WARNING!!! Going pro... If you don't like hard work then GTFO!!!

Hey Eatyourpeas,

Welcome to the blogs

Man, It's unbelievable how many people are starting new blogs from Gordon, however we love it.

You guys may make a HU player out of me.

Love the name. It's what my mum said to me every day when i was a kid.

Good Luck

Laz

Originally posted by Lazza61
Welcome to the blogs
Good Luck

Hi Sir, thanks very much for the welcome and good luck!!

Hi Eatyourpeas and welcome!

I had to edit your first post since it broke our forum principles.

Regards
NutzAreOk

Originally posted by NutzAreOk
Hi Eatyourpeas and welcome!

I had to edit your first post

Hi Sir.
Thanks for the welcome!
Massive apologies for breaking rules! I assume it comes under the advertising section? Will try my best to not do this again!!
Eatyourpeas!

Originally posted by Eatyourpeas

My plan is to work ridiculously hard over the next year or so.

I should say so...

168 hours in a week and you plan for work and poker to take up 105 of those. I assume sleep at around 45 hours minimum leaving you about 18 hours a week for EVERYTHING else that needs to get done. Do you have any days off planned to give yourself a break so you don't burn out?

I'm not saying you can't do it, just that it is a crazy commitment for you and your family. Good Luck and hope it works out for you.

Originally posted by Ramble
I'm not saying you can't do it, just that it is a crazy commitment for you and your family. Good Luck and hope it works out for you.

Hi Ramble!

Thanks for the good luck wishes (seems pretty cool community here so far!)!!

Around 20 months ago I started to get more serious at poker and realised that to get any volume at all (was still poor) I had to sleep less. I did tonnes of research into sleep (and what a lot of "successful" people do regarding sleep) and since then have reduced my sleep from 8 hours plus each night to anything from 4 to 5 hours. I wake up without using alarms or anything and it has worked well for me since then (i.e not felt tired later in day YET!).

I think that gives me at least 10 more hours (probably 13.5 hours if I average 4.5 hours) which I think is sustainable.

I have to reiterate that this is with wife's total support and it would not be possible for me without that.

At the moment I intend/plan to not play poker from 0800 hours on Saturday until 1930 hours on Sunday in an attempt to rest and not burn-out. I may well do some hours of study during that time though.

I agree it is kind of a "crazy commitment" but I also believe that if you want success then this is the sort of commitment one has to consider.

Thanks again for GL and GL to you too!!

I just realised I did not mention that I am not starting the CFP programme until Monday September 15th.

I have a load of social occasions (golf day = beer, horse racing day = beer, romantic weekend = :heart:) lined up before then so it seemed pointless to start without 100% focus.

So, enjoy those and relax a bit (although still at work ) then hit the big time - HARD!!!

Drive

I am constantly thinking about success and fulfilment... Trying to get a deep enough knowledge to give myself the greatest chance of achieving these things (and then once I have achieved them myself, helping others to achieve them).

After reading several articles I have noticed a recurring theme that I liked (although it was only in half of the articles) and will share with you guys.

All of the articles talked about Rewards and Accountability. If I relate these to poker an example of Reward would be to buy yourself a treat with your winnings or to share your results with your friends (could get really deep into this sometime too) and an example of Accountability could be having an accountability group or having a partner and giving them a sum of money that is important to you and they only return it if you complete the task.

It seems to me these two things are excellent Drivers but more especially in the shorter term.

Over the longer term it seems there is a third Driver that determines success... The Flow.

In a book called Drive by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi he talks about getting into The Flow. It talks about being immersed in what we do and this being tantamount in determining long term success. The Flow encompasses three things:-

1. Mastery - Fall in love with improvement. Track your progress and treat every session as an opportunity to improve.

2. Purpose - Become part of something big. Give to other people. Join a community and share your story with other people (you will be surprised how much you can motivate other people).

3. Enjoyment - Try to make the things you do as much fun as possible. Make mini-games and challenges out of your study and play.

