My Poker Journal

Recap for Wednesday:
wakeup:
11:30a

Contract work:
zero work bouts

Poker:
none, went to dinner and watched soccer game. Watched it ends with us, fantastic movie

Physical Health:
PT 1/2

Sleep:
1:15a

Recap for Thursday:
wakeup:
10:50a

Contract work:
one work bout, there was a second but it was short and distracted

Poker:
3.5 hours

Physical Health:
PT 2/2

Sleep:
12:15a

Recap for Friday:
wakeup:
11:30a

Contract work:
none

Poker:
1.5 hours studying
3.5 hours live play

Physical Health:
PT 0/2

Sleep:
idr

Recap for Saturday:
wakeup:
11:30a

Poker:
8.5 hours home game (18.8 hours total this week)

Physical Health:
PT 2/2

Sleep:
1:30a
Oura Ring sleep score: 85
Readiness score 89

Recap for Sunday:
wakeup:
11:30a

Poker:
none

Physical Health:
PT 2/2

Sleep:
12:30a
Sleep score: 84
Readiness score 80

Recap for this week (March 31 - April 6):
Poker:
Minimum Goal - 10 hours
Target Goal - 15 hours
Stretch Goal - 20 hours
Make a plan to study HH onboarding materials

TARGET COMPLETE - 18.8 hours
Plan so far for HH studying is using work bout on saturday or sunday morning.

Contract work:
Goal: 7-9 work bouts
Actual: 5 work bouts... ouch

Physical Therapy:
Minimum Goal - 7/14
Target Goal - 10/14
Stretch Goal - 14/14

MINIMUM COMPLETE - PT for a few days was logged inaccurately assuming I would do it after writing my journal

Goals for this week (April 7 - 13):
Poker:
Minimum Goal - 10 hours
Target Goal - 15 hours
Stretch Goal - 20 hours
1-2 work bouts for HH onboarding materials

Contract work:
Goal: 6-8 bouts

Physical Therapy:
Minimum Goal - 7/14
Target Goal - 10/14
Stretch Goal - 14/14

Sleep:
Track sleep score for the week and average it

Recap for Monday:
wakeup:
10:45a

Contract work:
2 full focused 1.5 hour work bouts

Poker:
3.75 hours played (2/5)

Physical Health:
PT 1/2

Sleep:
Sleep score - 83
Readiness score - 90

Recap for Tuesday:
wakeup:
11:30a - ouch

Contract work:
1 work bout

Poker:
3 hours played (5/10/25)

Physical Health:
PT 1/2

Sleep:
Sleep score - 87
Readiness score - 93

Recap for Wednesday:
wakeup:
idr

Contract work:
1 work bout

Poker:
none

Physical Health:
PT 1/2

Sleep:
Sleep score - 87
Readiness score - 86

Recap for Thursday:
wakeup:
idr

Contract work:
1 work bout

Poker:
5.4 hours of live play

Physical Health:
PT 1/2

Sleep:
Sleep score - 83
Readiness score - 86

Recap for Friday:
wakeup:
10:10a

Contract work:
0 work bouts

Poker:
none (currently at 12.3 hours for the week)

Physical Health:
PT 1/2

Sleep:
Sleep score - 80
Readiness score - 85

Goals from last week (April 7 - 13):
Poker:
Minimum Goal - 10 hours
Target Goal - 15 hours
Stretch Goal - 20 hours
1-2 work bouts for HH onboarding materials

MINIMUM COMPLETE - 12.8 hours, 1 HH work bout

Contract work:
Goal: 6-8 bouts
Outcome: 5 bouts

Physical Therapy:
Minimum Goal - 7/14
Target Goal - 10/14
Stretch Goal - 14/14

MINIMUM GOAL 6.5

Sleep:
Track sleep score for the week and average it
nah not worth my time rn

Goals for next week (April 14 - 20):
Poker:
Minimum Goal - 10 hours
Target Goal - 15 hours
Stretch Goal - 20 hours
5 work bouts for HH onboarding materials

Contract work:
Goal: 5 bouts

Physical Therapy:
Minimum Goal - 5/14
Target Goal - 9/14
Stretch Goal - 12/14

Goals from last week (April 14 - 20):
I started tracking my daily goals on my white board. I'll just sum each of the days and only write my weekly goals here. I'm trying this for two reasons. 1) it is quicker to record. 2) I go on my computer less so I'm less likely to get distracted before bed.

