Operation: Learning to Think - Eliminate The TAG-FISH in Me

Sounds swell.

My theory was that it was a bizzare work out machine that would like tell you where to step and lunge etc etc a bit like twister. I was like "holy shit that thing must be expensive."

Put an apple next to it to avoid scale confusion imo.

lol <3 carroters

Originally Posted by Carroters

Sounds swell.

My theory was that it was a bizzare work out machine that would like tell you where to step and lunge etc etc a bit like twister. I was like "holy shit that thing must be expensive."

Put an apple next to it to avoid scale confusion imo.

lmao

*VPPs till Supernova: 26,036*

off to play another sesh.

I played some 200nl today. Overall it went well - however, I played a bit bad (guess that's standard for me moving up though), and things could have been better.

I tried to get tricky in a couple spots and missed some value, and I missed out on a really trivial delay cbet in a 3bet pot. I also made one terrible bluff versus someone where, given the situation, they never would fold. It does suck that I probably made about a buyin worth of mistakes, however, I feel as though I've learned a bit from it.

The game is certainly tougher than 100nl, and because of this, playing small-medium sized pots correctly is very important. The edges we fight for are smaller when we move up, so we have to be careful and make sure that our focus levels are always higher than our opposition. If we lose focus, we lose control. As a result, we may even lose our edge...

Maintaining your edge is important. Without an edge in the game, you are losing over the long run. Essentially you are gambling at this piont - and this is not good. I won't be chatting on MSN/AIM/IRC anymore while playing 200nl+. At these stakes, paying attention is just too valuable given the enhanced competition and the fact that you need to work harder to gain an edge over the rest of the field.

If I want to be a competitor, I need to start acting like I want to compete.

For all you guys moving up in limits, be aware that there will come a point in your journey where people stop handing you money, and you will truly need to fight for it.

Okay I mentioned that I would do a bit of a trip report on my recent trip to Toronto so here it is - afterall, I took this year off to travel, might as well blog it up. This blog is also detailing my poker career, and I'm gonna be dumping everything I buy/do with poker earnings in here. Sort of like looking into the life of a small stakes grinder I guess, meh.

Okay so I went up with a girl who is now my friend (know what I'm sayin'?) for the night. The plan was to go Christmas shopping at one of the big malls and then have a chill evening alone. So I decided to book a room at my favorite hotel - The Pantages Hotel and Spa - which, if any of you travel to Toronto and are looking for a comfortable place to say I HIGHLY recommend. The rates aren't actually that bad, it looks expensive but most of the other hotels downtown charge the same if not more for less, so you really get everything you pay for (and more). Staff are extremely friendly, building is super chic, clean, and quiet.

I had us booked for just a standard room. Last time I stayed I was upgraded to what I would consider a baller suite - a 700 sq ft condo with kitchen/living room/masterbedroom with lots of closet space, laundry, nice bathroom - everything. I had a plan to get this room again, but I sure as hell wasn't going to pay for it. Thus my plan ensues:

The receptionist at the desk greets me with a big smile and welcomes me to the hotel. I put on a big grin, looking happy as hell to have arrived there. We get through the ID check etc and then I am handed my key. The woman (who was pretty young and seemed cool) announced my room number to me - '403'. I decided to request a higher floor and show mild disappointment with my face, yet lots of appreciation for her service in my voice when I asked. She seemed more than welcome to help, so she told me to grab a seat on the couch and she'd 'see what she could do'.

5 minutes later she comes over to us and tells me I've been upgraded to an Ambassador Suite -

My plan was if she gave us the same room on a higher floor I'd just keep requesting a higher floor and make up some sort of excuse (i.e. superstition) until she had no choice but to upgrade me (I don't think there are too many rooms in the hotel since most of the building is actually condo's - unlike a place like Sheraton Centre where if you request a higher floor there's no way in hell you're getting upgraded for free.

