[Ballerholic]

damn, stevie you're being called out man.

[Ballerholic]

Day 7/8

$25

Same old same old. Dropped to some 25NL tables and just lost a buyin. Games are full of calling stations so I need to hit my hands before I can get paid and I just haven't been able to. I've also hit some serious coolers. Makes me think the games are rigged.

[TheMoneyShot]

Nice thread Baller. Wish you luck man

[stevek173]

damn, stevie you're being called out man.

Nah Sweep does this to a few posters all the while not even ponying up to go pro. It's his shtick. I have the card and played there a ton over the past few months but there's no way I'm posting anything to appease his teenage girl like obsession with me.

Anyway, sounds like you're in a rut and getting a little discouraged. Maybe time for a break? Keep up the good fight man and thanks for the updates.

[Ballerholic]

Money- Thanks man, much appreciated!

Steve- Haha you guys are too funny. Yea still in a little rut, I can't guarantee it will pass until I put in some real volume at the tables.

[Ballerholic]

Day 9/10/11

$18.85

Watched a few more videos and put in a bit more volume. Still some unlucky play, but no worries yet. I think I need to focus more on volume grinding thru this downswing to get some rakeback. That will probably be the plan moving forward. I've got this week off to study for exams, so we'll see how much volume I can really put in.

[Ballerholic]

Day 12/13/14/15

$17

Not the greatest, but we'll take any kind of profit at this point. I did a lot of study over the past few days mainly watching Nick Howard's Poker Detox videos. Very good videos and I highly recommend them. Essentially the videos say to look at every little data point in the hand to form an overall conclusion while using assumptions of the pool. Also has most of my volume is on ignition poker at the moment, I'm finally starting to understand this player pool. The way to play against Ignition players is very different from other pools like Pokerstars. But it is a way more profitable pool to play against, and doesn't require too much thought process. So far I've got a ~8bb/100 on this site and up $130. I think once I hit $1000 at this pool I'll be able to move up to 100NL especially if I have a winrate over 5bb. The best thing to do is just focus on this site and try to make as much as possible and move up as quick as possible. I don't really care about battling regs in high rake environments just to sharpen my game or have a dick measuring contest.

I'd estimate it will take about 100 more hours of play at this limit before I can play 100NL. Aim is to hit it in January which is inline with the goal in the first post. January is going to be a very grind heavy month where I'll be putting in at least 40+ hours a week. I really should be putting in volume at live poker as well, but at the moment I don't have a back for live poker and I should probably just stick to online and move up as quick as possible.

[thomorino]

I don't think you can make a good living playing poker on a limited budget in a place like Philadelphia. I'm an attorney who lives and works in Media, about 20 minutes outside of the Philadelphia. I bet professionally and practice law 30-40 hours a week. If your primary form of income is playing poker,even presuming you can make $15 an hour, which is a stretch, you are going to have to pay 3-4k for health care, 3-4k a year into a 401k or other retirement plan, and I presume you will have student loan debt of around 80-100k at a private school, 40-50k if you go to a public school. You basically have to make a minimum of 60k a year if you aren't getting benefits - 401k/health care plan. And that's presuming your single and not supporting other people. $15 an hour, 10 hours a day,7 days a week, you get to about 1k a week or 52k a year. You cannot live a good life on 52k in a city like Philadelphia if you aren't getting benefits as well. You are basically making the equivalent of 40k a year with benefits. By the time you pay your student loans you are down to 34-35k, and that's just not enough.

[Ballerholic]

thor- you talking about these guys, or myself? I don't play in philadelphia. I mainly plan to play online poker for a living with some live mixed in. I think it's possible to live on less than 60k a year, it might be tough, but isn't the average household income in the U.S. around $50k? I also don't know if most poker pros are not paying tax on their winnings, but that's a grey area...

[thomorino]

thor- you talking about these guys, or myself? I don't play in philadelphia. I mainly plan to play online poker for a living with some live mixed in. I think it's possible to live on less than 60k a year, it might be tough, but isn't the average household income in the U.S. around $50k? I also don't know if most poker pros are not paying tax on their winnings, but that's a grey area...

The median income in the US is less than 50k but you have to weight income to the cost of living. My point is that if you are supporting other people and paying student loan debt even if you are making 50k a year, which would require you to be making $15 an hour playing poker, not easy, its tough. I think its very hard to have a consistent second form of income if you are playing live a lot. Online poker is totally different than live poker since you can't read people the same way and the cards are juiced to increase the rake.

[Ballerholic]

Thor- Yea agreed definitely should probably move somewhere cheaper.

[Ballerholic]

Day 16/17/18
$284


I really don’t understand how I can run so bad. So as you can see by the end of Day 17 overall I made some back and I was only about 2 buyins in the red. I went to bed telling myself I wouldn’t play the next day and that I would just study for my exams. Well guess what? I ended up playing some poker. So I open the tables and just straight card dead. Then I finally get a hand, I open KK UTG, MP 3bets, CO calls, I 4bet, MP 5bet jams, CO Calls, and I call. I’m up against A3o, and A5o. Flop has a 3, and river is an A. FML. Card dead again until I get KK in the BB. BU opens, I 3bet, he jams, I call. Lose to AA. Then last significant hand. I iso big vs fish, whale in SB cold calls, and then other fish calls. I flop a K high flush. I bet, SB calls, other fish folds. Turn brings 4 straight flush. No bets, Then river he leads big and of course I lose to A high flush who cold called iso with A7o. If that wasn’t enough I end up losing flush to a lower straight flush that hits on river in huge multiway pot vs a 78vpip whale.