Contract Work:
Goal: 5 bouts
Outcome: 6 bouts

Poker:
Minimum Goal - 10 hours
Target Goal - 15 hours
Stretch Goal - 20 hours
5 work bouts for HH onboarding materials

MINIMUM COMPLETE - 11.8 hours, 2 work bouts for HH materials

Physical Therapy:
Minimum Goal - 5/14
Target Goal - 9/14
Stretch Goal - 12/14

TARGET COMPLETE - 10/14

Goals for next week (April 21 - 27):
I'll be in vegas from Friday morning til Monday afternoon. so goals will be lax this week

Contract Work:
Goal: 4 bouts

Poker:
Minimum Goal - 5 hours
Target Goal - 8 hours
Stretch Goal - 13 hours
- 3 work bouts for HH onboarding materials
- When I get back from vegas I want to start getting in one work bout a day for HH stuff
- Track how many hands of ClubWPTGold I play (at 1981 total right now)

Physical Therapy:
Minimum Goal - 5/14
Target Goal - 7/14
Stretch Goal - 10/14

Do research for car

Goals from this week (April 21 - 27):

Contract Work:
Goal: 4 bouts
Results: 4 bouts

Poker:
Minimum Goal - 5 hours
Target Goal - 8 hours
Stretch Goal - 13 hours
- 3 work bouts for HH onboarding materials
- When I get back from vegas I want to start getting in one work bout a day for HH stuff
- Track how many hands of ClubWPTGold I play (at 1981 total right now)

MIN COMPLETE, 7 hours of live poker
4 work bouts for HH
ended around 2250 hands for clubwpt, so 270 hands total, prob 3-4 hours of play

Physical Therapy:
Minimum Goal - 5/14
Target Goal - 7/14
Stretch Goal - 10/14

STRETCH COMPLETE - 11/14

Do research for car
COMPLETE - narrowed it down to 4 cars. Need to look up insurance stuff next

Goals for April 28 - May 4:

Contract Work:
Goal: 5 bouts

Poker:
Minimum Goal - 10 hours
Target Goal - 15 hours
Stretch Goal - 20 hours
- 5 work bouts for HH onboarding materials
- Track how many hands of ClubWPTGold I play (started at 2250)

Physical Therapy:
Minimum Goal - 5/14
Target Goal - 7/14
Stretch Goal - 11/14

STRETCH COMPLETE - 11/14

Finish research for car and start purchase process

Goals from this week (April 28 - May 4):

Contract Work:
Goal: 5 bouts
GOAL COMPLETE – 5 work bouts done

Poker:
Minimum Goal - 10 hours
Target Goal - 15 hours
Stretch Goal - 20 hours
- 5 work bouts for HH onboarding materials
- Track how many hands of ClubWPTGold I play (started at 2250)
FAILED – 6.8 hours this week. I was sick Friday through Sunday and was unable to go to the casino.
3.5 work bouts done for HH
Around 400 hands of ClubWPTGold

Physical Therapy:
Minimum Goal - 5/14
Target Goal - 7/14
Stretch Goal - 11/14
STRETCH COMPLETE – 12/14

Finish research for car and start purchase process
ALMOST COMPLETE: research is pretty much done, waiting to hear back from friend about car
Also did a decent amount of research on costochondritis and apartment searching.

Goals for May 5 - May 7:

Contract Work:
Goal: 5 bouts

Poker:
Minimum Goal - 10 hours
Target Goal - 15 hours
Stretch Goal - 20 hours
- 5 work bouts for HH onboarding materials (I think 5 was a bit audacious last week coming back from vacation, but I’m going to shoot for 5 again this week)
-Track ClubWPTGold Hands (@ 2681 or 2861 idr)
-I'm on a 7.5k downswing so I think I'll step back down to 1/3 cuz it's starting to affect my mental game and confidence. My next post will be a piece about this.

Physical Therapy:
Minimum Goal - 5/14
Target Goal - 7/14
Stretch Goal - 11/14

Miscellaneous (make progress on at least one of these):
Car purchase
Costochondritis research
Apartment research

This is not gonna be organized cuz I'm not about to go through and revise this.

