Poker and Life in the UK: 2012

GL dude, the weathers shit, right?

nice. Training for any races these days?

following

thanks for the support guys

I actually ran my second marathon right before I left for London. In 2010, I ran it in 4:54; this time, I finished in 4:14! I'd love to run another while I'm here

Day 10

The first week and a half I’ve been living in London has been remarkably eventful. Yesterday my girlfriend, who just graduated with a degree in Jewelry Design, was invited to present her work at Galerie Marzee (located in Nijmegen, Netherlands). This is one of the most prestigious exhibitions for fine art jewelry in the world so it’s a huge honour for her. It also means I will be traveling to the Netherlands in early August!

The Netherlands trip was totally unexpected, but the trip I am taking to France next week has been on the calendar for some time. Louise and I are leaving on the 3rd of July and returning on the 17th. We will be staying with her father who apparently has a lovely property in the French countryside. It’s the first time I will have met her dad… still, I think it will be a lovely holiday overall.

Once I get back from France I am hoping I will finally be able to dive into playing on Pokerstars again. When I was imagining how the next six months would go, I assumed I would already be playing by now! Part of the delay has been the result of administrative mishaps. The utility bill I got my name on in advance of my arrival in London spelled my name incorrectly. Then, they decided they couldn’t add my name to the bill without performing a credit check. I am waiting for them to send me the paperwork, then I’ll send it back and wait for them to send a bill. After I’ve sent that in to Pokerstars I have to wait for them to verify my documents and call me. It’s very possible I won’t be able to start playing until I return from the Netherlands. This is having a considerable impact on my finances, but it also means I may deposit funds onto a reputable European site so I can start playing sooner. I’d appreciate any recommendations.

The first four days I was here were spent relaxing, exploring the neighborhood, and reconnecting with my girlfriend. Since then I have worked several full days on a variety of household projects. It is very nice to see the living conditions inside the house improve since, admittedly, living with my parents offered considerably more creature comforts! Fortunately, Louise’s mum has been kind enough to feed me every day I’ve been working for her which has already saved me a fair bit of money. It makes me feel good knowing I am making a positive contribution to the household especially as I am living here rent free.

I’m going to do a little research on my own to learn about the best euro sites and see if they have similarly stringent sign up requirements. I’d be so happy if I could put in some hands this weekend!!


FOR YOU.... (track: Four80east - Wait It Out) - YouTube

I'm thinking bet365 is a good place for me to play if I can't get onto Pokerstars as soon as I get back from France. They are reputable, have a good first deposit bonus, cashing out seems really quick, and I can start playing right away!

Day 20

I’ve been in France (Bannalec, Brittany) for seven days now. So far, it’s been a really good holiday! The countryside is majestic and only a short bike ride away from the house. The house itself is an incredible property, with a massive garden that is incredibly varied and intricately sculpted. I am also getting on fine with my girlfriend’s dad. I am really happy here and glad I get to enjoy another full week of restful sleep, work in the garden, fresh air, and clean water!

Yesterday I went to a service at a Catholic Church located in the middle of the countryside. Obviously it was all in French so I had almost no idea what they were saying, but seeing the old church building and observing the people in worship was still an interesting experience. Later that day we returned to the church for dinner, where I had a delicious meal that included pork intestines (a delicacy of Bretagne – tasted like hot dog to me) and unlimited access to good French wine! This was another social event where my knowing very little French left me quietly observing people rather than actively socializing. I have been trying to learn French while I’m here which has been way more fun than I’d have thought. I’m satisfied with my progress in learning a valuable third language and hope to be reasonably proficient by the time I return to the States in December.

As fun as my holiday has been, I am looking forward to returning to London to commence the bet365 grinding. I have a little more than two weeks between when I return from France and when I leave for Holland and I hope to put in at least 25k hands. To clear half of the first deposit bonus I figure I’ll need to play about 80k hands at 50nl (having until September 16 to do so). So there’s no time to waste!


