Embarking On A Journey

Another lye in to day. I felt lazy as hell. But to my defence I do have a cold at the moment so that could be the reason for me being so tired.

One very interesting hand came up today. I nearly made a huge hero call. Board is Js,9c,4d,3s,9s I had triple barrelled OOP. Villan who was tight ish. He had beef with me as we had a disagreement over seat space. Snap calls my flop and turn Cbet I thought he had nothing the way he was acting. I had A5. Then I barrel the river and he raised. I thought for about 2 minutes and folded. I was going to snap fold but then thought about it. J,J or J9 prob re raises me on turn. So really he has a flush or missed straight draw. I folded in the end. I wish I had called but really I think the fold was for the best as I don't beat any low pairs that he randomly decided to turn into a bluff. I don't beat any other A high hands. The only hand I beat is q,10 or k10

My cold is getting me down!! I got up on time today and got to the casino in good time I played well and also ran well which in 5 hours of play turned a good 500 proffit. I was just feeling tired. Tired of playing and didnt want to sit on cash even thogh I was master of the table. So I entered into a tourney. Good decision to leave the cash because I bluffed off all my chips within 7 hands and was out. Decided to go for a walk around the shops as it was early in the night and I had nothing better to do. Bought a few ralph lorren polo cloths which is nice. Then came back home and booked my flights to Thailand ♦ Looking forward to that. Then to Australia. Flights were cheeper than I first imagined which is a nice surprise. About half the price i paid to come here.

I hope my cold clears up soon. I will have a good sleep tonight. Play a session tomorrow and then im supposed to be meeting a girl tomorrow for drinks at about 11 so that will be good. I'm flying out of LV on the 26th so just under 2 weeks left to make my millions.

I played today but it didn't go to plan. I got in a strange spot agin where I had J,J on a 9 high board and I felt I was behind but still elected to take the rout of aggression. I ended up being vs Q,Q. Then I also took the aggressive rout with top pair and the guy had a set. Both hands I could have played differently and would have if I was on my A game. I'm not sure why I was playing my B game today. I had no reason to. I had a good warm up and was ready to play. I didnt feel aggressive. I was opening allot because I was getting good starting hands allot that were missing the flops constantly.

I need to sort this out. I'm not sure if it because I'm ill at the moment. Maybe burt out. It could be the fact that i'm leaving america soon and will be on the road again. I duno I will have a good sleep today and back on it tomorrow. I am disappointed though as Saturday would be a good night to be grinding.

Nice to see you, to see you nice!!! I ran good today, very good. At first I was playing and the action was soo bad. I was playing an aggressive style. I kept injecting logic to my brain to tell my to calm down because I was making some stupid plays. On hand I 3 bet with 5,3 off and then a ramdom limper shoved with his tiny stack and then there was a few other spots which I was getting my self caught in. I took a break with a friend had some food and then went back and the action was allot better. I was on a good table. Still playing aggressive but I was more calculating. I managed to completely own a guy when we got into a few raising battles and then the last hand he took a stand against me with TPWK and I had a set so that was nice. I then continued to run good and own the whole table.

Im sure though If my a playing was bad or good but if you are not hitting any flops then somtimes no matter how welll you play you will loose.

Last night I hit my stop loss after being up 1 BI. A little bit shit because I lost some big pots where I should have got away from my hands. I got it in pre with J,J which was vs K,K and also got it in with A,10 because I thought a guy was tilting. I wasnt playing my best.

I had a good day today though. I went hiking today which as really good. With some mate, we hiked in the desert and had a BBQ. Then I came back and played. I played well! I ran bad but over all I am happy with how I did. I ended up loosing when I got it all in on flop with a flush draw and missed. I called it a night at that. I managed to flop 2 pair 3 times and lost all pots. I played them well but was just running bad. I am happy with how I played and the focus I had on the game. Also I don't even mind the last hand. I have 50% vs his over pair there and I felt it was time to get aggressive with it. I wouldnt change anything I did in the session today, just better luck next time!

Date: 16/03/15

Emotions: I was in a particularly aggressive and anxious mood at the start of my session. I was wanting to creat action and be in every pot. I had to on several occasion inject logic to stop my self and still it didn’t work properly and I was getting in some bad spots.

Attributes: I’m not sure why I was in this mood. I was playing on a A game focus but over the top so it brought me down. I was on some bad tables with just nits and this was causing some of the frustration.

