1/3 Grinding and Bankroll

Thanks so much. Honestly with poker I feel like I still have not reached my full earning potential. But that’s to be expected now that I’ve taken on a job again. Maybe if I go back to full time poker playing one day I will reach the next level.

Exercising & a date, working a job outside of poker... sounds like you've got the right balance going. For me winning at poker has been a lot about balance, so it’s good to hear you’re applying that to other areas of life too.

Took it easy most of the day and got my car jumped after the battery died. Had a good time with my ex who came over and helped me charge it. Poker was slow, lost a pot with dsAA all in pre to the whale, what are you gonna do. Life goes on.

Baller! How much do you buy in for at each stake?

$750 at 5/10 $400 at 2/5 and $350 at plo. I am an end boss. I used to buy in for less but I’ve been pushing the envelope recently and really challenging myself and my risk tolerance.

Out of curiosity what are the minimum and maximum buy-ins for those stakes these days at MD Live and MGM? I've played in both rooms but not in the last few years.

$2,500, $1,000, and $700. End boss!

That’s amazing you can have a 20k month short buying every game! If it ain’t broke don’t fix it and you really should write a strategy guide for short stacking too. I’d snap buy it.

I hit and run too and rathole at 1/3. Endboss!

It’s easy just wait for aces and get it all in. I don’t need to write a guide you just need to be a total nit and not give action and everyone’s so dumb they don’t even notice. Endboss!

Thank you. Catch me if you can!

Lost at 20/40 mix playing a little, then a little 5/T where I lost a little more, then off to plo where I made a call with a flopped flush and top set against a historical blaster and lost to nf, won it back with a straight though and KK in a 5! pot and left up a few hundo on the night.

I enjoy using sarcasm to convey humor if you couldn’t tell.

well, better than losing the whole night and calling it character development

Lost at plo, was running pretty bad, but made a come back at 5/T/25 where I won a nice pot with QJss on T944ss versus Tx and 4x. Someone didn’t want to straddle with me in the game but eventually relented when an action player joined and asked to straddle and everyone started straddling. (But he did skip his first straddle in protest anyway.)

Month starting out well enough so far. Got a little extra sleep last night too just to refresh. I looked at my reflection in my phone yesterday and didn’t like what I saw. Looked awfully tired.

Opposite of yesterday happened today, lost at 5/T and mix but made it back at plo. 5/T lost 88

At plo could not lose a pot, just ran pure. After a rocky start running AQ985 into AQQ ram it back up $4,000 to win it all back and then some.

Got invited to play big hold em game after work today, hope to run it up! Have a hearing today, my first with the new team. These people are in the hospital after being found not guilty due to insanity or incompetent to stand trial. Hopefully I make a good impression and do right by the client.

I got totally f’d at 100/100 $200 bb ante losing A7s to 88 btn v bb with sb call and AJs to 77 all in pre running it twice both times. Super annoying to never catch a break in this game. Could have been more patient but with $200 bb ante ranges should be wider so you cannot just wait for the nuts the whole time and these spots were perfectly defensible. Value owned myself once with 88 on A9322 going for thin value on river when all streets checked through.

Later lost KT to QQ on AQ3QJ btn v sb at 5/T and now at plo trying to get out of the hole. Shouldn’t take more than a week or maybe two.

Hearing lost as expected this time despite some good arguments.

Day after the big loss was ok, the nice thing was that a second friend who also specializes in hold ‘em said my spots in the big game were pretty standard and I didn’t mess up. I didn’t run that good yesterday but I didn’t really lose a lot either. Broke about even this time.

It really sucks to play in the hole to start the month for some reason even though it's just one long session. Really a downer.

A little foggy due to waking up late but I got enough sleep so a few iced lattes should take care of the fog. And the market keeps rising which is always nice for retirement.

Not my night again, got a seat at 10/10/50/100 plo and my AA didn’t hold and I ran wrap second nut fd into AA nfd. also ran bad at the smaller plo game losing top set to combo draw. The bothersome part of running this bad while working is I cannot put in the volume to make it back as quickly.

Made a good come back yesterday winning at 2/5 and 1/2 plo for around $4k. Was running very well at plo until this tilted reg sat down and got lucky on me in two pots and both times he was pretty well behind. First I flopped top two he had bottom pair and 8-high fd, second time I had 4! dsAA and he peeled with T9554 and flopped a gutshot on Q82 and went runner runner boat after calling my jam into a dry side pot. That got me pretty upset so I left for 2/5 where I got 55 in bvb for exactly $555 (lol) and flopped a set (555) and held.

My friend made a deep run in the $1500 big o at wsop which was cool. Was cheering him on from afar.

Back to work this week, did a little yesterday so I wasn’t too overwhelmed today.

Ran very well in the beginning of the session then lost a lot back at plo flopping mid set and turning bdfd in 3! pot against top set but only losing one bet. Also played a little mix and ran decent before that, winning a few hundo. Wrapped things up playing 25/50 with some unfamiliar faces, was somewhat card dead and a bluff didnÂ’t get through. Had trouble falling asleep last night with racing thoughts and music playing in my head from the morning due to anxiety over falling asleep caused by work related stress. Thankfully didnÂ’t feel too tired when I woke up today but definitely groggy.

Have a hearing where the client wants to remain in the hospital so instead of arguing that he get out we are supporting the hospitalÂ’s case that he stay.

Got very little sleep the other night due to racing thoughts and anxiety and the sleep deprivation caused me to get a sore throat so last night I tried going to sleep super early but I still stayed up later than I wanted, just could not fall asleep. Got a solid 9.5 hours. Was aiming for 11. Which was a blessing given that I had a client who wanted to commit patricide and thinking about him kept me up.

Have a light court docket today and rest of the week. I might do something fun, my supervisors are out on vacation this week too.

Poker went fine, what little I played. Ran well and made a grand. I’m sure I’m still stuck this month just not as badly.

After court I decided I needed a good break as I could feel the walls caving in around me the past couple nights. I took the rest of the week off. Played a little poker won $1,000 and then took a nap. Was under the weather.

Have another law student mentee which is great. Feel like I’m giving back.

Still sick but at least my work schedule is light the rest of the week so I’m not leaving anyone hanging. Been watching the 2-7 single draw final table at wsop been pretty good. Ended up a couple grand yesterday. I don’t get invited to the big hold em game when it’s good so I’m probably never going to play again. What’s the point of flipping with a bunch of pros for lots of money.

If you follow your described short stack buyin approach in the "big game" I'd guess that is a major reason you don't get invited often. I spent many years playing in 25-50 PL and NL holdem games in various venues and short stackers were not particularly welcome in any of those games. I doubt that has changed much. You certainly are free to pursue a short stack approach but game organizers don't have to accept it.

Like I give a fk.