Making a living with STT SNGs

Some new things or development going on

Coaching
- Booked 8 coaching sessions in following 3 days (3 on Thu and Fri and 2 on Sat)
- Waiting for another student to respond and book with him also by the end of the week

Grind computer
- Going tomorrow evening to Tivat to pick it up
- Grind chair is installed successfully waiting for its buddies to join it !

CrossFit
- Worked out today again and completed it again
- 21 15 9 reps, pull ups push ups and sit ups - did it all in 7:07 !!!
- Did cash out with 25 burpees which took me 2:40!
- Very intensive workout , very proud I completed it and considering how I crushed yesterday this is awesome.
- In following days I hope to get training happening , most likely on Saturday when I have only 2 sessions scheduled.

Music
- Got invited to record something this Sunday at special girls place
- The recording will go to Berklee
- Still considering the offer
- Waiting for the confirmation on the Embassy gig for 2nd of October
- Expecting development in area for guitar lessons space (have 3 students that I plan to continue working with!)
- Special girl wants me to teach her to play guitar also on top of everything going on

Poker
- Played couple HU hypers today in coffee place (30s). Owned them hard
- Very excited to hook up my grinding machine and start playing 100 a day !

Overall things
- It will be difficult to balance things out but I simply will do my best to do following things
a) coach minimum 9 hours a week
b) grind 2 - 3k games this month a must (90-120 hours roughly)
c) CrossFit 3 - 4 times a week (ranges from 4 to 8 hours weekly)
d) hang out with special girl as often as possible without interfering with other life things (can't and won't put time on this as it will be close to impossible to make any prediction if we will spend 2, 20 or 100 hours a week

Will create a challenge once I sort out the grind computer tomorrow or day after latest. Expect real grinding to last total 20 days minimum which is why I said 2k games as minimum.

Another important info, my brother from Herceg Novi is also coming here on Monday! He will stay for a whole week and his plan will be to take me out, party, get drunk with Montenegro beer (Niksicko) and all that brotherly stuff My plan will be to play music with him (he plays drums!), do some CrossFit together, visit beaches, hang out very often and meet him with special girl also

This is all for this update.
Enjoy the rest of your week !

Awesome sounds like things are really coming together for you. Do you have a coaching thread on the forums anywhere? I'd be curious to know what games you coach and what your rates are. I may be looking into getting some coaching in the new year if I manage to move up in stakes. Your 6-max video was excellent by the way ♠_thumbsup:

Originally posted by evolv87
Awesome sounds like things are really coming together for you. Do you have a coaching thread on the forums anywhere? I'd be curious to know what games you coach and what your rates are. I may be looking into getting some coaching in the new year if I manage to move up in stakes. Your 6-max video was excellent by the way ♠_thumbsup:

Thanks evolv87, things really are clicking lately

No coaching thread yet. That should happen in some near future.

I am primarily 6max SNG player but I can teach also how to crush 9max as I consider that format to be much easier then 6max (6max has more pre and post flop dynamics, ranges are wider in calling phases etc). To me that format is boring and not as close to real poker as 6max is , which is why I go for 6max always

As far as deals and rates go I can tell you right now what I used to do and what my plan is to do in future:
- Used to do coaching + staking 6 - 12 months as well as per games 10k or 20k
- Used to do coaching for hourly
- Used to do discounted session + profit split in favor of student

In future I plan to:
- Do coaching for hourly
- Accept only people that are super trustworthy, that will not do any hit and run in the program and contract for 12 months minimum
- With guys that are already with me (current group) still offer everything I offered before.

There will be space for new students from new year definitely as some guys are finishing up their contracts. Some or all of them may stay with me further to tackle 15s and 30s , but I definitely have space for 1 or 2 more hard working students.

You will read all about this once the coaching thread gets up and ready. In the meanwhile no rush, you are looking for coaching from January so until then you will have all this info in the coaching thread

As far as hourly goes, I prefer not to discuss it because I don't want this to be interpreted as advertising of any sort.
I grind, do life things , coach and stake other people - that's it. I write about all this stuff, sometimes long, sometimes short or medium posts but I do try my best to include here everything that I do or go through.

