty night at that moment I woke up. It took me some time to recollect the night, to remember all the insanely hilarious and yet ******ed decision making we got ourselves into. "I think I was drugged dude", I jokingly, but somewhat seriously meant. "What the hell happened to us last night? I'm so relieved I'm actually in this room." I very well could have been drugged when I think back, with all the scum bags around trying to con and scam anyway they can. I wouldn't put it past anyone in Vegas... Damn thieves!


"****, my money!!" I rip through my backpack to where I kept the $10,000 I brought on the trip. I see the wad, "phew... something is there! I'm still alive, my dream is still alive!" but, I notice it is slightly thinner. I count it out ---- $5000 light. "What. The. ****." Vegas got me, it got me ****ing real good. And it was the 2nd night, and we had 5 more. This is not a good start.

Only a night in Las Vegas can bring thoughts like this upon waking up. Actually, in my case, that's not true, embarrassingly and unfortunately, I've had a few of these nights before while NOT in Vegas. But it's rare... And even MORE rare right now, when I'm actually giving a **** about life (Probably like a 1% chance of what happened, happening..). Anyway, that 1% chance happened and I had a blast the 2nd night I was in Vegas last week. And I don't have one regret about the thousands I burned through that night (ugh, lies, it still stings!!!! It's getting less and less stingy though with every session of poker under the belt). It was worth it and ****, I was in Vegas with my newly found poker buddy, John from South Florida, and my balling poker bankroll of $10,000 (ya right, real balling Tyler, ****ing idiot) we had to have at least one blow-out night. One day I'll do a trip report of the Vegas trip with John, for now you will have to suffer with snip-its!


Not only did I dust off $5000 to who knows what (cough all bad things vegas cough), but I also lost my first $600 buy-in at $2/5 at the Wynn the first night we got there. "**** Tyler, you're going to lose everything this trip aren't you", I kept thinking to myself. It was kind of a sick thought. "All this work to lose it in Vegas on some dumb ****? At least, give me a story, like I sat down with a rich prince at $20/40 NL and we battled it out for two days and he sucked out with Quads to my boat in Bobbys room at the Bellagio after being up on him for $30,000. Anything but a story like this... I can't let it end like this..."

I've been in these spots before, regrets, but not fully regretting the situation. Just accepting it for what it is, move on, deal with it, and don't cry, pussy. I had to react in the right way to the situation I put myself in this time. It was sink or ****ing swim, right now. I decided to swim, and swim I ****ing did, faster and harder than I've ever swam in my life. I was not about to watch my hopes and dreams be stolen by these bright lights, these slot machines going DINGDINGDING, beautiful woman preying on weak men, blackjack and roulette players dreams disappearing with every card and ball the dealers throw out, drinking by drunks, drugs by druggies, etc. I've let it happen before, those things haven stolen my dreams. But not this time, this time, it's different. I ****ed up last night, I know I did. I accept it. I choose to react in a positive way and turn it around. I've done it before, I can surely do it again.


I did the thing I know how to do best to turn this around, play poker. It was on, I want my money back mother-****ers and this is war. I fired up the Bravo Poker App (all the casino are linked to this app and you can see all the poker games/lists going on in a XX mile radius) on my phone while eating breakfast with John. "I'm sorry about last night John, that's why I don't drink much anymore" I told him with heavy regret about how I might have acted last night, I still wasn't sure if I behaved decent or like an *******. "It's all good Tyler, you were fine, and honestly hilarious, we had the best night of our lives", John calmly reminded me. I was so glad he thought the night went well. Whether it was the best night of my life? I don't know, really.... But he says it was, so I'll take his word for it!... I'm just glad I didn't burn my friendship with him in some ******ed drunken state way... I'm glad we could laugh about it, it was a huge relief. I really like John and the last thing I would want to do is jeopardize/sabotage our friendship the 2nd night of our trip by being a stupid drunk. I'm not asking any questions if he says we're kosher, we're kosher.

"The Venetian has some good games going right now", I told John, as the only thing on my mind from here on out was Poker. "Let's go walk the strip dude, we just got here, we can play poker anytime". Not the answer I was looking for by any means after dusting off nearly half my bankroll the night before. I didn't have time to 'walk around and see Vegas', not anymore. It was time to grind, grind hard. I told John I have to go play, he understood. He's a poker player. He gets it. There's no stopping me anyway.


Vegas is awesome for a poker player. You can literally walk the strip from poker room to poker room, hand selecting your prey, and can strike when the time is right. It's like internet poker, If the table sucks, there's 100's more to select from, but it's live! Best of both worlds. The Venetian had a tournament series going on, so I thought the action would be best there. I went over to the Venetian and signed up for the $2/5 list... "$1000 max... Sigh 6 buy-ins... Tyler that's too little, don't be an idiot". After my first attempt at proving I was no longer an idiot failed, I decided it was time to actually try to not be an idiot. "Tim, put me on the $1/2 list actually" I sheepishly told the floor man, Tim... Words I haven't spoken in months "$1/$2". "Great, I'm going backwards, I can't even play $2/5 anymore" My world was shrinking, quick. I felt small, broke, helpless... But one thing kept ringing true and clear... "You can beat these players, you have been doing it for months. Buckle down, get to the table and grind, Tyler"


I sat down at my first $1/2 table in months. $300 max buy-in. I raised about 80% of the hands I was dealt that session. With a new purpose to get my money back from this degenerate city and the **** ups that inhabit it, I completely dominated the table. I couldn't believe how WEAK the competition was or was I just on a mission? It was more natural than taking a **** in my own toilet, though. Everything I was doing was just working and getting through. I ran up that $300 to $1100 before calling it a session after two hours. "Do I go back to $1/2????" The question kept freaking going through my head after this dominating $1/2 session. I just couldn't believe how much softer it was than any $2/5 game I have ever played. I humbled myself and decided maybe it was best to play $1/2 for a bit... "****, at that hourly rate of $350/hr I'd be back to even in no time!" I joked with myself. I almost proved to keep that win rate up at $1/2 over the course of the next few days.

"Tyler, you know the Wynn has a $1/3 - $500 max buy-in", John told me while we were chilling in the room later that night. My attention immediately was turned towards John from the T.V., "say that again? a $1/3 NL $500 max? I'm going first thing in the morning", I told him. "Let's crush it brother", he responded in a confident way. That was going to be my bread and butter for the next few days as I would slowly work my way back out of the red from that dreaded - alcohol fueled - spending frenzy night... I took a shower, called it a night and retired from the Vegas Strip. "you did good today Tyler, you played really well, you chipped up a bit, and you know you can own these poor souls at the poker table, go get em", I reminded myself before I shut my mind off for the night. I came here to win, and I was not going to let one derailing night send my poker career up in flames. It was on --- I am here to win, look out Vegas and every poker table I come into contact with. I'm here to take your money and I will. The only thing on my mind was the fish I was about to encounter the next morning. I could bearly sleep from the excitement and uncertainty if I could turn this around. But I had the grind on my mind and nothing was going to stop me from getting my money back, unless the cards said otherwise that is...



