1/3 Grinding and Bankroll

Made some at plo lost some at hold em yesterday. Kept almost falling asleep when my brain woke me up again last night which was no fun. Was also unusually hot. Possible side effects of my meds but who knows for sure. There are a lot of unpleasant side effects,
like temperature dysregulation and sleep issues, including in some cases fatal cardiac problems, although my specific meds are not as risky in the latter area. I keep doing my exercise during breaks from playing to stave off possible disaster. It’s sad to have to choose between these serious side effects and my mental health, I guess it’s the best we can do these days with modern medicine. Oh well.

My judge wasn’t that smart yesterday and I didn’t get the desired outcome. He made some strange legal rulings that were just not correct. For example, records that were not disclosed to me in advance were admissible because they were only being offered in rebuttal. Anyway I did a good job and a better judge probably would have released my client.

Poker was fairly tame, made just a little. Actually lost quite a bit at 1/3 while waiting for plo - set over set and combo draw versus set and overpair versus bottom pair. Won at plo and 5/10 to make up for the 1/3 losses.

I also take drugs which have crazy unwanted side effects.

Had a very slow session, didn’t play many noteworthy hands at all. Crazy dude started harassing me about that hand we played where I stacked him and he could not see my chips even though he was short stacked and told the whole table to watch out for me when playing a hand against me because I hide my chips on purpose. I laughed it off and he later threatened to file a bar complaint against my license again after he noticed me talking with the floor person about his antics.

Today I have one potential hearing unless the client is discharge to the medical unit for treatment in which case I have none.

Edit: I have none.

My day involved a client telling me I was the best lawyer in the world. (She was still very symptomatic…lol.) Another client took out her dentures in front of me. One called me sweetheart. The ones that like me are the best ones to talk to. I told one I respected her even if she felt disrespected by the system. They are usually brought in handcuffs.

Wrapping up the year 2025…I worked this new job well enough and helped a lot of clients.
Made about half or less what I made last year at poker playing full time. I did sacrifice bottom line for the new job.

For 2026 going to keep things the way they are for the time being although I would like to increase my happiness. My therapist thinks I have clinical depression. Therapy or med changes probably to help with that. Maybe job needs eventually to go. Will play it by ear.

I want to keep getting into better shape. Ideally to look as good as I did back in college.

I would like to meet more guys and go out more. Have more sex.

Reach a new milestone in liquid investments.

Make $150k from poker. Reach a new milestone in poker profit. Probably continue to play less mix. Maybe mix it up once in a while at the lower limits for fun.

Have more positive experiences at the poker table. Reduce negative ones. I think I made good progress this year.

I think all these goals are well within reach in 2026. Happy New Year! :P

I ended 2026 on a good note making around $3, 000 on the session from 5/T thanks to AA in a 3! pot and plo where I won some all ins with sets and AKK. Dude said he was gay at 5/t so I asked for his number because it’s hard to find fellow gays and he said he was just joking… ! Lol anyway he’s a good player maybe we can exchange hand histories.

Started the year off well enough, made $800 or so from plo. Not a hugely noteworthy session, but had a nice date, did a little shopping with the ex, and got lunch. Now sipping on lattes waking up before court. It’s going to be cloudy most of the day until this afternoon. I’ll get some sun then hopefully,

Does anyone else have any New Year’s resolutions they’d like to share related to poker or anything else? 😀

Happy New Year!

(Floss at least once a week 😉 )

That’s a good one! I think one of mine is to be happier. Today I slept in got plenty of rest and now lattes and Christmas cookies my mom baked. That’s a pretty happy start. Then a quick workout. Then maybe I can get back in the 10/10 game again later.

Last session at 5/10 ran QQ into AA versus a player I would never considering folding QQ pre to, lost with AKT98ds to AQ753ds all in pre versus gambler and AKQT3ds also lost but won with quad suited AA three ways to reverse some of the losses. Lost a bunch of $300 waterfalls too.

Played 30/60 mix won with a 7/10 in badeucy and scooped another one with an 8 badugi and boat in dramadugi. Lost with a 9/9 in badeucy to a two-card draw where I’m a big favorite and got annoyed after this and quit for a different game.

At plo not much happened that I recall. I did go down to the vip lounge with my friend and sip on decaf lattes and munch on cookies. Nice perk to having friends in high places. 😀

any blackjack in the vip room?

Yesterday's session was nothing special, won some at 5/T and lost some at 10/10 in the last 30 minutes I got to play before the game broke, losing with mediocre AA to J-high with $575 in dead money for $975, very good price and +EV with a big overlay. Was told players don't want me to play because I am too tight, but I don't play much tighter than everyone else, and I am not even the biggest winner, not even close. Something else is going on, I do think it may be personal.

