Diary of a MTT Grinder Wannabe

[Amatay]

i Could swear whenever A7 or lowere goes up against another A6 or lower that one of you have to hit your kicker by the river. Nearly every time!

yeh, whenever i have A7 vrs a worse ace im usually a huge dog. Its the same thing when my pr faces a raggy ace and the 3 outer hits like 80% of the time, standard!

[Ant040689]

KK <AJ in the last 20 of a 14k gtd. O well. Proves you right about the sh*t ace anyway!

[redarmi]

FML - every big hand I have lost tonight has been lost like this.

[Ant040689]

Have a $12k br.

Just been asked by someone to go to vegas for about £1k accom and flights for about 10 nights in July and i was wondering if i had too little to experience it the way i would want to. Mainly this would mean going out partying and clubbing, doesnt take a lot for me to get drunk btw and to play some tournaments if i can. Been told it isn't too wise to grind a $350 tournament as its not good value considering i'm out there for only a little time. So if i was to go i would probably play $1/$2 and get 50% backing to play a WSOP $1.5k.

Just worried its a little too soon with my roll but my new setup is here today and i think i should be able to make a lot of money for the month of June, but this may be adding too much pressure on me.

If i think about it though the worst that could happen is that i lose $4k on the trip meaning by the time i get back to playing poker again after the trip i could be lift with a $5kish roll and that is if i am break even from now until the start. I also have to pay for the spending money for a trip to Mallorca for the end of July so it would be a balling lifestyle in July and if all goes wrong i would still be rolled to play $20fs which should be ok.

Just i wouldn't mind having no external pressures for money and pushing on into the twenties and thirties of the thousands, might have to give it a couple of days to have a think about it but i am being swayed to a no. Unless i can work out a way not to spend too much in vegas but i don't think i would enjoy it as much as i could next year when i envisage myself to be relatively well off. Decisions.

[FredW]

Just read through your diary and found it a great read. I play mostly live poker myself but am looking at taking online poker more seriously.

Any tips on starting out online?

[Ant040689]

Just read through your diary and found it a great read. I play mostly live poker myself but am looking at taking online poker more seriously.

Any tips on starting out online?

Don't play like me probably! Would say set aside as much as you can for poker, have a bankroll for it. Then look to develop it without losing it all early on. So only play with a fraction of your roll at any one time. You have to decide too whether to play cash games or tournaments. The former being much more convenient with rakeback and the ability to stop when you want but the more fishies lie in the latter.

Would also tell you to learn how to play as many tables as you can at once and get comfortable with that because that means you are spreading the burden and giving yourself a better chance to withstand a bit of bad form and the ability to make more, more quickly.

As for me i played 24 tables yesterday tiled across 3 monitors. I found that it was definitely bearable for about 30 mins and then i got auto tired because it is so draining on the concentration to be playing at that intensity for so long. So i have decided that getting to 24 tables will eventually be profitable for me, but not at the moment. I really have to hit the gym hard to help with stamina for that sort of mental grind, so for now i will be staying with a 16 table grind whereby i am already sort of in my element. Not flustered by that many tables and find that i am playing my optimum game (whatever that is) across all tables even if i am short handed across a few of them. I actually enjoy playing 6 max's the most tbh and it is my strongest game.

So plan is to play on 16 tables and go gym daily. Then when i find myself improving physically i would assume my mental capacity will be improving also so then i will attempt the incredible and go for 24 tables, but maybe that won't even help and i will have to accepts 18+ isn't going to happen. Meh

Yesterday i was experimenting and my form went out the window dealing with all those tabs. So that might explain the $800-$500 loss, was very unlucky as well anyway not to make a massive profit on the night as i final tabled bubbled two huge tourns but not to be. Looking forward to future grinds as my set up is nearly now epic. Would ideally now needs a more comfortable chair and a modified desk but would get on fine without that.

[Ant040689]

Picture of the Makeshift setup is below. Notice the good use of a shoe box.

[FredW]

Do you use any poker tools like a HUD etc?

[Ant040689]

Do you use any poker tools like a HUD etc?

I don't no but I do see the advantages of it. I always can't be bothered setting up because I play on many sites and also worry that the little stats boxes will take up too much space and prove to tilt me. However I should have holdem manager to review my hand histories after I play to mend leaks.

[Ant040689]

Righteo.

I am going to be playing tomorrow night and hope for a winning session for once. Been a while since i have felt one of those.

Now i have my manic i need to play 24 tables right now all the time phase out of me i will resort back down to 16 tables tomorrow and hope i get lucky.

I am going to post up a thread on the internet poker forum about how to get your Holdem manager sorted as well in a bit because i play on many sites and i know the HUD and HH's don't get automatically detected and may need help with that. I don't want to be losing an edge where there is one so i should be getting these stats installed.

As for tonight i will be watching the game and feel annoyed to say but want Man United to win, mainly because i don't like the hype surrounding the Barca team and i wouldn't mind it if they were given a good hiding and from the looks of things Man united might be one of the best teams in club football to actually do that.

