1/3 Grinding and Bankroll

Had a dream with a lot of cute cuddly animals in it. I also hugged a lion. Played 5/T and ran good, getting AA a bunch, won with it in a 4! pot on a k-high flop against I assume AK. At plo lost with the nut straight at a low spr again to a draw and wrap plus overpair to a set. Made around $3k on the session, a nice recovery from the last few days.

Glad you have been doing well. I caught up on the last month. In a normal week what is your sleep schedule like? The reason I ask is for my mental health I need consistency. I know you mentioned regularly that you get long bouts of sleep but is it regular?

Thanks for the updates. I always check in and am rooting for you on and off the felt

I get regular 8-10 hours a night. Occasional all nighter on weekends of poker and full sleep next day.

I just got out of a hearing that concluded at midnight and I got my client out. What a day.

I slept in to recover from a long and stressful 14-hour work day and played some poker to reset. I was extremely over the usual grind and in the mood for something different so I asked the big game organizer if he had a seat and he did so I got $20k and jumped in. Turns out it was 100/200/200bb ante. I got TT in against AKo pre and lost both runouts and then JJ all in pre three ways versus AKo and another player with JJ and lost that running it once and ended the session as I was low on chips and only brought two buy ins. I thanked the host and was back to grind plo. Shouldn’t take long to make it back, maybe a couple weeks if I run normal and play well. I’m glad I got to show face in this crowd which seems well connected with the high stakes cash game scene.

Made a good come back at plo winning around $4k there, largest pot was probably TT663ds versus a ton of high hands judging from the preflop action and I must have been right because I flopped the nut straight and rivered top boat.

I then lost some back at 5/T losing JJ to QQ 33 bb eff. btn v sb 3! v me in bb, then turned top pair QJs into a bluff trying to fold out better on J7625, repping better than what I had for a shove on the river because I saw this player flat call river with a set that was almost always the best hand earlier in the session and he seemed very timid perhaps scared money. Unfortunately my read must have been wrong because he called off an additional $820 after betting $300 on river with KJo. I guess I drew an inaccurate conclusion from his earlier play, the actual inference was that he was just sorta clueless and clueless players don’t fold top pair because they don’t understand you should have better. Duh! So I turned out to be the fool rather than him. I’ve noticed in poker I’m usually my own worst enemy and often when I lose it’s because of my own actions rather than those of my opponents.

Now that I’ve been working and my spare time is limited, I think I need to be more disciplined and make a poker schedule for myself. I will play 1/2 plo Sunday through Friday and 5/T only on Saturdays. I looked at my lifetime results and judging from the winrates on each day of the week, that should be the most profitable schedule for me moving forward. Saturdays are oddly bad for me at plo but good for me in hold em. Subject to change of course if game selection merits it.

I will still dabble in mixed games when I feel like it to break up the monotony but put most of my volume into plo. So far I am averaging around $50, 000 a month at 1/2 plo5 this year but my volume is lower than it should be because I am spending too much time playing hold ‘em even when the game quality doesn’t justify it.

Last night ran really good at plo, making $5, 500 there biggest pot being AA986ds all in pre multi-way, and also hopped in 5/T and got A5 in pre against ?? and won. Played 30/60 mix briefly to enjoy myself a little and lost a $600 big o flip and called it a night after raising once with 732 in 2-7td and getting a little action from a d5. It’s always super fun in that game because the people are friends and hilarious. We had a long banter about whether if you had to choose one, which would you choose: to eat a dick and sit on a cake or sit on a dick and eat a cake.

I fully recovered from my $20k loss and then some already, did it sooner than I expected. Played 5/5 plo ran fine 87665 on J64 won versus 44 and nfd was one spot.

Got to play 25/50/100 hold em later in the evening and ran well for a change, winning $11, 000 or so. Lost stand up game a lot but made up for it with regular play and catching punts during stand up. Got QQ in pre versus ace high for example. My TT held versus AQo twice as well. Rivered a 9 versus QQ in a single raised pot and just called a pot sized bet on the river when I should have found at least a small c/r but there were a couple straights possible that he was unlikely to have as he checked back turn after I raised flop with my overpair.

Very happy to rebound so fast from my bad 100/200 session the other night. Progress!

Had a wonderful walk home, saw the ducks and smelled the magnolias in bloom.

age] [Uploading Image...]

[image]CG5IHjv.jpeg[/i[imag[image]
[image]ceYhZ5n.jpeg[/i

...]

Woke up groggier than normal, adjusting my sleep schedule for court tomorrow. Last night played 5/5 mainly and ran ok although I was pretty card dead for the last few hours. Made around $4, 200 on the day, a little from 5/T too. Got AAQT9 one triple nut suit and floppe J87dd my flush draw and got just one bet out of the whale. He kept antagonizing this new player telling him to “go home, ” who ended up cursing him out and getting banned for telling the whale to go home and f his mother.

