:(

Okay a little update on my progress as a poker player.

One thing is, I would really like to thank the IRC for my development as a poker player over this past year. Especially spoonitnow, m2m, yaawn, illfavor, and carrotz.

I'll start with spoonitnow. Almost a year ago, I remember talking with spoonitnow about growing as a poker player. He taught me how valuable having a side job/hobby (poker) after I graduate from college where I can make like $40/hr. He told me to work my ass off to get myself to that level and how rewarding it would be. He was right.

m2m... m2m has let me do many sweat sessions of him playing small and midstakes, and has always been there to discuss lines/hands/villians etc as I moved up in stakes, because he had done the same thing a few months before. He also taught me that 16-20 tabling is not beneficial for your growth as a poker player. It may make you money, but it is much more difficult to become a better player when making snap decisions over and over (although it can be done by doing constant reviews of your sessions).

lol...yaawn is an asshole. But god damn is he smart. Have had countless ah-hah moments when being berated by yaawn for making a stupid play. The guy is extremely good at poker.

illfavor and carrotz...haven't talked with either of you much as of late, but definitely had countless great discussions over the past 6 months about poker and life.


So, what's next? Keep grinding, growing my roll and becoming a better player.

Dude you rock! Congrats on all your success!

sighhh....i suck. o but you are doing awesome :P good work homie

Originally Posted by CBAT

Got supernova finally! w00t

grats cbat!!!

nh, sir

Thank you everyone! Couldn't have done it without FTR!

Nice job man. There is no limit. Fuck the sky.

November in review!



Played about half of the hands at 1/2, and then some 2/4 and a little 3/6. With a couple short sessions at 50NL 6m when my HEM wasn't working.

+2555 at the tables
-100 in staking
Some FPPS and supernova bonus

About +$3400 for the month!

Going to try to end the year out right and set myself up for 200K next year, which is 16,667VPPs per month. The most I've gotten since I've had the full time job is about 14,000, so I'll need to step it up a little bit next year and put in about 6-8 more hours per month, which is only about 1.5-2 a week, which is definitely doable. I'm hopefully going to aim for a nice start in January at about 20k VPP, but we'll see. Honestly my main goal is to make good plays and profit at the table over profiting in rakeback. Because the amount of money I can make at the tables, dwarfs the amount of money made from rakeback.

Sexy graph buddy! Good job

nice job. can i change your blog to a smiley face now? maybe i shouldn't... would probably jinx you.

What Supernova's don't update now?

Originally Posted by HarleyGuy13

What Supernova's don't update now?

lol 2k swings r super std yet they are still O_O to me

Originally Posted by CBAT

lol 2k swings r super std yet they are still O_O to me

Wow 2k swongs would be difficult to deal with, even if I had the roll. GLGLGL!! Keep grinding!

Really inspiring, grats sir

I'm hoping to be where you're at sometime in the future

Play bad, run good, ezgame!

Still grindin them midstakes! Got a few more days left of the month then I'll make an end of the year wrap-up of the year in review!

Ur op title tilts me it should be

Awesome op CBAT. Very inspiring. I need to keep track of my BR like you did. How long have you been playing poker before you started this op?

Originally Posted by CBAT

Still grindin them midstakes! Got a few more days left of the month then I'll make an end of the year wrap-up of the year in review!

Great job, cbat. I will be looking forward to the year-end review. Hope the final week is awesome.

Thanks for the support all!

Well the poker year is over for me. I'm getting a new computer today and will be building that, and then visiting my girlfriend for the New Year.

First off, WOW! Honestly never thought I would see this kind of success/improvement when I started my grind after my ACL surgery about a year ago at 10NL. Had some bumps in the road in the beginning, but then it was pretty smooth sailing after I got comfortable at 1/2. Many thanks to the IRC and especially m2m and spoon for constant help.

Some very generic things that may be obvious, but have been very beneficial to my success:

Prediction: If you bet, your opponent can either fold/call/raise. If he folds, there is nothing to predict. If he calls, you can reevaluate when the next card comes. If he raises, you should not be surprised because this is the only thing that you should be immediately ready for. So basically make up your decision ahead of time so you will not be surprised when he does raise and have to make an instant decision.

Over adjustments: Just because someone has 3bet you two hands in a row does not mean that they are bluffing. And when you move up, most of the regs are NOT playing back at you. Just play solid and pick your spots, but one of the biggest mistakes that can get you in a lot of trouble is thinking that all the regs at your new stakes are making a bunch of plays.