To be continued.... Will update by next week with the next part of the "Another, Another Kid, Another Dream" Series.

Since Vegas... I've been CRUSHING the poker tables.... My bankroll is alive and well, bring it on $2/5! You will see how as I catch up on the story.


I just had a +$1700 $2/5 session today @ Hardrock... and a +$650 $1/2 NL 1 hour session last night at 2am while waiting for a $2/5 table LETS GO!!!!!!!!!!! STARTING MARCH RIGHT!

To Date -- March 1st -- $75/hr over 179 hours.... Woot!

Where do you play at or located and ate the games soft there?

I play in South Florida, specifically Fort Lauderdale/Miami. I play mostly at the Hollywood Hardrock Hotel & Casino, while sometimes I make it over to the Isle, Mardi Gras, Hialeah Park, or any other casino in the area where a good game may pop up. But 90% of my time is at Hardrock, because that's where I believe most the fish end up. I have so many hours logged there I know all the players, tendencies, and know who's new and who isn't...

Cool I'm grinding micros right now, but started from losing at live 1/2. What are some steps to take to get better at live?

And gl man your crushing the games

I also started with $1/2 to get my bankroll off the ground in January. But last year, I failed and went busto playing $2/5 and $1/2... I took 6 months off, got a job, saved money, and deposited onto Bovada and subscribed to runitonce. I watched some crushers on Twitch play cash games every night, I became more aware of what the winning players were doing. I tried to mimic their play. I did things that made me uncomfortable, that made me sweat at the poker table. Trying to learn why I have been a loser all these years. I finally figured it out, and I feel I have a whole new approach to my poker game than I did a year ago.

I've been playing poker since 2003, but I was so out of touch with how the game progressed since then. I was playing the same style I was in 2004-2008, and it was a losing style these days. I adjusted my play, loosened up, opened my ranges up and started getting more aggressive in general. So far so good with my new style. I really like it and it's proving to be working quite well. The variance can be pretty sick the way I'm playing, but if you're on the good side, you can have fantastic days, weeks, months, and hopefully a fantastic year.

Bottom line, grind online, learn as much as you can, adapt to the players at your table. Do what will make you money!

Distant Retracting... Respect!
March 15th, 2016
Sorry for the lack of updates. I procrastinate --- nasty habit. Keeping it real...

I've been grinding the $2/5 no-limit game at the Hardrock every day. I have had no motivation to write about how I am doing or any interest in writing in general. I suppose it's the mood I have been in lately, distant... A 'mood' (distant - or whatever you want to call it) I am all to familiar with. I retract and don't reach out to my circle of people. It's definitely not a healthy thing, especially mentally and for my relationships. Sometimes it's just so hard to pick that phone up and make those calls. It's just a ****ing stupid mental block for me. Or it's something I don't want to confront. I'm not sure what my ******ation is... but it is ******ed... It always feel like something isn't right when I am acting like this -- being distant. When things don't feel right in life, things generally don't go well at the poker table either. **** that though...

The thing is I've become a better player and don't let these things affect my poker game (much) anymore. It's taken a long time to get to this point, not just in poker but in life - to not let the small things affect me. When I go to battle, it's a fresh start every time. I don't bring yesterday into it, I don't think about tomorrow. I'm living in the moment, doing everything I can to take advantage of weakness, pick my spots, and follow my intuition.

I don't know how much to elaborate on my mood lately. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm walking around as a sour, rude, and angry person. Not at all, quite the opposite. I'm happy for the most part. There just have been a few things lately that have made me retract... Ya, retract is the right word. I have retracted from the world a bit. I'm doing what makes me happy and feel good about myself. That's play poker. I could be doing other things that bring about happiness, but I need to make money also. Poker lets me do these things, which is why I love the game so, so much. I have a purpose when I wake up. I honestly love waking up, taking a shower, thinking about my day and my up and coming session. The anticipation of playing poker from the moment my brain starts working every morning. Man, what a sensational thing for me. A ****ing mission in life!!! It's a pretty pathetic mission by most people's standards - playing poker. But if that's the case, then sorry, but, **** you too. Guess I brought that upon myself and is a pretty ignorant thing to say, calling it "pathetic by most people's standards"... I may be wrong or I may be right.

You know what really feels good? Knowing you're a boss at No Limit Hold'em. I'm not trying to inflate my ego, I try to keep my ego in check. My game has reached a new level and it feels so ****ing awesome to finally be super confident at the table. It's taken me over 12 years to get to this point, but I'm here. I have been very consistent this year since I have taken my poker boot camp. Since Vegas especially, I have been crushing the games. My win-rate isn't amazing this month, but the way I'm playing... would make even Tom "durrrrrrr" Dwan (top high stakes online and live cash game player, my age, WAS a person that I respected a lot, still do, but he's MIA) a little envious --- beast mode in other words. The calls, raises, check raises, reads, and the spots I'm choosing are just epic lately. I'm not even running that good, I'm playing ****ing exceptional and it feels like I'm an OG. Enough bragging about myself, well a little more... Here are some quick stats...

March 1st-15th :::: 79 Hours @ $2/5 NL ---- Profit ---- $2979 ---- ($/hour 38.18)
Overall Since January 251 Hours @ $2/5 NL ---- Profit $14101 ----- ($/hour 55.98)

I had two big losing sessions since vegas. One session I lost $1800, later that day came back and lost another $600 and then about a week later had another $1400 hit to the bankroll. The past two sessions have been decent, up $1500 in about 12 hours, good volume. I hope I can go on a good upswing here soon and really book some big winning sessions.

The games have been really good at Hardrock lately. A lot of whales and fish are in each game it seems. You always have your regulars there, but I know every single one now. No one gets by me, I know who you are! If I don't, I'll find out. I have good reads on most regulars at Hardrock and I'm learning more and more each day about tendencies. I'm glad I'm making this my 'home' casino, it's proving to be a great ATM machine. I'm getting more and more comfortable battling the regulars too. I usually run all over most of them. A few will always give me trouble, the crushers. I just avoid them as much as possible. Sometimes, it's inevitable we get into a rumble, that's always fun. Bottom line, the fear is gone and it's allowing my game to reach heights I never thought it would. The way I am changing gears also I should note. These games, to be a winner, you MUST be able to switch gears on the fly. One person at a table could totally change how the game flow will go on. You must be able to adapt on the fly. It's one of those things only experience can get you, and I got it.