Today i go to the gym for the second day in a row and i am making sure i am making a routine of it. I have been told by Coggy to download a sort of exercise regime from online but with no offence i am going to follow the things i normally do in the gym and it is effective but i just need to keep it up. I firstly go on the cross trainer for 10 mins as a warm up, 10 mins of stretching at the mats, then i do my pilates while i am there for about 15 mins. This looks pretty gay but it don't half work! After that i go on the jogging machine for 15 mins, jogging for 2 mins and resting for one and alternating. After that i go to the leg weight machines, all four of them doing three sets of about 10 on each. I then make my way to the dumbells and blast my pecs, shoulders, biceps and abs. So that about covers every area, i then do a 10 mins continuous slow warm down jog, then make my way to the mats for a stretch down and then hit the showers where i rub my balls and make sure my crack is clean.

Will be posting on twitter tomorrow during the grind with updates of how i am getting on @antgaughan follow me if you haven't already you will be exposed to some awesome mundane tweeting.

[Ant040689]

Playing two days of cricket tour tomorrow. I'm hoping that I open in both and that I get 150 runs. The standard is normally piss poor and I'm good at dispatching woeful bowling from my back foot. On my front foot I am a retard. I'm talking a propa terrible player. I can't generate any power from a forward drive whatsoever and it is frustrating because I have good hand eye coordination and can smash on the back foot but nuthing on the front so I may be paying for some coaching soon and see how good I could get. Already play for Dulwich 4th XI with loads of runs last year but I wouldn't mind knowing where I could be if I wasn't just using one dimension.

In the poker front I really haven't been playing because I am trying to sort out my daily routine first without getting bogged down with tables and this has meant for the past two days I have gone to the gym and it was depressing. Never have I been in this bad a shape. There is a hill on the way to the gym I have to walk up to get there and I am panting hard. Can't jog for more than two mins without a walk and I have a huge gut, but I am determined to have a beach this for July/August when I go on a lads hold to Magaluf. Where there has already been side bets on who can what the most birds in the seven days we're there. But I have always been a romantic you see and think that I might fall for the first bird I get with so the bet has been changed to how many times you get it. Who thought chivalry was dead?

[smashedagain]

Playing two days of cricket tour tomorrow. I'm hoping that I open in both and that I get 150 runs. The standard is normally piss poor and I'm good at dispatching woeful bowling from my back foot. On my front foot I am a retard. I'm talking a propa terrible player. I can't generate any power from a forward drive whatsoever and it is frustrating because I have good hand eye coordination and can smash on the back foot but nuthing on the front so I may be paying for some coaching soon and see how good I could get. Already play for Dulwich 4th XI with loads of runs last year but I wouldn't mind knowing where I could be if I wasn't just using one dimension.

In the poker front I really haven't been playing because I am trying to sort out my daily routine first without getting bogged down with tables and this has meant for the past two days I have gone to the gym and it was depressing. Never have I been in this bad a shape. There is a hill on the way to the gym I have to walk up to get there and I am panting hard. Can't jog for more than two mins without a walk and I have a huge gut, but I am determined to have a beach this for July/August when I go on a lads hold to Magaluf. Where there has already been side bets on who can what the most birds in the seven days we're there. But I have always been a romantic you see and think that I might fall for the first bird I get with so the bet has been changed to how many times you get it. Who thought chivalry was dead?

with the cricket imo your strength is all in your right arm (assuming you are orthodox right hander) and you should be concentrating on exercises that build up the left one. believe it or not its all about conditioning. most people assume being right handed their right hand is the stronger. this is not the case as their left hand is because of conditioning. an example is opening jars. we hold with the right and twist the lid with the left and this has made it stronger. you cant be that bad if you are opening the batting tho

[Ant040689]

Playing two days of cricket tour tomorrow. I'm hoping that I open in both and that I get 150 runs. The standard is normally piss poor and I'm good at dispatching woeful bowling from my back foot. On my front foot I am a retard. I'm talking a propa terrible player. I can't generate any power from a forward drive whatsoever and it is frustrating because I have good hand eye coordination and can smash on the back foot but nuthing on the front so I may be paying for some coaching soon and see how good I could get. Already play for Dulwich 4th XI with loads of runs last year but I wouldn't mind knowing where I could be if I wasn't just using one dimension.

In the poker front I really haven't been playing because I am trying to sort out my daily routine first without getting bogged down with tables and this has meant for the past two days I have gone to the gym and it was depressing. Never have I been in this bad a shape. There is a hill on the way to the gym I have to walk up to get there and I am panting hard. Can't jog for more than two mins without a walk and I have a huge gut, but I am determined to have a beach this for July/August when I go on a lads hold to Magaluf. Where there has already been side bets on who can what the most birds in the seven days we're there. But I have always been a romantic you see and think that I might fall for the first bird I get with so the bet has been changed to how many times you get it. Who thought chivalry was dead?

with the cricket imo your strength is all in your right arm (assuming you are orthodox right hander) and you should be concentrating on exercises that build up the left one. believe it or not its all about conditioning. most people assume being right handed their right hand is the stronger. this is not the case as their left hand is because of conditioning. an example is opening jars. we hold with the right and twist the lid with the left and this has made it stronger. you cant be that bad if you are opening the batting tho

Good point about building the left arm up, its pretty limp atm. I think even if it was built its technique with me as I always play off my back foot to shots where I should be on my front. As to me opening, I get away with it because I have a good prod for a single and a good forward defensive. I then wait for the bad ball to have a swing at wide of the stumps and normally make a connection. My average across about 10 games last season was 50 so I have a good game going but it could be so much better if I had any attacking shots from the front foot.

[Ant040689]

Decided to play in the end tonight.

I think i will bink huge.

[Coggy]

Decided to play in the end tonight.

I think i will bink huge.

GL