Renter to Real Estate; To Midstakes and Beyond [PLO]

Renter to Real Estate; To Midstakes and Beyond [PLO]

Intro:
I am on a journey. This journey has a fixed beginning and a clear ending. There are checkpoints at which point I can measure my progress to be ahead of or behind my expectations. Whatever my progress, it is what it is. Personal acceptance & inner peace are critical for success, especially for an endeavor as swingy as PLO. The iteration of reality we find ourselves hurtling down can't be changed by our reactions to it or because of our personal preferences, rather we have to accept it for how it is and do our best given the circumstances.

"I follow cheerfully; and, did I not,
Wicked and wretched, I must follow still
Whoever yields properly to Fate, is deemed
Wise among men, and knows the laws of heaven."
Euripides

Goals:
August 2018: 2/5 zoom with $100k+
End of 2018: 10/20 PLO reg
End of 2019: 25/50 PLO reg
End of 2020: I want to be phasing out of poker with ~800k USD.

These goals are aggressive. The games are always getting tougher. But I will rise to the top. I have honed every aspect of my game and it will be obvious in this thread as it develops. I named myself BERRI SOUR so that when I am sitting across from BERRI SWEET he will know our battling will have been premeditated.

For now I will continue at the bottom of midstakes until my grind begins full time in January. At which point I will battle my way until I am comfortably settled in to 2/5 zoom on Stars at which point the objective will be to crank out 1.5k in EV each day from cash and fire off the major plo mtts.

For a life after poker, I see myself investing in rental apartments to generate passive income and enable the next segment of my life -- business and family. I recognize that poker is a net negative on society so I have some catching up to do in the next stages of my life. Thankfully my poker journey will be concluded within a few years and I will have the tools- time and money- to enact the change I want to see on the people around me that I care about and the causes I find worthwhile.

When the grind becomes difficult, when the downswing seems like it cannot possibly continue, when you want to give up out of frustration, remember that my quality of life is a dream and the challenges I face are nothing compared to my ancestors. In their words:
“Through chances various, through all vicissitudes, we make our way …. “ --Aeneid


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25 October 2017 at 02:50 PM
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24 Replies


Earlier posts are available on our legacy forum HERE

Thinking about resuming this thread. Had a solid year in 2024 after returning to the game in 2023. I have classes January through March at night Mon-Thurs so I can't play live like I have been this year --> considering a return to the online felt. I had my biggest year ever on paper last year but didn't get paid out most of it... lesson learned. I won more $$ in hand this year so after all my different kinds of work (job, business, poker) in my 20s i'm now super overrolled for 2k online and will not be sweating 5k. I've really enjoyed studying and coaching recently and I'm trying to determine whether I'll make a run at the high stakes ACR & Coinpoker games reg battling during the day or if I set my sights onto something outside of poker and continue playing 1x/week live.


Yass


2024:

Spoiler
Show


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSfpoSrC...

I got a bunch of USDT to play 5c online and through March will be seeking to hold up to the 15/30 5c lobby on ACR and 10/20 5c lobby on Coin Poker.

Bring on the Euros


Got started online, shaking off some rust and figuring out my software stack / HUD issues. Up 2k online so far, seeing many of the same faces from prior years.

Went to play big live and won 57k, roughly half of that was from flipping. Some serious gambling going on. This may be my last live session of the year. Pretty solid!


by OVERSTIMULATED k

2024:

Spoiler
Show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSfpoSrC...

I got a bunch of USDT to play 5c online and through March will be seeking to hold up to the 15/30 5c lobby on ACR and 10/20 5c lobby on Coin Poker.

Bring on the Euros

Wow ! Nice year !
Can I ask your name on CoinPoker (to follow your journey) ?
GL


Thanks. That is the one site with the same SN as this account.


Checked out a clubgg game with an obscenely good rb setup. It's hard to tell if these spots are net +ev or not. I was paying ~7.6bb/100 in rake for the primary stake. Ended up losing a few RIT flips and the operator wasn't responsive for reloads so I decided to just settle and move on. It's such an underrated feature of actual poker clients to have instant cashier movements , although while I say that I am still waiting on coin poker to credit my account two days later so.. I also think post-credit/settling/ghosting/collusion risks AND rake, that it isn't a net profitable spot to play on these games. I do know some people that have done extremely well and some that exist entirely in that ecosystem, it's hard to imagine anything outside of being the owner or a prop with good visibility into the player pool, personal connection to the owner, and a maxed out rb deal that these games are worth putting time into, all things considered.

I still have ~70k owed to me from sessions at a private game a few weeks ago so I'm hoping for that stuff to get settled according to what I've been told. Going to a casino and winning chips that can be converted to cash instantly with no default risk is so much better than private setups, but the games are so much less liquid and much tougher.

