1/3 Grinding and Bankroll

Woke up super late today, it was raining so I am not surprised I slept in, no sun to wake up to. My buddy apologized for rooting for the other guy in a hand and we got over it. (When he was later all in I did not return the favor and root against him, however.)

Feeling in a very lethargic mood today, not a lot of progress towards my goals lately and a lot of interpersonal disappointments recently as well. Don't really feel the urge to leave the house even, just watching a lodge stream. Feeling very worn down.

Someone who I don't know very well the other night asked why so many people picked on me. People down in Florida were so much nicer.

Won $7,700 at 10/10, boat over boat and top set versus draw/worse made hand (didn’t see which), a bluff didn’t get through and then I called it a session as it was short handed and the spot didn’t have much money left. Grinding 1/2 now.

$62,096 or so left.

Lost $2,500 at 1/2 with top set and AA all against whales that got it in really bad and got lucky. $64,683.

Woke up late, enjoying lattes now with Greek pop music, a sizing mistake one bluff of $700 ($1,100 versus $1,800) may have gotten me called on the river, not sure if he was folding versus a pot sized bet though. Nice to see the market going up again! AAK96ds flatted to keep the whale in the hand paid off on A75r, x/raised the preflop raiser and got it in for $3,500 on the flop and held. Later overlimped AJT97 and flop JJ3dd versus whale, flatted flop, turn 7, x/r $1,800, river A bet $3,500 got looked up by J3.

Last session of the month, hoping it will be a good one to finish strong.

Got a text fro my poker buddy who said this sore loser Korean player who shouts "shiba!" every time he loses was asking "where is the white boy who tries to speak Korean?" (I may have shouted "shiba!" when I lost a hand to him myself.)

I will be taking a beach trip soon with my family and may play poker in Delaware if anyone knows decent places to play plo there.

Session starting well, lost an AA at a low spr and got overflushed, but won AKK hh on QJ6hh to QQ at 5/5.

PLO student won a pot and came up to me and said “you’re the man!” Hahaha…awesome. Lost AK in A23 at 2/5 while waiting for a plo seat after 5/5 broke, K turn 7 river he c/r very large and I let it go….

Won an AA at 1/2 plo and now just waiting for another good spot. As long as I am playing very well I am happy ..so far so good today.

Got AKQQJds in pre for $2k won a nice side pot even though lost the main to AT976. Looks like it could be a nice winning day last sessions of the month and a sweet finish to August as rocky as it was. Gonna nit it up and try to book a good win before quitting and getting some well deserved rest.

Some good table banter today, old Indian man working at Harris teeter and el Salvadoran who worked at giant, “we can write a book,” he said.

Couple players put a side bet on whether one could get me before I quit as well.

Edit: won AA993ds in 4! pot 975 to 86, and the dude with the straight was trying to win his side bet. Turned quads after his check raise. Ez game.

After yesterday's great close to the month, big $100k challenge is looking good! $58,367 to go. In the 50s! Meaning I've made over $40,000 since this thing started.

Woke up in the early morning hours, still resetting my sleep, but greeted by some leftover chipotle and oat milk, which I am trying out after reading something about animal milk not being the best for our health. Got solid sleep again and went for a walk to get my dinner and got some daylight then.

Listening to some old coldplay tunes, the lead singer is not particularly attractive but their music is so good no one cares...like lady gaga. Brings me back to some depressive episodes in college when I would sleep all day and listen to them a lot.

Gave the loser of the AKQJJds and AA993ds hands a lucky $25 chip at his request as he left to put on roulette yesterday, how can you refuse that after taking $4k off someone?

Someone made a comment I must have been super excited by the action game, I joked I would take a recording to watch later on my own. "You're my idol, a master," said some rec player. I just laughed and said "put your money in the pot already." "You're stronger than you look," remarked a dealer after I did some push ups by the table.

If you overcome difficult challenges in life, you will later look back at those times and realize you are a strong and resilient person . . . a fighter. A warrior, even.