Table Selection: This is SO key, especially when moving up. Some easy games when you first move up will help your confidence a great deal and can help you get a little buffer as you get adjusted to the new opponents.

Help: Find someone that is better than you (there are plenty here on FTR) and talk with them about scenarios. It doesn't have to be specific hands, but their thoughts on 3betting regs who call too much OOP preflop, those who fold too often, how to play certain parts of your range vs a steal from the blinds etc. There are just so many different scenarios that come up, so the more situations you can become comfortable in, the easier the game will become.

RESULTS

December was my best month yet. about 12k hands at 1/2, 7k at each of 2/4 and 3/6.



6500+1k in FPPs = Ship $7500 month!


And my graph for the year


~$21k profit after rakeback.

My poker goals for 2011:
Continue to improve
Regulate High Stakes
300kVPP

Awesome!! Glad to see the micro to midstakes improvement. I get a lot of inspiration from watching and chatting with winners on FTR, and following their progress.

Can't wait to what 2011 holds for you. GLGLGLGLGL!!!

meh not bad

aka CONGRATS MAN! Looks really really solid. Keep the momentum up.

I just vomited a little bit in my mouth.

Way to go man.

Make enough to open your own bank. It only takes about 5 mil.

well deserved imo
nh sir!

damn sicko

I taught you well

So very inspiring and from such a good guy. Here's to even greater success in 2011!

Thanks all!

So I've got my new computer all set up and it has brought me some nice runbad! It's all good, nothing the broll can't handle.

I built the computer, first one I've ever built. Cost about $1000 total with the 24in monitor. It's extremely fast and should definitely help the game with its efficiency. At about 4k VPPs so far which is very good for me and puts me on pace for ~25k for the month. Going to take a few days off from playing besides maybe an hour of playing in the morning before work.

Off to work!

EDIT: Yesterday was this blogs 1 year anniversary w00t!

It's amazing how inducing a check in a cbet scenario is at 20-50bb OOP. I'll get em everytime!

Behind pace on my 25k VPP goal. Currently sitting at about 8100. Been doing well at the tables, which results in a lot more $. I would still like to get to 25k, but I don't want to force myself to play at anything other than my optimal mood and readiness. No withdrawals until I hit 250k FPPs and get that 4k bonus 8)

A little mid-month update...had some career days in the last week!

There really is something to be said for getting comfortable after moving up. Once you aren't like OMG when some reg raises you to double what you are used to it becomes ezgame and just play your game.

That said, I ran like ass today, but no biggy, still feel that I am playing very well. I won't be playing much this weekend, gf is visitin

Played some live poker last night at Turning Stone casino for about 3 hours. Unfortunately there is a $300 limit on my withdrawals from my ATM and it was a Saturday afternoon so the bank wasn't open. So I was only rolled for 1/2, instead of 2/5, which is what I wanted to play.

Got there at about 8pm and got right on the list buying in for $198 ($2 for a poker room card). I honestly couldn't believe the skill of the players at my table. It was atrocious. Multiple early position limpers, overbetters, table talk about what was going on in peoples heads, etc...it was pretty lol. I didn't really get into any large pots, mainly just played some small ball in pots under $50 and got the stack up to about $425. My plan was to move up to 2/5 if I got up over $500, but couldn't get there in the limited 3 hours that I had. Eventually I cashed out at $375 and went home +$175 for the day. I had a lot of fun chatting with the players at my table though and it was definitely a good time.

It was my first time playing at a casino in a full year, and I felt so much more at ease and in control of the table than I did last year before I made my run in 2010 to midstakes.

sounds like you had a great time playing live. def fun for a change from staring at a screen.

$4/hand this morning...tough to go to work after that =\ !

Won a little bit in my first session today, and was down most of the session, but I felt like it was one of my best sessions I've played in a long time. Pretty much all of my reads were spot on and I just felt in a zone, not sure why, but I'd like to continue to feel this way at the tables...just not sure how to go about that.

Great blog! It's really cool to see someone progress as much as you did in just a year! Congrats and hopefully the next year is equally as impressive!

cheers

Originally Posted by callmenuts26

Great blog! It's really cool to see someone progress as much as you did in just a year! Congrats and hopefully the next year is equally as impressive!

