Bleh

Well, yesterday was crap. Or at least the morning session was. I lost a little over 300 and hit my stop loss. First time I have done that in my poker career. So I was a sad monkey. The night session was OK. I was able to recover most of my losses, and wound up only loosing $80 on the day. It was a slight blow to the ego, but mostly just put me behind te 8 ball for the rest of the week. I did hit my hand goal for the second time as a pro, and this will definately provide motivation to keep up the volume, which is really good considering I have $450 tied up in volume prop bets that I am behind pace one. So, I guess that's good.

Anyway, I am anxious to get back to the felt and see if I can get back in black!

First full week in review

Well, I have officially finished my first full week as a profesional poker player. Overall it was a pretty good week. I made $1208 in winnings over 30 hours, for a $40 per hour average. So far things are going so well that I haven't had to look at my bonus money and add that into my calculations (knock on wood that I can keep that going). I'n hoping to keep it that way and use the bonus money to upgrade my set up. At the moment I would like a new video card so I can dual monitor and a new chair, but neither are a huge priority.

The big priority for me is to get a better schedule going. 30 hours in a week just isn't going to cut it in the long run. Part of it was first week adaptations, but part of it was quitting an hour early here and there when I was running good. I really can't get into that mentality, or I am going to eventually put myself in a bad spot. Still, I can't complain about my first week, as I have basically doubled my income while working half the time. Being fresh for sessions is having a HUGE impact on my play. Where before I was a 3BB winner, I am now running just over 5BB (which is actually DOWN from 7 during my first few days as a pro!).

I have also started playing 100 regularly. At first the plan was to only have 2 tables up, but the fish selection there is SO much better than at 50, and the regs aren't that much better. So I have been running 3-5 100 tables over the last couple of sessions. I'll probably keep it up while I am building a player base up at 100, but I can see myslef in the very near future playing mostly 100.

Today was another half day, and I won $270 in 3 hours. Sometimes I think I am crazy for playing 25, 50, and 100 at the same time, but it really is working for me. It just opens up so much more table selection. I know over the long run I am losing money playing 25, and I have a feeling as I get more comfortable at 100, those tables will be replaced pretty quickly. I actually rotated most of my 25 tables out pretty quickly today, and only wound up playing 300 hands there (as compaired to 550 at 100 and 1400 at 50). It was a long grueling session, and I was really frustrated and down 40 bucks after a couple of hours, but then I hit a set in a 3 bet pot and went on a roll. I almost feel sorry for the player I stacked as he didn't make any mistakes. Well, that's not really true. He really should have only C-bet half pot as it was a low 4 way flop (instead of full pot), which would have let hime either get away from the hand (KK) or at least open up the door for a flush draw to make a move, but it was really the two other fish calling the bet that let me hang around in the pot.

Anyway, I am really glad that hand happened and that I went on a roll like that. After only making $4 yesterday, another meh session would have been a disappointment. Then again, I know a stretch like that is coming (and you can't really complain when your worst session in two weeks is a winner!) so I don't want to get off in lala land thinking it is going to be this easy forever. Just enjoying the wave while it lasts and prepairing for the future!

Still going strong

Well, last night was another good night for me. Made around 340 and had a pretty smooth session. I won a couple of buy ins at 100NL (YEAH!) and ran hot as I am becoming accostomed to. This afternoon was another story. I just couldn't get value on anything. wound up winning 4 bucks. Bleh. Anyway, off to diner with the family, and probalby won't play tonight, which means that this might be my worst day as a pro so far. Ah, well. Still made money, right?

Chugging along

Well, I took Wensday night and Thursday day off from poker, and blogging! Still not sure how I am going to work out the whole day off thing. Honestly at this point I am so excited I really don't want to take a day off. I want to get ahead. But, even working half days, I still made 140 and 195 respectively, so the area that I am really lagging behind in is volume. If I have to lag in one area though, that would be the one! I didn't even realize how hot I ran until I shipped to my staker on Wensday night. 20 buy ins in 10K hands is pretty sweet! It also ended my staking at 50NL, which is a BIG time improvement for me. It means I can feel much more comfortable playing 100 as it will be easier for me to recoup the loses, which has been a big reason for my not playing there this last week.

