Operation: Self Discipline

[Illfavor]

Hello all,

I owe the good folks of FlopTurnRiver.com a great deal of thanks. I’ve been living off of poker for about 6 months now and have never felt any financial stresses. Life has been great for me as a part-time professional, as I focus on my career in music. Thank you spoonitnow, m2m, Cbat, dranger (roidrage?), yAAwn, ‘viva A.K.A. Dan Chiclets, Stax, and anyone else who I’m forgetting for helping my in my poker journey. I cannot sufficiently express my gratitude.

In recalling some of my past, less-successful operations, I noticed a fairly consistent theme. I took very ambitious, probably lofty goals and made a plan to achieve them without acknowledging my own limitations. Humility and is an essential trait of a well-rounded person, and it’s unlikely much can be achieved without truly understanding that you can’t do most things.

So, for this new operation I’ll be taking a more realistic approach. I won’t impose monetary goals on myself because poker is a long term game. I will post monthly graphs, as they are important to gauge progress in hands played and other goals. This will mostly be about getting hands in. I’ll be playing 25nl Rush Poker, 2-4 tabling anywhere from 650-1300 h/hr. My current BR isn’t important but I’ve withdrawn enough so that I don’t have to worry about money for a few months and can just get better. Frankly I’d like to make this operation about everything in poker except ptbbs. I’ve been reading a lot more, going back over a lot of basics, and will be focusing on, you guessed it, Self Discipline. So, without further ado:

Goals for Week of 2/28-3/6
Play 1,000 hands on five of the seven days.

I feel this goal is very realistic for me. My hands usually come in spurts (obv sexual reference is obv) of a few days where I play a lot and don’t play again for a week. Firstly I’ll address this inconsistency while setting a very realistic hours goal of around 1.5 hrs. Days when I play fewer than 1,000 hands will not count. It goes without saying that I’d like to play many more hands than this, perhaps three times as many. But, I know that I have done that in a long time, and setting out to play 15,000 hands this week is not the best way to increase my hand volume in a disciplined way. Oh, and maybe I’ll post again.

It’s great to be back, and wish me luck!

[supa]

Good to see you back around Ill. You've been an inspiring contributor to my own poker asperations and hopefully I'll be able to start a "livin' off poker" thread with your name on the list of people to thank. GL.

[Penneywize]

2st

Good luck man. Glad to hear the semi-pro life has been working out.

[Nakamura]

Go go go. gl and enjoy the ride.

[Donachello]

Nice Ill, good to see you back in action. Dranger and I have been getting into RUSH lately so you should hit us up in IRC or on skype some time. Also if you haven't already seen it I highly recommend the blog by citizenwind from cardrunners. citizenwind

[Roid_Rage]

You sir, would be correct. Havent gotten a shout in ages! Props, etc.

Do it to it, I'm also on the Fullest of Tilts. I'll probably see you on the tables in the coming week(s). Hit me up on Skype sometime. dranger7070, Dustin Ranger, etc.

[HarleyGuy13]

Good luck Illfavor sir!

[Illfavor]

Thanks guys.

DC, I'm actually a student of CW's ;D.

I'm Illfavor/Talon Davis on Skype, and will defo be hitting you guys up for lolsweataments and such.

[Illfavor]

Short update:

So I'm three days into my OP. Days 1 and 3 I compiled over 1200 hands, so they were great successes. Day 2 I only had 1 session of 400 hands but I played extremely well, but got tired. It's obvious, but I clearly play my best when nothing else is on my mind but poker, and maybe some Chopin or Tchaikovsky in the background. I really do enjoy poker when I'm playing well, even if I'm losing. Playing well is really about state of mind and discipline so, there it is.

I'm going to study 3bet pots for about 30mins before I go to bed, as it's one of my greatest weaknesses as a player.

An aside:

My personality is somewhat strange, as I almost always have a sunny disposition and a positive outlook on things, yet I'm quite mean to people when I find it's advantageous. Generally, I just make humour at the expense of others, so nothing like slashing tires to win a race or something. Even so, it's not a great thing, but I freely admit to being an asshole sometimes, so take it or leave it. That being said, in professional circumstances, I am always nice, courteous, and responsible. It baffles me how reckless some people are when their job is on the line...