There will be time and place to advertise the coaching but as I said above, I plan to do more hourly vs coaching and staking deals in future that is for sure.

All the best to You and Your poker goals!

Cool thanks for the info, I will keep it in mind for when I finally grind my way out of the micros

Originally posted by evolv87
Cool thanks for the info, I will keep it in mind for when I finally grind my way out of the micros

You welcome man, just couple of tips to do it faster

- Work on your tactical game every day to improve your auto pilot skills (all areas)
- Work on increasing your table count as more tables = higher hourly if your autopilot is solid
- Work on your mental game as you want to be as realistic as possible about your goals/accomplishments how each session went (how much did variance play role in it; how many mistakes did you make or stacks that you gave away) and your tilt factor and triggers for it (recognize it, deal with each problem off the table by finding solution and injecting logic then apply it to the actual tables)

Good luck and hope you crush them all soon!

Quick update

Had a day off from CrossFit yesterday, will do the same today.

Coached 3 sessions yesterday. Internet problems in the 2nd and 3rd. Will look for more spots for internet definitely by the end of the week.

Hanged out with special girl. We arranged to record something for Berklee this Sunday at her place.

In the evening picked up my grind machine and monitors. One of the two monitors got damaged in transport. I will consider buying a new one here or simply accepting that one as it as and use it just for lobby's.

Today 3 coaching sessions lined up, some CrossFit coaching/overview with special girl, in the afternoon and evening moving the table to my room for the grind and setting up computer and finally starting to prepare Jazz tune for Sunday's recording.

Have a nice day on and off the tables!

Congrats on all your success.

I'm a long time member(lurker) and am interested in learning how to play these 6 man hyper turbo's. What would you recommend as a starting point?

Thanks

Grind station is set up !

I finished almost everything for the day.
Will go for 50 game session now and later start preparing Jazz tune for Sunday before bed time.

In the meanwhile you can check August challenge update with graphs HERE

Originally posted by sillywilly
Congrats on all your success.

I'm a long time member(lurker) and am interested in learning how to play these 6 man hyper turbo's. What would you recommend as a starting point?

Thanks

Thank you sillywilly

I would approach them the following way

- Learn solid opening ranges for various stack depth
- Then start learning r/calling ranges for various stack depths vs various opponent types
- Move on to defend ranges by just calling for various stack depths
- Figure out 3 bet nai and 3 bet all in ranges vs all positions and opponent types
- Finally figure out post flop game plan in HU or multi way pots, as both initial aggressor or just caller
- Then get to some serious ICM studying pre bubble and bubble (over call ranges with shallow stacks for example etc)
- Finally learn solid HU strategy to have minimum 2% difference between 1st and 2nd place finishes.

Hope that helps and final advice
Be ready for some big swings, running both above and below ev, facing some long term card distribution trouble and setups as it is a game with very few edges.

Satisfied with my 1st session in Montenegro

Played with strong focus, was very sharp and think I crushed it - turns out I ran terrible on 30s (tons of 2nd places and bellow ev a lot) while 15s were with like 50% ITM running above EV. In the end 1 more 2nd place then 1st , tons of HU setups and bellow EV 112$ 5-6 buy ins in 50 games.

In HU people kept coming back vs me over and over despite their ridiculous bad shoves and spew plays
I am however very happy to see that display on 15s and 30s still. This means there are still edges at these stakes and 3%+ is still very attainable and within reach there.

Look forward to what this month will bring with grind. Will try to go for 100 games tomorrow but that all depends on sessions, CrossFit and other things as well. Will definitely play afternoon evening 1 or 2 sessions.

Have a good weekend!

Another full day here in Montenegro!

