The Soldier - UK Grind for life?

[The Soldier]

Hello and welcome to my thread.  I started this blog on 2+2 without even realising that this forum existed, so now that I've been educated I'm going to gradually transfer it over to here.  I don't know many people from the UK scene so it will be a nice way to meet some characters - that I'm sure!

Introduction
I've been profiting from live cash game poker around a full time job for 4 years.  A brief breakdown of this would look like so (profit margins are estimations):

Year 1 - Job = Finance job (Cardiff) - Poker profit = £3,000 (roughly) - mostly from Live and Online Tournaments
Year 2 - Job = Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (Army Officer Training) - Poker profit = £10,000 playing 1/2, 1/3 and 2/5 Live Cash games in 'The Vic' & 'Empire' Casinos
Year 3 - Job = Army Officer with a deployment to Afghanistan so a lot less volume - Poker profit = £4,000
Year 4 - The Penny Drops

Years 1, 2 and 3 had been unbelievable fun.  I had a great job, a decent disposable income (especially after taking into account my poker pocket money) and with London on the doorstep, I was living an extravagant life.  However, I had pissed the vast majority of my money against the wall and didn't have a pounds worth of savings before going on tour.  

Year 4 - I arrive home with a far more proactive approach to life and decide to turn over a new leaf with my poker hobby.  I transferred £3,000s worth of savings towards a poker bankroll, and decided to track every single session that I played in order to find out my hourly rate over a large sample.  I would also keep my bankroll completely separate from all other living expenses.  I had just under 2 years until I was due to finish my career in the Army and at this point, I would hit a significant junction in my life - "Do I play a card game for a living or try my luck in 'The City?'  This decision could make or break me, so my goal was to be in a position to make an informed decision.  

So beginith the start of my blog!  The records began from October 2012

December 2013 = 8 months until discharge date:

All Games

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5-10 shots

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2-5 swings

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1-3 steady eddy (too bad this game doesn't run 24/7)

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1-2

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Donkaments

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[Woodsey]

Welcome to Blonde mate, looking forward to your input on here :-)

[The Soldier]

I'm going to leave out the majority of my HHs until this thread has caught up.  I'll only add the significant hands!

20 Dec 13

I played in the most boring 2-5 ever for around 3 hours at The Vic. There was 1 maniac on the table but he was playing like a nit. All the regs were goading him into mixing it up and getting the game out of the muck, but he didn't bite. It was particularly painful for me as I'm currently nursing a hangover from last nights Christmas do at work. I bought in for £1,000 and finished with £750. There were no hands of interest (apart from a 1k flip on red/black between the maniac and a reg).

After the game broke, a much better 1-3 took its place.

I end up with a profit of £483 after 10 hours of play.

23 Dec 13

Since my last post I've played 2 more sessions. They both went FANTASTIC! I've been running on god mode. I'm writing this on the train as I travel back home for Christmas and morale is high! I have bought 2 bottles of champagne for the family and I'm looking forward to a pint with some old friends.

Session on 21 Dec 13 - Total profit £2566
I took a shot at a juicy 5/10 plo and sat down with 1k. I floated around the 1k mark for a few hours until the following hand happened:

Hero Dealt  on SB
Straddled to 25
Fish from UTG makes it 50
2 callers behind
Hero Calls from SB
BB Calls
Villain makes it 75 from straddle
Fish and others call
Hero Pots to 450
Straddler calls and everyone else folds

Flop -     
Hero Shoves and Villain Calls - We run it twice
First run -   
Second Run - low cards that I can't remember so my hand is KQ on both
Hero ships the lot - Roger that!

I left the game not long after as it was very deep and I didn't feel comfortable.

Later, I sit down at a 1/2 with 600. The most important pot was a hand that I raised to 10 preflop with from the CO with  . I get called from BTN, SB and BB (BB is villain and effective stack is 500).