And therein lies the issue. I'm very reliable in my 'other' life as a classical musician, but reckless and irresponsible with my 'other' job, poker. It's inexcusable really. I was catching up with m2m earlier and mentioned that no businessman would care what internet randoms think of what he's doing with his business as long as he's on pace for 6 figures. The most important part of that statement is "businessman", since someone like a bakery owner has to be super-accountable for so many elements of their business in order to feed their children. Why am I any different? I have to feed myself, my gf, I just had to buy a car, have student loans, need another $20,000 to buy a new double bass, would like to buy my gf one as well (another $20K), etc. The gravity virtually anyone's situation, put in the context of how short life truly is and how few 'edges' there are to exploit in the real world while trying to become a content individual, is unbearable. Thinking about it fills me with this yearning for success and happiness, but also the burden of the effort required...I guess what I'm saying is, JUST DO IT.

[Illfavor]

How about an update?

Week 1 goal achieved! I played 1K hands on 5 days, played on 6/7 days total and played a total of 11.3K hands. My winrate was solid, despite some pretty bad stack-offs. But it is 25nl and I'm kinda refeeling this game out, trying to get the basics really solid. I felt like I mostly played well, and I really enjoyed getting all those hands in. I averaging about 1200 h/hr 4 tabling 25nl, and I'd like to up the hands total considerably, but I probably can't. So, some goals:

Week of 3/7-3/14

Play 2.5k hands a day, on average, for 5 days, or 12.5k hands this week.
Schedule 1 Skype sweataments

This is effectively 2hrs a day for 5 days. I'll probably try to schedule in 3 hours just in case. It will be tough, as I have a concert, a gig, a few night classes and I'm leaving for spring break on Friday, but I'll get'r done. I really am enjoying poker right now, and IT'S SUCH A RUSH (poker, trademarked).

IRL bzns:

I am probably going to Canada this summer, as I was one of 4 bassists invited to participate in this! The teacher there is literally my idol and favorite musician in the entire world, so I'm pretty stoked to have a chance to play for him. m2m tells me Ottawa isn't all that much, but that sounds about right for me since I mostly sit indoors and do nothing. I'm also doing a little traveling for Spring Break (I'll be on South Padre Island, which is insane that time of year), and am also going camping. Yes, I know, I'm black, and have no business camping. ~.~ Keep grinding and never trust whitey.

[callmenuts26]

Have fun in South Padre! I went there for Spring Break 2 years ago and it was a hell of a good time!

I occasionally play Rush at around the same stakes as you so I'll probably see you at the tables.

GL

[Donachello]

Do work brah! I just moved to 25s this weekend so I am up for a sweat whenever. I believe I added you on skype last week and I am always online so just shoot me a message. Nights work best for me. (ie. 6pm or later).

What kind of bass do you play? One of those huge classical ones? Or do you have a giant afro and do loads of funky slapping in your 70s style jam band? :P

[Illfavor]

I don't have time for a full update, but I'm playing well, not really put in huge volume since I'm playing a gig every other week for the next 6 weeks or so. Trip went fantastic, except for a rock that chipped the window of my brand new car, but that's a cheap fix. Keep grinding.

[BooG690]

Hey Ill. I just caught up on your blog as I was gone and didn't know this was your new one.

Good luck sir. We must catch up via chat some time. GLGLGL

[Illfavor]

Hiiiii Booooooooooog!!!

Um, I just need to grind harder. Focus, get better, put in hands, question marks, mobnies.

[Micro2Macro]

hey man, keep owning life.

if i find myself in the mid/southish area of usa we should grab a beer sometime.

[Micro2Macro]

wait shit...when are you coming to canada? i live <2 hrs from ottawa fwiw

[Illfavor]

Will be Canuck-land June 6th-26th, sir. Will be playing some concerts as well which you are welcome to attend. Should definitely have a beverage if you're free.

Had a fantastic chat with DC and DR on some betting strategies and they helped me address a few of my many leaks. I've never been a player to focus on my redline, but I know I am definitely leaving a lot of money on the table with my generally passivity, especially on the turn, so I'll look for some spots to maybe ramp it up a little.

I'm playing fairly well this month. I'm 23K hands in and while I'm not really going to set goals for this week, I know in my heart what I need to do (play more) and want (money). I also did my taxes and will file tomorrow, lulz.