I started working out with a personal trainer twice a week. It's my old high-school friend who took up personal training. He's a beast. Anyway, it's $50 for an hour and it's totally worth it. I get to help my friend out and he gets to help me out. It's a win-win. I had my first session on Monday with him and holy-mother-of-god I am SORE!!! This dude TORE my chest and shoulders up. I can bearly bend my arms, it feels awesome but damn does it hurt sometimes! My next session with him is Thursday, I'm stoked. It feels great to get physically active again. It's the first time in a YEAR that I have been in a gym and really worked out. That's not good and unacceptable, but the only way to get in shape is to get in shape. I made the choice to do it and already I am feeling the benefits. It will reflect onto the poker table for sure!

Although I want to keep writing now that I have started, I am going to end it. I think I'm just rambling at this point anyway and most people have probably stopped reading many, many paragraphs ago. I don't get any feedback on these posts anyway, so how can I possibly know what I should or shouldn't include? I guess that's what being a good or bad writer is all about...

Check out my Instagram (tylerbpoker), Twitter (@tylerbentz), and Facebook(Tyler Bentz - tybentz@gmail.com) profiles, I do more updates on those.

I really wish you all good luck out there in life and at the tables. I know life can throw you all kinds of curve balls. It's all how you react. Don't let life own you, own life. Take control of your life, it's in your hands. No one is going to do it for you, you have to craft your destiny. It takes hard work, focus, and determination. I have turned my life around from a cluster **** to a life I am proud to be living. I am happy, I once wasn't. I love myself, I once didn't. I love others, I once couldn't. I care, I once didn't. One day I will expand on this, but for now...

Choose to be a good person. Do the right thing. Care about your life! Make some moves! Take Charge! Kick ass!!!

Have an awesome day!!!

Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Whales, Beasts, and Bluffed...
"Whale Jack is here", the fish next to me muttered. I see him being sat at the table right across from me. Why can't I get sat with Jack? I've only played with him for about an hour on one occasion, which netted me $1200. I doubled up off him with KK and then a few hands later got AQs and pushed over his 200 preflop bet... I think he actually had AK this hand as a Q hit the turn and he slammed his fist on the table... This guy is the biggest fish in existence. Did I say fish? I mean whale... This guy must be in his early 30's, tattoos everywhere, even on his knuckles which reads DADE and some other garbage I can't make out, wears fishing gear and drops a minimum of $3000 every time he comes to the Hardrock poker room. It's rumored he has either a trust-fund or he had some type of settlement payout. I play every day, almost the same hours and I've seen him probably 7-10 times since February. Every-****ing-time this dude loses $3K+. It's like a guarantee that he will donate $3000 to the blood sucking NITS at the tables. I think he's won once, which I wasn't around for. Allegedly, he won like $4000 in an hour and quit. I believe it, which is why he keeps coming back. I think it was yesterday that he was also to the table directly behind me. Why can't I get on this guys table? Anyway, he ran $500 up to $3000 in about 5 minutes. I was so happy this mega-whale was winning. I love when the whales win when I'm not there. It makes me happy because it means I have a better shot to get a chance at him. He tripled up his first hand with AKs, then got AJo and also stacked two people, and then went on to win another hand stacking another dude, all of this was all in preflop, by the way... Everyone plays any two good cards against this guy. The betting normally goes something like this, limp, limp, limp, Jack will raise 100 or some other ridiculous number, then the magic happens... call, call, call, shove, jack all in... call(ATo), call(AJs), call(KK), call(TT).. Jack has 24o and wins... It's just insane when this dude walks into the poker room. It's like he has a giant ****ing crosshair on his forehead, which is highlighted by a giant spotlight. I almost feel bad for him because people verbally fight in front of him to get sat at his table. He just stares off into space like a ****ing space cadet, while a fist fight is about to break out just to get dealt into the same hand as this guy. It blows my mind how he doesn't catch on to this or most likely... he just doesn't give a ****. This guy is loaded, and if he isn't loaded, he blows every dollar he has to us. But he comes back for more, every-****ing-time. Sometimes he even brings his girlfriend, which even further blows my mind. His girlfriend just sits a foot or two behind him and watches him dust off thousands. When he wins a hand, he turns around like a kid in a candy store that just put a Twix bar in his mouth for the first time type look and kisses his woman. It's a bit cringy, honestly. Anyway, yesterday he ran that $500 up to $3000, lost it all, bought in 3 more times, and ended up calling it a day down only $2000 for the day... A great day for Jack.

Today he was back. Next door, again. "Will I ever get another shot with this dude", I kept mumbling to myself at the table today. I don't even bother putting my name on the list to move to that table. I don't want to seem like some desperate schmo trying to exploit this dude, like so many other NITS (super tight player that only plays premium hands in position, that never gambles and hardly ever gives action, in other words, they SUCK to play with because they horde their money... I abuse NITS and just raise them to hell until they crack and spaz off their entire stack to me) in this poker room do. One of the players I respect most was sitting in the 8 seat at Jacks table, while Jack was in seat 4. Seat 8 is a player that crushes the $2/5 game at Hardrock on a daily basis. He plays different hours than me. He comes when I leave, so we don't get to play together as much as we used to. My brag is that he's the guy I hit a royal flush against a month or so ago. He's debatably the best $2/5 player at Hardrock or possibly even all of South Florida. The guy just crushes every game he plays in... Everyone loses, don't get me wrong, but he plays like no one else does. I look up to him and his style of play intrigues me a lot. He's got his head on right, plays a great game of poker, has good table mannerisms, good for the game, gambles with whales, gives action, and is just an all-around amazing card player. He has made a big impact on me as a player and has helped my game more than he will ever know. I've reviewed many hands that he has been involved in and have learned a ton, the guy is a beast and inspiration. Anyway, he was able to take advantage of the whale Jack situation, like always, he crushed Jack into despair. Jack went home and the beast stacked his chips, kept playing, broke the table up, and was patiently waiting for another seat at another game, with his newly donated monster $3K+ stack of chips... That bastard, dude!!!! lol, just kiddddding! This guy deserves it, he's put in massive work and has an insane work ethic. He can grind 24 hours or more with no problems and remains untilted (I think, lol), kind of puts my volume to shame. I'm getting there, I'm learning more every day.

Well, that's how his day went, my day was pretty ****ty by comparison. I was stuck $1100 at one point but managed to crawl back and was only a $119 loser for the day, a good come back. I was in for $1400 and down to $360 at my lowest point of the day. I had a few cooler situations, made a big semi-bluff against a NIT reg. He called me down with top pair and I had a straight-flush draw on the turn, when we got it all in. He's a joke of a player that I usually just smash around. I guess he got tired of me always beating him and called me down when he knows he is RARELY ever winning in this spot. I usually already have a made hand when I make a move like this and this douche bag was just sick of me raising him, he just made a stubborn call for $300. I was playing well, just not running all that great. That's poker... But then this weird spot came up...

