Hey man.just glanced over your thread previously,but really got into it today.Really interestin read m8.Some crazy levels that I know I'll never see.Good luck in your efforts.
I started a post on this thread a couple days ago and right before I was finished skypoker came up to tell me about a tournament; I tried to click "Done" but the screen froze!! Was so annoying as I'd typed out quite a lot. Couldn't be bothered writing it out again at the time but will do so now (albeit much briefer than last time)
Anyway; as if my own problems weren't enough my parents are getting a divorce after 25 years together. Won't go into why but it was really quite shocking. My mum suffers from depression as well and so now I'm making sure she's OK whilst looking for a job as well. No idea what's happening with my uni course yet as have yet to hear from them whether I can re-do it next year.
I think with everything that was going on, I ended up playing poker completely in the wrong frame of mind and my BR took a hit down to £800. However I decided to take a shot at 25/50 PL omaha on a really weak table and knew there was profit to be made. After an unlucky start where I got into a 4bet pot with AA and flopped the nuts on an AT9 board but then got 3 outered by someone holding KQ otr (Both players called my flop shove drawing almost dead) I ended up finishing almost £300 up with my BR back to £1060. C4P took me up to £1360 but not had the best of starts to this month. Currently down £80 so my BR is at £1260. Not a major loss though and I'm going to aim to get up to £1500 by the end of this week.
I played a few tournaments last night. The premiership free-roll I had a decent run and finished just outside cashing. The turbo open I had a bad start when I called a shortie shove with AQ then didn't pick up any hands in ages and just went out meakly. The mini-event I was really annoyed about though. I had a fantastic start and after an hour and a half or so I was sitting nicely in 4th. But then I was coolered/over-valued AK. I 3bet someone who then min-4bet me. I was a tad worried but convinced myself they could easily have the same hand or QQ/JJ and decided to shove. End result gave them the chip lead and me back down to average. Not too long later though I'd gone out without cashing and only £10 in bounties to show for it. (which is unusual for me - usually I build up chip stacks in BH's without ever getting a bounty!!)
Anyway, I'm back to just playing 20nl. I have a BR now for 30nl but I'm going to take it steady and not rush anything. That being said if a juciy PL omaha game appears I don't know if I'll be able to resist. Higher variance than holdem but definitely more profitable if you know what you're doing!!
I must say, it seems strange not playing 30NL cos you're taking it steady but playing PLO50 which is higher stakes AND higher variance, but I'm sure you know what you're doing
I've had a bit of a rubbish start to the month so far, was a couple of BIs up but then just got completely destroyed yesterday. KK into AA pre 3 times... flopped a set of Js and a set of Qs and both times GII v a set of Aces lol and just incapable of holding when I GII v FDs or getting there when I GII with FDs and overs. Basically pretty much evert pot />50xBB went against me lol. I'm sure I'll turn it round though.
I've been told my blog should be uploaded tomorrow btw
haha yeah I know. Problem is at 30nl there's often too many regs at the table. I don't mind playing vs regs at all and will regularly play tables with you but when the regs there are the nitty ones I just find it too boring. Omaha on the other hand is far from boring; and if the table is nitty you can go wild and get away with it as it's profitable. eg. I 4bet some DS semi-rundown hand and run into AAxx... no big deal, the 4-bet wins outright pre-flop the majority of the time and getting it in vs AAxx is +ev. But going wild against nits (especially only 100bb) deep in holdem is just not profitable. You can't 4bet-bluff and call off cause your equity just sucks!! And you can't 4bet light for value because you always run into the nuts :P
Like I said as well I'll only jump into a omaha table though if it seems really good. And I'm not playing the above style I mentioned either - just nitting it up and only playing super premium hands. Reduces the variance somewhat but still massively profitable. You should definitely give omaha a try sometime!! (although preferably only if you know the rules, which I guess you do :P) - had someone yesterday who thought having 1 diamond on their hand and 4 on the board gave them a flush. They then asked in the chatbox "how did I lose that hand" - to which I acted dumb! (mainly because they were absolutely killing me. They were running super super hot and I was losing every pot.) Few hands later I have a straight flush and POT raise them on the river. They call with a bare Ac on a 4 flush board!!