Here are some pictures of beautiful Brittany for your viewing pleasure.

Photo Album - Imgur

I'd write more as I am finding French culture and society very interesting (e.g. structured meal times, bread with almost every meal, 9% of the population being pro-Communist, and more), but I'm starving and we will be having dinner very shortly. So au revoir for now!

Day 21

I have some free time this evening and I wanted to write down some things I’ve been thinking about lately.


French economic policies have created a system that discourages the maximum productivity of individual workers. Here are a few more of the bits I wanted to share yesterday:

-Unions are very powerful here. Going on strike is a fairly common occurrence in France.
-A government mandate prohibits the vast majority of workers from working more than 35 hours/week.
-Unemployment benefits are way too generous. Many low skill jobs pay less than unemployment benefits offer. Therefore, French nationals who are able to receive unemployment benefits have no incentive to take these jobs when unemployed (I imagine they fall onto the shoulders of illegal immigrants or citizens who haven’t yet earned all the privileges of French citizenship.)
-There are negative economic incentives towards being entrepreneurial. For example, if you were unemployed and decided you wanted to try and open your own business, your monthly stipend would reduce from approximately 1400 € to 700 €. This strikes me as a backwards economic policy.

That’s all I can think to write down at the moment. It seems to me that America is kind of on the opposite end of the spectrum regarding the union issue (i.e. the power balance between workers and the capital owners is skewed too far the other direction.) And clearly our welfare system is less generous, which has lead to fewer total instances where the system gets ‘abused’.

---

I have been using some of my down time the past three weeks to intensify my search for graduate schools. I want to get my MSc in Ecological Economics and have found two schools I would be able to get into (one in Portland, Oregon and the other in northern UK.) However, I’ll first need to return to UMD and do two more part time semesters of undergrad. I need to take a handful of math classes and, if I decide to go to the University of Edinburgh, I’ll also need to retake a Physics class I took in 2006 (when I didn’t go to class and, consequently, got an F.) There are a lot of pros and cons to each school (cost, location, duration of program, etc) and I’m nowhere near ready to make that decision. Seeing as I have another year of undergrad ahead of me, the earliest I’d even start my MSc would be the Fall of 2014.

I’ve already done a fair bit of research into the price of furthering my education and I expect that if I went to Edinburgh I’d likely need to take out $29,500 in Stafford Direct Loans and $20,500 if I went to Portland State University. If I pay the interest on the principal and pay the entire loan in ten years, I can expect the true cost to be about $35k for PSU and $50k for Edinburgh. Not to mention the cost of foregoing full time work to be in school – also a significant factor. Still, I know what I want to do and also know that I can’t do the sort of work I’m interested in without further training.

So, what kind of jobs does an Ecological Economist do? Well, most of their work focuses on determining the economic value of natural resources and advising companies or governments on how to most efficiently manage them. They can also work as policy advocates for non profits. My interest in this sort of work comes from the fact that I enjoy working with numbers and have a genuine interest in ensuring natural capital is consumed sustainably.

I’m really enjoying the book Beyond Growth by Herman Daly. If you are interested in the subject of ecological economics I would very strongly recommend reading through it.

I’ve also decided I’m not going to get a gym membership after all. It will save me £100 over the next five months and I can keep myself in very good shape just by doing push-ups and going for runs regularly. And another quick update: the internship hunt has not yet borne fruit, but I will keep searching. I would take almost anything in the field of environmental issues/sustainability, but my not being a UK citizen has already been a detriment for at least one position for which I was turned away.

C’est la vie!

Little Joy - Play The Part - YouTube

Lawls:
Why France Has So Many 49-Employee Companies - Businessweek

Didn't take you long to work that out about the French! I don't know whether it's something inherent in the French and their employment laws follow their attitude, or vice-versa. Still, good food, good booze and beautiful terrain.