Lifestyle: I had a very late night last night, going to bed at 9AM. I got up at my normal time and was on the strip ready to play about 5,30. I played at the aria then because the action was so bad I moved to planet hollywood. I then went to lunch with a friend as still there the action was bad. Then after lunch I played again at the aria and all was good. I ran very well and was on a good table too.

Tilt: I was tilting with too mu ch aggression, trying to win every pot. I can work out why these last few days I am in the mood.

I had a sesion two days ago but didnt warm down after :f_mad:. I lost again. I feel I ws not playing my best. I got my self into some situations where if I was on my A game would have not lost money. I was playing better because I was not calling off my chips in bad situations but I was loosing my money with bluffs which was bad and anoying but part of me feels I was unlucky running into the nuts. I had a few unlucky hands. One I couldnt fold aces on a ten High flop and he had a set. I should have gotten away. Second I was all in pre with A,K which again I should have gotten away from.

I had a day off yesterday and went out with friends for drinks last night. today I moved out of my apartment becasue I only have 4 days left here in vegas Then onto Thailand I'm excited to be going to australia to play but it a bit tough when you think of how much money you wast on air fairs ect. Plus its going to be an upset to my rutine. Maybe thats what I need though as I have been failing a bit in that area this month.

Today I played from 7-1.30. I feel I was really playing well. I had a good winning session. Not only did I win good money in the big pots, I feel I saved a lot of money in some pots where I made massive folds. One hand I had A,K on an A,10,2 flop. I was in BB. 4 limpers and I decided to check my option. On other days I would raise here and make the pot big OOP. I floped top pair on a 2 diamond flop. I led out for 12. I got one caller and one guy re raised to 30. I think and re raise him to $70. He then shoves for 300. I had planned to fold to this agression and after thinking for a little wile. I asked if he likes A,10 here? I open folded and he showed me A,10. Pat on the back for me

Then one MP raiser and an LP call. I have J,J on BB. I call. other days I might re raise. Flop comes 5,6,7. I check, original riaser bets LP re raises. I think and fold. Guy shoves and other guy calls with a set vs K,K. Good play by me! These are the plays which on days like these I make easy and it saves me so much stress and money.

Date: 24/03/15

Emotions:Today I was on good form again. I first played a tournament and I ended up winning it. I ran well during the tournament and wouldn’t say I played particularly well. I played standard. I think today again I’m playing my A games so playing a good game is easy for me. I then played another tournament and busted out of that one. I was a bit more aggressive in this tournament and went out with a bad hand vs a friend. Then I played cash and was playing well and on my A Game.

Attributes: I feel I came off a good head after playing well yesterday. I had allot of rest today and didn’t rush to the casino. I was playing a bit aggressive in the second tournament maybe because I won the one before so was less worried about this one. I played well during cash because i knew i wasn’t going to play for very long so would have a chance to win my money back if I made a bad play.

Lifestyle: I got up late because I couldn’t get to the casino early because I am at a friends house now. I went to the gym and then chilled for a few hours. We then played a small tournament and I won. We then went to the next tournament which I busted out of. I then played cash and feel I played very well. I ended up winning 1 BI.

Tilt: I would say the only tilt was in the second tournament when I was playing aggressively but calculated. The defining hand was VS my friend I had TPWK and he had top two. I should have checked it down with him in the hand as we are friends and should have not lost much money.

There we go. I just finished my last session in vegas for a wile. Its been good fn here for sure. Now ill have tomorow off. Im going to play golf and then go out tomorrow night. I ended up profiting 6K which covered my cost and then some. Its a shame I dropped 3 K in the later part of this month I ended the month on a high though. I have been playing really well the last few days and hope to come back strong when I get to Australia. For now ill enjoy my 12 days in Thaland with my Chinese friend. Then back to work in Sydney on the 9th of april.

12/04/15
I'm in Sydney now. A thought few days for me. I landed and had an infection so was feeling really bad and was bed ridden for 2 days. Went to the doctors yesterday and hope to get results back soon. I played poker twice and lost twice. I have been playing quite badly which is annoying. Playing very aggressively which I don't need to do as the players are so bad I can just sit back and make decent profit from my big hands. They are loose passive players so it's hard to distinguish between them having second pair and two pair type hands. I need to be more patient at the tables and clock in some hours.