This is already TL;DR but its just an example of the sort of things I am constantly working on.

Most of the points in here encompass a million more points but hopefully some of you will enjoy reading my ramblings!!

GL!

Eatyourpeas.

6 Days To Go!

Things to do...
1. Set-up a second monitor (sounding tough but surely doable!!).
2. Continue watching Champions Stand Up video series (up to 47m 50s on video 5).
3. Check all roll is in e-wallet.
4. Comment on every SSNL hand on BPC.
5. Keep revising No BS 6m Poker book.

5 Days To Go!

Things to do...

1. Set-up 2nd monitor (so useless at this stuff, got splitter coming, half of mates think it will work half think I need new graphics card [not got many mates ]).
2. Get ergonomic mouse (yh, old git whatever) - will purchase at weekend.
3. Champions Stand Up videos...
4. Comment all hands on BPC.
5. Keep revising ranges.
6. Play some poker!?

In my opinion, everything is possible, except the 5 hours sleep everyday for a year. You can do this at short periods of time, but 1 year is too much. Since you are 45 or smth, you probably don't have sex 5 times a week, so that saves you some time. You know your situation better, but it sounds to me that you will need much more time for your family, because your kids are small and wife will need some attention as well. good luck

I usually find if I'm tired I don't sleep more than at most 5 hours, so I stay up later or I'm bouncing around at 4 a.m. like a three year old!

All that seems like a huge commitment given you have family (and a life, dammit!), but I really do wish you well and let's see it work better than you thought even!

Keep it fun,

Mal.

Originally posted by Eatyourpeas
I just realised I did not mention that I am not starting the CFP programme until Monday September 15th.

How was the first day?

GL glad you are in this with me!

@ Johnis - thanks for the input, appreciate it. Lol at sex five times a week! Or do you mean with myself !

@ ShipItHolla - gimme a clue please amigo and GL to you!

@ Ramble - First day was pretty good! Mostly admin still but at the tables now! Thanks for asking.

@ gadget - Thanks for the kind words and good wishes! It is a big commitment and its gonna test me but I BELIEVE!!!

A lot of things are now set-up and ready.

Got dual monitors set-up (how the hell did I not have this before it's awesome!), new ergonomic mouse for my ageing bones (yeah I got ripped off in UK it seems gtfo!) and set up some nice spreadsheets and stuff to help me be totally professional.

Today I am going to be at the tables so SHOW ME YOUR MONEY!!!!

Not played a hand for nearly 6 weeks (8th August wow did not realise so long) so I need to blow the cobwebs off a bit.

Will keep tables down to 4 maximum, play NL10 and follow the BPC No BS 6max Poker bible for now

So...

I am one already!!!!!!

Here is a link to my Youtube Channel. Nothing to see right now but I will be making some fun and motivating videos so be sure to subscribe. I am sure there will be lots of stuff to enjoy and learn from

Hey guys!

First of all here is my short introduction video for my Youtube Channel - take a look to see what is coming in the future to help you improve!

Had a rocky time at the tables so far!!

Hit stop loss both days but had a chat with one of the BPC coaches and he deemed it fair for me to carry on for another 2 buy-ins on both days. Fortunately I managed to make a little bit back both times so got good hours in at the tables.

Blowing the cobwebs off has been pretty weird. Lost my way in a lot of simple situations! I am ok with that though as I am sure I will learn heaps of new stuff once I get into the coaching so not worried about some blank spots!

Rejigged my colour coding too. Used to get lots of jibes about my multi-coloured system! Going to keep it more basic to start.

I think its great for me also playing at NL10 to get back into it. Hopefully will improve again soon and climb those stakes!!

Not going to post any small sample graphs but some simple figures...

Played 2250 hands.

Down 3.7 buy-ins.

I AM A WINNER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey guys!

Settling into the programme nicely now.

Getting back into some systems and schedules after my break and back down to hard work. Has taken a few days but hopefully all is now good! Few nights with too little sleep but once its all back in routine it should be cool!