Played 5/5 plo again yesterday, nice it’s been running again lately after not running for a long time. Made around $3k, JT976ds flopped well on 983dd and turn 5s giving me nuts plus great redraw fd and sd and scooped three ways. Towards the end of my session, flatted dsAA633 versus a good reg in early position versus utg open and got some fish to play and flopped top set on AQ2dd not my fd, reg potted $260, I raised to $1, 020, and I got it in against another player’s QQ and reg folded. Flush got there twice running it two times but he didn’t have a fd and I scooped.

Ran well at 5/5 winning some double board bomb pots which have become popular here. Won at 1/2 plo and 5/T too for a tidy profit of over $5, 500. No huge pots just a lot of medium ones that added up last session. If it wasn’t for that failed shot at 100/200 I’d be close to another record breaking territory for the month.

Was in a really good 10/10 game ran from overnight but I ran bad and lost a few thousand. I was winning initially with TT on T44 versus 4x which I checked to him twice, but then lost it back and then some. My big hands didn’t hold and I got rivered in a big pot with top two and a flush draw to an overpair when the bottom card paired the board. Lost dsAA to another dsAA and overpair with a fd blocker to two pair fd at spr under 1.

Played mix too and won a few hundo there at least. A bit of a disappointing 10/10 session given how good the game was.

Got it in a little light sb v btn but only 15 bb eff at 25/50 hold em with A high isn’t so bad after making a 3! and practically committing myself. Just ran into a good hand. People changed the game to 10/25 10/10 plo4 mix and I won with a wrap T976 on J85 to two pair against an extremely annoying new player who angles and shouts and antagonizes players. Of course I made him show his hand when he was oop and he asked what I had at showdown.

Treated myself to a new house plant that looked beautiful. Also some random spring foliage. Really perfect weather this week.

[image]dmFeuBa.jpeg[/i[imag[image]vaiXyJT.jpeg[/i

...] ...] [Uploading Image...]

Tonight I grew again as a player. An annoying dude who started playing recently was needling me and I leaned into it. I’m running really bad tonight but it’s not impacting my mood and I’m still dancing to the music. I’m doing really + ev things just not working out. I feel like my mental game has really improved tremendously.

The knowledge that I’m really good at this game helps calm me down. There’s no point in being upset when I’m losing because sitting in the game is going to be profitable in the long run. Just enjoy the process. The money at these stakes is meaningless to me anyway at this point.

I’m really proud of myself. I thought I had peaked or plateaued in many ways but today I’ve grown in another respect beyond graphs, winrates, and profit. 😀

It doesn’t hurt that the annoying player has been stacking colluder wife all night. Lol!

U should fight him.

Do people just needle u for no reason? Why did he start needling u?

Nah not my style. He needles everyone to try to annoy and tilt people.

Last night was running really bad at 5/5 but made a huge comeback and won it all back and a little more. At 1/2 ran hot with two sets KKq77ds and AKJJ8ds and J and 7 flops got it in three ways and held both times. Won over $4k in around 30 minutes and the game broke.

Lost a little at 5/10 then sat in 10/10 plo game was towards end of the night and lots of open seats and game was about to break maybe because I sat down not sure. Anyway I triple up last hand of the game with AJ533 on J43cc versus two draws J on turn and I scoop for a $3k or so profit in 5 minutes.

Overall made around $7k on the session. I was losing badly but kept my cool and it worked out in the end.

My poker friend and mentor said he thought I would do better as a pro now than I did last time and I told him I agreed. My mental game is vastly better than it used to be.

Running good again and very happy. In a great mood even though it’s not looking good for me and my ex.

Have good table presence. Feeling like I am locked in and playing at a high level.

Pretty flowers outside MGM:

.

I think I can readily clear $50,000+ a month if 5/5 keeps running consistently. That would be a dream while working and what others who became extremely successful at plo5 playing full time without a job have been able to achieve. To do so while also being a successful lawyer is quite the feat!

I wonder if I would stay happy if negative variance hit me again for a while like it did late in 2024.

Last night played reserved 10/10/25 plo5, made $2.8k before started getting tired and didn't want to play that big not sharp so I dropped down to 1/2 $5 plo and made a few extra hundo. Made a nice play at my peak against a good player floating him on AKQdd with JJd and betting river on 5d Ks runout and he snap folded.

I was doing some research and my winrate at 1/2 plo has steadily gone up year over year the past three years from $85 to $100 to $180 over a 7,500 hour sample during that period. Pretty epic.