Ouch, that sounds like how I was running the other week. Looking forward to you finally uploading the blog, tis' about time!!
Yeah I know the rules of PLO, I know how to play generally speaking but I know hardly anything when it comes to strat and I'm not even that knowledgable about basic stuff like starting hand selection other than we ideally want lots of nut making hands and multiple good NLHE type hands so I dunno like AKJT DS.
I've been thinking abuot looking into it properly though to have a game to fall back on and when, like you, I just CBA with the nits at NLHE. I also know a few players who find it far more profitable than NLHE cos it's just so much harder/people don't know how to play so solid and unexploitably like NLHE. Maybe you could gimme a few pointers if you're feeling generous
I want to be blunt so apologies if I am off the mark and not appreciative enough of the problems you have in completing it but the degree absolutely has to come first.
If you cannot finish your degree what confidence do you have that the same problems won't affect your poker at some stage
you should regard the degree as part of your brm -until you have it you should restrict the poker you will play. You need to have some strong discipline.
Running away is not a long term solution
It is as if you are deep in a big mtt
you are already in the cash with a decent stack
but you leave because there is a girl you fancy waiting for you
I know people who have had major health problems while doing their degrees. Mental and physical. But they persevered, just, and are eternally grateful for having done so.
The lone of "I've known other people who were able to achieve <such and such a thing> in similar circumstances to you" is just about the worst thing you can say to someone suffering depression. Just so you know.
The lone of "I've known other people who were able to achieve <such and such a thing /> in similar circumstances to you" is just about the worst thing you can say to someone suffering depression. Just so you know. Posted by BorinLoner
Based on my experiences I would disagree. But if some are thinking that I apologise. My point is that i am not saying this in a vacuum, I do have some direct experience of the situation. The depression aspect I cannot help with. The prioritisation of goals in that situation I think is worth mentioning.
Good interesting story F_Ivanovic, i also read it all, this story reminds me of myself but the difference wasnt poker but the arcades then later on in life at the casinos.
I first started to play poker on facebook and one night a few years ago or so i c this guy F_Ivanovic playing high stakes poker on tv, it was skypokers "top of the pots", i rem some certain situations where he would insanely jam to bluff or buy pot and im thinking this guys mad, must b loaded to do things like that and would def b hard to predict lol.
Then like 6 months or so i c him in 20nl and im thinking is this that guy i c all them years ago? well i didnt ask as i wasnt sure.
I think it was shortly after watching skypokers interactive channel did i open by account on skypoker.
Anyways hope F_Ivanovic u get your degrees and get to your target at the higher stakes, of which ill c u on tv again -_-
@ Geldy: I posted a reply to ajs in this thread wrt playing poker for a living; in short, it's not what I intend to do. I'm fully aware that playing full time poker will be stressful and could potentially trigger my depression again especially if I go on a big downswing. That's why it's not something I'll be doing in the near future. I would only consider it if:
a) It's going incredibly well AND
b) I've made a lot of progress in handling depression and don't believe it's going to affect me in case I get a poker downswing.
I also posted about the degree. I do want to be able to finish it and am going to try and be in a position next year where I can finish it. But if not, it's not going to be the end of the world.
And yeah Borin's right; I'm not mad at you though! Right now I'm feeling OK but if I was in a depressive state it wouldn't help me! I'm sure there are plenty of people with mental health/physical difficulties that have tried to persevere through it and have regretted it. If I hadn't met my girlfriend + plenty of other friends over the past 2 years I probably would have regret trying to continue with University as the 2 years "wasted" could have been used getting a job and going on in a different direction in my life.
Hi, Your last post went a bit bonkers and left a popup with the hand history all over the page - Mods can't edit posts so hopefully this repost will fix it... Mod_Machka
Decent night tonight only £70 away from my previous goal of reaching £1.5k by the end of my week. Profit all came playing omaha. Played 2 tables of 20PL and 1 of 50PL. Ran up 3 BI's on one 20PL table, broke even on the other and won almost 2.5 BI's on the 50PL. I played too long probably - the last hour or so I was just too tired and was just playing really tight because couldn't be bothered thinking too hard!!
