Best month yet, went pro mid October. I dont think I "paid to see" a single fishy bet, just let it go. Still having difficulty putting in time due to MUBS (Monsters Under the Bed Syndrome). I get 300BB's deep and just get nervous of some eventual suckout so I bail, resulting in a lot of 2 hour sessions. I did take someone's advice to just sitout and play a smaller stakes game until I can come back in at 2/5 for 100BB's which worked out nicely on a couple of occasions. The only thing I dislike about that is by the time I'm building any history at 2/2 I gotta run back to 2/5. Most of the time I just say fuck it and go home. I think once or twice I kept playing deep and lost a few big pots and kicked myself for not quitting, even though thats stupid and should just recognize the value by staying.
I intend to stay at 2/5 for all of 2016 unless I just smash the games and build my roll out of control. 5/10 doesnt run very often in Florida but the PLO 5/10 game does. I actually took a peek at it tonight since I saw lots of black stacks just to witness some guy ship 4k into the middle with JT63sss on a T58ss flop and win against a lesser flush draw. I mean goddamn, even with my limited knowledge of PLO this seems like a game I should take a shot at. 3k max buyin.
Once my lease is up in Florida depending upon how big my roll is I will be looking to relocate to vegas to line myself up for taking shots at 5/10. The only thing that would ever hold me back is if my hourly is actually better at 2/5 Florida vs 5/10 Vegas. The games really are that insanely soft here, and I like living on the coast.
Once again I completely fail in the hourly department, as in not putting in enough hours. 46? lol. Just spent a lot of time fucking around with friends and took the entire week of Thanksgiving off. On the upside I am doing well with my efforts to stop paying off when fish bet/raise me. Still donated at least $1000 but that beats last month. These were also like really obvious spots to fold, I.E. fish fixated on board like there was a gun pointed to his head, heavy breathing, aggressive betting pattern completely out of character from previous hands, etc. Man live is such a goldmine when it comes to tells, but I just had to see to make sure I wasnt misreading them. There's a super aggressive black dude I play with sometimes and he is always sitting deep, and often plays 5/10. He said something to another player one night, "ay mang, when the fish bets you fold!" as he snap folded a river raise. I'm pretty sure he's spewy (I've won multiple 50BB shoves vs him with Ace high) but he at least knows that much.
So my primary goal for next month is going to be putting in those damn hours. I keep doubling or trippling up, getting nervous with a 300BB stack and just bailing from the table with as little as 3 hours on a few occasions. For December I am going to just hump it out no matter how deep me and my opponents get, using a basic stoploss in BB's to know when to quit. For instance if I hit 500BB stack or something and lose 200BB's, well I'll consider that losing 2 buyins regardless of my overall profit and quit. There are just too many players making too many mistakes to pass up on this edge.
In the meantime I really want to buy a new toy. I'm looking at a used 370z to replace my current econo crapbox for roughly the same payment. You can pick up one of these for around 22-23k
If you recall, I finally did it. I ran the numbers, went over the data, tallied the figures, and concluded that my near 6 years of experience plus everything I've learned from LP.net was enough to justify going pro. In the words of the great O'Reilly, WE'LL DO IT LIVE!!!
Your little resident newb spread his wings and actually made a profit, how bout that? The biggest thing you might notice here is my total playtime. I've been struggling to put in more hours, not as a result of discipline but just staying deep. As any live player knows you often end up pretty deep pretty quick sometimes. I'm just not comfortable sitting on 400BB's yet. It's really just a case of MUBS - Monsters Under the Bed Syndrome. I see so many bad beats that I become paranoid I could become the victim of one in a huge pot. Fish can be truly fearless at times since anything earned over their initial buyin is just a freeroll in their eyes. They could run $300 up to $2500 and as long as they finish $400 for the night they consider it a good session. So I end up having these little mini 4 hour sessions before I cash out and come back the next day.