Had my first coaching session with my new coach Mike "Fooz" Gano this morning at 0430hrs. Perfect time for me as I am pretty fresh at that time so hopefully he can keep to that time in future . Mike seems really cool guy and I feel we are going to work well together.

Session went really well (DB Review) and Fooz found some glaring leaks for me to work on right away so that can only be good news right!!

Got some homework to get on with focussing on those leaks and a bit of research to do. Going to be worth reading some more mindset type stuff so I am prepared for the tougher times that are going to come my way.

Overall not been running great (-4bi in EV and some cruel coolers) and the first two sessions I was REALLY rusty but I feel its just a matter of volume until I crush this limit and get back to NL25.

Roll Update.
Bankroll = $695.39
Profit/loss = -$16.03

Graph (since last update).

(Do we care about EV line btw?)

Feeling GOOD!! Let's PRINT!!

Good luck everybody (except villains)!!! ♦

Originally posted by Eatyourpeas
Hi everyone!!

Some of you will know me from [Edit by NutzAreOk] and as PG+Cer on 2+2 (KP24).

I have recently been accepted onto [Edit by NutzAreOk] Coaching For Profits programme which has been my desire for a long time!

I applied last time Gordon took some students on (you may have heard of HansTheGreat, Rovar and JurassicDaniel) but was correctly rejected. This time, however, I felt my case was extremely strong and after much pressure Gordon has taken me on!

My plan is to work ridiculously hard over the next year or so. I will stay in full-time employment and dedicate 50 hours per week to poker on top of my job. There will be some loss of family time during this period but I hope to maintain most of my precious family time by giving up other hobbies first. At the end of this "period" I hope to give up the full-time job in order to spend much more time with my family than I can now.

Poker Background.
I have played for around 5 years now but my volume has always been very very low (see below), I am talking in the regions of 10 to 15k hands per month average.

I have never had to redeposit since I initially deposited £5 to play and always said I would not put any more money into poker other than what I make myself.

I started playing MTT's on Skypoker (did not know cash games even existed!) and made enough money to pay for a couple of holidays (guess would be $4000).

Finding cash games was big for me because I struggled to find the time to play MTT's once my daughter was born and also due to my full-time job. I started at 6 max NL10 at Pokerstars and very gradually built up to taking NL50 shots (breakeven over 30k hands on second shot so far).

Personal Background.
I am 43, married (2 years) and have two children aged 5 and 3.

I work full-time in a builders merchant at management level (I think) which takes me away from home for 55 hours per week (includes travelling).

I have a 50% share in a property portfolio of 9 houses with my friend (this does not bring any cash-flow but is more of a long term investment). This has prevented me playing poker for perhaps 6 weeks of the year as a few properties are rented to university and require some improvements each summer ;).

My wonderful wife is supporting me 100% in this venture which I will always be grateful for. Without this support I could not even contemplate doing the CFP programme :heart:.

Over the last 10 years or so I have improved my life tremendously (thanks to my wife, AJP, DTP, IRS and my family) doing things such as giving up smoking, going from drinking every day around 20+ units of alcohol to now drinking once per week (still 20 units mind you ), getting married (never thought anyone would marry a drunken bum like me), having two kids (did not expect that department to work ), training in Tae Kwon Do, starting a property portfolio with my friend etc etc etc, all a big work-in-progress so far!

Poker Goals
1. Turn pro as soon as possible (at least $100k per year but of course aiming way higher), within one year would be cool.
2. Become a respected coach as soon as possible (hopefully at BPC).

Other goals
1. Spend as much time with my family as is possible (this is my number one driving force).
2. Continue to expand our property portfolio.
3. Become a life coach (hopefully at BPC) teaching people to better themselves and that anything (almost) is possible!
4. Set up another side business with my property partner (diversification).

Cliff Notes.
Work hard, make dollar, have more time = be fulfilled and be able to help others achieve fulfilment...

Any questions just fire away, be grateful of any support too!

♠_thumbsup: