The Real Deal - Whatever it Takes

[Donachello]

Hi all.

I decided it was time to make a drastic change in my life which consequently will lead to a drastic change in poker as well. Because of this I thought it would be a good idea to ditch my old Op thread that was basically filled with tilted complaints and spewy hands. The purpose of this blog isn't so much to write long drawn-out posts (though I'm sure there will be some) but is more for me to simply keep track of where I am.

As anyone who has spent any amount of time on IRC with me knows; I tilt.... very hard. This tilt isn't exactly specifically poker related either and stems from a long history of anger and emotional blow-ups mostly related to competition. I used to always lose it while playing sports but especially during my high school years I began to get it all under control. I feel that one of the most important things that helped me do this was a structured routine with meditation involved in it. Thusly, I have recently written out a daily schedule that includes a new workout plan that I created along with regular meditation and yoga. I feel that these things will be absolutely vital to my success as a poker player and as a baseball player next year.

I've never dealt well with failure so I am taking all possible steps to now avoid that. I'll be updating this Op very regularly with some brief thoughts and hands, as well as weekly BR updates; which I am hoping will be the only times I purposely check my bank roll. I appreciate anyone who takes the time to read this whole deal and I would like to keep up the music posting as part of this blog so to start off, here is one of my absolute favorite dubstep tracks of all time.

YouTube - M'Black - Heartbreak (Bare Noize Remix)

TL;DR

Dude tilts away insignificant amount of money.
Breaks TV remote in frustration.
Realizes deep seated anger issues.
Makes life style changes.
Profit.

[BooG690]

Good luck dude. I'm sure you'll pwn.

As for checking your BR, weekly is probably too often (imho). If it's stop losses you are worried about, you should be able to feel when you are closing in on your stop loss.

[CBAT]

I check my bankroll like 5x a day.

[sil693]

Dude that song is SIIIIIIIIIIIIIICK!!! Best of luck with your OP.

[xpaand]

I like your style man. We're around the same level so we should try to keep motivating each other to get better. I'm focusing on the psychology of poker right now as well and I'm trying to become more spiritual and in control of my body. Keep in touch bro.

[rpm]

sounds good man, all the best. i'll be keeping an eye on this.

[HarleyGuy13]

GL to ya buddy!

[Donachello]

Beep beep I'm a Jeep.

So this last week I moved back to FTP since I decided I would rather not wait for stellar bonuses to get my rakeback. I won some, played some rush, lost some, stop playing rush, won some. etc. Cashed in my RB and I'm well on my way to 10NL again. In other news we had springfest this last saturday and it was... bluntly, a shitshow. Fun though.

Working out is going well, though I somehow managed to lose almost 10 pounds out of the blue, probably from not lifting for the last 3 weeks before this last one. Anyway, no really interesting hands to post but I will say that my EFFING AC doesn't work so I'm already sweating and I just got out of the shower.

Weight: 174.5
BR: 149.65
Weeks til summer: 2.5

Edit: This song ROCKKKKKKKKS
YouTube - 300 Violin Orchestra

[Donachello]

Ran like god himself today after starting a session getting sucked out on. Firmly cemented myself at 10NL now which is good for both my BR and my psyche as 5NL was starting to wear on my nerves. I really amped up the controlled aggression today, dropping to only 4 tables and as a result played some very A-game poker for a while. Volume should be pretty minimal this weekend and I have 4-5 final projects to complete so I can be free and clear for my last week of classes. Things are looking pretty good right now in pretty much every aspect so maybe some of these life-style changes have been really helpful or maybe I just hit a patch of life-rungood.

Here is one hand I wasn't sure of how I played so any input would be great.
The villain had only been at the table for ~25 hands and was running 43/33 and didn't seem positionally aware. As such I took his range as pretty static across all positions but didn't feel that 3betting an UTG raiser was the best idea with AQo even taking that into account.

