My name is Daniel and I have been playing poker for around 12 years on and off. My screen name was dwf1029 before black friday, I mostly played mtt. I have played on various other names but now I play under dwf0407 on wpn. Since black friday I have played on and off with varying levels of success. I also went to school with my wife to get our Licensed Nursing degrees, we bothn graduated and I worked/poker ever since.

On August 14th 2017 we finally made the move to Las Vegas. We sold our house in Norcal and did it after close to 2 years of talking about it. We transferred out licenses as well so there is a solid back up plan in play. So far we both really love it here, my wife got a job as a home health nurse making more money and she actually enjoys the work and I have been doing well at the tables so far and am looking to get a per diem jobs to fall back on and not forget everything that I learned.

Im not really sure why I even wanted to post about this, I am very excited about this new chapter in my life though. My wife and I lived in Chico, CA and both had solid, comfortable playing and very flexible jobs but life felt very stagnant for us. I have never really been interested in any normal careers and cant stand the thought of doing something that I dont like for 40 hours per week until I am too old to enjoy my savings. So for me even if poker is not immediately my full time successful career it will be supplemental until I get good enough to make solid consistent money and hopefully become financially well off.

I am looking to make the transition to playing live cash games and mtts. I feel that online in USA is very tough to make more money than I can make working and live poker is a lot softer. I also get very bored sitting at home behind a laptop all the time. So I have decided to make this thread to have some where to throw my thoughts out there, discuss sessions and hands, and maybe meet more people in the poker community. Thanks for reading this and if anyone has any questions about Vegas or anything feel free to ask.

Hey op,

I am curious to see what life in Vegas would be. I will be following your journey. Best of luck to your new life and grinds.

Peace

I play on WSOP in Nevada, good luck and Play live it's pretty soft.

I live in the Summerlin area which is about 20 mins west of the strip and I love it. Tons of great places to eat and things to do. Tons of poker all the time of course.

Thank you

Today I decided to play online and skipped the Venetian 400 30k. It was just a 1 day tournament but I think those things are great, very easy money in there. I got a little bit of a cold or something so decided to just hang around the house. Had 1 deep run and punted it away. Besides that I got a light work out in, ate some thai food and a cinnamon roll. There are a lot of good tournies online the rest of this week so not sure if ill be hitting the casinos too much or not.

So far out here I have ended up playing a lot more online than live due to different series going on. I have put in a some cash sessions winning all but 1 of them. I have been analyzing my cash sessions and I really think that I have a bigger edge there than in playing online tournaments. The hands where I have won big pots I have been paid off in spots where I would have been able to get away if the cards were reversed. I got away from 1 spot that I was pretty proud of, I posted the hand, it is titled "AKss in a tricky spot" in live low stakes. I dont feel that you have to play a super gto type style in a lot of these games because the players just arent that good. This is only over the course of 5 or so sessions so I could be way off but seems like a lot of the regs basically play solid abc type poker and will not force you to make very tough decisions. I am really considering making the switch from mtt as primary to playing 2/5 regularly and trying to move up the cash stakes, then of course playing the good live mtts. So nothing to exciting happening lately. I am playing the wynn $400 50k tomorrow and then the $1100 400k tomorrow-weekend so hopefully I outright win both of those, then parlay that into a winning lotto ticket

Ive also been thinking about jumping in the better weekly tournaments at the wynn and venetian. They have a $200 w $100 add on that get 5-10k to first on fridays and saturdays. Rake is only about 12% at the wynn and closer to %20 at venetian.

Got some good news to report. I played the wynn main 1600 event and ended up taking 5th place for a solid score. Also just finished a 2/5 session at Red Rock and ended with a good profit for the day. Im taking poker a lot more seriously and not allowing myself to tilt or make dumb mistakes and it feels like its really paying off. Im also not studying really and instead putting time off the table into mentally preparing myself to focus for long periods of time. I think that is a major factor in my recent success as well. So things are going very well out here so far and im ready to keep it going. Not sure if anyone is reading this but if you are thanks and feel free to fire any questions about vegas or anything

Congrats, nice score.

Hey man grats on the recent wins!

Mtts, esp live ones, can a create a great feeling in you when u bink or get a massive payday.

On the other hand, just wanted to share that having a very very very well organized brm is 100% essential when it comes to mtts.

I dont wanna post "negative" things, just wanted to share this cauz usually after big wins u feel invincible and ready to call out Doug Polk on a HU match 4 rollz as the EPT Barcelona ME 2017 Champion did hehe

Not saying that this is the case here, but as i said be4 i am just sharing my thoughts/experiences.

Anyway grats again and keep playing/studying/enjoying your time in Vegas.

Peace buddy!

I definitely agree with that. To be honest a factor that has held me back in my poker career is I am too nitty with my money lol. I def wont be going to crazy at all. Appreciate the concern though and thanks!

Goodluck with ur journey, many ppl talk & dream about it, while u just did it. Even when u fail at the end, atleast u tried.
Also an important fact is that ur wife is willing to follow you to Vegas, gg man

Really nice score, keep updating this thread so we can follow the journey.

Thanks guys and will do.

NJ on the score, welcome to LV!