I have this internal debate like once a year and it's hard for me to settle on how or where to play as a result. If I only play in public games it means I have to compete online in modern tough fields, which I'm not sure I really have the energy or drive for (on an amount of energy per hourly earned basis) anymore. If I only play live then my total hours/year will be somewhat low.

I'm still looking for what I'll do next work-wise outside of poker and have a full schedule of classes jan-march which will prevent me from playing live at nights. So that's why I was looking into this private club setup but I don't think it's the answer.

Reg battling on ACR & coin poker really is the only solution for my geography outside of camping out at the WSOP during June I think. It's funny that I am so bearish on poker as an endeavor despite winning absolute heaps this year. It's ridiculously frustrating dealing with people that don't have the same etiquette/ethics as yourself in private game environments, getting told about payment plans and having to remind them feeling like the bad guy while doing so. Or playing on ACR and having russian scumbags stand up and switch seats to sit to your left. Hearing infinite stories about allin ev-obfuscated collusion, or having someone years later brag to my face about having cheated me online without realizing it.

I love the game and drill solver outputs anytime i'm bored but man are there so many pitfalls for aspiring pros to avoid if they want to make north of 100k/year. As one of my friends says, winning in 2024 isn't the hard part. Getting paid is. I'm so grateful for this game but holy cow does any time I come back to it for a prolonged period of time do I get a bad taste in my mouth.


Fantastic write up this is spot on and a must read for anyone in this world


Maybe you just have ran bad regarding logistics and people you deal with.

In app games you need a good agent and everything will be smooth with no delays or problems.

At coin i never had any issues about depo or cashout, usually doesnt take more than 5 mins.
Not saying you made, but many people depo the wrong way and then need to talk with support to sort it out etc.

Overall i think online is still great, i personally know people who are up low/mid 6 figures this year playing midstakes in mainstram sites. (not in gg)

I think proper research is the key, just being informed what is going on at different sites, jumping in and trying it out.

Just my 2c, good luck!


Back from vacation. Got the money credited on coin poker and have started to play some 5c there. Also fit in a session live that went from midstakes 4c to 50/1 5c hu against a whale to get almost unstuck after being down 22. Cannot complain.

I know significant incomes can be made online, I've done it myself. The games still look good enough. It just takes so much more effort to grind online than to play live against people much worse for a much higher hourly.

I won't get to play much this month so am glad I fit the session in but it really makes me wonder whether i'm giving up too much by not playing in this live game.


I'll just keep track of online balances.
-2k live today and
7k, 12k -> 15.4k, 12.3k online

I had two spots live where both times they had to have very specific straight draws where on 56xxss8o and 467rxo9o they had 789 and T98 respectively. Wondering if I can find super exploitative folds with straights vs B40, or at least versus the totally uncreative one of the two opponents.


I thought about it more and not finding a x/f with KQ345 on the 467rxo9o hand I think is losing a majority of the 4k river call, possibly north of 3k. Villain just isn't turning hands into bluffs and at that river spr (.8) I think he is potentially bluffing bigger. I made a ton of (I believe) good laydowns that session and ran into it over and over again so it was hard to execute in the moment and fold that spot. Definitely would fold if I was playing A game or was in the same exact circumstances today so I know it was a mistake. It's always good to remind myself that other players aren't doing the same things cards down as me and that the deviations they are doing can be extreme which requires the matching deviation from myself.

Got to do some battling HU and ring since my last post.

15.4k, 12.3k -> 14.4k, 14.2k now.

I'm figuring out which players are recs & regs on coin, it always takes a few days especially not having countries like I do on ACR.


Made two fairly large errors but am getting back to being in a groove / sharp at 5c online. Honestly I can't be too disappointed with my quality of play given how long it has been since I played much 5card. Put in around 1500 hands today.

Balances at
14.4k, 14.2k -> 18.7k, 10k. Was at 33k combined but lost some back. Had A88xx v AKJ42sss on A823ss ai ott he hit both at 15/30 for an 8k pot.


24k in balances after firing 5 bullets in 12 entry 2k mtt alongside a bunch of cash. It's no wonder that regs think I'm a spot.

I'm feeling good about navigating spots and am studying consistently so am happy with where things are moving. Another day in the books


You're only person in 2k I didn't have marked today, lol. Enjoying the blog, gl!


Well I've had a take away from a monster live session I just got back from. This is obvious to anyone who has played for years but it is good to remind myself -- unforced errors that you are good enough to avoid but make anyway are something that really impact your P&L when you zoom out on an annual basis. I won 47k playing live today but made IMO an 11k error where I get FRIGTHENINGLY little of that 11k back. I already made a post about this same topic just recently however it's being burned into my mind after this subsequent incorrect decision. I am good enough to make these folds, I know I should make the fold, I need to implement at the level of my awareness. This spot was much more difficult than the prior one but still I knew it was torching and called down anyway for XYZ, often valid yet inapplicable this time, reasons.

Anyway hooray for a big W.

And balances online are at 28k.