[Illfavor]

Well I haven't been updating this OP, but for good reasons. I haven't really needed the motivation, and I've been accountable for my poker actions to a high degree IRL. I finished last month up around 25 buyins and would like to see that nearly tripled for April. Dustin and Donnie are great guys and are helping me a lot, since I'm mostly a huge fish. I've had these cycles where I get better and better and better, then blamo IRL stuff means no poker for 2 months. That's still my fault for not being accountable for all phases of my life at all times. Dustin and I have a race to 100K hands, and if neither of us get there then Donne wins our mobnies. LDFO THAT ISN'T HAPPENIN.

I don't have all the info with me, but I think my wr at 25nl was a little over 2.8ptbbs over 35K+ hands, which I know is nothing amazing, but for me it's a big deal while averaging 1.2K h/hr, for something around $20/hr. That's pretty decent and if I played 3-4 hours every day I'd be happy for now. I won't be playing until Sunday, the 3rd, and I'll probably try and put in around 4-5 hours of solid playing.

Random aside, the Sleep Cycle App is tits, and random "relaxation" apps are also very good. Tilt was something I very rarely did last monf and I'd like to continue that shizz.

Peace naggers and juice.

[Donachello]

You are a nit






.




.





.





<3

[Roid_Rage]

So that makes 2 of us that aren't playing until Sunday lol. Friday was obv spent boozing and today is spent recovering.

See you on the e-felts sir.

[Illfavor]

I feel sick. Today was my worst single day at any stake in my poker history. I know this is the variance that happens with volume (26k hands in 11 days is a record for me, by far), but it's still gross. I lost 7 buyins at 25nl rush today, and truth be told, I was just a huge stationy fish.

Here's a graph from the start of this OP until yesterday:

Pretty, yes? Is interesting to compare to DC's, similar wrs, lolredlines.


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

And today:



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

-.-

I'm astounded by the NSDW, as I didn't really feel like I was messing up too much in smallish pots. I have to review the entire day now, and really figure this out...

[CBAT]

Time for the four Rs: Review, Regroup, Regrind, Rape

[Illfavor]

Haha I fucking love that.

[Micro2Macro]

the red line thing is just the blinds yo

[Illfavor]

To an extent, of course it's the blinds. But is does inspire me to bluff more and play better postflop when I see mine nosedive some days.

I've been taking shots at 50nl as my roll approached 3k and things started out really rough. I played horrible (see garf earlier) and just couldn't get why I was struggling at what I consider my "home" stake. Well I was playing mindlessly...

And then the strangest thing happened. I did four things that have completely changed my poker game. First, I watched two videos of verneer (CR pro) playing some 25/50nl rush and just talking about hands. Then I sweated my coach, citizenwind. Then I started actually discussing hands with DC and DR, and providing some not terrible insight. Then I started putting people on ranges, and today I played what have to be the three greatest sessions I have ever played. I made one large mistake for 40bbs, but other than that, I kept my stack out of harms way all day long. 21 days to make a habit? Well, one down. I mean it's 25 and 50nl. It's really easy if you're alive and paying attention. I'm on pace for about 80k hands this month, but I'd really like that number to be higher. One thing I will not do is sacrifice quality for quantity. My br crossed 3k for the first time since I w/d down to before this blog, so I'm up 1200+ since then, all of the true profit coming from 25nl and RB from both 25 and 50.

[CBAT]

I've been taking shots at 50nl as my roll approached 3k

lol @ shots with ~60 buyins

[Illfavor]

Yea yea yea...I'm a nit. But it's about confidence and knowing that hitting a snag won't affect me in any way IRL. It took lots of encouragement for me to take shots before 75 buyins. -.-

[daven]

And then the strangest thing happened. I did four things that have completely changed my poker game. First, I watched two videos of verneer (CR pro) playing some 25/50nl rush and just talking about hands. Then I sweated my coach, citizenwind. Then I started actually discussing hands with DC and DR, and providing some not terrible insight. Then I started putting people on ranges, and today I played what have to be the three greatest sessions I have ever played. I made one large mistake for 40bbs, but other than that, I kept my stack out of harms way all day long. 21 days to make a habit? Well, one down. I mean it's 25 and 50nl. It's really easy if you're alive and paying attention. I'm on pace for about 80k hands this month, but I'd really like that number to be higher. One thing I will not do is sacrifice quality for quantity. My br crossed 3k for the first time since I w/d down to before this blog, so I'm up 1200+ since then, all of the true profit coming from 25nl and RB from both 25 and 50.