I'm still hoping I can qualify black card bonus program by the end of the week as well. That would be another nice boost to my income. Still, I have been running so that I haven't been including my bonus income. Hopefully I can keep that trend going, in which case I will use bonus money to build up my bankroll and to improve my set up. I'm going to have to get a new video card at some point so I can set up dual monitors again. And a new chair would be nice!

Anyway, going to start my Friday session now!

Luck boxing in the end

Well, today was not a very good day in the beginning. I kept getting coolered (set under set, runner runner flushes/straights, etc.) which was really frustrating after yesterday. I kept pretty steady, but really wasn't able to put anything together. I was making some good folds though, so I didn't feel bad about my play. I wound up winning 35 in the morning session. The night session started the same way, with me losing with 3 sets in the first 700 hands. I was able to tread water though, which I am proud of. But toward the end of my session I ran my AA into KK twice and hit a gutter on the river with QQ vs. KK in a 3 bet pot. I probably should have folded the turn (OK, I KNOW I should have folded the turn), but if you win and learn your lesson, does that still count as paying for your lesson?

Can't say I feel good about today though. Still, I'll take it!

And the inevitable happens

Well, I finally had a losing session Yesterday morning. I know. I know. It was coming. Can't stay on a heater forever. I lost 120. I cried a little. Whined a lot. Took a break, cleared my head, and got it all back plus 20 buck in my night session. To be fair, I didn't play particularly well yesterday either, so I can't blame a doomswitch or anything like that, but losing to sets in 3/4 bet pots and runner runner straights really doesn't help either.

Still I am happy that I was able to get to posotive on the day and I finally made my hands goal. Figures I would do that on bad session instead of a good one. Ah, well. At least I know I need to work on that.

Well, off to the virtual felt now to see if I can heat back up!

Flying High

Well, I didn't get to my daily update yesterday. I only played for an hour as my children decided to become holy terrors. But I made 140 in that time, so I wasn't overly disappointed. I only planned to put in a half day anyway, so no biggie that I missed out on the volume.

Today's morning session was amazing. I can't belive how much softer the tables feel during the days. Fish are just giving money away at times. Obviously I know I'm on a heater, but I have been playing far and away the best poker of my life. Made 280 and won at 15BB/100. Overall since I turned full-time pro, I am winning 11.5BB over 11K hands. I just feel so good at the tables. Oh, and my red line is looking SEXY as hell.

And, to top todays morning session off (which is the biggist winning cash session I have ever had), I ran quads into top set and middle set. Sadly, it was at 25NL, but it still made my day.

Day 2

Well, day two started out pretty damn well. Won 230 in a short morning session. The night session didn't go quite as well. I lost $100 when poeple set mined me in 3 bet pots, which really ticked me off. I understand if your calling with decent hands, but they had 33 and 88 and weren't even close to getting the right price. Which is good for me I guess, but it still sucks in the short term. But I was able to make it back, and turn the night session into a nice little 40 profit session. I did miss my hand goal again by around 600, but if I can continue this pace, I'll gladly miss the hand goal.

Anyway, I'm tired and off to bed. Catch ya all later.

Final tally

Well, I guess I should have clarified my playing schedule before I posted my goals, Huh?

I plan on playing from 2-6 and 9-12/1ish. I can't play before that and I like the break in the middle of the day to spend time with my family. I plan on continuing to play weather I meet my monetary goals or not. There more of a bookmark for me to keep up with.

Anyway, I put in my final session tonight. I only hit 4400 hands, but I made a little over 240 today. So, I met two out of 3 goals! and have put myself ahead of the curve for my average income. Not a bad way to spend your first day!

Anyway, off to bed now. Got to play with a hyper baby in the morning!

And it begins

Well, today is my first day as a professional poker player. I have decided that for the first month I will chronicle my sessions/thoughts every day.

First, my daily goals are:

1) make $100
2) make $200 - Goal 1 allows me to maintain my current living status if I work pretty much every day. This goal will allow me to only work 5 days a week and increase my income by 25%.
3) Get in 5K hands a day

Obivously more is better, as I will inevitably have bad days. And I don't expect to meet my goals on a daily basis. But it does give me a target and baseline.