Ah thanks. Yeah I don't know why sometimes the hand histories work fine and other times they come out all weird!! Was going to add to my post just saying that this hand can show just how sick/high variance omaha can be!! Should really have left the table when I got 200bb deep with someone but had planned on staying out of his way. Obviously can't fold pre though even though it was pretty obvious we both had AA. Sick runout!
hand one in a vacume will look very strange but against a reg (whose game you know well) makes a lot of sense, DTM wont understand because he's never took anything else but an ABC line in his life.
Good read btw, take AJS word on board though! I wasnt into poker back when sky was as soft but herd stories of it being just insane which will explain a lot of your massive upswings.
Not a day goes by where i dont spot a new guy multi tabling 50-100nl, it sickens me!
Please go bust so your not someone else making my day tougher!
In Response to Re: F_Ivanovic 20nl to 100nl reg by the end of 2013 (+ skypoker/lifestory) : I take advice from many people about my game bolly but you defo aint one of them. Keep tilting your life away at 0.50/1 you keyboard warrior. Posted by Donttelmum
Bolly would OWN your soul in a heads up session dude!
FWIW I would crush both Bolly and DTM in a heads up session!!! :P jk, I have no idea who'd win but I'm past my days of wanting to prove I'm better than everyone else!! It's always fun to test yourself by playing against a tough reg HU cause it improves your game, but no need to play 4 rolls as that's not the point of poker!
Had an uneventful couple hours grinding before where I finished ~ £30 up. Got it in with JJ against AK at 30NL and held but on the flip side I got it in with 2 pair OTT against a pair and FD which hit on the river.
£1466 is my current balance. Think my new target will be to reach £2k by the end of the month which should be doable unless I get a full time job (ideally looking for part time in the future but I probably need a full time job right now, even though it would limit the poker!!)
Can we not derail my thread with silly bittering? FWIW I would crush both Bolly and DTM in a heads up session!!! :P jk, I have no idea who'd win but I'm past my days of wanting to prove I'm better than everyone else!! It's always fun to test yourself by playing against a tough reg HU cause it improves your game, but no need to play 4 rolls as that's not the point of poker! Had an uneventful couple hours grinding before where I finished ~ £30 up. Got it in with JJ against AK at 30NL and held but on the flip side I got it in with 2 pair OTT against a pair and FD which hit on the river. £1466 is my current balance. Think my new target will be to reach £2k by the end of the month which should be doable unless I get a full time job (ideally looking for part time in the future but I probably need a full time job right now, even though it would limit the poker!!) Posted by F_Ivanovic
Very good point!
Ill stop the de railing mate!
Gl with this quest, it's a good read and a challenge you will defo complete mate!
Great diary, always interesting to hear about life as well as poker. Like others was surprised to see you pop up at nl20 but had a couple of enjoyable sessions vs you. Seems like the roll is motoring ahead, and no doubt you will be smitalised soon (is that a word!). Any ideas what you want to do work wise, unfortunately I suspect part time work wont pay that well, but I guess its a question of balancing it with your potential poker earnings, which of course are not guaranteed.
Comments
Love a crazy poker story.
All the best with the job search !
and GL with the poker.
Sure you'll be at 25.50 in no time.
I must say, it seems strange not playing 30NL cos you're taking it steady but playing PLO50 which is higher stakes AND higher variance, but I'm sure you know what you're doing
I've had a bit of a rubbish start to the month so far, was a couple of BIs up but then just got completely destroyed yesterday. KK into AA pre 3 times... flopped a set of Js and a set of Qs and both times GII v a set of Aces lol and just incapable of holding when I GII v FDs or getting there when I GII with FDs and overs. Basically pretty much evert pot />50xBB went against me lol. I'm sure I'll turn it round though.
I've been told my blog should be uploaded tomorrow btw
I've been thinking abuot looking into it properly though to have a game to fall back on and when, like you, I just CBA with the nits at NLHE. I also know a few players who find it far more profitable than NLHE cos it's just so much harder/people don't know how to play so solid and unexploitably like NLHE. Maybe you could gimme a few pointers if you're feeling generous
Sort that degree out lol.
GL at the tables pal
First: 26/6/2009
Last: 4/9/2013
Hand History #687034939 (21:43 04/09/2013)
GL and look forward to reading the updates.