Started with a $1/$2nl challenge, now we're here.
😮WARNING!! IMA 2+2 VIRGIN!! FIRST DAY AT THIS!! FIRST THREAD!!
The Goal is Simple - $40k in One Year (starting Jan.1st 2013) playing only $1-$2NLHE, and $1-$3 NLHE cash games. Most of my play will be @HSIPoker (90% of play), @HollywoodPoker (5% of play) in southern Indiana, and other (5% of play). I will make the occasional trips Vegas, Chicago, etc. My buy-ins will be least $300 and no more than $800 in all daily sessions. If I lose a $800 bullet in the first hour of play, then I leave. Therefore a losing session will never exceed $800. I am committed to play an average of 30-35 hours a week. All statistics (running total $, $/hr., #of hrs. win/loss ratio, etc.) will be tracked through my Poker Journal App. The max buy-ins on both of these games @HSIPoker is $300 up to half the big stack at the table (i.e. big stack has $1400, then new player can buy-in for $700, or other players at table can add up to $700 to their chips). Also @HSIPoker players can straddle from any position, so $1-$2 plays like a $1-$3 or even $2-$5 w/deep stacks. Side note: Just yesterday a maniac player at $1-$2 nlhe straddled for $350!! I will also play no more than $5k worth of tournaments for the year ranging from $300-$1700 buy-ins. The tournaments will be recorded separately, and will be added or deducted from cash game total profits at the end of the year (ending Dec. 31st 2013). I will stay committed to this all year and I will not stray from my rules. I can guarantee I will post at least twice a week, and would even like to link a monthly video segments throughout the year. If you stay with me on this journey, I can promise you I will stay with you throughout the whole year. You can count on total transparency in my poker grind. I will share honestly the ups and downs, the brutal swings, and sprinkle in some spice and substance. All while trying to spare you the bad beat stories. I rather do naked snow angels in freezing temps than listening to someone’s bad beat story. For future reference if you share one with me, I will act like I care, but I will really be thinking of when will this bad beat story end!! You can also follow - http://twitter.com/RayzRayl
Background – Starting playing seriously at age 25 during the Chris Moneymaker boom. Duh! It was around the same time I was teaching middle school math. I left teaching to create my own destiny. I started out playing low limits and have played as high as $25-$50 NLHE online. I am like most of you that have $ tied up on Full-Tilt. I am mostly a cash game player, and have played very few tournaments with very little success. I bricked the WSOP Main Event twice (I bought in once, and the other seat was a won through PokerStars). I seem to come up short on the big buy-in tourneys. My biggest score in tournaments are a couple of $20k cashes, and biggest score in cash games are a few $10k sessions. Sometimes poker was my full-time job, and sometimes it was supplement income. Right now it is my full-time job. I own a few rental properties, so that helps take the pressure off the grind. My girlfriend (15yr. relationship) and I have 2 girls (2yrs and 9yrs) that are joys of my life. My biggest challenge is explaining to them along with everyone else that I play poker for a living. I struggle with the fact that I am basically chasing money, and not doing anything productive. On the flip side, I do like the higher levels of thinking, the competition, and the pressure that poker offers me. Furthermore, I am not a gambler! I go straight to the poker room and straight out, nothing in between (no dice, no colors, no slots, no blackjack, etc.). Don’t get me wrong though I will bet anything I have an edge on. Most of all, I am a man devoted to my faith. Side note: I don’t see playing poker as sinful behavior, or gambling. I define gambling as anything where I’m not a favorite to win long term. More about me . . . thrive on competition, unique, introvert, outside the box thinker, gym fitness member, a bit anti-social, well mannered, authored my memoir at age 30, every other weekend drinker, love my church, entrepreneurial thinker, tennis junkie, green thumb, and I think cats are skittish.