$0.05/$0.10 No Limit Holdem
FullTiltPoker
5 Players
Hand Conversion Powered by weaktight.com

Stacks:
UTG Nikownz ($10.29)
UTG+1 Its a TRAP1111 ($11.47)
CO Hero ($10)
BTN ItsFineDay ($15.58)
BB Svetlaya21 ($13.05)

Pre-Flop: ($0.10, 5 players) Hero is CO
Nikownz raises to $0.30, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.30, 2 folds

Flop: ($0.70, 2 players)
Nikownz bets $0.50, Hero raises to $1.25, Nikownz raises to $2.70

Final Pot: $4.65

Aside from the size of my flop raise being too small, should I feel comfortable felting due to the extreme wetness of the board that clobbers both of our ranges or is this a fairly ezfold?

Edit: I also wanted to link to this video my friend just showed me. It's pretty inspirational and I like the use of the word ship.

Seth Godin: Quieting the Lizard Brain on Vimeo

[Keith]

i think that I'd call the flop not reraise him. He isn't folding any 8,j,K, flush draws. You really want to get a cheap showdown if possible, didn't notice a cbet% and is he the type that bet bet bet with air

[kiwiMark]

I'd feel pretty happy 3betting a 43/33, he's likely calling with a whole bunch of bullshit, plus you'll have position postflop.

On the flop I like the raise, but would make it bigger. re: keith's comments, the fact that he's not folding 8, J, K, flush draws is exactly why we should be raising rather than calling here: getting villain to put money into the pot when he's behind is a good thing, letting him chase his draws for free or with correct odds is a bad thing.
I'm not fist-pumping about stacking off on this flop, but I don't hate it either and if he 3bets you I don't think you have much of a choice- he's fishy, he doesn't seem afraid of the raise button (based solely on the fact he's a 43/33 fish rather than a 43/7 fish) and so I think you'd be getting it in ahead of his range here.

[Keith]

yeah but we have 25 hands on this guy and a comment he didnt seem positionally aware. Who knows , he could just have had a bunch of strong hands and bet them. I know I've had times when i'm running 50/40 on one table and 10/7 on another at the start of a session.give him a range of any broadway and 88+ on this flop and you're pretty much flipping. Is he going to be 3 betting that flop with all of that range or just the combo draws in that range , in which case you are a dog to him and as such do you still want to stack off to him.

[kiwiMark]

By the same token I'm choosing to say villain is actually 88/74 and is cbetting anything suited and any face card. BOOM EQUITY JUST SKYROCKETED.

[Keith]

much easier for a 25/20 to end up at 44/33 over 25 hands than a 88/74. The problem here is sample size and a lack of reads on this guy.we're now looking at flipping for stacks, calling keeps the pot small and lets us get away cheaply from a scare card on the turn , if it blanks his equity plunges for his draws

[Donachello]

So May was an interesting month for me. I finally got a job that I'll be starting in about a week. I am moving back to my hometown for the summer where hopefully I can get some solid poker coaching from some friends there. I started the month at 5NL, made my way to 10NL, dropped back to 5NL, tilted, played some heads-up, soul-owned a reg, moved back to 10NL and went on a heater. I'm solidly playing 10NL 6max as of now, only 4 tabling, and my winrate has been quite good.

I had a friend tranfer me 1.11 on PS so I could enter a 1.40 BI tournament that I FTd and turned into 5.75. I then took that 5.75 and played a 5.40 20K tournament and was 9/467 people at one point. I was feeling good and out of 5876 entrants I was pretty happy. I was hoping to FT that one as well but ended up busting in 213th or so. I can tell I need way more endurance to ship a big tournament but it was exciting and fun nonetheless.

I won't be playing any poker at all until my final projects are done so I wish everyone some run-good and I'll see you on the other side of school!

YouTube - Kyau & Albert - Made Of Sun (Hard Dub Extended Version)

^awesome track. Especially the drop at 4:15!

[Donachello]

Almost done with school! I'm so excited to get the hell out of here and start working.

Poker-wise this month has been awesome. Aside from my success no.2intheworld (aka Max) shipped big monies. I'm quite happy with where my game is at right now. I'm bluffing quite a bit, but not in stupid spots and it shows in my up and down but B/E redline. So far I am 6.8BB/100 running 6 tables of 6max over 3,500 hands in June. I hope to hit a solid 35-45K hands this month and will get silver in IronMan for an additional 75 dollar bonus. If I can keep up the good play and put in the volume I should be up to 25NL by the end of the month or very beginning of next which is quite exciting! Also on PokerStars, I turned a 1.11 transfer into over 60 dollars in 2 days by playing some tournaments so I am looking to keep that run up. I'll be playing the Sunday 1/4 mill and probably the next gauntlet event as well tomorrow.

I move on Monday or Tuesday and after that it's Grind on the Mind all the time! GL to everyone in June, ship it!

Kinda a random change in the music this time but I just discovered this band recently and this song/music video is pretty cool.
YouTube - Eureka Machines - Everyone Loves You music video

Oh and today's grind music was Protest the Hero so here is one of my favorite songs by them.
YouTube - Protest The Hero - Blindfolds Aside

[Dex]

It's been a while since I've heard that Kyau & Albert track! Really, really good. Reminds me how good Armin van Buuren's A State Of Trance 200 (tracklisting) megamix was too.

Good luck with the move and keep making the monies.

[dranger7070]

Negro plz, gl with this man, somehow I've missed this til now. Gogo life run goods for both of us. Hi5!!

[Donachello]

Bingo Bango!

So today was super fun. I decided to keep up my run with the 1.11 transfer. Played some really drunk PLO last night and made 50 dollars so with that money I bought into the DNG Special 300K, the daily 40k, and the sunday 1/4 mill with my tournament dollars and a little of the cash. I had about 25 left and I decided to play some lol-bads in 50NL HU. Started off well and I was up to 67 but then I made a couple bad bluffs and the idiot I was playing ran mega hot so I busto'd. I also busto'd the 40K pretty early and things didn't look very good for the 300K. However, I doubled up and kept grinding it out while also doing decently in the 1/4. I had to run to pick up something for school so I let my friend play with the instructions to only play TT+ and AK and to call me if he had any questions. By the time he called me he had obv neglected my instructions but had super binked in the 1/4 mill and had me up to 27k chips and in 100th/20000 or so. During the phone call we also got it in in the 300K and doubled up with QQ>TT. By the time I got back he'd dropped about 8k in the 1/4 but no big deal.

Anyway, I ended up cashing in both tournaments to ship my BR over $230. I'm now rolled for 25NL despite having a split roll but I plan to start playing that asap. I'll be dropping from 6 tables to 3-4 to start my switch and if all goes well I'll increase to 6 again as money and brainpower allows. I'm hoping to be able to just grind it out at 25NL for a bit and not have to transfer my stars roll over to FTP, if this works out I'll probably play a few more donkaments but now that I am playing for slightly more than a value meal at wendy's BRM is going to become much more important.

I'll be afk for the next two days while I study and move so as always... Run good and play better everyone!

Song of the day
YouTube - Dash Berlin feat. Emma Hewitt - Waiting (Original Mix)

[Donachello]

Mmmm you gotta love poker....
Moved up to 25NL ran 3 BIs under EV, continued to play. Dropped another 2 BIs. Moved back to 10NL and proceeded to lose another 5. Half my roll is now gone and I am a pretty sad-panda. I was totally ready for 25s play-wise but, as seems to often be the case, got fucking owned by variance upon moving up. I'm thinking about switching back to FR and just grinding that if I am going to grind anything. In good news I'm all moved into my new place and it's been good to see friends. Oh, and my redline continues to be just a ready breakeven for the most part. So much for having a good start to the month lolz

[Donachello]

Hai guyz. Just checking in to say I'm still getting owned. Today I played around 1.4K hands for a net profit of.... -19.75 .