Today I am visiting my family gonna exercise and grind later. Had lattes already and basking in the sunny window now.

Players get pissed at certain types of winners. I find that I gotta sometimes just lighten the mood by having a few beers and splashing around, or tipping the dealers extra on occasion. Maybe showing some bluffs or saying good fold and showing a winner to an indecisive player. Maybe straddling or blind raising...or telling players what I had if they ask me. If you only try to run over the tables it creates a bad atmosphere that I find makes my poker decisions harder. Plus I want people to have a good time losing. I think the crushers have to protect the game in those types of ways....otherwise it can dry up or players might choose not to play with certain people. Not saying you gotta do all that type of stuff at higher PLO games but maybe try having a beer and lightening the mood a bit.

Drinking on my meds is probably not the best idea. I banter and do the waterfalls and royalties side bets with them. I straddle. I’m not a sore loser. I get it in with good but not great hands. Who knows. During the week I cannot play super late and I’ve had to quit up quite a bit, got accused of hitting and running.

Yesterday slept in again and got good sleep, today got a little less but still a solid 8+ hours. Poker went well, after a rough start stuck over $2k I ran it up to plus $1, 700 in a very gambly game with blind raises and short stacks going all in, making it a much bigger than usual game. I could have won even more if I played some mediocre KK more aggressively but I opted to play cautiously instead. I also opted to flat flop with nut wrap and top pair no flush blocker on a fd flop rather than raise. That was probably correct in theory but perhaps too timid against these two action players.

It was really nice to be in a really good game. I had a good time and was sad to have to leave. The two big action players were doing Jack seven deuce side bets which is a terrible deal for the player picking no j/7/2 will appear on the flop (about a 55/45 underdog), and he ran really bad too. He didn’t know the true odds and thought he was a 75/25 favorite. It was pretty funny every time the card appeared on the flop he was cursing his bad luck.

I commented to another pro how is that side bet different from what pro poker players do. We just take advantage of ignorance too.

I heard back from the director of a well known mental health advocacy nonprofit today and am scheduling a call with her. I am very excited about this! If things work out I might be able to shift gears to something still fulfilling but not as emotionally draining as civil commitment litigation. As fulfilling as the work has been there are a lot of downsides like the biased decision makers. Who knows? Maybe that is an issue this nonprofit would be interested in taking up?

Sure

Played 20/40 mix most of the night and won $2k there, lost some at plo briefly bluff catching against someone I didn’t have to.

Won a nice pot with 75422 three ways, drew two 7s and raised the v’s check raise before the last draw, he broke a T and I drew 1 and improved to a J which beat him. That one felt really good to win. Won with an 8 dugi in dramadugi and I made some 9s low in 2-7 dramaha and chopped some pots. 3/4 with a set of 5s A3 low in big o as well.

Today I had a client ask me if I’d ever been admitted to a mental hospital. I said my family has lived experience and that’s why I chose this job. She said “good choice.” I saw another client in restraints in her bed trying to get out and it was extremely disturbing. I can never erase that image. If I was traumatized it was worse for her. I just want a stiff drink.

What's your volume look like in hours per week on average? What stakes do you normally play most at? Just curious I find with a 40 hour work week myself (which ends up closer to probably 55ish with driving and stuff) fitting in anything more than about 15 hours per week seems like a lot. I get about 3 months off per year and that time frame much easier but tying to balance a job with poker volume is tiresome.

Do you mind sharing the casino?

I am still able to put in good volume because I live close to the casino and I work remotely so I have three to four more hours in the day I’m not spending driving. I play at MGM National harbor.

It doesn't hurt that you don't really work either.

Yesterday lost a little and didn’t get to play the big plo game as there was no seat and I had to get some sleep eventually. Won a $400 high hand at 2/5 at least. A bluff didn’t get though there which made for a smaller win than it could have been. At plo my top set nut gutter got outdrawn by a wrap and my AQJ98ds lost to AA.

My supervisors are trying to get me a week off next week to get a little break from how crazy it was over the holidays. That will be nice.

No hearings today thankfully. Court again on Friday as I’m covering for a colleague on leave.

Was pretty card dead at the mix, did win an all in pre with KQQ94ds at plo to about break even on the day. My court schedule opened up today and I am taking it easy today and tomorrow.

Even got an invite to 10/10!

Playing right now but it’s very hard to play disciplined at lower stakes the day after a big win in a much bigger game. I got called a degen today at 5/10 lol. Doing my best.

I just wanted to say thanks for the blog. You're pretty much the reason I still check in here. I usually do about once every 7 to 10 days just to see how things are going.

Any idea what happened with that blog (notjungleman) I clicked the link and the stories were all gone?

Keep crushing.