I’m currently on a 7.5k or 9k (depending on where you place the starting point) downswing in live poker. Most of my hours are at 2/5. Tbf a decent chunk of the downswing came from 10/25 (like 300bb which is actually all 7.5k wow lol), but it’s still taken a shot to my confidence and its affecting my mental game, something I usually consider myself quite good at.

I have two options when at the casino.
1. I can take the probably currently higher EV move by moving down to 1/3 and regaining confidence in my game. Then swings would be much more bearable and I’d be unafraid to put the money in when I think it’s the right decision. Once confidence is regained I’d move back up to 2/5 sooner at that higher winrate. This is a point Phil Galfond makes in his mental game eBook. Def a good read I highly recommend (its also free)
2. Continue to play 2/5. When put in tough situations my emotions of fear and uncertainty are affecting me more because of this downswing. Using fear in my decision making is usually not in line with the highest EV decision. HOWEVER, even though I may make worse decisions. This is an opportunity to continue to make the right decisions despite that fear. It may cost me a little EV now but I may be more resolved in the future.

Option #1 seems like the easier to do and less risky. However, option #2 could lead to more potential growth. After writing all of this out, I think I’ll do option #2. There are a few things I need to keep in mind. Am I a winning player sitting down at this table? I need the answer to be yes or at least breaking even to sit down. If so, I think it’s fine to continue battling it out as long as I keep in mind why I’m not moving down to 1/3.

How can I determine if I’m a winning player? I’d need to identify leaks the players have in their game that I do not have. Going a step further would be thinking how to exploit that weakness. So for this week my goal is not to make money, rather to attempt to make good decisions with the increased emotion on this downswing.

I think you don't play enough, a little obsession goes a long way to breaking the bank.
I always did much better if I play 14 hrs straight, total pain but total gain. With positive EV every bet you don't take is a losing bet.

Yea I agree, I think my volume could improve a lot.

Goals from May 5 - May 11:
Contract Work:
Goal: 5 bouts
Result: 6 bouts
GOAL COMPLETE

Poker:
Minimum Goal - 10 hours
Target Goal - 15 hours
Stretch Goal - 20 hours
GOAL FAILED – 8.8 hours
- 5 work bouts for HH onboarding materials
GOAL FAILED – 4 bouts this week, still happy with 4 bouts tho
-Track ClubWPTGold Hands
(Started:2681, Ended:2783, 102 hands total)

Physical Therapy:
Minimum Goal - 5/14
Target Goal - 7/14
Stretch Goal - 11/14
TARGET COMPLETE – 9/14

Goals for May 12 – 18:
Contract Work:
Goal: 5 bouts

Poker:
Minimum Goal - 10 hours
Target Goal - 15 hours
Stretch Goal - 20 hours
- 3 work bouts for HH onboarding materials
- Track how many hands of ClubWPTGold I play (started at 2783)
I’ll have Monday and Tuesday as set days I play poker this week, instead of doing the hours whenever. I didn’t plan my week this week which made it tough to get my hours in. Hopefully this’ll help.
Tuning down the number of poker study bouts this week.

Physical Therapy:
Minimum Goal - 5/14
Target Goal - 7/14
Stretch Goal - 11/14

Research negotiation for cars

Goals from May 12 – 18:
Contract Work:
Goal: 5 bouts
COMPLETE – 6.5 bouts

Poker:
Minimum Goal - 10 hours
Target Goal - 15 hours
Stretch Goal - 20 hours
- 3 work bouts for HH onboarding materials
TARGET COMPLETE – 15.1 hours
Having fixed days felt much better. I’ll fix Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. This way my minimum goal will be hit with my fixed days.
However, 0 bouts for HH materials. I’m just studying exploitative preflop now, doing flashcards and whatnot. I didn’t feel full work bouts are as useful for this. I’ll do some this week anyway tho.

Physical Therapy:
Minimum Goal - 5/14
Target Goal - 7/14
Stretch Goal - 11/14
TARGET COMPLETE - 8/14. I didn’t do much more cuz my shoulder was sore so I wanted to rest it. I upped the number of cold plunges which I hope helped recovery.

