1/3 Grinding and Bankroll

I started off as a chemistry major, but apparently you actually need to go to class -- and those guys are smart! 😉 Turns out pre-vet was easier, but somehow I ended up as a writer/editor (thanks, Elaine Benese) and in communications.

I wanted to do pre med like my dad but general chemistry was really tough. I think the best I managed was a D, on my second try.

If the sun was shining or it was raining or snowing, I would not go to class 😉 I got my degree, but went back for writing/editing at 24. Much more disciplined!

Funny, my two A+s in college were statistics and logic -- probably why I love poker.

Played the plo mix tournament, busted right before dinner break, lost to a pirate with AA nut low draw to his two pair. Then lost AQQ73ds and AKQ82 as a short stack, had to go with something before blinding out.

Now grinding 5/5 plo again. Happy to be with friends. Now if only I could make some money!

Played 5/5 plo, ran fine until a double bard bomb pot we play every dealer change, flopped three pair with KJ52 K52dd on top with j flush draw too, and a double gutter on bottom AT3 and got it in against top set KKK and got scooped. Mike Dentale who had been very loud all night yells, "all that for kings and fives?!" (he also refused to move to the main game when asked to because the game was trash...lol). After I lost most of my stack and reloaded from the dealer, older Euro reg across from me bursts, "I don't understand it, why do dealers give small chips!?" (Whining and complaining among the regs is a common theme here at the Borgata poker room.)

Lost $500 in tourney and another $2k or so in cash on the trip so far. I got to the main game and another reg called the floor to double check if I was next up to move (I got AA all in pre the night before against him and lost). "Are you next I thought you were new?" he inquired. "I don't know what to tell you, they told me to move and I'm here now," I said, a little annoyed at him and knowing I had been waiting for a couple hours to move and I was in fact next. Reg whispers something about angle-shooter and snickers to the player to his left. Not feeling welcomed and the game did not look that good as Mike Dentale had been complaining about it earlier, and I was getting very tired,so I quit and spared them the annoyance of a short stack. But not before ordering two cups of milk from the waitress for my espresso the next morning. Asked if anyone wanted small chips to color me up and no one even replied to my question as I left.

Got solid sleep, enjoying lattes from home now. Have a view of people sun bathing right across from the highway in the hotel's spa area.

Sorry about the run bad :( Glad you have good coffee!

Super grateful for the lattes and glad I brought the little portable machine with me.

Running meh today, KQQJ lost to A864 on AT8r at a low spr at 5/5, won a couple hundo at 2/2 at least even though ran bad in bomb pot with two pair open ender on top and top two on bottom backdooor nfd on both.

The grind goes on. It’s nice to still see big and small mistakes by my opponents, gives me hope I have what it takes in any line up even four card which I have much less experience in. And for all the five card haters out there, five card is a much more profitable game then four card and it’s not even close.

Just witnessed a great river tank…perhaps one of the greatest ever.

Chubby Asian chick raises and gets called by the btn pro, flop 467ss. She pots he calls. Turn Jh. She pots $750 he calls. River 6s. She checks he jams. She has $800 left. She tanks a minute or so, “are you bluffing?” He shows one card, a 6d. She is hemming and hawing. He says “I did 50/50, I’”l let you phone a friend but that’s your last lifeline.” Then two people chirp up, “what about ask the audience?” Dealer objects to any of these. Finally she settles on flipping a coin. “Does anyone have a coin?” Someone offers a $50 bill, another a player’s card. Finally a massage therapist gives her a quarter. “Ok tails I call heads I fold.” “Oh no, tail between my legs, yeah I fold if tails.” She lands heads and calls and he has the nut flush and she frustratingly mucks.

Woke up relatively early, got a solid night's sleep (10+ hours), enjoying music and lattes now (Kat Deluna megamix, solid go-to) got to catch up with my good poker friend in the evening too, he is getting to play blackjack here even though he's been banned from it from other MGM properties. We chatted some hands and strat, it was nice to have some camaraderie.

Slacking a little on exercise during the beach and Borgata trip, will do a few extra push ups and jumping jacks today.

The 5/5 plo at borgata is an interesting game, you can tell there are some big egos at the table which is funny considering it's not even that big of a game (it plays 5/5/10). I 3! when I finally got dealt a playable AJT8ds in BB versus the loosest reg at the table and a SB flat and opener said "oh no." When I lost (I flopped a nut wrap and J flush draw on KQ4ccd bdnfd too), dealer asked how much I was rebuying for and I said "$500," "the minimum," chimed in the loose reg. Dealer gave me a scoff and eye roll. Lol. I would like to see how some of these pros handle themselves in a 10/10/50/100 5 card line up in Maryland, see if they still have all that swagger.

Also, the dealers here are terrible at dealing PLO for the most part and I will probably almost never come back to Borgata for that reason alone (nevermind the bad attitudes of some regs). They have made countless mistakes whether it's blinds, counting the pot, running two boards, reading tabled hands, chopping pots, etc. Not sure if it's because they have some traveling dealers from the tourneys dealing cash too...but way more mistakes and missteps than back home. This trip is giving me more reasons to appreciate what I have at MGMNH.

The one thing I will give a new location is being an unknown...people assume because I do not play here much I am a fish, which is great for my table image...lots of bluff raises getting through no problem so far.