Just taking a break, did a 10 burpee challenge every hour with this dude who was playing 5/T, good work out for sure. Ran well at plo, making $3k there but losing a few hundo at 5/5. Someone tried to drag me down today in the game, a perpetual antagonist, but I managed to deflect his energy well enough.

Sore today from the burpees!

Made $7, 500 yesterday from plo, some from 5/5 some from 1/2. At 5/5 won double board bomb pot with top two and two flush draws both of which got there on each board. Also got a delightful 3! from the straddle when I opened AAJJ3ds and I 4! to $925 for most of his stack and he called and I flopped top set and bet 1/10 pot and he jammed and I held.

At 1/2 played 98763ds for stacks preflop and got a 663 flop, lol. Also got a straight to fold on a paired board with top two repping aces full as the preflop raiser and he tank folded (the tank was surprising as he limp folded to a $15 raise pre earlier).

Looking like another very good month, would have been even better if not for the $20k loss at 100/200. Very happy to have rebounded so effortlessly after that. Google says I have good mental fortitude to have such high winrates over a long sample size. I agree.

Enjoying yuzu vanilla lattes in the sun on the couch…niiiice.

Finished strong last day of the month, winning $4.5k at 5/5 and losing a bit at 1/2. Played a truly ridiculous hand at 5/5 three way all in for $1, 200 on 752, I had QT987 and the runout was 2, 2 so I was playing QT-high with three deuces. The other two had a small side pot and one guy turned over J9743 for a worse high card and the third guy mucked Q9 high not realizing the 7 did not play. (I could see his cards.) And I scooped the main pot!

Also won AJJ86 on J757K versus 75 after c/r flop and jam river. Easy game.

I finally caved and checked my poker results for this year (mainly for tax estimation purposes) and I’m already up more than I made all of last year. My worst month I only lost $2k, which is much less than I estimated. My best month was over $60k. Pretty sweet! My hourly is higher than it was the year I played full time too. I feel like I am getting better even as I work a stressful day job which is really saying something. Speaking of which, I’ve been reconsidering the job again lately, wondering if I am ready for full time poker again.

Played 5/5 but the game wasn’t that good and I lost a few thousand, biggest were double board bomb pot with double flush draw and pair versus top set and pair worse flush draw it was pretty much a coin flop but he scooped. Also lost dsKKJ53 for a large side pot to another player with KKQJJ when the third short stack probably had AA. Randomly lost some medium pots with bad runouts or raving raises on good runouts for me when they just had it. Just poor game selection that’s on me. I did get it in with top two bdsd bdnfd multi-way which was probably a mistake with a front door flush draw there but I called a small raise and then someone crai and I was committed, later tripled up with JJ987ds in a 4! pot on 884r versus AA.

Didn’t go much better at 1/2 5 where my AA lost twice. Negative variance hitting me early in the month! But it’s still early. On the bright side, got more burpees done and push ups with another poker player again, the floor even gave me some advice about adding difficulty to the push ups by touching the wall each rep. I feel like my mood is much better overall since starting more intense exercise. It’s a natural endorphin. But also I’m always sore. :/

$22, 000 left on the br challenge. If not for the 100/200 shot I’d be done with it.

Last night was a very slow session, didn’t get much going but also didn’t lose too much. Did get it in once a little light three ways against a tight player and a very loose player at spr 2 with 2nd nut fd, sd and mid pair bdnfd that didn’t work out. Did at least get 3/4 with AJT86ds on J94r versus naked T8 making two pair and the same straight on two runouts.
Lost with AA543ss on 522cc A2 nfd in a 3! pot at spr 3 as well against a capable opponent.

Had severe irrational anxiety about work last night like unexpected things happening at the last minute (that never do) and heat dysregulation, and I couldn’t fall asleep. I don’t know if the more intense exercise or meds are to blame for the hot body temp, or just a large meal and hot tea for dinner. Anyway it was really annoying to toss and turn for a couple hours before finally falling asleep. May not have been used to getting to bed as early either. I drank cold water and turned on the a/c to try to help, removed layers of clothes, you name it.

Month starting slow but it’s still early. I’ve been playing the 5/5 game when it runs the last couple sessions because it looked good enough last night (the night before less so), but I’m not sure it’s even as profitable as 1/2, depending on the line up. Might just stick to the smaller game unless 5/5 looks really good.

My hearing went forward for a client who was released last week but retained this time for similar conduct, assaulting hospital staff. It was miraculous he was released last time to be honest at least this time he told me he wanted to stay at the hospital for treatment and asked me not to advocate for his release, so hopefully he got what he wanted.

Poker went fine and I got a good night’s sleep, I am in rest mode today to recover from a stressful couple days of work. Enjoying coconut vanilla lattes on the couch now listening to a cover of Coldplay’s yellow.