Diary of a MTT Grinder Wannabe

[Ant040689]

I have been on a downswing of late and have gone to the old habit of burying my head in the sand and not checking my bankroll, having instead a very good estimate, but this time it isn't too much of a bad thing because i am still playing relatively sensibly BR wise.

I have noticed three things on my recent foray into playing highstakes slower tourns.

1. They really aren't as tough as i thought they would be.

2. They need a patience that i don't quite have yet, but will have with continued Gym work.

3. I am always wondering if i am playing too ABC. Now i would say my strategy is effective and has me winning but i think i need to be more creative to get the most out of these.

What i am thinking about doing for 3. is setting money aside and playing a lot of $109fs very flamboyantly, in a style i would never play myself because it isn't 'safe'. This entails calling a lot wider to raises from in position, 3 betting a lot more in position and most importantly getting a lot more freaky post flop where my flop turn and river plays could be more creative.

More check raises, more floating and more hero calls. I am going to play less tables when i do try this and concentrate a lot on what plays seem to be working consistently and adding them into my 'stock' game. Obviously i won't be looking to lose when i try this, but will be learning from what hasn't worked and try and pick up on why and if i notice similar spots in the future i know i can get out early or try something else to win the pot.

Effectively what i am saying is i am going to give myself some creative scope to try and see how else i can improve my game with the end goal being my normal grinding game will be vastly improved. I think a lot of other grinders feel they aren't playing optimally either, so i am going to step back and see what is going on when i broaden my horizons and really leave no stone unturned. 

Tonight though i am not in that sort of mood, i am going to be playing turbos and lots of them. Getting the two monitor set up out and going to enjoy myself with a turbo game that is pretty straightforward to be honest, i just need to put the volume in. Probably 16-18 tabling all night, can't wait, first i am to go to the gym.

[Ant040689]

Have had a $5000 downswing in the last 10 days, mainly because of my foray into the slower tournaments. Had many a spot that I have been unlucky in I must say but I have been lucky with my scores too so its all evening out. Had a turbo only grind tonight and featured the two nightly $200fs and the $50r turbos that Pokerstars offer and they play a lot tougher than I anticipated. Maybe I didn't run well enough to get a fair picture or maybe I shouldn't be near them and I am getting what I deserve. To have around $600 wagered across only three tourns where my average buy in elsewhere is probably around $75 is silly so I will wait until I hopefully get a $60k roll or so to even consider it.

I lost in all three, but salvaged the night with a 2nd in a $54f turbo for $2.5k ish score. I had close shaves elsewhere as well and notice that I may well just stick to the turbos outright, with the exception of maybe 4 tournaments I deem worthy to play alongside them. These will have to be high value, high entry tourns I know I play well in and will serve me well.

My roll is a bit under $30k at the moment so its going OK for me and have learnt a lot in the last few months. In a nutshell, I have affirmed my view that turbos are the way forward for me.

I also bought a desk from Ikea which will be here in a week or so and the chair I currently have should be ideal for me to try a semi-lying position as i grind. The aim is to effectively be underneath the desk with my head and torso popping up over it to play but still alleviating pressure off my back and thus improving my stamina, because I am not so stressed about back pain. Actually the chair I have won't cut it most probably and I may well be purchasing a very expensive chair that I tried at a mates house, he actually put the make in this thread somewhere but I cba to find it. I think it costs about £1000 but should well be worth every penny. Looking forward to having everything set very nicely on the grind station front for the very first time!

I am going up to Nottingham later today to play the day 1a and if needs be, day 1b of the deepstack at Dusk Till Dawn. I have a really good feeling about it, thus the semi retarded line I am taking with bankroll management and hope I can win it all. For some odd reason I think I will win it all. Odd to be so calm and assured when saying something that is such a long shot but there you go. In before the lolz at me crashing out of both days, tilting hardcore, but I am going to give it a try.

[mondatoo]

Do you never withdraw from it ? Nice roll your building, glglgl.

[Ant040689]

Do you never withdraw from it ? Nice roll your building, glglgl.

I live from it. However, I live with the parents, and help out here and there with money for them along with a small amount I give weekly, but if I pushed for it i needn't pay anything really, but I do my bit. So all that is affecting my roll, expenditure wise, is my own purchases online, on a night out, tilting while on the pokers and with a ridiculous amount of takeaways. Much less to worry about than the average poker player. So the goal is to limit my spending for the next three years, save, and look to buy a property outright which would give me a lovely bit of security and will hopefully justify basically abandoning my CV and conventional job-hunting. Definitely worth me getting a part time job for experience somewhere though. I am thinking about journalism of some sort.

[GreekStein]

Do you never withdraw from it ? Nice roll your building, glglgl.

I live from it. However, I live with the parents, and help out here and there with money for them along with a small amount I give weekly, but if I pushed for it i needn't pay anything really, but I do my bit. So all that is affecting my roll, expenditure wise, is my own purchases online, on a night out, tilting while on the pokers and with a ridiculous amount of takeaways. Much less to worry about than the average poker player. So the goal is to limit my spending for the next three years, save, and look to buy a property outright which would give me a lovely bit of security and will hopefully justify basically abandoning my CV and conventional job-hunting. Definitely worth me getting a part time job for experience somewhere though. I am thinking about journalism of some sort.

<3 Angela and Mary

[smashedagain]

Do you never withdraw from it ? Nice roll your building, glglgl.

