1/3 Grinding and Bankroll

Graphs, yay!

That breakeven stretch in the middle looks brutal. I could probably surmise by going back through the thread, but how long was that, about three-four months or so? Im sure having a job helps the mental game in those times. Good to see it's in the past now!

It was about two months or so. Including a $10,000 shot take at 100/200 hold em that I lost. Yeah working helps a lot. More to focus on and tie my fulfillment in life to other than poker.

Played 20/40 mix with straddle and ran really well across all the games, made over $1,100, then a bunch of us entered the dramaha tournment and I busted with dsAA after running it up from 300 chips to 40,000 after losing QJJT5 to KKT62 on TT536.

At the mix, at one point someone called himself big swinging dk and we made fun of him and what his wife would think and then he bet and everyone sheepishly folded. “BDB!” someone called out his new initials.

Sat at 2/5 where a guy said the last guy in my seat beat him with 24 and called with almost nothing. He asked me if I would flip for my stack around $450 and I agreed. Everyone else folded and we did it. Flop was 2T4, runout 78. He turned over Q3 for high card and I turned over: 24o. Incredible coincidence. Two players had side bets on who would win our flip. My friend called me a legend. Anyway I gave the guy a a chance to win his money back and I won the second flip with 62o and I beat his J6. Then a grinder complains that we were taking away his ev and asked us to stop flipping. The dude that flipped with me left to play bj and I got some sleep not long after.

Played the big mix even though the line up was not great and the results were sorta as expected. AA didn’t hold in big o, 8 draw got scooped in single draw, some draws didn’t get there, J8 lost to a two card draw in 2-7 dramaha as well. Was awfully card dead too. At least I won some back at 5/10/25 with JJ getting called by 85o on Q23J4ccc, apparently he thought he had a flush. Then got a nice bluff through with AJcc on KQ698 against two pair, led river he raised I jammed he folded.

go to the wsop and win bracelets in all of the omaha events each year and go down in history as the greatest omaha mtt player of all time.

Nah they don’t spread five card and I don’t like to travel to play anymore.

I’ve already made back everything I lost in the mix and then some today and I realized I do so well in almost every game that I am going to focus on those games more for the time being. I’m not losing this year in the mix anymore which is an improvement from the past two years. I’m winning at 20/40 and still struggling in the big game but I’m getting better. I told the game organizer I would be taking a break and not to reach out anymore.

Up around $30,000 this month despite the big mix loss the other day, just doing really well elsewhere especially at hold em. Honestly the reason I don’t want to play that game isn’t so much about struggling to win - I’m on my way there - but about the people in the game who I’m not a big fan of, they pick on me and I feel like I’m not particularly welcome or liked. I don’t get those vibes in most games I play. I’m pretty sure it has to do with who I am too. I don’t need to be around that energy. There are other aspects of the game invites and disinvites that turn me off too. People come up to me from plo to say hi and ask how it’s going when I’m playing mix, so there’s something about this group.

Work week was somewhat slow this week but I’m working over the weekend again and have a busy week next week so it’s good I got some extra rest.

With those types of people, skip 100%! Life is too short 😀

How did the action go in the A9764 and A6542 hands? Was this big o or straight hi?

I 3! and improved on the flop or turn and got most of the money in ahead. High only. These are not gto plays but I was trying to isolate the whale who would make big mistakes after the flop. Which he did. But got bailed out.

Don’t you game hop all day long to bumhunt and hit and run? Can’t fault them for not wanting a parasite in the game. The people at low stakes don’t notice but at higher stakes and games with smaller players pools nits who constantly try to take advantage of others are shunned

I was having very negative thoughts about life last night and I slept way in today, unfortunate to be having a depressive episode out of nowhere. At least it’s almost the weekend. Enjoying chocolate lattes sitting in the sun on the couch with client interviews after our staff meeting and then I’m done for the week.

I wrote a gratitude list and then saw how short it was and that was pretty depressing. I have a life many would want at least financially but my brain makes it hard to see that sometimes.

I did get joy out of writing down my strengths and weaknesses in poker all poker variants and came to some insightful conclusions about where I need to put in work in the mix.

Had a fun interview this afternoon with a psychotic client, he started listing famous people who had been in a psych ward and said, "and you've been in a psych ward." "Haven't we all," I replied. I mentioned Van Gogh and his multimillion-dollar paintaings and told him not all records prevented people from becoming lawyers (he said he might want to). Nice way to wrap up the week.

Oh everyone noticed even at low stakes. He nits it up, goes all in short stacked with a premium and dips. He sometimes sticks around to try and cooler someone once he has a stack. Rinse and repeat no matter the stakes. He doesn't play poker.