I got involved in this hand that I ended up getting bluffed on. I couldn't believe this dude bluffed me and I fell for it and he showed the table he bluffed me. I felt like an idiot. I had A6s UTG and I limped. This guy, the same age as me, from Ft Lauderdale, went to St. Thomas, graduated the same year as me (we talked outside the room earlier while waiting for a table, we have played together a few times before) has been very active, raising a ton of hands and started to on tilt from not winning much after playing all day. He raised small to 15, weird sizing. I thought it meant some type of marginal hand he was just trying to build a pot with. Back to the action, 4 people behind called and so did I. The flop came out Ks9c6h and it checked around. The turn was a Ts... It also was checked around. The river was a 6d.... This is where it gets weird. I lead out for $50 and he min-raises me to $100. I figured at this point I have the best hand, the way it played out compared to how he has been playing all day. I never have seen him check a monster hand, EVER. He always was betting his big hands, no matter what. He never would check, not once. So, when he min raises me, I think he has nothing or has KQ/KJ/KT/K9 all which I beat... I re-raise to $200... He instantly goes all-in and has me covered. I have $360ish behind. What the ****?!? Really? Did I just **** myself? At first, I thought it was super ****ing weird and I was about to call, I had my chips in my hand about to stick them out there. But.... Then I thought for a minute about him having QJ and I started to sell myself that this ****er had QJ and got there with the straight. It's the only hand that is beating me here... I don't put him on a full-house, no ****ing way. He doesn't have KK or 99 or TT... He just doesn't, so he has to have QJ, right? Ya, definitely Tyler, he has QJ... "I fold, Nice hand"... As soon as I muck, he flips A8 of ****ing hearts over, right in my face. I ****ing flipped out silently in my head. I was steaming!!! I knew I should have paid him off if he had me beat. I never fold here, ever. I can't believe I did this time, I really didn't think the hand through enough at the moment. I let the money affect my decision. I was stuck so much today I didn't want to be stuck another $360+. I let the money affect my decision, bottom line. It cost me a ton of money, folding that hand. I should have went with my first thought that I had this guy crushed, and I did. I was right, but I went against my better judgement because I was losing. It's something I can not let happen again. I was pissed at myself, but I knew I made a mistake and this was game time. The kid was playing brave, too brave. I knew I had to keep playing, because he was playing really bad. That was a bad bluff by him, I mean it worked... But that RARELY works on me. I still can't believe he pulled it off and it worked... But regardless, that move he made is a ****ing death trap. I picked up KTo in the BB. He raised 35 UTG, one new player at the table called, and I called because I wanted to play in every hand this dude was in now. The flop came KxJx4x... checked around. Turn Ax... Checked around... River Qx... I rivered the straight, sweet. Pay me my money... I lead out for $140... The idiot says,"I'll pay you off, because I know you need some money back"... He flips over JJ and the dealer ships me the pot after he throws $140 out there... I got a bit back, nice. Few orbits later I get two red Aces on the button. ****** opens for $25, two call, I raise to $125. ****** Calls, other guys fold. Flop comes 4s9cJs, ****** checks, I bet $180... He calls.. Turn is a 2c... He checks.. I figure at this point he has a J, 9, spades, or maybe some type of straight draw. I jammed all in at this point and he went away. I might have made a mistake by going all-in and not checking the turn. I'm pretty sure he had a J or 9 and I could have set him up to let him bluff off the rest of his stack. He didn't go for it though, no worries I gained a lot back in those hands. I ended up only down $119 for the day.

I suppose the lesson of the day is to never give up and learn from your mistakes, I know, cliche... I can't wait to get another go at this kid. I'm going to wreck him next time we play! Tomorrow morning I have another training session with Casey (personal trainer from high school). If I recall, he said it's leg day... I can hardly move my arms, chest, or shoulders right now and I am really fearful of how my legs are going to feel after this session tomorrow. I'm ****ing terrified honestly, the pain, the pain is going to be real!

I'm off to bed... Good night and good luck out there everyone!

Thursday, March 17, 2016
Gimme That Pre-Workout You Got Back There...
"I want to try some pre-workout, which one should I get?", I asked Casey, as I browsed the 10 or so different pre-workout supplements at the gym counter. "Well, do you want a lot of energy or a little?", the guy behind the counter asked me? What do I look like someone that wants half-assed energy? "The most energy you have, please.", this **** looked like some type of hill billy crack-powder, it was light-blue with sparkles throughout it. It looked legit. Down the hatch it went and off I was to the races. "did you eat yet?", Casey asks me as we are about 20 minutes into the workout. "Of course I haven't eaten yet, why would I do something so normal like eat in the morning?" I really don't have much of an appetite in the morning, unless I have some outside help from some type of plant*winkwink*. As we were doing leg presses, I felt something emerging from my stomach. I put the breaks on the machine, "are you alright dude?", Casey asked me as I feel some type of demon in my lower abs trying to force itself up my chest. "I'll be right back", I hardly got out of my mouth and I ran to the showers. I successfully painted the whole toilet in a nice blue colored hue, it was quite artsy looking. Since I only drank some water and pre-workout all morning, it was a pretty easy clean up, but the blueness was a bit tedious. The whole episode took all but 2 minutes and I was back to the leg presses. "Sorry, bro, never again, I'll never touch that pre-workout", I sheepishly told Casey as I was still feeling quite ill, but **** it, more leg presses. He then went on to tell me a story from back in high school when he was in the passenger seat of my 1999 Ford Mustang when we were on a beer run on some Friday or Saturday night at our local underage beer place, the Stop and Shop. They would sell us 12 packs of beer for like $20. Anyway, he told me that I said the exact same thing about some type of liquor or beer we were drinking that night... He told me I opened my door, puked and muttered, "never again bro, never again"...It takes me a lot of experiences to really know if something doesn't work out, if you haven't found that out about me yet. Ya I know, ******ed... Sorry, Mom!!! Drinking and driving, I'm surprised we are all still alive...