Was greeted at 2/5 today with being sent to a new game, being dealt in and then being told I had to move tables because of a table transfer a couple minutes later. I politely declined to play at the other game and just waited for plo.

It just took 28 minutes to play one bomb pot…it was 1/2 1/4 1/4 and the dealer had to call the floor over to figure out chopping the pot…omg! At least people are absolutely atrocious at playing these double boards.

Question, how do you deal with filing taxes or what do you do with your winnings to separate your bankroll etc as well to live off it? Do you form an LLC as well and make deductions towards it?

I pay self-employment taxes as a professional poker player. I have a bank account for bankroll and life roll and a box at my home casino. The rest is in retirement and other investment accounts. I don’t have an LLC.

Was pretty spot and card dead at a really good 5/5 game this morning, game got bad so I left and played the $1k plo tournament and made the money on one bullet and back for day 2 in the morning with a very small stack. I may not even wake up for it, will see, I have 3 big blinds. Happy to at least cash and make some money this trip for a change.

Wake up for it!

I woke up! Hahaha. Off to grab coffee and then try to run up my short stack.

Go, go, go!

Thanks, at least I got a good table draw. Gotta get lucky! 25k stack blinds 4/8/8k bb ante.

Got a double hand #1. Utg open and I ship heads up I have KJ84ds he has AKTx and I win.hand #3 get double again AAQT versus AKQJÂ…!

Edit: just busted AAQ5 to AK32 3! pre spr .5 got it in on 345. 3! a little small by mistake I miscounted by chip denominations and it backfired this time. Off to play cash now.

Won $1700 at plo cash between 25/25 and 5/5, then quit for the dealers choice tournment where I got a series of unwelcomed needles from some negative Nancy that irked me to no end. Busted with A26 in a-5 triple draw. Now back at cash and might play the live stream 10/10 apparently a good game.

Why do people give you a hard time everywhere you go? Is the friend who you’re traveling experiencing the same negativity back home and in AC?

My other buddy who was at the table said I shouldn’t take it personally as this particular guy is always sorta an *******, just his personality.

Maybe it’s my appearance I dunno, or my demeanor. Or my short stacking or tightness. But all in all I haven’t experienced any issues with players on this trip, this was the first dude who rubbed me the wrong way. I’ve gone out of my way to give positive vibes and not be as introverted and for the most part people have been responding well.

Solid sleep, beach and borgata vacation coming to a close soon, has been a good experience. Most of all made me appreciate what I have at home even more than I did before. (Although the guys here are definitely cuter on average!) Also realized I am a great plo player who can beat and hold my own in any live field. 5 card and 4 card are certainly different but I was making adjustments here and there. I was pretty much the only player who was three-betting in the 25/25 game, and in fact I noticed a lot of passivity here in general. (But I'm not going to lie, I limped bad or rainbow aces a couple times during this trip myself!)

cashing the $1k plo after max late registering was awesome too, and on day 2 I had real hopes of some pay jumps if not for getting my AA cracked. But for my first $1k and not being a tournament specialist by any means, I'll take a min cash! Overall between tournaments and cash games I am down just a few hundred on the trip, ran bad in a couple bigger pots on the trip and my aces were definitely not running well.

Lost an AA to KK at 5/5 and a bluff raise didn’t get through, he had a good combo to call with blocking some boats and flushes. Card dead now..at least I flopped top set in a 3! pot at 2/5 while waiting for plo.

A little choppy sleep, some roommate slumber snoring kept me up, but I'll be all right. Lattes now waking me up before my drive home. Looking forward to going back to familiar territory. I've said it before but there is really a home field advantage in poker as in sports. Players in their home casino know all the regs and VIPs and have good reads after years of playing with the same faces. I made reads quickly and tagged certain people as most similar to others I play with back home.."solid, like so and so, usually has it" "nit, like ...don't pay him off." Most of my reads were the same here actually, the regs are by and large pretty tight and aggressive just like back home, and there are a lot of them. I saw the same faces nearly every day, seems like a pretty small player pool. I felt like I made a good impression, one reg said "no thanks" to calling my raise after I showed a bluff the previous hand, another was nice enough not to come in on the big blind which would have forced me to straddle twice.

The double board bomb pots every dealer change really added up, it is hard to flop well on both boards or massive on one, and the one or two times I did flop well on both I got scooped. Players don't pay these very well so it was unfortunate to run so badly in the ones I did play after the flop. Ran well below EV with my aces this trip as well, I guess plo4 and plo5 aren't that different in that respect. I was hoping they'd be a little better in four card. I saw some players going ape with them multiway at lower sprs...that usually doesn't work out in plo5 and I didn't see it work out for the ones who did it in these games either.

The food selection was good, I especially enjoyed the salad bar in the food court, healthy, good portions, and not too overpriced. (MGMNH got rid of their salad place a while back...our food option are not as healthy unfortunately. Sushi our best bet.)

Some of the tourney pros here for the series seemed very tired and unhappy...probably a tougher life traveling all the time and having no consistency. Another reason to appreciate my set up back home.

Was tired from a long drive and traffic and didn’t play my best , called a 4! With T high ds and AKJ94ds and AKK33ds all whiffed. Lost set over set to a short stack as well and then left for hold em to just reset and cool off before completely losing my sht. Someone friendly at plo said he noticed I’d been gone a few days and said “your absence is felt.” 😀 very kind. Of course I couldn’t help myself and responded “is that a good thing or a bad thing?”