Making a living with STT SNGs

Fantastic day!
Finished almost all of the activities I planed for today including waking up 7:30am, working out at 9:30am, grinding 2 sessions before 2pm, 2 hours with family 2-4pm, regenerating 4-5pm, 5-6pm grinding then went for dinner after which I played final session for the day and had a snack now.
Remaining things for the day are:
- Teaching at 9pm
- Working with fellow reg 10pm
- Transcribing music from the album that I will perform with jazz quartet in August

When it comes to poker today, mixed feelings. There were times where I played B+ game but I would grade my whole day grind with C or even worse. I made way too many mistakes for my standard of play. That happens when I am experimenting with new approaches and implementing them in game. As I said before, I think cEV is already there for me and that is my expectations with 4 hours a day grind with other activities!

Here is the graph for the day and enjoy your June!

Another very full filling day!

Woke up 7:30am again, worked out 9:30am (ran 5 instead of 4 laps so 2km!), taught a session at 11am! After that, went for coffee with a friend of mine and came back ate lunch and grinded.
First 3 sessions cEV was anywhere from 80-115. So the experimentation is showing results. Last session, tons of setups pre and post flop and shitty focus with lots of miss plays and the day ends with cEV of 40!!!
So I would rate my play again with C game or worse simply because there was tons of miss plays in those 150 games and that is simply not acceptable.

For the remaining of the day I have a teaching scheduled 10pm after which as an extra I will study more before bed.

Overall crushing time management but not playing very well, some bad auto pilot with variance also. Need to refocus tomorrow on, focus on things that also are steady winning strategies as well.

Here is the graph for today:

Tomorrow tons of activities. One of them is to continue working on jazz quartet album since performance will be in about 70 days from today which gives me a week per tune to prepare (will need to perform 10 songs).
Poker wise, things will be good, I am positive about it, just need to tweak several things and it will work out.

3rd day in a row running habit continuing!
Ran 5 laps x 400m for total 8:14 minutes. Slowly catching my breath. Plan is by Tuesday to increase to 6 laps which would result in about 10 minutes running.
Also, I am weighting myself every day and taking a picture (when I wake up). Right now down to 92.8kg which is 0.5kg lighter

Very cool day!
Crushing time management. Things that I prioritized before start of the month, I am really doing awesome job following up. Those are working out, eating 5 meals per day, getting up 7:30am, grinding 4 hours per day and teaching with the same pace.

So today's grind was way better in comparison to past 2 days. I got back into 4 tabling more and played B game a lot of times today. Had multipliers but lost 3/3 AKo vs JJ and then couple more 6xs. Things will turn around I don't doubt it for a bit.

It feels great to see 3 days into the month and already over 400 games in!

Here is the month so far:

Graph for today:

Tomorrow similar day to today in terms of things in time management set. I will teach 1 lesson , go for 4 grind sessions, work out early morning, eat 5 meals etc. Also, I will (like today and yesterday) study 0.5 hour very 1st thing in the morning. I am feeling improvement most this way - with clear head focusing on difficult material to tackle and remember.
Finally, with new concepts, I am pretty positive that over time I can get my cEV over 70 or even 80 4 tabling 120 hours per month. Checked today hourly for 80 cEV - it is close to 50$. Definitely something to go for and set in the very near future. I have no doubt with current work on the game and scenarios I am tackling that I can get it there.

Enjoy your weekend on and off the tables!

Update regarding side challenge (12 weeks to loose 10kgs)
Starting weight was 93.3kgs, 3 days later I weight 92.1kg. So dropped 1.2kgs in 3 days just running each day under 10 minutes. You can imagine how fast excess weight will go away once I start with 1 on 1 training on Tuesday. Training will be longer and will include different activities, very related to CrossFit. I honestly expect to drop 5kgs very fast, within a month or less - knowing my trainer and my will to follow up on things.

Will update whenever I drop 1kg as that is 10% of progress completed!
Now about to eat healthy breakfast and go for a run at 9:30am.

Enjoy your weekend!

Good on you man, health is the most +EV of all. Be aware each kg u drop the next is more difficult but you've got it for sure.

Originally posted by Schrader69
Good on you man, health is the most +EV of all. Be aware each kg u drop the next is more difficult but you've got it for sure.