Reason for Goal – The challenge itself is the ultimate reason for this goal. I was recently in a conversation with a friend of mine, and he was stating that $30k/yr. was a realistic earning for a $1-2, $1-3 nlhe grinder. I discussed that an “A” player putting in 40hrs/wk. can possibly make $40k/yr. He said, “no way”, and I said “I’m going to do it.” And that’s how this goal started. Reason 2) Simple – the goal will keep me staying determined to play flawlessly, and it will keep me focused at the task at hand. This goal allows me to stay “hungry” the whole year. I enjoy the pressure of striving to achieve something that is challenging. This challenge will keep me waking up each day and grinding. The satisfaction of achieving this goal will be half the fun, and the journey getting there is the other half. My subscribers, followers, and my post will keep accountable; and keeps me determined to play my “A” game. Thank you in advance for subscribing/following! Reason 3) it keeps the pressure off me playing the bigger games. I always told people the “poker lows” hurt more than the “highs” feel good. If that makes any sense to you! There were times when I was playing bigger limits where I would lose $5k in a sesh. Trust me those days sting! When I lost that amount of cheddar I would always think of what I could have done with that money; i.e. remodel the kitchen, go on shopping spree, buy a used car, get a golf membership at the country club, etc. When I win it’s like “cool”, but when I lose big it affects my whole psyche! With this goal I am managing my losses where worst case scenario is an $800 losing day. Reason 4) the $1-$2 NLHE is the most popular poker game around. There are more $1-$2 players than any other game. This will give a good idea of what’s a realistic earning from a solid $1-$2nlhe player. I want to do this for all the grinders. There is not a truer grinder than a $1-$2 grinder. Big Ups to all the 1-2ers!
Cliff Notes – Can I? Or can’t I? Make $40k in 2013 playing only $1-$2 and $1-$3 NLHE. Playing at least 30hrs/wk. and buying in for no more than $800 a session! I will also invest no more than $5k in tournaments in 2013 that will be factored into the $40k/year goal. I will post often with full transparency. I thrive on competition. My motto is look good, feel good, play good. I like puzzles. I have a degree in Mathematics. This is my very first post on 2 + 2 forum. 
All feedback welcome.
Thanks,
Rayz
Concrete!
Just watched “This is Not Financial Advice” last night. Fun watch; enjoyed it. Think hero needs to get some of that run it up energy back!
They experts say wait 8 months to paint.
I guess we work everything else until then. Paint in October.
Goal goes up this weekend.
$2200 for goal and install.
$18k
This has been (and likely will be) the nut low period of time recently to not have any money in the market. Combined with nut worst mortgage rates we will see in our lifetimes. Fairly unlucky I guess
This has been (and likely will be) the nut low period of time recently to not have any money in the market. Combined with nut worst mortgage rates we will see in our lifetimes. Fairly unlucky I guess
The vast majority of gains in the market have come from a small subset of companies (nvda, Tesla, msft, goog, amzn, appl, meta) the so-called magnificent 7. With the way Rayz invests he would have likely not had any exposure to any of these companies so there’s no guarantee he even would have made money. Bitcoin has moved from around 27k to 47k so if he moved back into crypto he likely would have done well
-$605 playing 1/3nl
+$1,477 playing 2/5nl
-$400 playing 1/2 plo
4:30-9:30p
Made a little money losing 2 outta of 3. Lol
The 5/10 was pretty good, def missed out!
Even my daughter knows Taylor always wins.
13+87 = 100
i remember i think 3 years ago when you bet either 5k or 10k on a Chiefs future to win the SB, and then they go and win b2b years!
@hellmuthwasright that started the downswing for me. Shd hv never lost to Bengals that year. Blew that game right before the half vs Bengals. Still remember watching it at Planet fitness during a workout.
U all love a hh. Here ya go.
2/5nl Button straddle $10. W my favorite hand 10d8d w$1k.
Action fun thinking player ($1k) in bb limps the straddle, aggro ($600) utg makes it $45, call from omc ($800) in mp. complete on straddle. Bb limp/calls.
4 way pot $180
Flop 10c10h4s Checks around.
Turn Ac.
Bb checks, utg bets $50, omc folds. I smooth $50. Bb check/raises to $250. Utg bet/Folds. I call.
Head up pot $730
River 6h
Bb bets $350.
Call or fold?
@hellmuthwasright that started the downswing for me. Shd hv never lost to Bengals that year. Blew that game right before the half vs Bengals. Still remember watching it at Planet fitness during a workout.
U all love a hh. Here ya go.
2/5nl Button straddle $10. W my favorite hand 10d8d w$1k.
Action fun thinking player ($1k) in bb limps the straddle, aggro ($600) utg makes it $45, call from omc ($800) in mp. complete on straddle. Bb limp/calls.
4 way pot $180
Flop 10c10h4s Checks around.
Turn Ac.
Bb
Fold pre. Also don't straddle, you're over 40 and you have gray hair, you are the old man coffee now. But seriously just fold pre here. Straddled hands inevitably play tighter than they should based on the blinds. This $45 is strong, T8s is a very good hand to exemplify reverse implied odds. Nothing you can flop besides the stone nuts (staight, full house) is ever that good. Raising with it is questionable, calling with it is bad.
As played you basically have to shrug then call. Don't forget to shrug before you make the call though! But again fold pre and just avoid this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Never bet on football. The ball isn't round, it does all sorts of crazy things, it's unpredictable. - Norm Macdonald probably.