Gl with the internship hunt - I gather it's very competitive in your line of work. If you haven't already been, head up to Edinburgh to see if it's the city for you - the Fringe festival in August is meant to be excellent.

Originally Posted by Vi-Zer0Skill

I actually ran my second marathon right before I left for London. In 2010, I ran it in 4:54; this time, I finished in 4:14! I'd love to run another while I'm here

wow, cutting 40mins off is huge, nh!

france looks like it was a nice time
re the system there, it's interesting hey...

Yeah someone else was telling me I should go up to Edinborough in August to see the Fringe festival! I am keen to get a train up to Scotland and see the countryside/scout out a potential future there.

Experiencing what life is like in new societies is incredibly interesting. Unfortunately, my travel options recently became somewhat restricted...


Day 31

I nearly got deported from London on Tuesday upon my return from France. It’s a long story, but basically I didn’t convince the immigration officer I was here purely on holiday and ended up spending nearly two hours detained at the airport. Ultimately they allowed me into the country, but warned me that if I went to the Netherlands and attempted to re-enter the UK that it was likely I’d be denied re-entry. What a stressful day – doubly so because I had already paid for a train ticket/hotel in the Netherlands.

Today was more of a mixed bag. On the one hand, I finally got to play poker today! I played a mix of 50nl and $10 SNGs for about two hours and had a winning session. On the other hand, I had yet another very difficult conversation with my girlfriend about money. The worst part of it is my own attitudes and reactions are a major source of the problem. On the upside it means that I can actually do a lot to resolve it. Louise and I are on good terms at the moment as well so that’s a big plus. Still, I am feeling rather stupid, petty, and small today. I wish I felt like writing more as there were some genuine bright spots in between, but not feeling too inspired at the moment.


Dr. Dog - Is It Worth My Time? - YouTube

Haha I had the same trouble with UK immigration, except they did deport my ass back to France. Was supposta catch a flight to Dublin out of London.

Originally Posted by Vi-Zer0Skill

I nearly got deported from London on Tuesday upon my return from France. It’s a long story, but basically I didn’t convince the immigration officer I was here purely on holiday and ended up spending nearly two hours detained at the airport. Ultimately they allowed me into the country, but warned me that if I went to the Netherlands and attempted to re-enter the UK that it was likely I’d be denied re-entry. What a stressful day – doubly so because I had already paid for a train ticket/hotel in the Netherlands.

My husband (back then boyfriend) had the same problems when he was trying to visit me in Canada (he is American). He had to forfeit a plane ticket to the Bahamas because the immigration officer also told him that if he left the country, he probably wouldn't get back in. GG $700 (AND I had to go to the Bahamas alone! Fail)

the uk really hates the idea of people immigrating there for whatever reason hence the good chance you'll run into paranoid immigration officers

Your mistake was speaking English and not having several children you are unable to support.

Originally Posted by Micro2Macro

the uk really hates the idea of people immigrating there for whatever reason hence the good chance you'll run into paranoid immigration officers

Actually it's Daily Mail readers that hate immigration, most of us just don't take kindly to people coming here and claiming our benefits while refusing to speak English.

Just learn the language and earn your own money, respect the law, then you're welcome as far as I'm concerned. That's why I like the Chinese and Indians. The fact their food is better than ours is simply a bonus.

Originally Posted by donkbee

My husband...

My heart just broke.

donkthorne is a pure terror yo


also gl vi, always thought you were one of the better regs when i played 50-100nl 6m. you could go far if you have some free time to devout to pokers.

it's much easier to be a global citizen if you have a million dollars in the bank and are obviously an asset to the country you intend to visit

thanks for the encouragement bikes. the transition back to online poker has been smooth thus far! I've got the house to myself during the day all next week and I am really looking forward to grinding again

so ridiculous that their response to fear of abuse of tourist visas is to crack down on multiple re-entries, when that's the one thing a legit tourist is more likely to do than anybody else

Day 41

Finally I had a week where I could sit down and grind! I honestly haven't done much else besides play poker the past week, which is just fine with me. I have hated spending through my savings when I couldn't work, so being able to play as much poker as I could was exactly what I wanted to do. I've been playing Sprint Poker (ZOOM equivalent) exclusively on Bet365 -- the competition at 50nl is very soft and I've been able to win at a good clip just sticking to the basics.