Ballin

.

Thanks callmenuts and Vi-Zer0

One thing I need to remember is I'm not an FPS master.

That is all.

Holy shit, I forgot how to fold.

Been getting smoked as of late due to mainly my own bad play. I think I'm going to drop down and play some 6m. As I haven't tried it seriously in over a year and there are many more games going than FR when you venture into the higher stakes.

if you're having trouble folding def try 6max.

people actually bluff there.

lol they seriously do...


On another note, I've become far too results oriented.

JANUARY!



95%: 1/2 - 5/10 FR w/ a sprinkle of 25NL, 50NL and 2kNL
+26000VPPs x 3.5 = 1450

+~$6400

Aim for 24k hands in feb.

loldownswongs

Going to grind 1/2 for a while (seriously this time not like when I said I was going to play .25/.50 cuz I did for about 2 hours).

Favorite hand in a long time (see chat):


$1/$2 No Limit Holdem
PokerStars
9 Players
Hand Conversion Powered by weaktight.com

Stacks:
UTG ($83.25)
UTG+1 ($129.90)
MP1 ($200)
MP2 ($195)
MP3 ($205.35)
CBat28 ($205.40)
BTN ($214.95)
SB ($200)
BB ($158)

Pre-Flop: ($3, 9 players) CBat28 is CO
1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $6, MP1 calls $6, 2 folds, CBat28 raises to $24, 3 folds, UTG+1 calls $18, MP1 calls $18

Flop: ($75, 3 players)
MP2 says "ALL IN", MP2 says "ALL IN", UTG+1 checks, MP1 checks, CBat28 bets $32, MP2 says "DO IT", UTG+1 calls $32, MP1 folds

Turn: ($139, 2 players)
MP2 says "NOW", UTG+1 checks, CBat28 bets $74, UTG says "wow", MP2 says "I LOVE YA", UTG+1 goes all-in $73.90

River: ($286.90, 2 players, 1 all-in)
CBat28 says "=*", MP2 says "OUCH"

Final Pot: $286.90
UTG+1 shows high card Queen

CBat28 shows a pair of Kings


CBat28 wins $283.90 (net +$153.90)

UTG+1 lost $129.90
MP1 lost $24

I loled.

Originally Posted by CBAT

Final Pot: $286.90
UTG+1 shows high card Queen

CBat28 shows a pair of Kings

I really need to stop fucking around and move up.

Originally Posted by StarGrinder

I really need to stop fucking around and move up.

There are feesh everywhere, they just slim out some as you move up!

Just learn to breakeven/beat vs/the regs and you are golden.

Hi $4,000 bonus, I'll see you tomorrow.

Played really well today and got 1500 VPPs...GG.

I'm behind this month on my 25k goal. I need 13k in about 10 days (will be gone for 2 days). Definitely doable. Going to try and have a couple 2k+ days on Sunday and Monday.

I'm getting myself back in shape. I've been hitting the gym 3 times a week and joined a basketball league. We had our first game, and I was very rusty and tentative being it the first competitive basketball I've played since my ACL surgery a little over a year ago. I scored 10 points and played some bad defense, but had one block!

I'm currently sitting at about 6'2 165 which is what I've been hovering around ever since I got hurt. Going to take the next two months and try and get myself back to about 170 and much stronger and faster.

Oh and poker is poker!

You're HELLA skinny.

I'm 6'2'' 185 and I thought I was pretty thin haha

Originally Posted by Donachello

You're HELLA skinny.

I'm 6'2'' 185 and I thought I was pretty thin haha

CHYEA I'm light!

Had a good day today. Put in decent volume and results orientation says I played well -_-

I have like a few solid updates per year.

1/2 - 5/10...Only got 20k VPPs this month though. Gotta go for 30k in March to get back on pace (longer month and I took last 3 days off in Feb).

+~1120 in FPPs for ~+$5900 month.

1715VPPs on March 1st

Off to a good start (in VPP terms).

2nd session today was a bummer =P

YouTube - Michael Jordan - I Believe I Can Fly

Nice turn around in February! and I'm diggin the Michael Jordan video!

GL

Today is the worst I've run in a long time.

I can't take shit for granted because some of the regs actually know what they are doing.

I'm also having issues in getting quality poker time in. I've been somewhat exhausted lately while playing as I've gotten back into the gym and my hours of work has been increasing recently. And playing while extremely tired is not beneficial to my bankroll.