So, my first half day was amazing. Got to sleep in. Then I went out and tasted wedding cake. Got some lunch and went to work. The first thing I noticed is that it is much harder to keep up a decent set of tables during the day. I was rotating constantly, which was a little annoying. And I also rollercoastered a ton. I started out up 50, then down 40, then up 50, then break even, then up 140 (where I ended my session). Considering I split my levels between 25 and 50, those were some pretty decent swings. But I already made my first goal and got in 2800 hands, so I will have to say it was a very successful first half day. I'm feeling really in control at the tables and am loosening up a bit.

Feel so relieved right now. The last couple of weeks have been hell, just because I was waiting to get on with the next stage. Just killed me to pretend to work for two weeks.

First pro session

Had my first pro session. It was short (about an hour and a half), and I made 1 really bad mistake, but I played really well overall and made a little over 100 (which is my per session goal). So I am really happy and excited. But tired as hell. This damn cold is killing me. Stopped early to get a drink and celebrate being self employed now.

Anyway, more to come later.

Holy Redline BATMAN!

Well, I guess there are benefits to PITA poker play. Because over the last 3 sessions I actually have a winning red line! I guess that is the final stage in my comfortability level at 50NL. Getting comfortable enough to steal pots regularly enough to keep that red line up is a huge boost of confidence. I also had my first ever turn and river outright bluff last night in a spot where I knew the villan couldn't call two streets once they checked the turn. Felt pretty good to pick that spot up.

Anyway, this is my last post as a part-time poker player. Not really much to say, other than see you at the tables!

Time out

Well, going to step out from poker for a moment (poker content to come later). I may be a little slow on the up take, but I just found out about time out. Great way to discipline your children. No more yelling. No more having your kid look at you and not hear a word you say. No more of them not caring about the punishment as soon as the tantrum ends. Just hey, you messed up, go stare at a wall for 5 minutes. Oh, you wanna cry and throw a tantrum, fine. Do it staring at the wall and your 5 minutes will start when you stop. Makes life so much easier, and my oldest absolutely hates it. I'm kinda worried that the 4 year old will think it's funny, but we'll deal with that when we get there.

Anyway, I had another good session last night. I actually played a little looser than I usually do, running 15/11 with a 5.5% 3 bet, as compaired to the 13/9/3 that I have run for the last month. I'm getting a lot more comfortable playing in 3 bet pots, although I did lose a stack with TPTK in a 3 bet pot that I should have let go on the flop, but it happens. It felt really good to follow up a really well played session with another well played session, outside of that one hand. At this point I am really really confident and ready to kick off this full time stuff. 48 hours to go!

Gearing up

Well, the last few days haven't been so great. I had my worst session in a couple of months, and followed that up with getting RSV (basically a nasty cold) along with all 3 of the kids, and took my longest poker break in about 6 months, all of 3 days. But between the long break and no longer actually working at work, I have felt really off for the last couple of days. It's one thing to not be working when on vacation, but having 3 days where I was essentially not working just kills me. I feel like a lazy bum.

Anyway, I got back to the grind somewhat last night. I cut my session short when I felt my head getting fuzzy, but until that point I think I played one of my best sessions in a long while. I won 3 buy ins in around 800 hands, but it was all off of small and medium pots. I was playing PITA and picking up a ton of pots, and picked a lot of really good spots. I aslo actually hit a draw, although I didn't get paid off well as I couldn't push a thin edge on the river due to poor play by the villan. Of course, his poor play let me get there, so I can't really complain.

Anyway, I think one of the things I have gotten away from with my improved table selection is trying to improve my game against regs. I think I have been playing a little to fit/fold and not taking high variance lines because I don't need them to be profitable. But not taking them is passing up plus EV spots and also makes me easier to play against. It is also a bit of a "scared money" type thing. I think I am getting more comfortable at 50NL and am more comfortable making mistakes. Anyway, it felt really good to follow up a disaster session with one of those sessions that make you feel like you are king of the world. Honestly, it felt better than a week ago when I had my biggest winning session ever.

So, of course that means tonight I will push thin spots a little to hard and all that. But learning poker is a pendulum. Finding that perfect balance.

On a side note, I watched inception (overrated, but good), Red (perfectly done ubsurd action comedy) and Scott Pilgram (the first half hour or so was bland with spots of brilliance and the rest was pretty damn good stuff). One plus side to a sick house is quality time with the family I guess!