For me, I've put in incredible volume. Since Monday morning I've played 48 hours -- approximately 36k hands. I am up 9BI from the tables and have also received a lot of bonus cash already so I'd say it was a very good first week back. I have been running decent, but have missed tons of value, obvious spew 3bets/cbets, not bluffing in good spots etc so there is loads of potential to improve. I am also only a couple hours of grinding away from locking up the highest VIP status which should translate into a lot of extra bonus $$$ down the line.

It was warm the past few days, but today the weather has returned to stereotypical England; cool and rainy. A good day to visit an English pub

Day 48

More of the same the past week; when I'm not with Louise, I've been playing poker. Until today, it had been incredibly smooth sailing. I had a -16.5BI day at 50nl today... 10.5 hours, ~10k hands :/ I was playing my B game for most of the day and certainly missed a lot of value in small pots, but I managed to blow through all these chips without making any major bluffs. If anything, I did a good job folding when I was beat! Being a heavy volume small stakes grinder is hard sometimes.

Thankfully, I recently signed up at WilliamHill and have already earned $200 from the deposit bonus. I am waiting to hear if I will be getting 20% RB on top of this as part of signing up through FTR -- this could be worth $500+ considering how many hours I intend to play there this month!

I am not using PT3 right now, so I've been recording my hours separately. Since July 29, I have played 35.25 hours. In total, I have played 89 hours. Including bonuses, I have about $1.5k in profits to show for it. Excluding bonuses, my profits are something like $600.

I need to put in about 88 hours on Bet365 to maintain my monthly VIP status for August/September and earn a $350 bonus. For WilliamHill, I still need to put in about 425 hours to earn a $4500 bonus. For the poker playing calendar year (July 18 - November 30, 136 days), I need to put in approximately 610 hours to take fullest advantage of the signup bonuses and VIP rewards. That works out to 31.5 hours/week, which is very doable.


Besides all the poker playing, Louise and I went to the Olympic Park this week to see the Olympic Stadium. The weather wasn't all that cooperative, but the park was beautiful! There is a massive lawn where you can sit and watch without having to have a ticket into an actual event, so we sat and watched horses jumping fences for a couple hours. At one point, we went to get lunch at the on-site McDonald's -- the queue was literally 100m!! Despite the crowds, I really enjoyed the park and now want tickets to see one of the swimming/diving events. We are holding out for the Men's 10m platform diving final this coming Saturday, but we may jump on something else if it looks promising.

That was my biggest adventure of the week. We also were invited to dinner at my girlfriend's best friend's house and had a lovely time there. That was the first time I've been drunk in as long as I can remember

Louise had to go on to the Netherlands without me after our scare with the UK border officials. The only upside to this is that I have even more time on my hands to put in my time at the tables. On a personal note, I feel much happier knowing that if I put in the requisite hours, I'm certain to pay for all my expenses while I'm here and return to the US with enough money to finish up my undergrad. I'd like to go back to Vegas too, if I do really well!! Here's hoping tomorrow brings something different

Originally Posted by Vi-Zer0Skill

Being a heavy volume small stakes grinder is hard sometimes.

i hear ya bro

Originally Posted by Vi-Zer0Skill

On a personal note, I feel much happier knowing that if I put in the requisite hours, I'm certain to pay for all my expenses while I'm here and return to the US with enough money to finish up my undergrad. I'd like to go back to Vegas too, if I do really well!!

nice

Sunday and Monday were better in that I actually won a couple BI each day. It got even better because I found out that I am definitely getting 20% RB at WilliamHill this month! This changes my grinding schedule and thankfully cuts a lot of hours I was planning on having to play.