Going to start mixing in some 6max as I'm starting to burn out on the grind and the dynamics in 6max are much more interesting than those at FR.

crobatzzzzzzz

full ring sucks very large donkey ****

Oh hey thar bikes!

Ya so I be grindin (aka not grinding) like 1-1.5k hands per day as of late. I'm doin meh this month thanks to an awful day at 3/6 and a little bit of stupidness at 10/20 (lolwut). But it's all good, I still feel confident and I realized I should keep away from 10/20 and just bumhunt 5/10 on my current roll. Still gunna try and get 30k vpps...but I'm behind pace a little right now with a long weekend of no playing coming later this month. I need a couple 2k days sometime to catch up. I'm more concerned with my quality play than my volume as I don't plan to be a rakeback pro like some other ftr'ers

Tables were fantastic this mornin, I ldo lost some money. But still was happy with the way I played. 3/6 > me

you > 3/6.

everyone sucks at poker imo, you got this.

Just had a great extended weekend with my girlfriend, had some much needed time together as long distance relationships are difficult at times.

Got an MRI on my knee to see if my reconstructed ACL was re-torn, and thankfully it was not! Just a bone bruise which has caused me some discomfort, but nothing unbearable. So I'm going to be working it back out and trying to get it back to normal as I can't tuck my knee under like I used to. I'm also going to work on increasing my flexibility as I feel this will definitely help with my overall athleticism since I'm no where near where I was before I tore my ACL about 18 months ago.

Also today marks 3 weeks until I leave for Cancun, so I'm going to be eating healthier foods as I should be anyways and lean up a little bit for the upcoming trip. I really need to get myself in a routine when it comes to eating. I'm pretty consistent on getting to the gym 3 days a week, but I just don't have the energy or will to cook myself healthy meals all week. So I'm going to work on making about 4 dinners and 4 sandwiches on Sundays to have for the week. I cooked up a half dozen hard boiled eggs for yesterday that I'm going to eat before work the next two days.

Oh and on the poker side of things, it's been a bit of a bumpy road this month. Had my first winning day in about a week (took 4 days off). But still felt good, even though I did run above EV, but got QQ in vs KK twice BU v blind. I'm transitioning into mainly 6max and I'm enjoying the dynamics that are developed at the table and finding out how much easier it is to exploit other regs in 6m than it was in FR.

I'm at 20,480 VPPs for the month and 66,536 for the year. So I'm still a little behind pace for 300,000 for the year. I'm also going to be going on vacation for a week in April so I really need a couple big days in the future, but I'm not going to sweat it yet, forcing myself to play when tired is just so -EV.

A couple things that have been motivating me lately.

zephendrix | ZepHendrix's Blog

Guy is sick. Black card, SNE, and some Cereus shit. Also he works full time and is in grad school.

Also:
http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ea-144458.html

I know this is from 2007, but there is still so much to take home here. Makes things much simpler for me and I can work off of it as I adapt to 6m.

I'm down a few K this month! That is all.

Zep would be coolers if he didn't whine about running bad every five seconds

yeah he'd probably double his win rate too - and that is a shit ton of cash given his stakes and volume.

First losing month ever!

+$1600ish in rakeback
= -1k month

midstakes 6m for APRIL here I come to crush you.

I need to not lose focus at the lower stakes as I add in some higher stake tables, they are still very important!

EDIT: Also don't play when extremely tired after double overtime WIN in basketball league.

I'm going to abandoned my volume goal because it makes me feel as if I need to play everyday even when extremely tired. I'll get 200k EZ...and I'll catch up to 300k pace eventually if I put in some monster weekends which I think I will be able to.

Right now I just feel unneeded pressure from myself.

Originally Posted by CBAT

I'm going to abandoned my volume goal because it makes me feel as if I need to play everyday even when extremely tired. I'll get 200k EZ...and I'll catch up to 300k pace eventually if I put in some monster weekends which I think I will be able to.

Right now I just feel unneeded pressure from myself.

<333333333333333333333333333333

i also bought out of my prop bet =)

Good work bikes, instead of playing when you feel like you have to play, you play when you want to play. And instead of playing 12 tables when your winrate is going to drop off after 9ish tables, you play 8-9 tables. And instead of playing higher stakes because you get more vpps, you play higher stakes because the games are good! That is all.

-cbat