Jeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh

This is my home (actually i dont like the bellagio, but the picture is baller so i posted it), well this but in a house, on the internet ever since i quit playing live. Moving on quickly past my anti social pathetic life in las vegas.....
Despite not being friends with many locals at all, i do have friends that come visit me from time time. Annnnnnnd generally if a friend happens to be in town i will go out and have a night out playing poker with them or getting some dinner if they arent poker players. Though tbh if they arent poker players chances are high "something comes up"
This weekend a buddy of mine came to town as he does pretty often, and seeing as ive been having troubles with my internet it seemed like a perfect time to go out and play some live poker again.
Its funny the perspective playing online and learning the variance of poker has given me vs when i was mostly a live player and thought i understood variance. I used to think 20buy ins was ok for a level of play and would take shots at 5/10 and even 10/20 when i was at 15k or so. Now with 10k poker roll i still think "ok i guess ill take a small shot at 1/2 while a friend is in town" I would/will still play 2/5 live occasionally, but only cuz i have such a large sample of beating it. Either way it doesnt matter cuz my buddy wanted to play 1/2 anyway. Its been a few days but basically i ran good, he ran bad, all total i dont think either of us was more than +/- 3buy ins.
We played one significant pot together that ill post here for ur viewing pleasure so u can see how great i play. 200nl, my buddy opens every hand he plays in or out of position, which we talked about and i think is a bit of a leak given the ranges he opens with, but he opens to 13 from utg +1, i call with 99 from utg +2, and a fishy live dude calls from the sb. Flop 9 10 10, and sb leads into both of us for 20 cuz....well hes a fish, while my anonymous buddy *cough* abarone68 aka mega fish *cough* raises to 80, i tank for a few seconds and call. I call because i dont want to take just my friends money, but i want the fish to stick in the hand. The fish obliges and calls. Turn is a 3 and the fish checks while barone fires another barrel for like 115, i call a bit quicker this time for the same reason i called the flop, and the fish again calls, leaving himself 40dollars. The river is a K and the fish cks barone then smartens up and bets just 40, i move in cuz the fish is either calling or missed like a 7 8 and isnt calling but i dont want it to look like im playing together with my friend. The fish calls and barone folds J 10 face up.
Barone had been getting a bit of a cold deck so he got up and i played a few more hands b4 announcing that i guess drinks were on me and i exited as well. All in all it was a fun trip and barone and i have a group of mutual friends coming in july where the trip report will be much more exciting im sure.....

Just in case i have any blog readers who arent members of the forum i post on, if youre in las vegas june 16-21 for the wsop and see an ahhhhhsht hat feel free to come have a shot at the champ. Im sure ill be at least partially drunk and ur chances are still slim to none.

Gl at the tables

Why do we play?

This should be an easy question to answer. The categories of players from casual, occasional, part time, full time, etc is wide. So too is the reason that all these categories of players play. Some play strictly for fun. Whether they are winning or losing, it doesnt matter to them. They enjoy the purity of the game and the money means nothing to them. You can find these players at 1c 2c, and all the way up to 1k 2k. A step up on the competitive ladder would be recreational players who also take winning semi seriously. Sure they can lose the money, but they care about winning and becoming a better and even great player. Others view poker as a source of income and they are best to not play for the rush involved in the gamble of the game, but better off detaching themselves from the emotions of it and only focusing on the decisions made. 

Regardless of where u fall in here, i think its a fact that during downswings you will ask urself "why the f*$& do i play this game?" 

Sure i rely on poker to pay bills and play fulltime. Ive beaten the game for some time now and even when i start losing buy in after buy in, i ask myself why i play. Why dont i just get a job and be a real person? Downswings can be brutal on ur psyche and for that reason i feel when ur on an upswing its important to "treat" urself to something that you otherwise wouldnt be able to afford.

So though i wasnt on a huge upswing, i have had a few month stretch here where i won more than i needed too and my bankroll was getting near the take shots at 200nl stage. To reward myself and remind myself that it is all worth it, i went out and purchased a laptop similar to this one:

I havent bought a top shelf cpu or laptop for a few years now, and have played mostly on behind the curve machines. Mostly cuz ima cheap bastard. So when this "new laptop" i had, prior to purchasing the lenovo pictured above, started to give me problems, i said f it and went and bought this top shelf one. 4gb DDR3, Intel I7 processor, 500gb hard drive, and some video card that i took the guys word for was good, i wanna say 8400 but i might be wrong. Either way a much nicer machine than i have had in quite some time. 