Brag: I am now only 75 dollar below all in EV.
Beat: I am in the red farther than when I was 100 under EV.
Variance: I finally played my A+ game for about 400 straight hands earlier tonight for the first time all month.

Sticking it out at 6max for now I think. Also, I have decided not to use RB to bolster my account unless it is to move up or to keep myself from having to move down.

In life news... I got my first paycheck from my job. Working full time is kinda a bitch but it def brings in the dollahs.

YouTube - Ale Fillman - Wreckage Dub

beast of a song

Edit: Dropped another 3.5 buy ins. Gogogo rakeback saving me from 5NL again rofl

[Donachello]

Oh dear.... I might have to deposit again. 130 dollars under EV this month in 11K hands with all of it coming in the last week. Hard to believe I was moving up to 25NL just a week ago.

I know I am still playing well. Maybe not A+ but certainly not much worse than B. There's been a lot of coolers mixed into the whole sha-bang but there has definitely been a bit of spew as well since my expected won is also in the red. Doomswitch + barely rolled for move up + minor spew = roll just south of the minimum for 10NL but I'm not going to move down yet since I clearly have beaten the stake over a much larger sample in the past.

I joined DC for the free trial and am stocking up my harddrive with videos. I also have the ironman bonus on the horizon so it's not all terrible.

[donkfish]

Ugh man, sounds like variance has kicked you in the ass a little bit. Best thing you can do is play your A+ game in the middle of swong, or you'll lose a ton more in the process. EV in the red =

GL on not having to reload.

[Sasquach991]

I wouldn't worry about moving up and down. Most here move up and down several times with the exception of M2M and Jason.

Moving down and back up will only make you better.

[Donachello]

Just a brief update to post a link to my actual blog that I starting now and will be updated far more regularly than this. I welcome comments on the blog or in this thread. Thanks for reading. Edit: considering quitting as I just dropped 6 buy ins all of which were on bluffing idiots/coolers/bad beats.

DC -- Deus Ex Poker

[PlayToWin]

I just moved up to 10NL last month. I spewed way too much but managed to have a break-even month. This month has been pretty bad. I am still not making good folds. I'm a calling station with TPTK (AK) when I think I'm good, but should just fold damnit.

I have a stop-loss of 6 BI's and had lost five this month. In spite of not playing well, I knew I was experiencing some negative variance. I was losing to str8's where villian had a 2-gapper, etc. I had to fold a set of A's when the board had four flush cards, etc.

Tonight I fired up three tables, hoping to stack some drunks. So, for the 1st time ever, I paid the blind early when I got on my first table and was rewarded with AA. I stacked a reg that had JJ. A few hands later on the same table, I called a 3bet w/AK, flopped a Ace and stacked AJ. So, postive variance gave me back 2 BI's in five minutes. Obviously, I'm still down for the month, but I'll try to recover and play better.

Moral of the story: I'm not sure, lol. Just try to correct your bad playing habbits and let variance swing in the upward direction for you. Hopefully soon. GL.

In your early posts in this Op, you seem to have done well and were happy with your game. Maybe go back and read those for encouragement.

[dranger7070]

Stop being a bitch and grind.

[Donachello]

Been experimenting with RUSH a bit. Watching the 8-fold path to poker enlightenment by Tommy Angelo. Starting to go to bed earlier. Have a feeling this summer is going to be pretty life changing which is scary and exciting at the same time.

Also....
There really are no words to describe how this track makes me feel.
YouTube - deadmau5 "Strobe"

[kiwiMark]

Rush Week at FTP next week! Read all about it when I get off my lazy ass and write an article on it.

[Hoopy]

Keep at it man and try to forget about the All In EV line on your graph as it's not that useful. Maybe if you're not playing so good at the moment move down to 5NL and regain some confidence and a few BI's, no reason to that you have to only play 10NL.

[Gobbatino]

Also....
There really are no words to describe how this track makes me feel.
YouTube - deadmau5 "Strobe"

Dude I saw Deadmau5 at EDC last month. It was so epic. He is so fucking good live.