William Hill: 26/445 hours played
Bet365: 74/114 hours play
Total: 100/559

Days Remaining (Aug 7 - Nov 30): 115
Average Pace: 4.0 hours/day or 28.0 hours/week


The new schedule is a massive relief. I don't know if I had it in me to put in 140 hours a month!

Hi,
Sent u a PM
i

got it, thanks salsa


I'm finally back into the habit of not looking at my bankroll at the end of every session, which is good for a whole bunch of reasons. I'm also feeling more confident triple barrel bluffing and taking optimal value lines. I still seem to take 2-3 bad bluff/value lines per hour, but I've also got my notebook out again and am being more diligent about cracking down on myself for making these mistakes. My winrate is doubtless something abysmal for 50nl, but I'm sensing the poker rust has nearly worn off now and I'm ready to make some real strides in improving my game.

So far, here's what is working:

triple barrels

Here's what's not working:

winning coinflips
AK < AA/KK
top set in 3bet pots
getting value towned by fish and the top regs


All that translates into what has become a 31BI downswing since Saturday. I am probably going to have to inject a little of the money I withdrew from Bet365 into my WH bankroll. I trust I am a winner in these games, but the severity of this downswing is shocking seeing as it's 50nl!

I'm going out to do something out of the house this afternoon, hopefully come back tonight and have a winning session.

where abouts in teh london?

Also, why no play on party poker - I assume you can play there based in the UK? Games soooooo goot!

I'm living in Wood Green, northeast London.

I really wish I had selected Party Poker now that I think about it! I may get a chance to play there if I clear my WH $4500 bonus before the end of my time here. I would love to play some soft 100/200nl games when I'm at the top of my game and can afford to lose


I just noticed that I've played at least 4 hours every day but one the past two and a half weeks, so that's good. I also had two small sessions this evening where I didn't lose! I dropped one table (from 6 to 5) to focus more on making the optimal play every time and that seemed to help. It's going to take a while to fully recover from this downswing, but the frustration is starting to clear and I am reminded that I need to be very patient with my results.

It turns out I was mistaken and had in fact lost 3 more buyins yesterday afternoon. I finished the night by losing a bit more, and then lost some more today. To make things even more frustrating, the Speed Poker software has been periodically kicking me off my tables. It has been going on pretty much since the beginning, but has progressively gotten worse and today it cost me time, money, and my mental health.

As of right now, I'm down 400GBP on WilliamHill and up 850GBP on Bet365. With the downswing and problems with the software, I'm very tempted to play just enough to get some value for my player points and move to another site. I spoke with WilliamHill support today regarding the software and they said they'd do what they can to fix it. Still, I expect I'd be happier playing normal speed tables with reliable software. I'll play again tomorrow and see if things are improved. If not, it's probably time for a change of pace

Day 56

I figured out part of my problem with the Speed Poker was that the channel my wireless router is on was overcrowded. Played a session today and had a nice, disconnect free session. Unfortunately I am still running bad on WilliamHill and my bankroll there is now 450GBP, down from 1000GBP. Thankfully I am running much better on PartyPoker and am already up a bit over there.

The games on Party are clearly softer and the results I have put up at the Speed tables on iPoker make me cringe (roughly -12BI over 110k hands). So, I have once again altered my playing schedule to include some time clearing the PartyPoker deposit bonus. I am getting effectively 90% RB from WilliamHill this month (works out to $25/hour) so I will obviously keep putting in hours and hope that I start to run good again soon. Even if that means depositing more money. My ego tells me I can't be a 5bb/100 loser at 50nl.

So yeah, poker is a drag right now.