So my (selfish?) plan worked out great and I got the 'baller suite' at a nice discount. Now for those of you who don't like words:

Cliff notes:
-trip to Toronto
-got my standard hotel room upgraded to a suite
-went out to dinner, drank lots of wine, had lots of space to roam around and enjoy hotel room with gf

And to spice this blog up a bit I'll show you some pics of this ballin' suite and so you can meet m2m via photo on internet:


living room (radio was on when we entered, so win)


my skinny white ass chillin in the kitchen (I actually have biceps if I flex llloooolll)


view from room, not too shabby, could be better but can't complain


view from kitchen


king size bed with some fancy named sheets, so so comfy


me on bed drunk, yea of course I got laid



O and one last thing - dinner, wine, hotel, travel - all paid for with poker earnings.

/brag

Pics of gurl or gtfo

Originally Posted by dranger7070

Pics of gurl or gtfo

This obv.

nou

*leaves quietly*

Originally Posted by dranger7070

*leaves quietly*

yeah, u walk away boy, u walk away.

Walking away was obviously a ploy to make you think I left, but I ninja'd my way back in through the window.

so you're still interested in following my operation?

Of course, I have to be competing with SOMEONE do I not? Clearly your miles ahead atm, but dun worry, I'll be caught up soon, what with you breaking even getting SNE and all.

Originally Posted by dranger7070

Of course, I have to be competing with SOMEONE do I not? Clearly your miles ahead atm, but dun worry, I'll be caught up soon, what with you breaking even getting SNE and all.

yeah shit...going for SNE is gonna set me back a bit I guess.

:S

luhl

Schedule for Mon 14 - Fri 18:

10:00am - wake up
10:15am - shower, breakfast, etc
11:00am - gym
12:30pm - lunch

1:00pm - check email, forums, etc
1:30pm - session 1
3:50pm - break
4:00pm - session 2
6:20pm - break, dinner, etc

7:30pm - session 3
9:50pm - break
10:00pm - session 4
12:00pm - break
12:15pm - session 5
2:00am - bed



*VPPs till Supernova: 24,191*

Epic grindaments ITT

Originally Posted by Micro2Macro

Schedule for Mon 14 - Fri 18:

10:00am - wake up
10:15am - shower, breakfast, etc
11:00am - gym
12:30pm - lunch

1:00pm - check email, forums, etc
1:30pm - session 1
3:50pm - break
4:00pm - session 2
6:20pm - break, dinner, etc

7:30pm - session 3
9:50pm - break
10:00pm - session 4
12:00pm - break
12:15pm - session 5
2:00am - bed



*VPPs till Supernova: 24,191*

a few comments on this timetable
1 - I like morning sessions before breakfast. I'm crystal clear there. You may want to try it sometime. Then you get a session in early, if it goes well the gym is great, if it goes less well then the gym will get your headspace back on track

2 - I would check forums/e-mail at the end of a session, not before a session. Worst case scenario and you end up spending more than half an hour on something that sets you on some sort of subtle tilt, then start a session steaming.

3 - be very careful at the start of session 3, the whole blood to your stomach not your brain downside of digestion

4 - only play session 5 if all is feeling good.

5 - do a bunch of press-ups/crunches/pull-ups/skipping/whatever during those quick breaks

6 - always have a bottle of water on hand

7 - keep irc and web browsers closed. Turn off chat at the tables

8 - good luck dude

Good luck with your goal of becoming an SNE! Don't you think you need a new thread? It would be easier for other people to refer to your thread later.

Originally Posted by daven

a few comments on this timetable
1 - I like morning sessions before breakfast. I'm crystal clear there. You may want to try it sometime. Then you get a session in early, if it goes well the gym is great, if it goes less well then the gym will get your headspace back on track

2 - I would check forums/e-mail at the end of a session, not before a session. Worst case scenario and you end up spending more than half an hour on something that sets you on some sort of subtle tilt, then start a session steaming.

3 - be very careful at the start of session 3, the whole blood to your stomach not your brain downside of digestion

4 - only play session 5 if all is feeling good.