Flop comes      rainbow
rando checks, Villain donks 30, Hero raises to 75, Fold, Fold, Villain re-raises to 150, Hero Calls

Turn comes a  and completes the rainbow. Villain shoves and Hero snaps. Villain shows AK - Merry Christmas


Session on 22 Dec 13 - £1972 profit

I played in one of the best 1-3s I've seen for a long time... and I ran good which was a bonus! The most noticeable hand was when I had    from the CO.

My stack was about 1.3k after sitting down with 800. Villain 1 has about 400 and is a cautious but terrible rec player. Villain 2 has about 900 and is a superstar.

Villain 2 limps UTG (for the 99999th time) and Hero makes it 15 from CO. Villain 1 calls from BB (for the 999999999999th time) and Villain 2 calls ofc.

Flop  rainbow - Check, Check, Hero C-bets £30. Villain 1 & 2 both call.

Turn comes a giving a flush draw - Bingo! Check, Check and Hero bets £75. Villain 1 slams in £355 (all in) and Villain 2 quickly calls. I flat and the river comes a  . Villain 2 checks and I shove. Villain 2 thinks for 1 minute and calls. And a Happy New Year!

Villain 1 had KK and Villain 2 had Q 10. I told you it was a good 1-3!!!

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I won't be playing for at least a week - so Happy Christmas everyone and have a great New Year!

X

[rfgqqabc]

What is that software called? Pretty interesting stats, keep up the good work. Have you tried any of the other casinos? Hippo has been good for me on friday nights when I've played. My mate who is a bit more of a regular hasn't had any complaints either. Do you play online at all?

[Woodsey]

Think it's poker charts, I used to use it years ago.

[kano]

Liking the look of this blog

[teamonkey]

Not sure i approve of the OPs name though......

Surely a 3 year stint at being called "sir" before departing for a "city" job leans more towards "the CV improver"

Nice profits though, if you can make enough to live well, support yourself and any aditional family you aquire through the years, and live in the city without having to get help from family money, then go for it.  And teach me.

Please.

Sir   

[The Soldier]

What is that software called? Pretty interesting stats, keep up the good work. Have you tried any of the other casinos? Hippo has been good for me on friday nights when I've played. My mate who is a bit more of a regular hasn't had any complaints either. Do you play online at all?

Woodsey was right - it's pokercharts.com.  You can do a free trial for a month and then I think it costs $20 per year. Regardless of whether you use this particular software, I highly recommend keeping accurate records of your play. There are plenty of tools available out there.

I play at the Hippo now and again for a change of scenery, but I prefer the larger choice of stakes available and the electronic card shufflers at the Vic. I don't play online a great deal as I haven't been able to beat it consistently. 

Not sure i approve of the OPs name though......

Surely a 3 year stint at being called "sir" before departing for a "city" job leans more towards "the CV improver"

Nice profits though, if you can make enough to live well, support yourself and any aditional family you aquire through the years, and live in the city without having to get help from family money, then go for it.  And teach me.

Please.

Sir   

What's wrong with the name? It's what the regs in the Vic call me (I didn't think of it myself).

I'm not sure I understand the "CV improver" comment... My job involves more than being called sir (if that's what you mean). I have worked my boll**ks off for 4 years and sacrificed a lot (and at the same time nothing compared to some). I'm proud of what I've achieved and contributed, but I feel that I've done my time and wish to pursue other goals.

Not all Officers have family money, despite what you may have read in 'The Sun'. Hence the reason for the tough decision I have ahead of me.

If you have any live hands that you want analysed then post them in the forum and I'll take a look! I'll be happy to give my opinion on them.


Thank you for the comments!

[The Soldier]

4 Jan 14
I've been grinding hard and dealing with the NYE mayhem! I've continued the run good and the graph is looking better again!

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The good run continues. I played for 1 hour 20 minutes at 2/5 after the post above and won 3714 profit.

Hand 1 - Dealt in MP with a stack of 1260

Villain 1 straddles to 10. Villain 1 is a decent young reg who is LAG preflop and pretty solid post flop. He has 2.5k

There is 1 limper and Hero limps from MP.