[x] Pro link

[Donachello]

Rush week is underway! Time to grind like I've never grinded before. 6-tabling rush is pretty doable now and I'm thinking of moving up to 8. I'm still unsure if I'll be able to make the 1K points for the big bonus but we will see. BINK n SHIP! Will update with a much bigger summary of my experience with rush among other things at the end of the week.

lesboyz - 8BarZ - Body! (Club Mix) - SoundCloud

Here's my new themesong

[FMLwin422]

Hey there DC. This is all great to hear and I'll be keeping an eye out for more progress. Don't forget I'm always here to bounce theory, hands etc off of! Gooood luck buddy

[Donachello]

Been a while....

Taking shit seriously again. Major upswing and then downswing. Yay poker! Definitely need to cut back on tables played for a bit since I realized I'm not really paying attention to why I am doing stuff anymore. Autopilot much? Anyway, I'll be posting hands in the BC a lot more now and hopefully I'll get a couple responses here and there.

[Donachello]

Bingo Bango'd myself back to back tournament cashes in the FTR 500 (3rd place) and the 20+2 FTP Double Deuce (400ish).

Anyway, my bankroll can basically support 25NL now but I am still a little hesitant to move up. Not for any doubt of my ability to beat the game but just because of how badly I ran the last time I moved up. This coupled with the fact I am still having a hard time just treating the 25 dollar stack as chips when I play and I think I may have to wait a little bit longer to make the move.

This decision comes after having a very important conversation with some of my friends who have been professionals for a few years. We discussed why playing 1/2 live was a mistake despite how soft the game is. The fact is, if there is any psychological hitch that makes you doubt putting chips in the middle you are never going to be playing your A game and thus are constantly holding yourself back and always on subtle tilt. Do to this I plan to ease myself into 25NL by only playing one or two tables of it at a time instead of my standard number. Taking care to take extra notes and instantly quitting if I have any aversion to losing money.

I am quite pleased with how things are going since my massive tilt during RUSH week. I am going to try and get back on a solid routine of working out despite injuring my wrist and I feel like bringing some normalcy to my usual day will also help to being stability to my game. I'm also planning on dabbling a bit in tournaments here and there because I seem to have a decent feel for them and have been quite successful overall in the last few months since making an adjustment to my tournament approach.

I was able to snag Silver IRONMAN last month and look to make it two consecutive months fairly easily this month. Assuming I can cash in the freerolls this should be a nice little boost to the BR as well.

[Numbr2intheWorld]

Move up when you are crushing the level before. I've moved up too soon many times and I regretted it everytime.

[Sasquach991]

To move up in cash games, I thought you had to build your BR playing cash games.

Not some tourney where even a really bad, nitty, cash players can finish in the top 10

Seriously, wait until you build your BR in cash games. Use the tourney winnings to play in more tourneys...where you seem to have a definite edge.

[Donachello]

Beating 10NL @ ~10ptBB/100 for a kind lol-samplesize but good enough for me.

Moved up to 25NL this weekend. Only played 1K hands but I'm doing well. Also cashed in another tournament. Feeling comfortable in my game and @ 25NL. No longer worried about losing money because I have the right mindset again. Got that Grind on the Mind so 50NL here I come nah mean.

[dranger7070]

Beep beep I'm a Jeep.

From May 24th, was scrolling down and seen this. I'm going to give you a bag tag when I meet you irl just for this. I will Ice you immediately after.

[dranger7070]

Also, race to 100s?

[Donachello]

Nom Nom Nom. Grind Grind Grind. Very comfortable playing large numbers of tables now. FR grind is so much easier on the brain/stress.

Looking to hit 50NL by the end of September and then I think I may change up my game plan with some experimenting more heavily in HU as well as some PLO. School starts in about a week and I am excited to get back and finish up mah senior year.