Appreciate it my friend!
Just got back from the run, 5 laps for total of 8:03.30. Broke my time that I had yesterday basically.
I trust the system my friend - consistency with small daily actions is the key to long term progress and habit building. I am not sure what plan my Sensei will make for those 36 sessions. It may turn out that I drop 5-6kgs but actually build a lot of muscle and definition while doing that. It seems like a logical way to go if we are doing all the body weight exercises + with some additional things. If it will be just focused on cardio then I have no doubt that in those 36 sessions I will drop 10kgs easy!
Definitely expect half way through the challenge for weight dropping to slow down. 1st several kgs go fastest due to being inactive for 2-3 months but after body gets used to new habit (training, running) there is really 4 ways to go from there: 1) Train more vs eating (to create that difference in calories) 2) Eat less and keep the training 3) Change training routine, keep it interesting and fresh so that it shocks body and metabolism 4) Continuing with steady training and eating and over more then 12 weeks 10kgs will drop.
With my Sensei I will get system that tackles all 4 areas pretty well. He will push me to train hard; he will keep each session interesting new and fresh; he will give me advice on meals, calorie intake, type of good and bad calories, what to mix with what (from personal and experience of training 100s of people in CrossFit every month); he will set up our sessions so that I Can continue to work on my own (just like I did in Montenegro 2 years ago!)

So yeah, I feel the things will go great in that area but am also positive that it will be very hard as each session will be very intense for my body which is out of shape - but I am very eager to start with him and see my condition and body change for the better!

Crazy and weird day!

Woke up 7:30am, worked out 9:30am so that was awesome.
Then spent close to 5 hours with a girl
Taught 1 guitar and music lesson and after that talked with some of my friends. Also, watched videos about Thailand and read some websites and blogs to get informed on visa renewal for it.
Finally decided to grind.

This happened today:

Besides winning 25x I won for the day less then expected. I was up before that game close to 20 buy ins. Fatigue, low focus and tiredness leading to some unthinkable mistakes. Definitely not +EV to grind 11pm+ when waking up 7:30am. Regardless of the 2nd session that was so and so, 1st session I played well (around noon time) and its nice to know that I can expect cEV even higher then 70. That kind of cEV brings over 40$ per hour which is very nice. Think 80 cEV for heavy grind is also within reach, just need to get even more in the game not to loose focus or let any c- or so game to enter daily.

Graph for the day with just additional info. I am in the month for 4 days at 15,38 hours instead of 16 now. Noticed when I use 4 sessions with 1 hour timer, I actually go over 4.3 hours easily total for the day, so I expect to make up those 0.62 hours in following days easy.

Tomorrow a bit crazy day. Meeting with a friend, then with a girl, before that waking up early eating healthy and going for a run (will go for 6 laps) and then off to grinding. Should be interesting day!

Finally, thanks to today's positive day, I am now in profit for the month after 500 tourneys which is always nice

Have a great remaining of the weekend!

Samo napred Ivice!

Great job, nice blog!

Originally posted by Dani75
Samo napred Ivice!

Great job, nice blog!

Hvala Dani, ziv bio!

Today woke up feeling half dead due to later going to bed last night.
Made myself to go for a run and don't regret it a single bit. 6 laps for 10:03 minutes! My Sensei was right once again, he told me before I started running couple days ago my goal to start with 3-4 then go to 5 and hit 6 before Tuesday. He was sure I will do it!

Time to eat and spend time with friend and a girl after which I will try to do 4 sessions but keeping in my sleeping pattern and resting as a must!

Kinda off day today!
Woke up very tired, didn't get enough rest but still went to work out and very happy that I did.
After that meet with a friend of mine and we had 2 beers outside chilling for 2+ hours. This was super great time and fun, really enjoyed it.
Got back home and was feeling tired from very hot weather and beer. So I went to nap but got my healthy food, ate and went to bed!
Remaining of the day I spent watching 2 and a half men and checking some shoes for shopping.
Finally played 1 session which turned out to be somewhat as a disaster with lack of focus while 4 tabling. So I decided to pull the brake and stop for the day. Tomorrow new week is starting and I have already things to complete for it.

So time management wise, since 1st of June, I am very happy how I achieved everything outside of today. The energy was just not there and drinking 1l of beer didn't really help but rather dropped me ♦
For next week I will go for 28 hours of grind minimum while also trying to make up 3.43 hours that I am missing since the beginning of the month!