5 - do a bunch of press-ups/crunches/pull-ups/skipping/whatever during those quick breaks

6 - always have a bottle of water on hand

7 - keep irc and web browsers closed. Turn off chat at the tables

8 - good luck dude

Wow thanks a lot for the input. I really appreciate feedback from someone who has more experience grinding than I do.

re #1: I think I am going to consider this, one thing I'm going to do is actually go to the gym after dinner.

re #2: this is probably a good idea

re #3: see #1, shifting gym time around for now

re #4: def' agree here

re #5: I'm gonna be honest, I have NEVER done this in between sessions, but since I'm sitting on my ass for >8hrs a day, I'm going to give it a try. I bet it'll feel great.

re #6: will do

re #7: if I am mass tabling or playing my higher stakes, they are always closed...tho sometimes I cheat

re #8: TY

Originally Posted by Extremophile

Good luck with your goal of becoming an SNE! Don't you think you need a new thread? It would be easier for other people to refer to your thread later.

Thanks man, and yeah I will create a new thread, however, SNE is still not 100% decided. I will make my decision during the last week of the month.

*VPPs till Supernova: 21,577*

gonna actually put in some volume tomorrow ffs..only 6-8 tabled today, will 8-10 table tomorrow, perhaps 10-12 if I am focused enough.

FOCUS

FOCUS

FOCUS

that's all, night folks.

took a screen shot in case this is the end.

next milestone according to PTR is 1 million hands - time to get grinding!

circle the best day part as well dude!
nice work,congrats.

Originally Posted by daven

circle the best day part as well dude!
nice work,congrats.

jesus I didn't even notice that lol

thanks man

Ha! For real, some fish got stacked that day I suspect

Congratulations. Sounds like you're well on your way to poker fame and fortune

Originally Posted by Jason

Ha! For real, some fish got stacked that day I suspect

Congratulations. Sounds like you're well on your way to poker fame and fortune

nah just ownin regulators

Even more impressive ... I don't seem to own "own" regulars that much. I usually cooler them OR nickel and dime them to infinity.

m2m is like the regulator master, its disgusting. I want his skillz at pwning homos and i plan on picking his brain a lot once I get home for good! GET READY MOFO

lol, it's not like I am taking money of good regs, just the ones that try to outplay everyone every hand and spew chips.

btw I really need to step up the pace for Supernova, I don't want to have to mass grind a huge chunk of VPP's during the last couple days of the month.

was going to play another sesh before bed but I think it might be better to sleep earlier so I can prepare myself for a good 8-10 hour day tomorrow.

Tomorrow's VPP goal: 2000

*VPP's till Supernova: 19,226*

Maximum tables allowed to play from now on: 12

Looks like SNE isn't happening next year unless I play in a game where it's possible 12 tabling.

:/

PUSSSSSSAAAAAAYYYYYYYY lol jk

GG on going with what YOU want to do. Its obvious you want to get as good as you can be.

Also, imagine this scenario, you get to like 3/6, 5/10 whatever, and you're beating it for an OK rate, but nothing spectacular. You decide in 2011 to go for SNE. Its super ez game to drop down to 1/2 and at LEAST breakeven while you chase it since you have experience at much harder stakes.

Originally Posted by Micro2Macro

Maximum tables allowed to play from now on: 12:/

doesn't sound silly, what are the reasons?
shame about the sne thing though

Originally Posted by daven

Originally Posted by Micro2Macro

Maximum tables allowed to play from now on: 12:/

doesn't sound silly, what are the reasons?
shame about the sne thing though

I think there is a higher chance of me making >100k next year by actually not going for it.

It's an EV thing.

Good: Surpassed my daily VPP target.
Bad: I stayed up too late, drank caffeine while I played, didn't eat enough, wasn't fully hydrated.
Ugly: Mistakes on the day total at about 3 buy ins.
Looking on the bright side: only lost 2/3 of a buy in on the day.

This will never happen again.

*VPP's till Supernova: 17,203*

Today's goal: $0 of spew.

That is all.