Weekend update and a life change

Well, this weekend was amazing. Well, actually, Saturday was amazing. Friday was an averages $50 day. But Saturday was my winningest day ever. I won $230 and binked 11th in a 750 man tourney (and was disappointed) for another $120. The best/worst part for the day was the beginning. I started out horridly. Lost the first 7 hands I played (including 2 all ins against short stacks at $100) and was down 60 in the first 10 minutes. Then I got KK. My coach/staker Martin opened and I 3 balled it. He 4 bet and I flated, and we got all in on a JTT flop. I honestly expected to see AA, but he showed up with QQ. Still not sure how I feel about it. Martin and Gadol were saying that AK/QQ+ is an auto stack off against anyone. A part of me still thinks that Martin should have folded though. Especially on that board, the only hand he beats is AK, which I am never playing that way in that spot. I can't say that I feel bad taking his money, but I do wish I had taken it from someone else. It was such an amazing day I took the night off and got the kids some ice cream and watched movies all night. And I have wierd kids, because they love them some Coraline now!

Which brings us to the life change. In a couple of weeks, I will be taking my shot as a poker pro. It's earlier than I was planning on, but I have the results and everything else in my life has set up perfectly for me to go for it now. At first I was terrified, but the more I have thought about it, the more sense it makes. At this point I am honestly more excited than terrified. It's kind of like when your first taking a shot at a new level.

Flyin high

Well, it has been an interesting couple of days for me. Last weekend I finally made the switch to primarily playing 50NL. My win rate has dropped a bit, but that's to be expected when you increase your volume. I'm still winning at a very nice rate, and it is possible that I will complete my staking deal by the end of this month, which is a couple of months earlier than I realistically thought would be possible when I originally signed up for the stake.

And for the exciting news of the moment. I took my first real shot at 100PL last night. It didn't start out to well as I had to fold to a couple of 3 bets, had to fold TPTK in a pretty decent pot, then checked back an overpair when the flush completed to lose a decent chunk to another fish. But then I 3 balled TT against an over the top aggro reg's iso with a cold caller 1/2 stack fish. I was prepaired to stack of TT (I know, the horror!) pre-flop, but the aggro reg folded and the fish stacked of Q4 on a 5455 board. Suddenly I was up a bit and feeling much better about the shot. Then I got AA another overly aggro reg 3 balled my EP open. I don't mind the 3 bet, although I think it was kind of stupid. If your willing to stack AK pre-flop on that table, I think it would be better to flat my open and backraise, but whatever. Anyway, I small 4 bet him, at which point a fold should have been his only option. But of course he decides that 5 betting (to 3 times my 4 bet) is a good idea, and suddenly his stack is mine.

Which means in my first 200 hands at 100, I was able to lose the minimum with TPTK and an overpair (which are just brutal situations when your taking a shot), and win 2 big pots because poker players are idiots! Yeah me!

Anyway, it was a very thrilling experience, and it puts me so much farther ahead of schedule. In December I was expecting to be taking another shot at 50 by the end of this month, and now I am established at 50 and taking shots at 100! I also should finally get my black card status by the end of this month, which will be a nice bump to my income each month. Anyway, as you can tell, I am excited. It's very surreal feeling a dream I have had for a couple of years all coming together in such a short time period. Of course, now the hard part is building up the huge bankroll and 6 months worth of living expenses, but considering how far I have come in 3 months, that seems like a pretty minor concern at the moment. Time consuming and tedious, yes, but still minor.

Long Time Gone

Well, it's been a while since I posted here. Let's start with a fantastic weekend. I made nearly $500 this weekend capped by a 10 buy in winning session for $277 last night. I also started playing mostly 50NL (with the exception of last night due to volume needs), and have continued my run good there. I also reached over $1300 in winnings for the month last night! Sadly, a decent portion of that has gone to my stakers, but it still feels really really good.

I will also be posting my first month in well over a year where I will be over EV, so no more whining from me in that regard! OK, Well, not for at least a week then.

I will also have to eat some crow. I had always thought that a 10 buy in down swing at 25NL would be pretty damn hard to accomplish without some really bad play. And while I will admit to bad play, since my last post I went through a 10 buy in down swing (actually 12, but I recovered 2 before the end of my final session). And, just to show that it was in large part due to variance, I was on a 12 buy in up swing at 50NL with 1/3 of the hands at 50NL. Just goes to show how little a part time grinder really understands variance.