I live from it. However, I live with the parents, and help out here and there with money for them along with a small amount I give weekly, but if I pushed for it i needn't pay anything really, but I do my bit. So all that is affecting my roll, expenditure wise, is my own purchases online, on a night out, tilting while on the pokers and with a ridiculous amount of takeaways. Much less to worry about than the average poker player. So the goal is to limit my spending for the next three years, save, and look to buy a property outright which would give me a lovely bit of security and will hopefully justify basically abandoning my CV and conventional job-hunting. Definitely worth me getting a part time job for experience somewhere though. I am thinking about journalism of some sort.

<3 Angela and Mary

You trying to tell us that Ant is a product of one of those lesbian marriages. Runs bad and so sick he never got Elton and David as parents. 

[Steveswift]

Ant this is the PM i sent you then thought it should perhaps be in the forum, others may want to comment/advise.

Hi Ant,

Steve here, i play as 177272 on stars.

I have posted to say that i follow your thread and in fact whist playing often rail you.  Not a stalker   Just interested in what you are doing and obviously trying to pick up tit bits as i go.  I know you play on other sites and don't really follow there and can't get a full picture of your activities from OPR coz not sure if  it shows all the sites you play on.

One of my issues is playing more tables, which you clearly do i don't suppose you have ever thought of recording a session for posting on youtube or something so that peeps could get an idea of how busy a session gets for a player playing at the level you do ?  The reason why i ask is on youtube  you can get many showing cash games but few good ones showing MTT's.  I really just want to get a feel for how busy a player is (screen wise) during a  session ?  Does this make sense.

Any way just a though GL with the grind and i will continue to follow .

Steve

[Ant040689]

Do you never withdraw from it ? Nice roll your building, glglgl.

I live from it. However, I live with the parents, and help out here and there with money for them along with a small amount I give weekly, but if I pushed for it i needn't pay anything really, but I do my bit. So all that is affecting my roll, expenditure wise, is my own purchases online, on a night out, tilting while on the pokers and with a ridiculous amount of takeaways. Much less to worry about than the average poker player. So the goal is to limit my spending for the next three years, save, and look to buy a property outright which would give me a lovely bit of security and will hopefully justify basically abandoning my CV and conventional job-hunting. Definitely worth me getting a part time job for experience somewhere though. I am thinking about journalism of some sort.

<3 Angela and Mary

You trying to tell us that Ant is a product of one of those lesbian marriages. Runs bad and so sick he never got Elton and David as parents. 

Would have been nice to have been able to get a stepping stone in playing the piano and producing films nobody has ever heard of, o well.

He calls my mum two names Angela and Mary, no idea why, only one of them is correct.
I too have plenty of names for his mother.

[Ant040689]

Ant this is the PM i sent you then thought it should perhaps be in the forum, others may want to comment/advise.

Hi Ant,

Steve here, i play as 177272 on stars.

I have posted to say that i follow your thread and in fact whist playing often rail you.  Not a stalker   Just interested in what you are doing and obviously trying to pick up tit bits as i go.  I know you play on other sites and don't really follow there and can't get a full picture of your activities from OPR coz not sure if  it shows all the sites you play on.

One of my issues is playing more tables, which you clearly do i don't suppose you have ever thought of recording a session for posting on youtube or something so that peeps could get an idea of how busy a session gets for a player playing at the level you do ?  The reason why i ask is on youtube  you can get many showing cash games but few good ones showing MTT's.  I really just want to get a feel for how busy a player is (screen wise) during a  session ?  Does this make sense.

Any way just a though GL with the grind and i will continue to follow .

Steve

Looked at my pms before this and replied there. Basically I can't record any sessions as it lags my computer. I will take a screenshot though with the most tables I play on a particular night and post it up. Forgot to add that mixing a lot of other sites in has its downfalls as changing from one to another can make you stall a little bit and play worse.

[c4ught]

How many different sites do you play on?

[Ant040689]

How many different sites do you play on?

Think its about 8.

[Steveswift]

Cheers Ant for the reply.

Steve

[smashedagain]

hows ya deepstack going?

[Ant040689]

hows ya deepstack going?

126k

Was on 16k with 10bbs and went on a spin up. Needed 4 big pots to get me up. Also had time to spaz some of my stack off as I was on 140k, went down to 80k, then won QQ>1010 and got back up.

I am a really confused, unconfident and spazzy live player and I have been like this for a while. Just haven't the patience. Honestly, erghhh to my live play.

Hope to still do a win though.

[Ant040689]

So it was a nice cash in 37th in the deepstack. Made only two plays I regret doing and that was not shoving q8 unsuited from the small blind opening with 12 bbs and a ridiculous min re raise on the river for a big pot and the bluff getting easily called for pots odds, I needed to go all in.

There was some value all weekend here in terms of the type of play happening and for a 500 I want to come up every month from London to give it a go.

As for online I am going to take a 2 week break from poker. Doing my nuts in atm and think my play is getting a little automated and stale. Going to adopt a 400 buyins rule for turbos and stick to 200 for standard. Basically means 100fs are being played for standard tourns and 50fs for turbos.

Need the break to come back fresh and get two hours a day going at the gym, 1 in the morning and one before bed. As the gym is local this shouldn't be a problem. Really want to hit the exercise hard because I am a fat slob.

Thought DTD were brilliant btw and especially their dealers who all helped let me win like 4 flips that would have had me out had I lost. They were all respectful when I always noob forgot to put the antes in (was a grim attempt actually) and the table talk in most cases was a great craic.