The Best In The Business

[bagel]

Having this blog on blonde and another one on two plus two,it is inevitable that some of the opponents that you face in vegas will read about your thoughts. You post about a lot of the hands you play in detail. Do you worry that they will try and take advantage of the way you have been feeling about poker recently? If you read about one of your opponents that was going through a really rough patch would you feel terribly sorry for him and do your best to console him,or would you be licking your lips and piling on the pressure?

[Lambert180]

Some harsh comments ITT imo.

Alright he's having a good moan, and maybe the use of the word depressed wasn't great but people say use the word in everyday language pretty regular without literally meaning they are clinically depressed, I certainly wouldn't have jumped to the assumption that OP is actually clinically depressed, just that he's a bit frustrated with the game atm.

All pretty standard imo, I've had a poker diary for years on Sky, and one thing I always said to myself at the start of it was that I wanted to be totally honest and include everything, the highs and moments when motivation/confidence is rock bottom etc, not wanting to be like some people who only post when they're winning, and inevitably, even if you're Pleno, that's gonna involve times when things feel like they're going really bad (even if to an outsider it doesn't seem so bad). I'm no where near OPs level of BI or skill but I know from personal experience how disheartening it can be sometimes when a particular online series is on or you're shooting at bigger comps and that's the time you happen to run awful, especially if comps like that don't run every week and it might be ages before you get to have another bash at them.

glgl in your upcoming comps and deffo keep posting!

[vegaslover]

Carry on posting as you have been, like you said it's your diary, may as well be honest.

Just accept that some people wont agree with what you post and don't get too caught up in their views imo. If everyone here posted what they were actually feeling, in the heat of the moment, it would sound just as bad.

Think you already realised trying to relate it to depression/self harm/suicide was ridic and you freely state you are not depressed.

Anyone who gambles and has been to Vegas will tell you it's the best place in the world when you are winning and fucking awful when you are doing it in.

go find some fun shit to do, make the most of the freedom the lifestyle gives you

[MANTIS01]

@mantis is anybody ever away from delusion and unhappiness at all
Times though? In your story did you ever feel Completely like you were so unlucky and a sense of
Entitlement. Even if it was only there for 5 minutes. Think about the very worst you felt all times in the last 12 months now imagine you wrote it down all in once without proof reading and then pressed post.

Imagine eso Kral now, really sick at what he does. He makes this new 50 pound idea and for whatever reason for one month every house falls through and he has one night when he's completely feeling shit. He opens his laptop at the peak of his unhappiness, writes for 10 minutes non stop and then presses post.

Imagine arbboy finding every great sports bet. For one month during the World Cup he gets fucked every single game and although he's ok 95% of the time he has lne really bad night, starts writing on his laptop and presses post.

In almost every job even if you approach it perfectly people will have very bad days. It will sound like a broken record but I personally wanted this to be a diary that showed an emotional diary of a poker player at the WSOP who is winning or losing hundreds of thousands of dollars. I showed days of pride, accomplishment, hard work, but there is also the other side. Like I said previously I could have made this rosy but I thought people wanted to see the other side as I can't remember any other pro really being as brutally honest in a proper WSOP diary. I wanted it to
Be blood, sweat, tears and bracelets!

It doesn't offend me that at all That it upsets people or creates so Much controversy, it really has just shown me that protecting exactly what you say and realising how it will come across is important. Of course it will be delusional, of course it will show signs of entitlement, but so would 99.9% of other poker players if their exact thought process was somehow blurted onto a page.

Hey mate, I think it’s important not to take random remarks to heart and be defensive. A diary is supposed to be a real reflection of life as you say. You are on a journey of self-improvement so laying your thoughts bare is a great opportunity to take value from other people’s comments and move forwards. Who cares if you look bad/vulnerable sometimes?? improvement won’t be forthcoming if you only publicise a fake positive image. Admitting weakness is a sign of huge strength in all walks of life, if you were perfect at your young age then gg the future because you would have no growth left in you.