Regardless or your reasons for playing, remember that on an upswing its always nice to take a little off and splurge on something. Take ur wife/gf/random slut out to a nice place for dinner for all the nights you have neglected her. Buy urself that piece of electronics that will make u feel like u have a 12in cock. Go the bunny ranch and buy you some Sunny Lane (pornhub or bing her and thank me later). Finance a trip to thailand or the philippines and go nuts. You get the picture, always remember to pay urself first, especially when it comes to this crazy game of poker.

Lets hear it for.....

Yayyyyyyyyyyy sundays.....the day that everybody who plays online poker chases the dreams of covering themselves in poker glory. From the novice to the pro, we all chase those huge mtt scores on sundays. Obv most of us fail and end up talking about how bad we run. Cash games are tougher cuz regs who are playing a few mtts while they clog the cash games seem to way overcompensate for the fish that come out to chase with us.

Ive found that sundays are generally my worst cash days. So i generally stay away from cash on joyous sunday funday. Plus i LOVE mtt's. If i was independently wealthy and could just play for fun and have a great time, i would go on the wsop tour and play all the events i could and have fun. So cash games suck = great excuse to chase the big money guarantees. Ive had my share of mtt success, but tbh im starting to think it might be better for my sanity if i just dont "work" most sundays.

I probably "work" 95 out of 100 days, even if its just a small session.

Today i went deep in almost every mtt i played, but lost 3-1's after that (bla bla bad beat bad beat) and its just really got me thinking, this mental relaxing on sundays might be good for my sanity (afterall ask anybody who knows me and i dont have much left to spare)

So we will see but for now i think the plan is going to be to take it easy on sundays. The volume will come, i will put in stretches where i play non stop, and in turn the profits will come. Im not saying i wont play any mtts ever again, cuz i know better than that. But for now sundays are going to be my fun day so good luck to all of u.

I love asian girls how bout u?

Isnt it crazy how poker works. Not to long ago i was tilting out of my mind. Down 1k b4 lunch, up 600 b4 breakfast the next day. Actually i should even say dollar amounts because thats a huge leak in peoples (myself included) game. Down 10buy ins b4 lunch up 6 buy ins before breakfast the next day.

*warning....rounders quote coming up*

So ive been grinding 100nl for just under a year. I take it for granted how I beat the game, then overspend in my life cuz "meh im overrolled for 100nl and beat it at an ok rate" Then i withdraw money that i really dont need and blow it on bs.

Ive been very careful with my bankroll management, but ive come to realize, as i do every so often that "If you're too careful, your whole life can become a fuckin' grind" and because of this, combined with the fact that i feel very confident in my game, im giving 200nl a shot once again. Im not sure at what point ill cut it off if things go bad. Maybe at -3 buy ins, maybe at -10. No more than 10 for sure, but who knows. I feel like my game has advanced a lot and i feel like im more ready to move up than i was when i tried previously.

So no more being to careful for awhile, hopefully things stick and in a month or two ill be overrolled for 200nl. I really feel good about this shot and thats after i just had a pretty swingy day at it but ended up down less than 50bb. 


Just like with everything in poker, take what i say with a grain of salt and apply it as u see fit.

Gl to me at my 200nl shot and GL to you at achieving ur goals

What good is knowledge if we dont use it?

So obv im a F'n degenerate. I mean i say im gonna go to the gym but do i? No, instead i think its a much better idea to sit here staring blankly at my laptop for about 30minutes and give it another go. Insta drop 2.5 more buy ins and then want to break stuff (after i kick puppies in front of children of course)

All poker knowledge is useless if u dont apply it. I sit here and spell out how not to have huge losing days and what do i do? Drop 1k b4 dinner. I feel like its mostly coolers but i cant be sure. Im one of the few who plays a lot and doesnt use software (hem, pokertracker, anything) I planned on using it but my good computer took a shit, i bought this cheap laptop and im moving in june so i dont want to buy a new desktop till im settled in. So until then itll be business as usual.

BACKKKKKKKK on track though. When one type of game isnt clicking its often best to take a break. Me, i dont like taking breaks. Since i know taking a break isnt reasonable solution, i like to switch from cash games, to mtt sngs, to mtts. So since something isnt going right, either luck, or something is not clicking in my game, or whatever, i think its best that i take a week break from cash and focus on another form of nlhe.

That plus im going to keep myself busy. I have some volunteer time i should be doing for a class, maybe write a couple papers that i could do b4 the last minute, focus on the gym/my meals. So i wont be putting in much volume regardless. I think my new plan for a week or so is gonna be if i have time during the day ill play the 45mans/180 man sngs and mix in a nice mtt schedule. If i dont have time during the day, then at night ill play a few mtts.