The thought of going back to England has been creeping back into my mind. I think if it stays here I will not ignore it. I was thinking last night when I'm farming it reminds me of how much I hate it and I work really hard to not do it but when I here and miss my friends it seems a bit more ok. Also I have gone from America where rich was there and I had a few other friends there, then to Thailand where I was with Doluce and she was like my best friend. We had the best time together. And to here where I know no one, I'm living in shitty accommodation and I'm ill. I'll give it a week and make a decision because it's only costing me money to be here unhappy.

Date: 12/04/15

Emotions: I was feeling motivated today. I had been thinking hard about the best way to beat the game over the last 24 hours. Also the best way to achieve what I want in life.

Attributes: a few bad session made me think hard about how to get what I want.

Lifestyle: got up a played 6 tables online of low stakes to practice playing well. Then walked around. Move hostels and ate so asian food. Then to the casino. I played 11 hours. With one food stop and a few toilet breaks.

Tilt: I would say I played near perfect today. Just solid abc poker and never going off the track which turned a good profit.

I have been doing allot of thinking. back and forth whether I should stay here, move back to Las Vegas or maybe go to Korea or the Philippines. I think the main reason is that I'm home sick. With being ill coming away from friends and all that into one has made it feel shit here. Also me playing a few bad poker sessions was bad for moral too.

To beat poker I really just have to play solid ABC poker. No tricky busnes. That can me very hard for me sometimes. If I feel my self slipping I just take a break and have some food and re evaluate my game.

To beat travelling I believe its a slip in my motivation. It just a character building time in my life. Life is testing me right now! I'm going to stand my ground. I need to be in Vegas for June. I might go there for May and June I'm not sure yet. Just so I'm Comfortable there for when the world series hits. I can make decent money here. The rake is not really a big issue because the player are soo bad. I have a huge edge over them and there should be no reason why I cant pull a decent profit out of my time here.

Also the rake is high but when you think about it VS LV its not as crazy as it first seams. Because you are not allowed to tip the dealers, You save I think $5 an hour with that. You still got the price of drinks ect though.

I was thinking though. What am I trying to achieve? I want to make money! I want to build to higher stakes. I want to live in a nice place. At the moment I'm spending allot of money on travelling costs. I have conflicting wishes. One hand I want to travel. The other hand I want to make as much money as possible. I feel the last few days, thinking about it I am coming to the end of my travelling bug. I want to have a place to call home. A place where I know I can stay more than three months. I have a place to keep my stuff and an address to write on the forms I write all the time. Where to live though? London, Prices are way high plus I still am a way away from friends there. Near home home, Living is cheeper but I live no where near a casino but close to friends. Bristol, It has a decent casino and its not as busy as london. Also close enough to friends, but living is costly enough.
I have to say Bristol sounds like the best place for me. But then again I would like to live with my friends. I have no poker pro friends there, and my other friends have not got enough money or the balls to live in a house. If I was to live in bristol it would mean that I would be playing more online poker. Probably only playing in the casino 3 maybe 4 times a week. Its not too bad but I do like the option of many casino everyday. also when I would play in the casino it would be against the same regs all the time really.

I'm thinking though now I'm moving more to the thing where I want to have a home and then go off for 1 or 2 months at a time to places then back to home. Thats where i'm headding now. Rather than travelling all the time from place to place.

Ill see how i feel over the next few days. I think really though Ill still only go home in July and then decide from there. maybe get a place for the summer. If I like it stay If I don't get on out of there. I'm going for a stroll around the city now. Find a nice place for breakfast then to the grind later. game on!

The last few days has been up and down. I'm playing badly in some big spots. I'm trying to think about why im playing badly. In multi way pots this week I lost with aces. 300. I lost with J,10 200 and with Q,10 300. I also lost 300 with Q,10 triple barrel bluffing a women. I keep making these mistakes because I’m trying to out play the players. Why am I trying to out play them? I know what is the best playing style to win! I know I should sit and only play my best hands. why cant I do it?

Problem: I'm am trying to win every pot.
Logic: I think the players are so bad that I know what cards they have and can make them fold and win every pot im in.
Why is this flawed?: This is bad reasoning because the players are not thinking about what I could have. They look at their cards and if they have a pair will be getting their money in. They cannot fold second pair so why try and make them?
what should I do?: I need to understand that the best way to win in this game is to loose the least with your medium to bad hands and make the most with your best hands. I should be playing my hands with care. If i have then nuts bet. If I have a medium hand check and see what they do. If they bet I should evaluate on whether I think my hand is best or not. My edge comes from being able to make exploitative folds with second pairs and other type hands when I know they are only betting with a very good hand. They check call with second pairs and draws and raise with top pair and better.