Be mindful of which dairy alternatives you drink. Some people discredit a lot of oat milk for containing lots of canola/vegetable oil, others talk about how it needs to be fortified to be any good for you. Some brands contain tons of unnecessary sugar for taste.

Like everything, read ingredient labels and decide what suits you best. I much prefer animal milk so don't have any first-hand experience to offer.

I am mixing it with 2% milk. Gives it a little more heft. Also someone told me the other day his doctor told him that dairy prevents kidney stones.

Slow start to the session today, got a bluff through with naked Q on backdoor flush completing river, otherwise slow. Folded dsAA932 on 652r to a pot sized donk in a 3! pot at a medium spr, looked like a good flop but I made a disciplined fold.

Happy with my exercise routine today, my clothes fit better and I got a compliment on my pineapple shirt. Apparently they are upside down which is code for swinger someone once told me but I doubt many people know that.

Mid session update…going well, lost AKQQ3ds to blind maniac ..ran into a couple other hands pre, but won two AAs against him heads up, then won AA765ss to another AA in 5! pot on Q66. Took a break to eat a turkey sandwich and oat milk latte and now back at it. Beat a short stack with AKKQ on A92ss my nfd and got him with KJJTT on QT3 against his 33.

Good start to the month. Have a challenge with another buddy for September who can make the most profit. So far I am winning.

I’m playing even tighter folding the marginal hands…not punting pre….good headspace. Feeling fine.

At 1/2 plo, lost KKTT7ds in 3! pot at a low spr on KJ9 to two QTs for $1,500 on the flop, they quit with my chips and I left for the big mixed game for the first time in the last six months, line up looked above average, none of my draws got there and lost AKQQTds in plo5 ($1,500 capped pre) to AQQ84 and AT874, my J and Q dugis didn't hold and the one I broke to A52r didn't go anywhere. Lost AA75ds to KK on K99 in big o, a one card 7-draw to a two-card 8 draw in single draw, an 86 got outdrawn in triple draw too. Made some disciplined folds though. All in all a garbage fire session and not how I was hoping the shot to go at the beginning of the month at that. Lost $6,700 minus the $450 I won in plo for a $6,250 loss on the day. I messaged some friends for feedback on hands I played in the mix, but I will not be playing the big mix again anytime soon, gotta focus on my goals. Once in a while is ok though.

Had a bad dream one of my cards got mixed in with my neighbor's in a big pot I was all in for pre for $3,500 with AKo, he somehow got my Kh in his hand and I ended up with the 4d for A4o and I started going ape on the dealer, "you screwed up a $9,000 pot!? You are THE WORST dealer in here!!!"

On the bright side, I reset my sleep schedule so I am up at a normal time for some family stuff this week like my sister's bday and the beach trip.

Already a rough start lost a combo draw to top set and nfd bdfd to straight with fd blockers. Grinding on….

Lost $3.4 at plo, won $1,100 at 20/40 mix, was a good time at the mix too, player in badacey tables A235J and says "A23, J low" and action player who rarely gets to showdown with much is looking at his own hand for a second and asks "jack what" trying to see if he can beat the low...lol...player says 'the smoothest of jacks." I died laughing.

Made a 7 against a smooth 8 in triple draw, lost with a 7 to a better 7 in the same, scooped a couple badacey hands (5/6s) and made nut flush and 7 low in stud 8 against three jacks as well. Very boisterous drunk player in the main game said I was a poker player who should be a lawyer after I almost misread my hand...he was sitting to my direct right and I couldn't handle all that energy 12 hours into my session so I quit not long after. Got an invite back to the big mix and I politely declined.

Down $8,700 to start the month already! It's still early and I have a relaxing beach trip coming up.

Woke up to a heart-shaped design in my latte, fitting since we celebrated my little sister's birthday yesterday as a family.