I'm going to post a hand from my first session which I feel I could have played better. Feedback is appreciated.




In this hand villain was 67/11 or something over 11 hands. He's open limped a few times so I'm going to call him a fish. He hasn't been aggro postflop so far by the looks of things.

On the turn I think checking back may be superior to betting because he probably won't call 2 streets with a worse club anyway and the times he does have the Ac I get away without losing a bigger pot than necessary. Also, I won't get blown of my hand if he c/r turn and shoves river because that would be sick and wouldn't make sense for him to do it with anything but the Ac and certainly I wouldn't be calling off my stack there when I don't have a read. Another argument for checking is if he has lots of garbage in his range that does not contain a club, there is a chance he will be 100% of this on the river after I check back because it would be 'the only way he could win the pot'. I bet small trying to squeeze value out of worse, but I'm positive checking back the turn will yield more value.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($71.85)
BB ($63.45)
UTG ($75.40)
Hero (UTG+1) ($50)
MP1 ($50)
MP2 ($50.50)
MP3 ($48.75)
CO ($49.85)
Button ($50)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with Q, A
1 fold, Hero bets $1.50, 6 folds, BB calls $1

Flop: ($3.25) 4, 5, 9 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $2, BB calls $2

Turn: ($7.25) K (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $3.50, 1 fold

Total pot: $7.25 | Rake: $0.35

I agree with checking back the turn. With you betting, you're kind of saying you're not really afraid of the club so if doesn't have one (which will be a fair amount of the time) he's never calling unless he has a set/two pair. By checking you're showing you're kind of worried about it as well and he may make a stab at it/call with a weird two pair, 9x where x is J+. And if a 5th club falls hes ALWAYS calling pretty much ANY size bet cuz he's a fish and thinks you're stealing it so hes going for the chop lol.

Originally Posted by Micro2Macro

lol, it's not like I am taking money of good regs, just the ones that try to outplay everyone every hand and spew chips.

ooooh, so people like me!

Good thing I took a break and I'm back down in the $25NL land =D

Originally Posted by CBAT

Originally Posted by Micro2Macro

lol, it's not like I am taking money of good regs, just the ones that try to outplay everyone every hand and spew chips.

ooooh, so people like me!

Good thing I took a break and I'm back down in the $25NL land =D

heh, I'm that person alot of the time too.

So today was a success, virtually spew free (obviously made a couple mistakes in a few spots but nothing extreme). I am really pleased with the way I played. I started out running bad (lost AA aipre, couldn't win a single pot etc) but just kept my head in it and waited on that heater.

If only I could play well focused like this every day - oh, perhaps playing fewer tables is in fact the key for me...but anyway, here's the session graph. Tomorrow will have to be higher volume if I wanna hit Supernova but I just had to take a step back for a day to get myself back in the zone. I think I'll split my play between 50nl and 100nl rather than just playing 50nl tomorrow since I need VPP's. Then if I feel as if my play has been strong enough I'll go back to 200nl asap.

Once again, today's goal will be $0 of spew.

go m2m clap clap

in the middle of an epic sesh

been playing for 5+ hours traight
asfsgsfhdfhd

o dem swongs.

*VPPs till Supernova: 11,881*

gonna be close..

GRIND MOAARRRRRRRRRRRRR

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEA BOI

Originally Posted by Micro2Macro

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEA BOI

12,000 VPP's in one day!?

Originally Posted by CBAT

Originally Posted by Micro2Macro

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEA BOI

12,000 VPP's in one day!?

now that would be sick

luckily i have 5 left

*VPPs till Supernova: 9,922*

:S

go go go go.

*VPPs till Supernova: 7,993*


played 9k hands today fing record b/e for last 7k basically but GOTTA DO IT FOR THE VEEPs

out

okay let's see how min raising the button today goes

Originally Posted by Micro2Macro

okay let's see how min raising the button today goes

its fucking fun at 10nl and 25nl.