Villain 2 makes it 60 from Btn. Villain 2 is an old ultra TAG reg who overplays and is overly aggressive in general IMO. He wants to make people pay huge to outdraw him.

Villain 1 and Hero call.

Flop comes       rainbow. Pot is 197. Villain 1 checks, Hero checks and Villain 2 makes it 200. Villain 1 and Hero both flat.

Turn comes   giving a flush draw. Pot is 797. Villain 1 checks, Hero checks and Villain 2 makes it 800. Villain 1 calls and Hero shoves for 1000. Villain 1 and Villain 2 both call.

River comes an   no spade so board is          . Pot is 3797. Villain 1 shoves for 1240 and Villain 2 folds saying that he had AK.

Villain 1 shows a set (444) and Hero ships the pot.

Hand 2 - Dealt     in BB with a stack of roughly 4k

Villain is a young unknown and hasn't played a hand (in a small sample though). He has about 700.

Some rando raises to 20 in EP, another calls and Villain calls in LP. Hero calls from the BB.

Flop comes      . Pot is 82. Hero checks, initial raiser Cbets 50, Villain 1 and Hero call.

Turn comes  . Pot is 232. Hero checks, initial raiser checks, Villain bets 150, Hero calls and initial raiser folds.

River comes   so board is          . Hero checks and Villain shoves for 480 and Hero snaps. Villain mucks.

Hand 3 - Hero dealt   in MP with a stack of roughly 4.3k

Villain is a young pro who is LAG and likes to isolate and out play people on the flop and post. He has bought in for the max (2.5k) and usually plays the bigger games. Hero has seen Villain play 25/50nl.

Hero opens to 15 in MP. Villain 2 from Hand 1 calls and Villain raises to 60 from the Btn. Hero flats and the other player folds.

Flop -   rainbow. Pot is 142. Hero checks and Villain bets 105. Hero calls.

Turn -   giving the spade flush draw. Pot is 352. Hero checks and Villain bets 300. Hero Calls.

River -   (flush draw missed). Pot is 952. Hero shoves all in and Villain folds. I was really disappointed with myself making this move and definitely realise a C/R is the optimum play here. Villain said he had Q high and turned the flush draw.

Never run this good in my life! 2014... The year of the Soldier (please!)

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[dakky]

Have you ever lost more than 100bb in a game lol

[Pinchop73]

Hi Alex we've played a couple times at the vic. Good luck

[The Soldier]

Not sure i approve of the OPs name though......

Surely a 3 year stint at being called "sir" before departing for a "city" job leans more towards "the CV improver"

Nice profits though, if you can make enough to live well, support yourself and any aditional family you aquire through the years, and live in the city without having to get help from family money, then go for it.  And teach me.

Please.

Sir   

Haha was very close to posting similar last night and asking you to rename 'The Rupert' ;-)  Might have to come down the Vic and educate those louts!

Did you say you have tried the Hippo yet? Think I enjoy playing there more now than the Vic - the deep 1/2 is getting lairier and lairier! Lots of soft dosh to be had there if you know which faces to avoid, especially at 2am!!!

Either way, welcome to the forum - looks like this will be a great read and I'll be following your progress. I have friends in the city and oil who keep telling me how good it would be to go work there as a PM/Ops Manager!!!

Rupert isn't a popular name in Cardiff!  I'll bear it in mind though for the next forum that I join

I have mixed opinions of the Hippo.  It's definitely better if you want a bit of banter at the table!  However, I find that quite often these deep games are saturated with turbo nits...  I've sat at tables there before where people had 3k+ stacks in the deep 1/2.  On a number of occasions, I licked my lips and bought in for 500bbs, only to get up and leave 2 hours later as the corpses at the table were tilting me to death.  Besides, those games usually run in the early hours of the morning, and during those hours I have better things to do (sleep).  This assessment is based off a small sample though so correct me if I'm wrong please and I'll adjust my routine.

