The rich life of a snow bum

I'm now working just 20 or less hrs per week at my real life job. This is enough to cover rent and thats about all. And even though after rackback i made only a few hundred last month, i couldnt be happier. 

For the first time in my life i feel like i am actually using working on poker like a job. This has done wonders for my motivation even though im only just starting to fight my way out of my biggest and fastest downswing ever. I will post more about that when i do a january review but i got owned and owned myself for the whole second half of january. Good learning curve to say the least.

Real life's been great, had some epic powder days the last week and my last day riding was also bluebird. See below my playground on wednesday..

The weekend is my main grinding time and today i started a session and went of to fight my way out of a 2-3.5BI hole for a few hrs. Managed to end in the black which feels good seeing as i was well under ev and WWSF norms..  Working away from the table lately has been quite beneficial lately and finally i feel like im using the forums better and getting something from it.

Will play again tonight, hopefully i get another step closer to where i was a few weeks back with 200nl bankroll.. 

We'll i ran we'll to get here but now i am experiencing a true and prolonged downswing. I think ive lost the last 9 sessions.. Stopped shots at 200nl, and now (because im a way to ditrusting of poker sites) am thinking of playing 50 to build it back up. 

We'll see. 

Also if you play 200nl + pm me im interested in coaching

I have issues with quiting (poker sessions not poker as a whole) and i have been casually listening to Tommy Angelo's Eightfold path to poker enlightenment when just as i have had my biggest downswing to date they bring up the important issue of quitting when your not ready to stop playing. 

Im going to practice quiting, by taking scheduled breaks, even if the games are great. My issue is i cant let a table go if theres a mega fish, i tend to play to long, struggle to stop and play too many tables hoping to be the one who cracks the fish. I need to realise that the games are actually good often enough at 100nl to let that fish stay in the sea (or get whaled by the Japanese) and i will play and focus when i am entirely ready and playing optimally, not just because a fish is on my right. 

I plan on taking breaks whether i like it or not at 1hr intervals. I will stand up take a piss and do 10 push ups and 30 sit ups to get the blood flowing. It shouldn't be long enough for me to get booted, just long enough to get my shit back together. 

On a side not ive been playing pretty shithouse and i think subtally tilting, this comes at a pretty shit time as i have just halved my hours at work to allow me to focus more on poker and snowboard more. But now i am relying entirely on poker for my travel savings.. Ive always wanted to turn poker into my main income and now i have the oppurtinity so there is no fucking way i'll allow bad play and not enough hard work to stop me travelling.

Merry weekend

Ive played a couple thousand hands at 200nl and its surprised me how i can hold my own in those games. However i dont think im mentally ready to deal with the swings. Im going to build my roll further and take another shot probably in feb. 

The reason for this rant is i played two mixed sessions at 100/200nl today as i tend to spend all of sundays on poker. At one point i was up 700 and i ended after probably a BI worth of tilt at -364. Real disappointed in myself (though i think the majority of the swing was standard) and as a punishment i need to grind out 100nl. i ran at +20 bb at 100 and -10 at 200.. 

Also i need to be more disciplined if im going to do long sessions. If i feel like im starting to play my b game i need to quit. I like long sessions but i will be building endurance over time not all at once. 

On the plus side i had sushi for lunch ;)

My goal at the start of this blog was to become a 200nl reg, using poker as an income. Much sooner than i even hoped im taking shots, only if the table is awesome and usually 1 200 table and 4 100's.. Feels good. 

I used to look at 200 players and think they were really highly advanced and probably beyond me.. Now i feel comfortable sitting at tables even with the top regs. The more you learn the more you see through players you used to think were gods. Maybe i'll make a play at 1knl one day.... Who knows..