It’s all just unreal. I’d be in the profit now if it wasn’t for these shenanigans. AA vs KK hand is standard, but all the other ones are insane. I can’t remember the last time I sucked out on somebody, but I can tell you the past 5 times I’ve been sucked out on… Oh well it’s variance right…


Anyway, I’d probably estimate that I’ve played only at most 10k hands so far this month. Obviously volume is a joke, but it will increase in January. Just busy with school and then holidays too. I’m 100% sure I beat 50NL reg tables easily. But downswing is too real. Next month January is going to be a complete poker grind. I’m talking 50 hour week grinds, etc. I really want to hit 100NL by end of January. It’s really a must for me. Goal is $2,000 profit in January. 200 hours of play.

[MrSink]

Online poker is totally different than live poker since you can't read people the same way and the cards are juiced to increase the rake.

whaaat ?

good luck buddy. i ll follow your thread also

[fenomeno]

Hi. I've been playing professionally for about three years now, majority 2/5 NL some 5/10 (almost never played 1/2 i think i have like under 20 hours logged lol) where I am on the higher end in terms of winrate. I've logged maybe 500k hands on ACR cash games (8-16 tabling) 25NL-100NL which are known for being the toughest cash games around, and hundreds of online/live tournies.

take my advice when i say this looks like a disaster waiting to happen (if you dont have a solid life bank roll to back you up which from what I understand is the case). from reading some of your HH, i can tell you are new and have a long way to go. That being said, it's a great sign that you are putting in work, seeking coaching, and keeping track of your results but you are very likely to FAIL if you want to live off of gambling at this point. I would put the cap of what a WORLD CLASS player can make at the 1/2 stakes at $20/hour. Your goals should be to A) save up enough money to play 2/5 where the skill level is nearly the same and your winrate will be much higher, thus giving you a chance to outpace your living costs.
B) focus on volume so that you can get better.

also, stop sharing us your bad beats, share some HH where you have trouble, or even a hand you think you played well, that way somebody like me can give you some feedback. you really should be spending time on a poker forum though. doug polk also has some really good free content if you dont already know. good luck!

[sweep]

[fenomeno]

have never had any poker account with this name and some of those are not even US sites lol. are you refuting something in my post? did i give bad advice? are you contributing to this thread in any way? OP, you're not gonna find a shitstain troll like the guy i quoted if you go to a poker forum, so please take my advice!

[Ballerholic]

Sweep- LOL

Feno- Thanks man, yea I understand your hesitations. I know that I'll need to play higher stakes and focus more on volume, but at the moment I'm just trying to move up and I don't plan on staying at these low stakes. I do need a larger BR, but I just don't have that right now. At least I am backed for online, although maybe one day I can get backed for live too. GL!

[Ballerholic]

End of year update

Happy New Years Eve!

Tonight I will be hitting the great city of Chicago with my girl and let's just say we are going to be having a lot of fun....Anyway I'd like to recap this past year. So the past year has been the most successful in my poker career thus far of 1.5 months. I've made just under $300 the past 3 days so I am about even for the challenge now, although I won't put in the graph. I'd estimate total winnings to be around $5k this year. I've received so much coaching from top players and have meet many great contacts. I'm involved in poker groups where we share the best content around and have met people who have accelerated my poker career. I'm really confident 2018 is the year, mainly because 2018 has to be the year. I'm technically going full-time starting January 1st to support myself, however I will receive outside help. By end of May I will 100% be full-time on my own living in a refrigerator box if I don't make enough.

Anyway, you can expect a big updated tomorrow in regards to plans moving forward. I'm thinking poker diary, money diary, life diary. Put everything in here. I actually will make a new thread for that. Have fun tonight and be safe!!!!!!

[icsky3]

Living my dream Baller. Still saving for a higher bankroll to give it another run. Trying to play full time is...tough lol.

[Ballerholic]

icky- you trying to go fulltime too? GL man! Yea def need a high bankroll. Luckily I have a backer who only takes about 20-30% of my winnings and obvs eats losses so I can kind of play risk free in a way, although I do need to make money for myself lol.

[Ballerholic]

Happy New Year!Wow it has been a while!

Apologies for not updating, I know a few of you follow and I do try to update as much as possible to hold myself accountable. With the holidays and everything it has been tough to grind and get started. I also have had the flu twice in a period of 20 days. Apparently there are 2 different strains of the flu....FML. The new year has gone alright besides being sick. I'm 80% fulltime playing poker as main income. I've got a great backer and I'm very confident this year is the year where I will break thru in poker and finally make some serious money. As it is a new year I would like to lay out some goals for the year to help keep me on track.


-120 hours of play a month

-Reach 100NL by February-Reach 200NL by May

-Look for good investment opportunities

-Make $40,000

I haven't really played any poker, but I have done some sports betting. Up just over $70 in sports this year. Will hopefully keep it moving up. I still have the flu so I don't know when I'll get back to playing, but hopefully I can do a little bit tomorrow and then once I'm better the plan is to grind, grind, grind.



Finally I want to thank you all for all of the support! It means a lot to me and I do really appreciate it. What are your goals for this year?

[sweep]

Baller check-in pal

[sweep]

bump

[mpaschal34]

Damn....how many of these threads are there?