Sux cuz im trying to hit supernova by end of june (after just starting mid feb on stars), but thems be the breaks.

edit*
I lied....i played another session and won back 3 buy ins. This will make the gym a little less of an angry session, which is actually a bad beat....i need to join GA

double edit*
Played again and got back to even for the day. And this my friends is the joy that we know as poker

Do as i say, not as i do

So obviously the day after writing about stop losses, i play a bit past mine and suffer the consequences. Losing 300 in a session not so bad, but for some reason when i hit -500 i want to go kick puppies in front of crying children.

Today was just a truly horrible day, i think im about to go to the gym and i dont know if ill put in another session. I mean i lost with 3 sets, missed two 12+ out draws all in on the flop, and ran kings into a set in a 3bet pot. Im sure there were more spew areas but those were the majors.

Its funny that even after consistently beating poker for a few years now, as soon as i start losing i question myself. Maybe ive just been lucky, maybe the game has passed me by, what if this run bad continues?

But ill take a deep breath and remember that im only down like 7 buy ins and that is one great day or two decent ones to get back to even. There are more important things (when ur not broke) than playing poker and it seems like when i become a lil to consumed by playing and putting in volume is when i have the worst results.

Some days its just not ur day

Poker is a math game. If ur playing good and the game is good you shouldnt get up even when ur losing....The logical person in me wants to agree with this. I mean mathematically, its true. But the degenerate gambler in me who has been playing this game for 7+ years, coming up on 3 fulltime says BULLSHIT!

Some days its just not ur day. Some days they are gonna hit their draws and ur gonna miss/take beats. Some days its just not ur day.

Which to go along with my br management i outlined in my first strat blog post, i set a stop loss. Generally for a session i will set my stop loss at 3buy ins at which point i will take a break, go vent, run errands, whatever. After i feel like my mind is cleared ill come back and give it another shot. If i drop 2-3 more buy ins, im done for the day. I dont care if its lunch time and i have nothing planned, i just take the day off and do something else.

Yesterday was one of those days for me....so after i dropped 5 buy ins i started this blog =)

Then after this blog i hung out with some friends came back and at midnight tried another session. I guess the poker gods decided i was cutting it to close and i dropped another 2. I didnt let it bother me but instead watched a movie and went to sleep. This morning i woke up showered and boom shipped about 4 buy ins.

So while i didnt stick strictly to my stop loss, i also didnt dwell on my above average bad day. Because i have healthy/conservative bankroll, and because i didnt lose a lot at once, but rather spread it out over a few sessions, it didnt feel that bad and i woke up this morning and was not even close to tilted.

If u feel ur neck warming up and ur veins pumping. Take a step back and no matter how good the games are know that the games arent going anywhere and maybe something just isnt clicking that will click tomorrow.

3x in one day....im an animal!!!!!!!!

I figure i should post at least one strat post after all that babble. And seeing as when i was starting out it was the most understated aspect of this game, lets start with bankroll management.

What is a bankroll? When i was working and losing at poker it really didn't matter, i played strictly for fun and id just redeposit. Instead of going out to bars on the weekend and spending a couple hundred, id deposit 200 online and have a shot at winning some money.

But once i started winning, bankroll did matter. I didn't like that i was now a winner and would go bust and have to deposit. I still could, but i just didn't like it. Back in the glory days of poker it was said something like 20-30 buy ins for the level your at. At that time, if ur a good player, maybe that was right. But times they are a changing. The average player is better, win rates are dropping, and variance is rising. So much like a players strategy approach to the game has to evolve, so does a players bankroll approach.

I now suggest playing with 100 buy ins. This is very conservative, but if you are a winning player, this will allow u to very rarely if ever have to drop down, and keep u very comfortable. Also its amazing how just having this big of a br for the level u play can help u not tilt.

But ahhhhhsht, how will i ever move up if i have to make 200 buy ins at my level just to move up to the next. Well ill tell you, here is my theory on the best way to play and continue rising.

Dont take 3, 4, 10 buy in shots at a level. Commit urself to the next level when u move up. What i plan on doing is moving up when i have 150 buy ins for 100nl, i will take a 20 buy in shot at 200nl, dropping down if i hit 11k and obv sticking till i have enough to try 400nl.

Now lets make something clear, at 100nl there are a fair amount of good players. At 200nl id go as far to say its a tough player pool. But at 10nl, 25nl, a player can be a bit more liberal. The games are softer and therefore your chances for success are higher. Id say 30buy ins at 10nl is fine and id give 25nl a 10 buy in shot at $600 or so. Moving down to 10nl if i hit 350. Something like that. Bottom line is find ur comfort spot and stick to that.

I hope this helps and gl at the tables....unless ur at mine

Ok so where was I

Bio time

I never intended to get sucked into this game. I actually used to make fun of a few buddies of mine in the army who played poker. I would say "blackjack and sportsbetting is my game" and then get drunk and make fun of these dudes playing a game of luck. Then one night after a really heavy night of drinking i decided i wanted to take on a truck in a fight. I consider myself moderately tough and im not ashamed to say the truck won....BIG TIME.