On the strategy note, I have had a philisophical change in my 3 betting theory. Until recently I wouldn't 3 bet in situations where I would fold to a 4 bet. Basically the theory is that if your folding to a 4 bet, then your turning your hand into a bluff. After doing some thinking, I don't like that much anymore. If their calling with worse and 4 betting better, then 3 betting is optimal because you get away from your hand cheaply when your behind and get in more money pre-flop when your ahead. It has also increased my 3 bet percent quite a bit (never a bad thing). I am now running closer to 4%, and am getting less and less worried about getting KK in pre-flop.

Peer approval

Well, I am not big on peer approval. I've never felt the need to brag or prove I am better than others. I am perfectly comfortable with my own perception of myself, and of my poker game. But in the last couple of days my stakers have given me two bonuses that I didn't ask for or expect. I was taken completely off guard. I would get it if they were trying to keep me around, but I'm pretty sure at this point they have no expectations that I will still be around after 75K hands. It might be different if they were open to staking above 50NL, but it was a very generous offer.

I have also been invited into a regular group online chat with some very very good players. It was a suprising offer to me. While I think I am one of the best players in the world (like top 10 or 20 thousand players for online FR, so nothing special), these guys are all in a class above me. That they would respect my opinions enough to want my insights is a definate ego boost, which I obviously need!

To top it off, a couple of people who I really respect have asked me to sweat them! Go figure on that one. And all of this has happened in the last 2 days. Combine that with my run the last couple of months, and my confidence is riding high at the moment. Cue the doomswitch...

Weekends rock!

Well, I took Friday night off. Spent some qualitity time with my finace. Saturday was pretty good. I was able to get a little caught up in volume. Won about 70. Overall I was pretty happy with the session, although I think I wasn't playing to well in a couple of spots. Last on the other hand...

Wow. Started my session right after the super bowl ended. Logged on and scanned the tables. They were DEAD. Seriously dead. 1 25PL table. 0 50 PL. 8 confirmed whales out there. Just blah. So, as usual, I started tables to fill up to 16. And holy crap there were some crazy mo fo's out there. Tables filled FAST! The action was crazy. Every table was a gold mine. I took a couple of really really bad beats at 25NL - the top was for 140BB where some idiot hit runner runner trips after calling a C bet on an A high board with 98. But so be it. Better to run bad at 25 and hot at 50 right?

I'm feeling much better about this month than last month. Last month got off to a hot start because of 1 monster session. This month it's been a bunch of solid sessions and I've already had a dump truck session, plus I'm running over 10% below EV (nothing new there though). One of these days I'm gonna ask slansky for that check...

WEEEE

Well, I am off to a very nice start to the month. Not as killer as last month, but still up 180 in 2 days is a nice feeling. I have been using volume as my determinant on when to stip instead of how I am feeling as I am going to have a tough time getting in 50K hands during a short month. Basically I have to play 2K hands for 25 out of 28 days. I know I can't keep up the current pace, but I am definately having high hopes that I can improve upon last month. I am just getting so much more comfortable at the tables, and so much better at table selection/post flop play. I know another doomswitch session is coming around the corner, but I honestly think that my "doom" sessions are going to be much much less of a problem than they were last year. First, my win rate has improved. Second, table selection has improved. Last month I had 2 of them, but unlike all previous months, my best 3 sessions were all better than my worst 2. In the past my worst sessions were always bigger than my biggest winning sessions. A lot of this had to do with me quitting once I had won 2-4 buy ins instead of grinding it out. I have always know it was better to continue to play while winning that it is to continue to play while losing, but for me the latter was easier to accomplish as I hate having losing sessions. My volume prop bets have definately helped with this.

I have been working pretty diligently to do villan reviews lately. Well, last night I did a review on a pretty bad reg (-5bb loser over 22K hands) with a 5% "value" 3 bet range. And wow was it bad. Just massively overvalued TT/JJ/AK/AQ. It was pretty interesting though to see a depolorized range at work. He had a bunch of other issues that contributed to his losing, but I do have to give him some credit. He is the only 50NL villan I have seen with a balanced range. If he ever figures out bet sizing, board texture and proper value ranges, he could be dangerous. It was also pretty amusing to see him win 3 bet pots with K high. I swear I need to spend some extra time getting my 3 bet percent up to 4ish just to get regs to spaz with crap.