Thanks man! So today I played a 2/5 session at the Red Rock. It started off poorly, I played a $1600 pot with qj on a Q95ss board, normally I dont play this fast but I was pretty certain the check raiser was on a draw so I just stuck it in over his raise and he hit the flush. So I almost had my first real losing session but I stuck it out and ended up flopping the nuts and betting 60 into a pot of about 160 and having the same guy jam 750 into and I held. Not often the flop is 56k and you have kk and get check massive shoved on. Then a few hands later I had ak and hit K and he check shoved the turn and I won. People really do just blow up in these games often. I really wish I moved out here years ago instead of trying to play mtt on the American sites. I won in the Mtt but imo the value is not even close. So we ended up making a few hundred today after battling back. I havent logged nearly as many hours in cash as I should have because I was still playing mtt but the hours are going to be piling up from now on.

Hey guys figured I would hop in and give an update even though not too much has been going on. Played a $340 100k at the venetian and busted it and besides that just grinding 2/5 mostly at red rock. Starting early Nov the Venetian has a solid little tournament series that I plan to play in. 2/5 is going well and hopefully soon ill have another deep tourney run to tell brag about.

Whats up fellas just wanted to update the thread. I'm going to be more consistent on here from now. Try to put in a lot twice per week. My birthday was Oct 29 so I took a little bit of time off and went to see family but the week prior I did pretty well playing 2/5. I really need tonincrease my cash game hours tho. I only have about 75 hours since we moved here (Aug 14) and that is pretty lazy on my part. Part of it is that I was playing online mtt a lot thenfirst month. From now on tho I need to be putting in more hours in cash games unless there are good mtts going on. This month there are a lot of good mtt opportunities tho. I am actually staked for mtt and play cash on my own. Not sure if it'll stay that way forever but I hate dealing with variance. Figure cash games can pay the bills and tourney binks can go toward big stuff or investments. I'm kind of rambling but I have a really funny hand to tell about today. Had a rough day by the way, only lost about $210 so not big financially but it happened in ****ty ways.

So this guy sitting to my right was one of those people who picka his hands all the way up to look at them... I'm not at all the type to try to see my opponents hands and if they seem like a newb or older person or something I will tell them that they are exppsing but this guy was kind of a louder flashy middle age guy who talked a bit about his business so I figured if he flashes his cards then that is on him. Like I said I wasnt trying to see his hands but one particular hand he just picked up and I saw an 8d and another red card that I didnt know. He limps for 5 and I make it 25 w Asjc. We get 4 callers including him and the flop is q 10 9 w two diamonds... Checks around and turn is Kd putting 3 to a flush and our guy w the 8d bets 60 so I call and everyone else folds. I thought about folding here bcuz I didn't see any paint on the other card so seemed lile flush is only holding. But I call and everyone else folds. River is a brick and he bets 120 and decide to let it go and he shows the 8d and back of god.Damn hearts for the straight... The only cArd in the deck that makes sense that I beat. Had I not seen his cards I for sure at least cAll there. Pretty funny all the craziness in a single hand. Especially thw ending. If he doesnt show o kust go along thinkong I made a good good lol. Karma maybe... I took a dirty beat too last hand of day but oh well. Last week I flopped quads and got $900 from red rock for the flop quads promo. Overall poker is going very well so far, I just need to put more hours in. I'm tracking my win rate too. I'm interested to see what it'll be after at least 1000 hours or so. Well tomorrow we got the 1100 200k at the Venetian. Cant wait for ufc 217 Saturday. Not sure if anyone is even reading this lol, if you are thanks and lmk if there are specific things I can talk about to make it more interesting. Gn

He showed me 8d and jack of hearts... Sorry typed it out on phone

Gl in the tourney tomorrow

Thanks mojo. I ended up bagging about 155k, coming back to 4k level on sunday, should have around 50 people left. Im was thinking at the table today how glad I am that I started this new career in poker. Even though I have done it on and off for a while I feel like this is the first time since black friday that ive given myself a real shot and my confidence is only growing. Im having a good time and improving my game. I truly believe that im going make my money and make my mark in this game. The only regret is that I didnt chase it down sooner. Tomorrow im just going to hang out and watch ufc 217, get a hard workout in and prepare myself to be 100% all day sunday. I want a trophy

Playing poker for a living is hard work but it seems like you've got a lot of things going for you to help you in being successful.

Cant take off too many Saturdays though. Poker players got to be at the tables those days...

I agree, wont be taking too many saturdays off. So I decided to start betting MMA a little more seriously to see if I can be profitable long term. Im starting out with just $20 per unit and seeing how it goes. First night was a nice success. I also ended up taking 6th in that Venetian $1100 so that was bittersweet again. Im happy with the runs but man I cant wait to be the last guy with all the chips. Its coming soon tho. Good weekend overall. More tournies and cash soon.

Played a 2/5 session at Red Rock overall it went well. Had a few hands that ill go over here.

I raise w KQdd from utg 1 and get one caller from utg2. Hes an older guy who has been playing a lot of hands
flop
Jc9c3h

I bet 20 and he calls

turn 4d

I bet 20 and he calls

river 5 and i bet 65 and he says "so now you dont want a call" and he calls. Owned me pretty hard there but my line didnt make sense. If I bet 35 ott and then 60otr i think it works all day. Underestimated the opponent there and lost the pot for it.

A little while goes by and we look down at KK and make it 20, btn and bb call

Flop 964 with 2 spades

bb checks and I bet 35, both call

Turn 7c

bb checks and I bet 85 and both call again

river 7d and bb shoves 200, I call and btn tank folds

bb shows 35 for missed straight and we win.

I think I should have bet around 105-115 ott in this hand. The button had been super tight and folded every flop except this one and the bb is a very loose agg player.


The two days before this i had been playing the venetian deep stacks. Played until about 10pm on day 1a and B and then busted out so this cash sess was only about 4 hours.