Anyway onto your question, the main difference is the huge volatility in your professional results compared to the stability in mine. A regular job gives me a slow and steady ROI where I have lots of victories every day, I have the time to absorb results and change strategy if things aren’t panning out as I’d hoped. It’s much easier to take a step back and assess long term results and I'll get what I deserve much more often than you. Often in your profession dreams can be crushed instantly by the turn of a card. But your ROI potential is much greater than mine and sure, the trade-off is you will have dramatic highs and lows to cope with. A professional boxer is prob similar because you can train for months for a world title shot and get knocked out in 10secs flat. You must laugh in the face of variance if you want to be the best in volatile professions like poker, but I find the reality is almost nobody can.

If I wanted to be a professional poker player a huge target for me would be to have a profound understanding of the mental side of the game. Equally as important as being able to fold broadway cos I know my oppo has a boat. When I was learning a big thing you guys taught me on this forum was that it’s all about long term results. So it surprises me when you guys react to an individual card on the river. Sure it’s a ball-ache but that single card is the complete opposite of long term. In the context of my story the rain and snow was like a shitty river but because each day leading up to that point was full of small victories and success stories it’s much easier to cope with. I used to play too much poker and started to get emotional about it, so I invest much less time these days and only play at my leisure. Now you can deal me the nut worst kick in the bollocks river card and I won’t even blink an eye. So I have found my optimum level.

The problem for you guys is reducing time invested is more difficult, especially because you’re all looking for an edge over the next guy. Incidentally this thought process has resulted in all the slimy, cheating behaviour of many poker players, desperate for that edge. However, you come across as an honest & hard-working guy and I think it’s important to find your own optimum level of time investment. With poker a lot of decisions are kinda straight forward and when you do get the chips in the other guy will almost always have decent equity. So sure, you can work harder and harder and harder but when you get the chips in the other guy will still win a lot of the time. This means the sense of injustice will always be a turn of a card away. But if you want to be the BITB then being a stone cold mother fucker who doesn’t care whether he lives or dies at the table is the optimum mental approach imo. I don’t need that skill in my job to be the BITB. How you play should be the abs everything! So finding your optimum level of time investment and balance, as Simon says, is undoubtedly the most vital component in successful poker and a happy life. There are strippers and good steak in Vegas you know!!

Right enough long posts, I’ve got to get back to abusing Tikay!!

[MANTIS01]

Oh yeah and tyty for all the fuck Brad comments, totally agree!!!

[Oxford_HRV]

Say what you want pads and never apologise for your emotions.

[SuuPRlim]

lessons not learnt in blood are seldom remembered

[youthnkzR]

I must admit I found it a little galling to be up at 6am for work and read a post from the guy who seems to win five figures every Sunday, complaining about how it sucks to be flying to Monte Carlo and then to Las Vegas.

But as you have tried to say until you're blue in the face, this diary is about capturing the moment; taking a verbal photo of you at that very moment. It's raw and, for me, describes the emotions we all have from time to time. My first reaction ignored that it was just a quick Polaroid/selfie. My second reaction was what I posted.

Footballers complain about the lives they have, Dan Bilzerian probably doesn't fancy a fifth consecutive assault rifle and brandy day and Hugh Heffner gets a bit fed up of blonde twentysomethings every now and then. The rest of us, with 9-5s and obligations, scoff. It's natural. It's not envy, particularly, but it breeds negative reactions.

I was just pointing out that if somebody says "hi people I feel
This" and then people reacting saying "you shouldn't feel like that" might not be the best way to react.

And that is exactly the point.

The comments about not using certain words are fair. You'll just hit people's buttons that way.

Anyway, keep taking the photos, keep working hard and one day you can be rich and successful and earn millions like Mantis.

<3

Great post Tal.

[bobAlike]

I must admit I found it a little galling to be up at 6am for work and read a post from the guy who seems to win five figures every Sunday, complaining about how it sucks to be flying to Monte Carlo and then to Las Vegas.

But as you have tried to say until you're blue in the face, this diary is about capturing the moment; taking a verbal photo of you at that very moment. It's raw and, for me, describes the emotions we all have from time to time. My first reaction ignored that it was just a quick Polaroid/selfie. My second reaction was what I posted.