On Saturday I went to see Shrek the Musical. I had never been to a musical before so I wasn't sure what to expect (how would it compare to the movie?) I must say the performance was hilarious! The only beat was that the guy who played donkey obviously never had a chance of being as funny as Eddie Murphy, but still a very worthwhile experience overall. After the show we went out for dinner at Pizza Express which was also lovely. Yesterday I worked on constructing a compost bin for my girlfriend's mum, which ended up taking a couple hours since we had to clear a massive thicket of brambles and stinging nettles to get the site ready. This week I'll probably take Louise to see a movie as well as do some more painting around the house. A professional workman is coming by in 1-2 weeks to do some tiling and install kitchen cabinets which is really exciting. I know this isn't my house, but I've come to feel invested in the rebuilding project and will be very proud when the work is finished.

I'm still getting murdered at the tables, though today I made two major mistakes which cost me $85 total. I also made a handful of smaller mistakes that cost me about $25. William Hill roll is barely over 400GBP.

I don't think I've ever ran this bad before, but it also must be said that I've never put in so many hands in games where I have such a small edge. Having logged 100K+ hands, I believe my true winrate in these 50nl SPEED games is likely <1bb/100.. the variance that comes along with such a low winrate is enormous and I had no idea what I was in for. Check this out if you haven't used a variance calculator before: ev++ Poker Tools :: Poker Variance Simulator

Over 100k hands, it's possible to go on an 80BI downswing with my estimated winrate and SD. At any rate, 40BI+ downswings are relatively common and that is where I'm at right now (-48BI on William Hill since last Saturday.) Game selection is critical and I have been beating my head against a brick wall for too long. I think I'll stick to playing on William Hill on weekend nights and do the bulk of my playing at PartyPoker. I won't get as much Rakeback value at WH this month, but I can still clear the deposit bonus and earn enough player points to get a good bonus by the end of October even if I only play there 2-3 nights/week.

This is just another instance where I learned something about poker the hard way

Four 80 East - Roll On [Jazz-Funk] - PLANET CHILL - YouTube

Day 60

I came to my senses last night and realized anyone playing poker for a living would look at my finances and ask, 'how can you possibly think you are comfortably rolled for 50nl?' I have around 4k counting my liferoll, so a repeat of the past week and a half would leave me in a really desperate position.

I decided to move to 25nl and assigned myself a 3 buy in stop loss. I watched a couple BlueFire poker videos and took careful notes. I thought a lot about my game and the weaknesses of the standard TAG regs at 50nl. Today, I had a +11BI session over 4k hands at 20nl. Although I of course won most of my all ins and got paid off by the fish, I also ran some big bluffs in 3bet pots when the board texture was favorable and my opponents range was weak. I used overbets when my opponents range was capped. I basically exploited the hell out of the average regs and ran really well. Feels good.

It's a beautiful day outside, so after my winning session I went for a long stroll through the neighborhood. I've been sick this entire week as well and the combination of sunshine and rungood felt therapeutic.

This weekend I am going up to Oundle to help my girlfriend's mum get her other house ready for workmen to come and do some work there. No internet so I won't be able to play poker, which is just as well since I have played an average of 5.5 hours/day this month! A short break will leave me refreshed to put in a lot of hours at 20nl next week.

Dr. Dog - How Long Must I Wait - YouTube

gl building that roll back up!

Day 65

Thanks Courtney! Mission accomplished

WH roll is back up to 950GBP after some serious rungood and playing much better than I had the previous two weeks. The fish are paying me off and I'm winning most of my flips, which is great in itself but feels even better because I can see the positive effects of studying/paying greater attention to each table. I am very aware that being able to play online poker for the next couple months is a gift and I am going to make the most of my opportunity. Ideally I'd return to the UK early in 2013 and resume playing poker, but that's not a sure thing and is highly conditional on my success over the next couple months. I haven't played nearly as much poker as I wanted to this week, but I have been productive in other aspects of my life so I am not feeling too bad about it.