Here is the graph for today and hope your week was great!

Quick update

Woke up early, watched GOT instead of going for a run, taught 1 session close to 1.5 hour and the remaining of the day played 4 sessions which I just completed.
Last session of the day some very bad and spewy plays on my part, D game type. Not cool, something that I need to work on with all I can when it comes to time management - complete everything by 9pm or 9:30pm!

Here is the graph:

Tomorrow quite a day ahead
Waking up early, breakfast and then 1st training session with Sensei 8:30am! Very excited about it, I know it will kill me after 10 minutes or less but I look forward to it a lot!!!
Besides working out, I have 3 teaching lessons scheduled which I also very much look forward to. Poker wise, I may need to do 2 hours instead of 4 tomorrow considering guitar and music lessons tomorrow.

Completed 1st training with Sensei!
Took 1 hour and 10 minutes, training was made out of 4 parts and it was totally brutal. Now after shower I am still gathering feeling about it all. It probably feels like I boarded the plane for Las Vegas or Asia, or playing 100$ spin and winning it ♦
Next Thursday 8:30am 2nd training - can't wait!

Update regarding 7th and 8th of June

Grinded close to 6 hours total instead of 8. I meet with 2 different friends yesterday where I spent about 3 hours with them total. Also for those 2 days I was teaching 4 guitar and music lessons so 6 hours grind is very solid for such activities. I also spent time with family, did 2 study sessions with another reg and talked with my friends in Boston and NYC.

Level of playing was B to C at times even D. It felt very difficult to play at times since I was constantly running into top of ranges both pre and post flop and my focus was not good in the afternoon and evening times (in the morning is the best). May need to do most of my grinding very early and as the day goes by to be done with it ASAP - plan to test this also! Also, tried to apply new strategy and for my current game plan trying to do it is just not good right now. Goal is to save 7k more in June and July and for that with 7k games + money from teaching I can expect to get there. No need to change things that work and that is cEV of 60ish with current game plan 4 tabling.
Finally I am considering to get a new and improved HUD since I feel it will bring me even more edge. Problem with this HUD however is that it is full of info and 4 tabling would be -EV with it so right now I feel I will stick with my current setup but for future (August and on) definitely investment I plan to make.

Other things that are going on - I will be gone for 2-3 days in Belgrade around 18th of June (10 days from now). Until then I need to do whole bunch of things for that band rehearsal and my setup. Should be very interesting and honestly have no clue how I will find energy and time to do this. Grinding is a must, 100 hours lowest hours for this month, ideally 120, everything else is secondary for June and July.

Tomorrow I have my 2nd training with my Sensei. I have sore muscles from training we had yesterday and I very much look to the one tomorrow.
I will try tomorrow to do 5 hours instead of 4 for grinding and practice songs for the rehearsal on 19th.

Graph for past 2 days:

Enjoy remaining of your week!

12 weeks to drop 10kgs Challenge!

Completed 2nd training with Sensei. Very difficult parts of the main training, I had a feeling of passing out numerous times! I am very happy with warm up + 2 shorter training things I completed but with main training I was out of breath a lot and my coordination and back need a lot of work.
Weight wise, I used weight scale again today and I am down close to 2kg already (1.9kg) in 9 days which is excellent progress so far. I am feeling stronger and better every time after training and in between days I have sore muscles which shows how out of shape I re-started my training.
Next training is on Saturday 2 days from now. We will likely do it at another time then 8:30am and maybe even at another place in the city. Very look forward to it.
Also, Sensei suggested we do even earlier then 8:30am training in the future! I told him that I used to wake up for close to 2 months by 11 , 11:30am and that in 1 week I switched my habit for 7:30am so that we could train at 8:30am. I am fine with starting training 30 minutes earlier which is what he suggested (15-30 minutes earlier due to being outside and very hot weather now and it will be even hotter in following days/weeks). So It looks like I will start waking up at 7am instead 7:30am which automatically means going to bed at 12 latest.

