Liar Dice - Diary of a Bean Counter!

Just opened up a couple of NL400 shallow stack tables while watching Brazil make Chile's life miserable.

Had already had a great afternoon after swimming this morning - which was uncomfortable but loosened me up a little. Told Mrs Tim I was going to watch the Holland game in the pub and took myself off, with the first 15 pages of Baluga Whale for reading in half time.

Over lunch we made some sangria with some terrible red wine left over from winter and so now I have a bit of a headache after a couple of beers this afternoon (no stamina at all...)

My hangover is bearable, though, as HEM says I just made $540 in 22 minutes. I managed to get the right hands (e.g. FH vs flush) against the fishier opponents on the tables and then made a hasty exit with my balls and BR in tact.

As we speak, the boys from Brazil have just scored again...
Brazil 3 - Chile 0

If only I could play poker like them...

Originally posted by Tim64
My hangover is bearable, though, as HEM says I just made $540 in 22 minutes. I managed to get the right hands (e.g. FH vs flush) against the fishier opponents on the tables and then made a hasty exit with my balls and BR in tact.
.

You just managed to make my entire BR (almost exactly $540) in 22 minutes. It's taken me since last November from $50. You are my hero, particularly since you are also over 30.

haha tim . Ain't read your blog in quite some time. Read from page 8 onwards to catch up. Nice to see ur running half decent now. Hope your shoulder sorts itself out. Methinks you need a new computer chair. I'm pretty sure there are some that should help. Orthopedic chairs come to mind, the luxury kind mind you ;). Also, how high is your table ? My computer table is just slightl higher than my waist, so I can rest my wrists on the arms of my computer chair/mouse without any pressure on my shoulder/collar bone.

on another note, after much reading, including part 1 of baluga whales e-book which u mentioned, Ive decided to give the $3 KO 9max SnGs <zomg MEGA SOFT> on stars a try. Having been forced to withdraw all my poker cash just to get by, my brother thought it would be funny to send me $20. Little did he know I took it as a serious offer to resurrect a bankroll :).

10 tourneys later and my ROI is at 126% for today lol, luck adjusted i'm running at 36% which is absolutely crazy. I certainly have that sense of invinicibility u mentioned.

btw, what do you think of baluga's book? I was midly disappointed with it. Its nothing ground breaking. Have you read part 2 yet? what did you make of it if so?

Looking forward to checking your blog every day or two between sessions.

checking out a poker room in a neighouring town for my 2nd time playing live ever, and my first time playing live in my own country, and also within 2 years. wish me luck

29/06/10
10 tournys over 3.5 hrs
Good times ♦

I'm 30 pages into Baluga and there's definitely some good stuff in there (like I'm even equipped to comment )

Don't know if it's worth the 1k price tag though...

I've also played live recently for the first time. PPL - pub poker league -- has a few games (sng tourneys) in local pubs and I was lucky enough to win the second one I played in, for £30. (Kind of weird to receive winnings in £ - I was like, oh, so how do I get this into my moneybookers a/c then? Doh.)

GL in the ko's my friend.

Tim

heh, where abouts u live Tim? I'm in Northern Ireland atm.

doing v well atm. gave the $20 back and I still have $100 now. Its true there were one or two nice things. I especially liked the pot management/streets of value chapter, but I didn't really get much out of the rest that I hadn't known already, although I do have DC and my Brother to thank for that

Its still a far cry from my original bankroll, but thats life I guess!

Gloucestershire (oooh aaar).

assuming you bought it, would you say that it is not worth the price then ?

being a lawyer, I do not wish to incriminate myself by commenting on my method of acquiring the document in question.

however, i have only read 30 pages, so I should not really voice an opinion about whether it's worth the money. It most probably is to a numnutz like myself, since every bit of knowledge I acquire is a huge step up from my current ignorance...

Just drunkenly posting my biggest pot ever. Been out earlier on to play pkr at a local pub. I'm streets ahead of the compo but still busted in 5th place. Fried up some haloumi with peppers and potatoes back at the casa and got yet another beer. Checked my balance to ensure r/back has pushed me over $2k for this month. Then stupidly opened up two shallow $2/4 tables. After a few hands I'm down $160... Oh god. Just go to bed you drunken idiot, before you piss this month's winings away. But of course, I won't. So I claw some of it back, then I push A5o in SB vs BU steal for 23bb. He has AQo. Ho hum. Flop contains a 5 and my luck holds. Breakeven now. It really is time for bed now.

Ok, just a few more hands... Ooooh - dealt KK - If I get any action, I'll call it a day, I promise. Good start: someone limps; I make it 3.5x. I must look kind of spewy already because sb instashoves. Limper can't bear to lay down a pocket pair and calls. I overcall. Up aginst two lower pockets. Just have to dodge a Ten or a Seven. Done. $350 in 25 mins. Now I can sleep.