It won so good that I was put on bed rest for 30days. So bored out of my mind i had a buddy of mine refer me to Bodog so that i could sportsbet/play blackjack. After burning through a good amount of money sportsbetting i went on tilt and decided to play some sngs. I must of been running like god cuz i made some money at them. I had 200 or so on bodog but a good job and didnt mind depositing so i was playing $10s and $20s stts. One day i was playing a stt and this reg told me i should try these mtt's....they are like stts but a bunch of players.

I was hooked. Beating 9 guys, great.....beating 300-400 WOW. And the paydays were so huge compared to the buy in. Mtt's where ya been all my life. After going back and forth in mtts and stts and playing some 5c 10c NL, i was proly losing 200-400 a month for my final 4 months in the army. As i was getting out a friend of mine got me a job in a vegas hotel that paid rather well, so i decided to move there for that. I continued playing and a friend of mine who also played started showing me some books to read. I consumed myself in poker and was suddenly not depositing as frequently.

Still with no clue of br management i played and would have to redeposit sometimes, but since i never got into clubs and stuff i looked it at as going out expenses. A big step for me was when i joined cardplayer.com forums and started reading there strat threads. There were a couple good players who i really understood and my game made a couple leaps.

I was finally a pretty consistent winner. The last time i was still in the negative with poker invested money is still very clear as it was a big moment and happened just before i learned what im comfortable with as my br style. I had 50 or less dollars in my bodog acct and played a 11 dollar mtt, i obv shipped it for 1500. The next night i played the same mtt and treated myself to a 44 buy in. I shipped both for another 9k total.

I thought i was destined for poker glory. I started playing live 1/2nl and was playing 100nl online as well as mtts. I was still spewing online at cash but was doing well in mtts and beating live.

Ill speed this up.....so i had some swings sure but never redeposited and i started crushing live 2/5nl for about a year. I got engaged and then that went to shit. So making more at 2/5 than i was at my job and having just broke up with my fiance i said F it and quit my job to play 2/5 fulltime. This was more of a grind than i thought it would be, but my first month i cleared about 17k so it was worth it. What wasnt worth it is over the next few months i was only making 3-4k.

I went on one bad downswing and decided to take a week off. I remembered i had 300 on full tilt (ahhhhhsht is not my name on there, its a complicated deal and lets just say im done with ftp) So i fired up 3, 100nl tables and b4 i knew it i had just over 1k. I thought "meh thats enough for a 50nl roll so lets just grind that for the week" I made about 1k that week and was up to 2k. I had rediscovered my love for the volume u can put online compared to live. So i decided to give it a go. I went back and forth from 50nl and 100nl and put most of my live bankroll in the bank for bills, while i grinded up my online money.

I kept getting my face beat at 100nl until i took a breath, swallowed my pride and addressed some leaks i had. I started beating 100nl and at the same time shipped a mtt for 8500. This was in november. Since then ive grinded 100nl taking money off for expenses, got my shit kicked in after running horrible at 200nl and now have moved over to stars where im starting with about 10k at 100nl.

Obv i left out a lot of details, but this is already tldr.

Tbh if i had it all to do again i would of kept working, I make a bit more than i did, but the stresses and lack of security are just to much for a moderate winner like myself. But thats the older wiser me talking. I dont regret going this path because it has really taught me a lot about myself, and when im old i wont say "i think i could of made millions if i had pursued poker fulltime"....i know i couldnt/didnt and honestly im ok with it. Now its time to finish up my degree, get a secure job, and play a game that im pretty good at with no pressure and strictly for fun/a lil extra income.

A worse day than normal....why not start blogging

Hey everybody is doing it so why not me. Surely I'm important enough to have millions of viewers. I mean who doesn't want to hear about an ok 100nl player....Full ring btw....where the action is =)

So yeah a buddy of mine (abarone68 obv) blogs and i think its a good way to vent/reflect on my game so ima give this a try. Maybe this will be the only blog post i ever do or maybe it will be a monster success. I'm betting the under.

If you are reading this god have mercy on your soul. Ive actually made about 1000 grammar corrections already and let me tell u thats not gonna keep up. I'll try not to turn this into a steam room but no promises.

I guess a good spot to start is a nice bio of my poker career thus far. I'm going to be brutally honest. More honest than I have been with even my closest friends. Mostly cuz if I told my friends some of the truths theyd think im a complete degen and while that may be true, id rather my friends not know about it.

I feel like i should post this then start the bio off....yeah f it. Welcome if ur reading this and bio coming up.....