Doing the right thing is important and being in the right spot at the right time is a result of doing the right thing. Today was one of those days. It was fun reminiscing with Casey about all of our old friends, our high-school, the teachers, the campus, what we would eat for lunch, wondering if some of our teachers still taught there, etc. It just further reinforced the thought that I was doing the right thing in life, being in this conversation while doing what we were doing. I felt at the moment, I was in the right spot, at the right time, doing exactly what I should be doing. It was a very surreal feeling when I think back to it. I was with an old friend, one I haven't seen in years and it was like we haven't missed a day. We jumped right back into our old conversations of girls, relationships, life goals, self-improvement, work, poker, working out, and a lot of other healthy things. I wasn't at the poker table having this talk either, I was in a body worship center. Everyone in this place was there to improve their personal life. They were pushing their bodies and minds to places they probably thought they never would or could. Some of them extremely ripped and in shape, a god or goddess among mortal men some of them seemed. They were there, in the moment, fine tuning their hard-worked-for bodies. It was very inspirational to witness and also to be a part of. I was one of them for a moment, maybe not to their caliber, but I was doing what the pros were doing. I felt like a noobie, being out of shape compared to all these people, but being guided by a pro makes you look (in my eyes, lol) and feel like a pro. It's pretty similar to poker in a way. Man, it must be rough as hell being a donkey at the poker table these days. I have no sympathy for them, this game is brutal and it has taken me so much heartache and mental anguish to get to the level I'm currently at, pay the dues! But, ya my day started out great and I'm so stoked I decided to do this with Casey.

On my drive down the Turnpike, while heading to the Hardrock, I saw a missed call from my Dad. I haven't spoken to him in over a Month (sorry Dad), I realized as I was looking at the missed call. I called him right back and we had a nice, quick talk. I needed to talk to him, to just reconnect and we did just that. I'm so lucky to have the family I do, especially my parents.

Feeling damn good about myself it was time to play cards and get down to business. I wasn't going to lose today, I knew it. I crushed my first table and ran my $600 up to about $1500. After getting coolered in two spots for about $400 I decided to call it a session and take my winnings. After those two ****ty hands I was involved in, that cost me $400 in my hard earned profit, I decided to call it a session and be in the green for +$676 in 2 hours and 22 minutes, not bad. I still had 3 hours until I had to be home. I had to drive the lady that cares for my grandfather to her house at 8:00 and it's only 5:00, so the only logical thing to do is play more. I got a coffee and put my name back on the $2/5 list. I got my $600 in chips from the cage and made my way to my new battlefield. "Hey Tyler, hahaha", some guy says in a sarcastic way to me. It's Mr. A8 of ****ing Hearts! The guy that bluffed me yesterday. I guess Karma is a bitch as he was down to his last $80 and that means he lost $920 because he told me he only comes with $1000 and won't lose more than that. He lasted about 30 minutes and was busto. Karma bitch, karma! Today was already going great, but this made it even better, seeing my nemesis sent home in demise... Head down and out the door he was. Today really was going to be a great ****ing day! This table was amazing! It was full of whales and total donks and some wanna-be pro tournament player. Oh man, it was like ****ing heaven. There were 3 older people that were easily 60+, two older gentlemen and a nice lady, all three super wealthy. The tournament wanna-be pro was a nit and didn't play one hand. He was nothing to worry about and the other players were just recreational, weekend warriors. The older lady though, she was special. She would call any raise preflop and if she hit ANY piece of the flop, she was going with it. I had about $500 to start the hand and she had $600. My first hand with her I got KK in MP. She limped in from UTG, I raised to $35 (because she calls everything), her and one of the other whales called. $105 in the pot. Flop was KsQh3h, perfecttttt, she checked, I led for $85. Whale calls, and she raises to $200... I'm just loving this **** in my head. I smooth call and whale folds. She jams the 6c turn and I obviously snap call. I flip up my cards instantly as I want to save her any embarrassment. She wasn't embarrassed, she thought she had the best hand with QT. I love poker!!

It's 7:40 at this point and I'm about to leave and have about $700 in front of me after getting a $50 massage. My back was real sore and damn did it feel good. I'm UTG and decided this will be my last hand. Whenever I decide it's my last hand, I always hope for a ****ty hand, so I can just leave and not get in some super ****ty spot and get stacked right before I leave. I don't know it's a stupid thought and only fish think of these things, but whatever it's just something I think about, ok? I look down, JsJc. I was excited this time though, as this is a monster hand at this table. Lets do this, "$65, raise", whale calls and you know it, my lady is in! It was straddled by whale as the game was playing more like a $5/10 at this point. Flop was QhJd5h, ****ing perfect, again! She checks, "$50" I bet small to induce a raise, whale folds and she raises to $100. I'm loving this and have her right where I want her now. I want to be able to get stacks in on any turn really, she has a queen, two pair, or maybe bottom set. I don't see her check raising me with KT, AK, or a flush draw. I put together $300 in chips and slowly slide them out to the middle. She snap calls me. Turn is a 6c and she leads out for $100... lol... I again, stack the rest of my chips up and slowly push them in the middle. She doesn't hesitate and matches my $450ish. 9d river. Her J5 was no match for my JJ and she fully doubled me up. I left 3 hands later for a profit of +$806 in 3 hours and 21 minutes.


Overall, a stellar day! I'm so stoked on life in general right now and no it's not just because I won today. That helps, but even if I lost today, It was still going to be a great day. I hope I'm not coming off as arrogant, selfish, rude, egotistical douche, pompous douche, etc... It's all in good fun and I only mean well. I am here to stay and only want poker to grow in popularity and want it to be accepted more and more by society as a legitimate career choice, for the sickos. I also hope this is entertaining at the very least. I have never updated the blog three days in a row, this is a record!

All the best everyone and good luck in life and especially at the poker tables!

Sunday, March 20, 2016
Choices and Random Rambling Writing...
Should I write some random, overall general statements about choices in life? I could, I suppose, give you some general life lessons about choices and what path they may or may not lead you. You already know this though, so why should I expand on it? It's a topic that brings a lot of emotion out of me though, because some of the choices I've made in life have been completely bewieldering, even to myself. That's life though, we live and we learn.

We make a decision, we go with it, and we deal with the consequences, bad or good. If you are not a prisoner, I'm assuming you are free too pretty much do what ever you choose in life. You can get up right now, walk out the door, and can do and go any where you want. Some times in life we all make choices that we wish we hadn't. We went somewhere we wish we hadn't, we said something we wish we could take back, we did something hurtful to a friend, and so on. No one made you do these things, right? You made the decision too. For one reason or another, you thought that was the best thing to do or say or think at that moment, and you acted on it. Live with it, deal with it. You're the artist of your life my friend, so take some time to really make sure you paint a picture you want. Once that paint is on the canvas, there's no getting it back up. You might be able to paint over it and transform it into something different, but there's no completely erasing it, it will always be there, in the back of the painting, influencing what is painted on top of it.