Yesterday was interesting. I Worked on my mental game and played some online poker. I did on playing solid. I then went to the casino. I played well for a few hours. I made one mistake yesterday. Yet again it was in a multi way pot. The flop came down 3 diamonds. 4 way. 1st to act bets out for pot. I had flopped top pair. I thought for a wile. I had top pair second kicker no diamond. I though, even if I am ahead now how can I be by the river? Also I have 2 people to act behind me and they could have flopped a flush or two pair ect. Then I thought about a previous hand where the guy had bet out before with a draw so I could be ahead. I shipped all in!?? Why?? I knew straight after it was a mistake. I knew before I didnt it it isa bad play. And of course when the person to act behind me snaps it was a terrible mistake!

So why do I keep making these mistakes in muti way pots? My gut decision was to fold but I talked my self into it.

what is my logic behind it? I think I hate to be out played and believe that people could make this play with a draw.

This is wrong because know one is betting into 3 players on a straight flush board without less than a set. These players don't try to out play others. Especially in the first to act position. I am not being out played by these people. They play their hands face up.

I need to see their bets as they are and be able to take it that the players have exactly what they represent. In multi way pots I need to be able to fold much easier. I need to be able to fold my one pair hands when OOP.

The last few weeks I have been improving in my mental game and have been improving my strategic game by having a better hand starting range. Also I'm not trying to out play people and have been able to make the right folds and raises. My C game has improved from raising with marginal hands from early position to folding. Also I am not raising with marginal hands in late position when there are many limpers. Because I know they will all call and don't want to play a big pot with these hands.

So another session another loss :(. I played well not geting out of line. Then I flopped a set and the flop was 3 harts. I slow played my hand and no more harts came down. On the river I bet 1/3 pot. I get one caller and a guy shoves for 400 into a 600 pot. My initial thoughts were to bet this small amount as a blocking bet and fold to aggression. I then thought for a wile. The river had brought a straight possibility. I thought for a wile. He cant be doing this with a straight. Nore trips. Only a flush. I expected him to re raise the turn with a flush as he was last to act in a 3 way pot. I though he is seeing what im doing and is making a bluff play on it. I call. He had flopped the nuts.

Again I knew what to do. I made the play so i could fold but then I talked my self into it and lost a bit pot. I seem to win allot of small pots but when it comes to the big pots I talk my self into making a bad decision.

I got up today. quite late. I was up late playing HU last night. I managed to have a huge fish vs me. He was jamming it all in with 4,3 5,6 and K,10 pre. After taking 3 BI off him he won one back with a full house vs my trips. Then a few hands later he no has 200BB he 3 bets me (43%) I 4 bet with A,K and he 5 bet shoves from $8 to $100. I think and call ? I feel like this is the wrong call. He ended up having A,7 and flopped 2 pair. Then he ran with the money. I think with such a big edge I shouldn't have called but then again when I have such a big edge as this should I call?? I duno I think now after he ran I should just fold and wait for a better spot.

After getting up today I again had a huge fish sit donw on my HU table and spewed off 3 BI. then he left. I went to the casino a few hours later. I managed to raise pre with 10,10. I get 4 callers and the flop comes 10,J,K. Checked to me I CBET. Get on caller. He then bets out on a 5, turn. I'm thinking does he have two pair here?? I flat and the river is a 9. This means all his QX hands have hit the straight. He bets again half pot. I think for a wile and call. He showed A,Q. Safe to say I was Pissed at my self for calling of my chips. I Then re Bought after having a walk. I played solid for two hours then in two hands I called off 50% of my stack with TPWK and second pair. Again Why do I do it? The scond pair was a strange hand and I dont mind the call so much. But the TPWK was bad. I knew he had two pair plus he could of had allot of other TP that beat me!.

I was trying to think on the way home. Why do I keep doing this? There is no logical explanation why I call when I know I'm behind. I was thinking to my self that maybe its because I am getting bored. Because live poker is so slow, and you rarely get a good hand. Maybe I feel like I have to call in these spots to try and get some money? Its a loosing play and I know it!