Just had my biggest pot ever i think, a maniac 54/26 was on my left with a 4BI stack, i double off him then a few hands later this happens:

Pacific $200.00 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 1588476
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

BTN: $217.19
SB: $299.18
Hero (BB): $397.00
UTG: $563.47
CO: $227.93

Pre Flop: ($3.00) Hero is BB with K T
UTG raises to $16, 2 folds, SB calls $15, Hero calls $14

Flop: ($48.00) K Q T(3 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, UTG bets $36.00, SB folds, Hero calls $36

Turn: ($120.00) 4(2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $90.00, Hero calls $90

River: ($300.00) 5(2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $421.47, Hero calls $255 all in

Final Pot: $810.00
Hero shows K T
UTG shows 9 K
Hero wins $806.00
UTG wins $166.47
(Rake: $-162.47)

For christmas i got The Mental Game of Poker (Jared Tendler) from my beautiful(and thoughtful) girlfriend. I am absolutely devouring it right now and really take strongly to this type of teaching and motivation. I am not new to a lot of the work so far as i was a member of Stoxpoker/cardrunners and followed his vids back in the day. However reiterating them has inspired me already to work so hard and so focused on poker. Particularly the inchworm concept to not only improving but also removing the weaknesses from our game.

One of the first things im going to incorporate in my play is the warm up and i will use this as a montior for progress and a way to force myself to structure what im learning as well as structure what i am removing from my c-game. My warm up will consist of:

• Review a list of strategic and mental concepts i am learning and need to consciously think about while playing
• Review a list of leaks i want to work on
• Review a list of tilt signs and triggers (want to win back losses, monetary goals, wanting to play more tables, overplaying hands trying to force big wins, not planning out a hand in my head/not projecting thought process beyond the present stage of the hand, losing focus/control)
• Take notes on anything else that doesnt regard poker and deal with or pick it up again after. (Not a big deal for me but sometimes relavent)
• Decide on a timeframe for play and the number of tables/limit played. Be strict. Dont play more tables because i cant say no to playing with a fish (big issue for me)
• Optional - watch a portion of a vid that details an area i am currently working of as a reinforcement.

Fortunately this motivation comes as i asked my boss to lower my hours from 35 to 20/week. I am finally in a position where i can use poker as an income. Though for a few reasons im keeping two days at work:

1. Its just past the peak period for our cafe but i currently do half the kitchen shifts available and do not want to desert the company as i really enjoy work and the crew we work with (except 5am wake ups)
2. To reduce the pressure on my poker results, work will pay for rent
3. Work is the best way to socialise and meet people!

Thought i hold the right to quit if i make 10k in the next two months. (kind of a goal for the season, 10k at the end to use on travel)

Anyway enough ranting its 1.30am and i want to shred tomorrow!

Im so glad i made the choice to focus on poker again just 4 short months ago. Feels like i've progressed in leaps and bounds from the level i reached in 3 years of play ending oct 2010. 

December was an awesome month and i knowing ran well, scoring a few BI's above EV as well as getting slightly more than my share of hands. This was pretty convenient as i needed to grind out as much rake as i could in the latter half of the month to reach my 2k rake goal and therefore 18% rb. As ive said before i have moved up to 100nl and feel comfortable.  And i turned a nice profit to pay off the credit card and prompt me to think about lowering my work hrs to 20 instead of the current 35. 

December graph - 16k 50nl 11k 100nl 6m. 

Hourly: $49/hr (run hot)

However as crazy as it sounds i felt like i needed to go on a little run bad to kick start my learning passion again, though fortunately just thinking that has got me to renew my subscription (i let it run out a few months back because i was broke travelling) and now watch and actively take notes in videos.

My goals for January are:

1. to improve as much as possible via;

• Always have a video series to watch, actively take notes.
• Listen to videos to and from work or in any other situation that i am walking around town/ on the bus. 
• Review hands that i mark. 
• Mark hands in real time and continue to make detailed reads on players using notes.
• Actually post in the forums. 2 hands per week

2. 

• Rake $500/ week. Min 2k a month (to keep status) ~5k 100nl hands i guess
• Dont let poker encroach on relationship with girlfriend, friends/partying or snowboarding!!
• Play freerolls at end of month
• Maybe get a coach? Hopefully someone local

My yearly results are from september onwards. 10nl->20nl->30nl->50nl->100nl 

all hands 2011:

cashout profit: $3810

Bankroll online: $3210

Total: $7020

Stoked. 