2 coaching sessions
Additional hour spent in coffee place to upload 2 videos for students
Went to do some cash withdrawal and walk around the city
Afternoon lunch followed by the coffee with my sister with lovely balcony view (might post some pictures in the future)
CrossFit training completed successfully (will list it bellow)
Spent time with my aunt talking family stuff enjoying the view
Went out with my sister for a walk, beautiful weather and nice things to see out
Came back home, spent time working on some drop box stuff for videos
Grind 50 games and here we are

I am providing graphs for 100 games I played so far in Montenegro:

Also here is CrossFit training I did today , 3rd training since I arrived on 1st!

Tabata (20 seconds full pace - 10 seconds rest)
Exercises used:
1) Push ups
2) Sit ups
3) Burpee
4) Jump high (jumping in the air/simulation for box jump!)
Whole set is when each of the exercises are done once 20 seconds with 10 seconds rest in between. After each finished set there is 1 minute rest and then you start again.
I did 4 sets and here are my results for each set which are impressive to me even ♦

Push ups - 15 16 15 10 = 56 total
Sit ups - 12 12 12 12 = 48 total
Burpee - 8 8 8 8 = 32 total
Jump high - 22 20 20 16 = 78 total

Time needed to complete it all 10:50 minutes!

Tomorrow great day ahead - can already feel it!

My brother is arriving here in the morning. I will wake up early as usual, work on Jazz tune for recording and prepare for guitar lesson I teach at 11am.
11-12am Guitar lesson
12am to 2-3pm recording video and tune for Berklee
Lunch after this and hanging out with my family especially my brother who will arrive
Give my brother some CrossFit training to test his physical level (he works out in the gym - CrossFit will kill him I guarantee it!!!)
Afternoon do some grinding 50-100 games
Evening go out to Jam Session which will be organized cause of Jazz Festival here and Rambo Amadeus will be in charge of it!
People from ex Yugoslavia know who he is. When it comes to people in music world that I respect from our region, he is within top 3 for sure! So I definitely look forward going to that jam session, getting the chance to talk to him , hang out, have some beers with my brother and his friends. Special girl will also be there so you never know what may happen

Overall should be very fun day - very much look forward to it!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend on and off the tables!

Just a "quick" update as weather is beautiful and will hit the beach again today ♦

Yesterday was just amazing day.
Morning to 3pm was involved with guitar teaching + recording video for Berklee. It all went great and I am sure Berklee folks will be pleased when they see/hear it.

3pm - 5pm was hanging out with my family. Drank some Niksicko beer with my brother (it was my "cheat" day yesterday!) and enjoyed it. Ate lunch and then we went to the beach!

5pm - 8:30pm Beach time! Enjoyed swimming, beautiful sunny weather. Water was not cold at all so it was really pleasure to swim and chill in the water. After crazy CrossFit training day before I taught I would die in the water from muscle pain but it turns out that my condition is pretty damn good now. I don't remember last time I went for swimming but I was way worse in the water then I am now that's for sure
After all the swimming and chilling, we went to "Skver" which is basically famous part of Herceg Novi , in translation meaning Square. We sat in one coffee place and enjoyed double espresso with fantastic view, relaxing, checking out hot girls passing in bikini's every 5 seconds or so ♦

Got back home, took a shower ate dinner and went out to Herceg Novi Jazz Festival Jam Session which was organized by Rambo Amadeus.

Rambo Amadeus is one of my idols. My biggest idol is Michael Brecker overall and from abroad but domestic idol is definitely Rambo Amadeus
I connected with him via Facebook a while back. Sent him video recording of my jazz quartet, asking him for honest opinion and evaluation of my playing, compositions, whole band, repertoire. I also told him that I was(am) planing to do album + tours and that I got distribution for USA market. He was very positive and really liked the video I sent him and we exchanged couple more messages. Since then I saw him in my hometown Nis and he had amazing gig with great musicians.