The housework in Oundle went really well and we got loads done. We donated a bunch of old clothes/furniture, took multiple carloads of recyclable materials to the tip, and did other little administrative bits that needed doing. There is so much to do, but by the time I go back to the US I know I'll have made a big positive contribution to Louise and her mum's well being (which makes me feel like I am earning my rent free status.)

On Friday I'm going on an adventure to the Southbank, my first real solo adventure in the UK. Pretty excited to spend the day wandering around I'll have to remember to borrow a camera so I can take some pictures!

I booked a tennis court for Lou and I this evening. The weather is perfectly overcast so it should be a great match (even though she is going to smoke me!)

Day 71

Bankroll has been bouncing around the past week -- currently 900GBP. Feeling pretty good overall about my play, but there was one big spew and I am still finding lots of spots where I could be playing better. It's good to feel like I am improving every day since active learning is the best way to avoid boredom and the inevitable loss of motivation and frustration that comes with it. Boredom with poker seems to lead me to tilt easier and in the past has probably been the reason I have walked away from poker when the going got tough.

I am back at 20nl again since I've lost a few BI at 50nl the past two sessions. I do not want to go on another run where I burn through half my online roll!

I did in fact get smoked in our tennis match last Wednesday, but I still played arguably my best tennis ever so that's a plus. I forgot a camera on Friday, but I'm definitely going back to Westminster so I'll take some pictures then. This weekend I stripped a bunch of paint off the hallway floorboards while Louise removed nails. It took us about 15 hours to do half the work

Avi Buffalo - Remember Last Time (not the video) - YouTube

Day 74

Today is going to be a big grind to finish out the month -- I am only a few hours away from locking up a higher VIP level on WilliamHill. Since my last update I have been on a nice little heater and am well on my way to being fully recovered from my biggest downswing ever (incredibly fast recovery imo). I took a shot at the 100nl SPEED tables this morning and surprisingly they were much less aggressive preflop than 50nl. There were plenty of really bad regs sitting as well, so even though KK<AA and KK<A5s I still finished +1BI.

I also just found out that I'll be getting the same 90% effective rakeback at WH next month.. poker is the greatest when it isn't challenging your self confidence and threatening your financial security!!


edit: +3BI at 100nl the rest of the day and earned the higher VIP status!

Day 80

I just reread through some of my old posts.. seriously ridiculous that I thought grinding 600+ hours of online cash games in 4 months was 'very doable'

It's also amazing to me that I've already been here for nearly three months! Looking back on the goals I had for myself at the start, I am tempted to think I haven't made the most of my time here. I haven't landed an internship and am at this point just hoping to spend one or two days at Forum for the Future to get a taste of what their work is like. I never got a gym membership, have rarely been running, and I haven't even begun to line up work for when I get home!

Yet poker has undeniably been a success. I made almost $1k in July (a half month) and almost $3k in August (despite going on an epic downswing during the middle of the month). Volume has been very good -- I have put in almost 200 hours at the tables in less than 7 weeks. I have been learning lots about poker and my game has improved tremendously since I started playing online again. I'm not immediately worried about money anymore which also takes a lot of pressure off. Housework has made me feel like I'm making some sort of a positive contribution and has provided me with 'free' exercise.

That being said, I'm not off to a hot start in September. I'm down about 260GBP between 50nl/100nl. The plan is to play 20nl/50nl at least until I'm back to even.. a shame because 100nl has only 2-3 tough regs that aren't also at 50nl and there are plenty of fish! I've also worked out that WilliamHill will offer me by far the best rakeback so I plan to do pretty much all my playing there.

My deepest thanks to FTR for getting WH to offer 20% RB to members who signed up. That was a very good boost to my bankroll

Hey dude, not been on here in ages and have just read this for the first time.

I live in Glasgow in Scotland so it's cool to hear you're in the UK. If you do get a chance to make it up this way at some point I'd be happy to show you round Edinburgh (used to live there), get a beer etc. The uni's really well respected and it's a beautiful city so I'd definitely recommend it for university.

