Dear Diary

June 29, 2011, Posted by Pokerfarm

As part of the Poker Farm's ongoing commitment to representing all levels of the poker community, at the beginning of the year we asked two grinders at very different stakes to keep a record of the trials and tribulations of the poker lifestyle. Here are their diaries.

Diary Of A High-Stakes Reg

January: To start of the new year, I’ve moved up stakes. It feels strange to play at a level where a buy-in would pay my rent for six months.

February: Made a big change to my game this month: for the first time, I made a serious effort to learn some PLO. It’s a harder game, but I think there’s potential for my edge to be bigger. It’ll take a lot of hard work before I get to the stage where I’m competitive, though.

March: Had a hell of a session yesterday - I doubled up twice vs. an aggro fish HU before I was knew what was happening, and he still had me covered. I had nearly 400bb, and I’m not use to playing that deep! My game wasn’t at 100% I ended up laying down KJs to a 4bet, which I know was -EV, but I was scared of the variance with so much behind. After thinking about it some more, the implied odds were amazing - I was playing scared, and I need to work on that aspect of my game.

April: Played a small session yesterday of 2k hands, and crushed. I’m beating the game for nearly 9bb/100 this month, which is incredible. Thinking of switching sites next month because the rake is a little lower, and I need every edge I can get.

May: Black Friday was the worst day of my poker career.

June: This is is terrible. Going from flipping for $5k to flipping burgers for $5 an hour is putting me on life tilt. As soon as my cash-out cheque gets here, I’m moving to the Bahamas.

Diary Of A Micro-Stakes Short-Stack Reg

January: To start of the new year, I’ve moved up stakes. It feels strange to play at a level where a buy-in would pay for a double cheeseburger and fries.

February: Made a big change to my game this month: for the first time, I made a serious effort to start shoving AJo from UTG+1. It’s a risky move, but I think there’s potential for it to show a profit in the long run. It’ll take a lot of hard work before I get to the stage where I’m confident it’s a winning move though.

March: Had a hell of a session yesterday - I doubled up twice on a 10max table before I knew what was happening, and everyone else have me covered. I had nearly 100bb, and I’m not use to playing that deep! My game wasn’t at 100%. I ended up laying down AA to a 4bet, which I worried may have been -EV, but I was scared of the variance with so much behind. After thinking about it some more, I think it was the right decision (I only had 2 outs if he hit a set), and I feel like my game is pretty solid.

April: Played a small session yesterday of 20k hands, and crushed. I’m beating the game for nearly 1bb/100 this month, which is incredible. Thinking of switching sites next month because the rake is a little higher. More rake = more rakeback! I need every edge I can get.

May: Black Friday was the worst day of my poker career.

June: This is fantastic! Going from making $3 an hour at poker to $5 an hour flipping burgers is definitely +EV, and the variance is much lower! I’m thinking of asking my manager for more hours.