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.