Choices influence your mood and outlook on life so much. When I make good choices at the poker table, life is good and when the opposite happens, well life is good (lol, tilt control). But in all honestly, losing sucks, and it does affect my mood. I do my best to harness my emotions, but sometimes it gets the best of you. Same thing in life, when you're losing the life game and life isn't going how you want, it affects your mood, if you're not trained to fight that feeling. If you made a decision to do something, and it's not going how you wish or wanted it to go, well that is a consequence of that choice. There was risk involved, you hit the ****ty end of variance, and everything went wrong. Now what? I wish I had the answer for you, I really did, because I'd be a rich man for no other reason. But I can give you my experience and every time I have made a poor choice, I try to learn from it. I might not learn the first time or the second or third or even the tenth time, but I will eventually figure it out. Bottom line is to not get overly emotional about the choices you make. Emotions can and will make you do things that you never thought you would ever do. The anger and rage that poor choices can bring up are hard to harness some times and hurtful things are done or said. I do my very best to seperate rational thoughs from emotions. I make a decision, if it works out or doesn't work out, it will not affect my emotional well-being.

I'm off to the Hardrock in about 20 minutes. I took my dog for a walk this morning and gave her a bath. I cooked my Grandfather breakfast, got him ready for the day, talked with him about poker and life, had a cup of coffee and watched some news with him, and just enjoyed my time with a person who loves me unconditionally. We laughed about choices he has made throughout life, which sparked this topic. Life is good, it's simple right now. There's no chaos, it's just peaceful and serene, for once.

I'm off ladies and gentlemen... as always, The best of luck at the tables and in life my friends, you deserve it!

I just want to say I love your blog, very entertaining.

I'm a central florida 2/5 grinder, but I'm really risk averse(not at the table, very aggro) with BRM and pro needs, so lets say if I had just under 3 stacks of high society, I would still keep my ****ty minimum wage job, but I hope I'll be pro very soon. Keep us updated, GL.

Sunday, March 27, 2016
Topics... Stats... 300+ Hours Surpassed!

I can't tell you how many drafts I have written up on this blog. It's like I start writing, then I read it, think it sucks and just close the window. It's like this one right here might even turn into another draft, who knows. But I'll give it a go I suppose.

Poker has been up and down. This week I had two really bad days. The day would start off fine, I would take a break, eat some lunch, start up another session and dust off 2 buy-ins. I did this twice, back to back. I lost $1100 two days in a row, ouch. The ****ty part about these two losing sessions is that they could have been avoided. The tables I chose to play at were incredibly loose and people were gambling like crazy. In both cases, I flopped a huge second nut straight and they ended up chasing a flush and they got there. Then after I would open my ranges up and end up bleeding another few hundred out, playing like these wild guys played. Things just weren't going my way and I had a time limit for how long I could play that particular session. I just felt it wasn't the best move for me to play that particular game, but if I would have run good, I obviously would be saying something different. And that's not a good way to look at this game. I find myself sometimes justifying my play solely because I won the pot. Poker can really make you feel like a genius when in reality you're being hunted by sharks at your table. I'm doing my best to accept criticism and improve my game.

Here's a rant about some not-so-with-it Poker players or people in general... Poker can be very weird at times and is an ego maniacs best friend or worst enemy. It makes people jaded if you're not careful. Don't be that guy. Don't LIE about stupid **** (I used to be a professional liar (super unattractive quality I used to have), so nothing gets by me, NOTHING). But, I won't tell them that I know their full of ****, I'll just let them keep going and make themselves look even more stupid. I know when they are full of bull**** and it just makes them look stupid! Don't be that person that always has to 1 up someone. Don't brag about **** you can't prove or won't prove. Don't be a 'poker pro' at the table, you just look stupid. Don't tell people you're better than everyone, because you're not, you suck. Don't lecture people. Do listen to others. Don't be an ego maniac. Don't discuss poker hands in depth after the hand. It boggles my mind when players are like "OMG YOU DIDNT CHECK RAISE HERE WITH THE STRAIGHT FLUSH DRAW?" Then that guy will rebuttal with some super analytical response while the fish at the table are looking at each other like we need to get the **** out of here. Don't think it happens? Look around you! Sometimes I want to smack the **** out of some people in this poker room. It's like they are TRYING to scare the bad players off. Stop messing with my gold fish, you wanna be's!!! It's amazing how unaware some people are to the aura they give off while playing poker. Just take a look at yourself and if you do some of these things maybe rethink the things you do or say to others. I should be a damn therapist. Ok, end of rant.

I'm still up $1585 for the week. You have to take the bad with the good. I played 34 hours this week, so far and will finish the week out with about 40 hours after tomorrow's sessions.


March is looking decent. It's another winning month, which is fantastic! You guys don't understand how close I was to being broke (I know some of you are wishing I would go broke) and this whole thing was about to go up in flames. I have successfully recovered fully from the ******ed decision making that one night in Vegas. Never again, really. I can confidently say, that will be the last blowout for Mr. Tyler Bentz, I'm officially retired from partying. I had to have one last blowout/melt-down to make sure drinking is bad, and I confirmed it. Finally!!

I'm still behind where I should be, but not by much. I've really been focused and doing my best to book wins, no matter how small or large. I have to be very careful with a bunch of money on the table. If I get above $1500, it starts to become very important that I do not lose and book that $900 winner. If the table is amazing and the players are bad enough, I'll stay and gamble it up. But otherwise, I'm out and booking a win for the session. I'd rather restart and come back fresh with a fresh stack. I know I'm costing myself +EV when I do this, but booking a win is more important right now than proving my balls are bigger than yours.


As you can see March has been going well for the most part. It's weird because my losing sessions are HUGE losing sessions, not small. I don't have one small losing session for this month. It's either I lose like $1000-2000 or I win some random number. That's how this month has gone, but I'll take it.

Below are my year-to-date stats. +$17,000... Hell ya! $53.96/hour.... Hell ya! 12 big bets/hour... YA BABY! 300+ Hours... Woot! LETS KEEP GOING!

I couldn't be happier with how the year is panning out so far. I hope to keep up the momentum. I love what I'm doing. Every day is a new day and it's like a fire is lit under my ass right now. I'm coming up on my 3rd week of working out (yes, in a gym) with a personal trainer and I couldn't be happier with that. I feel great, my body is coming around and is getting used to being worked out again. It feels great to wake up with a purpose, maybe not the best purpose in many people eyes but a purpose in my world is a leap in the right direction.

As always, good luck in life and especially at the poker table, but not mine!

-Tyler

P.S. WOW! I finished a post and I'm posting it!!!

Nice work, nice stats!

what did you start as your starting roll? how did you measure your improvements at the table?

Tuesday, March 29, 2016
The Worst Session and Best Session of My Life So Far...
I'm going to do my best to explain what the hell I just went through these past twenty-four hours. I am just now sitting down to reflect on what just happened and take a deep breath. Poker man.... LOL!