What's really bad here though is just how much money I've given back. Consider the following
Each one of those downward spikes is me going on tilt, calling big bets on the river just to prove to myself how bad I run. Like I know I'm beat, but I want to see their cards so I can feel good about how I played it and how bad they did. It's stupid and I'm working on it. Had I not donated like that I'd easily be up another 3k on my winnings this month. Just talking about how I gave fish $3000 for the pleasure of making them show their dogshit hand makes me want to vomit. Hopefully next month produces a cleaner graph.
All in all though playing poker professionally has turned out to be everything I wanted it to be. My friends/work acquaintances are all jealous, and I just sit back and literally do whatever the fuck I want each day. It's so incredibly relaxing to no longer have to walk on eggshells answering to a bossman. Having someone micromanage you, check on your schedule, chastise you for taking an extra long lunch break, feeling guilty when I come in late or go home early. Fuck all that noise. I feel healthier, I am eating better, I get all the sleep I need, and just really feel like I'm at peace and in a good place in life right now. This is definitely the life for me.
Thanks for all the support people have given me here. LP definitely turns out a unique breed of player in my opinion. Aiming for 5k minimum next month.
Put in my 2 weeks today. Of course boss freaked out because I am the only person in IT so it kinda fucks them. I'm very well regarded and liked though, even take flying lessons with the owner of the company, so there's no bad blood in me leaving the company hanging like that. Asked me what it would take to get me to stay. I threw an absurd number out there and even told him I knew it was absurd, but hey money is money. I currently make 64k and told him 90k and I'll stay. Reason being is that I need a strong incentive to stay if I'm going to sacrifice poker dream and work a job I no longer enjoy (obviously didnt tell him about poker). Plus my company is currently struggling so I need the added income insurance in case I lose my job in 6 months anyway. They've laid off so many people there is easily 2 million in salary they have saved. My boss himself makes 230k as a "director of IT" which just means he signs the checks to order new phone systems and tells me to do the work. Fuck em, they can easily pitch 25k my way after firing everyone in IT but me. He said he'll talk to the president and get back to me Monday with a counter.
Someone just bought my house, and I just sold my Orange mustang. Already went apartment hunting in Jacksonville so I know all the good places. Hopefully they can squeeze me in within 2 weeks since I dont want to waste any time after unemployment. I dont know what my real bankroll will be after home sale and all, but I'm hoping to have about 8k in the checking account when I touchdown in Florida (plus $0 balances on my credit cards netting me 20-30k as a parachute). I will immediately begin scouting new jobs as a backup just to get the ball rolling in case I go on instant poker downswing. Granted I'm only giving myself a 2 week headstart but it's better than nothing.
The guy I stayed with through Airbnb is an "IT project manager" of some sort, and he told me to give him my resume so hopefully that can jumpstart things. If I hit it off playing poker I'll postpone any interviews. Or maybe I'll go on them anyway, get a job locked up, and then depending upon my risk tolerance just bail at the last second.
I figure worst case scenario is that since I stand a good chance of losing my current job anyway, I might as well be unemployed and fully relocated to a new city so that poker is within arm's reach so I can keep that opportunity available to me in the future.
Longterm objective is to crush 2/5, gross 80k as poker salary, then look at moving to vegas or SoCal so I can take it to the next level and play 5/10. Going to florida is just easier logistically right now since I live in SC.
So yesterday was my last day in the hidden poker mecca known as Jacksonville FL. The only new thing I got to do tonight was spend 8 hours waiting for a fish to donate $400 to me that never came. I eventually retired from hunger and called it quits. Still had a few lolworthy moments where I bet $200 into a $75 pot and got tank called, so on and so forth. It feels so unnatural not to balance yet the more I get used to it the easier poker seems. "Like really? I just tell you how much money I want you to give me, and you do it?" Fascinating how live fish have not even considered what the implications of pot odds are. The only time I hear the term is when someone raises $40 pre, gets 1 call, and the BB says he has to come along too, heh.