Footballers complain about the lives they have, Dan Bilzerian probably doesn't fancy a fifth consecutive assault rifle and brandy day and Hugh Heffner gets a bit fed up of blonde twentysomethings every now and then. The rest of us, with 9-5s and obligations, scoff. It's natural. It's not envy, particularly, but it breeds negative reactions.

I was just pointing out that if somebody says "hi people I feel
This" and then people reacting saying "you shouldn't feel like that" might not be the best way to react.

And that is exactly the point.

The comments about not using certain words are fair. You'll just hit people's buttons that way.

Anyway, keep taking the photos, keep working hard and one day you can be rich and successful and earn millions like Brad.

FYI

BTW Good to see you last night.

[Tal]

I must admit I found it a little galling to be up at 6am for work and read a post from the guy who seems to win five figures every Sunday, complaining about how it sucks to be flying to Monte Carlo and then to Las Vegas.

But as you have tried to say until you're blue in the face, this diary is about capturing the moment; taking a verbal photo of you at that very moment. It's raw and, for me, describes the emotions we all have from time to time. My first reaction ignored that it was just a quick Polaroid/selfie. My second reaction was what I posted.

Footballers complain about the lives they have, Dan Bilzerian probably doesn't fancy a fifth consecutive assault rifle and brandy day and Hugh Heffner gets a bit fed up of blonde twentysomethings every now and then. The rest of us, with 9-5s and obligations, scoff. It's natural. It's not envy, particularly, but it breeds negative reactions.

I was just pointing out that if somebody says "hi people I feel
This" and then people reacting saying "you shouldn't feel like that" might not be the best way to react.

And that is exactly the point.

The comments about not using certain words are fair. You'll just hit people's buttons that way.

Anyway, keep taking the photos, keep working hard and one day you can be rich and successful and earn millions like Brad.

FYI

BTW Good to see you last night.

You too, sir. Hope you got the lot.

[bobAlike]

I must admit I found it a little galling to be up at 6am for work and read a post from the guy who seems to win five figures every Sunday, complaining about how it sucks to be flying to Monte Carlo and then to Las Vegas.

But as you have tried to say until you're blue in the face, this diary is about capturing the moment; taking a verbal photo of you at that very moment. It's raw and, for me, describes the emotions we all have from time to time. My first reaction ignored that it was just a quick Polaroid/selfie. My second reaction was what I posted.

Footballers complain about the lives they have, Dan Bilzerian probably doesn't fancy a fifth consecutive assault rifle and brandy day and Hugh Heffner gets a bit fed up of blonde twentysomethings every now and then. The rest of us, with 9-5s and obligations, scoff. It's natural. It's not envy, particularly, but it breeds negative reactions.

I was just pointing out that if somebody says "hi people I feel
This" and then people reacting saying "you shouldn't feel like that" might not be the best way to react.

And that is exactly the point.

The comments about not using certain words are fair. You'll just hit people's buttons that way.

Anyway, keep taking the photos, keep working hard and one day you can be rich and successful and earn millions like Brad.

FYI

BTW Good to see you last night.

You too, sir. Hope you got the lot.

Not this time, might just quit

[Tal]

[rfgqqabc]

Hey, you had the WPT binks before the run of live bricks, so don't pretend its all bad. The swings are going to be sick, but the best thing about poker is you can make money by handling it better than your opponents. You also can come back to Budapest and lick your wounds and make some money grinding that on a Wednesday. Some of your opponents will be facing 6 figures of makeup. You know its going to come, its almost inevitable, so don't let 50 live comps bother you. Scoop being shit is just one of those things. Bunch of big comps that mean the daily grind can't get you out of it. Something will come.

[sovietsong]

feel a bit bad for Brad, he works his socks off to win manager of the year & all you lot come on here giving him stick because he got the to prize over one of our friends.  This place is so full of cliques & i'm sick of it.

Well done Brad, you deserved it.

[RED-DOG]

feel a bit bad for Brad, he works his socks off to win manager of the year & all you lot come on here giving him stick because he got the to prize over one of our friends.  This place is so full of cliques & i'm sick of it.

Well done Brad, you deserved it.

You lurrve him.