John, I have to ask. And I'm happy to be shot down in flames here. But why the fk are you doing althiswin a few dollars, lose a few dollars nonsense? Exactly what are you learning here?
You claim to have an insane hedge in live tournies <£120. Why don't you knock this grinding on the head and start making proper money, money that can improve your financial situation in the short term, and build a bankroll, to go on to bigger and better things?
Apologies if this doesn't make sense, but I just can't see how grinding 3 million hands playing ABC poker at 10nl is helping you.
Valid points all.
The real question is what do I want from poker -
1. I love the game
2. I want to win in poker, both cash and tournaments
3. I am/ have/ could entertain the idea of playing for a living and im sure I have the discipline and mental ability
4. I currently am pretty under it ££ wise due to a massive 'life' year
5. I am improving, and my dtd500 11th place was a complete testament to this. (bedi won that flip and went on to cash 2nd for £35k. Im not saying I would have definitely done the same, however with that stack and that field I would've had my best shot yet for a big score
When it comes to your main point about my 'hedge' in live comps, you yourself (and Ryan) have seen that I've had some successes live. However something to definitely consider is the cost vs skill + variance equation.
Just the cost in time and petrol alone is tough to overcome.
e.g.
I live in Milton Keynes, and while there is going to be a casino next year my current cardroom's of choice are
- Aspers Northampton £10 petrol + 30mins
- Luton G £15-20 petrol + 45-60 mins
- DTD Nottingham £30 petrol + 75-90mins
- G Coventry £20 petrol + 60mins
- Vic/ Empire/ Fox/ Hippo London £40-50 petrol + 120mins minimum
All of which are big numbers to be 'down' before you even walk in the building.
Now granted, with the right tournament/ cash games etc then I will clearly be able to overcome this if I am good enough. Let's look at the numbers vs winrates.
- Aspers Northampton 10bb/100 in £1/1 cash or to cash 1/3 tournaments
- Luton G 10bb/100 in cash or to cash 1/3-1/5 tournaments
- DTD Nottingham 15bb/100 in cash or to cash 1/5-1/10 tournaments depending on size, often comes with a £30-100/ night room charge since I don't have a regular crashpad
- G Coventry 20bb/100 in cash (sometimes smaller when bigger games run) or to cash in 1/2 tournaments since they don't have big buyin events ever..
- Vic/ Empire/ Fox/ Hippo London anywhere between 40bb- 10bb/100 depending on game I play.. don't play tournaments in most because they're shockingly bad value.
No matter how good I think I am vs how good I really am, those are big numbers to overcome.... couple that with late nights + travelling alone + working a 9-5 job that includes travel away and all of a sudden it becomes pretty tough.
One thing I am optimistic about is that when the new casino in MK comes about, I'm actually going to contact them before they open and try to strike a relationship with the management to understand their take on poker. If they are into it and want some help/ assistance with the local community then I will try to get myself on-board as some sort of 'non paid consultant' - purely in order to make sure the cardroom is the best it can be for the buyin levels they want to hit. As a result I hope to ensure a constant, consistent, quality game 10mins away... where I can earn a very high bb/100 and cost myself the absolute minimum.
Now take all of the above and look at it vs grinding 10nl.
I get to play on a stake, which is currently not making money but that is not worrying Patrick from what I can see. He is more concerned with me burning his $$ on fps, most of which I have curtailed and learned to apply in much more sensible, logical and profitable scenarios.
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I myself purchased a more than adequate grinding machine which provides me with excellent tools to do my 'work' from home.
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It costs me nothing in time/ petrol/ hassle, other than making sure I take care of myself and my girlfriend to the best of my ability within a compromise that is reasonable.
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I can learn from many very strong theoretical players who I have access to through the internet, skype, video sites and friends.
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I can even sweat them live on the computer and get direct, current, and relevant information all in the comfort of wearing only my pants.
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I get to sit in an absolutely gorgeous if a little extravagant chair that my parents bought me to compliment my choice which they didn't agree with initially but they see the effort I am putting in.
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I have played close to 200k hands this year (potentially more I'm really not sure) and have come a long long way in only 7 months.
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I will hopefully be able to get to and stick at 25nl by the years end, with my long holiday from 10th Dec onwards I may even be able to move through 25nl by next year.
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At 50nl Patrick has made it clear he will be putting coaching me at a higher priority because he feels his understanding of the game and how to change/ adapt and learn will help me become a much greater player than other methods.
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At 50nl Patrick and I will have the opportunity to really make some real money at this game, and for me - with nothing at risk this is a perfect outcome.
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In the meantime where possible I am still taking the occasional 'shots' @ live play with some spare overtime or money I have in online accounts I hadn't freed up. This and a more BRM approach to live will eventually allow me to 'build' a roll properly.
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And on top of all of this... learning about 'true' variance and really understanding the game on a much greater, deeper, more fundamental level has made me 3/4/5 times the player I was in Feb before I started this diary.
In closing - this diary is the single greatest choice I've made to improve at poker, ever.Thanks to all of you who help on a daily basis, I hope you will continue to do so..... Even if I do somehow start winning and entertaining you all much less.