Research negotiation for cars
COMPLETE

Goals for May 19 – May 25:
Contract Work:
Goal: 5 bouts

Poker:
Minimum Goal - 10 hours
Target Goal - 15 hours
Stretch Goal - 20 hours
- 2 work bouts for HH materials

Physical Therapy:
Minimum Goal - 5/14
Target Goal - 7/14
Stretch Goal - 11/14

Test drive cars

Goals from May 19 – May 25:
Contract Work:
Goal: 5 bouts
NOT COMPLETE – 4.5 work bouts

Poker:
Minimum Goal - 10 hours
Target Goal - 15 hours
Stretch Goal - 20 hours
- 2 work bouts for HH materials
STRETCH COMPLETE – 23.5 hours
1 work bout for HH complete
Having fixed days helped WAY more than I expected. I’ll continue to do this for this week. Monday isn’t fixed cuz it’s a holiday tho. I’ll fix Tuesday and Wednesday again.

Physical Therapy:
Minimum Goal - 5/14
Target Goal - 7/14
Stretch Goal - 11/14
TARGET COMPLETE – 7.5

Test drive cars
The car I wanted got sold ☹

Goals for May 26 – June 1:
Contract Work:
Goal: 5 bouts

Poker:
Minimum Goal - 10 hours
Target Goal - 15 hours
Stretch Goal - 20 hours
- 2 work bouts for HH materials

Physical Therapy:
Minimum Goal - 5/14
Target Goal - 7/14
Stretch Goal - 11/14

Do meal prep for the week

Goals from May 26 – June 1:
Contract Work:
Goal: 5 bouts (shoulda been 4 actually cuz Monday was off)
GOAL COMPLETE – 4 bouts

Poker:
Minimum Goal - 10 hours
Target Goal - 15 hours
Stretch Goal - 20 hours
- 2 work bouts for HH materials
TARGET COMPLETE – 14.6 hours
0 HH Bouts tho :(

Physical Therapy:
Minimum Goal - 5/14
Target Goal - 7/14
Stretch Goal - 11/14
TARGET COMPLETE 7/14

Do meal prep for the week
DID IT, didn’t do it for next week tho.

Goals for June 2 – June 8:
Contract Work:
Goal: 5 bouts

Poker:
The Hungry Horse Bootcamp starts Tuesday so that’ll be my priority. Idk how many hours of playing I’ll get in.
Minimum Goal - 0 hours
Target Goal - 5 hours
Stretch Goal - 10 hours

Physical Therapy:
Minimum Goal - 5/14
Target Goal - 7/14
Stretch Goal - 11/14

Goals from June 2 – June 8:
Contract Work:
Goal: 5 bouts
FAILED 4 bouts – lacked on reserving lib rooms in morning

Poker:
Minimum Goal - 0 hours
Target Goal - 5 hours
Stretch Goal - 10 hours
MINIMUM COMPLETE – 1.8 hours
Hungry Horse bootcamp started this week. So far, it’s very involved 😊

Physical Therapy:
Minimum Goal - 5/14
Target Goal - 7/14
Stretch Goal - 11/14
MINIMUM – 6/14

Goals for June 9 – June 15:
Contract Work:
Goal: 5 bouts – Reserve library room each day

Poker:
Ideally, I’d like 2 work bouts per day, apart from the call. One to read the material for the day, and the second to review and do the homework.
Minimum – Participate in all 7 call
Target – 7/14 work bouts (ie one recap or one prep work bout each day)
Stretch – 14/14 work bouts (ie both recap and prep work bout each day)
No goals for live playing hours.

Physical Therapy:
Minimum - 5/7
Target - 6/7
Stretch – 7/7

Goals from June 9 – June 15:
Contract Work:
Goal: 5 bouts – Reserve library room each day
COMPLETE - 6 bouts done

Poker:
Minimum – Participate in all 7 call
Target – 7/14 work bouts (ie one recap or one prep work bout each day)
Stretch – 14/14 work bouts (ie both recap and prep work bout each day)
TARGET COMPLETE – I did the homeworks and readings each day. Didn’t do as much practice hands as I’d like tho.

Physical Therapy:
Minimum - 5/7
Target - 6/7
Stretch – 7/7
MINIMUM COMPLETE – 5/7

Goals for June 16 – June 22:
Contract Work:
Goal: 5 bouts

Poker:
Minimum – Participate in all 7 calls
Target – Complete HW and Readings Each day
Stretch – work bout of working on hands for each day

Physical Therapy:
Minimum - 5/7
Target - 6/7
Stretch – 7/7

Goals from June 16 – June 22:
Contract Work:
Goal: 5 bouts
COMPLETE – 7.5 work bouts, was busier this week

Poker:
Minimum – Participate in all 7 calls
Target – Complete HW and Readings Each day
Stretch – work bout of working on hands for each day
TARGET COMPLETE – worked on hands for 2 of the 7 days.