@hellmuthwasright that started the downswing for me. Shd hv never lost to Bengals that year. Blew that game right before the half vs Bengals. Still remember watching it at Planet fitness during a workout.
U all love a hh. Here ya go.
2/5nl Button straddle $10. W my favorite hand 10d8d w$1k.
Action fun thinking player ($1k) in bb limps the straddle, aggro ($600) utg makes it $45, call from omc ($800) in mp. complete on straddle. Bb limp/calls.
4 way pot $180
Flop 10c10h4s Checks around.
Turn Ac.
Bb
I think this is a call at this price. I can put Villain on clubs and weaker aces. As played, I think you look weak enough that Villain could either choose this size for thin value, or to bluff.
FWIW, I believe your hand is too strong on the button and stacks are too deep to be checking the flop. And I believe it also contributes to finding yourself in a tougher decision here. I think a better hand reveals itself earlier, and possibly for less money, if you’re more aggressive postflop.
Fold pre. Also don't straddle, you're over 40 and you have gray hair, you are the old man coffee now. But seriously just fold pre here. Straddled hands inevitably play tighter than they should based on the blinds. This $45 is strong, T8s is a very good hand to exemplify reverse implied odds. Nothing you can flop besides the stone nuts (staight, full house) is ever that good. Raising with it is questionable, calling with it is bad.
As played you basically have to shrug then call. Don't forge
I think this heavily depends on what aggro means. I’m not sure we know enough to say T8s OTB is a simple fold.
•It was an agreed button straddle orbit.
•Not defending 8d10d seems bit nitty. Pure call imo. Mayb 3bet sometimes.
•Checked flop line thought wd pay me more in the hand. I want more money in the pot. If bet flop maybe no one calls me. Let them catch top pair, draw, or something ott. Im in position and hv the opportunity to raise all turn bets.
In this instance, i just flatted the initial $50 bet ott from the utg preflop raiser. Bb then makes his move ch/raising to $250. That gets utg to fold, I call w my trips.
Brick river. Bb fires half pot $360. Doesn’t he go larger if bluffs? Tbh, I was gonna call from jump, but the more I took my time the more I wanted to fold.
What am I beating? I fold.
Racked up 90 mins later, and he said he had 44. Flopped boat.
-$187 2/5nl. <— gd fold helped that #.
-$150 1/3nl. <—bad call w KK & a bad line cost me $300.
-$337 total.
Ordered this last night. Wanted a sturdy base. 3” minimum frame. Wheels to roll off court. Something that wdnt blow away in windy conditions. A cranked pro net.
The bball goal is installed.
Yesterdays’ costs
$1k pickle net + $330 yesterday poker loss +$200 for 50 more retaining wall blocks +$100 life bill stuff = $16.4k life roll.
*NC trip Thursday cd cost us $1k ish if no bueno.
@mastaaces its a suited connecter. The implied is strong.
In a below avg morning game.
Dude in seat 4 here is talking bout a driving service that he has for asst living homes. I like that idea.
•It was an agreed button straddle orbit.
•Not defending 8d10d seems bit nitty. Pure call imo. Mayb 3bet sometimes.
•Checked flop line thought wd pay me more in the hand. I want more money in the pot. If bet flop maybe no one calls me. Let them catch top pair, draw, or something ott. Im in position and hv the opportunity to raise all turn bets.
In this instance, i just flatted the initial $50 bet ott from the utg preflop raiser. Bb then makes his move ch/raising to $250. Th
I obviously never trust what someone says at the table, I need to see their cards. That said, I can believe 44 as easily as I can believe aces, and missed flushes. It doesnÂ’t make *perfect* sense, and I agree you might expect a larger size from a bluff. But you might also expect a flop bet. Or a turn lead. What I wouldnÂ’t expect is two checks that deep from a full house.
And while I understand you were slow playing with the intent to get paid later, IMO this reasoning only holds if you think a bet turns your hand face-up. On the button, I donÂ’t think it does. Especially if youÂ’ve managed to foster a looser image throughout the session. Other than that, youÂ’re simply passing on 1/3 of possible betting streets with a hand that can get paid on all three. As played, even then, you simply called $50 on the turn. Not doing much to build a pot there.
But probably most important of all is the position someone with a better hand will find themselves if you bet sooner. A smooth call, followed by a check/raise on the turn sends up far more red flags than VillainÂ’s actual line. It can give you an easier decision. And it leaves you the option to get all-in comfortably when you hit the nuts. As played, VillainÂ’s opponents look very weak. $50 into over $180, followed by a flat begs for a semi-bluff by a thinking player.