Played 10/10/50/100 plo until the game broke (ahem…😉, most of my value hands didnÂ’t hold and most of the time I had ok but not great improvement on the flop putting me in tricky situations. Ended up having my biggest losing session ever but not by much. Still sucks to lose that much money in a day. AAQ42ds Q98 flop faced psb ott, KK987ss Q42 flop bet flop and turn and lost to a set, AK972ds 742 lost to a wrap, AAQ75 988 spr sub 1 lost to JT922 on both run outs, AAKJ8ds K9552 runout faced two large betsÂ…lots of bluff catching spots and losing when a favorite in all ins. Missed a couple draws. Chopped AATT9 versus a king high hand too. Wondering whether I actually scooped that hand nowÂ….

Woke up to chest pain but it went away but still had anxiety wondering if it was serious or not. Most likely heartburn because I eat around when I go to bed to take food with my medication.

Sorry about the run-bad, but it has to happen occasionally, unfortunately 😉

It was a pretty slow day, not many playable hands. At least I got in the 25/50 reserved hold em game for a little towards the end and did all right. Didn’t put much of a dent in the big loss from the night before though. Given how poorly I ran and how much I lost I played really disciplined yesterday. I think that’s a sign of a good player. I did gambol with QT976ss versus tight raise and 3! Suspecting two aces and pretty sure I was correct because it was four way all in. We have great equity but did not get there and JJ762 ended up limp/calling and winning.

At 25/50 won 87s bvb for a small pot and lost ATo versus bb defend 52o because I raised too small oop and didn’t try to bluff him off third pair on the river.

Do you remember what the preflop/flop action was and what he ended up showing down?

How much did you lose?

I don’t remember completely now. One hand he had complete garbage and bet two pair fd ott and I jammed with second nut straight 2p and fd blockers and he got there. Second hand he had AQQ98 and called a jam on K97 when I had 97. I lost $13,000 in the big game and a little more at 1/2. Basically one max buy in at 10/10/50/100 not a huge loss in the grand scheme of things - the game or life. It still sucks a lot though to be honest.

I was reading my old mixed game strat posts and was able to answer most of my old questions and realize my mistakes which is a really good sign of progress. Not many good hands last night at plo, the few dsAA I got went nowhere or flopped well but second best like nfd to set. Isolated AKT84 over a short stack jam and “ran into” TT865…lol, lost top set fd AQQTTccss 458ssQdd to flopped straight as well. Lots of dead money ott and I shipped and got it heads up with around a $450 overlay. A bad player started complaining about how I trap his money a lot and said “why does he do that he never wins anyway.” “I hate bad poker.” Lol. It was really comical listening to one of the worst players in the field criticize my play. I didn’t react but had an inner chuckle. Ignorance is bliss.

Made a mistake I tend to make more often when running bad (slowplaying too much) and missed a value bet with the nut flush as well in another hand. Went for the trap c/r but it didnÂ’t pan out as hoped.

On the bright side, the market is doing really well, giving me some financial cushion despite the recent drought in poker. ItÂ’s nice to see my money working for me without having to do much. Can make back relatively quickly my losses in poker there.

I was reflecting on what I do well in the different games I play and attacking capped ranges is one, as is estimating equity as well as judicious starting hand selection. Also looking at my mixed game results my standard deviation is really high despite being a lifetime overall loser of around $20,000 over 650 hours, most from the big games, some is being new and learning and making mistakes but some is running bad too. IÂ’m on a noteworthy $6,000 heater at 20/40 recently and overall am up in that game. I can tell from my recent sessions I have gotten much better. The game organizer at 100/200 said heÂ’d have staked any of us back in the day, maybe he was just being nice to make us feel better about losing in todayÂ’s game.

Won a little at plo lost a little at 20/40 mix and did well at 2/5 hold em, biggest pot was 66 in 3! pot J636 preflop aggressor bet flop and shipped turn. Easy game! At plo was up more until lost nfd gs bdwrap to set. At the mix was also winning but the ran top boat 9 low into a straight flush and another player’s 8 low in 2-7 drama.

Pretty slow day after hearing prep, won at plo and switched to 5/T because the game looked good but I was card dead until the action busted and then got AQs Q64hh3ott and v raised large pre bet flop overbet jammed turn and I folded. Two hearings today then I can relax the rest of the week.

Hard time sleeping tonight so I thought I'd write. One of my supervisors told me he lost a lot of respect for the law when he became a lawyer. Going on a little losing streak in hearings lately in large part due to getting bad judges, and I can relate to his sentiment. There's too much up to the whims of these bureaucrats. A lot of former prosecutors who enjoy locking people away. Oh well, I do my best to fight for my friends' rights and freedom. I might appeal this one, will see.

I had a hand involving the concept of "first right to bluff" today, sorta an advantage of being out of position. Session was otherwise pretty boring, I ran meh at plo and the games were not that good. AKQ96ds lost to wrap when I blocked him and had the same gutshot and a better pair. Made a little at 5/10/25 and lost a little at 2/5.

I don't really enjoy midstakes, the money doesn't mean anything to me and I want to play for sums that will actually make a difference but those games are hard to get into. I suggested a $50 straddle at 5/10 but someone didn't want to do it. Maybe I should try to run my own game like I did at MD Live that one time.