I'm just going to keep on trucking.


Reflecting, honestly a 56k day feels pretty damn good.


Had quite a lot of action since my last post. Was in for my live game for 65k and booked a small win and played a lot online.

This was an out of line hand on Coinpoker:

Spoiler
Show


Open SB v BB, 3b, I 4b, flat. Flop SPR 1.5 or so, I pot/call and BB has a total dumpster fire of a hand, and he gets there.

Games are good. Balances are at 28k. It was some discipline not to reload in that game and instead go to play live. The other two regs in that lineup are extremely solid and the variance / EV ratio is much better for me to switch to the live game. Although if I had an easy way to add liquidity to coinpoker, I probably wouldn't have stood up. I need to get a bunch of crypto to stick online I think if I don't run these puppies up quickly. I'm spitting distance away from 500k in the last 365 days and really want to hit that, although a small chunk of that is in outstanding credit being paid down which makes it slightly less exciting.


Got beat up firing a bunch of nl & plo mtts today although held my own for the most part in cash while running bad across the board.

Balances at 19k, got some more btc for reloads. Gf is cooking tri tip before I'm off for live tonight. Life is good.


Lost a 37k pot that was a flip and still booked a 10k win live. Can't complain with that. 9 hours of poker today to come out +1k on the day.. today was a day I got to print EV tho.

I've got classes M-TH and then skiing on the weekend for the next two weeks at least, possibly next three weeks so I won't get to play much live at all unless it's graveyard to break the game.

I'm pretty happy with where things are at however I've been playing so much -- 54 hours this past week -- that I haven't been attending to my other priorities enough. I'm going to switch gears and get in the gym, ski tuesday or wednesday, attend class and do my homework, do my personal reading, and spend quality time with my girlfriend.

Can't complain with a +62k start to the year. See yall in a bit

Past 365 days hype...

Spoiler
Show



Amazing results! What classes are you taking?


by Doorbread k

You're only person in 2k I didn't have marked today, lol. Enjoying the blog, gl!

Cheers, will you be returning for the Poker Go PLO series end of March? I’m intending on firing as much of the full schedule as I have time, energy and chutzpah for.

by graypoker k

Amazing results! What classes are you taking?

Thanks, I’m definitely running like 350/hr over EV but I am not complaining!

I’m taking Accounting I & Accounting II concurrently, international trade law and global currency management. Shoring up some weak spots and learning further about international trade. I had an incredible applied exporting class last quarter.

I’m really proud of the quality of play I’ve brought to the tables this past year and want to keep bringing my A game on a part time schedule however it is just so overwhelmingly clear to me as I’m sitting on a ski lift by myself contemplating my life paths that I ought to focus on building a business, my girlfriend and school.

I have a habit of doing things in sprints and poker, as an indefinite game, lends itself well to being a vessel to put my time into. It just simply will not get me to $10mm with the lifestyle that I intend on living eg having a healthy relationship with myself physically and spiritually and with my girlfriend.

I hope to put in a similar amount of volume this year as I did last year and yea it would be nice to run up half a milly this year but I have several things I would like to buy — a $20k watch, a glc coupe 43 etc that I could go buy tomorrow and many in my shoes would but the money simply didn’t come from business income and that’s what I need to generate to justify the stepwise increase in my quality of life.

I did fire off my first angel investment which I’m (obviously) omega bullish on after passing over dozens of decks/opportunities and I’d like to find more angel opps that I am happy to put poker income into. I’m happy to chuck poker $$ towards life upkeep, vacations, my ETFs, and angel checks. But for the nice parts of life and supporting a family, house hacking a quadplex (something I’m revisiting after many years, a callback to this thread’s title) and other components of the next stage of my life I really really want to fund them from a business’ proceeds.

I have several quality ideas that I need to just sink 20-50 hours each into validating and seeing how far I can run with them.

I’m proud of myself for having meaningfully improved my life habits and having such a healthy relationship with a truly wonderful partner. These were parts of my life that I put work into in 2024.

I see my 2025 professionally to roughly be comprised of three months of school+poker+business validation, a poker sprint around the poker go series, two months of focusing on business, one month of the wsop, one month traveling, and five months focusing on business with weekly poker.

By the end of this year I want to have nurtured a healthy relationship with my girlfriend, have learned a great deal both from school and self study, earned from cards, traveled to new places, challenged myself eg by summiting kilimanjaro in 6 days, and to be proud of my choices with respect to exercise and vices.

Life is good but I am the farthest thing from complacent. All of the above is literally at my fingertips I just have to show up every day and collect.

Peace


Won 1k online and had a session of mean reversion live losing 34k including a thin but credible 20k bluff into a semi nutted range that didn't get through. Population never bluffs the spot and I had a rare hand to take the river x/r allin with. So it goes.

Balances at 20k, school is going well.


Are you in CO? What live game are you firing this big at? The Viets on Kip?

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