Fast forward to last night, Jazz Jam Session. Special girl was there so was the guy that recorded with us earlier that day. We were relaxing at 3 tables around 10 of us (my brother with lots of his friends + myself, special girl and percussionist). We got up and went to play something. It was all very spontaneous and natural. We played jazz standards Caravan and Fly me to the moon. We had bass player following us also (house band in charge of session) which worked out great. I was very emotional, really enjoyed being on the stage after a while, crushed both songs in all areas and then this happens...
Rambo Amadeus approaches me and starts asking me where I studied, what I am doing, where I am playing etc. We talk and I go back to sit with whole gang. Rambo later gets up and comes to me and tells me something like " You should write me on facebook, lets organize for you to play here next year" Besides that he told me about 4-5 times " you sound good" and "you are very musical".
Getting compliments from my idol is as good as it gets!

Overall super positive day and experience and it is days like this that make me appreciate freedom that I have living my dream life.

Today's plans:

- Prepare now to go to Skver and to hit beach
- Come back later eat lunch and work out
- In the evening try to go for some grinding 50-100 games
- During the day (perhaps in between lunch and CrossFit) book plane ticket for Belgrade + organize tickets for Partizan - Tottenham on 18th of September ( I will fly to Belgrade on 18th and come back to Herceg Novi on 19th - going just for the Partizan game and to hang out with my brother, best friend and all my friends who are coming to the game with me!)

Enjoy your Monday and rest of the week!

Originally posted by IvicaIliev77

Yesterday was just amazing day.

I was very emotional, really enjoyed being on the stage after a while, crushed both songs in all areas and then this happens...
Rambo Amadeus approaches me and starts asking me where I studied, what I am doing, where I am playing etc. We talk and I go back to sit with whole gang. Rambo later gets up and comes to me and tells me something like " You should write me on facebook, lets organize for you to play here next year" Besides that he told me about 4-5 times " you sound good" and "you are very musical".
Getting compliments from my idol is as good as it gets!

Awesome dude - very happy for you!

Originally posted by Ramble

Originally posted by IvicaIliev77

Yesterday was just amazing day.

I was very emotional, really enjoyed being on the stage after a while, crushed both songs in all areas and then this happens...
Rambo Amadeus approaches me and starts asking me where I studied, what I am doing, where I am playing etc. We talk and I go back to sit with whole gang. Rambo later gets up and comes to me and tells me something like " You should write me on facebook, lets organize for you to play here next year" Besides that he told me about 4-5 times " you sound good" and "you are very musical".
Getting compliments from my idol is as good as it gets!

Awesome dude - very happy for you!

Thanks buddy - things are really awesome here.

I just want to share 1 photo with all of you from beach today from Kumbor (place close to Herceg Novi).

Enjoy it!

Really quick update

Life wise - tons of things going on but no time to share it all.

Poker wise - I am at 200 games for this month! I have been hitting beaches, hanging with my brother and sister, going out in the evening, hanging with special girl, training a lot. From 20th of September I will step on it and go for 150-200 games a day to hit minimum 2k for this month.

Really important thing I want to share is I am flying to Madrid tomorrow to watch LIVE Serbia vs USA basketball world cup finals!

I decided this last night after 1st quarter - had a great feeling we would trash France and we did (crazy Batum - respect!) so today I purchased bunch of plane tickets, booked accomodation , even bought ticket for finals and I am all set!

I will go tomorrow to Madrid, after the game sleep over, Monday spend whole day in Madrid, Tuesday fly to Sofia, from Sofia get to Nis and then hang in Nis from Tuesday to say Wednesday on Thursday, then I head to Belgrade for Partizan Tottenham game, sleep over and Friday get back to Montenegro!!!

So I will be away 5 days and really look forward to this trip and adventure. This is exactly the reason why I tell everyone that poker is the best job out there - you can do things that you want whenever you want!

Enjoy remaining of your weekend and next week - not sure if I will update the blog (maybe when I am in Nis Tuesday or Wednesday!)

Hi Ivica ,

First of all...

Please let me introduce myself. My name is Joao.I live in Portugal, and im a amateur poker player, my main job is Networking ( forgive me , my english is not fantastic, but im able to communicate).

Since a few months i follow your blog, wich i think is fantastic. We can follow your life in an interesting and close way.