nice, keep it up dude

[Illfavor]

Hmm...don't poast for 4 months and I'm only on page 3? Heh

So, I don't play poker anymore, for obvious reasons. I am finishing my MM in May and won't be going to school any longer I don't think. I make an okay living with music but things would be a lot nicer if I had the extra money from poker. It was very frustrating because the three months preceding BF were my best months of poker ever...Things look hopeful in America for legislation but it's hard to be hopeful in this economy and this job market. My girlfriend wants to move to Canada to get her doctorate and she wants me to play poker there to which I respond "Uh...okay?" but we'll see about all that female business.

I hope everyone here has been alright since the hammer fell. I just wanted some time away from the game which has served me so well. I guess in hindsight I regret not playing more, but since all my money is trapped on FTP, it's not all that significant. I won't even get into that situation. The future is hazy for me, my career field, my country, and frankly this planet, but all I can do is make the best of what I have.

Peace, all you bitches.

[Icanhastreebet]

Your gf wants you to move to play poker. You want to make extra cash. Your gf wants to move to do something which is probably pretty important to her. Seems like an easy move.

[Penneywize]

+1 on coming to Canada imo

[Illfavor]

Well I'd love to do that, but I'm just afraid she's picking Canada because she knows I want to play poker and not because it's what's best for her career.

[Illfavor]

Well somehow I was only on the second page despite not writing for 5 months or so. Some updates:

I'm entering my last semester of my Master's degree in music performance and strongly considering changing my career. I've been mostly miserable in my professional life the last 4 months. Work for freelance classical musicians like me mostly consists of driving to a location (generally anywhere from 1-5 hrs away) and either playing a rehearsal/concert and then coming home, or as is most often in my case, going to a hotel they provide and staying the night for 2-6 nights. This is a terrible existence when you're doing it every week and have a wonderful fiance (BTW, I got engaged!!!) at home and don't really enjoy what you're doing. I do it because I love her and we have to eat somehow. Luckily my classes aren't classroom based so I'm not really missing anything there.

As for my career change, I'm considering beginning my prerequisite classes for application to medical school. FWIW, I am a 3.98 GPA student in my 5.5 years of higher education and have always tested well. My current "minor" field is Music and Medicine and I might get a co-authored paper published at the end of this year, which is a cool lead-in, plus my professor/co-author has a lot of contacts that would benefit me a great deal. I'm still unsure of this, but I'm mostly sure that I do not want to be a broke musician for the rest of my life.

In terms of self-discipline, I haven't really improved all that much. Part of that is hating my job and career path for the past few months, but it's mostly just a toxic character trait most people seem to have. So, for my new years resolution, I'll try to be more disciplined in my life. This will require greater diligence in every respect, but I know I am capable of anything I want. I know this is incredibly vague, but I have specifics in mind that I'll address later.

I haven't played a hand of poker since April 15th, 2011, which is understandable. Just saw that my last major contributions to this were the day before BF. I was actually making progress with poker, making consistent money. But that's about to return. I am depositing on Carbon Poker (is possible! :P) sometime this week and intend to build a roll back up. Poker was too positive an influence in my life and I have missed it dearly. Yes, I know I could lose all the money and such, but I'm okay with that. FTP still owes me 3k which would be really nice to have on another site but who knows about that. It's really no different than sacrificing a few months of movie nights and bar trips for a great potential ROI. I've been watching a ton of videos and am ready to click some fucking buttons. I live ~45 mins from what I've heard is the 3rd largest casino in the world, Winstar World Casino, but I've actually never been there. I'll probably hit that up some this summer, especially if Merge goes belly up in the next 4 months. So, poker plans for this week:

-Get depositededed. I'm thinking $400. That's only 16BI for 25nl but I'll probably start with that. If I go on a 5BI downswing I can still drop down pretty easily and have a ton of BIs to work with. I suppose the ultimate goal would be to get to 100nl or so and start making some real money again, although it'll that 4-6 weeks at a time to withdraw lol.