Ok, here goes nothing. I went to Hardrock yesterday. I had the worst session of my life. I literally was getting crushed. I couldn't get any bluff through, I couldn't win a showdown, I couldn't make anyone fold, I couldn't do ANYTHING right. It was so sick, I got CRUSHED. I was down $3100 in about 6 hours at $2/5 with a $600 buy-in. Like, what-the-**** Tyler? Seriously?!?!? This was my biggest losing session by double. It stung so damn bad, last night was horrible. I wasn't even that tilted about losing, which is good and means I'm improving. But, I was definitely talking to myself on the drive home like a crazy person. I went home, took a shower, and washed the LOSER off me. Went back to Hardrock at 1AM with a ****ing mission to get my money back! I won $10 from 1AM - 4AM. WHOOOOPPPITTTYYY DOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! "I'm going home, tomorrow's a new day", I sickeningly told myself... I went to sleep with my last session a winner, but I just took a huge hit to my roll and self-esteem today, gross.

I woke up, studied for about an hour, and hit the tables, ready to go broke today. I literally had that 'make it or break it' mentality. I stopped by Dunkin Donuts got coffee and got to Hardrock around 1pm. I ran like ****, again and lost $600. It was so bad... I switched seats, new guy sits in my seat, first hand hits the high-hand and not only that... but I was the one he hit it against, double whammy... Like... Ugh.. I just quit. A $600 loser for the session and went to get some lunch around 4pm. How bad can this get? It felt like the ****ing doom switch was activated and I was destine to go broke today.

I decided to go to Mardi Gras because there were 3 - $2/5 tables going on, which seemed rare. As I was walking in I got a text from my friend from Toronto, who is a pro and is down here grinding... "I think you play really well, I really like ur game, ur gunna make it. Don't even sweat it." He told me, because I just ranted about how much I lost in the past 12 hours. It was nice, to hear, I gotta say it did give me a little boost of confidence. I saw someone I haven't seen since last year, we'll call him Andrew. Andrew is a shy guy, but a grinder and a sick-o at the tables. He just went through a 27 buy-in downswing at Pot Limit Omaha. That's $27,000 in about a month. That's a swing. He was waiting for a table, so we got to catch up. It was a great pep talk.

"What's the max buy-in?", I asked the dealer. "$1000".

I went to the cage, got my grand in green and red chips and sat down. $500 green and $500 red. I immediately recognize 3 players from Hardrock. I'm in seat 9. Seat 8 is a guy my age, grinder, ego, likes EDM, he's a good player, but kind of a dick to me. Whatever... Seat 4 I find out is a whale. He's such an aggressive donkey. Another hardcore reg from Europe sat down in Seat 6. Seat 1 was an old man who was short stack. Seat 7 was another reg, grinder, edm, has about $3000 in front of him.... He's been at the table the longest. Seat 5 was a washed up bookie, scum bag type guy. Not the best table, but I had position on the good players, so game on. I play real tight to start and EDM dude to my right starts berating me to 'gamble' and 'straddle'. I gave into his douchebagness and did as he requested. I was trying to give off the vibe, that I wasn't there to make friends. People were pretty hostile right from the get-go at this table. It was needle city. I get involved with dude in Seat 4, the whale. He straddled on the button and has been raising every straddle to $60. I limped with 9Tc, expecting the raise. "Raise $60". I called and so did seat 1. Flop came 8hJh3c. I checked, seat 1 checked, and whale bets $80. I called and so did seat 1. Turn was a 7h. I got my straight, which I was almost positive was the nuts. Seat 1 maybe has a flush, but rare. So, I check, seat 1 checks, and whale bets $130. I call so does seat 1. River was a brick, and I lead out for $125 seat 1 goes all in for $50 and whale had about $600 behind and I had him covered. "All-in", whale says. "I call" I said and flipped my cards up. He shakes his head and mucks. First big pot.

Next big hand I get JQh UTG and called the straddle for $10. The button raised to $40, 5 of us to the flop. 5h6hTh flop... Wow... I flopped the flush. I checked as I wanted to slow play it. It worked out perfectly. MP1 led out for $80 and 3 people called. The turn was a Ks. I checked, as did 2 others and the button lead out for $160, with about $1200 behind and I had him covered. I check raised to $450 and he jammed all in for $1200. I snap called and showed him my cards. He showed me AhKd... I had to fade the heart. I look directly into his eyes as the dealer puts the river out. "mother-****ing-blahblahblahblahblarghhh", he complains to the dealer and walks off. "wow", that was a huge pot.

A few hands later I pick up AA in the SB. It folds around to Mr. EDM and he raised on the button to $20, I re-raise to $65 and he calls. Flop is 3x4xJx, I take a weird line vs this guy on this hand and I check the flop. I know he's a very agro player once people show weakness so this was my plan. Seem weak. I checked and he bet $75. I just call. Turn is a 8 and I check again, he bet $150. I call again. River pairs the 3 and I check again. He goes for a bunch of green chips and throws them in the middle, it was about $500. I snap called. I should have raised, but he only had a few hundred behind at this point. So anyway, I call and he is says "You're good"... "I know I'm good jackass, lets see your cards", I think to myself. By the rules, he has to show me first because I called his bet. This kid pulled a douchebag move and slow rolled me, but he got owned. He flips over KK... Payback, bitch. I say "Oh man, you're good... wtf you didn't raise me preflop with KK?"... Everyone at the table thinks this kid just schooled me and are all happy for him, because they were all pissed I was winning. Well I slowrolled him back and flip over AA after looking at it for about 40 seconds. Owned. Ship it.

Next big hand comes up and I had AA again on the button. EDM kid raised to $40 because there was a straddle and I re-raised to $200. Seat 5 in the small blind ends up cold calling my $200 and EDM folds. Flop comes Ah2h3c... Bingo! He checks and I see he has $50 left of reds. "Is that all you have left those reds?" I asked. He shakes his head and says, "Yes". "I'm all in", I said. He snap calls and from behind his arm pulls out $800 in green chips he was hiding behind his arm. "WOW, I thought you said you had $50 left... WTF bro? " He was totally angling me and trying to scam me. He knew I didn't know he had $800 behind and he took advantage. I literally had the nuts, but regardless, it's really ****ty what he did. Well I put my $800 out there, after a lot of back and forth of calling each other *******s and such and then the dealer ran the cards out. "I hope he hits a heart on you", says EDM boy. "Mind your business, it's not your money", I replied. The worst run out, I thought... 4h on the turn and 6c on the river... But, my set was good and the dealer shipped me the pot.


I ended up winning a few more decent pots. I ended up with $4800 on the table at one point. The most I've ever had infront of me playing. It was pretty awesome to have this type of rebound after getting owned so hard, but I fought and I fought hard. $+3500 profit... I'm back -- even. Lol!

What a wild past 24 hours. I am still in shock of what I just did. I pulled it off and proved to myself I can do anything I put my mind to. It was a lesson in losing and winning... One I will never forget.