Physical Therapy:
Minimum - 5/7
Target - 6/7
Stretch – 7/7
MINIMUM COMPLETE – 5.5/7

Goals for June 23 – June 29:
Contract Work:
Goal: 5 bouts
go to gym or library every day to do work

Poker:
Minimum – Participate in all 7 calls
Target – Complete HW and Readings Each day
Stretch – work bout of working on hands for each day

Physical Therapy:
Minimum - 5/7
Target - 6/7
Stretch – 7/7

Goals from June 23 – June 29:
Contract Work:
Goal: 5 bouts
go to gym or library every day to do work
COMPLETE – 5 bouts, missed one day at lib or gym tho

Poker:
Minimum – Participate in all 7 calls
Target – Complete HW and Readings Each day
Stretch – work bout of working on hands for each day
TARGET COMPLETE – didn’t practice many hands :(

Physical Therapy:
Minimum - 5/7
Target - 6/7
Stretch – 7/7
MINIMUM COMPLETE

Goals for June 30 – July 6:
Contract Work:
Goal: 5 bouts – gym or library each day (except 4th of July)

Poker:
Minimum – Participate in last 3 calls
Target – Complete HW and Readings Each day, create plan for next coming weeks

Exercise:
Minimum – 3 days/7 days
Target - 4/7
Stretch – 5/7

Goals from June 30 – July 6:
Contract Work:
Goal: 5 bouts – gym or library each day (except 4th of July)
COMPLETE – 5 bouts

Poker:
Minimum – Participate in last 3 calls
Target – Complete HW and Readings Each day, create plan for next coming weeks
TARGET COMPLETE

Exercise:
Minimum – 3 days/7 days
Target - 4/7
Stretch – 5/7
STRETCH COMPLETE

Goals for July 7 – July 13:
Contract Work:
Goal: 5 – 6 bouts, focused work session outside of house once each day

Poker:
Minimum – 4 hours of studying: 6 hours of live play (reserve library room for Monday and Tuesday to study -> cal)
Target – 6 hours of studying: 6 hours of live play
I’m aiming for a 1:1 play to study ratio for a bit.
Do my warmup routine before each session
Update my Mistakes I Keep on Making Document
Write up a study plan with HH guidelines
Capping each live session at 3 hours to practice A-game.

Exercise:
Minimum – 3 days/7 days
Target - 4/7
Stretch – 5/7

Tour apartments

Goals from July 7 – July 13:
Contract Work:
Goal: 5 – 6 bouts, focused work session outside of house once each day
FAILED: 4.5 bouts – didn’t miss by much tho

Poker:
Minimum – 4 hours of studying: 6 hours of live play (reserve library room for Monday and Tuesday to study -> cal)
Target – 6 hours of studying: 6 hours of live play
I’m aiming for a 1:1 play to study ratio for a bit.
Do my warmup routine before each session
Update my Mistakes I Keep on Making Document
Write up a study plan with HH guidelines
Capping each live session at 3 hours to practice A-game.
TARGET COMPLETE – 6 hours of live play and 6 hours of studying complete.

Exercise:
Minimum – 3 days/7 days
Target - 4/7
Stretch – 5/7
STRETCH COMPLETE – 5/7

Tour apartments
COMPLETE – applied for apartment ��

Goals for July 14 – July 20:
This’ll be a short week. I’m flying to Scotland on July 20. I also have soccer 4 days this week. I wont use that as an excuse to do less tho.

Contract Work:
Goal: 5 – 6 bouts, focused work session outside of house once each day

Poker:
Minimum – 2 hours of studying: 3 hours of live play (reserve library room for Tuesday)
Target – 3 hours of studying: 3 hours of live play
Stretch – 4 hours of studying: 6 hours of live play
When doing study session write out study plan ahead of time.
Update MIKOM document when studying

Exercise:
Minimum – 3 days/7 days
Target - 4/7
Stretch – 5/7

Pack & Plan for Scotland