The grind

[gatorspader]

Here here. We need more positive posts. I wish everyone well as well. Here is to a great 2014 and a happy mothers day to all who apply.

[Jdawg0913]

A little momentum

I had another successful of 6-12 oe. This time I won $533. It was strange for me because it was 2 sessions in one day. I played a session and then called it a day up $230. Then my friend whose game I really respect showed up and asked me to sit with him. I was nervous to give away any profit but I decided to sit and try to grind out another win. Obviously I am happy that I did. I wound up securing another $300+ in profit at a very favorable table. There was one guy in the game who never played before. He had no idea what he was doing and ballooned the pot when he should have folded and checked when he should have bet. It was very good for the game and very good for me. So far, I have played two days in May and have doubled my bankroll. Looking at the rest of the month I am nervous I will not have as many opportunities to play as I have hoped. There are a lot of family commitments this month so it looks like a low volume month for me. I will probably get one session in this week. Hopefully it can be a profitable one and I can continue this momentum. Grant it, I am still down for the year but this could be a good omen. This could be the beginning of my comeback. Only time will tell I guess but I have to remain positive. Until next time, good luck and see you on. The felt.

[Jdawg0913]

Perseverance and luck

Well I just had another winning session of 6-12 oe. It was a small win of $45 but a win is a win. This is the third in a row. I like how I have been playing and I obviously love the results. I am a little disappointed in this last session because it should have been a bigger win and a much shorter session. I played really late into the evening and for over 7 hours. That is not good for sleep and my day job. More infuriating is that I broke my new management approach. I was up my normal $72 and was on my way to making another $72 when I lost two big hands in a row and fell below my $72 win. Instead of walking away 2 hours into my session as a $50 winner, I played 5 and a half hours more to lose $5 lol. Even worse, I was stuck $400 at one point in the session. This is something i didn't plan for. I am still not sure how to work this out. If a hand takes me below my win rate goal, what do I do? Do I walk away? Do I continue to grind? In the previous two sessions, I walked away because I had things to do or the game changed and I was pretty close to the win rate goal. It never happened mid game. I will consider this over the course of the next few days and try to figure out the best approach. I am not sure if I will play this weekend because I have several birthday and graduation parties. But I will be trying to increase my online volume. I think I have only played twice this month. It is hard getting motivated to play online because work has been super busy and when I get home I'm usually exhausted. But it have to try to get motivated and try to build up that roll as well. Hopefully, I will get the energy and start running well online too and get some real confidence going into June. I still plan on going to Vegas I just hope my bankroll can afford the volume I want to play. Lots of developments in the works. I just hope everything keeps going well. Good luck to all of you out there playing and see you on the felt.

[gametime74]

the grind can be something else..i think patience and discipline is the major factors in holding a good bankroll, which i tend to not have these days

[Jdawg0913]

the grind can be something else..i think patience and discipline is the major factors in holding a good bankroll, which i tend to not have these days

I agree with you. These are the two most important aspects of a good poker player. I know. So many good players who are busto because they do not have discipline or patience. They want to jump into the deep end and that usually doesn't work out too well. Most of the time they drown.

[Jdawg0913]

Another win for the good guys. It was a small win again but I will take it. I joined a friend of mine for a very rare Monday night cash game session. I had to wait about a half hour but I got in to the game and it was pretty slow going from beginning to end. The action player at the table left 5 hands after I got there so I was pretty bummed about that. Then it was a grind. I picked up some small pots, I lost some small pots, and I made some smart folds. It was pretty in eventful for the most part. My biggest pot came against a guy who was playing for the first time and overplayed aces in the Omaha hi low. All in all I finished up $83. This is my fourth winning session in a row. This matches my best streak of the year. I don't really care about the streak but it is a nice little side note. I love how I am playing right now. I feel like I am playing well and I am doing a much better job of managing my play. I feel like that was the missing piece. I am not saying I have mastered poker but I feel like I have better handle on how to be successful. I am confident I will get into the black soon and start building a serious roll. I am so confident that I am looking up trips to Vegas tonight for the wsop. No I'm not playing any bracelet events unless I satelite into them. I just miss going and want to play some cash games and tourneys. I was nervous about booking a trip because my roll is not where I wanted it to be. But I feel like I am playing well now and should give it a shot. Hopefully everything will work out and be a fun and profitable experience. I will definitely keep this post updated in Vegas but that won't be for 4 weeks. Right now I have to focus on playing great poker the rest of May. I can't let the thoughts of Vegas distract me. I need to play my best now in order to play my best in June. Until next time, good luck and see you on the felt.