So where does this leave me? A dead end job that I'm seriously thinking about putting in my 2 weeks notice with. I have 40k in available credit card debt should I have to let my expenses/rent ride and a healthy skillset to land a new job if things get really bad. Should I do it? Should I make the move?
Lifetime earnings since I began tracking in November: $8000 @ 256 hours. What could possibly go wrong? :D :D :D
I caught my reflection in the window walking towards the card room tonight, and my how handsome and confident I looked. I had quite the swagger due to my ability to crush donks like you've never seen. I sit down, and within 45 minutes manage to dust off $1500 to my opponents. Dafuq just happened. Oh yeah I know, because I am god's greatest gift to poker I can sniff out every bluff. Whats that you say? You're value betting a 6699T runout? I PUT YOU ON AIR SIR. Oh, A6o. Yeah that makes sense.
Luckily I came to my senses and just stopped with all the hero call bullshit and won it back
More nods thrown LP's way. Just sticking to strat #1, bet whatever I think they will call/fold. Got everything from $200 pre to $30/$100 pot bets with the results I wanted. Set a new single session record for me winning about 600BB's at one table. Obligatory chip porn below: 2/5 NLHE
Took the advice given in the last thread. Recognized that while 54s in the CO is a perfectly fine hand to play, and has potential for iso'ing against competent online regs, raising this in a live game is just pure spew. So I started overlimping a lot, from MP to LP. I think the worst hand I raised the button with was JTo vs 2 limpers. My preflop raise size was dependent upon who was in the pot and what I thought they would call. I actually got a lady to call $150 pre after she put in $20 with KTo. Even more interesting was I got the same guy at my table from the other night who abuses position constantly. I decided he was borderline maniac status and that trapping would be better than brute force. I snapped off 3 multi-street bluffs and he became visibly frustrated.
Nothing special today. Ran into another table with light raisers. I want to say they seem like they've probably learned some stuff from online forums but it just seems terribly misapplied. I mean there can virtually never be a good reason for raising 25s or K7o utg can there? I decided not to let it get the best of me and stopped with all the iso-raising, however I was still having difficulty playing 5 way pots every time I did open. My standard preflop sizing is 4xBB+1. So 3 limpers = $35. This means nothing to them, and I guess thats ok but you know what comes next. Dry flop that somehow connects with everyone but you. Am I raising too small? Or is my range too wide?
For instance 3 limpers and I have KTs in the CO at 2/5NL. What do I want to make it assuming they are all your typical 90vpip fish?
Damn, I thought I was better than this, but I still let tilt get the best of me today. Finally had an encounter with the kind of penny stakes fish that used to drive me insane online. One guy raised 74s utg, called my 3bet preflop, then 3bet the flop after I tried to steal it from him and showed a pair of 7's on an Ace high flop after I folded. I didnt feel outplayed, but more like he's just insane since I hadnt had any run in's with him to date. I start 3betting him every time he raises with limited success. A few folds here and there but mostly calls that I kept having to lay down on the most random of fucking boards that he just wouldnt go away on. I chip him up at least $300 before the inevitable happens.
Reg: $2700
Hero: $1100 (As8s)
Reg: BTN raises to $20
Hero: BB raises to $75
Reg: snap calls
Flop: 624ss
Hero: bets $110
Reg: snap calls
Turn: 624Tsss
Hero: bets $315
Reg: snap calls
River: 624TTsss
Hero: tank jams for effect
Reg: snap calls
Reg shows T6hh for a runner runner boat. This is what used to drive me to punching monitors back in the day. You just attack and attack and attack some insane fish and when you finally hit that pivotal moment where you're both deepstacked, they fucking hit a miracle one last time. I even commented on it earlier after he kept beating me with his dog shit hands that "we're gonna get into it eventually I know it buddy!" He eventually left and I got moved to a table full of black guys. That didnt go well. Got shoved on twice preflop by rags and lost, and got a guy to call $50 pre with 52o and $150cbet on a gutshot and get there.