Monlthly wrap up

Well, this was definately my best month ever, although I am still not overly happy with it. I started out like gang busters, well on pace for 1K in winnings, but alas the poker gods deemed it should not be so. Still, up to 800 in winnings (100 of that going to stakers), plus 200 in rakeback and 100 in iron man, plus how ever much I made off of my volume prop bets and other bonus money, means I will clear my first 4 digit month ever.

I also have around 7500 hands at 50NL with a 3BB win rate, which was every bit as important to me as making 1K. I'm still really picky about the tables I play on and a bit gun shy do to my rough patches there, plus it still feels like a crap load of money when I bluff off half a stack, but I getting there. Really glad I have spent over a year training myself to always think in terms of Big Blinds instead of actual money. It makes moving up a little less intimidating.

Also, I have improved upon my table selection methods. I went from yellow for all fish to pink for the mega fishies. Might sound trivial, but it keeps me from popping onto a table with only 1 fish to find out that fish is 21/11. I'm fine with that fish, but certainly not worth my time if I can get on a table with a 40ish and two 20ish's. Plus I am no longer dropping that 15% VPIP table with 7 nits and 1 whale. LOVE those tables.

I am hoping for a better February. Really wanting to increase my 50 volume. I'm starting to feel comfortable enough to want to play 50 on my own bank roll. Really liking the effect it has on my RB and on my Iron Man bonuses. Just so much easier to get those goals.

Also getting more involved in villan reviews. It's really starting to amaze me just how face up regs play. I mean I know I'm not reviewing studs here, but DAMN. Makes me feel a whole lot better about how often I fold overpairs/TPTK type hands. Only have 5 done so far, but of the 5 the only time I have seen one play a big pot with sub standard hands, and that player likes to flat 3 bets with QQ and check shove on low flops. Really helps get rid of that feeling of being run over.

So, for next month I would like to get 20K hands in at 50 and have poker winnings of 1K. Do a villan review each day, and get some solid coaching in. Hopefully I will get solidified at 50NL and finally run my Micro well.

Winding down the month

Well, I offically hate flush draws. The last 7 times I have gottin it in on the turn vs. a flush draw, guess what the river is? Fortunately all of these have been against shorter stacks, but I am getting sick of seeing it. On the other hand, I got paid off with quads, so it's not all bad.

Actually, this is turning out to be a really good month despite a lull last week. I am up 850ish in winnings (minus 125 to my stakers), so a 1K winning month is still a possability. Not likely with all I have going on this weekend, but that's all good.

I am also getting more and more comfortable with 50, up 5 buy ins this month and running really steady despite limited hands. I am actually running better at 50 than I am at 25. Better table selection has a lot to do with that.

Anyway, not much else going on. I have gotten a couple of invites to Vegas for June. It was really flattering. Still getting used to the idea that good players respect my game. One of the biggest downfalls of never getting into coaching/sweating/finding better poker players to associate with is that I have a somewhat distorted perception of players at my level. I have pulled so much money out of 25 at this point and I forget that this is not the norm. Most make the money and take shots, get more experience and move up. I probably have one of the longer sustained stretches of 25NL goodness. And really, most of it was just good. It's really only been the last 100Kish hands that I have been sick good.

Now if I can just figure out how to start out a session up instead of digging myself a hole...

Blah day, but realizations are more imporatant than 1 session

Well, my week started out like crap last night as I lost 5 stacks in 500 hands where villans hit draws in rediculous spots (capped by 68 calling a 3 bet OOP and hitting a straight on the river), but I was pretty happy with the session overall only being down 2 buy ins. I did wind up having to play rush poker (which I pretty much hate now and accounted for 4 of the suck outs) becuase my son didn't want to go to sleep and I was under a time crunch to get hands in for Iron Man. Just more reinforcement that I hate rush.