Grabbed by Holdem Manager
NL Holdem $4(BB) Replayer
SB ($185)
BB ($160)
UTG ($106)
UTG+1 ($140)
CO ($461)
Hero ($280)

Dealt to Hero K♦ K♠

fold, UTG+1 calls $4, fold, Hero raises to $14, SB raises to $185 (AI), fold, UTG+1 calls $136 (AI), Hero calls $171

FLOP ($516) 4♣ 9♣ 2♣

TURN ($516) 4♣ 9♣ 2♣ 5♦

RIVER ($516) 4♣ 9♣ 2♣ 5♦ 3♠

Hero shows K♦ K♠
(Pre 66%, Flop 52.9%, Turn 71.4%)

SB shows T♠ T♣
(Pre 18%, Flop 42.6%, Turn 26.2%)

UTG+1 shows 7♠ 7♦
(Pre 16%, Flop 4.4%, Turn 2.4%)

Hero wins $513

♠_biggrin:

nh ♦ i remembered when i was playing cash i was like u . I was for example at 999$ and was saying " 1 more hand one more steal from the blinds to pass the 1k and leave in peace" It always ended in disaster since i was never could steal that blind and instead of that i was loosing some more cause i just wanted to take back the little loss i had . u have to be carefull with that cause it can tilt u pretty easy and regret your greedy action to gain one more blind ♦

btw 10 days only of the new month and u re already 2k in profits ? sick ~_~

btw 10 days only of the new month and u re already 2k in profits ? sick ~_~

No - my month runs from 11th to the 10th, so my month's just finished. Phew. Full roundup + plans for the future to follow tomorrow.

Was so keyed up from poker and booze and then more poker and then winning a $500 pot yesterday evening that I only slept 2 hours last night... Aaaargh. A full day at the office and now I feel like a zombie. But, hey, not too many more of those since... I resigned today ♦

Originally posted by Tim64 A full day at the office and now I feel like a zombie. But, hey, not too many more of those since... I resigned today ♦

Wow. Are you a poker pro now? ♦

Resigning from Day Job

June has been my best month for some time. For the first time since September last year I am running above EV in cash games. I've made over $2000 this month, with an hourly rate just in excess of $50/hr. Most importantly, it seems that at last my health may be improving. It is not comfortable sitting at the computer and after playing for an hour I am sore and stiff, but it's bearable and I have been able to put in the 40 hours I wanted to in the last month.

I told myself that if I could achieve $20 per hour during June, I would quit my job with the intention of going pro (whatever that means). On Friday I drafted a letter of resignation which I gave to my boss yesterday.

While it's certainly nice to be running better, I'm also pleased that I've been able to keep an active presence on the hand judging forum. Recently, I've been posting and commenting on a bunch of hands and it's a great feeling when you post a long comment on someone's hand and then the judge comes along, quotes your response in its entirety, and then puts "+1" below it. Of course sometimes it is the opposite: a diamond member tells you you played the hand terribly and you feel momentarily crushed. That's okay with me -- it's how I will improve.

It is clear that there are several spots where I'm failing to get value because of fear of betting into the best hand. I need to be really wary of this. In truth the majority of the money I have won this month has been coolering my opponents with monster hands, much of it preflop. That's nice, but it isn't how you make money in poker long-term and I need to work on my post-flop game hard to keep things moving in the right direction.

I have changed my mind about moving up to NL200. Having heard about a 40 buyin downswing suffered by someone on this forum, I'm not in any hurry to lose $8000... If I can make $20 per hour at NL100, then that's enough for me to be getting on with while I iron out some of the more obvious faults in my game.

My last day at work is 7 August, which more or less coincides with the end of my July poker month. So for July, I'm keeping my goals achievable:

July goals:

40 hours of poker;
achieve Iron status in the Ironman promo;
clear my $275 year-end IM bonus;
organise at least one sweat session per week (ideally two, one as the 'sweator' and one as the 'sweatee');
post at least 10 hands per week and try to comment on all hands posted on the BSS NL100 forum.

June stats:

total profit: $2425.17
total hours: 45.76
hourly rate: $53/hr
3-monthly avg EV $/hr (cash games): $23.85/hr

I will talk some more about the reasons for my resignation, and my plans for going pro shortly...

garph below:

Wow. Respect! And good luck!

sick hourly tim, congrats and good luck!

Feel free to ignore to ignore me if you think this is an impertinent question, but how does the going pro thing play with Mrs Tim, and what's plan B in these tough times?

Brave decision to quit your job to become a pro poker player ( or at least it seems brave to me cause i am a little bit chicken with these things ♦ )

I wont comment on your winrate its just sick i wish u to continue at least to that winrate or why not to increase it ♦

I have a similar question as jbpatzer about whats your plan b ( i hope u wont need it though )♦

And one more question . how taxes work in uk about poker ? since laws about gambling games change here its good to have some alternatives to move somewhere else ♦

Poker winnings aren't taxed in the UK. You get to keep the lot. Come and live here!

Maximum respect Tim, all the best for your first month as a "pro" (whatever that means:D)

and

Originally posted by jbpatzer
Poker winnings aren't taxed in the UK. You get to keep the lot. Come and live here!

Obv !

Hi Tim,

I've been trying to get round to updating myself on your blog for a while, but unlike me you don't just start new ones every now and then. I finally had a really good night at the tables and decided after I took a quick break that instead of tempting fate by sitting down at the tables again I'd catch up on your blog.

I must say I am very impressed with what you have accomplished (especially your $55 SnG as it seemed to mean a lot to you).

I'm sorry to hear about your health problems, but it seems they are slowly being lifted from you which is good news.

I can't believe that once I was playing regularly at NL50 and taking stabs at NL100, it seems like a lifetime ago. As you probably remember these limits also caused my greatest bout of tilt that saw me eventually quit poker for 6 months. I am (and I say this with true feeling) sincerely happy that you have a better mindset than I did and managed to play through your bad times to reach the good times once again.

I hope your professional poker career pans out well for you and that you manage to achieve all you goals. I promise to make an effort to keep on top of your blog now that I have caught up with your awesome progress.

Good luck Tim.