Originally Posted by Micro2Macro

okay let's see how min raising the button today goes

you'll win cheap blinds, and if they ever adjust it's cheap. Get it on.
GOGOGOGOGOGo

o god long story

I didnt' sleep last night

been grinding basically wekl and ended up mving my PC accross town trup report later on i can barely tie my own shoes right now yet i can still pwn the poker

5,650ish left 4-5hrs and a few hundo gone on discounnects due to power outage STILL GRINDING

GOGOGOGOGOGO

FINAL PUSH, gl sir

YOU GOT IT

YOU GOT IT

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Fucking GET SOME SIR! Don't quit now man, you're almost there!

update:

count is at 3,607

going out for 2hrs (max) later tonight so I don't go insane, putting in another sesh before then, then 2 later, then wake up at a reasonable time tomorrow for the final stretch.

thanks for all the support guys, I couldn't finish this on my own.

yayyyyyy your gunna do it! And you're not going to go insane!

done

ship it

ty all happy new year

:ship it:

Epic, epic work dude. Get some fucking R&R over the next couple days.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWgvGjAhvIw

Easy game for M. I had no doubt in my mind you'd do it. After pwning me in that prop bet, I knew there wasn't much you couldn't do if you put your mind to it. GG SIR!

December Review:

What a month...I had to crank out a ton of volume to hit Supernova, and as a result I was pretty much constantly on subtle tilt/mashing buttons. I didn't really have time to think my way through decisions and every session ended in me reviewing hands that had no place existing given the way I played them. But when you make mistakes you learn, and I definitely learned a lot.

I learned that emotional control is the single most important factor in this game. You cannot expect to make any money playing poker if you are constantly on subtle tilt. I ended up on subtle tilt all month due to playing too many tables, too long of sessions, playing tired, etc. But this is the last month I plan on doing this. Starting this new year I'll be focusing on playing fewer tables, taking more notes, getting actual reads instead of just thousands of HUD stats, and really focusing on playing poker as opposed to button smashing. I also learned that I can earn roughly the same hourly playing 6-8 tables as 12-16. Hmm...guess I haven't really gotten the feel for mass tabling yet, though I didn't approach it correctly - I just kinda jumped into it. I don't really plan on going beyond 6-8 tables often next year other than to catch up with VPPs/clear bonuses etc. Generally speaking, I want to have the majority of my sessions revolving around being focused on making good decisions rather than as many as possible.

I guess I can't really blame myself for the button smashing, I had to get Supernova locked in otherwise that would be well, pretty awful. So even though how I played in December pissed me off and feels as if my game has taken a step backwards, I'm pretty pleased that achieved my main goal (Supernova) and hey, I played a fuck ton of hands so I made lots of money . But there's easier ways to make 7k/month, i.e. 130k+ hands don't need to be played, so from now on I'll be focusing more on quality now that I have my rakeback.

Garf:



$5,602.16 at the tables, $1,448.76 in rakeback totals for:

+$7,050.92

I was a $2nl Bronze star nub earlier in the year. Now I'm a Supernova rolled for $200nl. Total profit on the year exceeds $20,000 and I have a 5 digit bankroll. To any micro guys who are wondering if it can be done, the answer is yes. Just work hard, keep your head up, and try your best to learn lots and improve. Big thanks for FTR and everyone who's given me advice, sweats, coaching, talked poker, been there to keep me motivated for grinding it out hardcore in Decemeber, and all that.

This Operation is now officially complete with success, and a new one will be up and running soon.

Again, thanks a ton guys, I couldn't have come this far without the help of everyone here.

congrats. always followed your blog, really inspirational. gl for 2010.

Originally Posted by ryokan

congrats. always followed your blog, really inspirational. gl for 2010.

thanks

and damn, nice avatar

MINE IS BETTER SIR!

Also, you're a homo. <3

Micro, you did an awesome job and I hope to follow in your footsteps in 2010!

congrats dude

Spectacular work. I hope your family was impressed if not supportive of your accomplishments. 7k a month translates to 84k a year plus we don't know where this glass ceiling will shatter

Good luck moving forward.