On another note, I had another moment of clarity. It took me a while to figure out that splitting levels means I have twice the number of juicy tables to choose from (which means table selection is much easier - which is especially important as I almost never get to play in prime times). But what about 6 max? One of the reasons I don't play much is that you have to rotate tables constantly to keep fish, and you have to pay close attention due to the wide ranges. But I do know of a place to get one or two tables that are 100% fish and stay that way (at 5NL). So I am going to be adding those into my standard table sets. Hopefully as I improve I can start adding 10 and 25NL as well. I will be using a pretty aggressive BRM with this (10 buy ins before adding the next level) and see how that goes.

Also, I finally did a villan review session with Nino last night. Let me just say wow. I have been doing it wrong. Took about an hour to go over a 50 reg. But now I know his game inside and out. His 3 bet ranges, open ranges, how he plays sets, flush draws - everything. What amazed me the most was just how exploitable this winning 50NL player is. I can't imagine not being able to soul crush him now. Very excited to start doing reviews on more of the players I see regularly and figuring out how to abuse them.

Weekend update

Well, this was a good weekend for me. Started out a bit rough when I dropped 80 on Thursday. I was really disappointed as 70 of it was at 50 in my backed shot. I really felt like I was just doomed to always lose at 50NL. The highlight was running QQ into quads on an AA6A board. Yup, that was the 3rd time in less than 10K hands that I ran into quads and paid them off.

Then Friday night came around and apparently my persistence was rewarded. Binked two 100 plus days, and last night I pulled in another 15 bucks. All that while running 70 ish below EV. I even managed to get up 3 and a half buy ins at 50 for the month. Here's hoping the doomswitch has been turned off. I still have a bit of MUBS there, but I'm getting better.

Starting to feel really confident though. So far this month I have 2 losing sessions (one 60 and one 90) while I have 3 sessions over 100 (and 2 over 150). This is a dramatic turn around from previous months, where my loosing sessions were much bigger than my winning sessions. Part of this is due to improvement, but a big shout out goes to El Nino for finding the key to my tilt. Missing value might not be as talked about as spew, but I have had a couple of sessions turn around this month when I closed my eyes and went for value despite the desire to get to take a lower variance route.

Which brings up a conundrum. El Nino is my coach. No doubt about that. While he hasn't transformed my game, he HAS improved it in so many ways and opened a bunch of doors for me. Much of my rather dramatic improvement can be directly attributed to him. But part of the stake I am getting is free coaching. If I had the time I would have no problem getting sessions from both. Nino's rates are retardedly reasonable compaired to the market for coaches. But for me, as always, it's an issue of time. I just can't afford to take 3 or 4 nights a month off of the tables. But I don't want to lose such a valuable resource.

And now some poker theory for you. Been noticing that a TON of players are instantly potting if you check as the PFA. I'm going to start taking notes on these players and start checking instead of C-betting in certain situations, to see how well that works out. Probably be pretty high variance, but I think there is a spot to increase EV that a lot of people are missing out on. I'm starting to think that with all of the aggression in today's game, you need to look for spots (and I don't mean all the time - but as the occasional curve ball) to take a passive line and hand out some rope. Going to be hard to get out of the value mentality and evaluate the situation before I throw out the value bet with TPTK. But I can't tell you how many times I was the insta pot bet when I checked as PFA.

Blah Blah

Well, last night was BIG PIMPIN! 3200 hands and I won 10bb's! TBH, I think I made a couple of bad river calls, but overall I felt like I was playing decent. Just never got much going. Still, so far this month I have been able to keep my bad sessions as small winners instead of 1-2 buy in losers, which has a LOT to do with why this month is looking so good.

It was also an odd day. I had a reg who had dropped down from higher limits start chatting with me. Basically told me to move up as I was wasting my time at 25. It was a nice confidence boost. It's been really interesting these last couple of months as there seem to be a lot more regs who respect my thought process/giving me encouragement to move up.

And on that note, I have decided to get staked for 50NL. I'm not going into the details of the arrangement, but I will go into the thought process for taking it.

At this point, I won't be able to take shots at 50 unless I have an amazing month. While it certainly looks possible this month (I am over 60% toward my monthly goal already!), one bad day could mean no shot this month. And as far as I can see that is how it will be for the forseable future. I am not in a situation where I can risk loosing a 50NL buy in or two taking shots. That's where the backing comes in. I have worked it out where under 50 is on my roll so that I can still maintain my income. This way I can take a shot at 50 and not have to worry about losing. If I can get it to stick (and I don't see any reason why I can't) then I increase my income. If I don't, then I don't hurt me or my family. So, I consider it an opportunity cost. I will probably lose a little bit in overall earnings due to the lower win rate at 50NL, in the long run it will help me by improving my game and by letting me get established at a higher limit.