After really grinding hard an work 6am -4 most days this week I reached platinum giving me a potful 18% rb and a bunch of free rolls. I had set a goal and an glad I made it. It's double the rack back I was on before so worth the hassle. Plus I played the free roll and ran well but busted just inside the bubble for 52$. 1800 would've let me quit my job (about a months work). 

Also I ran well while grinding, made about 40 bucks an hour before bonuses this month and the most of it at 100nl. I'm quite comfortable at 100 but am now actually seeing players who exploit me well. Fortunately there's only a few smart enough and I'm real keen to learn from it. 

I'm thinking of getting a coach too as I want to reach my goal of 200nl I set back in September and that will allow me to cut back my hours so I earn enough for rent and that's it. If rents paid I won't stress at all. 

It new years eve and I'm off to party, happy new years.

Merry Christmas everyone. In whistler as a cook in a cafe that really just means your getting smashed all day at work and the mountain is full of punters and lift lines.. Dont get me wrong Christmas is awesome but its no holiday here. 

I decided to really focus on poker and try reach 2k rake this month so i get a pitful 18% rakeback (better than my current 9%). Its not an easy goal with limited play time but im on track. The holidays have brought the fish is scores to the tables and after playing a few 50nl sessions with 2+ fish on every table i decided it was easily worth moving up and playing the christmas bonus fish at higher levels. Its been paying of well and also gets my rake up quicker so im quite happy. 

Point of this blog is ive made a months wage in 4 days. Payed of my credit card worth 2.5k (which was my goal for the entire season!) And i feel my game is better than ever. I still need to focus harder on study but atm with limited time i want to reach 18% rakeback for January. 

Cashing out for my credit card has left me with a tiny online bankroll but i did this on purpose for a few reasons:

1. I dont trust online sites
2. I dont like paying bank fees for money owed. 
3. I want to train myself to keep a split bankroll some online some offline and not let the lower cashier balance affect my thoughts.

Keeping excessive amounts online is insane with the poker environment even on the best of sites. Also why not capitalise on interest accounts in real dollars and make it fluid if you go on a downswing. 

I am an advocate of a large bankroll and currently i have just 20BI for 100nl online. I think that is plenty and excess from now on will be going into my interest accounts at home. At least they wont go bust or the DOJ cant steal the money. 

CLiffs - Im debt free 

Now for another 6am start 10hr shift tomorrow for pennies... 

Love the whistler life 

I've been in Whistler BC Canada for the past week now and settling into another winter in a new place. Had to give up my two 24" monitors and fast computer for my macbook with windows parallels and internet thats threatening to drop at anytime. But im not complaining, whistler is a snowboarding mecca and home to some of the biggest names and a solid community of people keen to have fun and live the dream.

I've found it almost impossible to focus like i have been in the past two months, and this is impacting on my game considerably. Also i am so greatful for running well when i have a month of 8hrs/day but now i think i must concede that was equal parts of positive variance and hard work. Without the positive variance and less hard work i'm yo-yoing with little direction. I try to include myself in groups who talk poker and help each other succeed but im never online enough to contribute properly and i tend not to use skype or IM often.

If anyone is a lurking whistler local or seasonal person and wants to talk some poker over a beer instead of a keyboard feel free to contact me. I think having a contact in real life who grinds out a living or even a side income would help me stay on track and keep my sideincome positive. 

I've also decided to stay at 50nl until im convinced my game is solid enough to move up to 100. I dont feel the skill jump to be to much of an increase but the variance that is associated with it is a little pressing on my bankroll. Hovering between 2500 and 3k its not quite enough to move up anyway. 

And if anyone's a skier/snowboard imagine being in whistler without a season pass and 5 days off with 7ft snow - im losing my mind! but i will have a pass in a few days. 

Bankroll: 2615

cashouts: 1700

deposits: 600