Goals for the rest of the year:

Own first trimester of school.
Hit 100NL.
Sustain an hourly that allows me to not have to work a shitty minimum wage job part time @ school.
Get back in super shape.
SNOWBOARD!
Turn 22 o_O

I leave you with Dubstep!
YouTube - The Living Graham Bond - Winter Hunter Ft. Fiona Bevan (Bare Noize Remix)

[dranger7070]

I've never asked, whats with the shitty blog title?

[bikes]

blog title is solid. dont listen to this stoner.

[dranger7070]

*head asplode*

[philly and the phanatics]

gl crushing 25nl ....youll be pwning SSNL at no time

[Donachello]

Now I remember why I hate poker. Standard

[Donachello]

Just kidding. I love poker.

So. Mid-upswing I thought it would be a GREAT idea to tilt away a third of my roll while bum hunting stakes I am not rolled for. As is usually the case, things started well until the overconfidence tilt set in. That said, this last bout of tilt made me realize I had experienced some serious drift since the beginning of the month. I'd gone from enjoying the challenge of a serious prop bet to an auto-clicking auto-folding robot who felt subconscious resentment towards having to sit at my computer for hours on end staring at one spot on the screen.

Spoon was kind enough to let me buy out of the prop (though I now think that with my current revelation I still could have made the proposed 75K hands). Anyway, I'm pretty sure buying out was a pretty +EV decision because it allowed me to take a step back and think about things. Am I actually serious enough about poker to not just withdraw my roll and take my little 300 dollar profit from the last few months as a nice parting gift to a poor college kid? I am pleased to say that the answer is yes, I am serious enough. I don't want to work some bullshit minimum wage job @ hours I can't control just so I can buy cheap beer on weekends.

I realized I had, over the course of a while, stopped loving poker the way I did when I first began playing and posting here. The next step for me was to figure out the factors that tilt me the most and eliminate them. As anyone who has talked to me can attest, tilting is by FAR my biggest problem at the poker table. I had noticed that during my prop bet, after the first few sessions, i had become increasingly pissed off at my stack of tables. I used to think stacking was cool, and yeah it can be for the right person but just something about staring at one exact spot in my screen for 5 hours a day tilted the living hell out of me. In my last couple sessions I essentially became unfocused within the first 10 minutes and basically forced myself to play 1.5-2 hour sessions completely tilted. I've since dropped to tiling 10 tables and the simple act of having to move my eyes to scan the tables has done wonders for my concentration.

A second consideration was that I really need to just play poker when I want to be playing. Due to this I am planning to move my roll to PokerStars at the beginning of next year to that I can play as much or as little as I want to on any given day and receive consistent rakeback for the month. Keeping up IronMan is just pretty annoying and doesn't really pay dividends for multiple years and really probably isn't even worth it unless you can't beat higher than 25NL.

Anyway, I fully enjoy poker again, downswings, upswings, thinking critically. It's all good.

[philly and the phanatics]

congrats on loving poker again....glad you decided to stay with it and not just withdraw (irc and ftr would have missed you)

i find i love poker more now than when i started, even after 2 brutal months i still cannot sleep at night cause im thinking about hands and how i fucxked this up or fucked that up or how im gonna be supernova next year or w/e...sorry im getting off topic..

[bikes]

Tommy Angelo - Elements of Poker
Tommy Angelo - 8fold path to poker enlightment.


read and listen

[Donachello]

Dear poker variance,

Fuck you.

I am getting to 100NL by the end of the year no matter what. The end.

[HarleyGuy13]

Dude I hope you are feeling better than you were last night in IRC. Really hope shit turns around for you and you get it under control. You are stronger than the bullshit that holds you back my friend!

[BooG690]

Dear poker variance,

Fuck you.

I am getting to 100NL by the end of the year no matter what. The end.

This is the kind of thought process that probably holds you back from getting to 100NL by the end of the year. Just sayin'.

[CBAT]

This is the kind of thought process that probably holds you back from getting to 100NL by the end of the year. Just sayin'.

True.


Instead make it a point to set a stop loss or not play your C game, etc. Results oriented goals are not usually very successful.