Ran well in a short afternoon session where I got QT to fold with a turn c/r with KKJ86 on T74Qr and got called by a draw and held. In evening, started running bad in 3! pot with AAnfd versus top two, but made it all back and then some after losing a dsAA all in pre for over $2k to AT554 against a hold 'em player whale. Got him back with AA+low fd on AQJ in 3! pot, he potted I was pretty sure he just had nuts and if he had a better flush draw redraw so be it, we got it in and sure enough he had naked nuts and I got there on the river with my baby flush. Finished him off with AQQ66ds on KT2ss my royal draw, he had 22 and we get it in for piles again and I get there and hold slightly behind this time but against this guy I easily could have been ahead top two or a worse draw. "I've never seen someone lose so many chips so quickly," remarked someone. I must have taken $4k off him in one down.

Briefly considered sitting in a bad-looking 10/10 game but toxic pro claimed my seat to my left before I got a chance to sit down so I decided not to play. The game was trash anyway.

Ended up winning $3,626 on the day. $63,341 to go.

Had a rough 20/40 mixed games session but it was really good company and enjoyable, even sipped a beer. Lost a couple big bets pots as a favorite, and once flopped top pair and back doors at a low spr and ran into top set. Tried to play a Q dugi multiway which did not work out, attempted to iso to thin the field but alas everyone called and I was forced out after the flop. Misread my hand once, thought I improved to a 9 dugi in badeucy but I had pairs in my hand instead.

On the bright side, got to chat with my good friend about a trip to Borgata after I leave the beach, some of them are going for the tournament series and I'll tag along for a few days for a change of pace. Haven't been back there in years. He's an elite player so it's always a treat to spend time with him. He was in the car when I was left stranded in Florida and we recounted the story to the table again. Good times!

At plo where I left for to grind a little lost dsAAKT4 as a favorite to ssAA all in pre and top two bdnfd and gutter and overs against top set against the spot, also lost set to top pair double gutter nfd on turn. Down $800 or so at plo and $1,600 at mixed.

Feeling overall way less stressed about results lately, just going with the flow, probably good for my mental game. I really don't get worked up about losing I'm become so used to it lately.

Made it to the beach, amazing to just rest for a day or two...started googling poker rooms nearby but realized they are too far away or too small of games for my interest. One actual day off this year (sleeping all day doesn't count) is fine. 😀 I really deserve some rest; I've been grinding very hard. 2,389 hours already this year.

when you're self employed in the truest sense it can be really hard to remind yourself to take time off

especially important to avoid burnout

i used to work every single day possible and would always hit a rough stretch where my brain was fried due to burnout where i was making massive blunders just because i was on autopilot

so lately if i'm even remotely disinclined to not put in the work i'll do it and sometimes even end up taking 2-3 days off in a row - i still put in massive hours anyway, but i haven't had burnout for a while so it's definitely good to get in the habit of just tuning out work for a full day or two and just mentally recharging from my experience

Really enjoy your posts.
My doctor asked me today when I last took a vacation. I couldn't answer right away. He was displeased. Enjoy Delaware. The game will be waiting for you.

I already feel refreshed after a night without poker, amazing! I texted my law friend who turned lawyer from poker player last night for ideas on where to play and when he found out I was looking up nearby poker rooms he said "take a night off, for the love of god." Lol.

Going to spend some more time with my parents today and then head to Borgata for the tourney series to meet my friend who I'm sharing a room with. He's always been someone I've looked up to in poker ad learned a lot from. The other night in the mix a player said we both had "integrity," which is not always the case with poker players. My friend said it's easier to have integrity when you're a winning player. True.

Got to borgata greeted by nasty regs with attitudes…everyone even dealers seem on edge..lost an AA pre and was otherwise card dead. Early night’s sleep soon. -$1,000.

your friend is very smart

Yeah super smart, probably genius level. One of the best PLO players I know. Happy to call him a friend. Very well educated like me (chemistry masters) and just made too much money playing it didn’t make sense to keep the day job.

Woke up early today after a solid 9 hours of sleep. Headed straight down to the poker room after a couple lattes (I brought my espresso machine with me lol).