The grind

[Jdawg0913]

Hey guys

I have been away from poker for sometime now. Well away from serious poker at least. With the beginning of a new year, I figured I would dive back in; both live and online. I have some goals in mind and what I would like to accomplish. I have profit goals, volume goals, etc. I will share them in my next post as I am currently on my way to the casino to play. Hopefully, this is the first step toward a great 2014. Good luck to all of you with your own goals and may this be a very prosperous year for us all. See you the felt.

[EddieTorr]

Good luck to you, Jdawg! Let us know how it goes.

[abwil2]

Sometimes a break of playing poker can be a good thing, doesnt work for me but it does work for some. Wish you best of luck at the tables and on the virtual felt...

[Jdawg0913]

So day 1 is in the books and I am up $230. I went to one of my local casinos, I played a session of 6-12 oe. It was a pretty variance filled day. One of the biggest swing filled days I ever had. After the first half hour, I was up $96. Then 3 hours later, I was down $50. I regained my composure and was able to grind out a nice pay day. I decided to play really aggressively this session. I opened for a raise most of the times I entered a pot and I 3 bet several times where I would have normally called. I am definitely going to try to keep up the aggression as the weeks progress.

Regardless, this post is not a brag post. I am going to outline my plan and my goals. In the past, I have tried to motivate myself with goals and rules but have not stuck with them. I think that is because I have always done year long goals. So for 2014, I am going to do weekly goals (which I will keep to myself because that will make for too long of a thread), monthly goals, 3 month goals (once again I won't post these because of the length of the thread), and yearly goals. It seems like a lot of micro management and redundancy but I think it is what will work best for me. I want to accomplish my goals so I guess what ever works right? Lol. Well, here are my goals:

Year goals:
Live Poker
Profit $12,000
Play 450 hours
Have 80 winning days
Have a 15 day win streak
Have no more than a 7 day losing streak
Play 12 tournaments
Make one final table
Go to Vegas for the wsop

Online
Get online bankroll to $100

January goals:
Live Poker
Profit $1,000
Play 36 hours
Have 7 winning days
Have a 4 day winning streak
Have no more than a 2 day losing streak
Play 1 tournament

Online
Win a free roll

Rules:
Live Poker
Stick with the hot game(I play 1-2 nlhe and 6-12 oe. If I have a winning session, stick with that game. If I lose, switch it up)
Can spend a cash game buyin on a tournament. If desired tournament is outside of that, I have to satellite in.
Leave a cash game when money on the table represents 20% of my entire bankroll. If I have 3 consecutive losing half hours, I must leave the game.
I cannot sit in a game for more than 6 hours
Online Poker
Build the bankroll from scratch using the Ferguson rules.
Can not deposit real money

Hopefully with these goals and rules in place, I will succeed in 2014 and build my bankroll up for the future. Good luck to all of you in the new year and with your own grind.

[Jdawg0913]

Session number two in the books and it was very profitable. I stuck with my local casino's oe game and I am glad I did. It was a busy day at the poker room. It was a very big crowd. The game I play usually spreads 2 games but there were three today and a waiting list. The game was very good with lots of raising and passive players. As such, I ended the session up $702. So far live poker has been going really well. In fact, i am going to play a tournament at a different casino. i won some tournament lamers last june and i finally have the time to go. it is a $200 tournament with a $15,000 guarantee. It's a free roll for me and I am looking forward to it. I will send an update when I finish tonight.

Online, however, I have not played at all. I want to start getting back in the groove but my schedule has been hectic with work and coaching. I am going to make a strong effort to put in some volume the next couple weeks. Regardless, good luck to everyone else with their own challenges. See you on the felt.

Live bankroll $3,932
Online bankroll $0

[Jdawg0913]

Just finished my tournament. Eliminated in approximately 53rd place out of 147. I was card dead for awhile. I guess I also played a little tighter than I usually do. It must be some rust. I know I played one hand wrong. I was accumulating chips pretty easy when I was dealt jj. I made my standard open of 2.5 bb with a healthy chip stack. Blinds were 200 400 with a 25 ante. So I raise to 1000. 3 callers. Everyone checks to me on a flop of 9 5 3 rainbow. I cbet 2500 and get called by the button. Turn brings an ace. I check and the villain fires 6000. My read on the villain, is that he is the typical tight old man who only bets cinches. I ignored my read and called. I figured that he was floating me and trying to buy the pot. River was a 7. I checked he checked and showed ace 9 for two pair. I should have followed my read but I didn't. In all, it was fun to get back out there and play. I probably won't play a tournament again until February but I will definitely remember this lesson. Good luck again and see you on the felt.

[Jdawg0913]

Session number three is in the books. It was a very weird session. I started off pretty hot. I was up $160 ish in the first hour and then it started to turn. I wasn't making hands, and to be honest, I wasn't playing well. I wasn't aggressive enough and I feel as though I played a little loose in early position. Eventually, I was down $280 for the session. I decided right then and there, I have to tighten up and start playing my game. Well in the course of the next two hours, I wound up recouping $255 of my loss, and ended the session only down $25. I decided to quit for the night because I had to get up early in the morning. Overall, it was a down session but not a terrible one. It could have been worse so I guess I am thankful. I will be back at again tomorrow. I would like to get back on track and continue my hot start. Good luck to you all and see you on the felt.

Live bankroll: $3907
Online bankroll: $0

[Jdawg0913]

Session number four is in the books and it was a really wild session. The room was packed and the oe game drew four tables. As such, the competition was pretty weak and passive, the two best components for a profitable oe game. First table, we had a guy who had no clue how to play. He understood the concept but not the proper strategy or normal hand values. What was unique was that he was betting and raising not checking and calling. Usually the less seasoned players just check and call. The session started off rough. I lost half my stake for the day in the first 2 hours. Then I properly adjusted to the game flow and started making the properly plays. It didn't hurt that I scooped some big pots with great river cards. For the session, I won $400 and the novice guy lost somewhere between $800 and $1,000. I cannot get over how juicy today was. I hope Saturdays continue to be this good for the rest of the year. I know I am running a little above expectation, but I feel good about my game right now and want to ride the hot streak. Until next time, good luck and see you on the felt.

[Jdawg0913]

Live bankroll: $4307
Online bankroll: $0

[JohnnyDeepStacks]

Live bankroll: $4307
Online bankroll: $0

Very nice!! Looks like your pluggin away and doing well.