I then thought on the way home. How badly do I want this. Do I really want to go home in two weeks proving everyone right that I cant make a living out of poker!? NOO!! For sure that is not the case. I love playing poker everyday! I love having the freedom of waking up when I like. If I go home now to work I would have to be getting up at 6AM everyday. Do I want that? Fuck no!! Do I want to spend every day with depressed people? NO! How badly do I want this??? Enough to stop calling off my chips when I know i'm behind? YES! Easy no brainer!!! So why cant I do it??? I can and I will. I need to knuckle down with poker hard! I need to put in some hours man. I need to be a winner. I do NOT want to go home. I do not want to do anything else that play poker. This is my dream. This is what I want and I will do anything and everything I can to be a winning player!!!!

So I have just been playing online this morning and playing well until again I made the mistake of calling on the river. So I have K,Q in BB. SB raised to 3X 6 max. I call. Flop, K,5,4 he bets I call, turn 6 he bets I think shall I raise or flat. I decide to call because I think K,J can fold to a raise and better calls me. river brings a 2 he bets again. Now I think is he really betting K,J here? I expected him to just check and maybe I go for thin value or just check behind. I think? A 3 has has the straight. How can he bet here with worse than me? I call he has A,3. Again I knew I was behind. I still call?! WTF!!!!!! This is the same mistake I am making over and over!!!

I just got back from my Session. manage to do nine hours without going broke. I manage to stay really disciplined to my hand is starting ranges even when being carded for maybe one hour I manage to fold A,10 or A,J EP. i'm also really happy with the way I manage to not go until when I was in such a bad run of cards and even when you know three people would call and I would have 5,6 off on the button I would manage the folder under a lot of those hands would've got me in really tough spots where I had got shot straight drawers or I hard for the straws and all of these draws missed. If I was to be playing the way I was playing two weeks ago all the way everybody else is playing tonight I would've lost a lot more money I think I would've been in for about one grand and would've lost it so I'm really happy with the way I played and don't think I could've played any better today. It feels funny to be going home happy to only be down $50 but at the end of the day how's the last two weeks of bingo and $50 down in one night is good. Overall I am really happy with just the way I played tonight and how I conduct myself are just such a bad run of cards I don't go until it's all and yeah I stuck to my plan and my way of playing and I have pulled through. I was grinding a $200 start for a long time and I thought about going home but as it is my last playing if I go home with $200 I can't come back tomorrow and buy In with that , so it was kind of a do I die tonight with the start and I manage to Pull it back at the end with some good play. One thing that does tell me at the casino is the way they run the casino, it's not player friendly at all. We got down to two tables of one having 8 players and one with 4. Insted of making two tables of 6 they give the table if four the option for two to move tables and two people to go home!? Like how bad can you run a poker room!!!

And I'm gonna be going back there tomorrow and try my best again and hopefully my luck turns around and maybe I make 1 million. I'm on my last Byam for the casino right now so if I lose this I'm gonna have to book my ticket home to England but I really don't want to go home to England, I'm gonna do everything I can to not go home so I'm not gonna book the ticket. I'm not going to give up with out a fight!!!

The hand chart was a good idea and Halas helped keep me playing a solid hand starting range. It's so easy to open in early position with A3 ect. The last few days has still been loosing days but half down to bad play and half to no luck. I'm on my last buy in now which is a little stressing but I'm going to change my strategy a bit today. Keep playing tight but instead of doing the standard open to $15-20 pre on 2,3 I'll open bigger to $30. This will get people with there rubbish hands out. I still think they call with K,10 ect so I'm against those hands but it makes the pots more likely to be heads up and as I'm likely to win I'll be winning bigger pots. Or on 2,5 game open to $35-40. This is clearly still a high variance strategy but one which rely less on luck to hit my hands and more on skill

So I'm still playing. 9 hours into my session. It's gone very well today with the new strategy. I am still down but I feel I have played much better today. Also hand selection has been very good. I have just had no luck with the card. Really though I think I have played almost perfect today and wouldn't change anything about how I have played.

Warm down. For my warm down I want to analyse how I played, what improved. And what needs more work. Set goals for my next session based on my evaluation.

Yesterday I had a good session. I played well. I got tired towards the end of playing. I got a little tilted during a heads up match and lost 2 BI I shouldn't have. I knew I was tired but the guy was so bad I didn't want to leave the game. I was playing late because I ran deep in as tournament so I had to keep playing. I think I should have dropped tables to save energy because I ended up busting in the tourney due to a mistake. I was playing well for the most part not putting in my money with bad cards. I need to work on folding to 3 bets pre. Goals for this session. Play solid. Don't call off to people aggression.