I realized you are the type of person who is a "world citizen", you enjoy to travel a lot, wich for a professional poker player its more easy. I think its a fantastic way of living, the internet made that possible, and of course , your perseverence to achieve your goals. I admire you for that.

Im here to give you a tip. Sure im going to talk about my country. But i will be honest, and fair.

If you have a chance, come to visit Portugal in your journey across the world. Specially Algarve (a region in the south) wich has a great weather, the cost of life is cheap, people are kind, its a secure place , during the summer and spring you can be relaxing in the beach, and the rest of the year ,is more pleasant than in the rest of europe. Algarve has a microclimate wich is protected by small mountains. You can find incredible beaches and live your life in an unstressed enviroment. Believe me you wont regret it ! And a small tip...Internet access is generally good ♦

I can give you a big help on that. I live in Lisbon, but i go there from 15 to 15 days.

I send you a promotional video , wich is more touristic than other thing . But you can search in google for e.g : Algarve beaches, Algarve nightlife, living in Algarve, etc.

Forgive the extension of my post

Best regards and the best luck for your life.

Originally posted by jonhysouth
Hi Ivica ,

First of all...

Please let me introduce myself. My name is Joao.I live in Portugal, and im a amateur poker player, my main job is Networking ( forgive me , my english is not fantastic, but im able to communicate).

Since a few months i follow your blog, wich i think is fantastic. We can follow your life in an interesting and close way.

I realized you are the type of person who is a "world citizen", you enjoy to travel a lot, wich for a professional poker player its more easy. I think its a fantastic way of living, the internet made that possible, and of course , your perseverence to achieve your goals. I admire you for that.

Im here to give you a tip. Sure im going to talk about my country. But i will be honest, and fair.

If you have a chance, come to visit Portugal in your journey across the world. Specially Algarve (a region in the south) wich has a great weather, the cost of life is cheap, people are kind, its a secure place , during the summer and spring you can be relaxing in the beach, and the rest of the year ,is more pleasant than in the rest of europe. Algarve has a microclimate wich is protected by small mountains. You can find incredible beaches and live your life in an unstressed enviroment. Believe me you wont regret it ! And a small tip...Internet access is generally good ♦

I can give you a big help on that. I live in Lisbon, but i go there from 15 to 15 days.

I send you a promotional video , wich is more touristic than other thing . But you can search in google for e.g : Algarve beaches, Algarve nightlife, living in Algarve, etc.

Forgive the extension of my post

Best regards and the best luck for your life.

Ivica is my brother btw ♦ I have been trying to convince him about Portugal for years now. It's my absolute favorite place in Europe and planning to move there sometime in the near future.

I have been to Lisbon several times also spent a long summer vacation traveling around Portugal to Porto, Sintra, Braga, Aveiro. I absolutely love it! The people, the culture and in general the lifestyle is perfect.

Algarve is nice, a bit too touristy for my taste but still beautiful. Douro Valley and it's wine and Cape St. Vincent are just so fresh in my head. It's awesome!

Great !

Thats true. I never take holidays during summer (August is the worst month) . Too busy for my head! Its nice only for the nightlife...wich i dont appreciate anymore.

Best season is maybe from February till June. Sunny, warm and quiet.

Good luck on tables !

Hi Joao!

Thank you for coming here and networking + sharing your tips.

I am still in the traveling mode, currently in Belgrade, Partizan plays Tottenham tonight, tomorrow I am back in Montenegro.

In general I am always up for traveling, checking out new places. My 1st place to visit with more money and free time is Asia. Europe is cool and there is lots of great places to visit and live. I however think that Asia is magical place and that I have to go there and experience in near future.

My brother wants to live/move to Portugal. I am more for staying in Serbia and traveling constantly or moving to Boston USA , London UK even Herceg Novi Montenegro- anywhere where I can grind from and have awesome life along the way.

Will write more in detail about things that went on in future posts in couple of days.

Thanks for your patience!

Hi Pedja, hope everything is great, glgl