[Jdawg0913]

Another small win for five in a row

Just finished another session of 6-12 oe and it was kind of blah. No real interesting or fun hands. The only good hand was a big bluff in Omaha where I scooped with ace high after three barreling. All and all it was ok. I only put in 3 and a half hours though. That was a mixture of a blah game and my wife came with me. I didn't want her to get too bored so I figured I would put in a short session. I wound up winning a meager $40. But a win is a win. I have to stick to the game plan I set out at the beginning of this month. It has really been bearing fruit. I will continue to accumulate wins and avoid big losses. I wish I would have started this from the beginning. I just did a quick calculation and it is gross. Right now, I am down $1,300 for the year but that is not the gross part. The gross part is that if I followed the rules I set out this month, I would be up $1,200 for the year. That is a $2,500 swing without actually improving my game lol. That is just knowing when to quit and avoiding a bigger loss. No gimmicks, no plays, no leveling, just getting up when it is not your night. Wow. On a brighter note, I booked Vegas. I will be there from Sunday, June 15th to Thursday the 20th. There are a couple tourneys and satelites that I am looking at but I will be playing mostly mixed cash games. When I have a plan, I will update this post. Until then, good luck and see you on the felt.

[Jdawg0913]

Another good news bad news post.

Bad news is that I lost my last session of the month and lost my quest for the perfect month. It was a combination of bad play and bad cards. I got stuck early in my session and like I have mentioned before, that is when i start to press a little. I play weaker hands in weaker positions. That is still a work in process. I will continue to work on playing every hand in a vacuum and not letting my session win or loss number affect my play. Further compounding the bad play was a bad string of hands. I really didn't have too many quality hands which was another reason for playing worse hands. Moreover, when it had a strong drawing hand, it bricked. Even worse, there were two hands in stud 8 where I had a straight 6 and a wheel and got half the pot instead of scooping. Both villains got there on the last card in two big pots. But I digress. I cannot be too mad. I had a great month after 3 abysmal ones and I am going back to Vegas for the first time since the 2008 wsop. I am super excited and a little nervous about my trip. I have high hopes but I also know the competition is a little bit stronger than what I usually play against. But only time will tell. I might have a couple sessions before I leave but the first half of June is super busy. I finish teaching and I am coaching a basketball clinic so I am not really sure how many I can play. On a side note, I am bringing back the bankroll numbers at the end of every post. I stopped because of laziness and shame that I am not doing better. I will not put my bankroll number but I will post my plus and minus for the month and the year both live and online. Hopefully, this will give me the extra motivation to play my best especially this month in Vegas. Until next time, good luck and see you on the felt.

Live:
June - +$529
2014 - -$1,695

Online:
June - +$8.82
2014 - +$21.90

[Jdawg0913]

Unfulfilled

June was kind of a wasted month/opportunity. I had really high hopes for this month because it was my long anticipated return to Las Vegas. I was really excited to return and thought it would really help my fledgling year. Unfortunately, it did not. I did something much worse than play and lose. I didn't play. Well, I played one $75 satelite. I just wasn't feeling it I guess. I was nervous about exposing my bankroll to too much risk. I didn't like the spread of games at the Rio. The list goes on. Excuse after excuse. On a bright side, I did have a good time with my wife. But I can't help but feel disappointed. This could have been a turn around month but I squandered the opportunity. Further compounding matters I only played one more time after Vegas. It was my lowest volume month of the year. I have to get more focused if I want to turn this year around. I have to increase my volume and play better. I have another opportunity in July. The Philadelphia Poker Open will be held at Harrahs Chester and I plan on planning several tournaments. Hopefully, July will be better and more fulfilling than June was. However, that is up to me. I can't sit back and let opportunities pass me by. I have to be aggressive and take shots. Like the famous saying goes, "you miss 100% of the shots you don't take." Good luck and see you on the felt.

Live:
June - -$475
2014 - -$2170

Online:
June - +$2.65
2014 - +$24.55

[Jdawg0913]

My last session was a microcosm of my year.

Things are not going my way and this is going to be a waaahhh post lol. I feel as though I am playing well but not getting the results. I truly believe it is bad luck more than bad play. Case in point, my make or break hand from last night. 6-12 oe full ring. I am dealt kqqj double suited. 5 players limp and the flop is a j 10 two spades. I just flopped Broadway with the nut flush draw aka royal draw. Sb bets two people call and I raise. Sb 3bets and one person calls so I 4 bet. Both players call. Turn is king. Now I have a full house draw with my royal draw and my made broadway straight. It's checked to me, I bet sb raises, middle player calls, I 3bet. The other players call. The river is a king giving me a full house. The sb jumps out of his seat and bets. He middle player folds and I just call. Well, the case King came out and gave him kings full of aces to beat my kings full of jacks lol. Waaaahhh waaahhh waaahhh lol I played the hand perfect. The only thing I should have done different was raise the river and lose more money lol. And that is how my year has going. I feel as though I am doing everything right. Maybe I have stayed at a table a little longer than I should have but overall I have played well. I feel as though I am running ridiculously below expectation. Waaahhh waaahhh waaahhh lol. Sorry for the less than optimistic post. I just need to pity myself for a day to let it out. Then I can fully regroup and get ready for the next session. Baaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh! Lol good luck and see you on the felt lol

Live:
July - -$400
2014 - -$2570

Online:
July - -$3.00
2014 - +$21.55