Have a great day and week. As always, good luck in life and especially at the tables, but not mine.

-Tyler

Note: I didn't proof read this, sorry for the poor grammer and mistakes I made, in a rush at the moment.

I started with $300... one $1/2 NL buy-in. I worked it up from there. Still on that original $300, 4 months later...

I keep track of my sessions for one. I am constantly reviewing hands and reading/watching everything I can about poker, also. I ask a lot of questions to other people about the hands I play that I have questions about. If I feel I am way off on my line, I really look into it.

Wait, how do you have 192 total hours for the months J/F/M in one screen shot, and then 125 extra (317) for the same J/F/M in the second? Is your app malfunctioning?

Nm...i see

Tuesday, April 5, 2016
Action April At Hardrock Hollywood!
I love when the WPT(World Poker Tour) comes to Hardrock in my backyard. It brings so many people into the poker room, it's awesome. I'm so fortunate to live here in South Florida and to have learned this game of poker. For this whole month, there is a tournament running every day. Anywhere from a $150, 2000 player field multi-table tournament all the way up to a $25,000 high-roller event. Everyone from all over the world comes here to play and practice this month, right before the World Series of Poker out in Las Vegas which starts in May.

I'm not playing any of the tournaments. The cash tables have been real juicy, more so than I've ever seen them. When the players lose the tournament (99.9% of them), they then come over to the cash tables and try their luck again. But at this point, they are most likely frustrated and tilting. I've been crushing these guys for the past week. I haven't had a losing session in the past 7 days. It's pretty awesome. I haven't had any HUGE winning sessions, but they are decent wins. So far, in April, I'm up $2500 with 27 hours played, which comes out to ~$90/hour.


Below is my overall graph. You can see the wild swings over the past 30 sessions (enlarge the image), but it's starting to level out again. For a few days there, the swings were so wild, it wasn't easy to deal with mentally, I have to admit. I'd be lying if I said it didn't affect me at all. When you lose a significant portion of your bankroll you start to question yourself. I've lost big amounts of money before and have never recovered from it. This time, I have shaken it off and have continued on playing the style I know wins. So far, so good.

You can see that I am peaking in poker (and life)! The whole goal is to keep this graph on an upward slope. I'm almost at the $20,000 profit mark (~$1300 away). There's going to be the inevitable downswing, but overall this graph has to keep going on an upward trend. Poker's not always as easy as going to the atm machine and pulling out a $1000. Sometimes it is, but not always. Sometimes, you have to let the game beat you around and you just have to deal with it. You just have to keep grinding, just like in life. If life sucks, you keep grinding. If you downswing in poker, you keep ****ing grinding (in a smart, good bankroll management type way).

Overall at the tables, I'm feeling great. My game has never been better and not just because I'm winning. I'm really playing like I have always wanted to play. I always used to watch great cash game players (WCG|Rider, GreenPlastic, Sauce, Ben86, Muddywater, etc), crush it online and be in awe of what they could pull off at the tables. I see my style transforming and I really like what I'm seeing. The spots I'm noticing and taking advantage of are impressing myself. It feels great to be confident in my decisions and know for the most part if I played it bad/wrong/right. Recognizing my weakness is becoming more and more clear. It's super exciting for me, as I feel I'm growing and getting better every hand I play and every day I get through.

Had a cool hand today against an Asian fishy. I was in MP with about an $800 stack and got dealt 45c. The Asian fishy straddled the button so it was $10 to call, which I did and 2 others in front of me also called the $10. Asian fishy checked his option. Flop comes Ah2h3d. Bingo. Checks around to me, I check to fishy and he bets $25. BB calls and I call. Turn came a Ts. BB checks, I check, Fish bets $100. He's been making these huge overbets when he has a good hand. He did it earlier when he hit a set of 3's, he led out for $125 into a $80 pot with a set on a pretty dry board. BB folds, I check-raised to $250. I should have sized larger here with the straight draw coming in and the board was getting scarier at this point and I could set him up for a shove on the river. I should have check-raised to $350. Anyway, he calls. River is a 9h... I really didn't want to see the hearts come through after he just called, but I wasn't too worried that he had a flush. I was 95% sure that he doesn't lead for $100 on the turn with a flush draw here, but was a little surprised he didn't re-raise me as I thought he would do this with a set... The only drawing hands I thought he would lead there with would be exactly KQh/KJh/QTh/JTh... 4 combos. On the river, I lead out for $125 to give him room to think I would fold if he jams on me because the flush came through, I wasn't folding to a shove. If he has those combos, then so be it, but it's super rare that he has those hands. After he started tanking (he tanked for about 3 minutes), I immediately knew I was good. I tried my best to look weak, but he ended up just calling with two pair - A3o. Anyone think I could have played this better/differently? Is my thought process on the right track?

This spot had me a little pissed off with how I played it. I got involved with this real aggressive guy early on in my session today. This guy, who I won't mention by name, but will give you some details about him. He's in his mid 40's, 'allegedly' grew massive amounts of weed in S. Fl (16 houses worth), got arrested with a ton on of cash and pot on him while driving, and now is an FBI informant. He was in the paper... This is public. Anyway, he's super aggressive and tries to get people off hands. I have been winning every hand I'm involved with him up to this point. I have shown down the best hand against him in 5 spots where it went to showdown. I busted him earlier with TT against his 99. He tried bluffing me earlier in a big pot and I called him down real light and was good. I got in this weird spot where I should have 3-bet preflop and I didn't. I was on the button with AJo. UTG (under the gun) raised to $20. UTG player is one of the better regulars at Hardrock. He's a 50-year old, asian man, who's super nice and a sick card player. He really likes me and we get along great. We are always talking and we respect each others game tremendously. We respect each other, but that doesn't stop me from 3-betting him. I actually prefer it. As played, I just called with two super-agro donks in the SB and BB. It was a big mistake on my part to not 3-bet with AJ on the button in this spot. As it went they both called, which I knew they would. Flop came 3d8dJs. Checked to me and I bet $55. Mr. Weed then check-raised me to $155. I called. The turn came an offsuit Q and Mr. Weed leads out for $175. I had him covered and he had about $500 behind after the $175 bet. After some thought, I folded. I just wasn't confident enough with my hand to blast it in after not 3-betting preflop. Blah, my mistake and it cost me. Aggression wins at these games, but you gotta do it in the right way against the right people. What do you think?

Going to do a better job of posting hands to review with everyone. I'm going to be grinding a ton this month at Hardrock. I'm going to put in as many hours as possible while the fish are swimming. It's feeding time!

Good luck in life and especially at the tables, but not mine!

Howdy. I'm a sofla grinder as well. Not sure if i've played with you, I usually only go to mardi on thursdays for a short session since I visit family down there. Subbing to this thread to see how it goes.