It's good to be back folks. Happy New Year!

[DonkWannabe]

Good luck with that mate!

I've been lurking around these forums for ages and its great to see so many people do well from working hard at it! I'm still grinding up but with any luck one day I might try my own blo to improve my game! Micro2Marco's one for 2 years ago its inspiring!

[Sup3rM4N]

Gratz on getting engaged!

Ur gonna start off at 25NL at merge? fr / 6max? I played a lot on merge from may-oct, mostly 50NL FR. The 6max games there were terribly reg infested. I have also played on everleaf and yatahay. If you have any questions or concerns let me know. Checks are taking like a month to receive from merge but you can sell them at 2+2 for around .90 value for cash. It sucks but beats waiting one month and then worrying if the check bounces (has happened to a few people).

Good luck with your grind!

[supa]

Continuing to go to a job you dislike, esp when you feel a responsibility to someone else, shows a tremendous amount of self discipline. Don't discredit yourself there. 3.98 GPA? Mad discipline. You've obv set goals and achieved them even if the results weren't what you expected so continue to do that. Much respect.

[Illfavor]

Thanks for the kind words guys. Supa I really appreciated your perspective there and it made me feel a lot better about my year. Thank you good sir.

I just returned from my childhood home and am now cleaning up my apt and looking to get started in this beautiful new year.

Superman I sent you a PM but it seemed to have some error so let me know if it was not received. Thanks.

[Illfavor]

Alrighty, I'm all deposited on Carbon Poker. The interface is pretty meh but I'll deal. Played a few hands tonight to get PT3 set up, seems to run on CP way better than it did on FTP for me. I'll probably 4-tbl 10nl FR tomorrow just to get back into the groove of things. I'll try to put in 3 hrs. I'll also be playing HUSNGs on the side and such. Made $2 at 4nl today. I'm pretty much a boss like that.

Wish me luck!

[Sup3rM4N]

GL GL!

How many tables are you planning on doing when ur settled in and how is your set up going to be? Tiled, stacked, cascade? Are you playing in normal or mini?

Not sure if you already know about mergekeys: MergeKeys | RunBetterPoker.com

Its sort of like the table ninja of merge...but not as good since it is free.

[Illfavor]

Ooh tyty for the Mergekey. I never used table ninja but I really have my mouse so I'm sure anything will be better. Once I'm settled I'll most likely play 8-10 tables, but I'd imagine I'll be putting in quite a few hours before that happens unless I really fall into a groove. I have one 21" monitor so I'll most likely cascade since it's like stacking but with a lower chance of misclick imo. I've been in normal mode but I'll try shrinking my hud I suppose.

[Illfavor]

Alrighty. I've gotten settled in (not really good with the mergekeys) and am now 8tabling 10nl. There are a lot of regs and the play reminds me of 25nl on other sites, but it's still quite easy and there are a lot of tables. I played ~460hands/hr but I most likely won't be reaching the top tier of RB. I'm still not sure if I made the correct site choice but alas, the decision is done. I probably won't be able to reach Ether, the top VIP level, this month for sure, and will probably have to wait until 50nl or so. I've been playing 3hrs a day but will now bump that up to 4 and perhaps add two more tables so I can get 1k more hands a day at some point in the future. FWIW, I am also starting tables because I seem to be more comfortable at it than the other regs I've encountered, who are either way too tight or just too LAGgy.

I'm very happy to be back playing poker. I've got my friend, Foldie the Full Tilt Poker bear (IRONIC SINCE THEY FOLDED TOO) so now it's time to make sets/get paid. As for BRM, ya'll know I'm very conservative, but I'll probably take shots at 25nl at 30BI after depositing with 20. Gogo gadget grindathon

[Illfavor]

I've been playing 25nl and just running like death. That being said, the games are very good and it's easy to get a seat. I missed poker. It's great mental exercise. I'm only down two BIs but that's really my fault with some shitty calls and a few times early on where I got too 3b happy. A better player with my cards would most likely be up to BIs. I feel like I have a good feel or the stake already and my bluffing/postflop play has generally been pretty decent for my standards. Too tired to play tonight and the BCS Nat'l Championship is on anyways. Happy grinding folks.