My meals have been going good! I am eating oranges for snack mostly, tuna and chicken for main meals. I use chocolate milk for snack also and after my work outs ( drank 0.5l just after the work out). I drink about 2 coffee's per day at different times. Today for example I drank 1 as soon as I finished my breakfast and before my training with Sensei to get additional boost of energy to complete it all. I stopped putting sugar in my coffee for over 1 year and that was also one of the best long term habits that are very useful for me.
I am confident with current meals and planing that I will be dropping minimum 5kgs in 12 weeks of challenge. That should be "easy", just need to stick to those new/old habits and not let them go. For 10kgs to drop I will need likely to add 1 more day and train on my own either by playing sports, going for a run, swimming or doing improvised (with advice from my Sensei) training. Also it goes without saying that during this 12 week period I will try to drink beer only on very special occasion
I am also considering to start grinding standing up vs sitting down. This should activate my body posture more and attack the area of lower back which is very lazy due to sitting in the comfy chair or lying in the bed for most of the day. Ben Sulsky definitely knows what he is doing - I saw him walk on the treadmill and grind!!!
Have a friend in my town who actually has those stand up work stations. Plan to talk to him soon, figure out the investment part and save for it and test it out. In the beginning it would be nice to do like 30 minutes of grinding per day standing up. As time goes I would love to reach the point of doing 1-2 hours without any problems standing up and grinding with correct posture, activating hips, straight back, abs and overall correct posture. This would save me from any injuries and get my body more active. Of course, maximum +EV thing would be then to get treadmill and walk on it while grinding but that seems so far out of reach now - I have the most respect for Ben Sulsky being able to do that at high stakes!!!

Anyways, enjoy the rest of the week! Today I will go for 4 hours of grinding and before that I have coaching session at 11am - will be very fun day, look forward to it a lot.

reading your posts makes me feel so damm lazy because i know i can do much more in all this areas but have to thank you for inspiration and good ideas

Originally posted by rompas
reading your posts makes me feel so damm lazy because i know i can do much more in all this areas but have to thank you for inspiration and good ideas

Thank you for this post!
The idea behind updates is not to discourage you or anyone, on contrary it is meant to inspire you.
I have not meet a person who has all the areas in the life perfectly in check. I did meet however several people that have very high level of things down that they want to have. This happens to be a pattern with a lot of successful people. They have constant sleeping cycle, they eat right, exercise regularly, they are very good with their social skills and relationships and they are masters in their craft. We can all learn a lot from them or from anyone really.
I try to find inspiration in every person I meet and interact. My Sensei is a master of his craft but he couldn't beat 1$ SNGs or Spins very likely at this moment. So where he is master in one area I am in the other but that helps me in life surround myself with people that I can teach and that I can learn from constantly to lead me to always better and improved version of myself and my life.

Finally, realize that it is all about huge progress in every area. It is marathon when it comes to those habits, they are important for long term , not a sprint and quick fix.
We however live in a world where everyone wants hacks how to get things done right away hence things like loose 10kgs in 1 week, have 6 pack abs in 2 weeks and such click bait false marketing claims.

Small daily steps lead to long term phenomenal accomplishments.

Enjoy the week man - I am always happy to be of help in any way!

Originally posted by rompas
reading your posts makes me feel so damm lazy because i know i can do much more in all this areas but have to thank you for inspiration and good ideas

LOL I second this. Co-sign.

So done for today when it comes to poker. 4 sessions that lead to 4.35 hours and 141 games.
I had a very nice run today unlike couple of days ago when I kept getting smashed with top of the ranges. Also today, I tried experimenting with several concepts and at times they worked but it is too early to tell.
Plan is to fix the HUD asap as I had a lot of problems with it today while grinding. It is like I was playing read less game plan for the most of the day. Just not cool!

Anyways, here is the graph for the day:

With today's grind passed 1k games for the month so far with lots of ups and downs:

Now I will practice several songs for the rehearsal and then hit the bed to rest. Tomorrow I don't have any lessons lined up but I will meet with a friend of mine for coffee and pay internet bill in the morning. Will go tomorrow for 4 sessions and look into the HUD issue.
BTW, I started having some new/old TV Shows in the background while grinding. Finished yesterday with 2 and a half men (only episodes with Charlie!) and today started grinding with 24 (Jack Bauer!). Have couple of other shows lined up after I am done with 24. Finally found a website that has a lot of the shows that I can use while grinding, having them stream in the background.

Enjoy your day on and off the tables!