Also, hit me up on skype or whatever if you fancy a sweat. I'm grinding 100s on stars atm and would be happy to take a look at your game and stuff.

Best of luck man.

Thanks Carroters, I'd really appreciate getting you to sweat me for a session! And hear more about how poker has been going for you since Vegas

..would love to get up to Edinburgh and will probably be up there later next month. I definitely need to spend a day or two seeing the university and finding out whether I'd be happy living there for 12+ months!

Originally Posted by Vi-Zer0Skill

seriously ridiculous that I thought grinding 600+ hours of online cash games in 4 months was 'very doable'

i've never managed it

Originally Posted by Vi-Zer0Skill

. I haven't landed an internship and am at this point just hoping to spend one or two days at Forum for the Future to get a taste of what their work is like. I never got a gym membership, have rarely been running, and I haven't even begun to line up work for when I get home!

life happens

Originally Posted by Vi-Zer0Skill

Yet poker has undeniably been a success. I made almost $1k in July (a half month) and almost $3k in August (despite going on an epic downswing during the middle of the month). Volume has been very good -- I have put in almost 200 hours at the tables in less than 7 weeks. I have been learning lots about poker and my game has improved tremendously since I started playing online again. I'm not immediately worried about money anymore which also takes a lot of pressure off.

nh

cheers daven, thanks for dropping by! I hope you don't need to send out that CV anytime soon either

Day 92

September has not been a fruitful month for poker, results and volume wise -- I'm basically even after 46 hours of play. There was a 15BI downswing and some sessions where I just played badly, but I'm really striving to only play my A game and only play at peak times in an effort to reduce my variance and improve my win rate. I have a -0.6bb/100 winrate at the SPEED tables over 200k hands, so I've turned into the type of reg I used to mock.. the rakeback grinder. I plan to move to PartyPoker in October so I can play fewer hands/hour and play against weaker competition (and hopefully become a winning reg once again!)

Besides poker, I've started watching True Blood and reading a fascinating book called Love and Addiction. I went for a walk along the Thames the other day with Louise and saw more of this lovely city I'm living in.

My family is coming to visit next week and I'm really looking forward to spending some time with them (and getting some time away from the tables). I am definitely taking them to the Fine Burger Co., my favorite restaurant in London!


Elvis - Hound Dog - YouTube

Originally Posted by Vi-Zer0Skill

striving to only play my A game and only play at peak times in an effort to reduce my variance and improve my win rate.

What do you mean by peak times?
When you are at your peak?
Or when the fishing grounds are at their peak, If so, in your opinion, what times are these?

The peak time to play is when it's evening/night in Europe (6pm-2am GMT). During the daytime hours the concentration of regular players is higher, which means you can expect your winrate to decrease. One way to get around this is to play a limit lower than your usual game during the daytime hours (I don't do this as often as I should)

I'm at my peak when I'm properly rested, I've attended to all my business away from the tables, and I've done a little studying (at least 10 minutes). This allows me to be as focused as possible when I sit down to play. Preparation is a huge part of being a winning poker player that is quite easy to overlook.

Originally Posted by Vi-Zer0Skill

I'm at my peak when I'm properly rested, I've attended to all my business away from the tables, and I've done a little studying (at least 10 minutes). This allows me to be as focused as possible when I sit down to play. Preparation is a huge part of being a winning poker player that is quite easy to overlook.

Some good advice right there.

Originally Posted by Vi-Zer0Skill

I'm at my peak when I'm properly rested, I've attended to all my business away from the tables, and I've done a little studying (at least 10 minutes). This allows me to be as focused as possible when I sit down to play. Preparation is a huge part of being a winning poker player that is quite easy to overlook.

agree 100%

Thanks for both the answers.
I've been mostly playing tournaments and sngs up to now. But am thinking about concentrating more on cash sessions for a period.
So if I may ask two more brief questions of your experienced opinion:
6max or FR?
Pokerstars or smaller site?