The hidden benefits are also that it will make it easier to get my iron man bonus. It will make it possible for me to finally get my black card - which will open up cash bonuses and increase my bonus money. Plus some free coaching will definately be welcome! It will hopefully also establish a relationship that I can use later when I am ready for 100NL.

Oh, and as I will be playing 2 limits instead of 1, it should be much easier to keep up a full set of decent tables. The only real down side is that I probably won't be starting as many tables.

Weekend Update

Well, this was an intersting weekend. I got in a ton of poker, but each session was a trail. Friday and Sunday I started down two buy ins. Saturday I started down almost 4 buy ins. NOT how you want to be started sessions. But I ground out each of them, pulling a 3 buy in winning session on Friday, and just under a buy in on the other two days. Last night was particularly interesting as I lost 4 buy ins at PL (which is usually my better game) and won 5 at NL. I was pretty disappointed overall though. I really felt getting so many hands in at such prime time I would be able to get at least one 4 buy in session and really crank up this month. Sadly, it didn't happen.

On the plus side, I am still ahead of pace for a 1K month in winnings (not including bonus money!)

On the theory side, I think I have swung a bit to far into the large value bet realm. Part of this is probably results oriented thinking from running into 2 rivered 2 pairs/straight type things, but I think my river bets have been getting on the large side. Ah, the adjustments of a poker life.

Improvement and other fun things

Well, so far this month is going pretty smooth. I had one bad session where I played really poorly, costing myself a buy in with a couple of bad calls and generally not value betting well, but otherwise I am improving greatly. The coaching sessions are really paying off. It's not that I've really opened up my range, but I am getting so much more value in so many spots. A funny aspect to this is that while my overall variance has gone down, my short term swings are much greater. I have experienced several 4-5 buy in up swings and a few 2-4 buy in down swings already this month, with less than 5K hands in at 25NL. I still have a relatively low variance style compaired to many regs, but I'm am starting to see why so many regs are used to much bigger swings than I am used to.

Anyway, not much has changed in the last week. I am 1/4 of the way to my goal for the month already just from winnings. Hoping I can keep up the pace and be able to take another shot or two at 50 this month. At this point it has become a moral imperative that I get solidified in 50.

New year - New goals

Well, it's a new year. My end of the year didn't go so well. Took a big whot at 50 and got crushed. I really don't feel to bad about losing as it was cooler situation after cooler. I did learn a lot in those sessions, so it wasn't a total waste.
I was really hoping to get it to stick, as last month was my best shot at getting into 50NL.

So, for the foreseable future, I will be going for 1K in profits before I take a shot at 50NL. The bad news is that I have never made more than $700 in a month. The good news is I would have the last 2 months if I hadn't taken shots at 50. The other good news is that I am already over 20% of the way to my goal after having the best session of my life. I'm fairly confident that I will make my goal for the month as of right now.

I have also been experimenting with turbo table scanner(?). It's a great program that tracks fish. So far it has been amazing. It is great to start a session with 1 or two fish on each table and knowing I will only have to switch out 1 or two tables after I get started. Starting tables is still better, but now when I start up a session I have 8-9 good tables instead of 6-7. It's also nice to have a freind list and a whale list.

This new software has also gotten me back into 6 max. I have almost no database, but the ability to track fish at 6 max is just to juicy to pass up. In the past I have always hated how difficult it is to keep good tables up. Fish go broke and suddenly that juicy table is meh. Then your off to search again. But with the fish tracking tool finding good tables is suddenly easy. So I have been putting in some 5NL at the end of my FR sessions. I'm going to go for 10 buy ins at 5 and 10NL. Hoping to get to 25 by the end of the month (already up 7 at 5NL). So far I have done OK. I'm still overvaluing hands in certain situations (lost 2 buy ins in situations where I should have lost a third of a buy in instead) due to the aggression levels, which still seem retardedly high to me. But the higher win rate posabilities and better rewards are worth a shot.