[The Soldier]

5 Jan 14
Here is my attempt to fill in some of the blanks, including the biggest winning session I've ever had.

On 1 Jan 14 I played a great 2/5 game where I won 500 profit.  I was in for 5k though as the table had a mega donk with a 7k stack.  I'd lost a 3.2k pot to him all in pre with QQ < KK and at one point was 2k down, so overall it was a good result.  In addition to this, I lost a 1100 pot with QQ all in on a 10 9 8 rainbow flop against JJ.  Needless to say, the donk did the lot.

2nd Jan 14 I played a terrible 2/5 game and lost 1k.  I lost a 1.3k pot all in pre with AA < KK.  Slightly tilted I decided to leave the game and fire one 1k bullet on a ridiculously soft sh 5/10 plo game.  I ended up cashing out over 5k!

3 Jan 14 played a 2/5 for 2 hours and won 1.2k.  I 4bet a reg on Btn with from 65 to 175 and flop came KQQ.  He checked and I Cbet.  Turn came a 7 and we both checked. River came a 5 and he leads for 450.  I shove and he snap folds.


29 Jan 14
Most notable events in recent history were taking a shot at a juicey 10/25 NL game.  I had perfect position on one of the greatest value players in London.  I bought in for 100bbs and tried to spin it up.  I lost 50bbs before getting the remaining 50bbs in pre-flop with AK in a 3 way pot.  I got called by 2 deepstacks who checked it down to the river.  The reg had AK as well and the villain rivered a straight with A7 off.  Doh! I also came 8th in the Hippodrome Winter Classic for £1.8k.  First prize was £14k.  I went from roughly 2nd in chips with 14 remaining to a short stack after losing an all in preflop with QQ < 1010.

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6 Feb 14
Played 3 weekend sessions last week all at The Vic.

It went very well overall.  On Fri I squeezed out a late session after work and lost £500.  I was tired and impatient so this wasn't surprising.  Sat was a huge rollercoaster.  I was up £1,000 very quickly after playing a very juicey 1-3 game.

Hero is UTG and straddles. Hero is dealt 55 with a stack of 1300.
UTG+2 with a stack of 230ish raises to 15. It folds around and SB (a complete rec maniac with a stack of 2000) 3bets to 30.  I flat from straddle with a little speech of "in for a penny in for a pound" and UTG+2 calls.

Flop - 5 7 10dd - pot is 93.  Maniac bets 65, Hero flats, UTG+2 ships all in, Maniac re-raises all in and Hero snaps.  I can't remember turn and river exactly but UTG+2 hit his nut flush and I shipped the larger side pot from the maniac who had KK.

The other big hand came at a 2-5 game.  I rivered the nut straight in a bloated pot and bet 475ish into 750.  Villain tries to rep the backdoor flush that also connected with my straight and raised me to 2175.  I tank called.

Played a small session on Sun at 2-5 and ran pretty decent hitting flops etc so bagged another 1k.

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Off to Edinburgh for a stag do this weekend so no poker for a while!  Gutted to be missing the GUKPT but I'm sure I'll get over it after a few pints.

[SuuPRlim]

Looks like you're crushing!

[The Soldier]

Have you ever lost more than 100bb in a game lol

Yes

Hi Alex we've played a couple times at the vic. Good luck

Thank you!  What's your name?

Seems like your routine is doing just fine! What hours are you generally managing to play around work?

I'm restricted to the weekends that I'm not on duty.  Since pondering the decision about whether to play fulltime I've dedicating almost all of my weekends to playing; at the expense of my social life.  I've averaged around 17 hrs per week since I started recording, playing mostly Fri nights, Sat & Sun.  Almost all of my leave has gone towards poker as well.  A lot of people have suggest playing poker as a side income around a day job - I don't think that it is sustainable if you want to do it seriously around a full time job (>40 hrs per week) and have a balance in life, unless your job allows you sufficient freedom.  Let me know any jobs that do!

Looks like you're crushing!

Everyday is a school day!